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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Benoît Schmutz (Ecole Polytechnique and CREST); Modibo Sidibé (Duke University and CREST); Elie Vidal-Naquet (Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France) |
| Abstract: | Workers' propensity to migrate to another local labor market varies a lot by occupation. We use the model developed by ? to quantify the impact of mobility costs and search frictions on this mobility gap. We estimate the model on a matched employer-employee panel dataset describing labor market transitions within and between the 30 largest French cities for two groups at both ends of the occupational spectrum and find that: (i) mobility costs are very comparable in the two groups, so they are three times higher for blue-collar workers relative to their respective expected income; (ii) Depending on employment status, spatial frictions are between 1.5 and 3.5 times higher for blue-collar workers; (iii) Moving subsidies have little (and possibly negative) impact on the mobility gap, contrary to policies targeting spatial frictions. |
| Keywords: | mobility costs, spatial frictions, migration, local labor markets, occupation |
| JEL: | J61 J64 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2031&r=all |
| By: | David Escamilla-Guerrero; Edward Kosack; Zachary Ward |
| Abstract: | The first mass migration of Mexicans to the United States occurred in the early twentieth century: from smaller pre-Revolutionary flows in the 1900s, to hundreds of thousands during the violent 1910s, to the boom of the 1920s, and then the bust and deportations/repatriations of the 1930s. We show that despite these large shifts, the rate of economic assimilation was remarkably similar across arrival cohorts. We find that the average Mexican immigrant held a lower-paying job than US-born whites near arrival and further fell behind in the following decade. However, Mexican assimilation was not uniquely slow since we also find that the average Italian immigrant fell behind at a similar rate. Yet, conditional on geography, human capital, and initial earning score, Mexicans had a slower growth rate than both US-born whites and Italians. We argue that Mexican-specific structural barriers help to explain why Mexican progress was slower than other groups and why different Mexican arrival cohorts had limited variation in outcomes despite the large shocks to migration. |
| Keywords: | assimilation, immigration, Mexico, mobility, mob violence |
| JEL: | J15 J61 J62 N31 N32 |
| Date: | 2020–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_183&r=all |
| By: | Kabir Dasgupta (NZ Work Research Institute, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at AUT University); Alexander Plum (NZ Work Research Institute, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at AUT University) |
| Abstract: | This study aims at understanding how persistence in low pay changes over time. In particular, we extend the existing literature on human capital formation by documenting heterogeneity in low pay persistence by age and human capital level. We utilise population-wide tax ecords to track monthly labour market trajectories of workers who are observed in low paid employment during the initial period of analysis. Performing age- and qualification-specific regressions, our empirical findings indicate that low pay persistence reduces with time. However, the magnitude is highly heterogeneous acorss the workforce. For a qualified worker in their early 20s, the risl of staying on low-pay declines by, on average, 5 to 10% points after one year - while for a worker in their 50s, independent of their qualification level, persistence remains almost unchanged. We find a strong association between decline in low-pay persistence and the firm's average wage level. |
| Keywords: | low pay, human capital formation, state dependence, random-effects probit, intital condition, unobserved heterogeneity |
| JEL: | J63 J61 J24 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aut:wpaper:202015&r=all |
| By: | Albrecht, James (Georgetown University); Decreuse, Bruno (Aix-Marseille University); Vroman, Susan (Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | When vacancies are filled, the ads that were posted are often not withdrawn, creating "phantom" vacancies. The existence of phantoms implies that older job listings are less likely to represent true vacancies than are younger ones. We assume that job seekers direct their search based on the listing age and so equalize the expected benefit of a job application across listing age. Forming a match with a vacancy of age α creates a phantom of age α with probability β and this leads to a negative informational externality that affects all vacancies of age α and older. Thus, the magnitude of this externality decreases with the age of the listing when the match is formed. Relative to the constrained efficient search behavior, the directed search of job seekers leads them to over-apply to younger listings. We illustrate the model using US labor market data. The contribution of phantoms to overall frictions is large, but, conditional on the existence of phantoms, the social planner cannot improve much on the directed search allocation. |
| Keywords: | directed search, phantom vacancies, unemployment |
| JEL: | J60 D83 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13704&r=all |
| By: | Jeffrey Clemens; Michael R. Strain |
| Abstract: | Why do individuals join interest groups? Through what channels do interest groups and public policy affect one another? We study these questions by analyzing the interplay among labor unions, minimum wages, news coverage, and public opinion. Over the past decade, labor unions have played a significant role in advocating for state and federal minimum wage increases. Over this period, we find that each dollar in minimum wage increase predicts a 5 percent increase (0.3 pp) in the union membership rate among individuals age 16–40. We document four additional facts that shed light on the mechanisms that may underlie this finding. First, while we find increases overall in union membership, we find declines among the minimum wage’s most direct beneficiaries. This is consistent with a classic “free-riding” hypothesis. Second, we find increases in union membership among much broader groups that are not directly affected by the minimum wage. Third, we find that minimum wage increases predict increases in unions’ favorability ratings among the public. Fourth, we find that events in the legislative histories of minimum wage increases predict increases in counts of newspaper articles that simultaneously discuss the minimum wage and key players in the labor movement. Overall coverage of organized labor shifts towards articles that discuss the minimum wage. These facts are consistent with models in which a desire to affiliate with “effective advocacy” is an important driver of the decision to participate in unions and other politically oriented groups. |
| JEL: | D71 J08 J51 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27902&r=all |
| By: | Botha, Ferdi; de New, John P.; de New, Sonja C.; Ribar, David C.; Salamanca, Nicolás |
| Abstract: | Using an online survey of Australian residents, we elicit the potential impacts of COVID-19 related labour market shocks on a validated measure of financial wellbeing. Experiencing a reduction in hours and earnings, entering into unemployment or having to file for unemployment benefits during the pandemic are strongly and significantly associated with decreases in financial wellbeing of 29% or 18 points on the financial wellbeing scale of 0-100, despite various government measures to reduce such effects. Unconditional quantile regression analyses indicate that the negative COVID-19 labour market effects are felt the most by people in the lowest percentiles of the financial wellbeing distribution. Counterfactual distribution regressions indicate a shifting of the financial wellbeing distribution leftwards brought on by those suffering any of the above-mentioned labour market shocks, indicating potential significant increases in financial wellbeing disadvantage and inequality. |
| Keywords: | Financial wellbeing,COVID-19,unemployment,earnings reduction,inequality |
| JEL: | D14 D39 J65 D63 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:661&r=all |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert W. (University of California, Santa Cruz) |
| Abstract: | Social distancing restrictions and health- and economic-driven demand shifts from COVID-19 are expected to shutter many small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures, but there is very little early evidence on impacts. This paper provides the first analysis of impacts of the pandemic on the number of active small businesses in the United States using nationally representative data from the April 2020 CPS – the first month fully capturing early effects. The number of active business owners in the United States plummeted by 3.3 million or 22 percent over the crucial two-month window from February to April 2020. The drop in active business owners was the largest on record, and losses to business activity were felt across nearly all industries. African-American businesses were hit especially hard experiencing a 41 percent drop in business activity. Latinx business owner activity fell by 32 percent, and Asian business owner activity dropped by 26 percent. Simulations indicate that industry compositions partly placed these groups at a higher risk of business activity losses. Immigrant business owners experienced substantial losses in business activity of 36 percent. Female business owners were also disproportionately affected (25 percent drop in business activity). Continuing the analysis in May and June, the number of active business owners remained low – down by 15 percent and 8 percent, respectively. The continued losses in May and June, and partial rebounds from April were felt across all demographic groups and most industries. These findings of early-stage losses to small business activity have important implications for policy, income losses, and future economic inequality. |
| Keywords: | small business, entrepreneurship, business owners, self-employment, COVID-19, coronavirus, shelter in place restrictions, social distancing restrictions, minority business, female |
| JEL: | J15 J16 L26 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13707&r=all |
| By: | Tania Babina; Asaf Bernstein; Filippo Mezzanotti |
| Abstract: | The effect of financial crises on innovation is an unsettled and important question for economic growth, but one difficult to answer with modern data. Using a differences-in-differences design surrounding the Great Depression, we document that local distress caused a sudden and persistent decline in patenting by the largest organizational form of innovation at this time—technological entrepreneurs. Parallel trends prior to the shock, evidence of a drop within every major technology class, and consistent results using distress driven by commodity shocks—all suggest a causal effect of distress. Despite this, we find that innovation during crises can be more resilient than it may appear at first glance. First, there is no observable change in the number of future citations, despite the decline in the number of patents filed. Second, the shock is in part absorbed through a reallocation of inventors into firms, who over the long-run produce patents with greater impact. Third, the results reveal no immediate brain drain of inventors from the affected areas. Overall, we demonstrate that crises can be both destructive and creative forces for innovation, and provide the first systematic evidence of the role played by the Great Depression in the long-run organization of innovative activity. |
| JEL: | G01 G21 N12 N22 N32 O3 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27851&r=all |
| By: | Peter Eibich (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Ricky Kanabar; Alexander Plum; Julian Schmied (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Biological processes have provided new insights into diverging labour market trajectories. In this paper, we use population variation in testosterone levels to explain transition probabilities into and out of unemployment. We follow individual employment histories for 1,771 initially employed and 109 initially unemployed British men from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (“Understanding Society”) between 2009 and 2015. To account for unobserved heterogeneity, we apply dynamic random effect models. We find that individuals with high testosterone levels are more likely to become unemployed, but they are also more likely to exit unemployment. Based on previous studies and descriptive evidence, we argue that these effects are likely driven by personality traits and occupational sorting of men with high testosterone levels. Our findings suggest that latent biological processes can affect job search behaviour and labour market outcomes, without necessarily relating to illness and disability. |
| Keywords: | United Kingdom |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2020-033&r=all |
| By: | Gabriel A. Facchini Palma (Department of Applied Economics, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how workload affects the provision of care in a large but understudied segment of the healthcare sector – maternity wards. I use detailed patient-level administrative data on childbirth, and exploit quasi-random assignment of unscheduled patients to different staffing ratios. I find that patients who at admission observe a higher ratio of patients-to-midwives are more likely to receive a C-section. I show that this result is not attributable to patients’ differential sorting across workload levels. Instead, I find evidence that C-sections are used to alleviate midwives’ workload -they are faster than vaginal births and performed by physicians. I also exploit patient’s civil status to determine whether the effect varies with patient’s bargaining power -single women are on average more likely to be alone in the delivery room. Consistent with induced demand, only single patients are more likely to receive a C-section when admitted at high workload levels. |
| Keywords: | cesarean section, workload, midwives, physician induced demand, bargaining power |
| JEL: | D82 H42 H51 I18 J13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea2009&r=all |
| By: | Mann, Samuel |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data from the BRFSS over the period 2014-2019 to analyse the impact of removing surgical requirements to change legal gender. In many states transgender people are forced to undergo surgical procedures if they wish to change their gender on ID documents, which can be invasive, expensive, and is not always desired. In the present work state variation in the timing of the removal of surgical requirements is exploited within a triple difference framework to analyse the causal impact of these removals on the labour force participation and employment of transgender people. The findings highlight the detrimental economic impact of surgical requirements for transgender people to be able to reassign gender on birth certificates, especially for those individuals that are least likely to be able to afford surgical treatment. |
| Keywords: | Gender Identity,Trans,Employment,Self-Employment,Discrimination,Law,Birth Certificates |
| JEL: | J15 J16 J71 J78 K31 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:670&r=all |
| By: | Matteo Tubiana (University of Bergamo); Ernest Miguelez (GREThA UMR CNRS 5113 - Université de Bordeaux); Rosina Morneo (AQR-IREA, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Innovation rarely happens through the actions of a single person. Innovators source their ideas while interacting with their peers, at different levels and with different intensities. In this paper, we exploit a dataset of disambiguated inventors in European cities to assess the influence of their interactions with co-workers, organizations’ colleagues, and geographically co-located peers, to understand if the different levels of interaction influence their productivity. Following inventors’ productivity over time and adding a large number of fixed effects to control for unobserved heterogeneity, we uncover critical facts, such as the importance of city knowledge stocks for inventors’ productivity, with firm knowledge stocks and network knowledge stocks being of smaller importance. However, when the complexity and quality of knowledge is accounted for, the picture changes upside down and closer interactions (individuals’ co-workers and firms’ colleagues) become way more important. |
| Keywords: | Inventors, Productivity, Stock of knowledge, Interactions. JEL classification: O18, O31, O33, O52, R12. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:202005&r=all |
| By: | Barbara Biasi; Heather Sarsons |
| Abstract: | Does flexible pay increase the gender wage gap? To answer this question we analyze the wages of public-school teachers in Wisconsin, where a 2011 reform allowed school districts to set teachers' pay more flexibly and engage in individual negotiations. Using quasi-exogenous variation in the timing of the introduction of flexible pay driven by the expiration of pre-existing collective-bargaining agreements, we show that flexible pay increased the gender pay gap among teachers with the same credentials. This gap is larger for younger teachers and absent for teachers working under a female principal or superintendent. Survey evidence suggests that the gap is partly driven by women not engaging in negotiations over pay, especially when the counterpart is a man. This gap is not driven by gender differences in job mobility, ability, or a higher demand for male teachers. We conclude that environmental factors are an important determinant of the gender wage gap in contexts where workers are required to negotiate. |
| JEL: | J01 J08 J16 J5 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27894&r=all |
| By: | Schmidpeter, Bernhard |
| Abstract: | I investigate the impact of parental unemployment on children's educational attainment and long-run labor market outcomes in Austria. I find that parental unemployment shortly before an important educational decision by parents for their children lowers a child's probability of holding a university degree by more than 5 percentage points. I do not find that income is affected at the beginning of a child's labor market career along the distribution, but I find a gradual deterioration later on. A substantial share of these long-term losses can be explained by the lower parental investment decision. My results emphasize the intergenerational and longlasting consequences of parental unemployment. |
| Keywords: | parental unemployment,intergenerational effects,long-term effects,unemployment,wage loss,decomposition |
| JEL: | C21 I23 J13 J31 J64 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:866&r=all |
| By: | Eduardo Lora (Center for International Development at Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Using panel data for workers who change jobs, changes in several labor outcomes after inter-city migration are estimated by comparing workers in similar circumstances who move to a new city –the treatment group—with those who stay in the same city –the control group. After matching the two groups using Mahalanobis distances over a wide range of covariates, the methodology of “difference-in-difference treatment effects on the treated” is used to estimate changes after migration. On average, migrants experience income gains but their dedication to formal employment becomes shorter. Income changes are very heterogenous, with low-wage workers and those formerly employed by small firms experiencing larger and more sustained gains. The propensity to migrate by groups of sex, age, wage level, initial dedication, initial firm size and size of city of origin is significantly and directly correlated with the expected cumulative income gains of migration, and inversely with the uncertainty of such gains. |
| Keywords: | matched employer-employee panel data, diff-in-diff treatment effects, migration risks, migration determinants, Colombia |
| JEL: | J31 J61 J81 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cid:wpfacu:128a&r=all |
| By: | Barbara Boelmann (Department of Economics, University College London, CReAM and University of Cologne); Anna Raute (Queen Mary University of London, CReAM and CEPR); Uta Schönberg (University College London, CReAM and IAB) |
| Abstract: | Does the culture in which a woman grows up influence her labor market decisions once she has had a child? To what extent might the culture of her present social environment shape maternal labor supply? To address these questions, we exploit the setting of German reunification. A state socialist country, East Germany strongly encouraged mothers to participate in the labor market full-time, whereas West Germany propagated a more traditional male breadwinner-model. After reunification, these two cultures were suddenly thrown together, with consequent increased social interactions between East and West Germans through migration and commuting. A comparison of East and West German mothers on both sides of the former Inner German border within the same commuting zone shows that culture matters. Indeed, East German mothers return to work more quickly and for longer hours than West German mothers even two decades after reunification. Second, in exploiting migration across this old border, we document a strong asymmetry in the persistence of the culture in which women were raised. Whereas East German female migrants return to work earlier and work longer hours than their West German colleagues even after long exposure to the more traditional West German culture, West German migrants adjust their post-birth labor supply behavior nearly entirely to that of their East German colleagues. Finally, taking advantage of differential inflows of East German migrants across West German firms in the aftermath of reunification, we show that even a partial exposure to East German colleagues induces “native†West German mothers to accelerate their return to work after childbirth, suggesting that migration might be a catalyst for cultural change. |
| Keywords: | cultural transmission, social norms, maternal labor force participation, German reunification |
| JEL: | J1 J2 Z1 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2020&r=all |
| By: | Patrick Baylis; Pierre-Loup Beauregard; Marie Connolly; Nicole Fortin; David A. Green; Pablo Gutierrez Cubillos; Sam Gyetvay; Catherine Haeck; Timea Laura Molnar; Gaëlle Simard-Duplain; Henry E. Siu; Maria teNyenhuis; Casey Warman |
| Abstract: | This paper documents two COVID-related risks, viral risk and employment risk, and their distributions across the Canadian population. The measurement of viral risk is based on the VSE COVID Risk/Reward Assessment Tool, created to assist policymakers in determining the impacts of economic shutdowns and re-openings over the course of the pandemic. We document that women are more concentrated in high viral risk occupations and that this is the source of their greater employment loss over the course of the pandemic so far. They were also less likely to maintain one form of contact with their former employers, reducing employment recovery rates. Low educated workers face the same virus risk rates as high educated workers but much higher employment losses. Based on a rough counterfactual exercise, this is largely accounted for by their lower likelihood of switching to working from home which, in turn, is related to living conditions such as living in crowded dwellings. For both women and the low educated, existing inequities in their occupational distributions and living situations have resulted in them bearing a disproportionate amount of the risk emerging from the pandemic. Assortative matching in couples has tended to exacerbate risk inequities. |
| JEL: | E32 I18 J15 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27881&r=all |
| By: | Rania Gihleb; Osea Giuntella; Luca Stella; Tianyi Wang |
| Abstract: | This study explores the relationship between the adoption of industrial robots and workplace injuries using data from the United States (US) and Germany. Our empirical analyses, based on establishment-level data for the US, suggest that a one standard deviation increase in robot exposure reduces work-related injuries by approximately 16%. These results are driven by manufacturing firms (–28%), while we detect no impact on sectors that were less exposed to industrial robots. We also show that the US counties that are more exposed to robot penetration experience a significant increase in drug- or alcohol-related deaths and mental health problems, consistent with the extant evidence of negative effects on labor market outcomes in the US. Employing individual longitudinal data from Germany, we exploit within-individual changes in robot exposure and document similar effects on job physical intensity (–4%) and disability (–5%), but no evidence of significant effects on mental health and work and life satisfaction, consistent with the lack of significant impacts of robot penetration on labor market outcomes in Germany. |
| Keywords: | Robot-exposure, work-related health risks |
| JEL: | I10 J0 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1107&r=all |
| By: | Sarkhel, Sukanya; Mukherjee, Anirban |
| Abstract: | Labor market penalty associated with motherhood (in short, motherhood penalty) is an important issue related to gender equality in the society. Our paper is an attempt to empirically examine the extent of motherhood penalty in the context of Indian labor market. We use a nationally representative longitudinal survey data to address this question. We find negative relationship between motherhood and labor market outcomes for women. Besides using conventional measures of motherhood such as number of children, we also devise a new measure of motherhood relevant for our research question. The survey asked the respondents about their desired number of children. We deduct the desired number of children from the actual number of children to come up with a new measure of motherhood that we call extra children. We reckon that often women’s decision to join specific occupations or labor markets in general often internalize their desired number of children; the number they originally planned for. Hence, it is the number of children above the desired number which leads to stronger negative outcomes in the labor market. We find that the extra children variable has a stronger negative impact on women’s labor market outcomes than the conventional measures. We also examine how the extent of motherhood penalty varies across different cultural values pertaining to different family settings, regions and workplaces. We find, depending on different cultures prevailing in the places of residence or workplace, motherhood penalty gets either mitigated or exacerbated. Our results remain robust to alternative measures of motherhood. |
| Keywords: | India,Gender equality,Motherhood,Labor market penalty |
| JEL: | J16 J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:673&r=all |
| By: | Arendt, Jacob Nielsen |
| Abstract: | This study estimates the labor market effects of a work-first policy that aimed at speeding up the labor market integration of refugees. The policy added new requirements for refugees to actively search for jobs and to participate in on-the-job training immediately upon arrival in the host country. The requirements were added to an existing policy that emphasizes human capital investments in language training. The results show that the work-first policy speeded up the entry into regular jobs for males, but that they find work in precarious jobs with few hours. The long-run effects are uncertain since the policy crowds out language investments but raises enrollment in education. The policy had no or very small effects for women, which is partly explained by a lower treatment intensity for women. |
| Keywords: | Refugee,Unemployment,Work-first,Employment Support |
| JEL: | J61 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:662&r=all |
| By: | Mack, Miriam (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University); Roeder, Sarah (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University); Marchand, Katrin (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University); Siegel, Melissa (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | Much of the existing literature on intra-EU mobility focuses on labour migration from the new East-ern to the old Member States and neglects the social and emotional dimensions of mobility and their interrelatedness with economic drivers. Using a dataset consisting of 98 interviews conducted in four destination countries (Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) with intra-EU migrants originating from EU15 countries (59 individuals) and CEE countries (39 individuals), this paper contributes to the understanding of the nature of individual mobility decision-making and the diversity of reasons that drive migration within the EU. Specifically, it provides an in-depth analysis on how intra-EU mobility decision-making relates to specific migrant characteristics such as country of origin, age, skill level and gender and the dynamics inherent to specific migration corridors. The qualitative data is analysed in the light of existing theories of mobility and their relative importance in predicting intra-EU mobility. The results show that intra-EU migration decision-making is a highly complex process and is seldom based on one specific driver. Rather, the decision-making process is, in most cases, based on several interrelated factors beyond purely economic considerations. This paper contributes to the understanding of emotional and social considerations in migration decision-making, which have largely been neglected in existing literature. Importantly, it also contributes to the understanding of different intra-EU migration corridors, such as the East-West, East-South, South-North and West-West corridors, which remain relatively under-researched, and how these relate to specific migrant characteristics. Understanding the migration decision-making of individuals is of pivotal importance for both scholars and specifically policymakers to attract and retain talent. |
| Keywords: | High-skilled migration, Migration decision-making, EU mobility, EU migration Migration corridors |
| JEL: | J61 R23 F22 J15 J23 |
| Date: | 2020–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2020042&r=all |
| By: | Irastorza, Nahikari; Emilsson, Henrik |
| Abstract: | In 2008, Sweden changed its labour-migration policy in order to facilitate more labour migration from countries outside the EU. The unique design of the new law meant abandoning most state ambitions to shape labour migration. Under the new regulation, there are no labour-market tests or any consideration of the level of human capital. Instead, policy-makers trusted employers to select workers. We adopt a difference-in-differences approach and apply a series of OLS regressions on register data to assess the effects of the policy change on non-EU labour migrants' labour-market outcomes, as measured by income. The effects of the policy change are substantial. Non-EU labour migration increased and its composition changed after the reform, resulting in a significant decrease in mean incomes. The regression analysis shows that, despite the favourable economic cycle during the post-reform period, moving to Sweden as a third-country labour migrant following the 2008 labour-migration reform had a negative effect on the migrants' annual income. However, this effect became marginal after controlling for occupational level. We conclude that changes in their occupational composition were the main drivers of the income drop for non-EU labour migrants. In sum, the new non-selective labour-migration policy lowered labour migrants' mean income by opening the door to unskilled labour. |
| Keywords: | Migration policy,effects,2008 reform,labour migration,income,Sweden |
| JEL: | J15 J21 J30 J61 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:680&r=all |
| By: | Belloc, Filippo (University of Siena); Burdin, Gabriel (Leeds University Business School); Landini, Fabio (University of Parma) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether workplace employee representation (ER) affects the design of firm hierarchies. We rationalize the role of ER within a knowledge-based model of hierarchies, where the firm's choice of hierarchical layers depends on the trade-off between communication and knowledge acquisition costs. Using a sample of more than 20000 private-sector workplaces in 32 countries, we document conditional correlations between ER and the depth of hierarchy that are consistent with our framework. The presence of ER is positively associated with the number of organizational layers, though the relationship is tempered by firm size. Additional instrumental variable estimates reinforce our main result. ER positively correlates with job training and skill development, suggesting that the effect of ER (if any) is to reduce knowledge costs. Moreover, ER is associated with enhanced internal communication via staff meetings. The analysis of managers' perceptions suggests the higher frequency of meetings in firms with ER does not lead to more delays in the implementation of organizational changes. Taken together, our findings suggest that ER increases the depth of firm hierarchy by facilitating the flow of information to top decision makers, possibly through skip-level reporting, and hence reducing communication costs. |
| Keywords: | organization, firm hierarchy, employee representation, European Company Survey |
| JEL: | J51 L23 M11 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13717&r=all |
| By: | Wolfgang Frimmel; Martin Halla; Jörg Paetzold; Julia Schmieder |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of parental health on adult children’s labor market outcomes. We focus on health shocks which increase care dependency abruptly. Our estimation strategy exploits the variation in the timing of shocks across treated families. Empirical results based on Austrian administrative data show a significant negative impact on labor market activities of children. This effect is more pronounced for daughters and for children who live close to their parents. Further analyses suggest informal caregiving as the most likely mechanism. The effect is muted after a liberalization of the formal care market, which sharply increased the supply of foreign care workers. |
| Keywords: | Informal care, formal care, aging, health, labor supply, labor migration |
| JEL: | J14 J22 I11 I18 R23 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1902&r=all |
| By: | Stanislao Maldonado (Universidad del Rosario) |
| Abstract: | Empowering women is a policy goal that has received a lot of interest by policy-makers in the developing world in recent years, yet little is known about effective ways to promote it sustain- ably. Most existing interventions fail to address the multidimensional nature of empowerment. Using a double matching design to construct the sampling frame and to estimate causal effects, I evaluate the long-term impact of a multifaceted policy intervention designed to improve women’s empowerment in the Atlantic region in Colombia. This intervention provided information about women’s rights, soft-skills and vocational training, seed capital, and mentoring simultaneously. I find that this intervention has mixed results: improvements in incomes and other economic dimensions along with large political and social capital effects, but limited or null impacts on women’s rights knowledge and control over one’s body. Using a list experiment, I even find an increase in the likelihood of intra-household violence. The results highlight the importance of addressing women’s empowerment multidimensional nature in policy innovations designed to foster it, incorporating men in these efforts. |
| JEL: | I38 J16 J24 O17 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:apc:wpaper:170&r=all |
| By: | Byeongju Jeong |
| Abstract: | I present a model in which (1) a more talent-demanding task increases both rewards for high talent and the penalty for low talent due to a greater fixed cost of production, and (2) individual talent is task-specific and talent updates occur only for tasks near the attempted task, which implies a task-sequence problem in which the initial task constrains subsequent task choices. Rising talent rewards and penalty stemming from a rising scale economy motivate young workers to choose a more talent-demanding task, raise the failure rate (i.e., the probability of the updated talent being lower than the exit threshold), and concentrate income gains in a diminishing fraction of high-talent workers. Rising talent rewards and penalty also increase the share of young workers subject to binding minimum currentincome constraints, thus increasing the dispersion of tasks among young workers. The model sheds light on the rising stratification of careers among young workers and the rising polarization of the residual labor income distribution (i.e., the labor income distribution controlling for observable worker characteristics such as education and age). |
| Keywords: | career track; talent reward; talent uncertainty; minimum-incomeconstraint; income inequality; income polarization;Classification-JEL: D80, E20, J60, O30 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp673&r=all |
| By: | Martins, Pedro S. (Queen Mary, University of London) |
| Abstract: | While trade unions have been studied in detail, there is virtually no economics research on employer associations (EAs), their counterparts in many countries. Here we argue that EAs are important economic agents as they provide sectoral public goods such as collective bargaining, training, and representation. However, their net contributions are complex because of a number of issues, including free riding, firm heterogeneity, and collusion. We then study EAs empirically by comparing sales, employment, productivity, and wages of affiliated and non-affiliated firms. Exploiting changes in firm affiliation status over time in Portugal, we find a positive but small affiliation premium along most dimensions. This premium follows an inverted-U-shaped relationship with EA coverage (defined as the percentage of workers in the relevant industry/region domain employed by affiliated firms). Sectors as a whole also appear to benefit from EA coverage, even if non-affiliated firms do worse. |
| Keywords: | employer organisations, firm performance, social dialogue, public goods |
| JEL: | J58 L40 H41 K31 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13705&r=all |
| By: | José Pulido (Banco de la República de Colombia); Alejandra Varón (Universidad de los Andes) |
| Abstract: | Mass migrations can impact the amount of labor misallocation in the host country if immigrants, relative to natives, face more frictions that prevent them from working in their preferred occupations. The resulting misallocation would imply an aggregate productivity loss in the short run while migration occurs, but an subsequent lapse of productivity growth when the immigrants start to be assimilated by the labor market. We study the case of Colombia during 2015-2019, a period when the country received a massive inflow of migrants from Venezuela. Through the lens of a Roy model of occupational choice with two types of frictions - discrimination and barriers preventing workers from choosing their preferred occupations - we quantify the extent of occupational misallocation for immigrants, and its implications for Colombian aggregate labor productivity. Our estimates indicate that both type of frictions significatively misallocate Venezuelan immigrants. Removing those frictions would lead at least one third of immigrants to reallocate, permanently increasing Colombian aggregate productivity by 0.9%. **** RESUMEN: Las migraciones masivas pueden aumentar la ineficiencia en la asignación del trabajo en el país anfitrión si los trabajadores inmigrantes, en relación con los nativos, enfrentan más fricciones en el mercado laboral que les impidan trabajar en sus ocupaciones deseadas. La mala asignación resultante genera una pérdida de productividad agregada en el corto plazo mientras la migración ocurre, pero un crecimiento posterior cuando los inmigrantes se asimilen en el mercado laboral. En este artículo estudiamos el caso de Colombia durante 2015-2019, un período en el que el país recibió una afluencia masiva de migrantes desde Venezuela. A partir de un modelo de Roy de elección ocupacional con dos tipos de fricciones – discriminación laboral y obstáculos que obligan a los trabajadores a elegir ocupaciones distintas a las de su preferencia – cuantificamos el grado de mala asignación del trabajo de los inmigrantes y sus implicaciones sobre la productividad agregada laboral colombiana. Nuestras estimaciones indican que ambos tipos de fricciones generan asignaciones ocupacionales ineficientes para los migrantes, y que al eliminar dichas fricciones al menos una tercera parte de los trabajadores migrantes cambiaria de ocupación, lo que incrementaría la productividad colombiana en un 0.9% de forma permanente. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, misallocation, Roy model, discrimination, productivity, Migración, asignación ocupacional, modelo de Roy, discriminación, productividad |
| JEL: | F22 O15 J61 O24 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:1135&r=all |