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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Jeremy Greenwood (University of Pennsylvania); Nezih Guner (Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros (CEMFI)); Ricardo Marto (University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | The 20th century beheld a dramatic transformation of the family. Some Kuznets style facts regarding structural change in the family are presented. Over the course of the 20th century in the United States fertility declined, educational attainment waxed, housework fell, leisure increased, and marriage waned. These trends are also observed in the cross-country data. A model is developed, and then calibrated, to address the trends in the US data. The calibration procedure is closely connected to the underlying economic logic. Three drivers of the great transition are considered: neutral technological progress, skilled-biased technological change, and drops in the price of labor-saving household durables. |
| Keywords: | average weekly hours, blue-collar jobs, calibration, college premium, education, family economics, fertility, housework. Kuznets, leisure, market work, marriage, neutral technological progress, price of labor-saving household durables, skilled-biased technological change, white-collar jobs |
| JEL: | D10 E13 J10 O10 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eag:rereps:33&r=all |
| By: | ; ; Ricardo M. Reyes-Heroles; Sharon Traiberman |
| Abstract: | We study the role of global trade imbalances in shaping the adjustment dynamics in response to trade shocks. We build and estimate a general equilibrium, multi-country, multi-sector model of trade with two key ingredients: (a) Consumption-saving decisions in each country commanded by representative households, leading to endogenous trade imbalances; (b) labor market frictions across and within sectors, leading to unemployment dynamics and sluggish transitions to shocks. We use the estimated model to study the behavior of labor markets in response to globalization shocks, including shocks to technology, trade costs, and inter-temporal preferences (savings gluts). We find that modeling trade imbalances changes both qualitatively and quantitatively the short- and long-run implications of globalization shocks for labor reallocation and unemployment dynamics. In a series of empirical applications, we study the labor market effects of shocks accrued to the global economy, their implications for the gains from trade, and we revisit the "China Shock" through the lens of our model. We show that the US enjoys a 2.2 percent gain in response to globalization shocks. These gains would have been 73 percent larger in the absence of the global savings glut, but they would have been 40 percent smaller in a balanced-trade world. |
| Keywords: | Globalization; Labor markets; Trade imbalances |
| JEL: | F10 F16 |
| Date: | 2021–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:1310&r=all |
| By: | ; Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau; Lily Seitelman |
| Abstract: | Gender gaps in labor market outcomes during the pandemic are largely due to differences across parents: Employment and labor force participation fell much less for fathers as compared to women and non-parent men at the onset of the pandemic; the recovery has been more pronounced for men and women without children, and; the labor force participation rate of mothers has resumed declining following the start of the school year. The latter is partially offset in states with limited school re-openings. Evidence suggests flexibility in setting work schedules offsets some of the adverse impact of the pandemic on mothers’ employment, while the ability to work from home does not. |
| Keywords: | Labor supply; work flexibility; childcare; COVID-19 |
| JEL: | D10 E24 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2021–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:89972&r=all |
| By: | Karlsson, Tobias (Department of Economic History, Lund University); Kok, Joris (International Institute of Social History); Perrin, Faustine (Department of Economic History, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Our knowledge of the long-run evolution of gender equality is limited. We currently lack quantitative indicators capable of capturing the variations on and changes in the individual dimensions of gender equality. This paper seeks to assess the long-run evolution of gender roles and relations in Sweden. To this end, we build a database with quantitative indicators of gender equality. These indicators allow us to construct a Historical Gender Gap Index (HGGI), which isused to describe and analyze the evolution of gender equality in Sweden during a phase characterized by industrialization, urbanization and demographic transition. We find that after a period of stagnation, Sweden from the 1940s onwards made significant progress in closing the gender gap to reach the high level of gender equality that it is now famous for. All counties have made substantial improvements in closing the gap over time, although some counties have been quicker than others. Our investigation reveals the existence of a convergence pattern between counties. |
| Keywords: | Gender Equality; Index; Development Process; Sweden |
| JEL: | J16 N33 O11 |
| Date: | 2021–02–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:luekhi:0217&r=all |
| By: | Johanne Bacheron (Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I use a pseudo-panel approach with data from the European Union Labour Force Survey to study the impact of paternity leave policies on mothers' employment in ten countries. Using a dynamic Difference-inDifference strategy, I show that paternity leave increased mothers' employment rate by up to 17% in the long run, and average hours worked by 2 to 4%. There is substantial heterogeneity across countries in the effect of paternity leave policies. The impact on employment rates is positive and significant in eight of the ten countries of the sample, while the impact on hours worked can be either positive or negative. I find no evidence that the reforms had any impact on Greece or Portugal. |
| Keywords: | paternity leave, labour supply, gender equality |
| JEL: | J16 J18 J48 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2110&r=all |
| By: | Alina K. Bartscher; Moritz Kuhn; Moritz Schularick; Paul Wachtel |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at an improved understanding of the relationship between monetary policy and racial inequality. We investigate the distributional effects of monetary policy in a unified framework, linking monetary policy shocks both to earnings and wealth differentials between black and white households. Specifically, we show that, although a more accommodative monetary policy increases employment of black households more than white households, the overall effects are small. At the same time, an accommodative monetary policy shock exacerbates the wealth difference between black and white households, because black households own less financial assets that appreciate in value. Over multi-year time horizons, the employment effects are substantially smaller than the countervailing portfolio effects. We conclude that there is little reason to think that accommodative monetary policy plays a significant role in reducing racial inequities in the way often discussed. On the contrary, it may well accentuate inequalities for extended periods. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy; racial inequality; income distribution; wealth distribution; wealth effects |
| JEL: | E40 E52 J15 |
| Date: | 2021–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:89603&r=all |
| By: | Ray Bachan (University of Brighton); Alex Bryson (University College London) |
| Abstract: | The gender wage gap has closed gradually in the United Kingdom, as in other countries, but convergence is slower among top earners. Using linked employer-employee data over two decades we examine the gap among university Vice Chancellors who are among the most highly paid employees in the UK. Traditionally dominated by men the occupation has experienced a recent influx of women. The substantial gender wage gap of 12 log points in the first decade of the 21st Century closed markedly during the second decade, becoming statistically non-significant in later years. The closure in the gap is accounted for by change in the attributes of male and female VCs and the universities they lead - in particular, the financial performance of universities employing female VCs. The unexplained component of the gap is small and explains none of the convergence in the gap. A “new starter” wage penalty women faced in the early 2000s disappeared. However, women continued to receive a lower wage when replacing an outgoing male Vice Chancellor, whereas no differential was apparent between incoming male Vice Chancellors and the women they replaced. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap; vice chancellors; higher education; decompositions; linked employer-employee data |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J44 |
| Date: | 2021–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:2104&r=all |
| By: | Kristian Karlson (University of Copenhagen); Rasmus Landersø (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit) |
| Abstract: | We study intergenerational educational mobility in Denmark over the 20th century during which the comprehensive Danish welfare state was rolled out. While mobility initially was low, schooling reforms benefiting children from disadvantaged backgrounds led to dramatic increases in mobility for cohorts born between 1940 and 1960. However, the college expansion affecting cohorts born from 1970 onward has mainly benefited children from affluent backgrounds, resulting in rapidly declining mobility. Comparisons to educational mobility trends in the U.S. reveal that the two countries converge in mobility levels for the most recent cohorts despite the dramatically different welfare policies in place. |
| Keywords: | educational mobility, Inequality, schooling reforms, skill |
| JEL: | H00 I00 J00 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-008&r=all |
| By: | Larsen, Birthe (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School); Waisman, Gisela (Sulcis, Stockholm University and Finansdepartementet, Stockholm) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of unemployment insurance and social assistance on wages, unemployment, education and inequality when educational choice and the decision to pay into an unemployment insurance fund is endogenous and when workers are heterogenous in terms of initial wealth. The higher the worker’s wealth, the lower social assistance the worker receives if unemployed. The model can help shed light on the puzzle why only some workers pay into an unemployment insurance fund as well as the relative compressed wage structure in countries with generous social assistance and unemployment insurance. We use this set up to consider whether we should as society increase social assistance or unemployment insurance, if the aim is to reduce inequality. |
| Keywords: | Voluntary unemployment insurance; Unemployment; Search; Education; Welfare; Inequality |
| JEL: | I24 J60 |
| Date: | 2021–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cbsnow:2021_007&r=all |
| By: | Karolina Socha-Dietrich (OECD); Jean-Christophe Dumont (OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the most recent data on the number of migrant doctors in the health workforce in the OECD countries, as well as the impact these regular migration flows have on the countries of origin, including an analysis of the developments since 2000. The objective of this paper is to inform policy dialogue at the national and international levels.The share of migrant doctors has continued to rise over the last two decades across the OECD countries, with around two-thirds of all foreign-born or foreign-trained doctors originating from within the OECD area and upper-middle-income countries. The lower-middle-income countries account for around 30% and low-income countries for 3-4% of the foreign-born and 4% of the foreign-trained doctors. In countries of origin that are large, migration to (other) OECD countries has a moderate impact, but some of the relatively smaller countries or those with weak health systems experience significant losses of (needed) health professionals. |
| Keywords: | migrant doctors |
| JEL: | F22 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2021–02–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaad:126-en&r=all |
| By: | Bear, Laura |
| Abstract: | This paper issues a challenge to examine the current emergence of infrastructure as a global asset class against a longer-term colonial history of speculation. Taking the case of the Indian railways, it shows that their current financialization and transformation into a logistical network emerges from colonial techniques of calculations of risky frontiers, state guarantees and debt accounting. Historical forms built from racial and national inequalities have been incorporated into a new era of the financialization of public works led globally by the World Bank. This new moment erases the distinctive political histories of public works, while also capitalizing on these. Overall this leads to two theoretical claims: firstly, that we should only use the term ‘infrastructure’ self-consciously as a mode of critique of such contemporary moves. Secondly, that our theories derived from Marx, Foucault and Callon place too much emphasis on ‘economization’ and that we need to replace this with attention to speculation. Speculation is affective, intellectual and physical labour that aims to direct capital towards various ends. It involves the ethical imagination of social differences and places distinctions of race, nation and gender at the core of calculative regimes. This labour is governed by key nodal contracts between the market and the state and associated accounting and legal regimes or treaties for accumulation. |
| Keywords: | infrastructure; speculation; debt; railways; public good |
| JEL: | N0 R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2020–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:103445&r=all |
| By: | Diane Pelly; Michael Daly; Liam Delaney; Orla Doyle |
| Abstract: | The potential impact of COVID-19 restrictions on worker well-being is currently unknown. In this study we examine 15 well-being outcomes collected from 621 full-time workers assessed before (November, 2019 - February, 2020) and during (May-June, 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. Fixed effects analyses are used to investigate how the COVID-19 restrictions and involuntary homeworking affect well-being and job performance. The majority of worker well-being measures are not adversely affected. Homeworkers feel more engaged and autonomous, experience fewer negative emotions and feel more connected to their organisations. However, these improvements come at the expense of reduced homelife satisfaction and job performance. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19 restrictions; Workers; Homeworking; Subjective well-being; Productivity; Mental health; Job satisfaction; Engagement |
| JEL: | J08 J24 I31 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:202105&r=all |
| By: | Karolina Socha-Dietrich (OECD); Jean-Christophe Dumont (OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the most recent data on the extent to which migrant nurses contribute to the nursing workforce in the OECD countries as well as the impact these regular migration flows have on the countries of origin, including an analysis of the developments since 2000. The objective of this paper is to provide new data for policy dialogue at the national and international levels. The shares of foreign-born or foreign-trained nurses have continued to rise over the last two decades across the OECD countries, with intra-OECD migration making up a third of the migration volume. Regarding the impact on countries of origin, emigration rates to OECD countries are generally moderate but a few countries experience significant losses of (needed) nurses. However, for a significant share of the foreign-trained nurses, the data sources do not allow the identification of the country of training. Hence, some of the results should be treated as lower-bound estimates. |
| JEL: | F22 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2021–02–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaad:125-en&r=all |
| By: | Santiago Caballero, Carlos; Sanchez Alonso, Blanca |
| Abstract: | Forced migrations and exiles are shocks that affect to the lives of millions of individuals. Among the consequences of this non-voluntary migration, the loss of a significant stock of human capital is of particular importance. The Republican exile in post-civil war Spain is an excellent case study since the traditional representation is that Spain lost highly qualified population. However, not that much has been said about the quantification of this loss or the measurement of the quality of the human capital that left Spain after the end of the civil war. This paper tries to fill this gap offering an estimation of the quality of the human capital that left Spain comparing it with the years that preceded and followed it and with economic migrants who were moving at the same time. Mexico was the major destination for Spanish refugees since the beginning of the Civil War and produced a unique primary source for analysing economic immigrants and refugees. We use multivariable regression models to estimate the existence of a skill premium in Republican refugees, analysing proxies of human capital like occupations, heights, and foreign languages spoken. Our results suggest that Spanish Republican refugees presented a skill premium compared to economic migrants. This result is particularly relevant because traditional economic migrants from Spain to Mexico have been considered a "privileged migration" given their high levels of human capital. The quality of the source allows us to extend the analysis to women human capital, an important contribution given the traditional invisibility of women in recorded economic history. |
| Keywords: | Spanish Civil War; Refugees; Human Capital |
| JEL: | J61 J24 N36 |
| Date: | 2021–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:whrepe:31991&r=all |
| By: | Adam Ayaita; Christian Grund; Lisa Pütz |
| Abstract: | Employment agencies aim to match individuals to appropriate jobs. There are public and private employment agencies, which co-exist in many countries. Selection effects may be relevant in the sense that private agencies potentially engage in ‘cream-skimming’ by prioritizing highly qualified workers. The resulting job match quality is also important from an individual, a firm, and a society perspective. We examine the selection into job placement via private and public employment agencies as well as the resulting job match qualities, taking a job-market reform in Germany into account: the introduction of vouchers for private job placements. Using representative German panel data, we find that cream-skimming is significantly less pronounced under the voucher policy, as private agencies shift the focus toward unemployed individuals with a voucher. In addition, we find evidence based on propensity score matching estimations that private agencies tend to create better matches than their public counterparts. |
| Keywords: | Cream-skimming, employment agencies, job match quality, job placement, job search, selection, vouchers |
| JEL: | J64 L33 M5 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1121&r=all |