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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Bloemen, Hans (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | An empirical analysis of labor market transitions for spouses in couples is implemented. Object of study are transitions between the states of nonparticipation, unemployed search, and employment. Motivated by a model of household search, the emphasis is on spousal variables and interactions. Additionally, a proxy for the business cycle is included in the analysis, and household specific unobserved heterogeneity is accounted for. Results show that female transitions into nonparticipation (both out of unemployed search and employment) are positively affected by the husband's income (while no effect is found for transitions out of nonparticipation). Men seem to move from employment into unemployed search easier the higher is the wife's income. Since the wife having an income is in turn strongly accociated with female participation, this suggests that households with a participating wife are better able to deal with unemployment of the husband. A supplementary analysis with reservation wages and numbers of applications points in the same direction. Husbands' reservation wages are only sensitive to his own unemployment income if the wife is nonparticipating. This implies that unemployment benefits have a different role in households with the husband as a sole earner compared to dual earner households. |
| Keywords: | household behavior and family economics, job search, labor market transitions, panel data |
| JEL: | D10 J64 C33 J20 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14673&r= |
| By: | Aydemir, Abdurrahman (Sabanci University); Duman, Erkan (Sabanci University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates effects of birth place migration networks and other location attributes on destination choices of internal migrants conditional on migration. We also study heterogeneity in the role of these factors for migrant types who differ by skill group, age at migration, and reason of migration. We use data on male migrants from three rounds of Turkish censuses 1985, 1990 and 2000 who choose among 67 provinces. We find that migrants are drawn to provinces with larger networks, relatively better economic conditions, and distance is a significant deterrent for migration. There are, however, significant heterogeneities across migrant types. More educated move longer distances and rely less on networks for destination choice. Importance of labor market conditions increases and the effect of distance decreases with age. Among migrants with different reason of migration, labor market conditions play a significant role only for migrants moving for employment reasons and networks matter less for this group. |
| Keywords: | migration, networks, destination choice, education, reason of migration, heterogeneous effects |
| JEL: | J61 O15 R23 Z13 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14677&r= |
| By: | Speer, Jamin D. (University of Memphis) |
| Abstract: | More than two-thirds of STEM jobs are held by men. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the STEM pipeline from high school to mid-career in the United States, decomposing the gender gap in STEM into six stages. By far the most important stages are the initial college major choice and the college-to-career transition. Men are far more likely than women to start in a STEM major, especially among those who are the most prepared for STEM upon entry. This alone accounts for 57% of the total gender gap in STEM careers. After college, male STEM graduates are far more likely to be found in a STEM job, accounting for 44% of the overall gap. Women who start in STEM majors are also less likely to graduate in STEM (accounting for 16%), while the gap in pre-college STEM-readiness is a small factor (8%). Women attend college at much higher rates than men, which works to reduce the final gender gap in STEM (-14%). The pipeline to STEM jobs is complex, and focusing only on the college experience or only on the labor market misses a large part of the overall story of women in STEM. |
| Keywords: | STEM, gender gaps, college major |
| JEL: | J01 J15 J16 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14676&r= |
| By: | Kovalenko, Tim |
| Abstract: | Uncertainty shocks are found to adversely affect labor market outcomes. Most studies attribute labor adjustments costs for the propagation of macroeconomic uncertainty to the labor market. Given that large establishments in Germany face higher labor adjustments cost, they should be affected more strongly by these shocks. Therefore, this paper studies the effects of uncertainty shocks on employment adjustments in large and small establishments employing four structural vector auto-regressive models with quarterly data for Germany in the period 1991-2014. These four models estimate effects of uncertainty shocks on employment, worker flows, job flows as well as worker churn, both for establishments with less than 100 and with at least 100 employees. The results suggest that uncertainty shocks induce considerable employment fluctuations in large establishments, while they have barely an effect on small establishments. Furthermore, large establishments adjust their labor input in response to an uncertainty shock by delaying the replacement of workers who leave these establishments. |
| Keywords: | Uncertainty Shocks,Employment,Worker Flows,Job Flows,Worker Churn,Establishment Size,Structural Vector Auto-Regression,Germany |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J63 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:faulre:119&r= |
| By: | Caucutt, E. M.; Guner, N.; Rauh, C. |
| Abstract: | The difference in marriage rates between black and white Americans is striking. Wilson (1987) suggests that a skewed sex ratio and higher rates of incarceration and unemployment are responsible for lower marriage rates among the black population. In this paper, we take a dynamic look at the Wilson Hypothesis. Incarceration rates and labor market prospects of black men make them riskier spouses than white men. We develop an equilibrium search model of marriage, divorce, and labor supply in which transitions between employment, unemployment, and prison differ by race, education, and gender. The model also allows for racial differences in how individuals value marriage and divorce. We estimate the model and investigate how much of the racial divide in marriage is due to the Wilson Hypothesis and how much is due to differences in preferences for marriage. We find that the Wilson Hypothesis accounts for more than three quarters of the model's racial-marriage gap. This suggests policies that improve employment opportunities and/or reduce incarceration for black men could shrink the racial-marriage gap. |
| Keywords: | Marriage, Race, Incarceration, Inequality, Unemployment |
| JEL: | J12 J J64 |
| Date: | 2021–09–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2160&r= |
| By: | Lüthi, Samuel (Swiss Co-ordination Center for Research in Education); Wolter, Stefan C. (University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we examine the influence of competitiveness on the stability of labour relations using the example of premature employment and training contract termination in the apprenticeship education sector. The paper extends the small but growing evidence on the external relevance of competitiveness by analysing gender differences in the correlation between competitiveness and labour market success and whether these effects depend on how the students' propensity to compete is measured. By matching a large experimental dataset with administrative data identifying contract terminations, we find that both gender and test specification matter. While competitive men assigned to a difficult competitiveness task are less likely to drop out of the contract than non competitive men, there is no such effect observable for those assigned to the easier task. On the other hand, competitive women are more likely to drop out than non competitive women, irrespective of how competitiveness is measured. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, non-cognitive skills, gender, apprenticeship |
| JEL: | C9 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14675&r= |
| By: | Ajzenman, Nicolas (São Paulo School of Economics-FGV); Elacqua, Gregory (Inter-American Development Bank); Marotta, Luana (Inter-American Development Bank); Olsen, Anne Sofie (Novo Nordisk) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we show that order effects operate in the context of high-stakes, real-world decisions: employment choices. We experimentally evaluate a nationwide program in Ecuador that changed the order of teaching vacancies on a job application platform in order to reduce teacher sorting (that is, lower-income students are more likely to attend schools with less qualified teachers). In the treatment arm, the platformshowed hard-tostaff schools (institutions typically located in more vulnerable areas that normally have greater difficulty attracting teachers) first, while in the control group teaching vacancies were displayed in alphabetical order. In both arms, hard-to-staff schools were labeled with an icon and identical information was given to teachers. We find that a teacher in the treatment arm was more likely to apply to hard-to-staff schools, to rank them as their highest priority, and to be assigned to a job vacancy in one of these schools. The effects were not driven by inattentive, altruistic, or less-qualified teachers. Instead, choice overload and fatigue seem to have played a role. The program has thus helped to reduce the unequal distribution of qualified teachers across schools of different socioeconomic backgrounds. |
| Keywords: | order effects, teacher sorting, satisficing |
| JEL: | I24 D91 I25 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14690&r= |
| By: | Walter, Timo |
| Abstract: | From the early 1990s until 2005 the unemployment rate rose in Germany from 7.3% to 11.7%. While the unemployment rate reached its peak in 2005, it decreased steadily in the following years. On the one hand, the fourth stage of the German labor market reform (Hartz IV) was implemented in 2005 with the intent to cut the unemployment rate. On the other hand, the productivities in Germany and Eastern Europe grew strongly during the same period, enhancing the joint trade. The "rise of the East", in terms of rising trade, is likely to have had an ambiguous effect on the German labor market. This paper investigates the employment effects of the "Hartz IV-Reform". Further, it concentrates on the labor market effects of the German and Eastern European productivity shock. The focus lies on the national and county level (including 402 counties). As the effects on regional labor markets differ and take time, the paper builds on the dynamic and spatial trade model of Caliendo et al. (2019). I find that the "Hartz IV-Reform" and the German productivity contributes positively to the decline of unemployment, whereas the increase in Eastern European productivity is only responsible for a minor increase in unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic Trade Model,Labor Market Reform,Trade Liberalization,Productivity Shocks,Germany,Eastern Europe |
| JEL: | F14 F16 F17 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hohdps:052021&r= |
| By: | Dodin, Majed; Findeisen, Sebastian; Henkel, Lukas; Sachs, Dominik; Schüle, Paul |
| Abstract: | We characterize intergenerational social mobility in Germany using census data on the educational attainment of 526,000 children and their parents' earnings. Our measure of educational attainment is the A-Level degree, a requirement for access to university and the most important qualification in the German education system. On average, a 10 percentile increase in the parental income rank is associated with a 5.2 percentage point increase in the probability to obtain an A-Level. This parental income gradient has not changed for the birth cohorts from 1980 to 1996, despite a large-scale policy of expanding upper secondary education in Germany. At the regional level, there exists substantial variation in mobility estimates. Place effects, rather than sorting of households into different regions, seem to account for most of these geographical differences. Mobile regions are, among other aspects, characterized by high school quality and enhanced possibilities to obtain an A-Level degree in vocational schools. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Mobility,Educational Attainment,Local Labor Markets |
| JEL: | I24 J62 R23 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cexwps:04&r= |
| By: | So Yoon Ahn (University of Illinois at Chicago); Youjin Hahn (Yonsei University); Semee Yoon (Yonsei University) |
| Abstract: | We study how educational opportunities change adolescents' gender attitudes in Tanzania, using an experiential education program focused on STEM subjects. After the intervention, girls' gender attitudes became more progressive by 0.29 standard deviations, but boys' gender attitudes did not change. Perceived improvement in the labor market opportunities appears to be an important channel to explain the result. The intervention also increased girls' weekly study hours and boosted their interests in STEM-related subjects and occupations. Our results show that providing STEM-related educational opportunities to girls in developing countries can be an effective way of improving their gender attitudes. |
| Keywords: | STEM, labor market outcomes, developing countries |
| JEL: | I25 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-046&r= |
| By: | Josué Diwambuena (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy); Raquel Fonseca (ESG-University of Quebec at Montreal and CIRANO); Stefan Schubert (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how Italian labour market institutions influence business cycle fluctuations. We apply a DSGE model that features Italian labour market rigidities and we estimate the latter on Italian data using Bayesian techniques to assess the effects of demand, supply, and labour market shocks on the macroeconomy, and to measure their significance for economic fluctuations. Our results show: First, technology, time preference and wage bargaining shocks are key drivers of economic fluctuations across horizons. Second, matching efficiency and wage bargaining shocks are significant sources of unemployment and vacancies fluctuations but their role is limited for output fluctuations. Third, labour market relaxation policies have only marginally contributed to the reduction in unemployment. Last, accounting for wage rigidities influences labour market dynamics and helps the model to fit data well. We, therefore, urge policymakers to support additional changes in labour market institutions. |
| Keywords: | DSGE; Labour market frictions; Bayesian estimation; Italy. |
| JEL: | E24 E32 C51 C52 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bzn:wpaper:bemps88&r= |
| By: | Brea-Martinez, Gabriel |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the influence of mothers’ employment on children’s economic mobility in a period when women’s labor market participation was still increasing, and it was still was far from common for a mother to be in paid work. It focuses on a period of transition for women’s labor market participation in Sweden, when mothers faced higher barriers to employment. The findings show that intergenerational income associations indicate that the mother’s income did not influence her children directly, in line with the results of most studies on this topic. Nevertheless, I also found that these traditional measures of income mobility failed to capture the important effects of maternal paid labor on children’s income mobility. By using extremely rich longitudinal data from Southern Sweden, I studied the trends in children’s absolute upward mobility (i.e., earning more than their fathers). I found that whether a mother was in paid work, was economically independent, and had an income similar to that of the father – which is a proxy for economic autonomy – during the late childhood and adolescence of her children had substantial effects on her children’s upward economic mobility, and especially on that of her daughters. |
| Date: | 2021–08–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:c27s8&r= |
| By: | Remco van Eijkel (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Sander Gerritsen (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy); Klarita Sadiraj (SCP, The Netherlands Institute for Social Research); Maroesjka Versantvoort (SCP, The Netherlands Institute for Social Research) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study to what extent employment generates spillover effects on other life domains for persons with a work disability. We find that that paid work reduces the probability of using mental health care by 7 percentage points, engaging in criminal activity by 3 percentage points and using non-medical home care by 8 percentage points. Relative to the baseline prevalence in our sample of disabled persons, these effects range between 30 and 60 percent. Increasing labor participation of disabled workers thus generates beneficial effects on other important life domains like health and social behavior. This not only benefits disabled workers in the form of a higher quality of life and lower out-of-pocket payments on health care, but also society as a whole in the form of lower public expenditures on health care and crime. Our paper therefore contributes to a better understanding of the full benefits of activation policies targeted at disabled people. |
| JEL: | J68 H75 I18 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:425&r= |
| By: | Drydakis, Nick (Anglia Ruskin University) |
| Abstract: | The study replicates the first European field experiment on gay men's labor market prospects in Greece. Utilizing the same protocol as the original study in 2006-2007, two follow-up field experiments took place in 2013-2014 and 2018-2019. The study estimated that gay men experienced occupational access constraints and wage sorting in vacancies offering lower remuneration. It was found that in 2013-2014 and 2018-2019, gay men experienced increasingly biased treatment compared to 2006-2007. Moreover, the results suggested that unemployment bore an association with occupational access constraints and wage sorting in vacancies offering lower remuneration for gay men. In each of the three experiments, this study captured recruiters' attitudes toward gay men. A one standard deviation increase in taste-discrimination attitudes against gay men decreased their access to occupations by 9.6%. Furthermore, a one standard deviation increase in statistical-discrimination attitudes against gay men decreased their access to occupations by 8.1%. According to the findings, in 2013-2014 and 2018-2019, firms excluding gay applicants expressed a higher level of taste- and statistical-discrimination attitudes compared to 2006-2007. A gay rights backlash due to the LGBTIQ+ group's attempt to advance its agenda, rising far-right rhetoric, and prejudice associated with economic downturns experienced in Greece might correspond with increasing biases against gay men. |
| Keywords: | field experiment, sexual orientation, hiring discrimination, wage sorting, replication, backlash, unemployment, economic recession |
| JEL: | C93 J7 J16 J31 J42 J64 J71 J83 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14671&r= |
| By: | Krammer, Sorin |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of human resource (HR) policies on firm innovation. Specifically, we argue that firms who implement policies to stimulate job autonomy and performance-based pay will be more likely to innovate, as proxied by investments in R&D. In addition, we contend that the institutional (i.e., labour regulations) and competitive (i.e., pressure from imports) contexts in which a firm operates will affect the relationship between HR policies and innovation, albeit in different ways. We test these hypotheses using a dataset of more than 900 firms across a heterogenous set of 12 countries, majority of which are emerging markets. We find strong empirical backing for the role of both job autonomy and performance-based pay policies in stimulating firm innovation, and partial support for the moderating effects of institutional and competitive contexts of this relationship. |
| Keywords: | Human Resource Management; Job autonomy; Performance-based pay; Firm innovation; Labour regulations; Import competition |
| JEL: | D4 J33 J8 O17 O3 O32 |
| Date: | 2021–07–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:109486&r= |
| By: | Islam, Asad (Monash University); Pakrashi, Debayan (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur); Sahoo, Soubhagya (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur); Wang, Liang Choon (Monash University); Zenou, Yves (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | Using a field experiment in India where patients are randomly assigned to rank among a set of physicians of the same gender but with different castes and years of experience, we show that the differences in patients' physician choices are consistent with gender-based statistical discrimination. Labor market experience cannot easily overcome the discrimination that female doctors suffer. Further, we find that gender discrimination is greater for lower caste doctors, who typically suffer from caste discrimination. Given the increasing share of professionals from a lower caste background, our results suggest that the 'intersectionality' between gender and caste leads to increased gender inequality among professionals in India. |
| Keywords: | gender discrimination, statistical discrimination, caste discrimination, intersectionality, affirmative action |
| JEL: | J16 J15 I15 O12 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14713&r= |
| By: | Gundacker, Lidwina; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Schneider, Gerald |
| Abstract: | Asylum policy-making in advanced democracies frequently faces the accusation that prejudice and stereotyping lead to erroneous decisions. The model of taste-based discrimination suggests that the biases of decision-makers or their peers against certain groups of applicants influence the evaluation of an asylum claim. Conversely, the concept of statistical discrimination implies that a dearth of information forces impartial decision-makers to resort to stereotypes. We examine both forms of discrimination, evaluating whether they shape asylum-seekers' chances to receive protection in Germany, currently a key recipient country. Our empirical examination of a representative refugee survey in Germany confirms that asylum decisions are subject to tastebased discrimination: males, Muslims, and applicants assigned to regions with a conservative population or government are less likely to obtain asylum or other forms of protection. Conforming to the theory of statistical discrimination, stereotyping against male or Muslim applicants' manifests most pronouncedly if decision-makers suffer under high workload or possess little information. However, high information costs do not alter stereotyping in more conservative regions. Altogether, our study reveals that extra-legal reasons in the form of prejudice and stereotypes considerably undermine what should be the key criterion in assessing an asylum claim: the credibility of an individual's need for protection. |
| Keywords: | Asylum recognition,principal-agent models,federalism,immigration attitudes,Germany,discrimination |
| JEL: | F22 H83 J16 K37 K38 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cexwps:05&r= |
| By: | Kessel, Dany; Mollerstrom, Johanna; van Veldhuizen, Roel |
| Abstract: | As a recent literature has demonstrated, men and women differ in their willingness to sort into competitive environments. In particular, men are more willing than women to compete. We investigate whether it is possible to reduce the gender gap in willingness to compete through an information intervention that informs participants of the gap and advises them about the potential earnings implications. We find that this simple information intervention reduced the gender gap, both in a laboratory study at a German university and in a field study with Swedish high school students. Whereas some participants (primarily high performing women) benefited from the intervention, others lost out. We discuss the implications for efficiency and policy. |
| Keywords: | Gender Differences,Competitiveness,Advice,Experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D91 J16 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wzbmbh:spii2021202&r= |
| By: | Fukai, Taiyo (University of Tokyo); Ikeda, Masato (University of Tokyo); Kawaguchi, Daiji (University of Tokyo); Yamaguchi, Shintaro (University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected female employment in Japan. Our estimates indicate that the employment rate of married women with children decreased by 4 percentage points, while that of those without children decreased by only 1 percentage point, implying that increased childcare responsibilities caused a sharp decline in mothers' employment. Further, mothers who left or lost their jobs appear to have dropped out of the labor force even several months after school reopening. In contrast to women, the employment rate of married men with children was not affected, which hindered progress in narrowing the employment gender gap. |
| Keywords: | labor force participation, employment, gender gap, COVID-19, childcare |
| JEL: | D13 J13 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14711&r= |
| By: | Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. (University of Sydney); Ho, Tiffany (ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR)); Salamanca, Nicolás (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research) |
| Abstract: | We use quasi-experimental variation in the timing of national standardized test-score reports to estimate the causal impact of giving parents objective information about children's academic achievement. Releasing test scores leads to more modest perceptions of academic achievement and reduced school satisfaction. The use of private tutoring is increased, while extracurricular activities are reduced. Examining the underlying mechanisms, we show that is it public-school parents and parents of children receiving unexpectedly "bad" test scores who alter their perceptions. Learning that a child scores above the national average raises perceived academic achievement and time devoted to education, while reducing leisure time. |
| Keywords: | parental investments, test-score information, parental perceptions, overconfidence |
| JEL: | I21 J13 D10 D90 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14663&r= |