|
on Labour Economics |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University); Robinson, RaeAnn Halenda (George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the occupational status and distribution of free women in the antebellum United States. It considers both their reported and unreported (imputed) occupations, using the 1/100 IPUMS files from the 1860 Census of Population. After developing and testing the model based on economic and demographic variables used to explain whether a free woman has an occupation, analyses are conducted comparing their occupational distribution to free men, along with analyses among women by nativity, urbanization, and region of the country. While foreign-born and illiterate women were more likely to report having an occupation compared to their native-born and literate counterparts, they were equally likely to be working when unreported family workers are included. In the analysis limited to the slave-holding states, it is shown that the greater the slave-intensity of the county, the less likely were free women to report having an occupation, particularly as private household workers, suggesting substitution in the labor market between free women and enslaved labor. |
| Keywords: | women, labor force participation, occupational distribution, unreported family workers, enslaved workers, immigrants, 1860 census of population |
| JEL: | N31 J16 J21 J82 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15162&r= |
| By: | Doruk, Ömer Tuğsal (Adana Alpaslan Türkeş Science and Technology University); Pastore, Francesco (Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli) |
| Abstract: | In all the MENA countries considered in this study, namely Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia, there has been a significant decrease in the female labor force participation rate over the last two decades. Moreover, existing analysis and the anecdotal evidence suggest that it may be problematic for women to reach a white-collar high skill job, also in the more protected public sector, though there is very little empirical evidence on this. By using repeated cross-sections of individuals covering periods of up to 20 years (for Egypt), we examine the evolution of the glass ceiling problem for women resorting to the matching approach, which, to our knowledge, has never been used in this field. Instead of looking at the gender gap along the wage distribution, we assess the probability to reach the top professions of manager, professional and technician or associate professional. We find a sizeable glass ceiling effect in all the countries considered. It is a persistent phenomenon across all the industrial sectors and the years considered. The present study sheds new light on the glass ceiling effect for woman in the MENA countries, which is relevant also for other countries. |
| Keywords: | glass ceilings, woman employment, labor force, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia |
| JEL: | J16 J71 K38 O53 P52 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15152&r= |
| By: | Cingano, Federico (Bank of Italy); Palomba, Filippo (Princeton University); Pinotti, Paolo (Bocconi University); Rettore, Enrico (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the employment effects of a large program of public investment subsidies that ranked applications on a score reflecting both objective criteria and local politicians' preferences. Leveraging the rationing of funds as an ideal RDD, we characterize the heterogeneity of treatment effects and cost-per-new-job across inframarginal firms, and we estimate the cost effectiveness of subsidies under factual and counterfactual allocations. Firms ranking high on objective criteria and firms preferred by local politicians generated larger employment growth on average, but the latter did so at a higher cost-per-job. We estimate that relying only on objective criteria would reduce the cost-per-job by 11%, while relying only on political discretion would increase such cost by 47%. |
| Keywords: | public subsidies, investment, employment, political discretion, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | H25 J08 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15172&r= |
| By: | Lluis, Stephanie; McCall, Brian |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the impact of increased unemployment insurance generosity in terms of additional weeks of benefits on a spouse's labour supply adjustments after the job loss of his/her partner. We exploit the longitudinal household format of the Canadian Labour Force Survey and the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics to study the labour force transitions of each spouse over time and spousal labour supply responses arising from an added worker effect, whereby spousal labour supply increases following the partner's job loss. We examine whether the additional weeks of benefits offered by the Extended Weeks (EW) pilot, an initiative of the Employment Insurance program implemented in a subset of regions, had a differential impact on spousal labour supply adjustments. Employing a difference-in-differences (DiD) approach, the crowding-out effect of this increased EI generosity on spousal labour supply is identified. Our fixed-effect estimation results show a statistically significant added worker effect for women of 14 to 17 hours weekly following their partner's job loss if they are not eligible to receive EI benefits. The eligibility of employment insurance benefits reduces spousal labour supply among women by 3 to 6 hours per week, with a stronger effect among mothers. |
| Keywords: | Employment Insurance,Unemployment Insurance Weeks,Spousal LabourSupply,Added Worker Effect,Crowding-Out Effect |
| JEL: | J62 J65 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:clefwp:42&r= |
| By: | Cellini, Stefano (University of Surrey); Menezes, Livia (University of Birmingham); Koppensteiner, Martin Foureaux (University of Surrey) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate the effect of maternal displacements during pregnancy on birth outcomes by leveraging population-level administrative data from Brazil on formal employment linked to birth records. We find that involuntary job separation of pregnant single mothers leads to a decrease in birth weight (BW) by around 28 grams (-1% ca.) and an increase in the incidence of low BW by 10.5%. In contrast, we find a significant positive effect on the mean BW and a decrease in the incidence of low BW for mothers in a marriage or stable union. We document more pronounced negative effects for single mothers with lower earnings and no effect for mothers in the highest income quartile, suggesting a mitigating role of self-insurance from savings. Exploiting variation from unemployment benefits eligibility, we also provide evidence on the mitigating role of formal unemployment insurance using a Regression Discontinuity design exploiting the cutoff from the unemployment insurance eligibility rule. |
| Keywords: | dismissals, birth outcomes, informal insurance, unemployment insurance |
| JEL: | D14 I10 J65 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15155&r= |
| By: | Carlos Carrillo-Tudela; Camila Comunello; Alex Clymo; Annette Jäckle; Ludo Visschers; David Zentler-Munro |
| Abstract: | The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the UK labour market has been extremely heterogeneous across occupation and industrial sectors. Using novel data on job search, we document how individuals adjust their job search behaviour in response to changing employment patterns across occupations and industries in the UK. We observe that workers changed their search direction in favour of expanding occupations and industries as the pandemic developed. This suggests job searchers do respond to occupation-wide and industry-wide conditions in addition to idiosyncratic career concerns. However, non-employed workers and those with low education levels are more attached to their previous occupations and more likely to target declining ones. We also see workers from declining occupations making fewer transitions to expanding occupations than those who start in such occupations, despite targeting these jobs relatively frequently. This suggests those at the margins of the labour market may be least able to escape occupations that declined during the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | job search, occupation mobility, industry mobility, Covid-19 pandemic |
| JEL: | E24 J23 J63 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9621&r= |
| By: | Halvarsson, Daniel (The Ratio Institute); Lark, Ola (Lund University); Gustavsson Tingvall, Patrik (Stockholm School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study foreign ownership as a vehicle for transferring gender norms across international borders. Specifically, we analyze how the wage differential between men and women in Swedish firms is affected by the degree of gender inequality in the home country of foreign investors. The results suggest that gender norms of the home country matter—the gender wage gap in foreign-owned subsidiaries appears to increase with the degree of gender inequality prevailing in the investors’ home market. This finding is identified from within job-spell variation in wages and proves robust across a series of specifications. |
| Keywords: | Foreign ownership; Gender inequality; Gender wage gap; Internationalization; Gender norms |
| JEL: | F66 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2022–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0354&r= |
| By: | Victoria Gregory; Guido Menzio; David Wiczer |
| Abstract: | Using a large panel dataset of US workers, we calibrate a search-theoretic model of the labor market, where workers are heterogeneous with respect to the parameters governing their employment transitions. We first approximate heterogeneity with a discrete number of latent types, and then calibrate type-specific parameters by matching type-specific moments. Heterogeneity is well approximated by 3 types: as, ßs and ?s. Workers of type a find employment quickly because they have large gains from trade, and stick to their jobs because their productivity is similar across jobs. Workers of type ? find employment slowly because they have small gains from trade, and are unlikely to stick to their job because they keep searching for jobs in the right tail of the productivity distribution. During the Great Recession, the magnitude and persistence of aggregate unemployment is caused by ?s, who are vulnerable to shocks and, once displaced, they cycle through multiple unemployment spells before finding stable employment. |
| Keywords: | Search frictions, Unemployment, Business Cycles |
| JEL: | E24 O40 R11 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:22-10&r= |
| By: | David de la Croix (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Mara Vitale (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | We document the participation of women in European academia from the first universities to the eve of the Industrial Revolution. 108 women taught at universities or were members of academies of arts and sciences. Most of them were active in Catholic southern Europe - an unexpected result. We conjecture that Protestantism left less room for women at the top of the distribution of human capital to exercise their talent. The percentage of ever-married female scholars is 79%, but a large fraction of them remained childless. We measure the quality of women in academia through their publications. Comparing them to 52,000 male scholars, we find that they were on average better, suggesting some form of discrimination. |
| Keywords: | University, Academy, Protestantism, Publications, Gender |
| JEL: | N33 Z12 I23 J16 |
| Date: | 2022–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2022010&r= |
| By: | Utar, Hale (Grinnell College) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how firms in an emerging economy are affected by violence due to drug trafficking. Employing rich longitudinal plant-level data covering all of Mexico from 2005–2010, and using an instrumental variable strategy that exploits plausibly exogenous spatiotemporal variation in the homicide rate during the outbreak of drug-trade related violence in Mexico, I show that violence has a significant negative impact on plant output, product scope, employment, and capacity utilization. Resilience to violence differs widely across different types of employment within firms and across firms with different characteristics. Employment decline is driven by bluecollar employment only. Dissecting within- and cross-plant heterogeneity points to a local labor supply channel where particularly plants utilizing low-wage, female, blue-collar workers are impacted. Consistent with a blue-collar labor supply shock, the results show a positive impact on average blue-collar wages and a negative impact on average white-collar wages at the firm level. Output elasticity of violence is also shown to be larger among low-wage, female-intensive but also domestically buying and selling plants. These findings show the rise of drug violence has significant distortive effects on domestic industrial development in Mexico and shed light on the characteristics of the most affected firms and the channels through which they are affected. |
| Keywords: | firms, violence, organized crime, manufacturing, drug war, Mexico, labor, technology, productivity, reallocation, gender |
| JEL: | L25 L60 O12 O14 O18 O19 R11 O54 F14 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15160&r= |
| By: | Porras, María Sylvina; Martín-Román, Ángel L. |
| Abstract: | Okun’s law is an extremely influential parameter in empirical research and policy analysis, based on the sizable number of estimates from this perspective. Nevertheless, it is also subject to considerable heterogeneity. We first show graphical and statistical evidence on the existence of a high level of heterogeneity among Okun’s law estimates in existing research, then analyze potential sources of heterogeneity. Using 1,213 estimates of Okun’s law for various countries, regions, and time periods, separate metaregressions are estimated; one using estimates with the unemployment rate as the dependent variable, and the other with output as the dependent variable. Our findings indicate that the specification of the underlying model of the relationship has an effect on the magnitude of Okun’s parameter. Differential labor market characteristics may also explain part of the observed heterogeneity. Finally, the results are also found to be influenced by methodological issues, such as the type of data (time series or panel data), the frequency of the data (annual or quarterly), the spatial coverage of the estimates (country, region, or group of countries), whether more variables are included in estimations, and whether a dynamic or static, symmetric or asymmetric model is estimated. This paper contributes to highlight the heterogeneity affecting the estimates of Okun's law and that needs to be taken into account. In order to know the "true" relationship between unemployment and economic growth, researchers should bear in mind that there are a number of methodological choices that have consequences for the results. |
| Keywords: | Okun’s Law; heterogeneity; metaregression |
| JEL: | C55 E23 E24 J60 |
| Date: | 2022–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:112442&r= |
| By: | Linguère Mously Mbaye (African Development Bank); Assi Okara (African Development Bank); Massimiliano Tani (University of New South Wales) |
| Abstract: | We develop a theoretical model to investigate whether short-term mobility differentially affects innovation in product or process and carry out an empirical analysis with a focus on Africa using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey, as well as complementary country level information collected by the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation, and the United Nations. We find that labor mobility positively affects innovation: on average, a 10% increase in the flow of international visits per 10,000 inhabitants is associated with a 0.4 increase in the probability to innovate in products/services or process, supporting the use of labor mobility as an effective mechanism to diffuse productive knowledge and foster innovation. The probability of innovation as a result of short-term mobility is 0.4 higher in Africa overall ± especially in East Africa ± vis-à -vis the rest of the world, and strongest in the case of innovation in products and services rather than process, suggesting limited capability to produce entirely within the continent. The results are robust to a variety of approaches controlling for endogeneity, which include a control function approach and the use of an instrumental variable based on a gravity model. Focusing only on arrivals for business and professional purposes, our findings show stronger evidence that African firms are more likely to innovate as a result of short-term mobility compared to the rest of the world. Making Africa a more attractive place to visit by promoting socio-political stability, improving the business environment, developing networks in key areas such as education, and easing administrative travel requirements will be key to fostering innovation in the continent. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, labor mobility, Africa JEL classification: F20, F22, J24, J61, O14, O55 |
| Date: | 2022–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:2487&r= |
| By: | Krzywdzinski, Martin; Pfeiffer, Sabine; Evers, Maren; Gerber, Christine |
| Abstract: | The smart glove or smart data glasses: Digitalization of work means that technology is moving closer to the bodies of employees. It can make movements, vital signs and even emotions visible. Technologies which many people use privately to monitor their sporting activities or health opens up a new dimension of control in the workplace, but also the possibility of supporting employees in complex work processes. Based on case studies of companies in manufacturing and logistics as well as a survey of employees, this study provides insights into operational use cases of wearables and the assessments of employees. It reveals contradictory experiences and a high importance of co-determination and co-design of new technologies by employees and works councils as a condition for using new technologies for improving work quality. |
| Keywords: | technological change,digitalization,manufacturing,logistics,work organization,skills,works councils,Technologischer Wandel,Digitalisierung,Fertigung,Logistik,Arbeitsorganisation,Qualifikationen,Betriebsräte |
| JEL: | J51 J52 J81 O33 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wzbgwp:spiii2022301&r= |
| By: | Valeria Gattai; Piergiovanna Natale; Francesca Rossi |
| Abstract: | Employing firm-level panel data from 2011 to 2015, we investigate the relationship between board diversity and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) among firms headquartered in Europe. Previous studies suggest that best-performing firms self-select into OFDI and that board diversity affects firm performance and strategic decisions. Our focus is on board diversity in terms of gender and nationality as determinants of OFDI. After controlling for endogeneity using instrumental variables and control function methods, we find that board diversity positively affects OFDI by increasing firm performance; however, firms with more diverse boards are less likely to open foreign subsidiaries. Our findings also reveal that the negative effect of board diversity on OFDI is stronger in more productive firms. |
| Keywords: | Board diversity, Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Firm performance, Europe |
| JEL: | F23 G30 J16 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:491&r= |
| By: | Anthony Bald; Joseph J. Doyle Jr.; Max Gross; Brian Jacob |
| Abstract: | Foster care provides substitute living arrangements to protect maltreated children. The practice is remarkably common: it is estimated that 5 percent of children in the United States are placed in foster care at some point during childhood. These children exhibit poor outcomes as children and adults, and economists have begun to estimate the causal relationship between foster care and life outcomes. This paper describes tradeoffs in child welfare policy and provides background on the latest trends in foster care practice to highlight areas most in need of rigorous evidence. These trends include efforts to prevent foster care on the demand side and to improve foster home recruitment on the supply side. With increasing data availability and a growing interest in evidence-based practices, there are opportunities for economic research to inform policies that protect vulnerable children. |
| JEL: | H75 I28 J12 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29906&r= |
| By: | Dur, Robert (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Gomez-Gonzalez, Carlos (University of Zurich); Nesseler, Cornel (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)) |
| Abstract: | A rich literature shows that ethnic discrimination is an omnipresent and highly persistent phenomenon. Little is known, however, about how to reduce discrimination. This study reports the results of a large-scale field experiment we ran together with the Norwegian Football Federation. The federation sent an email to a random selection of about 500 amateur soccer coaches, pointing towards the important role that soccer can play in promoting inclusivity and reducing racism in society and calling on the coaches to be open to all interested applicants. Two weeks later, we sent fictitious applications to join an amateur club, using either a native-sounding or a foreign-sounding name, to the same coaches and to a random selection of about 500 coaches who form the control group. In line with earlier research, we find that applications from people with a native-sounding name receive significantly more positive responses than applications from people with a foreign-sounding name. Surprisingly and unintentionally, the email from the federation substantially increased rather than decreased this gap. Our study underlines the importance of running field experiments to check whether well-intended initiatives are effective in reducing discrimination. |
| Keywords: | ethnic discrimination, intervention, field experiment, correspondence test, amateur soccer |
| JEL: | C93 J15 Z29 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15186&r= |