nep-lab New Economics Papers
on Labour Economics
Issue of 2022‒05‒30
twelve papers chosen by
Joseph Marchand
University of Alberta

  1. The Role of Employment Protection Legislation Regimes in Shaping the Impact of Job Disruption on Older Workers' Mental Health in Times of COVID-19 By Di Novi, Cinzia; Paruolo, Paolo; Verzillo, Stefano
  2. Paid Childcare Leave, Fertility, and Female Labor Supply in South Korea By Kim, Kyeongkuk; Lee, Sang-Hyop; Halliday, Timothy J.
  3. First Out, Last In amid COVID-19: Employment Vulnerability of Youths in the Middle East By Vladimir HLASNY; Shireen ALAZZAWI
  4. Optimal Unemployment Insurance in a THANK Model By Stéphane Auray; Aurélien Eyquem
  5. Incomplete Catching Up: Income among Manchurian, Yi and Han People in Rural China from 2002 to 2018 By Gustafsson, Björn Anders; Zhang, Yudan
  6. Cognitive behavior therapy reduces crime and violence over 10 years: Experimental evidence By Christopher Blattman; Sebastian Chaskel; Julian C. Jamison; Margaret Sheridan
  7. Determinants of Remittance Outflows: The Case of Saudi Arabia By Muhammad Javid; Fakhri Hasanov
  8. The impact of employer branding on job application intention: Evidence from business undergraduates in Vietnam By Nguyen, Minh Tuan; Huynh, Cong Minh
  9. "School Performance and Child Labor: Evidence from West Bank Schools" By Sameh Hallaq; Ayman Khalifah
  10. Globally Engaged Firms in the Covid-19 Crisis By Cristina Constantinescu; Ana Margarida Fernandes; Arti Grover; Stavros Poupakis; Santiago Reyes
  11. The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employees’ Motivation with the Mediating Role of Employees’ Job Satisfaction: The Case of the Petroleum Sector in Egypt By Radi, Sherihan
  12. “And Breathe Normally†: The Low Emission Zone impacts on health and well-being in England. By Beshir, H.A.;; Fichera, E.;

  1. By: Di Novi, Cinzia (European Commission); Paruolo, Paolo (European Commission); Verzillo, Stefano (European Commission)
    Abstract: This study exploits individual data from the 8th wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the SHARE Corona Survey to investigate the mental health consequences of COVID-19 job disruption across different European countries. It focuses on older workers (aged 50 and over) who were exposed to a higher risk of infection from COVID-19 and were also more vulnerable to the risk of long-term unemployment and permanent labour market exits during economic downturns. The relationship between job disruption in times of COVID-19 and older workers' mental health is investigated using differences in country-level employment legislation regimes in the EU. European countries are clustered into three macro-regions with high, intermediate and low employment regulatory protection regulations, using the Employment Protection Legislation (EPL) aggregate score proposed by the OECD. Results reveal a clear EPL gradient: job disruption has a positive and significant impact on older workers' psychological distress especially in those countries where EPL is more binding. The present findings suggest possible mitigating measures for older unemployed in the EU countries with higher Employment Protection legislation.
    Keywords: European Countries; COVID-19 pandemic; job disruption; mental health; older workers; EPL
    JEL: I14 I18 J08
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrs:wpaper:202202&r=
  2. By: Kim, Kyeongkuk (University of Hawaii at Manoa); Lee, Sang-Hyop (University of Hawaii at Manoa); Halliday, Timothy J. (University of Hawaii at Manoa)
    Abstract: We consider the effects of a paid childcare leave subsidy on maternal behavior in South Korea using a difference-in-difference design and a fertility survey with information on conception, contraception, and labor supply arrangements. Childcare subsidies increased conception and decreased contraception. The arc elasticities of the responses of conception and contraception to the childcare subsidy are 0.65 and -0.10, respectively. However, we do not find effects on employment arrangements. In a country with the lowest total fertility rate in the world and that often performs middling in rankings of gender inequality, we conclude that paid childcare leave for working women confers some positive benefits.
    Keywords: childcare leave, fertility, labor supply, Korea
    JEL: J18 J13
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15223&r=
  3. By: Vladimir HLASNY; Shireen ALAZZAWI
    Abstract: This study estimates the impacts of the evolving COVID-19 crisis on the trends in workers’ employment outcomes in Egypt and Jordan. Using panel microdata from ERF COVID-19 MENA Monitors, waves 1–5 (July ‘20–September ‘21), we estimate logit models of workers’ job loss, and multinomial logits of workers’ labor market statuses. We confirm that the COVID-19 regime stringency affects negatively employment and labor participation of most groups of workers – particularly youths, even if they were not disadvantaged pre-COVID-19. Higher education is associated with the retention of a better employment status, conferring consistently high returns in terms of remaining economically active, employed, and in formal employment. Workers’ pre-COVID-19 employment status affects their outcomes amid COVID-19, implying strong employment-status dependence. Those laid off amid COVID-19 come predominantly from among those without (formal) employment pre-pandemic. Between mid-2020 and mid-2021, men’s employment prospects gradually improved, but women faced a stagnation by being largely excluded from work opportunities. Youths trailed non-youths early during the pandemic, but have caught up during recovery. In sum, evidence suggests that youths and women are affected more adversely than non-youths and men at the height of the pandemic, face higher risks of getting laid off, and have a harder time returning to work – supporting the ‘last in’ if not the ‘first out’ hypothesis.
    Keywords: Égypte, Jordanie
    JEL: Q
    Date: 2022–04–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en13906&r=
  4. By: Stéphane Auray (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po, CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Aurélien Eyquem (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po, Université de Lyon)
    Abstract: A Tractable HANK (THANK) model with three agents, incomplete markets, unemployment and sticky prices and wages, is used to analyze the dynamics, welfare and distributional effects of Ramsey-optimal unemployment insurance (UI) policies. First, the optimal transition from a steady state that replicates several empirical regularities of the European labor market to the Ramsey steady state is analyzed. In the long run, the vacancy creation motive dominates, as the replacement rate falls, lowering the unemployment rate. In the short run however, the insurance motive dominates until unemployment falls enough to generate larger welfare gains from a lower unemployment rate. Over the business cycle around the Ramseyoptimal steady state, we nd that the optimal changes in the replacement rate depend (i) on the nature of the shock and (ii) on the presence of price and wage rigidities. After productivity shocks, the vacancy creation motive dominates. After separation shocks, the planner has almost no traction over vacancy creations. Only the insurance and aggregate demand stabilization motives remain, and both point to a counter-cyclical UI policy.
    Keywords: Incomplete markets,Borrowing constraints,Unemployment,Unemployment Insurance
    Date: 2022–04–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03652789&r=
  5. By: Gustafsson, Björn Anders (University of Gothenburg); Zhang, Yudan (Beijing Normal University)
    Abstract: Household income per capita among the rural Yi, Manchurian ethnic minority groups and the Han majority is studied using data from the China Household Income Project 2002, 2013 and 2018. The disparity in total per capita income between the Yi and Han populations narrowed, while the average income among the Manchurian population remained relatively similar to that among the Han population. Decomposing total income into sources shows that the rapid increase in agricultural income among the Yi was a main reason why the disparity in income compared to the two other ethnic groups narrowed. Nevertheless, it is true that the reliance on agricultural income among the Yi became less extreme as wage employment and migration increased. The Manchurian group and the Han group also experienced rapid increases in wages and self-employment income. The aggregated value of transfers from the public sector was similar for all three ethnic groups.
    Keywords: Manchurian, income, Han, ethnic minorities, China, Yi
    JEL: H31 J15 P36
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15219&r=
  6. By: Christopher Blattman (Department of Political Science, University of Chicago); Sebastian Chaskel (Instiglio); Julian C. Jamison (Department of Economics, University of Exeter); Margaret Sheridan (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina)
    Abstract: In most societies, a small number of people commit most of the serious crimes and violence. Short-term studies have shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can reduce such antisocial behaviors. There are some signs that these behavior changes may be temporary, however, especially from therapy on its own. This is unsettled, however, for there has been little randomized and long-term research on the question. We follow 999 high-risk men in Liberia 10 years after randomization into one of four arms: 8 weeks of a low-cost therapy; a $200 cash grant; both therapy and cash; or a control group. Together, the two interventions cost just $530 to deliver. We find that, a decade later, both therapy alone and therapy with economic assistance produce dramatic reductions in antisocial behaviors. Reported drug-selling and participation in thefts and robberies, for example, fall by about half. These impacts are greatest among the very highest-risk men. The effects of therapy alone, however, are somewhat smaller and more fragile. The effects of therapy plus economic assistance are more sustained and precise. Since the cash did not increase earnings for more than a few months after the grants, we hypothesize that the grant, and those few months of legitimate business activity, reinforced the learning-by-doing and habit formation embodied in CBT. Overall, the results suggest that highly-targeted CBT plus economic assistance could be an inexpensive and effective way to prevent violence, especially when policymakers are searching for alternatives to aggressive policing and incarceration.
    Keywords: cognitive behavior therapy, cash transfers, crime, violence, mental health, Africa, field experiments
    JEL: K42 O15 O17 D83
    Date: 2022–05–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exe:wpaper:2203&r=
  7. By: Muhammad Javid; Fakhri Hasanov (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center)
    Abstract: International labor migration has played a key role in the development of both advanced and developing countries. Many developing countries in Asia have relied on labor migration, mainly to the oil-rich Gulf region, to reduce both unemployment and poverty (Naseem 2007). Mansoor and Quillin (2006) explain that poverty, unemployment and low wages in developing countries are the main drivers of migration from these countries. Higher wages and the potential for improved standards of living and professional development in resource-rich countries are pull factors for migration.
    Keywords: Agent Based modeling, Analytics, Applied Research, Autometrics
    Date: 2022–05–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prc:dpaper:ks--2022-dp05&r=
  8. By: Nguyen, Minh Tuan; Huynh, Cong Minh
    Abstract: This study aims to figure out the impact of employer branding perception on job application intention of business undergraduates in three main provinces of Southeast Vietnam, including Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ho Chi Minh City. The result shows that Task Attractiveness, Payment Attractiveness, and Working Atmosphere positively affect business undergraduates’ job application intention. However, our findings also show that the participants do not put a lot of attention on the Work-life Comfort factor and the Career Opportunities factor.
    Keywords: Employer Branding, Working Atmosphere, Career Opportunities, Work-life Comfort, Task Attractiveness, Payment Attractiveness, Intention to Apply
    JEL: M12 M51 M54 O15
    Date: 2022–05–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:112927&r=
  9. By: Sameh Hallaq; Ayman Khalifah
    Abstract: The current study aims to investigate the impact of academic achievement on child labor. The study utilizes survey data collected from Palestinian children in West Bank schools who are in the primary grades (5th-9th). The results show that increasing a child's academic achievement is significantly associated with decreasing the probability that a child works for money in the following period. Our findings varied among children according to their gender, age, and parental academic background. Our analyses are subject to different specifications, including two-stage least squares (2SLS) to account for potential endogeneity. The results provide robust evidence about the linkage between school performance and child labor in the West Bank. Further, the study proposes an assessment of the child’s mental health problems by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as a potential mechanism through which the child's achievement at school affects child labor.
    Keywords: Academic Achievement; Child Labor; West Bank
    JEL: D15 I21 J13 I12
    Date: 2022–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_1007&r=
  10. By: Cristina Constantinescu; Ana Margarida Fernandes; Arti Grover; Stavros Poupakis; Santiago Reyes
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the initial impact and recovery of globally engaged firms from the COVID-19 crisis. It uses rich survey data of nearly 65,000 firm-year observations in 45 countries spanning three waves of data collection. The findings are organized in a series of stylized facts, which suggest that although the pandemic had an immediate adverse impact on most firms, the globally engaged ones are recovering faster, possibly due to their higher capabilities. Among globally engaged firms, those directly involved with international markets show better recovery than the ones that were indirectly involved. These results mask wide variation by firm traits, sectoral attributes, and country characteristics. At the core of the recovery of globally engaged firms is their heightened response to the crisis by finding novel ways to adapt supply chains even in the presence of lockdowns and uncertainty. These firms swiftly digitalized, introduced new products and changed their markets and sources of inputs. Over and above their capabilities, global engagement cushions firms against shocks. Policymakers could therefore facilitate global linkages by providing information on potential markets and products, by making production flexible in terms of facilitating remote work, reducing the rigidity of contracts; and incentivizing financial institutions to issue instruments that reduce uncertainty risk.
    Keywords: Covid-19, crisis, firms, recovery, trade, exporters, global value chains
    JEL: D22 F14 L20 L25 O10
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9711&r=
  11. By: Radi, Sherihan
    Abstract: Servant leadership, the growing trend in today’s business and the future leadership style is based on the concept that a healthy business development can be achieved if all employees at all levels are supported. It is a powerful and energetic factor in creating employees motivation encouraging employees to work with a higher degree of enthusiasm to achieve some of the best business results. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of servant leadership on employees’ motivation with the mediating role of employees’ job satisfaction. The structural equation model (SEM) method has been used and the population sample size consisted of 186 employees working in the petroleum sector in Egypt. The result of this empirical research is that servant leadership has a significant positive impact on employees’ motivation in the workplace and that employees’ job satisfaction plays a meditating role of 77% of the total effect between servant leadership and employees’ motivation. Insights from this study can be used for the achievement of this research line development in future.
    Keywords: servant leadership, employees’ motivation, employees’ job satisfaction, mediating role.
    JEL: J50
    Date: 2022–04–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:112852&r=
  12. By: Beshir, H.A.;; Fichera, E.;
    Abstract: Air pollution is a global concern for its negative externalities on the climate, but also on the healthcare sector and human capital accumulation. Yet, there is scant evidence on the effectiveness of clean air transport policies. In this study we investigate the effects of London’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) on health and well-being. We exploit the temporal and spatial variation of these policies, implemented in Greater London (LEZ) and Central London (ULEZ) in 2008 and 2019, respectively. Using a difference-in-differences approach and linked survey and administrative data, we find LEZ has significantly reduced PM10 by 12% of the baseline mean and ULEZ has reduced both NO2 by 12.4% and PM10 by 27%. We also show improvements in health with LEZ reducing limiting health problems by 7%, COPD by 14.5% and sick leave by 17%; and ULEZ reducing number of health conditions by 22.5%, anxiety by 6.5%, and sick leave by 18%. A back of the envelope cost-benefit analysis indicates savings for £963.7M for the overall population.
    Keywords: air pollution; well-being; low emission zones;
    JEL: I25 J1 O12
    Date: 2022–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:22/09&r=

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