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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Nikolov, Plamen (State University of New York); Salarpour Goodarzi, Leila (Binghamton University, New York); Titus, David (University of Victoria) |
| Abstract: | Upon arrival to a new country, many immigrants face job downgrading, a phenomenon describing workers being in jobs far below where they would be assigned based on their skills. Downgrading leads to immigrants receiving lower returns to the same skills than natives. The level of downgrading could depend on the type of immigrant and numerous factors. This study examines the determinants of skill downgrading among two types of immigrants – refugees and economic immigrants – in the German labor markets between 1984 and 2018. We find that refugees downgrade more than economic immigrants, and this discrepancy between the two groups persists over time. We show that language skill improvements exert a strong influence on subsequent labor market outcomes of both groups. |
| Keywords: | downgrading, immigrants, refugees, Germany, labor markets, wages, employment |
| JEL: | J11 J15 J61 F22 O15 J61 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15426&r= |
| By: | Pia Heckl (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies gender differences in the labor market reallocation of workers in Mexico as a response to trade liberalization with China. To measure exposure to import competition, I exploit variation in the initial industry structure of Mexican local labor markets. I show that aggregate outcomes mask heterogeneous responses based on gender. Although the employment rate drops for both men and women, the former enter into unemployment while the latter leave the labor force. The results suggest that the drop in the female labor force participation rate is driven by their exit out of formal and especially informal work. |
| Keywords: | Trade, Gender Inequality, Labor Market, Informal Work, Mexico |
| JEL: | F16 J16 J21 J46 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp327&r= |
| By: | Barrera, Oscar (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Bensidoun, Isabelle (CEPII, Paris); Edo, Anthony (CEPII, Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role played by immigrants and their children in shaping native attitudes toward immigrants in the European Union. By exploiting the 2017 Special Eurobarometer on immigrant integration, we show that countries with a relatively high share of immigrants are more likely to believe that immigrants are a burden on the welfare system and worsen crime. In contrast, native opinions on the impact of immigration on culture and the labor market are unrelated to the presence of immigrants. We also find that the effects of second-generation immigrants on pro-immigrant attitudes toward security and fiscal concerns are positive (as opposed to first-generation immigrants). Finally, we find no impact of the immigrant share on the attitudes of natives supporting far-left or left political parties, while it is the most negative among respondents affiliated with far-right parties. |
| Keywords: | immigration, second-generation immigrants, attitudes toward immigrants, public opinion |
| JEL: | F22 J15 P16 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15393&r= |
| By: | Asenjo, Antonia (Universidad Alberto Hurtado); Escudero, Veronica (ILO International Labour Organization); Liepmann, Hannah (ILO International Labour Organization) |
| Abstract: | The integration of active labour market policies within income support schemes – such as unemployment insurance and social assistance – has been a key component of social protection in high-income countries since the 1990s, with a rich literature reviewing its effects and implementation characteristics. More recently, this approach has spread beyond high-income economies, and is prominent today in many middle-income economies. Yet, despite the increasing adoption of integrated approaches, their conceptual and practical applications have not been studied in detail outside of high-income countries. This paper conceptualizes, for the first time, the implementation of integrated approaches, focusing on low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We first develop a conceptual framework to understand how integrated policies can address labour market challenges, exploring the theoretical effects they exert on selected labour market and social dimensions. We then contrast these theoretical expectations with findings from the empirical literature on the effectiveness of integrated approaches. While many empirical studies find positive effects across different labour market dimensions, this is evidently not always the case. To reconcile this discrepancy, we investigate the design and implementation of integrated approaches across LMIC and identify factors which contribute to their effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | active labour market policies, unemployment insurance, cash transfers, policy integration, low- and middle-income countries |
| JEL: | I38 J08 J46 J81 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15401&r= |
| By: | Silvia Loi (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Peng Li (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Mikko Myrskylä (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Adverse life events are major causes of declining health and well-being, but the effects are not the same across subpopulations. We analyze how the intersection of nativity and two main adverse life events, job loss and divorce, affect individual health and well-being trajectories. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984-2017), we apply descriptive techniques and individual fixed-effects regressions to analyze how job loss and divorce influence health. Our results support the hypothesis of the intersectional effects of disadvantage and adversities on health and well-being, with immigrants suffering more from adverse life events than natives in both the short and the long run. Compared to natives, immigrants have a health advantage at younger ages, which turns into a disadvantage at older ages. The observed health declines are particularly steep among immigrants who experienced adverse life events. These results help to explain the vanishing health advantage of immigrants by showing that they are exposed to a double disadvantage over the life course: i.e., immigrants are more likely than natives to suffer from adverse life events, and such events typically have a larger impact on the health of immigrants than of natives. Our findings are the first to provide evidence on the effects of different adverse life events intersecting with each other and with nativity. Moreover, our results highlight the importance of intersectional analyses in research on immigrant health. |
| Keywords: | Germany, health, inequality, migrants |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2022-018&r= |
| By: | Lea Steininger (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Jan Philipp Fritsche (Humboldt University of Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | We study the role of firm heterogeneity and cost structure in determining the transmission of monetary policy. Using local projections and high dimensional fixed effects, we show that a one standard deviation contractionary monetary policy shock decreases firms' labor share by 0.4 percent, on average. However, reactions are heterogeneous along two dimensions: The labor share is most informative to discriminate firms by their response in payroll expenses, firms' leverage is most informative to discriminate by their response in value added. We interpret these findings by theorizing differential effects of factor input costs. Our results inform the policy debate on transmission and redistribution effects of monetary policy, and suggest that the effectiveness of monetary policy may depend on the labor intensity of production. |
| Keywords: | Monetary policy, firm heterogeneity, labor share, production dynamics, factor input costs |
| JEL: | D22 E52 D31 E23 E32 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp326&r= |
| By: | Huaxin Wang-Lu; Octasiano Miguel Valerio Mendoza |
| Abstract: | China's structural changes have brought new challenges to its regional employment structure, entailing spatial redistribution of workforce. However, Chinese research on migration decisions involving future outcomes and on city-level bilateral longitudinal determinants is almost non-existent. This paper sheds light on the effects of sector-based job prospects on individual migration decisions across prefecture boundaries. To this end, we created a proxy variable for job prospects, compiled a unique quasi-panel of 66,427 individuals from 283 cities during 1997--2017, expanded the random utility maximisation model of migration by introducing the reference-dependence, derived empirical specifications with theoretical micro-foundations and applied various monadic and dyadic fixed effects to address multilateral resistance to migration. Multilevel logit models and two-step system GMM estimation were adopted for the robustness check. Our primary findings are that a 10% increase in the ratio of sector-based job prospects in cities of destination to cities of origin raises the probability of migration by 1.281--2.185 percentage points, and the effects tend to be stronger when the scale of the ratio is larger. Having a family migration network causes an increase of approximately 6 percentage points in migratory probabilities. Further, labour migrants are more likely to be male, unmarried, younger, or more educated. Our results suggest that the ongoing industrial reform in China influences labour mobility between prefecture-level cities, providing important insights for regional policymakers to prevent brain drain and to attract relevant talent. |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2207.08282&r= |
| By: | Anita Mezza (University of Helsinki) |
| Abstract: | Education systems are facing challenges in relation to attracting and retaining excellent teachers. Strengthening teacher professionalism by deriving insights from other sectors is a promising approach in confronting these issues. This paper maps the position of teaching in the changing landscape of professions using a cross-sectoral approach to identify areas for practitioners, researchers and policymakers to improve teaching status and practice, with repercussions on the public’s respect for the work of teachers. Existing literature, alongside OECD findings, suggest that a focus on career progression and specialisation, autonomy, and status, are promising areas for implementing cross sectoral insights. Simultaneously, teaching is well placed to explore the potential of collaboration, continuing professional learning and engagement with research, thus playing a role in renewing professionalism itself. This paper calls for increased discussion about teacher professionalism at the local level, with teachers themselves at the forefront of innovation supported by researchers and policymakers. |
| Date: | 2022–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:276-en&r= |
| By: | Bernhard Schuetz (Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a 2-country stock-flow consistent agent-based model of a monetary union and exposes it to three supposed drivers of imbalances in the build-up to the Great Recession: unequal developments in investment, competitiveness and wages. The model has some innovative features: It does not rely on given propensities to import, with agents from different regions instead all being part of the same market and import shares emerging endogenously as a result of the geographical distance between agents. The model also features labor hoarding by firms and a banking sector that bears some Minskyan features. The model is able to replicate the low unemployment rates in the North that were paralleled with falling unemployment rates in the South together with trade imbalances in favor of the North. |
| Keywords: | stock-flow consistent agent-based modeling; monetary union; international imbalances; investment; productivity; wages |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ico:wpaper:138&r= |
| By: | Juan A. (Department of Economic Theory and Economic History, University of Granada.); Francisco Lagos (Department of Economic Theory and Economic History, University of Granada.); Ana I. Moro-Egido (Department of Economic Theory and Economic History, University of Granada.) |
| Abstract: | In a period in which COVID-19 began to spread quickly around the world, and the WHO had just declared a public health emergency of international concern, we examine the impact of these circumstances on perceived job insecurity in the entire population of Spain (both employed and non-employed). We also analyse the role of residential environments (urban/rural) and labour status on these job perceptions. To this end, we conducted a large-scale survey in Spain just before and after the nationwide lockdown was implemented on March 14, 2020, and a law with extraordinary urgent measures to address the economic, labour, and social impact was passed on March 17, 2020 (ERTE in Spanish). Our results show that the lockdown increased job insecurity for individuals not in paid employment but that these perceptions were fully offset by the new law. Regarding the role of place of residence, living in rural areas increased perceived job insecurity for females in paid employment, individuals with children not in paid employment, middle-aged individuals either in paid or unpaid employment, and young individuals not in paid employment, although at different points of time. However, for males in paid employment and older individuals not in paid employment, living in rural areas was accompanied by lower perceived job insecurity. Finally, towns and suburbs also played a role in feelings of job insecurity but only for middle-aged (higher insecurity) and older individuals (lower insecurity). |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, Lockdown and ERTE, Job insecurity, Urban-rural Differences. |
| JEL: | C21 D90 H12 I31 R19 |
| Date: | 2022–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gra:wpaper:22/10&r= |
| By: | Darya Korlyakova |
| Abstract: | There is a long-standing concern that expected discrimination discourages minorities from exercising effort to succeed. Effort withdrawal could contribute to confirming negative stereotypes about minorities’ productivity and enduring disparities. This paper extends the findings of correlational research by exogenously manipulating individuals’ beliefs about discrimination against their group and exploring a causal link between perceived discrimination and individuals’ labor market behavior. For this purpose, we conduct an online experiment in the US with a diverse sample of 2,000 African Americans. We randomly assign individuals to two groups and inform one group about the frequency of discrimination against African Americans in a previous survey. To study the information effects on effort, we subsequently measure participants’ results on a math task. We document that most individuals initially overestimate discrimination against African Americans. The overestimation decreases strongly and significantly as a result of information provision. At the same time, treated individuals, males in particular, attempt and solve correctly fewer math problems compared to untreated individuals. Hence, our findings do not support the common concern that minorities’ inflated expectations about discrimination induce them to underperform. |
| Keywords: | perceived discrimination; racial minorities; effort; |
| JEL: | C99 D83 J15 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp731&r= |
| By: | Matteo Picchio (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University); Michele Ubaldi (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University) |
| Abstract: | This paper is a meta-analysis on the relationship between unemployment and health. Our meta-dataset is made up of 327 study results coming from 65 articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 1990 and 2021. We find that publication bias is important, but only for those study results obtained through difference-in-differences or instrumental variables estimators. The average effect of unemployment on health is negative, but small in terms of partial correlation coefficient. We investigate if findings are heterogeneous among several research dimensions. We find that unemployment is mostly effective on the psychological domains of health and that short- and long-term unemployment spells equally affect health. Dealing with endogeneity issues is important and, when this is done, the unemployment effects on health are closer to be nil. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment; health; meta-analysis; meta-regression; publication bias |
| JEL: | C52 I10 I12 J64 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:467&r= |