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on Labour Economics |
| By: | van der Klaauw, Bas (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Vethaak, Heike (University of Leiden) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses data from a large-scale field experiment where unemployed workers were randomly assigned to an additional caseworker meeting with the purpose to impose a broader job search strategy. We find that the meeting significantly increases job finding and is cost effective. However, caseworkers differ substantially in the rate at which they impose broader job search. We exploit this heterogeneity in caseworker stringency and the random assignment of unemployed workers to caseworkers within local offices to evaluate the broader search requirement. Our results show that imposing the broader search requirements reduces job finding. We argue that restricting the job search opportunities forces unemployed workers to search sub-optimally which negatively affects labor market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, broader job search, caseworker stringency, caseworker meetings, field experiment |
| JEL: | J22 J64 J65 J68 C93 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15698&r=lab |
| By: | Kunze, Astrid (Norwegian School of Economics); Scharfenkamp, Katrin (University of Bielefeld) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates boards of (non-executive) directors and whether employee representation has a positive effect on gender diversity on boards. We exploit rich, newly assembled board–director matched panel data for Norway and Germany, which contain unique information on whether a director represents shareholders or employees during the period around 2008, when a Norwegian board gender quota came into effect. We present two novel results that challenge previous thinking about the effects of board gender quotas on women directors. First, we find a positive impact of employee representation before the gender quota reform on gender diversity. Second, although the Norwegian gender quota has increased the probability of a director being female, the effect through employee representation has relatively decreased after the implementation of the reform. We discuss potential mechanisms and implications for the design of co-determination laws and gender quotas. |
| Keywords: | affirmative action, employee representation, shared governance, co-determination, women, boards of directors, firm size |
| JEL: | G3 J16 K3 L21 L25 M54 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15691&r=lab |
| By: | Clemens, Michael A. (Center for Global Development); Lewis, Ethan Gatewood (Dartmouth College) |
| Abstract: | The U.S. limits work visas for low-skill jobs outside of agriculture, with a binding quota that firms access via a randomized lottery. We evaluate the marginal impact of the quota on firms entering the 2021 H-2B visa lottery using a novel survey and pre-analysis plan. Firms exogenously authorized to employ more immigrants significantly increase production (elasticity +0.16) with no decrease or an increase in U.S. employment (elasticity +0.10, statistically imprecise) across several pre-registered subsamples. The results imply very low substitutability of native for foreign labor in the policy-relevant occupations. Forensic analysis suggests similarly low substitutability of black-market labor. |
| Keywords: | immigration, immigrant, foreign, labor, mobility, skill, manual, high school, college, firms, elasticity, substitution, productivity, rural, urban |
| JEL: | F22 J61 D22 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15667&r=lab |
| By: | Bailey, Martha J. (University of California, Los Angeles); Currie, Janet (Princeton University); Schwandt, Hannes (Northwestern University) |
| Abstract: | We use restricted natality microdata covering the universe of U.S. births for 2015-2021 and California births from 2015 to August 2022 to examine the childbearing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although fertility rates declined in 2020, these declines appear to reflect reductions in travel to the U.S. Childbearing in the U.S. among foreign-born mothers declined immediately after lockdowns began—nine months too soon to reflect the pandemic's effects on conceptions. We also find that the COVID pandemic resulted in a small "baby bump" among U.S.-born mothers. The 2021 baby bump is the first major reversal in declining U.S. fertility rates since 2007 and was most pronounced for first births and women under age 25, which suggests the pandemic led some women to start their families earlier. Above age 25, the baby bump was also pronounced for women ages 30-34 and women with a college education, who were more likely to benefit from working from home. The data for California track the U.S. data closely and suggest that U.S. births remained elevated through the third quarter of 2022. |
| Keywords: | fertility rates, pregnancy, COVID-19, pandemic, recession |
| JEL: | J13 I14 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15703&r=lab |
| By: | Mayda, Anna Maria (Georgetown University); Orefice, Gianluca (Université Paris-Dauphine); Santoni, Gianluca (CEPII, Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the impact of skilled migrants on the innovation (patenting) activity of French firms between 1995 and 2010, and investigates the underlying mechanism. We present districtlevel and firm-level estimates and address endogeneity using a modified version of the shift-share instrument. Skilled migrants increase the number of patents at both the district and firm level. Large, high-productivity and capital-intensive firms benefit the most, in terms of innovation activity, from skilled immigrant workers. Importantly, we provide evidence that one channel through which the effect works is task specialization (as in Peri and Sparber, 2009). The arrival of skilled immigrants drives French skilled workers towards language-intensive, managerial tasks while foreign skilled workers specialize in technical, research-oriented tasks. This mechanism manifests itself in the estimated increase in the share of foreign inventors in patenting teams as a consequence of skilled migration. Through this channel, greater innovation is the result of productivity gains from specialization. |
| Keywords: | skilled immigration, innovation, patents |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15693&r=lab |
| By: | Bhalotra, Sonia (University of Warwick); Clarke, Damian (Department of Economics, University of Chile, IZA, CAGE & MIPP) |
| Abstract: | The occurrence of twin births has been widely used as a natural experiment. With a focus upon the use of twin births for identification of causal effects in economics, this chapter provides a critical review of methods and results. JEL Codes: D10 ; I26 ; J13 ; J24 |
| Keywords: | Twins ; identification ; fertility ; birth spacing ; child development ; women’s labour market outcomes ; child penalty |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:638&r=lab |
| By: | Johanna Etner (EconomiX,Univ Paris Nanterre, CNRS. F92000 Nanterre, France.); Natacha Raffin (Universite Paris-Saclay, ENS Paris-Saclay, Centre for Economics at Paris-Saclay, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.); Thomas Seegmuller (Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France.) |
| Abstract: | We use an overlapping generations setup with two reproductive periods to explore how fertility decisions may differ in response to economic incentives in early and late adulthood. In particular, we analyze the interplay between fertility choices-related to career opportunities-and wages, and investigate the role played by late fertility. We show that young adults only postpone parenthood above a certain wage threshold and that late fertility increases with investment in human capital. The long run trend is either to a low productivity equilibrium, involving high early fertility, no investment in human capital and relatively low income, or to a high productivity equilibrium, where households postpone parenthood to invest in their human capital, with higher late fertility and higher levels of income. A convergence to the latter state would explain the postponement of parenthood and the fertility rebound observed in Europe in recent decades. |
| Keywords: | fertility, postponement, reproductive health, overlapping generations |
| JEL: | J11 J13 E21 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2225&r=lab |
| By: | Blanchflower, David G. (Dartmouth College); Bryson, Alex (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Central bankers are raising interest rates on the assumption that wage-push inflation may lead to stagflation. This is not the case. Although unemployment is low, the labor market is not 'tight'. On the contrary, we show that what matters for wage growth are the non-employment rate and the under-employment rate. Both are high and act as brakes on wage growth. By lowering already low levels of consumer confidence, higher interest rates are liable to exacerbate workers' inability to maintain their real wages by reducing labor demand still further. Furthermore, we argue inflationary pressures have been generated by short-term supply side problems, rather than excessive demand in the economy. Under these conditions, just as in the Great Recession we anticipate deflation in the near future, coupled with rising joblessness and recession. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, non-employment, wages, inflation, labor market |
| JEL: | E31 E43 J2 J3 J64 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15695&r=lab |
| By: | Hai-Anh H. Dang (World Bank); Trong-Anh Trinh (World Bank); Paolo Verme (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Hardly any evidence exists on the effects of mental illness on refugee labor outcomes. We offer the first study on this topic in the context of Australia, one of the host countries with the largest number of refugees per capita in the world. Analyzing the Building a New Life in Australia longitudinal survey, we exploit the variations in traumatic experiences of refugees interacted with post-resettlement time periods to causally identify the impacts of refugee mental health. We find that worse mental health, as measured by a one-standard-deviation increase in the Kessler mental health score, reduces the probability of employment by 14.1% and labor income by 26.8%. We also find some evidence of adverse impacts of refugees’ mental illness on their children’s mental health and education performance. These effects appear more pronounced for refugees that newly arrive or are without social networks, but they may be ameliorated with government support. |
| Keywords: | refugees, mental health, labor outcomes, instrumental variable, BNLA longitudinal survey, Australia |
| JEL: | I15 J15 J21 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:376&r=lab |
| By: | Katarína Lukáčová; Lucia Kováčová; Martin Kahanec |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic and technological adjustment increased the risk of unemployment, underemployment and skills mismatch across Europe. These increased risks highlighted the importance of national unemployment benefit schemes for income security. This article examines the role of industrial relations in shaping unemployment benefit regimes in the Visegrad countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. We adopted an actor-oriented approach based on desk research and 12 semi-structured interviews with the representatives of trade unions and employers in all the Visegrad countries. Our research showed that the capacities of the trade unions and employers' associations to shape the unemployment benefit regimes were rather limited. State control over social policy remained very strong and shaped the dynamics of industrial relations, without inclusive involvement of social partners. National governments sought to implement measures to protect employment (mainly wage subsidies), rather than to reform existing unemployment support regimes. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment benefits, short-time work, industrial relations, Visegrad countries, Central and Eastern Europe, COVID-19 pandemic |
| JEL: | J51 J52 J58 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2022–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:dpaper:63&r=lab |
| By: | Matthew Curtis |
| Abstract: | When did marriage become strongly assortative? Is it a recent development, aconsequence of increased female employment and a cause of rising inequality? A longrun perspective is necessary to answer this question. This paper uses a uniquely suitabledatabase from Quebec 1800{1970 to provide such a perspective. First, it develops anovel method which reveals that marriage was highly assortative as far back as the earlynineteenth century. Next, it shows this matching depended on the individual humancapital of women, not just on family backgrounds. Finally, it shows that mothers hada causal impact on child outcomes independently from fathers. Thus, despite deeplyconservative gender norms, marriage matching |
| Keywords: | Assortative mating; marriage matching; sorting; human captial; intergenerational mobility |
| JEL: | J12 J62 N31 N32 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/351619&r=lab |
| By: | Senik, Claudia (Paris School of Economics); Clark, Andrew E. (Paris School of Economics); D'Ambrosio, Conchita (University of Luxembourg); Lepinteur, Anthony (University of Luxembourg); Schröder, Carsten (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | We carry out a difference-in-differences analysis of a representative real-time survey conducted as part of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study and show that teleworking had a negative average effect on life satisfaction over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. This average effect hides considerable heterogeneity reflecting genderrole asymmetry: lower life satisfaction is only found for unmarried men and women with school-age children. The negative effect for women with school-age children disappears in 2021, suggesting adaptation to new constraints and/or the adoption of coping strategies. |
| Keywords: | life satisfaction, teleworking, work from home, gender, childcare, COVID-19, SOEP |
| JEL: | I31 M5 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15715&r=lab |
| By: | Lang, M; Seither, J |
| Abstract: | In contexts where women have few opportunities for wage work, entrepreneurship may be one of the only avenues for economic inclusion. However, women-owned businesses are often less profitable than their male-owned counterparts, and many microenterprises do not grow. Can removing skills-based barriers to productive entrepreneurship increase women’s incomes and, if so, what happens when women become productive entrepreneurs? We randomize a program targeting ultra-poor women in Uganda that promotes business and entrepreneurship skills development. Removing these barriers generates large effects on business creation and increases profits by 105% relative to control. Treated women heavily re-invest their profits, spending only 23% on household consumption. As a result, we detect no effects on household welfare within our study period. However, we document significant, positive spillovers to other women and children in the community. Our results highlight the importance of skills-based constraints to productive entrepreneurship while pointing to remaining barriers to private sector development. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Firm growth, Behavioral development economics |
| JEL: | D13 D23 D91 J16 O12 |
| Date: | 2022–11–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:020563&r=lab |
| By: | Irene Bertschek; Joern Block; Alexander S. Kritikos; Caroline Stiel |
| Abstract: | In response to strong revenue and income losses that a large share of the self-employed faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the German federal government introduced a €50bn emergency aid program. Based on real-time online-survey data comprising more than 20,000 observations, we analyze the impact of this program on the subjective survival probability. In particular, we investigate how the digitalization level of the self-employed influences the program’s effectiveness. Employing propensity score matching, we find that the emergency aid program had only moderately positive effects on the confidence of the self-employed to survive the crisis. However, the self-employed whose businesses were highly digitalized, benefitted much more from the state aid compared to those whose businesses were less digitalized. This holds true only for those self-employed in advanced digitalization stages, who started the digitalization processes already before the crisis. Moreover, taking a regional perspective, we find suggestive evidence that the quality of the regional broadband infrastructure matters in the sense that it increases the effectiveness of the emergency aid program. Our findings show the interplay between governmental support programs, the digitalization levels of entrepreneurs, and the regional digital infrastructure. The study helps public policy to increase the impact of crisis-related policy instruments. |
| Keywords: | Self-employment, emergency aid, treatment effects, COVID-19, entrepreneurship, digitalization, resilience |
| JEL: | C14 H43 L25 L26 J68 O33 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2018&r=lab |
| By: | Kim Leonie Kellermann |
| Abstract: | Do politically administered mass layoffs undermine trust and political interest? During the German reunification, formerly state-owned socialist firms in East Germany were privatized by the Treuhand, which came at the cost of massive job losses and public protest. I demonstrate that these activities had a detrimental effect on attitudes and political behavior of the affected individuals. Using survey data from the German Socio-economic Panel and election results, I find that East Germans who lost their jobs exhibit significantly lower trust levels, lower political interest and a lower identification with mainstream democratic parties, even up to 30 years after reunification. I corroborate the causality of the results using fixed-effects estimations and a placebo analysis, which fails to explain political disenchantment by reasons other than the Treuhand experience. I interpret the findings as the persistent, negative effect of perceived political mismanagement during a crucial phase of economic transition on long-run political identification. |
| Keywords: | East Germany, trust, political alienation, privatization, radical voting |
| JEL: | D72 E24 L33 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1175&r=lab |
| By: | Ulrike Unterhofer; Conny Wunsch |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the macroeconomic effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) in Germany over the period 2005 to 2018. We propose a novel identification strategy to overcome the simultaneity of ALMP and labour market outcomes at the regional level. It exploits the imperfect overlap of local labour markets and local employment agencies that decide on the local implementation of policies. Specifically, we instrument for the use of ALMP in a local labour market with the mix of ALMP implemented outside this market but in local employment agencies that partially overlap with this market. We find no effects of short-term activation measures and further vocational training on aggregate labour market outcomes. In contrast, wage subsidies substantially increase the share of workers in unsubsidised employment while lowering long-term unemployment and welfare dependency. Our results suggest that negative externalities of ALMP partially offset the effects for program participants and that some segments of the labour market benefit more than others. |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2211.12437&r=lab |
| By: | Jessica Bai; Matthew Esche; W. Bentley MacLeod; Yifan Shi |
| Abstract: | We introduce a model of the admissions process based upon standard agency theory and explore its implications with economics PhD admissions data from 2013-2019. We show that a subjective score that aggregates subjective ratings and recommendation letter features plays a more important role in determining admissions than an objective score based upon graduate record exam (GRE) scores. Subjective evaluations by references who write multiple letters are not only more influential than those of references who write one letter, but they are also more informative. Since multiple-letter references are also more highly ranked economists, this implies that there is a constraint on the supply of high-quality references. Moreover, we find that both the subjective and objective scores are correlated with job placement at a top economics department after the completion of the PhD. These indicators of individual achievement have a smaller effect than an undergraduate degree from an Ivy Plus school (i.e., Ivy League + Stanford, MIT, Duke, and Chicago). In the self-selected pool of applicants, Ivy Plus graduates are twice as likely to be admitted to a top 10 graduate program and are much more likely to obtain an assistant professor position at a top 10 program upon PhD completion. Given that Ivy Plus students must pass a stringent selection process to gain admission to their undergraduate program, we cannot reject the hypothesis that admission committees use information efficiently and fairly. However, this also implies that there may be a return to attending a selective undergraduate program in order to be pooled with highly skilled individuals. |
| JEL: | I24 J01 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30677&r=lab |
| By: | Mika Akesaka (Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, JAPAN); Nobuyoshi Kikuchi (Department of Economics, The University of Tokyo, JAPAN) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of local labor market conditions during early pregnancy on birth and later outcomes. Using a longitudinal survey of newborns in Japan, we find that improvements in employment opportunities increase the probability of low birth weight, attributable to shortened gestation. This negative effect is driven mainly by the changes in labor demand for women. However, we find little evidence of a lasting effect of changes in labor demand during early pregnancy on severe health conditions or developmental delays in early childhood. Using prefecture-level panel data, we confirm that the negative effect on infant birth weight is not driven by selective fertility and mortality. |
| Keywords: | Labor market conditions; Newborn health; Low birth weight; Recession |
| JEL: | I10 J13 J16 J23 R11 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2022-37&r=lab |
| By: | Goulas, Sofoklis (Stanford University); Megalokonomou, Rigissa (University of Queensland); Zhang, Yi (University of Queensland) |
| Abstract: | How much does your neighbor impact your test scores and career? In this paper, we examine how an observable characteristic of same-age neighbors—their gender—affects a variety of high school and university outcomes. We exploit randomness in the gender composition of local cohorts at birth from one year to the next. In a setting in which school assignment is based on proximity to residential address, we define as neighbors all same-cohort peers who attend neighboring schools. Using new administrative data for the universe of students in consecutive cohorts in Greece, we find that a higher share of female neighbors improves both male and female students' high school and university outcomes. We also find that female students are more likely to enroll in STEM degrees and target more lucrative occupations when they are exposed to a higher share of female neighbors. We collect rich qualitative geographic data on communal spaces (e.g., churches, libraries, parks, Scouts and sports fields) to understand whether access to spaces of social interaction drives neighbor effects. We find that communal facilities amplify neighbor effects among females. |
| Keywords: | neighbor gender peer effects, cohort-to-cohort random variation, birth gender composition, geodata, STEM university degrees |
| JEL: | J16 J24 I24 I26 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15733&r=lab |
| By: | Doris Hanzl-Weiss (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Branimir Jovanović (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the economic and social impacts of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 17 economies in Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE). More precisely, we investigate how different FDI inflows have affected various economic and social indicators, such as GDP growth, labour market outcomes, and poverty and inequality, for the period since the fall of communism until 2020. We pay particular attention to FDI that originates from the EU, as well as FDI from Germany and Austria, in order to evaluate whether their effects are different from the effects of FDI from other places of origin. We also examine whether there are differences in the impacts of different types of FDI – equity capital, reinvested earnings and intra-company debt, as well as of FDI that goes to different sectors of the economy – the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. We find that FDI inflows have had, in general, a positive effect on economic growth in CESEE, and that this effect has been particularly strong for German and Austrian FDI. For total FDI, higher inflows of 1 percentage point (pp) of GDP are associated with 0.19 pp higher GDP growth. For FDI from Germany and Austria, this effect is five times higher – FDI inflows of 1 pp of GDP have led to 0.9 pp higher GDP growth. The positive GDP effects have come from the higher consumption and exports that the FDI has induced. FDI inflows have also reduced unemployment and increased wages, but have had no effects on labour productivity. Total FDI has had only limited effects on inequality and poverty, but FDI from Germany and Austria has been found to reduce both inequality and poverty, likely because they have benefitted mainly lower-income persons. There are differences in the effects of the different types of FDI, with reinvested earnings and equity capital having in general more beneficial effects than intra-company loans. Also, FDI in different sectors of the economy has had different effects, with inflows to the secondary and tertiary sectors having greater effects than inflows to the primary sector. The policy implications of these results are that CESEE economies should not give up on their efforts to attract more FDI, but also that their endeavours should be more targeted, focusing on investments that have greater economic and social impacts. Moreover, foreign investment should not be criticised for the perhaps unsatisfactory economic and social performances of the economies from this region. Instead, the reasons for this should be sought in domestic factors and in the modest growth of the European Union during the past two decades. |
| Keywords: | FDI, growth, unemployment, poverty, inequality, Eastern Europe |
| JEL: | F21 O40 J01 D63 I3 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:rpaper:rr:464&r=lab |
| By: | Fabio Mariani (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Marion Mercier (LEDa-DIAL, Université Paris-Dauphine, PSL, IRD, CNRS, Paris, France; IZA, Bonn.); Luca Pensieroso (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the interplay between left-handedness and economic development, thereby contributing to our understanding of the relationship between evolutionary forces, human diversity and growth. We propose a novel theoretical framework in which economic development influences the prevalence of left-handedness through structural change and a genetic mechanism driven by differential fertility. In particular, the emergence of the industrial sector puts left-handers at a reproductive disadvantage, because of their lower manual ability and wages. This fertility differential changes sign as soon as the income-fertility relationship is reversed, and eventually fades away when the rise of human capital makes manual skills irrelevant. Our model thus explains the decline and subsequent recovery of lefthandedness observed over the last few centuries in the Western world. We further explore the possibility that left-handedness in turn influences growth: despite their lower productivity in manual tasks, left-handers may enhance technological progress through cognitive skills that are conducive to innovation, and through their contribution to the diversity of the workforce. This implies that the link between handedness and economic performance varies across stages of development. We present empirical evidence that lends credence to the core differential-fertility mechanism of our model and suggests that left-handedness can positively contribute to growth, once the economy has reached a sufficiently high level of human capital. |
| Keywords: | Handedness; Economic growth; Evolution; Diversity; Unified Growth Theory |
| JEL: | O11 O14 O33 O40 J13 J24 Q57 |
| Date: | 2022–11–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2022024&r=lab |
| By: | Hollingsworth, Alex (Indiana University); Thomasson, Melissa A. (Miami University); Karbownik, Krzysztof (Emory University); Wray, Anthony (University of Southern Denmark) |
| Abstract: | The past century witnessed a dramatic improvement in public health, the rise of modern medicine, and the transformation of the hospital from a fringe institution to one essential to the practice of medicine. Despite the central role of medicine in contemporary society, little is known about how hospitals and modern medicine contributed to this health transition. In this paper, we explore how access to the hospital and modern medicine affects mortality. We do so by leveraging a combination of novel data and a unique quasi- experiment: a large-scale hospital modernization program introduced by The Duke Endowment in the early twentieth century. The Endowment helped communities build and expand hospitals, obtain state-of-the-art medical technology, attract qualified medical personnel, and refine management practices. We find that access to a Duke-supported hospital reduced infant mortality by 10%, saving one life for every $20,000 (2017 dollars) spent. Effects were larger for Black infants (16%) than for White infants (7%), implying a reduction in the Black-White infant mortality gap by one-third. We show that the effect of Duke support persisted into later life with a 9% reduction in mortality between the ages of 56 and 65. We further provide evidence on the mechanisms that enabled these effects, finding that Endowment-supported hospitals attracted higher-quality physicians and were better able to take advantage of new medical innovations. |
| Keywords: | modern medicine, hospitals, mortality, infant health, hospital funding, physician labor supply, medical innovation, health care complementarities, charitable giving |
| JEL: | I14 J13 N32 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15719&r=lab |
| By: | Saussay, Aurelien; Sato, Misato; Vona, Francesco; O’Kane, Layla |
| Abstract: | As governments worldwide increase their commitments to tackling climate change, the number of low-carbon jobs is expected to grow rapidly. Here we provide evidence on the characteristics of low-carbon jobs in the US using comprehensive online job postings data between 2010-2019. By accurately identifying low-carbon jobs and comparing them to similar jobs in the same occupational group, we show that low-carbon jobs differ from high-carbon or generic jobs in a number of important ways. Low-carbon jobs have higher skill requirements across a broad range of skills, especially technical ones. However, the wage premium for low-carbon jobs has declined over time and the geographic overlap between low- and high-carbon jobs is limited. Overall, our findings suggest there will be labour reallocation costs as workers transition into low-carbon activities. This suggests a role for targeted public investments in re-skilling to minimise transitional costs and ensure a workforce fit to deliver a rapid transition. |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2022–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117254&r=lab |