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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Balgova, Maria (IZA); Illing, Hannah (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | This paper sheds new light on the barriers to migrants' labor market assimilation. Using administrative data for Germany from 1997-2016, we estimate dynamic difference-in-differences regressions to investigate the relative trajectory of earnings, wages, and employment following mass layoff separately for migrants and natives. We show that job displacement affects the two groups differently even when we systematically control for pre-layoff differences in their characteristics: migrants have on average higher earnings losses, and they find it much more difficult to find employment. However, those who do find a new job experience faster wage growth compared to displaced natives. We examine several potential mechanisms and find that these gaps are driven by labor market conditions, such as local migrant networks and labor market tightness, rather than migrants' behavior. |
| Keywords: | immigration, job displacement, job search |
| JEL: | J62 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16349&r=lab |
| By: | Piasenti, Stefano (Humboldt University Berlin); Valente, Marica (University of Innsbruck); van Veldhuizen, Roel (Lund University); Pfeifer, Gregor (University of Sydney) |
| Abstract: | How do men and women differ in their persistence after experiencing failure in a competitive environment? We tackle this question by combining a large online experiment (N=2, 086) with machine learning. We find that when losing is unequivocally due to merit, both men and women exhibit a significant decrease in subsequent tournament entry. However, when the prior tournament is unfair, i.e., a loss is no longer necessarily based on merit, women are more discouraged than men. These results suggest that transparent meritocratic criteria may play a key role in preventing women from falling behind after experiencing a loss. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, gender, fairness, machine learning, online experiment |
| JEL: | C90 D91 J16 C14 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16324&r=lab |
| By: | Farré, Lídia (University of Barcelona); Felfe, Christina (University of Würzburg); Gonzalez, Libertad (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Schneider, Patrick (University of Würzburg) |
| Abstract: | Social norms are an important barrier to gender convergence. We show that public policy designed to promote gender equality at home can pave the way towards gender convergence by shaping gender norms in the next generation. We combine the introduction of paternity leave in Spain with a large-scale lab-in-the field experiment in secondary schools. Following a local difference-in-differences approach, we show that children born after the policy change exhibit more gender egalitarian attitudes and perceive less stereotypical social norms. They are also more likely to engage in counter-stereotypical day-to-day behaviors and to deviate from the male-breadwinner model in the future. |
| Keywords: | gender equality, gender norms, paternity leave permits |
| JEL: | J08 J13 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16341&r=lab |
| By: | Fernando V. Ferreira; Jeanna H. Kenney; Benjamin Smith |
| Abstract: | We study how recent gentrification shocks impact Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, including where minority households move to after a shock and if the subsequent spatial distribution of households within a labor market area affects segregation. We first report that household moves from a given neighborhood are concentrated to a few destinations. For minority neighborhoods, destinations tend to have similar minority shares but are farther away from downtown. Those mobility patterns are partially explained by neighborhood networks. We then use Bartik-style labor market income shocks to show that gentrification has many effects. In Black neighborhoods, gentrification increases house prices and reduces the share of Black households while increasing the share of White households. For movers from Black neighborhoods, gentrification increases the share of movers going to top 1 and 2 destinations based on neighborhood networks and increases the share of households moving out of the MSA, but does not change the pattern of households moving to neighborhoods with similar Black shares that are farther away from downtown areas. Hispanic neighborhoods have negligible effects from gentrification. Finally, our model reveals that overall labor market area segregation decreases after a gentrification shock because highly Black neighborhoods become less segregated. |
| JEL: | J61 R0 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31480&r=lab |
| By: | Helm, Ines (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München); Kügler, Alice (CEU); Schönberg, Uta (University College London) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the consequences of structural change for workers displaced from the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing establishments traditionally employed low- and high-wage workers in similar proportions and paid substantial wage premiums to both types of workers. Structural change has led to the disappearance of these jobs, particularly for low-wage workers. Decomposing displacement wage losses, we show that low-wage workers suffer considerable losses in establishment premiums following displacement, whereas high-wage workers tend to fall down the match quality ladder. With ongoing structural change, losses in wages and establishment premiums have increased over time, especially for low-wage workers, in part because they are increasingly forced to switch to low-knowledge service jobs where establishment premiums are low. Our findings further highlight that structural change and layoffs in manufacturing have significantly contributed to job polarization and the rise in assortative matching of workers to firms. |
| Keywords: | structural change, manufacturing decline, displaced workers, cost of job loss, human capital, firm rents |
| JEL: | J22 J24 J31 J63 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16344&r=lab |
| By: | Ager, Philipp (University of Mannheim); Goñi, Marc (University of Bergen); Salvanes, Kjell G. (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the link between gender-biased technological change in the agricultural sector and structural transformation in Norway. After WWII, Norwegian farms began widely adopting milking machines to replace the hand milking of cows, a task typically performed by women. Combining population-wide panel data from the Norwegian registry with municipality-level data from the Census of Agriculture, we show that the adoption of milking machines triggered a process of structural transformation by displacing young rural women from their traditional jobs on farms in dairy-intensive municipalities. The displaced women moved to urban areas where they acquired a higher level of education and found better-paid employment. These findings are consistent with the predictions of a Roy model of comparative advantage, extended to account for task automation and the gender division of labor in the agricultural sector. We also quantify significant inter-generational effects of this gender-biased technology adoption. Our results imply that the mechanization of farming has broken deeply rooted gender norms, transformed women's work, and improved their long-term educational and earning opportunities, relative to men. |
| Keywords: | gender biased technological change, migration, intergenerational mobility |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J43 J61 N34 O14 O33 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16347&r=lab |
| By: | Olivieri, Sergio (World Bank); Ortega, Francesc (Queens College, CUNY); Rivadeneira, Ana (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Using the 2021 and 2022 HFPS for Ecuador, the paper investigates the labor market trajectories of different socio-economic groups. The analysis shows that the employment of older individuals, less-educated workers, and women fell disproportionately. However, while the recovery between 2021 and 2022 was slower for the first two groups, females experienced a faster rebound, even though still remained below pre-pandemic levels. The estimates also suggest that the recovery was slower for parents, despite the practically complete return to in-person instruction. The paper's more novel findings refer to the employment of Venezuelan migrants. The pandemic lowered their employment rate by a similar magnitude as for Ecuadorians. However, between 2021 and 2022, the employment and average work hours of Venezuelan migrants increased substantially faster than for natives, possibly because of their lower ability to rely on savings. The data also show that most of the increase in their labor supply stemmed from Venezuelan households without children, suggesting that Venezuelan families were less able to cope with the uncertainty associated with the return to in-person schooling. |
| Keywords: | migration, COVID-19, Ecuador, forced migration, Venezuelans |
| JEL: | O15 J61 D3 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16325&r=lab |
| By: | Borjas, George J. (Harvard University); Edo, Anthony (CEPII, Paris) |
| Abstract: | In May 1981, President François Mitterrand regularized the status of undocumented immigrant workers in France. The newly legalized immigrants represented 12 percent of the non-French workforce and about 1 percent of all workers. Employers have monopsony power over undocumented workers because the undocumented may find it costly to participate in the open labor market and have restricted economic opportunities. By alleviating this labor market imperfection, a regularization program can move the market closer to the efficient competitive equilibrium and potentially increase employment and wages for both the newly legalized and the authorized workforce. Our empirical analysis reveals that the Mitterrand regularization program particularly increased employment and wages for low-skill native and immigrant men, and raised French GDP by over 1 percent. |
| Keywords: | monopsony, regularization, undocumented immigrants, labor market |
| JEL: | D43 J31 J42 J61 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16297&r=lab |
| By: | Jacob Nielsen Arendt; Christian Dustmann; Hyejin Ku |
| Abstract: | We analyze an immigration reform in Denmark that tightened refugee immigrants’ eligibility criteria for permanent residency to incentivize their labor market attachment and acquisition of local language skills. Contrary to what the reform intended, the overall employment of those affected decreased while their average language proficiency remained largely unchanged. This was caused by a disincentive effect, where individuals with low pre-reform labor market performance reduced their labor supply. Our findings suggest that stricter permanent residency rules, rather than incentivizing refugees’ skill investment, may decrease the efforts of those who believe they cannot meet the new requirements. |
| Keywords: | immigrant assimilation, refugee integration, labor supply, language proficiency, human capital |
| JEL: | J22 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10579&r=lab |
| By: | Ahammer, Alexander (University of Linz); Fahn, Matthias (University of Linz); Stiftinger, Flora (Johannes Kepler University Linz) |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between outside options and workers' motivation to exert effort. We evaluate changes in outside options arising from age and experience cutoffs in the Austrian unemployment insurance (UI) system, and use absenteeism as a proxy for worker effort. Results indicate that a one-percent increase in the potential UI benefit duration increases absenteeism at the intensive margin by 0.28 percent. These results are consistent with a relational contracting model where effort is constrained by the future value of an employment relationship. This model further predicts that effort reductions are more pronounced if benefits assume a larger role in a worker's outside option and if the perceived relationship value is small. Indeed, we find that our effects are stronger for workers with higher potential cost of unemployment, for older workers, in declining rather than in growing firms, in low-wage firms, and for women as well as workers with children. |
| Keywords: | outside options, effort incentives, relational contracts |
| JEL: | D21 D22 J22 J53 M52 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16333&r=lab |
| By: | Dean Hyslop (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Dave Maré (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Shannon Minehan (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial disruption in social and economic activity since March 2020. The New Zealand Government reacted early, introducing stringent lockdowns to restrict the spread of the virus. At the same time, it introduced a series of economic policies designed to support the health response, the largest of which was the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS). The WSS was a high-trust policy that provided subsidy payments to firms who expected to have a substantial drop in revenues because of the pandemic. The objectives of the WSS were to avoid widespread layoffs, help firms maintain employment relationships with their workers, and maintain workers’ incomes to help meet their essential needs during lockdown periods. This paper analyses the impacts of the WSS on both firm and worker level economic outcomes. We adopt a ‘doubly-robust’ estimation approach, that uses propensity score methods both to match subsidy receiving firms to similar non-subsidised firms, and to weight the outcomes analysis. Our analysis focuses on the first four WSS-waves: the March 2020 (Original), Extension, Resurgence, and March 2021 waves. First, we analyse whether the WSS reached the intended people and businesses. For the March 2020 wave, subsidised firms experienced substantially greater revenue declines than unsubsidised firms: the modal reduction in revenue for subsidised firms was about 50%. We also observe larger revenue losses relative to a year earlier for subsidised firms in the Extension and Resurgence waves, but revenue changes for the March 2021 wave are confounded by the March 2020 effects. As the subsidy payments were tied to firms, it was less effective in supporting more precarious jobs and workers. Second, we analyse the effects of the WSS on firm survival and resilience over the short (6 months) and medium (12 months) term. We estimate that receiving WSS payments had a positive effect on firm survival rates over the following 12 months for three of the four WSS waves. However subsidised firms experienced slower subsequent employment growth than non-subsidised firms. Third, we analyse the effects of the wage subsidy scheme on worker level outcomes. We estimate positive effects of WSS receipt on job retention over both the short term (6-months) and medium term (12-months) for the March 2020, Extension and March 2021 waves; and roughly zero effects for the Resurgence wave. We also find positive employment effects for workers over the short term for the March 2020, Extension and March 2021 waves, and over the medium term for the March 2020 and Extension waves; and slightly negative effects for the Resurgence wave. However, conditional on being employed, we estimate that workers who received March 2020 wage subsidy payments experienced slower subsequent monthly earnings growth than comparable non-subsidised workers. The estimates for the later waves are more mixed. We find no compelling evidence that the WSS supported non-viable firms, although the higher survival rate and lower employment growth of subsidised firms suggests that the WSS may have kept firms with poorer growth prospects in operation. We also find no systematic evidence that firms did not comply with their obligations to pass on subsidy payments to workers and endeavour to pay them at least 80% of their usual earnings. However, we find that some subsidy receiving firms paid workers at either the part-time or full-time subsidy rate, or at 80% of their prior earnings, during periods of subsidy receipt. This was relatively more likely to occur during the original (March 2020) subsidy wave, and to a lesser degree the Extension-wave. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, Wage subsidy, firm survival, employment growth, earnings compliance, job-retention, employment continuity, earnings growth |
| JEL: | H25 J08 J20 J63 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:23_03&r=lab |
| By: | Aga Kasperska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Anna Matysiak (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Work from home (WFH) has been a part of the professional landscape for over two decades, yet it was the COVID-19 pandemic that has substantially increased its prevalence. The impact of WFH on careers is rather ambiguous, and a question remains open about how this effect is manifested in the current times considering the recent extensive and widespread use of WFH during the pandemic. In an attempt to answer these questions, this article investigates whether managerial preferences for promotion, salary increase and training allowance depend on employee engagement in WFH. We also explore the heterogeneity of the effects of WFH on careers across different populations by taking into account the employee’s gender, parenthood status, frequency of WFH as well as the prevalence of WFH in the team. An online discrete choice experiment was run on a sample of over 1, 000 managers from the United Kingdom. The experiment was conducted between July and December 2022, and thus after the extensive use of this working arrangement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings indicate that employees who WFH are less likely to be considered for promotion, salary increase and training than on-site workers. The pay and promotion penalties for WFH are particularly true for men (both fathers and non-fathers) and childless women, but not mothers. We also find that employees operating in teams with a higher prevalence of WFH do not experience negative career effects when working from home. The findings underline the importance of individual factors and familiarisation as well as social acceptance of flexible working arrangements in their impact on careers. |
| Keywords: | career, experiment, family, gender, promotion, work from home |
| JEL: | J12 J13 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2023-16&r=lab |
| By: | Brunetti, Marianna (University of Rome Tor Vergata); Zaiceva, Anzelika (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) |
| Abstract: | Using a unique Italian dataset covering the period 2004-2020, we assess the immigrant-native gap in entrepreneurship and investigate channels behind it. The data allows us to account for many observable characteristics as well as for risk aversion, which is usually not observed, yet crucial for the self-employment decision. Unlike most of the existing empirical literature, we find that immigrants in Italy are less likely to be self-employed. The negative gap is confirmed when propensity score matching methodology is used. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the negative gap is larger for men, for economic migrants and those coming from Sub-Saharan Africa, while it is not significant for mixed immigrant-native couples, for highly skilled, and for migrants from Asia and Oceania. The largest gap is found for those working in the agricultural sector. Regarding additional channels, we explore the role of access to credit, including the informal one, and whether migrants are credit constrained, as well as the importance of migrant networks, easiness of doing business, and expenditures on services for migrants. Despite finding significant correlations between self-employment and some of these factors, none of them seem to decrease the magnitude of the negative gap. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, self-employment, gender, intermarriage, propensity score matching |
| JEL: | F22 J21 O15 J15 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16314&r=lab |
| By: | Foster, Andrew (Brown University); Gökçe, Merve Betül (Bogazici University); Kirdar, Murat G. (Bogazici University) |
| Abstract: | The experience of war and refugee status can alter intra-family dynamics and therefore have implications for family formation, including marriage. This study investigates marriage patterns among Syrian refugees in Turkey. Utilizing the nationally representative 2018 Turkey Demographic Health Survey (TDHS), we conduct a duration analysis of marriage outcomes among Syrian refugees in Turkey—tracking women throughout their residence in prewar Syria, postwar Syria, and Turkey. We find that early marriage is more prominent among refugees who were unmarried at the time of migration than those married before migration; the mean marriage age drops from 19.6 in prewar Syria to 19.1 in postwar Syria and 18.1 in Turkey. Using the TDHS and prewar Syrian surveys, we show that this finding aligns with the observed declines in household income and young women's opportunity cost of marriage. Our duration analysis also reveals a notable shift from traditional arranged marriages to more modern forms among refugees in Turkey. An intergenerational power shift may drive the shift toward non-arranged marriages. After arrival in Turkey, parental wealth and employment decline. In contrast, Syrian youth have higher age-adjusted employment rates than in prewar Syria. Moreover, for demographic groups with stronger intergenerational power shifts, non-arranged marriages increase more. |
| Keywords: | Syrian refugees, forced migration, arranged marriage, generational power transitions, Turkey |
| JEL: | J12 J15 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16348&r=lab |
| By: | Sule Alan (European University Institute); Gözde Corekcioglu (Kadir Has University); Mustafa Kaba (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods); Matthias Sutter (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, University of Cologne, University of Innsbruck) |
| Abstract: | Using data from over 2, 000 professionals in 24 large corporations, we show that female leaders shape the relational culture in the workplace differently than male leaders. Males form homophilic professional ties under male leadership, but female leadership disrupts this pattern, creating a less segregated workplace. Female leaders are more likely to establish professional support links with their subordinates. Under female leadership, female employees are less likely to quit their jobs but no more likely to get promoted. Our results suggest that increasing female presence in leadership positions may be an effective way to mitigate toxic relational culture in the workplace. |
| Keywords: | female leadership; workplace climate; social networks |
| JEL: | C93 J16 M14 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:249&r=lab |
| By: | Richard Audoly |
| Abstract: | I build a tractable random search model with firm dynamics, on-the-job search, and aggregate shocks. Multi-worker firms make recruitment decisions, choose whether to enter or exit the market, and design wage contracts. Tractability is obtained by showing that, under a set of assumptions on the recruitment technology, the decisions of workers and firms can be expressed in terms of the firms’ current productivity. I introduce a numerical solution method to accommodate aggregate shocks in this environment and show that the model can replicate salient features of both firm-level data on productivity and employment and aggregate time series describing the business cycle. I use this framework to quantify the drivers of worker reallocation over the recent business cycle in Britain. |
| Keywords: | firm dynamics; search; business cycle |
| JEL: | E3 |
| Date: | 2023–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:96551&r=lab |
| By: | Robert Collinson; John Eric Humphries; Nicholas Mader; Davin Reed; Daniel Tannenbaum; Winnie van Dijk |
| Abstract: | More than two million U.S. households have an eviction case filed against them each year. Policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels are increasingly pursuing policies to reduce the number of evictions, citing harm to tenants and high public expenditures related to homelessness. We study the consequences of eviction for tenants using newly linked administrative data from two major urban areas: Cook County (which includes Chicago) and New York City. We document that prior to housing court, tenants experience declines in earnings and employment and increases in financial distress and hospital visits. These pre-trends pose a challenge for disentangling correlation and causation. To address this problem, we use an instrumental variables approach based on cases randomly assigned to judges of varying leniency. We find that an eviction order increases homelessness and hospital visits and reduces earnings, durable goods consumption, and access to credit in the first two years. Effects on housing and labor market outcomes are driven by impacts for female and Black tenants. In the longer-run, eviction increases indebtedness and reduces credit scores. |
| JEL: | H0 I30 I32 J01 R0 R28 R38 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:23-37&r=lab |
| By: | Natalie Nitsche (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Daniela Grunow; Ansgar Hudde |
| Abstract: | Our study offers and empirically tests a new conceptual framework of couples’ housework sharing. We suggest that the partners’ joint gender ideology, or their ‘ideological pairings’ will determine their housework sharing. Further, we argue the link between couples’ relative socio-economic resources and their housework sharing likely depends on these ‘ideological pairings’. Our results, based on data from the German Panel Study of Family and Income Dynamics (pairfam) and mixed- and fixed-effects panel regressions, offer support for this conceptualization. First, we find egalitarian attitudinal duos to share housework the most equally, traditional attitudinal duos to share housework the most unequally, and mismatched attitudinal couples to lie in between. Second, our results indicate that only egalitarian duos further equalize housework sharing when she becomes the family’s main earner. Traditional duos don’t adjust their housework divisions even if she outearns him. Findings for mismatched couples are mixed, but don’t lend support for successful within-couple re-negotiations of housework divisions as her income share rises. Our study advances prior literature by conceptualizing the relevance of the partners’ joint attitudes for gendered domestic work divisions and by making complex interactions between sociological and economic aspects visible. Further, it underscores the importance of investigating couples as an essential meso-level institution in the reproduction of gender inequalities. |
| Keywords: | Germany |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2023-033&r=lab |
| By: | Guo, Liwen (University of New South Wales); Cheng, Zhiming (University of New South Wales); Tani, Massimiliano (University of New South Wales); Cook, Sarah (University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | With air pollution remaining a significant problem in many regions globally, an increasing number of environmentally conscious entrepreneurs have been taking initiatives to combat this issue, accompanied by a growing environmental awareness among the general public. To test the strength of this relationship, we use individual-level information from an enterprise survey in China in 2018 and conducted instrumental variable analyses to study the impact of air pollution on the green innovation behaviours of non-agricultural entrepreneurs. The results indicate that, on average, a one standard deviation increase in PM2.5 concentration is associated with a 4.3 percentage points increase in green innovation (or a 11.9 percentage points increase in green innovation intensity). Entrepreneurs' gambling preferences could potentially mediate the relationship between air pollution and green innovation, while expected firm income and actual firm income may act as suppressors. Specifically, entrepreneurs who launch their businesses following the implementation of environmental policies are more likely to adopt green innovation practices. This study provides insight into why there is a growing trend of environmentally-conscious entrepreneurs in regions with high levels of air pollution. |
| Keywords: | green innovation, air pollution, China |
| JEL: | J01 Q53 Q55 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16321&r=lab |