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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Edo, Anthony (CEPII, Paris); Özgüzel, Cem (OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first evidence on the regional impact of immigration on native employment in a cross-country framework. By exploiting the richness of the European Labour Force Surveys and past censuses, we show that the rise in the share of immigrants across European regions over the 2010-2019 period had a modest impact on the employment-to-population rate of natives. However, the effects are highly uneven across regions and workers, and over time. First, the short-run estimates show adverse employment effects in response to immigration, while these effects disappear in the longer run. Second, low-educated native workers experience employment losses due to immigration, whereas high-educated ones are more likely to experience employment gains. Third, the presence of institutions that provide employment protection and high coverage of collective wage agreements exert a protective effect on native employment. Finally, economically dynamic regions can better absorb immigrant workers, resulting in little or no effect on the native workforce. |
| Keywords: | immigration, employment, labour supply, employment dynamics |
| JEL: | F22 J21 J61 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16469&r=lab |
| By: | Alexander Ahammer; Ulrich Glogowsky; Martin Halla; Timo Hener |
| Abstract: | Using Austrian and Danish administrative data, we examine the impacts of parenthood on mental health. Parenthood imposes a greater mental health burden on mothers than on fathers. It creates a long-run gender gap in antidepressant prescriptions of about 93.2% (Austria) and 64.8% (Denmark). These parenthood penalties in mental health are unlikely to reflect differential help-seeking behavior across the sexes or postpartum depression. Instead, they are related to mothers’ higher investments in childcare: Mothers who take extended maternity leave in quasi-experimental settings are more likely to face mental health problems. |
| Keywords: | gender equality, fertility, parenthood, motherhood, mental health, parental leave |
| JEL: | D63 J13 I10 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10676&r=lab |
| By: | Miguel Acosta; Andreas I. Mueller; Emi Nakamura; Jón Steinsson |
| Abstract: | We study the macroeconomic effects of unemployment insurance (UI) benefit extensions in the United States at short and long durations. To do this, we develop a new state level dataset on trigger variables for UI extensions and a "UI benefit calculator" based on detailed legislative and administrative sources spanning five decades. Our identification approach exploits variation across states in the options governing the Extended Benefits program. We find that UI extensions during time periods when UI benefit durations are already long—such as in the Great Recession—have minimal effects. However, UI extensions when initial durations are shorter have substantial effects on the unemployment rate and the number of people receiving UI. Through the lens of a search-and-matching model, we show that our estimates are consistent with microeconomic estimates of the duration elasticity to UI, implying small general equilibrium effects of UI extensions. |
| JEL: | E2 J6 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31784&r=lab |
| By: | Sebastian Graves; Christopher K. Huckfeldt; Eric T. Swanson |
| Abstract: | Monetary policy is conventionally understood to influence labor demand, with little effect on labor supply. We estimate the response of labor market flows to high-frequency changes in interest rates around FOMC announcements and Fed Chair speeches and find that, in contrast to the consensus view, a contractionary monetary policy shock leads to a significant increase in labor supply: workers reduce the rate at which they quit jobs to non-employment, while non-employed individuals increase their job-seeking behavior. Holding supply-driven labor market flows constant, the overall decline in employment from a contractionary monetary policy shock becomes twice as large. |
| JEL: | E32 E52 J22 J23 J64 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31770&r=lab |
| By: | Serdar Birinci; Fatih Karahan; Yusuf Mercan; Kurt See |
| Abstract: | We develop a heterogeneous-agent New Keynesian model featuring a frictional labor market with on-the-job search to quantitatively study the positive and normative implications of employer-to-employer (EE) transitions for inflation. We find that EE dynamics played an important role in shaping the differential inflation dynamics observed during the Great Recession and COVID-19 recoveries, with the former exhibiting subdued EE transitions and inflation despite both episodes sharing similar unemployment dynamics. The optimal monetary policy prescribes a strong positive response to EE fluctuations, implying that central banks should distinguish between recovery episodes with similar unemployment but different EE dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Business fluctuations and cycles; Inflation and prices; Labour markets; Monetary policy |
| JEL: | E12 E24 E52 J31 J64 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:23-52&r=lab |
| By: | Martins, Pedro S. (Nova School of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | Does employers' association (EA) membership affect wages? Such effects, positive or negative, could follow from increased productivity, employer collusion, or other channels. We analyse this question drawing on matched employer-employee panel data, including time-varying EA affiliation and worker mobility. We consider the case of private schools in Portugal, 2010-2020, and its single EA, and develop a method to define the sector's scope. We find that school fixed effects reduce the EA wage premium considerably. However, such positive premium remains, especially when focusing on the key occupation of the industry (teachers) and when considering EA firms that follow firm-specific (non-EA) collective agreements. We also find that there is an EA wage premium for schools that join the EA, while the EA premium does not disappear for schools that leave the EA. |
| Keywords: | employers organisations, worker mobility, social dialogue |
| JEL: | J53 J62 L40 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16476&r=lab |
| By: | Herman, Uroš; Lozej, Matija |
| Abstract: | This paper first provides empirical evidence that labour market outcomes for the less educated, who also tend to be poorer, are substantially more volatile than labour market outcomes for the well-educated, who tend to be richer. We estimate job finding rates and separation rates by educational attainment for several European countries and find that job finding rates are smaller and separation rates larger at lower educational attainment levels. At cyclical frequencies, fluctuations of the job finding rate explain up to 80% of the unemployment fluctuations for the less educated. We then construct a stylised HANK model augmented with search and matching and ex-ante heterogeneity in terms of educational attainment. We show that monetary policy has stronger effects when the job market for the less educated and hence poorer is more volatile. The reason is that these workers have the most procyclical income coupled with the highest marginal propensity to consume. An expansionary monetary policy shock that increases labour demand disproportionally affects the labour market segment for the less educated, causing a strong increase in their consumption. This further amplifies labour demand and increases labour income of the poor even more, amplifying the initial effect. The same mechanism carries over to forward guidance. JEL Classification: E40, E52, J64 |
| Keywords: | business cycles, employment, heterogeneous agents, monetary policy, search and matching |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20232850&r=lab |
| By: | Bertrand Garbinti; Cecilia García Peñalosa; Vladimir Pecheu; Frédérique Savignac |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to compute lifetime earnings (LTE) in France for a large number of cohorts that entered the labour market between 1967 and 1987. We compare our results with evidence by Guvenen et al. (2022) for the US, documenting sharp differences between the two countries. Median LTE show similar flat trends in both countries, but in France this results from a moderate increase for both genders together with increased female participation, while in the US, LTE declines for men and sharply grows for women. There have been marked changes in age profiles, as for both genders younger cohorts have experienced a decrease in entry wages that has been more than offset by faster wage growth. Our analysis of inequality finds that it is lower when we focus on LTE than in the cross-section, and that it follows a U-shaped pattern, although the increase is much smaller in France than that observed in the US. Lastly, we also find that i) education (returns and changes in attainment) plays a key role in shaping LTE across cohorts, and ii) differences in working time explain an increasing part of the gender gap in LTE over time as both men and women have increased the number of years they work but women have done so largely through part-time employment. |
| Keywords: | Lifetime Earnings, Inequality, Gender Earnings Gaps |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:925&r=lab |
| By: | Korpela, Heikki |
| Abstract: | I study the effects of the maximum duration of unemployment insurance benefits on unemployment. I find highly heterogeneous effects across two consecutive reforms in Finland. Both reforms cut the maximum duration by 20 weeks. The first reform targeted those with short work histories and did not affect their mean time in unemployment. The second reform applied to everyone and reduced the mean duration by three weeks. The first reform also did not move the spike in job-finding rates: it stayed at the old maximum duration. The second reform moved the spike to the new exhaustion point, also among the short-history group. This difference can be explained by the first reform's unique implementation, which separated the time when insurance ends from when individuals must switch benefits agencies. This switch causes observable frictions, which appear to be an essential driver for the observed spike. I present how the job-finding rates can be adjusted for observed frictions. Adjusting the job-finding rates for observed frictions substantially flattens the spike. |
| Keywords: | unemployment insurance, unemployment duration, hazard rates, Labour markets and education, J64, J65, fi=Sosiaaliturva|sv=Social trygghet|en=Social security|, fi=Työmarkkinat|sv=Arbetsmarknad|en=Labour markets|, |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:158&r=lab |
| By: | van den Berg, Bernard (University of York); Foerster, Hanno (Boston College); Uhlendorff, Arne (CREST) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a structural analysis of the role of job vacancy referrals (VRs) by public employment agencies in the job search behavior of unemployed individuals, incorporating institutional features of the monitoring of search behavior by the agencies. Notably, rejections of VRs may lead to sanctions (temporary benefits reductions) while workers may report sick to avoid those. We estimate models using German administrative data from social security records linked with caseworker recorded data on VRs, sick reporting and sanctions. The analysis highlights the influence of aspects of the health care system on unemployment durations. We estimate that for around 25% of unemployed workers, removing the channel that enables strategic sick reporting reduces the mean unemployment duration by 4 days. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, wage, sanctions, moral hazard, sickness absence, physician, structural estimation, counterfactual policy evaluation, unemployment duration |
| JEL: | J64 J65 C51 C54 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16495&r=lab |
| By: | Bloom, David E. (Harvard School of Public Health); Kuhn, Michael (IIASA - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis); Prettner, Klaus (Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | High-income countries have generally experienced falling fertility in recent decades. In most of these countries, the total fertility rate is now below the level that implies a stable population in the long run. This has led to concerns among economists, policymakers, and the wider public about the economic consequences of low fertility and population decline. In this contribution, we aim to i) describe the main determinants of low fertility in high-income countries, ii) assess its potential economic consequences, iii) discuss adjustment mechanisms for individuals and economies, iv) propose a simple economic framework to analyze the long-run economic impact of low fertility, and v) draw lessons for economic policymakers to react appropriately. While the economic challenges of low fertility are substantial, a thoughtful and consistent policy response can mitigate most of the adverse consequences. |
| Keywords: | low fertility, below replacement fertility, depopulation, economic consequences of population decline, long-run economic growth, economic policies to address low fertility |
| JEL: | J11 J13 O11 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16500&r=lab |
| By: | Fernández-Val, Iván (Boston University); van Vuuren, Aico (University of Groningen); Vella, Francis (Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | Using CPS data for 1976 to 2022 we explore how wage inequality has evolved for married couples with both spouses working full time full year, and its impact on household income inequality. We also investigate how marriage sorting patterns have changed over this period. To determine the factors driving income inequality we estimate a model explaining the joint distribution of wages which accounts for the spouses' employment decisions. We find that income inequality has increased for these households and increased assortative matching of wages has exacerbated the inequality resulting from individual wage growth. We find that positive sorting partially reflects the correlation across unobservables influencing both members' of the marriage wages. We decompose the changes in sorting patterns over the 47 years comprising our sample into structural, composition and selection effects and find that the increase in positive sorting primarily reflects the increased skill premia for both observed and unobserved characteristics. |
| Keywords: | marital sorting, inequality, selection |
| JEL: | C30 J12 J31 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16513&r=lab |
| By: | José Victor C. Giarola (Maastricht University); Olivier Marie (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Frank Cörvers (Maastricht University); Hans Schmeets (Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of a policy change in the Netherlands that reduced preferential tax treatment duration for high-skilled migrants arriving from specific countries in certain years. Utilizing comprehensive tax and population data, we document substantial tax-induced emigration responses, primarily driven by the top 1% of earners. Highly mobile individuals within the top 5% also emigrate sooner, particularly to competing countries offering tax-breaks to attract skilled workers. Crucially, we uncover no change in mobility behavior among lower-earning workers. The increased tax receipts from lower-income individuals who remain offset the loss from fleeing high earners, making the policy fiscally cost-neutral. |
| Keywords: | Taxation, immigration, labor income, Netherlands. |
| JEL: | F22 H31 J61 |
| Date: | 2023–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20230053&r=lab |
| By: | Gadi Barlevy; R. Jason Faberman; Bart Hobijn; Ayşegül Şahin |
| Abstract: | We discuss how the relative importance of factors that contribute to movements of the U.S. Beveridge curve has changed from 1960 to 2023. We review these factors in the context of a simple flow analogy used to capture the main insights of search and matching theories of the labor market. Changes in inflow rates, related to demographics, accounted for Beveridge curve shifts between 1960 and 2000. A reduction in matching efficiency, that depressed unemployment outflows, shifted the curve outwards in the wake of the Great Recession. In contrast, the most recent shifts in the Beveridge curve appear driven by changes in the eagerness of workers to switch jobs. We argue that, while the Beveridge curve is a useful tool for relating unemployment and vacancies to inflation, the link between these labor market indicators and inflation depends on whether and why the Beveridge curve shifted. Therefore, a careful examination of the factors underlying movements in the Beveridge curve is essential for drawing policy conclusions from the joint behavior of unemployment and job openings. |
| JEL: | E52 J20 J6 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31783&r=lab |
| By: | Anna Schwarz (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the invisibility of women in in-work poverty research by analyzing the Eurostat in-work poverty indicator in combination with a novel individualized in-work poverty indicator. The latter relies on individual income, but still accounts for the household in defining the poverty threshold. I show that men are more often in-work poor due to assumed sharing with other household members, while women are mostly individually poor, but lifted out of poverty on the household level. The latter is not captured by the Eurostat indicator. This seems to be driven by household dynamics. Living with children makes women more financially dependent on their partner- increases individualized in-work poverty-, which in turn increases the burden on men's income - increases Eurostat in-work poverty. This pattern is most prevalent in countries with a stronger gender division of labor. My results uncover the blind spots in in-work poverty measurement and additionally highlight the potential of using the individualized indicator to measure financial dependency within the household. |
| Keywords: | poverty measurement, gender, intra-household inequality, in-work poverty |
| JEL: | I32 J16 O57 D13 D31 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp348&r=lab |
| By: | Sean Chanwook Lee; Omeed Maghzian |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of household liquidity provision on macroeconomic stabilization using the 2020 CARES Act mortgage forbearance program. We leverage intermediation frictions in forbearance induced by mortgage servicers to identify the effect of reducing short-term payments with little change in long-term debt obligations on local labor market outcomes. Following statewide business reopenings, a 1 percentage point increase in the share of mortgages in forbearance leads to a 30 basis point increase in monthly employment growth in nontradable industries. In a model incorporating geographical heterogeneity in intermediation frictions, these responses imply a household-level marginal propensity to consume out of increased liquidity that aligns with existing estimates for direct fiscal transfers. The implied debt-financed fiscal multiplier effects of forbearance are sizable but depend on the repayment terms of deferred payments and the monetary policy stance. |
| Keywords: | mortgage forbearance; liquidity; debt relief; CARES Act; employment; labor market |
| JEL: | G21 G23 G28 G51 |
| Date: | 2023–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:97157&r=lab |
| By: | Burdin, Gabriel; Dughera, Stefano; Landini, Fabio; Belloc, Filippo |
| Abstract: | Advances in artificial intelligence and data analytics have notably expanded employers' monitoring and surveillance capabilities, facilitating the accurate observability of work effort. There is an ongoing debate among academics and policymakers about the productivity and broader welfare implications of digital monitoring (DM) technologies. In this context, many countries confer information, consultation and codetermination rights to employee representation (ER) bodies on matters related to workplace organization and the introduction of new technologies, which could potentially discourage employers from making DM investments. Using a cross-sectional sample of more than 21000 European establishments, we find instead that establishments with ER are more likely to utilize DM technologies than establishments without ER. We also document a positive effect of ER on DM utilization in the context of a local-randomization regression discontinuity analysis that exploits size-contingent policy rules governing the operation of ER bodies in Europe. We rationalize this unexpected finding through the lens of a theoretical framework in which shared governance via ER create organizational safeguards that mitigate workers' negative responses to monitoring and undermines the disciplining effect of DM technologies. |
| Keywords: | Digital-based monitoring, algorithmic management, HR analytics, transparency, control aversion, worker voice, employee representation |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1340&r=lab |
| By: | Bocquier, Philippe (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg); Cha’Ngom, Narcisse (LISER); Docquier, Frédéric (LISER); Machado, Joël (LISER) |
| Abstract: | Existing empirical literature provides converging evidence that selective emigration enhances human capital accumulation in the world's poorest countries. However, the within-country distribution of such brain gain effects has received limited attention. Focusing on Senegal, we provide evidence that the brain gain mechanism primarily benefits the wealthiest regions that are internationally connected and have better access to education. Conversely, human capital responses are negligible in regions lacking international connectivity, and even negative in better connected regions with inadequate educational opportunities. These results extend to internal migration, implying that highly vulnerable populations are trapped in the least developed areas. |
| Keywords: | human capital, migration, selection, brain drain, brain gain, Senegal |
| JEL: | J24 J61 O15 R23 E24 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16497&r=lab |
| By: | Green, David A. (University of British Columbia, Vancouver); Liu, Huju (Statistics Canada); Ostrovsky, Yuri (Statistics Canada); Picot, Garnett (Institute for Research on Public Policy, and Research and Evaluation Branch, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) |
| Abstract: | Firm ownership is a dening feature of immigrant adaptation: 41% of immigrants own a firm at some point in their first 10 years post-arrival. We use Canadian data linking immigrant arrival records with individual and firm tax data to examine the process of entering firm ownership for immigrants. Higher immigrant firm ownership rates are mainly due to nonincorporated firm ownership, which looks like a last resort. Human capital plays no role in the opening of preferable, incorporated firms. Immigrants are not more entrepreneurial in terms of opening incorporated firms with employees, and standard policy levers appear to have limited effects. |
| Keywords: | immigration, entrepreneurs, human capital |
| JEL: | J61 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16515&r=lab |
| By: | Erkmen G. Aslim; Shin-Yi Chou; Han Yu |
| Abstract: | China’s distinctive demographic landscape, early retirement policies, and deeply ingrained gender norms provide a unique backdrop for investigating gender disparities in retirement and subjective well-being. Drawing upon data from the China Family Panel Studies and leveraging the variation around the pensionable age cutoff, we find substantial increases in retirement rates, surging by 19 percentage points for males and 13 percentage points for females in proximity to this age threshold. Notably, retirement manifests significant gender heterogeneity in its influence on life satisfaction, leading to an enhancement among males while not yielding statistically significant improvements among females. Furthermore, this study probes multiple dimensions of subjective well-being and objective health behaviors, laying bare gender disparities in health, behaviors, perceptions of income and social status, and confidence about the future. Males showcase improvements in healthy behaviors, report enhanced self-perceived health, perceive higher relative income and social status, and exude greater confidence about their future. In stark contrast, females show no statistically significant changes along these dimensions. In fact, they tend to engage in health-compromising behaviors, such as increased smoking, and exhibit higher rates of obesity. These findings underscore the imperative of recognizing gender disparities in the consequences of retirement on subjective well-being. They highlight the need for targeted policies aimed at enhancing social and economic opportunities for women, ultimately striving for greater gender equality in the post-retirement phase. |
| JEL: | I10 I12 I31 J16 J26 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31780&r=lab |
| By: | Hicks, Jeffrey (University of Toronto); Simard-Duplain, Gaëlle (Carleton University); Green, David A. (University of British Columbia, Vancouver); Warburton, William P. (Enterprise Economic Consulting) |
| Abstract: | Welfare caseloads in North America halved following reforms in the 1990s and 2000s. We study how this shift affected families by linking Canadian welfare records to tax returns, medical spending, educational attainment, and crime data. We find substantial and heterogeneous employment responses that increased average income despite reduced transfers. We find zero effects on aggregate health expenditures, but mothers saw reduced preventative care and increased mental health treatment, consistent with the transition to employment elevating time pressure and stress. We find no effect on teenagers' education and criminal charges as young adults but do find evidence of intergenerational welfare transmission. |
| Keywords: | welfare, income, health |
| JEL: | H23 H31 I14 I24 I38 J62 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16516&r=lab |
| By: | Drydakis, Nick (Anglia Ruskin University) |
| Abstract: | The study aims to examine whether beggar children are victims of forced labor, as well as to identify the manifestations of forced labor in beggar children, and assess whether forced child begging relates to deteriorated health-related quality of life and mental health. The study focused on the capital city of Greece, Athens, where beggar children are not a hard-to-reach group. Cross-sectional data were collected in 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2022, with 127 beggar children taking part in the study. The study adopted the Anti-Slavery International research toolkit, which sets methodological guidelines on researching child begging. A scale was developed to quantify forced child begging based on the International Labour Organization's definition of forced labor. The study found that most beggar children were forced by others to beg, experienced threats of violence, physical and verbal harassment aimed at forcing them to beg, and difficulty in terms of being allowed by others to stop begging. It was found that forced child begging was positively associated with living with unknown people, hunger due to food unavailability the previous week, and negatively associated with native beggar children. It was discovered that forced child begging was negatively associated with health-related quality of life and mental health for beggar children. Child begging encompasses elements of coercion and the deprivation of human freedom. These factors collectively amount to instances of forced labor and/or modern slavery. Policies should ensure that beggar children are removed from harm's way, and that those forcing children to beg are brought to justice. |
| Keywords: | beggar children, forced labor, coercion, modern slavery, health-related quality of life, mental health |
| JEL: | J10 J13 J46 J70 I14 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16519&r=lab |
| By: | Amanda Y. Agan; Andrew Garin; Dmitri K. Koustas; Alexandre Mas; Crystal Yang |
| Abstract: | We study the labor market impacts of retroactively reducing felonies to misdemeanors in San Joaquin County, CA, where criminal justice agencies implemented Proposition 47 reductions in a quasi-random order, without requiring input or action from affected individuals. Linking records of reductions to administrative tax data, we find employment benefits for individuals who (likely) requested their reduction, consistent with selection, but no benefits among the larger subset of individuals whose records were reduced proactively. A field experiment notifying a subset of individuals about their proactive reduction also shows null results, implying that lack of awareness is unlikely to explain our findings. |
| JEL: | J0 K0 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31773&r=lab |
| By: | Sally Smith (Anker Research Institute); Richard Anker (Anker Research Institute); Martha Anker (Anker Research Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper explains how a gender perspective is embedded into the Anker Methodology for estimating a living wage. This is important for transparency and for ensuring that users of Anker Methodology living wage and living income estimates and other interested parties understand the approach. Gender-related measures in the Anker Methodology include: basing the living wage estimate on a reference family which has one adult in part-time employment, which allows time for unpaid care work during regular working hours; considering gender issues when estimating food costs, such as including extra calories for women during pregnancy and allowing for less than perfect shopping and food preparation to limit the time required for these activities (which are mostly performed by women); allowing for purchase of prepared foods and food eaten away from home, which reduces the burden on families and especially women; ensuring adequate ventilation of smoke from cooking to protect the health of women and girls especially; and ensuring sufficient funds for education to at least secondary level for all girls and all boys, including nursery and pre-school costs when they are common in the study location. This paper also discusses conceptual and methodological issues related to including care costs (particularly childcare costs) in living wage estimates. While the Anker Methodology takes the position that there can be only one living wage for an area and not separate living wages for different household compositions and sizes, as this would encourage wage discrimination based on marital status, or parental status, or family size, this paper discusses the Anker Methodology approach to paid and unpaid care work and draws attention to the fact that, in many locations, families with young children and lone-parent families may be vulnerable to poverty, even when adults in these families earn a living wage, due to high care needs relative to incomes. As such, in some locations there may be a need for additional support from the private sector, government, and others (such as NGOs) to enable these types of households to achieve a decent standard of living. |
| Keywords: | Gender, living wage, living income, Anker Methodology, inequality, care work, care economy |
| JEL: | J30 J16 J13 J70 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iad:glliwa:230509&r=lab |
| By: | Brian A. Jacob; Michael D. Ricks |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the first evidence of how students make career technical education (CTE) course-taking decisions. Among the universe of Michigan high-schoolers we find large disparities in CTE access and participation by gender, race, and income. We decompose participation gaps between supply (access) and demand (preferences) with a simple discrete choice model. We find that student preferences for CTE content drive participation gaps by gender, inequities in access drive gaps by income, and school-level supply and demand factors combine to create the gaps by race. Policy simulations highlight the importance of accessible CTE delivery models within comprehensive high schools. |
| JEL: | I0 I20 I21 I28 J01 J08 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31756&r=lab |
| By: | Claudia Goldin |
| Abstract: | How, when, and why did women in the US obtain legal rights equal to men’s regarding the workplace, marriage, family, Social Security, criminal justice, credit markets, and other parts of the economy and society, decades after they gained the right to vote? The story begins with the civil rights movement and the somewhat fortuitous nature of the early and key women’s rights legislation. The women’s movement formed and pressed for further rights. Of the 155 critical moments in women’s rights history I’ve compiled from 1905 to 2023, 45% occurred between 1963 and 1973. The greatly increased employment of women, the formation of women’s rights associations, the belief that women’s votes mattered, and the unstinting efforts of various members of Congress were behind the advances. But women soon became splintered by marital status, employment, region, and religion far more than men. A substantial group of women emerged in the 1970s to oppose various rights for women, just as they did during the suffrage movement. They remain a potent force today. |
| JEL: | J01 J7 K31 N30 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31762&r=lab |
| By: | Yasusada Murata (College of Economics, Nihon University); Ryo Nakajima (Department of Economics, Keio University) |
| Abstract: | We identify a causal effect of top inventor inflows on patent productivity of local inventors by combining the idea-generating process described by Marshall (1890) with the Bartik (1991) instruments involving state taxes and commuting zone characteristics of the United States. We find that the local productivity gains go beyond organizational boundaries and co-inventor relationships, which implies the partially nonexcludable good nature of knowledge in a spatial economy and pertains to the mysteries of the trade in the air. Our counterfactual experiment suggests that the spatial distribution of inventive activity is substantially distorted by the presence of heterogeneity in state taxes. |
| Keywords: | knowledge spillovers, knowledge sharing, Bartik instruments, mysteries of the trade, idea-generating process |
| JEL: | R12 O31 J61 C26 |
| Date: | 2023–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:keo:dpaper:2023-015&r=lab |
| By: | Michael Fritsch (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany); Alina Sorgner (John Cabot University Rome, Italy, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), and Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel)); Michael Wyrwich (University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We propose an extension of the standard occupational choice model to analyze the life satisfaction of senior entrepreneurs as compared to paid employees and particularly retirees in Germany. The analysis identifies income and health status as main factors that shape the relationship between occupational status and life satisfaction. Senior entrepreneurs enjoy higher levels of life satisfaction than retirees and senior paid employees. This higher life satisfaction is mainly due to their higher income. Physical and mental health play a crucial role in determining both an individual’s occupational status and their overall life satisfaction. We find that senior self-employed report to be healthier compared to other groups of elderly individuals. However, when controlling for health, retirees exhibit an even higher level of life satisfaction compared to their self-employed counterparts. Heterogeneity analysis of various types of senior entrepreneurs and senior paid employees confirms this general pattern. In addition, we find some evidence indicating that senior entrepreneurs may compromise their leisure time, a main asset of retired individuals. Implications for research, policy, and practitioners are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Senior entrepreneurship, health conditions, well†being, life satisfaction, age |
| JEL: | L26 I31 J10 D91 |
| Date: | 2023–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2023-016&r=lab |