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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Machado, Cecilia (Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil); Neto, Valdemar (Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil); Szerman, Christiane (University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how firms and workers respond to a voluntary government-funded program increasing the duration of paid maternity leave from four to six months in Brazil. We show that larger, higher-paying, and more productive firms are more likely to provide extended leaves to workers. Exploiting the gradual implementation of extended leave across firms and the exact time of leave-taking, we present four key findings. First, we find an incomplete take-up of 35 percent among eligible workers, largely driven by those with high socioeconomic status. Second, firms and workers strategically defer job separations to extract rents from the government. Third, extended leave has no long-term impact on maternal labor market outcomes. Fourth, job security and information transmission about leave extensions boost take-up and reduce deferred job separations. The results illustrate that distributional concerns can justify the mandated provision of extensions in paid maternity leave. |
| Keywords: | maternity leave, labor market, social protection |
| JEL: | J13 J22 J32 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16555&r=lab |
| By: | Cervini, Maria; Silva, José I. |
| Abstract: | Persistent gender gaps exist in labor market outcomes. This study contributes to the literature by examining the gender gap effects of childcare restrictions. Specifically, not using professional childcare services due to issues like access, quality, or costs. Using a specialized module from the 2018 Spanish Labor Force Survey, we identify substantial gender gaps in labor force, employment, full-time employment and hours worked among parents facing childcare constraints. In contrast, parents without such restrictions experience much lower gender gaps. Working time flexibility helps to alleviate the gender gap in hours worked. Additionally, we explore the long-run consequences of extended work interruptions for childcare, revealing a significant decline in women's labor supply, employment rates and full-time share, particularly for career breaks lasting 5 years or more. |
| Keywords: | Childcare restrictions, gender gap, labor outcomes, working flexibility, work interruptions. |
| JEL: | C21 J13 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2023–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:118957&r=lab |
| By: | Gørtz, Mette (University of Copenhagen); Sander, Sarah (University of Copenhagen); Sevilla, Almudena (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares the labor market impact of grandparents before and after the arrival of the first grandchild. We show that grandmothers' labor market outcomes decline more steeply than grandfathers' after the first grandchild's arrival, leading to a 4-10 percent gender earnings gap 5-10 years later. The child penalty is shifted across generations to grandmothers with low education, but daycare availability only affects child penalties. Gender biases towards older women's work are a contributing factor to the disparity in earnings between grandmothers and grandfathers after the arrival of the first grandchild. |
| Keywords: | grandchildren, female labor supply, gender, inequality, retirement |
| JEL: | J13 J14 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16557&r=lab |
| By: | Mattia Filomena (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University); Matteo Picchio (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University) |
| Abstract: | We analyse how unemployment affects individuals' social networks, leisure activities, and the related satisfaction measures. Using the LISS panel, a representative longitudinal survey of the Dutch population, we estimate the effects by inverse propensity score weighting in a difference-in-differences design in order to deal with unobserved heterogeneity and unbalanced covariate distribution between treated and control units potentially associated with the dynamics of the outcome variables. We find that, after job loss, individuals increase their network size by strengthening their closest contacts within the family, spending more time with neighbors, and making more use of social media. Although they devote their extra leisure time mostly to private activities, our results do not support the hypothesis of social exclusion following unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, job loss, social exclusion, leisure, social satisfaction, doubly robust difference-in-differences. |
| JEL: | I31 J01 J64 |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:482&r=lab |
| By: | Merkl, Christian; Stüber, Heiko |
| Abstract: | Although the quantitative relationship between employment cyclicality and wage cyclicality is central for the dynamics of macroeconomic models, there is little empirical evidence on this topic. We use the German AWFP dataset to document that wage cyclicalities are very heterogeneous across establishments. Based on this heterogeneity, we estimate the relationship between employment cyclicality and wage cyclicality at the establishment level. We use this micro-estimate as a calibration target for a macro labor market flow model with heterogeneous wage dynamics that nests the standard search and matching model. Based on this micro-macro linkage, we provide a new quantitative benchmark for the role of wage rigidity in search and matching models. Furthermore, we show that acyclical and countercyclical wage establishments are key drivers for stronger labor market reactions in recessions than in booms. |
| Keywords: | Wage Cyclicality, Employment Cyclicality, Labor Market Flow Model, Labor Market Dynamics, Establishments, Administrative Data |
| JEL: | E32 E24 J64 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1344&r=lab |
| By: | Anna Matysiak (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Agnieszka Kasperska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This article explores how Work From Home (WFH) affects workers’ career progression in the post-pandemic context of the United Kingdom, elucidating the mechanisms that drive these outcomes. Using data from the discrete choice experiment fielded between July and December 2022 among 1, 000 managers, we show that teleworkers, whether in hybrid or full-time WFH arrangements, face a disadvantageous evaluation by managers compared to their office-based counterparts. The adverse effect of hybrid teleworking is due to the fact that employers consider hybrid workers are less productive than onsite workers. Full-time teleworkers are penalized even if they display the same performance at work as onsite workers. We demonstrate this penalty to be driven by the fact that managers consider full-time teleworkers to be less committed to work than onsite workers. Consistently with past research, we also find that WFH affects workers’ careers differently depending on their gender and parental obligations and that managers’ assumptions about workers’ performance and commitment allow to explain at least some of these differences. |
| 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:2023-28&r=lab |
| By: | Zhifeng Cai; Jonathan Heathcote |
| Abstract: | How generous should social insurance be when quits account for a large share of transitions into non-employment? We address this question using a multi-sector directed search model extended to incorporate endogenous quits both to other jobs and to non-employment. Workers quit too often in the competitive equilibrium, and private markets co-ordinate on excessively high “efficiency” wages. Quantitatively, we find that unemployment insurance is optimally much less generous in an economy with quits than in one without. An extended Baily-Chetty formula is derived to illustrate the source of this difference. |
| Keywords: | Directed search; Quits; Great Resignation; Unemployment insurance |
| JEL: | E24 J65 J31 J64 |
| Date: | 2023–10–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmsr:97206&r=lab |
| By: | Ragnhild Balsvik; Doireann Fitzgerald; Stephanie Haller |
| Abstract: | Multinational affiliates are more productive than domestic firms, so how do they affect a host country through the labor market? We use data for Norway to show that the labor market is characterized by a job ladder, with multinationals on the upper rungs. We calibrate a general equilibrium job ladder model with endogenous multinational entry to the Norwegian data. In a counterfactual where multinationals face an infinite entry cost, payments to labor fall and profits of domestic firms rise, but the impact is heterogeneous. Competition for workers increases low down on the job ladder, while it decreases high up. |
| Keywords: | Job ladder; Multinationals; Labor market |
| JEL: | F66 F23 J63 J64 E24 |
| Date: | 2023–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmsr:97205&r=lab |
| By: | Bermudez, Natalia; Dejemeppe, Muriel; Tarullo, Giulia |
| Abstract: | Following massive take-up rates during the COVID-19 period, short-time work (STW) policies have attracted renewed interest. In this paper, we take stock of this policy instrument and provide a critical review of STW systems in Europe. We focus on the objectives of STW programs and their primary characteristics, as well as the inefficiencies associated with these policies, such as excessive use and slower worker reallocation. Additionally, we take a stroll through the main contributions of STW impact evaluations. Finally, we identify relevant directions for the refinement of the main design features of the scheme, key lessons, and avenues for future research. |
| Keywords: | Short-time work, labor hoarding, employment, firm survival, unemployment insurance |
| JEL: | E24 J22 J23 J63 J65 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1348&r=lab |
| By: | Breunig, Robert (Australian National University); Hansell, David (Australian National University); Win, Nu Nu (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether being female, from a non-English speaking background (NESB) or having a disability affects career advancement in the Australian Public Service. Over the past twenty years, women have become more likely to get promoted at senior ranks than similar men and just as likely at junior ranks. Disability lowers promotion prospects at most ranks. NESB staff have much lower promotion prospects at higher ranks despite being less likely to separate from the public service. These lower promotion prospects for NESB staff are only partially explained by language proficiency or cultural assimilation. The unexplained remainder could reflect a penalty for having non-European features. |
| Keywords: | public sector employment, affirmative action policies, equal opportunity employment |
| JEL: | J15 J18 J45 J78 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16549&r=lab |
| By: | Virginia Minni |
| Abstract: | Why do managers matter for firm performance? This paper provides evidence of the critical role of managers in matching workers to jobs within the firm using the universe of personnel records from a large multinational firm. The data covers 200, 000 white-collar workers and 30, 000 managers over 10 years in 100 countries. I identify good managers as the top 30% by their speed of promotion and leverage exogenous variation induced by the rotation of managers across teams. I find that good managers cause workers to reallocate within the firm through lateral and vertical transfers. This leads to large and persistent gains in workers' career progression and productivity. Seven years after the manager transition, workers earn 30% more and perform better on objective performance measures. In terms of aggregate firm productivity, doubling the share of good managers would increase output per worker by 61% at the establishment level. My results imply that the visible hands of managers match workers' specific skills to specialized jobs, leading to an improvement in the productivity of existing workers that outlasts the managers' time at the firm. |
| Keywords: | managers, career trajectories, internal labor markets, productivity |
| Date: | 2023–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:poidwp:080&r=lab |
| By: | Muhammad Ajmal Khan (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | Among socio-political issues that are closely linked with the formation of human capital of a country is the threat of child labour. Working of school-aged children leads to loss of educational and developmental milestones and leads to insufferable damage to children’s future. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines the term “Child Labour” as “a work that destitute children of their childhood, their potential and dignity, additionally that is harmful to mental and physical development of child. Actually, it refers to work that is; socially, morally, mentally and physically hazardous and detrimental to child development. And, interferes with child schooling by, depriving them to attend school and compel them to leave school permanently or combine school attendance and work (ILO, 2021a). |
| Keywords: | Afghan Refugees, Child Labor, Logistic Regression, Socioeconomic Factors |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2023:14&r=lab |
| By: | Ihsaan Bassier; Alan Manning; Barbara Petrongolo |
| Abstract: | We estimate the elasticity of vacancy duration with respect to posted wages, using data from the near-universe of online job adverts in the United Kingdom. Our research design identifies duration elasticities by leveraging firm-level wage policies that are plausibly exogenous to hiring difficulties on specific job vacancies, and control for job and market-level fixed-effects. Wage policies are defined based on external information on pay settlements, or on sharp, internally-defined, firm-level changes. In our preferred specifications, we estimate duration elasticities in the range -3 to -5, which are substantially larger than the few existing estimates. |
| Date: | 2023–08–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:1020&r=lab |
| By: | Menezes-Filho, Naercio; Narita, Renata |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the patterns of worker turnover in selected Latin American countries and their implications for wage inequality. It documents a higher positive annual wage growth rate for jobto-job changers compared to stayers, due to turnover capturing the immediate gains from search behavior in the short run. Younger workers benefit relatively more from the positive effects of jobto-job changes, as expected. We also show that transitions are relatively higher within the informal sector for most countries, and particularly so for workers without college education. Moreover, total job separations and transitions from formal into informal employment occur more often among low-skill and young individuals. Next, the paper analyzes wage growth by percentiles for all workers and job-to-job movers for each country over a more extended period. We find that jobto-job changes are inequality-reducing in the short run, consistent with search gains associated with turnover exhausting more rapidly for high-paid workers. In contrast, we find that human capital effects dominate the search effects in the long run, as human capital accumulates over time. Thus, long-run wage growth is lower for job changers than for stayers, so that, while in the short run the search effects tend to dominate those of human capital, in the long run the opposite occurs. As unskilled workers change jobs more frequently, this suggests that job changes are inequalityincreasing in the long run. A potential explanation for limited wage growth in Latin American economies may include high informality rates. Policies to reduce wage inequality should focus on improving the conditions for positive turnover towards better investment and, thus, higher-quality jobs. |
| JEL: | N0 R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2023–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120556&r=lab |
| By: | Gould, Eric D. (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the idea that the increasing return to college is reducing intergenerational mobility by differentially impacting the investments in children by parents across education groups. A larger return to college will create stronger incentives to invest in children by parents with more education, if educated parents have a comparative advantage in producing human capital in children. Given the importance of a two-parent household on childhood development, marital status is a critical investment decision that parents consider. Relative to less-educated mothers, the analysis shows that educated mothers in states with a larger increase in the return to education are more likely to be married, less likely to divorce, have a more educated spouse, and own more valuable houses. Their children also have relatively higher test scores in 8th grade and rates of college completion. These results are consistent with the increasing return to college differentially affecting the incentives for parental investments in children, which in turn, creates greater disparities in childhood conditions and reduces intergenerational mobility in education. |
| Keywords: | marriage, inequality, return to college |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J12 J24 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16559&r=lab |