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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Paredes, Valentina (Universidad de Chile); Perez, Francisca (Universidad Adolfo Ibañez); Pino, Francisco J. (University of Chile); Olmedo Cortés, Patricia (Superintendencia de Seguridad Social, Gobierno de Chile) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we exploit the introduction in February 2018 of a new paid parental leave program to care for a seriously ill child in Chile (SANNA) to identify the role of both economic incentives and gender norms on families' decisions regarding market versus home production specialization. To measure the impact of economic incentives, we utilize the design of the SANNA program, which covers the beneficiary's wages up to a specific threshold, beyond which the benefit remains fixed. The efficient allocation of this benefit depends on the income levels of family members and whether their income exceeds the threshold. To investigate the role of gender norms, we compare the effect of economic incentives among older, more traditional families and younger families. Our results indicate that both gender norms and economic incentives affect parental leave allocation. We estimate that older families pay a cost of USD 1, 200 for adhering to traditional gender norms compared to younger families. |
| Keywords: | parental childcare, gender identity norms, gender wage gap |
| JEL: | D13 J22 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16762&r=lab |
| By: | Jacopo Bassetto; Teresa Freitas Monteiro |
| Abstract: | Migration is often temporary, and the intended length of stay in the host country is an important determinant of immigrants’ labor market behavior, human capital investment, and socioeconomic integration. In this paper, we investigate whether safety conditions in the home country affect immigrants’ return intentions and job search behavior. We combine administrative and survey data with precise information on terrorist attacks worldwide. Our identification strategy exploits the quasi-random occurrence of terrorist attacks in the home country relative to the timing of interviews and job separations in Germany. We show that immigrants interviewed after a terrorist attack in their home country are 12 percentage points more likely to wish to remain in Germany permanently. Immigrants react more strongly if they are less integrated in Germany and have close family members in their home country. Consistent with the prediction that revisions to the intended length of stay affect immigrants’ labor market behavior, we show that immigrants who enter unemployment when a terrorist event hits their home country are 1.8 percentage points more likely to be employed within three months than immigrants who enter unemployment in quiet times. Among those who find employment within three months, immigrants who experience terror events receive lower hourly wages and are more likely to work part-time. These results suggest that immigrants who enter unemployment in a month with high levels of violence in the home country trade immediate job security for lower earnings and less-productive firms. |
| Keywords: | immigration, uncertainty, violence, return migration, unemployment |
| JEL: | J15 J61 J64 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10908&r=lab |
| By: | Akgündüz, Yusuf Emre (Sabanci University); Aydemir, Abdurrahman B. (Sabanci University); Cilasun, Seyit Mümin (TED University); Kirdar, Murat Güray (Bogazici University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the degree to which immigration shock to a region propagates through supply chains. Using the unexpected arrival of Syrian refugees densely concentrated in border regions of Turkey, we estimate how firms throughout the country are affected in terms of their sales, employment, and wages. We also estimate the effect of the shock on interprovincial trade, focusing on trade volume and network formation. The results point to positive spillover effects of immigration for firms with pre-existing links to Syrian refugee-hosting regions through upstream and downstream linkages. We further find evidence for increased trade volume and network expansion through new trade linkages. |
| Keywords: | immigration, propagation, firm-to-firm trade, employment, production networks |
| JEL: | D22 J61 L14 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16770&r=lab |
| By: | Bredemeier, Christian (University of Wuppertal); Ndlovu, Patrick (University of Antwerp); Vujic, Suncica (University of Antwerp); Winkler, Roland (University of Jena) |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a novel theoretical explanation for the gender gap in job satisfaction, where women typically report higher job satisfaction than men. We argue that rational family decisions can result in divergent job choices for women and men, leading to increased job satisfaction but lower earnings for women, even when their preferences and expectations align with those of men. We develop this explanation within a theoretical model of collective household decision-making that considers relative earnings disparities within households. We provide empirical evidence supporting our model's predictions utilizing survey and administrative data from Canada. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, gender gap, households |
| JEL: | D13 J28 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16760&r=lab |
| By: | Hilary Wething (Economic Policy Institute); Meredith Slopen (City University of New York) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safety Time (PSST) policy on workers’ quarterly hours worked and separation hazard. Using Unemployment Insurance records from before and after the implementation of PSST, we examine individual-level employment behavior at the extensive and intensive margins and compare Seattle workers to workers in Washington state using a difference-indifferences strategy. Importantly, we consider how impacts vary by employment characteristics, including worker wage rate and tenure, and by firm characteristics, including industry and firm size. We find that PSST increased workers’ quarterly hours by 4.42 hours per quarter, or around 18 hours per year. While there was no overall impact on workers’ separation hazard rates, we observed a 10 percent decrease in separations for workers in firms with more than 50 employees following PSST implementation. Our findings indicate that paid sick leave policies may support workers in increasing their hours and, to a lesser extent, may reduce turnover. |
| Keywords: | sick pay mandates, hours worked, low-wage employment |
| JEL: | I18 J08 J63 J68 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:24-396&r=lab |
| By: | Francesco Agostinelli; Domenico Ferraro; Xincheng Qiu; Giuseppe Sorrenti |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the mechanisms and the extent to which parental wage risk passes through to children's skill development. Through a quantitative dynamic labor supply model in which two parents choose whether to work short or long hours or not work at all, time spent with children, and child-related expenditures, we find that income risk impacts skill accumulation, permanently lowering children's skill levels. To the extent that making up for cognitive skill losses during childhood is hard--as available evidence suggests--uninsurable income risk can negatively impact the labor market prospects of future generations. |
| JEL: | D1 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32096&r=lab |
| By: | Bailey, Martha J. (University of California, Los Angeles); Byker, Tanya (Middlebury College); Patel, Elena (University of Utah); Ramnath, Shanthi (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | We use administrative tax data to analyze the cumulative, long-run effects of California's 2004 Paid Family Leave Act (CPFL) on women's employment, earnings, and childbearing. A regression-discontinuity design exploits the sharp increase in the weeks of paid leave available under the law. We find no evidence that CPFL increased employment, boosted earnings, or encouraged childbearing, suggesting that CPFL had little effect on the gender pay gap or child penalty. For first-time mothers, we find that CPFL reduced employment and earnings roughly a decade after they gave birth. |
| Keywords: | leave taking, gender, maternity leave, labor market, gender gap, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | J08 J16 J71 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16756&r=lab |
| By: | Alex Bell; TJ Hedin; Geoffrey C. Schnorr; Till M. von Wachter |
| Abstract: | This paper provides estimates of the effect of unemployment insurance benefits on labor supply outcomes over the business cycle using 20 years of administrative claims and earnings data from California. A regression kink design exploiting nonlinear benefit schedules provides experimental estimates of behavioral labor supply responses throughout the unemployment spell that are comparable over time. For a given unemployment duration, the behavioral effect of UI benefit levels on labor supply is unchanged over the business cycle from 2002 to 2019. However, due to increased coverage from extensions in benefit durations, the duration elasticity of UI benefits rises during recessions. The behavioral effect during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is substantially lower at all weeks of the unemployment spell. |
| JEL: | E32 J65 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32071&r=lab |
| By: | William W. Olney; Owen Thompson |
| Abstract: | Internal migration in the United States has declined substantially over the past several decades, which has important implications for individual welfare, macroeconomic adjustments, and other key outcomes. This paper studies the determinants of internal migration and how they have changed over time. We use administrative data from the IRS covering the universe of bilateral moves between every Commuting Zone (CZ) in the country over a 23 year period. This data is linked to information on local wage levels and home prices, and we estimate bilateral migration determinants in rich regression specifications that contain CZ-pair fixed effects. Consistent with theoretical predictions, results show that migration is decreasing with origin wages and destination home prices, and is increasing with destination wages and origin home prices. We then examine the contributions of earnings and home prices to the noted overall decline in internal migration. These analyses show that wages on their own would have led to an increase in migration rates, primarily because migrants are increasingly responsive to high earnings levels in potential destination CZs. However, these wage effects have been more than offset by housing related factors, which have increasingly impeded internal mobility. In particular, migration has become much less responsive to housing prices in the origin CZ, such that many households that would have left in response to high home prices several decades ago now choose to stay. |
| JEL: | J31 J61 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32123&r=lab |
| By: | Beata Osiewalska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences; LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics; Cracow University of Economics); Anna Matysiak (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences; LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the under-researched role of the three types of work autonomy – control over how, when and where to work – for both the entry into parenthood and the transition to a second child across different social strata in the United Kingdom. Over the past three decades, employees have gained increased work autonomy, a trend expected to persist with technological advancements. Work autonomy substantially affects the combination of paid work and family life. But its multifaceted impact on workers’ fertility behavior, especially across different educational levels, has remained unclear. The study employs a sample of partnered women and men from UKHLS 2009-2019 data. Event-history models are estimated. We find no relationship between work autonomy and fertility behavior for men. Work autonomy is only weakly related to the childbearing behavior of highly-educated women, though mothers with a university degree who have control over their work time are more likely to have a second child. For lower-educated women work autonomy is often negatively related to childbearing. The study highlights the intricate link between work autonomy and fertility and emphasizes important social stratification in the impact of autonomy on individuals. Further research is needed to unravel the observed duality, i.e., understanding the challenges posed by work autonomy for fertility, especially among the lower-educated. |
| Keywords: | work autonomy, childbearing, fertility behavior, United Kingdom |
| JEL: | J01 J11 J13 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2024-02&r=lab |
| By: | Timm Bönke; Astrid Harnack-Eber; Holger Lüthen |
| Abstract: | This study provides the first absolute income mobility estimates for postwar Germany. Using various micro data sources, we uncover a steep decline in absolute mobility rates from 81 percent to 59 percent for children’s birth cohorts 1962 through 1988. This trend is robust across different ages, family sizes, measurement methods, copulas, and data sources. Across the parental income distribution, we find that children from middle class families experienced the largest percentage point drop in absolute income mobility (-31pp). Our counterfactual analysis shows that lower economic growth rates and higher income inequality contributed similarly to these trends. |
| Keywords: | Absolute mobility, Intergenerational mobility, Income distributions, Consumption, Inequality |
| JEL: | D31 H0 J62 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2068&r=lab |
| By: | Márton Csillag (HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis); Balázs Munkácsy (Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis); Ágota Scharle (Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis) |
| Abstract: | Does a drastic cut in in potential benefit duration affect the take-up of unemployment insurance benefits among those eligible? We evaluate a policy change reducing the maximum length of UI benefits from 9 to 3 months in Hungary at the end of 2011. We rely on rich longitudinal matched administrative data, which allows us to obtain information on a large sample of job losers, and precisely estimate eligibility for UI benefits. We find that slightly less than 60 percent of UI eligible individuals claim benefits, and that while the length of benefit entitlement is only slightly positively correlated with taking up benefits, UI claiming rate tends to increase with previous earnings. We show that the proportion of UI benefit claims fell only slightly (by 1.5 – 2 percentage points), but this effect was more pronounced for those with the largest potential losses in UI value. This moderate effect might be related to the fact that the reform essentially got rid of the period of flat-rate UI benefits, while keeping the period when UI benefits were proportional to previous earnings roughly unchanged. At the same time, UI take-up decreased among those with low earnings (around the minimum wage) but stable employment, a group with likely little savings, which is alarming from a social policy perspective. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: unemployment insurance benefits; potential benefit duration; take-up |
| JEL: | J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:2336&r=lab |
| By: | Bedaso, Fenet Jima |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of female occupational segregation on the gender wage gap across the entire wage distribution. Using the Ethiopian labor force survey, I employ unconditional quantile regression based on the recentered in uence function and correct sample selection issues that arise due to nonrandom decision of female labor force participation using Heckman's two-stage method for baseline estimation. The results show that women earn less than men throughout the wage distribution, even after controlling for personal and labor market characteristics. Importantly, female occupational segregation has a negative coefficient across the wage distribution except at the end of the distribution and partly explains the gender wage gap at the bottom and median percentile of the wage distribution. Using the recentered in uence function decomposition, I find that the gender wage gap due to structural effect is highest at the bottom of the wage distribution, evidence of sticky oor effects. Finally, the estimation shows that the gender wage gap is higher in the private sector than in the public sector across the wage distribution. |
| Keywords: | Occupational segregation, gender wage gap, unconditional quantile regression, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | C21 J3 J16 J71 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1393&r=lab |
| By: | Randazzo, Teresa; Piracha, Matloob |
| Abstract: | We study the role of immigrant children's ethnic identity in their educational performance and preferences/aspirations in Italy. We find that students with a weak sense of Italian belonging show a low performance in reading and mathematics and higher probability of grade retention. Moreover, children in middle secondary school with a weak sense of Italian identity have a low preference towards academically-oriented high secondary track which normally increases the likelihood of pursuing a university degree. We also find that the intention of immigrant children in high secondary schools to enrol at university decreases if they have a weak Italian identity. We exploit gender heterogeneity finding that females are more adversely affected in their educational aspirations when they have not built a strong sense of Italian identity. Immigrant children will soon form a very important component of the Italian labour force and shedding light on their educational outcomes will help us understand their performance in the Italian labour market better. |
| Keywords: | ethnic identity, educational performance, educational preferences |
| JEL: | F22 J15 I2 Z13 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1387&r=lab |
| By: | Amy Finkelstein; Matthew J. Notowidigdo; Frank Schilbach; Jonathan Zhang |
| Abstract: | We leverage spatial variation in the severity of the Great Recession across the United States to examine its impact on mortality and to explore implications for the welfare consequences of recessions. We estimate that an increase in the unemployment rate of the magnitude of the Great Recession reduces the average, annual age-adjusted mortality rate by 2.3 percent, with effects persisting for at least 10 years. Mortality reductions appear across causes of death and are concentrated in the half of the population with a high school degree or less. We estimate similar percentage reductions in mortality at all ages, with declines in elderly mortality thus responsible for about three-quarters of the total mortality reduction. Recession-induced mortality declines are driven primarily by external effects of reduced aggregate economic activity on mortality, and recession-induced reductions in air pollution appear to be a quantitatively important mechanism. Incorporating our estimates of pro-cyclical mortality into a standard macroeconomics framework substantially reduces the welfare costs of recessions, particularly for people with less education, and at older ages where they may even be welfare-improving. |
| JEL: | E3 I1 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32110&r=lab |
| By: | Jason Lennard (London School of Economics (LSE); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM); Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence); Meredith M. Paker (Grinnell College) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates how a major policy shift - the suspension of the gold standard in September1931 - affected employment outcomes in interwar Britain. We use a new high-frequency industry-level dataset and difference-in-differences techniques to isolate the impact of devaluation on exporters. At the micro level, we find that the break from gold reduced the unemployment rate by 2.7 percentage points for export-intensive industries relative to more closed industries. At the aggregate level, this effect stimulated the labor market, the fiscal outlook, and economic growth. Devaluation was therefore an important initial spark of recovery from the depths of the Great Depression. |
| Keywords: | exports, gold standard, interwar Britain, unemployment |
| JEL: | E24 F41 J64 N14 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfm:wpaper:2403&r=lab |
| By: | Ragui Assaad (University of Minnesota, Humphrey School of Public Affairs); Thomas Ginn (Center for Global Development); Mohamed Saleh (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | While labor market impacts of refugees in low- and middle-income countries are commonly studied, public services like education could also be affected by mass arrivals. This paper examines the impact of Syrian refugees on the educational outcomes of Jordanians. Combining detailed household surveys with school-level records on the density of Syrians, we study both the quantity and quality of education using a difference-in-differences design across refugee prevalence and schooling cohort. We find no evidence that Syrians significantly affected the educational outcomes of Jordanians. We show that the government's response of establishing second shifts in existing public schools and opening new schools in camps mitigated potential overcrowding. |
| Keywords: | Education; Refugees; Forced Migration; Middle East |
| JEL: | I21 J61 N35 R23 |
| Date: | 2024–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:679&r=lab |
| By: | Lozano, Lina (New York University, Abu Dhabi); Riedl, Arno (Maastricht University); Rott, Christina (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We investigate experimentally how the menstrual cycle affects bargaining behavior and bargaining outcomes of women. Female participants negotiate in an unstructured bilateral bargaining game with asymmetric information about the allocation of a surplus ('pie size'). We find that the menstrual cycle affects bargaining behavior and that the effects depend on the information players have. Players who are informed about the pie size are less compromising during ovulation and receive higher payoffs conditional on reaching an agreement. Uninformed players achieve higher final payoffs during ovulation, which is mainly driven by higher agreement rates. |
| Keywords: | bargaining, asymmetric information, menstrual cycle, biological factors |
| JEL: | C78 C91 D87 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16768&r=lab |
| By: | Guimarães, Luis; Lourenço, Diogo |
| Abstract: | What is the impact of replacing conditional welfare programs with a Universal Basic Income (UBI) that costs the same? We answer this question using a general-equilibrium model with incomplete markets that accounts for three imperfections of conditional programs: incomplete take-up, illegitimate transfers, and administrative costs. We find that these imperfections, particularly incomplete take-up, substantially affect welfare. We also find that replacing the conditional programs with a UBI would increase capital stock, employment, and output, and lower inequality. Yet, the welfare effect of a UBI is not clear-cut. Aggregate welfare would fall in our benchmark, but a moderately larger UBI would be preferable to an equal expansion of conditional programs, especially for the least educated. |
| Keywords: | Universal Basic Income; Welfare System; Take-up; Illegitimate Transfers; Administrative Costs; Labor Market Flows. |
| JEL: | D52 E21 H24 J21 J64 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:119964&r=lab |
| By: | Friedman-Sokuler, Naomi; Justman, Moshe |
| Abstract: | Even the most egalitarian education systems employ high-stakes tests to regulate the transition from universal secondary education to selective academic programs that open doors to skilled, well-paid professions. This gives parents a strong incentive to invest substantial resources in improving their children's' achievement on these tests, thus reinforcing dynastic socioeconomic advantage through "test-score transmission". Using longitudinal administrative data to follow Israeli students in Hebrew-language schools from eighth grade to age 29, we provide evidence that despite Israeli schools being publicly financed and tuition-free, test-score transmission is very much prevalent. Second-generation (SG) students with more educated and affluent parents do much better on the screening tests that regulate access to the most selective tertiary academic programs than first-generation (FG) students with similar eighth-grade test score ranks. Yet this advantage does not manifest itself in earnings differentials at age 29, controlling for eighth grade achievement, which are statistically insignificant or even reversed. This is consistent with eighth-grade test scores reflecting individual human capital; SG parents investing in their children's test-taking abilities and improving their access to selective tertiary programs; and employers not valuing these skills and compensating employees according to their observed productivity. Both men and women exhibit these patterns. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational mobility, test-score transmission, human capital, parental education |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1388&r=lab |
| By: | Gόrnicka, Lucyna; Koester, Gerrit; Radowski, Daniel; Gautier, Erwan; Peinado, Mario Izquierdo; Stiglbauer, Alfred; Wittekopf, David; Puente, Sergio; Duarte, Claudia; Martins, Fernando; Basso, Gaetano; Lydon, Reamonn; Ploj, Gasper; Polemidiotis, Marios; Pönkä, Harri; Obstbaum, Meri; Petroulas, Pavlos; Veiga, Cindy; Beka, Jan; Benatti, Nicola; Fagandini, Bruno; Healy, Peter; Nizzi, Raffaella; Colonna, Fabrizio; Volkerink, Maikel; Antonopoulos, Christos; Bing, Matthias; Piryankov, Evgeni; Jimenez, Angel Luis Gomez; Saks, Yves; Coppens, Barbara; D’Amuri, Francesco; Zajankauskaitė, Justina; Pribuišis, Kristupas; Lindič, Mojca; Doliak, Michal; Monza, Aurora; Llevadot, Marc Roca i; Polichetti, Gaetano; Gardin, Giulia |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces innovative, newly developed forward-looking indicators of negotiated wage growth in the euro area using data on collective bargaining agreements from seven countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and Greece. The paper demonstrates how agreement-level data can be used to study drivers of aggregate negotiated wage growth, as well as monitor the breadth of wage increases and account for time-varying factors such as one-off payments, when assessing wage pressures. Lastly, the paper shows that the new indicators can provide reliable signals about current and future developments of wage pressures in the euro area while also serving as important cross-checking tools for negotiated wage growth forecasts. JEL Classification: E24, J31, J50 |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining, negotiated wages, wage forecasting, wage rigidity |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbops:2024338&r=lab |