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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Harris, Jorgen M. (Occidental College); Patacchini, Eleonora (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | In many countries, a significant share of the gender earnings gap stems not only from firm's practices, or self-selection into lower productivity jobs, but also from a lower participation among women. Inactivity around the age of motherhood is frequent including in the most advanced countries, and can have lasting consequences on the chances to return to the labor market, as well as future earnings and promotions. In this paper, we discuss the major barriers reducing women's labor force participation and examine the effects of several policies aimed at overcoming those barriers: parental leave, reserved paternal leave, state-funded childcare for young children, extended school hours, and individual taxation. For each, we provide a brief discussion of policy design and effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | economics of gender, child care, time allocation and labor supply, labor market policy, maternal and paternal labor force participation, gender norms |
| JEL: | J16 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17219 |
| By: | Antman, Francisca M. (University of Colorado, Boulder); Duncan, Brian (University of Colorado Denver); Lovenheim, Michael F. (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the long-run impacts of banning affirmative action on men and women from under-represented minority (URM) racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Using data from the US Census and American Community Survey, we use a difference-in-differences framework to compare the college degree completion, graduate degree completion, earnings, and employment of URM individuals to non-URM individuals before and after affirmative action bans went into effect across several US states. We also employ event study analyses and alternative estimators to confirm the validity of our approach and discuss the generalizability of the findings. Results suggest that banning affirmative action results in a decline in URM women's college degree completion, earnings, and employment relative to non-Hispanic White women, driven largely by impacts on Hispanic women. Thus, affirmative action bans resulted in an increase in racial/ethnic disparities in both college degree completion and earnings among women. Effects on URM men are more ambiguous and indicate significant heterogeneity across states, with some estimates pointing to a possible positive impact on labor market outcomes of Black men. These results suggest that the relative magnitude of college quality versus mismatch effects vary for URM men and women and highlight the importance of disaggregating results by gender, race, and ethnicity. We conclude by discussing how our results compare with others in the literature and directions for future research. |
| Keywords: | affirmative action, higher education, racial disparities |
| JEL: | J15 J18 I23 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17169 |
| By: | Yudai Higashi (Faculty of Economics, Kyoto Sangyo University and Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration , Kobe University, JAPAN); Masaru Sasaki (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University, JAPAN and Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), GERMANY) |
| Abstract: | This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic deteriorated the mismatch in the Japanese labor market. First, we focus on the differences in job flows by occupation and employment type, which differ according to the risk of infection. We then estimate the mismatch indices for distinct labor markets clustered by occupations that are more and less vulnerable to the pandemic using the method developed by Şahin et al. (2014). We find that the pandemic induced a mismatch for full-time workers in occupations with a high risk of infection, those in which it is easy to work remotely, and those in which it is particularly difficult to work remotely, as well as for part-time workers in occupations in which it is easy to work remotely. |
| Keywords: | Mismatch; O-NET data; COVID-19; Labor market tightness |
| JEL: | J61 J62 J63 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2024-29 |
| By: | Silliman, Mikko (Aalto University); Willén, Alexander (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper combines two of the most central features of modern labor markets —immigrants and unions — to examine the role of worker power in shaping immigrant sorting across firms, and how that subsequently influences the performance of firms and the careers of incumbent workers. First, unions push immigrants to enter lower-paying and lower-quality firms with weaker union representation. Second, these firms with weaker union representation are able to use the cheaper immigrant labor to scale up production, thereby out-competing firms with stronger union representation and capturing market share. Third, incumbent workers in firms with weaker union representation benefit by shifting into management positions and capturing some of the firm's increased rents. Fourth, despite benefiting incumbent workers in firms with weaker union representation, these workers are more likely to become union members themselves in response to greater contact with new immigrants. Broadly, our results cut across nearly all sectors but are considerably more muted in competitive markets. |
| Keywords: | immigration, worker power, unions, firms |
| JEL: | J2 J3 J5 J6 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17208 |
| By: | Gambaro, Ludovica (London School of Economics); Huebener, Mathias (Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung (BiB)); Schmitz, Sophia (Federal Institute for Population Research); Spieß, C. Katharina (Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung (BiB)) |
| Abstract: | In armed conflicts, it is common for women, children, and the elderly to flee, leaving the men behind. While refugee women face particular challenges in caring for children in host countries, there is only limited evidence on the impact of childcare services on their integration. This paper examines the role of childcare services in the integration, employment, and well-being of refugee mothers. We focus on the displacement caused by the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Our analysis is based on a unique, large, and representative panel data set of Ukrainian refugees in Germany. We find a strong correlation between childcare attendance and the participation of refugee mothers in language courses, labour market activity, and social interaction. To establish causality, we leverage exogenous regional differences in childcare availability and excess demand. Our results reveal significant positive effects of childcare services on the participation of refugee mothers in language and integration programs, as well as employment and their interactions with Germans. However, we find no effects on maternal well-being. Our findings emphasize the importance of providing childcare services to refugee mothers to facilitate their integration. |
| Keywords: | childcare services, refugees, forced migration, integration, employment, Ukraine |
| JEL: | I26 J13 J15 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17181 |
| By: | Kansikas, Carolina (University of Warwick); Bagues, Manuel (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether term limits can help historically underrepresented groups, such as women, gain faster access to positions of political power. We exploit evidence from Italian local elections where, in a context of rapidly increasing women's presence in politics, mayoral term limits were extended from two to three five-year terms in municipalities with less than 3, 000 inhabitants in 2014 and in those with a population between 3, 000 and 5, 000 in 2022. Using as control group slightly larger municipalities, we find that longer term limits delay younger cohorts' access to mayoral roles, significantly slowing the increase in female representation. The magnitude of the effect is substantial; the share of female mayors would be 4-10 percentage points higher if term limits had not been extended. The impact is stronger in municipalities with a larger presence of women at lower political levels and where gender quotas are in place, suggesting a complementarity between these policies. Our findings suggest that term limits help bridge the representational gap between entry and top-level political positions, especially in times of rapid societal change. |
| Keywords: | term limits, female political representation, Italian local elections |
| JEL: | J16 J18 J48 D72 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17175 |
| By: | David A. Matsa; Brian T. Melzer; Michal Zator |
| Abstract: | Many young employees work on a temporary basis, which entails significantly greater income risk than “permanent” work, even for jobs in the same occupation and at a similar wage. We find that this income uncertainty leads lenders to ration credit to temporary workers, precisely at the stage of life when permanent workers rely on mortgages to invest in housing and loans to smooth consumption and purchase durable goods. Labor laws that improve job security for permanent workers create a dual credit market alongside the dual labor market, making it harder for young adults to establish financial independence and new families. |
| JEL: | D14 G51 J41 J68 R21 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32858 |
| By: | Trang T. Hoang; Devashish Mitra; Hoang Pham |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of an export market expansion created by the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) on labor market competition among Vietnamese manufacturing firms. We measure distortionary wedges between equilibrium marginal revenue products of labor (MRPL) and wages nonparametrically and find that the median firm pays workers 59% of their MRPL. The BTA permanently decreases labor market distortion in manufacturing by 3.4%, mainly for domestic private firms. The median distortion is 26% higher for women than men, and the decline in distortion for women drives the overall distortion reduction. We shed some light on the mechanisms for these results. |
| Keywords: | International Trade; Export Market Access; Labor Market Distortion; Misallocation; Income Distribution; Labor Share; Gender Inequality; Monopsony; Oligopsony |
| JEL: | F16 F63 O15 O24 J42 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–08–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:1394 |
| By: | Kokas, Deeksha (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore); Roche Rodriguez, Jaime Alfonso (World Bank); Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys (World Bank); Robertson, Raymond (Texas A&M University); Karamba, Wendy (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Cambodia's rapid economic growth in the past few decades has coincided with trade liberalization and structural transformation. This growth has been extensively associated with more employment, higher wages, shared prosperity, and poverty reduction. By combining two complementary approaches, the Gravity model and the Bartik model, this paper estimates: (i) the relationship between trade agreements and trade flows, and (ii) the relationship between trade exposure and various local labor market outcomes. Our gravity estimates show that trade agreements between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are positively related with trade flows, and that Cambodia's specific gains from these increases in trade have been larger than for the average trade agreement. This has led to better results for workers in Cambodia's local labor markets. Our shift-share Bartik results suggest that increases in trade exposure in Cambodian districts between 2009 and 2019 correlate with reduced informality and an increase in hours worked, with more positive effects for female workers. |
| Keywords: | trade policy, exports, trade exposure, employment, informality, wages |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17209 |
| By: | Melissa Arnold Lyon; Matthew A. Kraft; Matthew P. Steinberg |
| Abstract: | The U.S. has witnessed a resurgence of labor activism, with teachers at the forefront. We examine how teacher strikes affect compensation, working conditions, and productivity with an original dataset of 772 teacher strikes generating 48 million student days idle between 2007 and 2023. Using an event study framework, we find that, on average, strikes increase compensation by 8% and lower pupil-teacher ratios by 0.5 students, driven by new state revenues. We find little evidence of sizable impacts on student achievement up to five years post-strike, though strikes lasting 10 or more days decrease math achievement in the short-term. |
| JEL: | I22 J30 J45 J52 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32862 |
| By: | Lavado, Pablo (Universidad del Pacifico); Yamada, Gustavo (Universidad del Pacifico); Armas, Joaquin (Princeton University); Gonzalez, Mauricio (APOYO Consultoria) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of a higher education reform on the labor market outcomes of college graduates in Peru. The cornerstone of this piece of legislation was a licensing process whereby a newly created higher education superintendency evaluated every existing university on minimum quality criteria to grant or deny their operating license. We find that, conditionally on being employed, the effects of this reform on the college graduates of universities that were granted (denied) the license were two: an effect of around 6.5% (-9%) on monthly wages and a less precisely estimated effect of approximately 4 p.p. (-3.5 p.p.) on the probability of being formally employed. Our work provides evidence of the existence of winners and losers as a consequence of this ambitious higher education reform in Peru. |
| Keywords: | SUNEDU, university licensing, higher education reform, signaling effects |
| JEL: | I26 I28 J01 L14 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17212 |
| By: | Brunori, Paolo (University of Florence); Ferreira, Francisco H. G. (London School of Economics); Salas-Rojo, Pedro (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Scholars have sought to quantify the extent of inequality which is inherited from past generations in multiple ways, including a large body of work on intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunity. This paper makes two contributions to that broad literature. First, we show that many of the most frequently used approaches to measuring mobility or inequality of opportunity fit within a general framework which involves, as a first step, a calculation of the extent to which inherited circumstances can predict current incomes. Second, we suggest a new method - within that broad framework - which is sensitive to differences across the entire distributions of groups with different inherited characteristics, rather than just in their means. This feature makes it particularly well-suited to measuring inequality of opportunity, as well as to any inequality decomposition approach that requires going beyond means in assessing between-group differences. We apply this approach to South Africa, arguably the world's most unequal country, and find that almost three-quarters of its current inequality is inherited from predetermined circumstances, with race playing the largest role but parental background also making an important contribution. |
| Keywords: | inequality, opportunity, mobility, transformation trees, South Africa |
| JEL: | D31 D63 J62 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17203 |