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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Serdar Birinci; Kurt See |
| Abstract: | We digitize state-level and time-varying unemployment insurance (UI) laws on initial eligibility, payment amount, and payment duration and combine them with microdata on labor market outcomes to estimate UI eligibility, take-up, and replacement rates at the individual level. We document how levels of income and wealth affect unemployment risk, eligibility, take-up, and replacement rates both upon job loss and over the course of unemployment spells. We evaluate whether these empirical findings are important for shaping UI policy design using a general equilibrium incomplete markets model combined with a frictional labor market that matches our empirical findings. We show that a nested alternative model that fails to match these findings yields a substantially less generous optimal UI policy compared to the baseline model. Our empirical results are also relevant for researchers estimating the effects of UI policy changes on labor market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | unemployment insurance; fiscal policy; household behavior; job search |
| JEL: | E24 H31 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2024–09–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:98801 |
| By: | Serdar Birinci; Yusuf Mercan; Kurt See |
| Abstract: | We examine the extent to which mismatch unemployment—employment losses relative to an efficient allocation where the planner can costlessly reallocate unemployed workers across sectors to maximize output—shaped labor market dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent recovery episode characterized by labor shortages. We find that, for the first time in our sample, mismatch unemployment turned negative at the onset of the pandemic. This result suggests that the efficient allocation of job seekers would involve reallocating workers toward longer-tenure and more-productive jobs, even at the expense of fewer hires. We show that sectoral differences in job separations were the main driver behind this result, while differences in vacancies caused positive mismatch unemployment during the recovery episode. We also establish an empirical link between mismatch unemployment and the surge in the labor cost during the recovery, documenting that sectors with larger mismatch unemployment experienced higher employment cost growth. |
| Keywords: | mismatch; reallocation; unemployment; labor shortages |
| JEL: | E24 E32 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2024–09–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:98793 |
| By: | Sandner, Malte (Technische Hochschule Nürnberg); Yükselen, Ipek (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | A large body of literature has shown that the gender wage gap is small in the first years after graduation and increases gradually with age, largely because of family decisions, i.e., a penalty caused by childbirth. However, the gender wage gap immediately after graduation has received less attention. Using a unique dataset that links 5, 000 university graduates with master's degrees or equivalent from a large German university to detailed employment records from the German social security register, we specifically analyze the gender wage gap at the first job and its dynamics during the initial years of their careers after graduation. We find that a significant gender wage gap already exists in the first job after graduation, even before most young individuals make family decisions. However, this gender wage gap decreases in the first year after entering the labor market and then increases slowly over time. We attribute this initial decrease in the gender wage gap to female university graduates experiencing greater returns from firm and occupational changes than their male counterparts. This suggests that women may use these changes to address skill mismatches, which are more common among women than men in their first job. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, university graduates, early career |
| JEL: | I23 J16 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17293 |
| By: | Blau, Francine D. (Cornell University); Lynch, Lisa M. (Brandeis University) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of what has happened over the past fifty years for women as they worked to break through professional barriers in economics, policy, and institutional leadership. We chart the progress of women in higher education at the college level and beyond and then go on to examine women's representation at the upper levels of academia, government, law, medicine, and management. We begin our description of trends in 1972 when Title IX was enacted, prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational programs. The data paint a picture of considerable progress but also persistent inequities. We then go on to consider possible explanations for the continuing gender differences and some of the empirical evidence on the factors identified. |
| Keywords: | labor economics, economics of gender, labor force trends, education, discrimination, women leadership |
| JEL: | J0 J01 J10 J16 J2 J21 J24 J7 J70 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17295 |
| By: | Kim, Seonghoon (Singapore Management University); Wang, Lanjie (Singapore Management University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the short-term impacts of unemployment in Singapore, a setting without public unemployment insurance. Using monthly panel data from the Singapore Life Panel, we analyze dynamic effects on major life outcomes such as income, spending, health, and subjective well-being over two years post-unemployment. Our findings reveal substantial initial earnings losses with incomplete recovery, as income remains 50.6% below pre-unemployment levels after 24 months. Despite this persistent income gap, consumption responses are modest, with total household expenditure decreasing by 13–17% over two years. The two-year marginal propensity to consume is about 0.2 which is smaller than estimates in countries with more extensive social insurance, suggesting robust self-insurance mechanisms. We observe increased retirement and self-employment but no significant spousal earnings response. While health status remains largely unchanged, we find substantial declines in life satisfaction. Our study provides insights into unemployment dynamics in a UI-free environment, suggesting modest welfare gains from introducing unemployment benefits in Singapore. |
| Keywords: | unemployment shock, consumption spending, event study design, monthly panel |
| JEL: | J14 J60 E24 D12 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17299 |
| By: | Hayo, Bernd (University of Marburg); Roth, Duncan H.W. (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | A sizeable literature analyses how immigration affects attitudes towards migrants and discusses differences between socio-economic groups and their potential correlation with perceived concerns about labour market competition. Against the background of the large-scale influx of refugees into Germany between 2015 and 2016, this paper uses data from a unique and representative survey of the German population to assess whether respondents express fears of job loss due to immigration. We focus on the importance of perceptions of migrants' ability to do one's job in relation to these fears. Moreover, we compare concerns about refugees with those about EU migrants and propose several hypotheses. Our findings indicate that: (i) Respondents are more likely to view EU migrants as potential competitors in the labour market. (ii) Workers in blue-collar occupations and without tertiary education are more likely to view migrants as potential competitors on the labour market. (iii) The perception of potential competition from migrants strongly predicts fear of job loss. Once we control for this perception, occupation and skill levels are no longer significantly related to the probability of reporting fear of job loss. Moreover, there are no longer significant differences between the two migrant groups. (iv) Anti-migrant sentiments are also associated with concerns about job loss. |
| Keywords: | refugees, EU migration, immigration, labour market, perceptions, competition, job loss, Germany |
| JEL: | F22 J61 D84 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17278 |
| By: | Buhmann, Mara (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Pohlan, Laura (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Roth, Duncan H.W. (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | Temporary economic shocks can have enduring effects on individuals and their career trajectories. This paper investigates the labour market effects of the Covid- 19 pandemic on newly unemployed individuals, the underlying mechanisms as well as occupation-specific effect heterogeneity. The results indicate long-lasting earnings losses due to the pandemic, which can be explained by a decline in employment in the short run and a decline in wages in the longer run. We further find that the lower the lockdown work ability of a worker's previous occupation, the greater the adverse effects of the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | economic shocks, COVID-19, unemployment, worker careers, occupations |
| JEL: | J23 J62 J64 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17268 |
| By: | Ana Costa-Ramón; Ursina Schaede; Michaela Slotwinski; Anne Ardila Brenøe |
| Abstract: | The “child penalty” significantly reduces women’s lifetime earnings and pension savings, but it remains unclear whether these gaps are the deliberate result of forward-looking decisions. This paper provides novel evidence on the role of information constraints in mothers’ labor supply decisions. We first document descriptively that mothers are largely inattentive to the long-term financial consequences of reduced hours. In a large-scale field experiment that combines rich survey and administrative data, we then provide mothers with objective, individualized information about the long-run costs of reduced labor supply. The treatment increases demand for financial information and future labor supply plans, in particular among women who underestimate the long-term costs. Leveraging linked employer administrative data one year post-intervention, we observe that mothers who underestimate the long-term costs increase their labor supply by 6 percent over the mean. |
| JEL: | J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:452 |
| By: | Nicholas Bloom; Gordon B. Dahl; Dan-Olof Rooth |
| Abstract: | There has been a dramatic rise in disability employment in the US since the pandemic, a pattern mirrored in other countries as well. A similar increase is not found for any other major gender, race, age or education demographic. At the same time, work from home has risen four-fold. This paper asks whether the two are causally related. Analyzing CPS and ACS microdata, we find the increase in disability employment is concentrated in occupations with high levels of working from home. Controlling for compositional changes and labor market tightness, we estimate that a 1 percentage point increase in work from home increases full-time employment by 1.1% for individuals with a physical disability. A back of the envelope calculation reveals that the post pandemic increase in working from home explains 80% of the rise in full-time employment. Wage data suggests that WFH increased the supply of workers with a disability, likely by reducing commuting costs and enabling better control of working conditions. |
| JEL: | J14 J20 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32943 |
| By: | Gregoric, Aleksandra (Copenhagen Business School); Kato, Takao (Colgate University); Larsen, Casper B.L. (Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | We join the scholarly conversation on the implications of the different configurations of firms' stakeholder coalitions for their employment practices, by investigating how the structural arrangements granting employees a role in firm boards of directors (employee governance representation, EGR) affect firms' propensity to staff management positions through external labor markets rather than internal promotions. The literature has thus far pointed to a possible workers' impact on employment practices primarily through the power mechanism, contingent on the employees' ability to enforce their preferences with regard to hiring and other employment practices. We contribute to this scholarly work by (1) explicating why employees likely prefer firms to rely on internal labor markets (ILM) when hiring new managers and (2) conceptualizing the employees' impact on the staffing of management positions via the efficiency mechanism, related to the positive effects of EGR on the functioning of the ILM. We provide support for our hypotheses, using linked employer-employee data for Danish firms during 2001-2017. |
| Keywords: | employee representation, corporate governance, hiring practices, internal labor markets, management jobs |
| JEL: | M5 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17304 |
| By: | Ardila Brenøe, Anne (Department of Economics, University of Zurich); Eyibak, Zeynep (Department of Economics, University of Zurich); Heursen, Lea (Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin,); Ranehill, Eva (Department of Economics, Lund University); Weber, Roberto A. (Department of Economics, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Economic research on gender gaps in preferences and economic outcomes has focused on variation with respect to sex —a binary classification as either a “man” or “woman.” We validate a novel and simple measure of self-reported continuous gender identity (CGI) and explore whether gender identity correlates with variation in economic decisions and outcomes beyond the relationship with binary sex. We use four datasets (N=8, 073) measuring various dimensions of economic preferences and educational and labor market outcomes for which prior research has documented gaps between men and women. Our analysis rejects the null hypothesis that CGI has no relationship with behaviors and preferences beyond the relationship with binary sex, particularly for men, and suggests that incorporating self-reported measures of gender identity may have value for understanding gender gaps and for targeting policy. However, when considering specific domains, the relationships vary in statistical significance and are often small. |
| Keywords: | Gender identity; non-binary gender; economic preferences; economic outcomes |
| JEL: | C91 J16 J20 |
| Date: | 2024–09–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2024_006 |
| By: | Waithaka, Douglas Mwangi (Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)); Kendzia, Michael Jan (Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)) |
| Abstract: | History teaches valuable lessons. This article examines the performance of the stock market during various boom and bust phases over the last forty years in the United States. By doing so, four previous manias and panics scenarios are analyzed, including the 1987 black Monday crash, the Dotcom bubble in the early 2000s, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2019 Covid pandemic. At the same time, the unemployment rate, the growth domestic product (GDP) per capita growth rate, the conference board's leading economic index and the wages growth rate are considered. Econometric models were finally used to study the markets relationships. The study finds that the labor market lags the stock market during manias and panics, supporting the hypothesis of a delayed response in the labor market. The unemployment rate reacted particularly late to the black Monday crash, the Dotcom bubble and the 2008 financial crisis. The leading economic index followed the stock market closest and with the slightest lag. Wages growth rate and the growth domestic product per capita growth rate reacted with varying degrees to each mania and panic episodes. |
| Keywords: | S&P 500, leading economic index, wage growth rate, unemployment rate |
| JEL: | B23 B27 E24 G15 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17276 |
| By: | Ratna Sahay (Center for Global Development; National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)); Navya Srivastava (National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)); Mahima Vasishth (Bocconi University; National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)) |
| Abstract: | Globally, women’s share in corporate leadership has been steadily rising, including in India. The female director mandate under The Companies Act (2013) in India marked a significant step toward gender-inclusive corporate leadership, requiring listed firms to have at least one woman on their board. Within a year, the percentage of listed firms without women on board plummeted from 53 percent to less than 10 percent. Despite this progress, India still lags in the share of women in middle and senior management roles at only 17 percent, compared to nearly 33 percent for the world. This paper documents the status of gender-inclusive corporate leadership and uses the woman director mandate in the Act to study its relationship with firm outcomes, including financial performance and corporate culture in India. Interestingly we find that firms, on average, were appointing more women than mandated by the Act, suggesting the favorable impact of the current government’s signal to foster women-led development and the positive experience gained by firms. At the same time, newly appointed women were younger and more educated than their male counterparts and their average number of directorship (the “stretch factor”) increased significantly compared to men. Combining personnel-level data from NSE-listed firms with firm performance data and employing a reverse difference-in-difference econometric strategy, we find that having at least one woman on board is associated with higher economic performance and financial stability. Additionally, using almost 400, 000 employee reviews scraped from a company review platform, we find that higher shares of women in board positions correlate positively with employee ratings and sentiment scores only when firms also hire women in top management positions. This analysis highlights the business case of appointing more women at the top. |
| Keywords: | Women’s Leadership, Firm Performance, Firm Culture |
| JEL: | J16 L25 M59 |
| Date: | 2024–09–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:704 |
| By: | Bryson, Alex (University College London); Morris, Tim (University College London); Bann, David (University College London); Wilkinson, David (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Using two polygenic scores (PGS) for educational attainment in a biomedical study of all those born in a single week in Great Britain in 1958 we show that the genetic predisposition for educational attainment is associated with labour market participation and wages over the life- course for men and women. Those with a higher PGS spend more time in employment and full-time employment and, when in employment, earn higher hourly wages. The employment associations are more pronounced for women than for men. Conditional on employment, the PGS wage associations are sizeable, persistent and similar for men and women between ages 33 and 55. A one standard deviation increase in the PGS is associated with a 6-10 log point increase in hourly earnings. However, whereas a 1 standard deviation increase in the PGS at age 23 raises women's earnings by around 5 log points, it is not statistically significant among men. These associations are robust to non-random selection into employment and to controls for parental education. Our results suggest that genetic endowments of a cohort born a half century ago continued to play a significant role in their fortunes in the labor market of the 21st Century. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, employment, educational attainment, polygenic score, National Child Development Study |
| JEL: | I26 J31 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17255 |
| By: | Carrozzo, Salvatore (University of Naples Parthenope); Lodigiani, Elisabetta (University of Padova); Venturini, Alessandra (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The consumption of cultural goods can play a crucial role in the social and economic integration of immigrants into their destination country. In this paper, we investigate the effect of the cultural national program, IoStudio, designed to enhance the consumption of cultural goods among upper secondary students in Italy, on post-secondary investment in education and early labor market conditions among young immigrants. Using data from a unique survey conducted by the Institute for Multiethnic Studies (ISMU) on a representative sample of the entire immigrant population in the Italian Lombardy region and employing a difference-in-differences estimator, we find that the IoStudio policy has positive effects on investment in post-secondary education. Additionally, young foreigners exposed to the policy exhibit higher earnings, at least in the short run, when they enter the labour market. We claim that cultural consumption by immigrants is a relevant concern, deserving close attention in terms of increasing social capital and labour market inclusion. |
| Keywords: | cultural participation, migrants, integration, Italy |
| JEL: | Z11 J61 J62 I26 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17307 |
| By: | Rodríguez-Puello, Gabriel; Rickardsson, Jonna |
| Abstract: | Little is known about the spatial diffusion of the effects of economic shocks on the labor market. We use the mining boom resulting from the unexpected increase in the international prices of resources, geocoded microdata originating from administrative registers of individuals in Sweden, and dynamic difference-in-differences specifications to assess the spatial diffusion of economic shocks on labor market outcomes; we focus specifically on people to determine who is affected by the mining boom. We find consistent short- and long-lasting positive effects of the mining boom on individual earnings that spread as far as 83 km from the mining site. We also find a large gain in earnings and employment for residents directly employed in the mining sector, accompanied by significant spillover effects in other sectors. Furthermore, we find evidence of the migration of young, nonmarried, and highly educated individuals to the mining area, who obtain benefits from the mining boom in terms of earnings and employment; this is especially true for migrants who relocate to work directly in the mining sector. |
| Date: | 2024–09–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:tzmf2 |
| By: | Brian Bell; Philip Johnson |
| Abstract: | We examine the wage and occupation outcomes for cohorts of immigrants who arrived in the UK since 2002. Using the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) with a matched migrant identifier, we can follow a 1% sample of all workers (native and migrant) within and across jobs. This also allows us to identify relative attrition rates between natives and migrants. The work focuses in particular on workers who arrived in the UK since 2004 as part of EU expansion. Consistent with prior work, we find substantial evidence of occupational downgrading for these migrants. Importantly, the panel data allows us to track these workers in subsequent years and we find very little evidence of substantial labour market improvement from initial entry. This result is robust to accounting for non-random attrition. |
| Keywords: | wages, immigration |
| Date: | 2024–09–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2032 |
| By: | Arindrajit Dube; Michael Reich; Akash Bhatt; Denis Sosinskiy |
| Abstract: | Dube, Lester and Reich (2010, DLR), using state minimum wage discontinuities across bordering counties and Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data, did not detect negative minimum wage effects on restaurant employment. Jha, Neumark and Rodriguez-Lopez (2024, JNR) claim that looking within multi-state commuting zones and using County Business Patterns data provides a superior approach to DLR and does find disemployment effects. We show that JNR’s results are confounded by parallel trends violations in the 1990s, when minimum wage events were rare and small in magnitude; JNR’s outmoded two-way-fixed-effects model amplifies the biases introduced by these violations. Our estimates using their specifications and data on only post-2000 data fail to detect disemployment effects. The same results hold using QCEW and ACS datasets. Our preferred event study difference-in-differences approach, which analyzes only data that fall clearly within an event’s window, also does not detect negative employment effects. This result holds whether we compare across all states, look within commuting zones or within border county pairs, and regardless of the data set or time period. |
| JEL: | J20 J39 J88 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32902 |
| By: | Hazarika, Gautam (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) |
| Abstract: | Rice and wheat are India's staple cereal crops and there is significant regional variation in the suitability to the cultivation of each. Both are so-called 'plough-positive' crops, whose cultivation is benefited by ploughing. It has previously been argued that the ancient adoption of the plough, a heavy implement better suited to handling by men, was a factor in the evolution of cultural norms prescribing a domestic role for women in society (Boserup, 1970). This study contends that rice is an anomalous plough-positive crop in that its cultivation, highly labor-intensive, has traditionally required much female labor. This, it is argued, may have led to a local loosening of plough culture's strictures against work by Indian women proportional to the local relative, to wheat, suitability to rice cultivation. To distinguish between a cultural effect and the technical effect of the labor-intensivity of rice cultivation, this study considers the workforce participation of urban women, spatially removed from agricultural operations. It is found that the district urban female workforce participation rates in both the 2001 and 2011 Censuses of India significantly increase in the district relative suitability to rice cultivation. Further, the increase in the district urban female workforce participation rate between 2001 and 2011 was significantly more pronounced in districts potentially better suited to growing rice than wheat. In addition, analysis of microdata from the 1999-2000 National Sample Survey of Employment and Unemployment reveals that the urban female propensity to work significantly increases in the district relative suitability to rice cultivation, though, tellingly, only so in the case of natives of the district, those whose culture will have been shaped by the local agro- ecology. Finally, urban females principally engaged in domestic duties are likelier to report that they are required to be so occupied, the compulsion probably cultural in nature, the less relatively suitable the district is to rice cultivation, with this effect too confined to natives of the district. Taken together, these findings suggest that rice cultivation has played a cultural role in Indian women's workforce participation. |
| Keywords: | deep roots of culture, female labor force participation, India |
| JEL: | Z1 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17250 |
| By: | Joao Guerreiro; Jonathon Hazell; Chen Lian; Christina Patterson |
| Abstract: | How costly is inflation to workers? Answers to this question have focused on the path of real wages during inflationary periods. We argue that workers must take costly actions (“conflict”) to have nominal wages catch up with inflation, meaning there are welfare costs even if real wages do not fall as inflation rises. We study a menu-cost style model, where workers choose whether to engage in conflict with employers to secure a wage increase. We show that, following a rise in inflation, wage catchup resulting from more frequent conflict does not raise welfare. Instead, the impact of inflation on worker welfare is determined by what we term “wage erosion”—how inflation would lower real wages if workers' conflict decisions did not respond to inflation. As a result, measuring welfare using observed wage growth understates the costs of inflation. We conduct a survey showing that workers are willing to sacrifice 1.75% of their wages to avoid conflict. Calibrating the model to the survey data, the aggregate costs of inflation incorporating conflict more than double the costs of inflation via falling real wages alone. |
| JEL: | E24 E31 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32956 |
| By: | Kaivan Munshi; Swapnil Singh |
| Abstract: | This research provides a status-based explanation for the persistent increase in female labor force non-participation (FLFNP) that often accompanies economic development. This explanation is based on the idea that households or ethnic groups in developing economies can signal their wealth, and thereby increase their social status, by withdrawing their women from the labor force. If the value of social status or the willingness to bear the signaling cost is increasing with economic development, then this would explain the persistent increase in FLFNP. To provide empirical support for this argument, we utilize two independent sources of exogenous variation—across Indian districts in the cross-section and within districts over time—to establish that status considerations determine rural FLFNP. Our status-based model, which is used to derive the preceding tests, is able to match the increase in rural Indian FLFNP that motivates our analysis. Counterfactual simulations of the estimated model indicate that conventional policy prescriptions, such as a reduction in the cost of female education, could {\em raise} FLFNP by increasing potential household incomes and, hence, the willingness to compete for social status. The steep increase in female education in recent decades could paradoxically have increased FLFNP in India even further. |
| JEL: | J16 J20 O1 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32946 |
| By: | Berlinski, Samuel; Gagete-Miranda, Jessica |
| Abstract: | This study examines labor law enforcement spillovers in Brazil's highly informal economy, focusing on disability quota enforcement for formal firms. New inspection procedures increased compliance through heightened inspections and fines, boosting disability hiring. We investigate spillover effects across various firm networks: neighborhood, ownership, and human resources specialists. Results show that spillovers can have up to twice the impact on disability employment compared to direct fines. These findings highlight the potential for targeted enforcement strategies to amplify policy effectiveness beyond directly affected firms even in developing economies characterized by low compliance with employment laws. |
| Keywords: | Enforcement spillovers;Networks;persons with disability;Brazil |
| JEL: | I38 J68 K31 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13681 |
| By: | Corinth, Kevin (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research); O’Rourke, Thomas (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research); Winship, Scott (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | There have been several attempts to measure social capital—the value inhering in relationships—at an aggregate level, but researchers lack comprehensive individual-level social capital measures. Using a combination of direct linkage and imputation across several nationally representative datasets, we produce a comprehensive measure of social capital at the individual level. We validate our measure by aggregating it to the state level, finding strong correlations with existing state-level social capital measures. We document substantial social capital disparities between white Americans, on the one hand, and black and Hispanic Americans, on the other, as well as a strong educational gradient, which is comparatively weaker for Hispanics. We also provide new evidence on the relationship between income and social capital, using a comprehensive measure of income. We find that social capital increases with income but at a decreasing rate. The source of income matters, as an extra $10, 000 in market income is associated with a 0.23 standard deviation increase in social capital for those with the lowest levels of market income, while an extra $10, 000 in government transfer income is associated with a 0.08 standard deviation decrease. |
| Keywords: | social capital, comprehensive income, inequality |
| JEL: | Z13 J12 D31 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17257 |
| By: | Hiroshi Inokuma (Director and Senior Economist, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan (E-mail: hiroshi.inokuma@boj.or.jp)); Juan M. Sánchez (Senior Economic Policy Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (E-mail: juan.m.sanchez@stls.frb.org)) |
| Abstract: | A slowdown in population growth causes a decline in business dynamism by increasing the share of old businesses. But how does it affect productivity growth? We answer this question by extending a standard business dynamics model to include endogenous productivity growth. Theoretically, the growth rate of the size of surviving old businesses is a "sufficient statistic" for determining the direction and magnitude of the impact of population growth on productivity growth. Quantitatively, this effect is significant across balanced growth paths for the United States and Japan. TFP growth in the United States falls by 0.3 percentage points because of the slowing in population growth between 1970 and 2060. The same driving force produces a significantly bigger response in Japan. Despite the significant long-run effect, we discover that changes in TFP growth are slow in reaction to population growth changes due to two short-run counterbalancing factors. |
| Keywords: | population growth, economic growth, firms dynamics, demographics, productivity, innovation, TFP |
| JEL: | E20 J11 O33 O41 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ime:imedps:24-e-09 |
| By: | Ewan McGaughey |
| Abstract: | How has our economic constitutional order developed, and which laws make our economy democratic? Democracy in politics is familiar and starts with ‘one person, one vote’, but economic democracy is less familiar. In its ideal, it means ‘three stakeholders, one voice’. Workers, investors, and service-users make different contribution types in the economy, so rules to give them voice differ and are still evolving. This paper gives a brief history of how economic democracy developed, the evolving theories, and practices for democratic workplaces, capital, and public enterprise. It then unpacks the laws that make it. First, a board of directors will answer to an enterprise’s stakeholders, not simply appointing itself via so called ‘independent’ directors. Second, workers elect at least one-third or properly one-half of a board of directors, rather than shareholders monopolising all votes, and worker cooperatives are encouraged. Third, all capital fund directors, whether pensions or mutuals, are majority-elected by beneficiaries, and they set the shareholder voting policies, not allowing asset managers or banks to vote on other people’s money in what they deem to be the interests of the ultimate investor. Fourth, in public enterprises, where private competition fails and consumers cannot truly ‘vote with their feet’, service-users hold voting rights for representatives on the board, rather than appointments being monopolised by the state or board incumbents. These norms are spreading, and overcoming evidence-free theories that excuse illegitimate corporate power. |
| Keywords: | Economy, democracy, labour, capital, public services, enterprise, vote |
| JEL: | K0 K11 H40 K22 K23 K31 J01 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp539 |
| By: | Riukula, Krista; Väänänen, Touko |
| Abstract: | Abstract Effects on labour market outcomes are often referred to when discussing the wider economic benefits of transport projects. However, research on the topic in the Finnish context is scarce. Thus, proponents of transport projects may put exaggerated hopes on the labour market effects when arguing for the projects. This review aims to give researchers a good starting point for analyzing the labour market effects of transport projects in Finland. We review theoretical frameworks and recent empirical literature on the effects of transport projects and accessibility on the labour market. We discuss the available data sources in Finland and methodological considerations for analyzing causal effects. Furthermore, we explore the integration of labour market impacts into cost-benefit analyses considering, for example, the risk of double-counting benefits. |
| Keywords: | Transport project, Labour market, Wider economic impacts, Empirical research |
| JEL: | R42 H43 J68 H54 |
| Date: | 2024–10–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:120 |