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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Uwe Jirjahn; Johannes Kiess |
| Abstract: | From a theoretical viewpoint it is not clear whether or not works councils contribute to workplace democracy. This study is the first to provide systematic evidence that employees in establishments with a works council experience more democracy at work than the ones in establishments without a works councils. Employees' unionization plays an important moderating role in the link between works councils and workplace democracy. The influence of works council presence on experienced democracy at work is more pronounced and much stronger for union members than for nonmembers. |
| Keywords: | Works councils, unions, democratic experience at work, open organizational climate, self-efficacy, collective efficacy |
| JEL: | J52 J53 M12 O35 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trr:wpaper:202413 |
| By: | Julia Schmieder; Doris Weichselbaumer; Clara Welteke; Katharina Wrohlich |
| Abstract: | Promoting fathers to take parental leave is seen as a promising way to advance gender equality. However, there is still a very limited understanding of its impact on fathers’ labor market outcomes. We conducted a correspondence study to analyze whether fathers who take parental leave face discrimination during the hiring process in three different occupations. Fathers who took parental leave in a female-dominated or gender-neutral occupation are not less likely to be invited to a job interview compared to fathers who did not take leave. However, in the male-dominated occupation, fathers who have taken long parental leave are penalized. Regardless of leave-taking, fathers are treated less favorably than mothers in the female-dominated and the gender-neutral occupation, while the opposite is true for the male-dominated occupation. This suggests the presence of strong gender norms concerning the perception of ideal employees in different occupations. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, parental leave, gender, hiring, experiment |
| JEL: | C93 J13 J71 |
| Date: | 2024–11–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdp:dpaper:0054 |
| By: | Jonathan Créchet (Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, Canada); Jing Cui (Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, Canada); Barbara Sadaba (Bank of Canada); Antoine Sawyer (Department of Economics, Queen’s University) |
| Abstract: | We replicate results of Forsythe (2022) studying the cyclicality of individuals' labor market transitions conditional on their experience. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data and state-level variations in the unemployment rate, this paper shows that the hiring probability of youths is more sensitive to business-cycle conditions than for experienced individuals. We replicate the main results in this paper by reconstructing the dataset using data from the IPUMS-CPS database (Flood et al. (2020)) and recoding the paper's main regressions from scratch. We also conduct a robustness replicability analysis and show that the paper's main results are robust in terms of statistical significance to (i) extending the sample period from 1994-2014 to 1994-2019 and (ii) using MSA-level unemployment variation instead of state-level variation. These extensions reduce the magnitude of the main effects of interest, but the paper's key conclusions are unaffected. |
| Keywords: | Worker flows, Business cycles, Life cycle. |
| JEL: | E24 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ott:wpaper:2405e |
| By: | Claire Mollier (EconomiX, Paris Nanterre University, France); Aurora García-Gallego (ICAE and Economics Department, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and LEE and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Tarek Jaber-López (Institute of Public Goods and Policies (IPP), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain); Sarah Zaccagni (Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, Denmark.) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how the competition outcome and the gender of the opponent affect the decision to compete again, using a lab experiment. Our experimental design adopts the strategy method to measure individuals’ reactions to winning or losing. Subjects indicate their willingness to compete again based on performance gaps with their opponents. Furthermore, gender is inferred from participant-selected- names, allowing for an exploration of the role played by the opponent’s gender. We find that all subjects are slightly more willing to compete after winning against a female opponent. Also, it is slightly more likely that they accept to re-compete against a male after winning. Males try significantly more to outperform a female after losing, and this is robust when controlling for gender stereotypes and age. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, gender, feedback, career decisions, lab experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D91 J16 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2024/08 |
| By: | Olga Alonso-Villar; Coral del Río |
| Abstract: | We offer a reflection on the measurement of segregation, gathering methodological contributions from sociology and economics, and we use some of them to explore occupational segregation by gender and nativity in Spain. Our goal is to offer a guide to the tools that can be used in empirical analysis, connecting them with theoretical discussions. Our empirical analysis shows that the occupational segregation of immigrant women is a more intense phenomenon than that of native women or immigrant men, although it decreased significantly over the period 2006-2024. Unlike their male peers, occupational sorting strongly penalizes immigrant women after controlling for characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Segregation, gender, migration status, wage gaps, intersectionality |
| JEL: | D63 J15 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vig:wpaper:2402 |
| By: | Liam D'Hert; Louis Lippens; Stijn Baert (-) |
| Abstract: | Sustaining social security systems amidst an ageing population requires (re)integrating the unemployed and inactive into work. However, stigma surrounding non-employment history can create barriers to finding a job. Whilst unemployment stigma is well-documented, inactivity stigma remains under the radar. To address whether, why, and when inactivity hinders hiring, we employed a vignette experiment where real-life recruiters rated fictitious applicants with varying non-employment breaks on hireability and productivity. Results reveal employers rank candidates by their reason for being out of work: those with training breaks rank highest, followed by former caregivers, the previously ill and the unemployed, and last, the discouraged. Productivity perceptions match this pattern. Trainees score highest for skills, motivation, cognition, discipline, reliability, flexibility, and trainability. Caregivers excel in perceived social skills but fall short on flexibility. The previously ill are seen as more motivated than the unemployed but likely raise health concerns. The discouraged trigger the harshest stigma, particularly for motivation and self-discipline. Longer lapses hurt hiring chances, but not for training breaks. |
| Keywords: | career break, unemployment, inactivity, hiring chances, factorial survey experiment |
| JEL: | C91 E24 J21 J64 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:24/1100 |
| By: | Francesca Barigozzi; Caterina Gaggini; Natalia Montinari |
| Abstract: | Using a representative survey of the Italian population (N=1, 501), we elicit gender norms regarding the sharing of domestic chores within couples, employing the methodology of Krupka and Weber (2013). Two vignettes present hypothetical scenarios in which the partners’ labor supply, chore allocations, and the gender of the partner proposing a specific chore allocation vary. Participants are asked to rate the social appropriateness of different chore allocations across scenarios that combine these dimensions. We find evidence of a framing effect and a gender double standard among the middle and older generations, but not among the younger generation, in which we observe a decline in adherence to the ’male breadwinner’ model. These findings suggest that the younger generation is endorsing a more progressive gender norms. We also show that perceived social norms display a significant association with women’s labor market outcomes based on administrative data at the regional level. |
| JEL: | A13 C90 D01 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp1198 |
| By: | Björn Becker (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU), Trier University); Laszlo Goerke (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU), Trier University); Yue Huang (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU), Trier University) |
| Abstract: | The effects of trade union membership on wages and job satisfaction have been studied extensively. Arguably, life satisfaction serves as a more comprehensive measure of the benefits of union membership and warrants closer examination. Using all relevant waves from the German Socio-Economic Panel between 1985 and 2019, we find a negative correlation between trade union membership and life satisfaction in OLS and FE specifications. The association may arise because union members are more concerned about their job and the economic situation and less satisfied with their work. Social capital and wages also perform as channels between membership and life satisfaction. The negative correlation is more pronounced in settings in which trade unions are relatively weak. |
| Keywords: | german socio-economic panel, industrial relations in germany, life satisfaction, trade union membership |
| JEL: | I31 J28 J51 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaa:dpaper:202408 |
| By: | Justin Tyndall (University of Hawai'i) |
| Abstract: | The provision of public transportation can improve the accessibility of work opportunities. However, predicting the labor market effects of new transit infrastructure is difficult because of endogenous worker decisions. I examine a large public-transit rail project on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Using block-level commuter-flow and travel-time estimates, I propose and estimate a quantitative spatial model of location and mode choice for workers. I estimate that the new rail system increases public-transit-mode share and the employment rate but does not reduce the average commute duration, because of endogenous worker sorting. Low-income workers on Oahu capture a significant share of transit’s direct benefits because of their relative preference for both transit and the neighborhoods served by rail. |
| Keywords: | transportation, transit, residential choice, neighborhood change, spatial mismatch |
| JEL: | J20 J60 R13 R23 R40 R58 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:24-409 |
| By: | Jaison R. Abel; Richard Deitz |
| Abstract: | We develop a measure of chronic joblessness among prime-age men and women in the United States—termed the detachment rate— that identifies those who have been out of the labor force for more than a year. We show that the detachment rate more than doubled for men since the early 1980s and rose by a quarter for women since 2000, though it is consistently considerably higher for women than men. We then explore the economic geography of labor market detachment to help explain its rise. Results show that the detachment rate increased more in places with weak local economies, particularly those that experienced a loss of routine production and administrative support jobs due to globalization and technological change. The loss of production jobs affected both men and women and was particularly consequential in the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, while the loss of administrative support jobs mostly affected women and was particularly severe in the 1980s and 1990s. Moreover, we find the rise in detachment was concentrated among older prime-age individuals and those without a college degree, and occurred less in places with high human capital. |
| Keywords: | joblessness; labor force participation; local labor markets; job polarization; globalization; technological change; regional divergence |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J24 J61 O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–11–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:99196 |
| By: | Teodora Boneva (University of Bonn); Ana Brás-Monteiro (University of Zurich); Marta Golin (International Labour Organization (ILO) & University of Zurich); Christopher Rauh (Instituto de Análisis Económico (IAE-CSIC), Barcelona School of Economics, University of Cambridge) |
| Abstract: | Gender gaps in labor supply and household responsibilities persist. Using representative survey data from 24, 000 respondents across six countries, this paper explores the actual and perceived preferences of men for couple equity. We document that in all six countries the majority of men state they prefer an equitable division of tasks within the household. At the same time, the actual share of men preferring couple equity is systematically underestimated in all six countries. The perceived shares vary substantially across the population, and they are positively associated with respondents' own preferences for couple equity. Providing respondents with truthful information about the actual share of men preferring couple equity in their country shifts individual beliefs, own stated preferences for couple equity, as well as the willingness to pay for it. The estimated treatment effects are mainly driven by respondents who initially underestimated the actual share. |
| Keywords: | Subjective expectations, pluralistic ignorance, identity, norms, couple equity, parental labor supply |
| JEL: | J22 J13 I26 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:348 |
| By: | Taiyo Fukai (Faculty of Economics, Gakushuin University); Keisuke Kawata (Institute of Social Sciences, University of Tokyo); Mizuki Komura (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University); Takahiro Toriyabe (Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the gender gap in ask salaries using large administrative data of public job referrals, which allows us to look at the ask salaries of individuals from a wider wage distribution. We conduct a decomposition analysis using available information on age, desired work region, and desired occupation. We find that of the three factors, desired occupation is the most important in generating differences in ask salaries; however, the residuals are the largest outside of the three factors. A heterogeneity analysis is also conducted to understand the factors behind the residuals when only the available data are used. |
| Keywords: | Gender wage gap; Gender ask gap; Administrative |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J64 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:284 |
| By: | Antonie, Luiza; Inwood, Kris; Minns, Chris; Summerfield, Fraser |
| Abstract: | This paper uses linked Census records from 1871 to 1901 to compute intergenerational mobility for Canadian regions and census districts. The results reveal sharp differences in mobility over space: Ontario featured high relative and absolute mobility, Quebec low relative and absolute mobility, and the Maritimes low absolute mobility. Local differences in human capital endowments and labour market inequality are correlated with district mobility patterns but do not account for regional differences, where migration and structural change toward industry and services appear important. Comparing spatial patterns of Canadian mobility in the 19th century to today shows substantial changes for Quebec districts. |
| JEL: | J62 N31 |
| Date: | 2024–11–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:126165 |
| By: | Pietro Gagliardi; Ollin Pérez-Raynaud; Alexandra Robinson |
| Abstract: | Youth volunteering and civic service programmes can foster young people’s confidence for further civic engagement, skills development, and association with democratic institutions, while also promoting solidarity, social inclusion, and resilience. Although programmes differ in their objectives and features, this paper maps national and international youth volunteering and civic service programmes across OECD countries and the European Union, providing comparative insights and highlighting good practices from a public governance perspective. The paper also gathers key lessons to support further work in this area, promote peer-learning and inform countries’ policy options and reform efforts. |
| Keywords: | Civic service, Youth empowerment, Youth volunteering |
| Date: | 2024–12–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaaa:77-en |
| By: | Eldar Dadon (BGU); Marie Claire Villeval (CNRS, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Université Jean- Monnet Saint-Etienne, emlyon business school, GATE, 69007, Lyon, France. IZA, Bonn, Germany); Ro’i Zultan (BGU) |
| Keywords: | CSR, signaling, labor market, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D83 D91 J33 J62 M14 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bgu:wpaper:2415 |
| By: | Alexandra Bykova (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Magdalena Frei; Artem Kochnev; Isilda Mara (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Renate Prasch; Hana Ruskova; Monika Schwarzhappel (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Banushi Xhesika |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces the historical dataset with economic time series of socialist Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia (CSSR), the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union (USSR) and Yugoslavia from 1944 to 1993 as well as a new dataset on Albania created as part of this project. The paper explains the dataset’s structure and gaps as well as the harmonisation efforts and accounting methodologies adopted in the member countries of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or COMECON) during that period. The paper serves as a companion for the users of the wiiw COMECON Dataset. wiiw COMECON Dataset https //comecon.wiiw.ac.at/ |
| Keywords: | CMEA, COMECON, socialist countries, Albania, Bulgaria, CSSR, GDR, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, population, net material product, GDP, investment, labour market, prices, wages, production, consumption per capita, budget, trade by partners, trade by commodities and regions, conversion factors, external finance, economic history, comparative economic systems, historical dataset of economic time series. |
| JEL: | B22 B24 B27 B40 B41 N14 N34 N44 N54 N64 N74 P20 P30 P51 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:spaper:statr:13 |
| By: | Brilé Anderson; Jorge Patiño; Jennifer Sheahan; Prof. Kwadwo Owusu; Dr. Ernest Agyemang; Dr. Doris Boateng; Yaroslav Kholodov; Nick Carros; Alex Johnson |
| Abstract: | The transport systems of Accra and Kumasi confront formidable challenges, including rising pollution, congestion, emissions along with traffic accidents. Even though most residents rely on walking and popular transport (notably trotro), it is challenging to reach essential services throughout the city via these modes. In fact, accessibility deserts exist for non-car modes, i.e., it is impossible to reach crucial destinations within a 30-minute walking radius especially in newly urbanised areas. Furthermore, popular transport is not fully meeting the needs of all travellers, e.g., additional costs and denial of access for heavy loads, disproportionately impact women, who often combine work-related travel with care responsibilities. The prohibition of potentially beneficial modes, such as three-wheelers and moto-taxis, could exacerbate accessibility gaps. This policy paper high-lights the need for sustainable, inclusive, and accessible transport systems in these dynamic and urbanising cities. |
| Keywords: | accessibility, gender, Ghana, sustainability, transport |
| JEL: | Q01 Q52 R41 R42 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–11–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:swacaa:46-en |
| By: | Malena Dolcet (IIE-FCE-UNLP); Natalia Porto (IIE-FCE-UNLP); Joaquín Zarrilli (IIE-FCE-UNLP) |
| Abstract: | Young people entering the labor markets face several and important challenges. These issues deepen due to rooted structural barriers such as informality or precarity, low-paid jobs, and low economic growth in regions like Latin America and sectors such as tourism (Abramo, 2022). Tourism has great potential to employ many of these young people because it provides opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers, it has low barriers to entry and flexible conditions, and it provides critical skills for their professional life. However, the youth population needs to reduce the gap between their available skills and experienced gained and the future requirements of labor markets to avoid being socially excluded. We apply the multidimensional poverty methodology developed by Alkire and Foster (2011) to build a Quality of Employment index (QoE) for young workers employed in the tourism industry in Latin America for the period 2015-2019. Focusing on two groups of young workers -super young for those aged 15 to 24 and young those aged 25 to 35- we consider several aspects of working conditions and discuss some differences in job quality across countries by gender and education considering different levels of deprivation in the index. The results suggest a high level of deprivation in the young workers, specially in the super young group. However, employment quality increased in both groups for all countries in the region during the period 2015-2019. |
| JEL: | J81 L83 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0341 |
| By: | Levente Erdelyi (Magyar Nemzeti Bank (the Central Bank of Hungary)); Lajos Tamas Szabo (Magyar Nemzeti Bank (the Central Bank of Hungary)) |
| Abstract: | In our study, we present the job-to-job, hire and separation rates from 2002 to 2021 based on the comprehensive, anonymous database of the Hungarian State Treasury. We filtered out the distortions in the administrative data, for example company reorganisations, from the labour flows. Job-to-job rates occurred procyclical over the 20 years, while the rate of entries and exits responds less to the cyclical state of the economy. By different characteristics, the rates are heterogeneous in terms of level and dynamics. The regional pattern of entry and exit rates remains stable over time and correlates with the development of districts. There is no difference in cyclicality by gender, but men change jobs more frequently than women. Job transitions have a diminishing chance, as the age increases, and job-to-job flows of the younger age group are also more sensitive to economic conditions. Employees in jobs requiring lower qualifications are more likely to change jobs. The flows between firm size categories are mostly the highest within the same size category. Large companies have the lowest turnover rate relative to the number of employees. |
| Keywords: | labour flows, job-to-job rates, worker characteristics |
| JEL: | J21 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnb:opaper:2024/152 |
| By: | Giacomo Battiston; Lucia Corno (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Eliana La Ferrara |
| Abstract: | Can providing information to potential migrants in uence their decisions about risky and irregular migration? We conduct an experiment with over 7, 000 secondary school students in Guinea, providing information through video testimonials by migrants who settled in Europe and through aggregate statistics. We implement three treatments: (i) information about the risks of the journey; (ii) information about economic outcomes in the destination country; and (iii) a combination of both. One month after the intervention, all treatments led students to update their beliefs about the risks and the economic outcomes of migration, resulting in decreased intentions to migrate. One year later, the Risk Treatment resulted in a 51% decline in migration outside Guinea. This e ect was driven by a decrease in migration without a visa (i.e., potentially risky and irregular) and was more pronounced among poorer students. These findings are consistent with the predictions of a model where individuals choose between not migrating, migrating regularly, or migrating irregularly, and where information increases the perceived cost of irregular migration, thus decreasing migration among poorer students who cannot a ord regular migration. |
| Keywords: | irregular migration, tracking, information experiment, Guinea. |
| JEL: | F22 O15 J61 D8 C93 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie1:def136 |
| By: | Nicholas Li (Department of Economics, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada); Angela Daley (Department of Economics, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA); Barry Watson (Department of Economics, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada) |
| Abstract: | Cost of living is comparatively high in Northern Canada, which is a remote and sparsely populated region served by retail oligopolies (about 34 percent of communities feature a monopoly, while the rest feature a duopoly). Government transfers constitute a large share of household income in Northern communities, and child benefits are particularly important, with these programs having expanded in recent years (Universal Child Care Benefit in 2015 and Canada Child Benefit in 2016). We assess the extent to which increased child benefits are “captured†by higher prices. Using the Longitudinal Administrative Database and community-level data on prices and food shipments from Nutrition North Canada (2012-2019), we find that expanded child benefits are associated with higher prices (with an elasticity of 0.02), which for a family of four, offset about 24 percent of the increased purchasing power resulting from the expansion. Our results suggest that expanded child benefits increase food demand and that the main transmission mechanism leading to higher prices is markups, as our price effects hold conditional on the quantity of food shipped and are mostly driven by monopoly communities where about 61 percent of increased purchasing power is offset by higher food prices. Thus, Northern communities are not pure “pricetakers†and policies that increase cash assistance should consider the implications for local prices. |
| Keywords: | Northern Canada; Subsidies; Prices; Competition; Monopoly |
| JEL: | I18 J15 D42 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rye:wpaper:wp093 |
| By: | Mariia Vasiakina (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Christian Dudel (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Automation transforms work at a rapid pace, with gradually increasing shares of the workforce being at risk of replacement by machines. However, little is known about how this risk is affecting workers. In this study, we investigate the impact of exposure to a high risk of automation at work on the subjective (self-reported health, anxiety, and health satisfaction) and objective (healthcare use and sickness absence) health outcomes of workers in Germany. We base our analysis on survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and administrative data from the Occupational Panel for Germany (2013-2018). Employing panel regression, we demonstrate that for workers, exposure to a high risk of automation at the occupational level is associated with lower self-reported health and health satisfaction, increased sickness absence, and, depending on how the risk is measured, anxiety. No effect on healthcare use is found. Our heterogeneity analysis provides evidence that none of the analyzed demographic and occupational groups is disproportionally affected by high automation risk. We also conduct several robustness checks (i.e., alternative model specifications and risk measures with different thresholds), with the results remaining largely consistent with our main findings. |
| Keywords: | Germany, automation, health |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2024-041 |
| By: | Rossella Calvi (Rice University); Hira Farooqi (Center for Global Development); Eeshani Kandpal (Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | We study how marriage market considerations influence parental investments in daughters’ education in Pakistan. Using a hypothetical choice methodology, we estimate parents’ preferences and willingness-to-pay for marital customs and daughters’ marital and post-marital outcomes. Our findings highlight considerable heterogeneity between mothers and fathers, even within the same family. On average, fathers prioritize adherence to traditional customs, while mothers emphasize daughters’ post-marital agency. Using a model of schooling decisions that incorporates these preferences, perceived costs, and parental beliefs about marital returns to education, we examine educational investments. Counterfactual simulations show that belief-targeting campaigns and policies boosting mothers’ decision-power could significantly improve girls’ education. |
| JEL: | J12 D13 I31 O15 |
| Date: | 2024–12–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:709 |
| By: | Lucy Ward (School of Economics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK) |
| Abstract: | Some theories suggest that encountering ethnic diversity broadens knowledge and perspectives, equipping individuals with cultural capital. This research examines whether high aspiring ethnic minority pupils influence the university aspirations of White pupils they interact with in the same school. We link White pupils’ reported university likelihood to administrative data on all pupils in England. As an instrument for exposure to ethnic minorities in 2014, we use the proportion of employed individuals in a local area that are nurses in 1951—an indicator of post-World War II job shortages filled by immigrant workers. The findings show that increasing ethnic minorities in schools positively impacts White pupils’ university aspirations. We provide some evidence of heterogeneous impacts across individual and family characteristics, suggesting that improving school diversity could aid in improving higher education participation for under-represented groups. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic diversity; Peer effects; University; Instrumental variables |
| JEL: | J15 I21 C26 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2024014 |