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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Ayllón, Sara (Universitat de Girona); Kirkpatrick, Linda (Auckland University of Technology); Plum, Alexander T. (Auckland University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how a change in marital status can influence labour market-related child penalties, by comparing married couples and those whose marriage is dissolved after the birth of their first child. We take advantage of the rich administrative data from New Zealand and show that child penalties vary greatly by civil status: whereas the employment penalty for married mothers is 32%, for mothers who get divorced within seven years of giving birth, it is about 5% and indistinguishable from that facing fathers. The same is true of earnings, indicating that divorced mothers have a much stronger attachment to the labour market than do married mothers. Our section on mechanisms points to differences in economic need as the driver behind the discrepancy in child penalties by marital status. |
| Keywords: | child penalty, labour market, marital dissolution, event-study estimates, New Zealand |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17658 |
| By: | Biancardi, Daniele (European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC)); Lucifora, Claudio (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Origo, Federica (University of Bergamo) |
| Abstract: | Short-time work (STW) has been widely used, both during the Great Recession and the COVID crisis, to preserve jobs. In most European countries, the implementation of STW schemes is often the result of bargaining between trade unions and employers, yet very little is known about the role of unions. In this paper, we investigate the effects of STW schemes on a number of firms' economic outcomes, considering the role of unions and collective bargaining. We use firm-level panel data, for the metal--engineering industry (from 2009 to 2015), with information on firms characteristics, STW use, industrial relations attributes, merged with accounting data. We estimate the elasticity of employment, working hours, wages and labour productivity to STW hours using an IV-FE estimator. We find that STW is an effective policy to preserve jobs in all firms. The positive effect on employment is supported by quite different mechanisms, which depend on unions presence and power in the firm. In low unionized firms wage cuts are the prevailing adjustment mechanisms, while in highly unionized firms, per-capita wages are insensitive to STW and adjustment mainly occurs through a reduction in working hours. These results are coherent with the use of STW as a work sharing device to protect incumbent workers who are mainly union members. |
| Keywords: | short-time work, employment, wages, labour productivity, unions |
| JEL: | J08 J38 J58 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17657 |
| By: | Martin B. Hackmann; Jörg Heining; Roman Klimke; Maria Polyakova; Holger Seibert |
| Abstract: | We leverage decades of administrative data and quasi-experimental variation in the introduction of universal long-term care (LTC) insurance in Germany in 1995 to examine whether health insurance expansions can stimulate local economies. We find that the LTC insurance rollout led not only to sizeable growth of the target LTC sector, but also to an aggregate fall in unemployment and an increase in the labor force participation. Quantitatively, a 10 percentage point increase in the share of insured LTC patients led to 4 more nursing home workers per 1, 000 individuals age 65 and older (12% increase). Wages did not rise in the LTC sector or other sectors of the economy. The quality of newly hired nursing home workers declined, but this had no negative effect on old-age life expectancy. Overall, the insurance expansion brought lower-skilled workers into new jobs rather than reallocating workers away from other productive sectors. Our marginal value of public funds (MVPF) analysis suggests that the reform paid for itself when taking the positive fiscal externalities in the labor market into account. To understand which market primitives underpin our findings and to inform the external validity of our results, we develop and estimate a general model of labor markets with product-market subsidies in the presence of wedges, such as income taxes. Our model simulations show that the aggregate welfare effects of insurance expansions are theoretically ambiguous and depend centrally on the magnitude of frictions in input markets. |
| JEL: | D58 H0 H51 I0 I13 I31 I38 J08 J14 J23 J64 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33429 |
| By: | Marcén, Miriam; Morales, Marina |
| Abstract: | This study provides a thorough examination of the evolving gender gap in time allocated to housework in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. With data from the American Time Use Survey (2015-2022), our findings reveal a significant trend towards greater equality in the allocation of household tasks among couples, extending beyond the initial stages of COVID-19. Although the immediate response post-pandemic was not substantial, the subsequent period witnessed a sizable decrease of 16 minutes, representing 57% of the pre-pandemic gender gap related to housework time. Our research demonstrates an increase in men's domestic contributions, particularly in tasks related to interior cleaning. The pandemic's impact on housework time varied across personal characteristics, with younger individuals without a college degree and those without school-aged children making significant strides in closing the gender gap. Further results show that parents maintained a similar share of childcare responsibilities as before the pandemic, which may suggest that mothers mistrust fathers' ability to provide the same standard of care. This is also reflected by the fact that men have increased their participation in housework with their partner present. A supplementary analysis highlights the intensity of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) as a potential mechanism for changing gender roles. We show a more significant closure of the gender gap in household labor in areas with more intense NPIs. Our study presents suggestive evidence indicating that the ability to telework is also reducing the gender gap in domestic labor among couples. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, housework, gender, American Time Use Survey (ATUS) |
| JEL: | D13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1563 |
| By: | Caselli, Mauro; Traverso, Silvio |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether trade competition from low-wage countries (LWCs) can influence immigration patterns in an advanced economy. We focus on Italy between 2003 and 2013, a period characterized by rising market pressure from China and Eastern Europe. Using census data on sectoral employment, administrative records on immigrants by nationality, and disaggregated bilateral trade data, we investigate whether heightened import competition acted as a pull factor for migrant workers at the local labor market level. To identify the exogenous component of these trade shocks, we adopt a shift-share instrumental variable strategy, while disaggregating immigrant data by nationality allows us to control in detail for the role of local networks and for bilateral push and pull factors. Our findings indicate that trade competition from LWCs significantly increased local immigrant shares. We hypothesize, and provide indirect evidence, that firms under competitive pressure tried to cut labor costs by relying on a more flexible, lower-paid workforce, primarily composed of foreign workers. |
| Keywords: | Import competition, International migration, Trade shocks, Italy |
| JEL: | F14 F16 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1562 |
| By: | Uwe Jirjahn |
| Abstract: | A series of studies show that unions and works councils have an influence on workers’ political activities and attitudes. However, at issue are the transmission channels through which worker representation impacts workers’ political activities and attitudes. This article discusses from a theoretical and empirical viewpoint whether the influence of worker representation reflects increased workplace democracy. The article also discusses possible policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Trade Unions, Works Councils, Political Engagement, Party Preferences, Democratic Leadership, Autocratic Leadership |
| JEL: | D70 J51 J53 K31 O35 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trr:wpaper:202502 |
| By: | Frederik Almar; Benjamin Friedrich; Ana Reynoso; Bastian Schulz; Rune M. Vejlin |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how family and firm investments interact to explain gender gaps in career achievement. Using Danish administrative data, we first document novel evidence of this interaction through a “spousal effect” on firm-side career investments. This effect is accounted for by family labor supply choices that shape worker characteristics, which then influence firms’ training and promotion decisions. Our main theoretical contribution is to develop a quantitative life cycle model that captures these family-firm interactions through household formation, families’ joint career and fertility choices, and firms’ managerial training and promotion decisions. We then use the estimated model to show that the interaction between families and firms in the joint equilibrium of labor and marriage markets is important when evaluating firm-side and family-side policy interventions. We find that gender-equal parental leave and a managerial quota can both improve gender equality, but leave implies costly skill depreciation, whereas the quota raises aggregate welfare, in part through adjustments in marital sorting towards families that invest in women. |
| JEL: | J12 J13 J18 J21 J24 J70 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33438 |
| By: | Ulrich Glogowsky (Johannes Kepler University Linz); Emanuel Hansen (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich); Dominik Sachs (University of St. Gallen); Holger Lüthen (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action) |
| Abstract: | Using German administrative data from the 1960s onward, this paper (i) examines the long-term evolution of child-related gender inequality in earnings and (ii) assesses the impact of family policies on this inequality. Our first (methodological) contribution is a decomposition approach that separates changes in child-related inequality into three components: the share of mothers, child penalties, and potential earnings of mothers (absent children). Our second contribution is a comprehensive analysis of child-related gender inequality in Germany. We derive three sets of findings. First, child penalties (i.e., the share of potential earnings mothers lose due to children) have increased strongly over the last decades. Mothers who had their first child in the 1960s faced much smaller penalties than those who gave birth in the 2000s. Second, the fraction of overall gender inequality in earnings attributed to children rose from 14% to 64% over our sample period. We show that this trend resulted not only from growing child penalties but also from rising potential earnings of mothers. Intuitively, in later decades, mothers had more income to lose from child-related career breaks. Third, we show that parental leave expansions between 1979 and 1992 amplified child penalties and explain nearly a third of the increase in child-related gender inequality. By contrast, a parental benefit reform in 2007 mitigated further increases. |
| Keywords: | child penalties; family policy; gender earnings gap; |
| JEL: | H31 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2025–02–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:527 |
| By: | Eric Chyn; Robert Collinson; Danielle H. Sandler |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of the largest residential racial desegregation initiative in U.S. history, the Gautreaux Assisted Housing Program. From the late 1970s to the 1990s, Gautreaux moved thousands of Black families into predominantly white neighborhoods to support racial and economic integration. We link historical program records to administrative data and use plausibly exogenous variation in neighborhood placements to study how desegregating moves impact children in the long-run. Being placed in the predominantly white neighborhoods targeted by the program significantly increases children’s future lifetime earnings and wealth. These moves also increase the likelihood of marriage and particularly raise the probability of being married to a white spouse. Moreover, placements through Gautreaux impact neighborhood choices in adulthood. Those placed in predominantly white neighborhoods during childhood live in more racially diverse areas with higher rates of upward mobility nearly 40 years later. |
| JEL: | H00 I30 J01 R38 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33427 |
| By: | Honorata Bogusz (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Daniela Bellani (Università Cattolica, Milano) |
| Abstract: | In the 21st century, advancements in technologies such as industrial robots have raised concerns about their impact on employment and wages, prompting extensive research. However, their effects on workers’ subjective well-being remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap ¬by examining whether workers experience a decline in well-being due to a loss of agency or maintain it by leveraging human skills to adapt to automation. Using data from the International Federation of Robotics, Eurostat, and the European Social Survey (2002–2018), we link robot density at the country-industry-year level to workers’ life satisfaction, happiness, job influence, and health. Employing an instrumental variables approach, we find that robot adoption negatively affects medium-educated workers’ well-being, particularly its eudaimonic dimension, supporting the decreasing agency thesis. In contrast, low- and highly educated workers experience positive effects. These impacts are more pronounced among women and weaker in countries with robust compensatory social policies. |
| Keywords: | industrial robots, well-being, life satisfaction, Europe, education |
| JEL: | I31 O33 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2025-01 |
| By: | Schnabel, Claus |
| Abstract: | Trade unions and employers' associations play an important role in Germany not only in wage setting, but also in social policy and labour market regulation. While the majority of companies are organised in employers' associations, less than one fifth of employees are still members of a trade union. Union density has declined substantially over the last decades whereas on the employers' side density has fallen to a lesser extent as most employers' associations have introduced the option of bargaining-free membership. At the same time, the collective bargaining coverage of companies and employees has been reduced drastically. Nowadays, less than half of employees in Germany are formally covered by collective agreements. Nevertheless, collective agreements are still directly or indirectly relevant for three out of four employees, and they are an important anchor for wage setting in the entire economy. The erosion of (multiemployer) bargaining coverage has manifold reasons and has been associated with an increased heterogeneity in wage setting over the last decades. The ongoing falls in both bargaining coverage and union density have prompted a controversial discussion of how to stabilise the German system of industrial relations. |
| Abstract: | Gewerkschaften und Arbeitgeberverbände spielen in Deutschland nicht nur bei der Lohnfindung eine wichtige Rolle, sondern auch in der Sozialpolitik und Arbeitsmarktregulierung. Während die Mehrheit der Firmen in Arbeitgeberverbänden organisiert sind, sind nur noch weniger als ein Fünftel der Beschäftigten Mitglied in einer Gewerkschaft. Der Organisationsgrad der Gewerkschaften ist in den letzten Jahrzehnten deutlich zurückgegangen, wohingegen derjenige auf Arbeitgeberseite weniger stark fiel, da die meisten Verbände die Option einer Mitgliedschaft ohne Tarifbindung eingeführten. Zugleich hat sich die Tarifbindung der Betriebe und Beschäftigten drastisch verringert. Heutzutage werden weniger als die Hälfte der Beschäftigten formell von Tarifverträgen abgedeckt. Dennoch sind Kollektivverträge direkt oder indirekt für drei von vier Beschäftigten relevant, und sie stellen einen wichtigen Anker der Lohnsetzung in der gesamten Wirtschaft dar. Die Erosion des (Flächen-)Tarifvertrags hat vielfältige Ursachen und geht mit einer zunehmenden Lohndispersion einher. Die anhaltenden Rückgänge der Tarifbindung und des gewerkschaftlichen Organisationsgrads haben eine kontroverse Diskussion ausgelöst, wie sich das deutsche System der Arbeitsbeziehungen stabilisieren lässt. |
| Keywords: | trade union, employers' association, collective bargaining, bargaining coverage, Germany |
| JEL: | J51 J52 J53 J58 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:faulre:311831 |
| By: | Kim, Seula (Pennsylvania State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how worker beliefs and job prospects impact the wages and growth of young firms, as well as the aggregate economy. Building a heterogeneous-firm directed search model where workers gradually learn about firm types, I find that learning generates endogenous wage differentials for young firms. High-performing young firms must pay higher wages than equally high-performing old firms, while low-performing young firms offer lower wages than equally low-performing old firms. Reduced uncertainty or labor market frictions lower the wage differentials, thereby enhancing young firm dynamics and aggregate productivity. The results are consistent with U.S. administrative employee-employer matched data. |
| Keywords: | Wage Differentials, Firm Dynamics, Learning, Search Frictions, Uncertainty |
| JEL: | E20 E24 J31 J41 J64 L25 L26 M13 M52 M55 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17655 |
| By: | Di Gioacchino, Debora; Ghignoni, Emanuela; Verashchagina, Alina |
| Abstract: | The prolonged career break around childbirth is one of the reasons behind large motherhood penalties in terms of pay and employment opportunities. We aim to understand what is driving the duration of career break in Italy, where it often remains longer than the five-month obligatory maternity leave. The theoretical model proposed describes trade-offs about career, fertility and time devoted to children, allowing for heterogeneity in women's education and preferences for parenting versus career. This preference is an individual characteristic which can be influenced by social norms and gender stereotypes. By relying on PLUS 2014 and 2021 surveys, we test model predictions and reveal an interesting shift: while a decade ago women characterised by higher parenting priority seemed to be more exposed to the risk of dropping out from the labour market, nowadays the desire to have kids appears to go side by side with the desire to maintain paid employment. We interpret this as a course for economic independence on the side of Italian women, especially the more educated, probably related to a shift in their priorities from parenting towards work and career. Further analysis is proposed to understand how the prevailing social norms and local characteristics could impact on career break and labour market participation. |
| Keywords: | Career break, Female labour force participation, Italy |
| JEL: | D10 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1564 |
| By: | Marta García Rodríguez (BANCO DE ESPAÑA) |
| Abstract: | High volatility in the U.S. labor market, coupled with a low correlation between labor market variables and productivity, presents a challenge for traditional search and matching models. This paper develops a search and matching model with internally rational agents who hold subjective wage expectations. This approach significantly improves alignment with U.S. labor market data, outperforming the standard rational expectations model. The model’s wage expectations are consistent with data from European Commission professional forecasters, adding a dynamic source that enhances the model’s fit to labor market moments. |
| Keywords: | internal rationality, wage expectations, labor markets, subjective expectations, belief shock |
| JEL: | E24 E32 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:2507 |
| By: | Martin Halla (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Bernhard Schmidpeter (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide and a critical public health concern. We examine the hypothesis of suicide contagion within in the workplace, investigating whether exposure to a coworker's suicide increases an individual's suicide risk. Using high-quality administrative data from Austria and an event study approach, we compare approximately 150, 000 workers exposed to a coworker's suicide with a matched group exposed to a "placebo suicide". We find a significant increase in suicide risk for exposed individuals, with a cumulative treatment effect of 0.04 percentage points (33.3 percent) over a 20-year post-event period. Exposed individuals who also die by suicide are more likely to use the same method as their deceased coworker, strongly suggesting a causal link. Two placebo tests bolster this interpretation: workers who left the firm before the suicide and those exposed to a coworker's fatal car accident do not show an elevated suicide risk. |
| Keywords: | Suicide, workplace, contagion hypothesis, Werther-effect, mental health |
| JEL: | I10 I12 I18 D81 J10 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp374 |
| By: | Molly Maloney; David Neumark |
| Abstract: | One explanation of the gender wage gap is taste discrimination, as in Becker (1957). We test for taste discrimination by constructing a novel measure of misogyny using Google Trends data on searches that include derogatory terms for women. We find—surprisingly, in our view—that misogyny is an economically meaningful and statistically significant predictor of the wage gap. We also test more explicit implications of taste discrimination. The data are inconsistent with the Becker taste discrimination model, based on the tests used in Charles and Guryan (2008). But the data are consistent with the effects of taste discrimination against women in search models (Black, 1995), in which discrimination on the part of even a small group of misogynists can result in a wage gap. |
| JEL: | J16 J29 J7 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33405 |
| By: | David Escamilla-Guerrero (University of St Andrews [Scotland], IZA - Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit - Institute of Labor Economics); Miko Lepistö (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Chris Minns (LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses newly digitized Canada-Vermont border crossing records from the early twentieth century to document substantial differences in how female and male migrants sorted across US destination counties by earnings potential. Income maximization largely explains sorting patterns among men. For single women, gender-based labor market constraints were important, with locations offering more work opportunities attracting women with higher earnings capacity. Among married women, destination choices were much less influenced by labor market characteristics. These findings reveal how labor market constraints based on gender and marriage influence the allocation of migrant talent across destinations. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Sorting, Gender, Canada, United States |
| Date: | 2025–01–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-04886097 |
| By: | Hartley, Robert Paul (Columbia University); Lamarche, Carlos (University of Kentucky); Ziliak, James P. (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how length of time on welfare during childhood affects economic outcomes in early adulthood. Using intergenerationally linked mother-child pairs from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we adopt a nonlinear difference-in-differences framework using the 1990s welfare reform to estimate average and quantile treatment effects on intensity of welfare use and earnings in adulthood. The causal estimates indicate that additional childhood welfare exposure leads to more adulthood years on the broader safety net for both daughters and sons, yet this positive relationship only applies below moderate levels of adult welfare participation and reverses at greater levels of dependence. Increasing childhood welfare exposure implies lower earnings in adulthood for daughters, however we find no evidence that it depresses adult sons’ earnings. Both daughters and sons exhibit some wage penalty from childhood welfare exposure, yet only daughters are penalized through hours worked in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational welfare, nonlinear difference-in-differences, quantile correlations, quantile treatment effects |
| JEL: | I38 J62 H53 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17650 |
| By: | Christopher Sichko; Ariell Zimran; Aparna Howlader |
| Abstract: | We study racial differences in internal migration responses to one of the most severe climatic shocks in US history—the drought of the 1930s. Using data from the 1940 census on 65 million adults, we find that individuals exposed to more severe drought between 1935 and 1940 were more likely to make an inter-county move and that this responsiveness was greater for black individuals than white individuals. This racial difference was particularly pronounced among the rural population. Black individuals' migration premium came despite their systematic disadvantage in the economy of the 1930s and evidence along dimensions other than race that disadvantage limited individuals' ability to adapt to the drought through migration. Federal relief spending under the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) magnified this racial difference, reducing the migration response to drought for white individuals and increasing it for black individuals. These results help to better understand how the reaction of different groups aggregate to determine the magnitude and composition of migration responses to natural disasters, as well as the roles of migration and government policy in disadvantaged groups' responses to natural disasters. |
| JEL: | D63 J15 N32 N52 O13 O15 Q12 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33409 |
| By: | Drydakis, Nick (Anglia Ruskin University) |
| Abstract: | This study aims to evaluate whether key factors related to homelessness and the utilisation of support services by homeless youth are associated with their employment outcomes. Data from 402 young people living in 21 housing accommodation buildings across three urban cities in England are used to evaluate the study's research aims. The results revealed that non-native and non-heterosexual homeless youth were overrepresented in housing accommodation and experienced lower employment rates compared to native and heterosexual homeless youth. The estimates indicated that employment levels among homeless youth were negatively associated with several factors related to homelessness, such as parental neglect, substance misuse, and inadequate social care during childhood. Conversely, the estimates showed that both employment levels and the duration of employment among homeless youth were positively associated with the use of well-being, educational, mentoring, and employment support services. A critical insight, however, indicated that discrimination in the labour market reduced their employment prospects. This study contributes to the literature by expanding the application of Capability Theory in the multidimensional study of youth homelessness. Furthermore, it develops and validates two new scales to capture both factors of youth homelessness and the utilisation of support services by homeless youth, facilitating evidence-based recommendations for policymakers. A policy approach should recognise the multifaceted nature of the challenges identified and advocate for a comprehensive strategy that integrates preventative measures, support services, and targeted interventions to address the root causes of homelessness while providing holistic support to vulnerable youth populations. |
| Keywords: | Capability Theory, employment, homeless youth, support services, homelessness |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J64 I3 M53 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17660 |
| By: | Abdulrazzak Tamim; Emma C. Smith; Bailey Palmer; Edward Miguel; Samuel Leone; Sandra V. Rozo; Sarah Stillman |
| Abstract: | Refugees require assistance for basic needs like housing but local host communities may feel excluded from that assistance, potentially affecting community relations. This study experimentally evaluates the effect of a housing assistance program for Syrian refugees in Jordan on both the recipients and their neighbors. The program offered full rental subsidies and landlord incentives for housing improvements, but saw only moderate uptake, in part due to landlord reluctance. The program improved short-run housing quality and lowered housing expenditures, but did not yield sustained economic benefits, partly due to redistribution of aid. The program unexpectedly led to a deterioration in child socio-emotional well-being, and also strained relations between Jordanian neighbors and refugees. In all, housing subsidies had limited measurable benefits for refugee well-being while worsening social cohesion, highlighting the possible need for alternative forms of aid. |
| JEL: | D22 J61 O17 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33408 |