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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Hanno Foerster (Boston College); Robert Ulbricht (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | We develop a spatial directed search model to study job search and migration among dual-earner households. Using the model, we decompose observed gender gaps into exogenous gender differences, which are amplified by a “colocation friction” that is unique to dual-earner households. Estimated for the U.S. labor market, the colocation friction reduces women’s long-term migration gains by 19% and discourages mobility, particularly among “power couples”. The rise of remote work mitigates this friction, cutting average earnings losses by up to 50%. |
| Keywords: | dual-earner job search, gender inequality, migration, remote work, search friction |
| JEL: | E24 J16 J61 J64 |
| Date: | 2025–11–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:1103 |
| By: | van den Berg, Gerard J. (University of Groningen); Uhlendorff, Arne (CREST); Wolf, Markus (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Wolff, Joachim (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | Means-tested welfare benefits are usually provided at the household level. Job search effort of unemployed welfare benefit recipients is monitored, and non-compliance with job search requirements can lead to a sanction and therewith to a temporary drop in household income. Among unemployed couples on welfare, a sanction is typically induced by one of the partners but potentially the burden is shared by both. We consider effects of sanctions on their transition rates into work. We examine theoretical implications and provide empirical evidence based on administrative data from Germany. We find that sanctions increase the probability of entering employment for the sanctioned welfare recipient but also for their partner. Females react more strongly to a sanction of their partner than males. |
| Keywords: | social assistance, job search, monitoring, gender, unemployment, intra-household bargaining |
| JEL: | J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18253 |
| By: | Chikhale, Nisha (University of Delaware); Duncombe, Natalie; Larsen, Birthe (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | We provide new causal evidence on the labor market consequences of workplace sex-ual harassment using matched survey and administrative data from Denmark. Both women and men experience persistent earnings losses of around 6 percent, with losses doubling among those who change employers. These effects are not driven by non-employment or occupational downgrading but by moves to lower-paying firms. A sub-stantial share of harassment comes from clients—particularly for women—highlighting the need for broader anti-harassment policies. Our findings reveal the long-term eco-nomic scars of harassment and gendered patterns in firm mobility, sorting, and pro-ductivity that persist beyond job transitions. |
| Keywords: | Workplace sexual harassment; Anti-harassment policies; Gendered firm mobility patterns |
| JEL: | J16 J32 J81 |
| Date: | 2025–08–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cbsnow:2025_007 |
| By: | Masato Oikawa (Faculty of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences, Waseda University); Takumi Toyono (WISH, Tokyo, Japan); Haruko Noguchi (Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University; WISH, Tokyo, Japan); Akira Kawamura (Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University; WISH, Tokyo, Japan) |
| Abstract: | This study examines how gender-specific labor market opportunities affect child welfare, focusing on fatal child maltreatment. Using Japan’s comprehensive vital statistics and a shift-share identification strategy exploiting differential regional exposure to national industry employment shocks (2005-2018), we find striking opposite effects by gender. A 0.5% point increase in male employment growth increases child abuse deaths by 116%, while the same increase in female employment growth reduces these deaths by 93%. We identify maternal mental health as a key mechanism, with male employment growth correlating with deteriorating maternal well-being, while female employment opportunities improve women’s psychological health. Effects are most pronounced among the vulnerable with lower socioeconomic status — precisely those most susceptible to economic shocks. Our findings reveal that aggregate employment policies can mask offsetting gender-specific effects with profound consequences for child welfare. The results suggest that targeted interventions enhancing women’s economic opportunities could simultaneously reduce child maltreatment and advance gender equality. More broadly, this research demonstrates the critical importance of gender-disaggregated analysis in economic policy design, as standard employment measures may conceal significant distributional effects on family welfare. |
| Keywords: | child fatal maltreatment, gender-specific employment shocks, shift-share research design, maternal mental health |
| JEL: | I10 J12 J13 J16 J23 R23 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wap:wpaper:2523 |
| By: | Liam D’hert; Morien El Haj; Stijn Baert (-) |
| Abstract: | Surging demands for the care of dependent relatives increasingly pull workers out of paid employment. However, upon returning to the labour market, former caregivers often face hiring discrimination. Still, it remains unclear which caregiving engagements trigger this care penalty, what mechanisms sustain it, and how it can be countered. Conducting a factorial survey experiment with professional recruiters, this study compares hiring evaluations across multiple care- and non-care-related career breaks and identifies the mechanisms that anchor them. The findings show that the scarring effects of care-related breaks are less pronounced than those of long-term unemployment spells, but still substantial. Perceptions of skill loss, reduced commitment, and limited future availability fuel the care penalty. These negative perceptions are most evident following childcare-related breaks. Nonetheless, recruiters prove responsive to targeted counter-stereotypical cues: signalling flexibility or adaptability increases caregivers’ hireability, but not for the long-term unemployed. |
| Keywords: | Career break, Caregiving, Care penalty, Unemployment, Inactivity, Hiring, Experiment |
| JEL: | C91 E24 J22 J64 J71 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:25/1127 |
| By: | Chen Luo (University of Warsaw, LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics); Ewa Jarosz (University of Warsaw, LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics); Anna Matysiak (University of Warsaw, LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics; Cracow University of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the relationship between learning demands at work and the transition to parenthood in Germany. As a consequence of technological progress and intensifying global competition, workplace learning is no longer an optional path to career advancement but has become an essential job demand. Consequently, it absorbs time and energy that could otherwise be devoted to family formation, prompting individuals to postpone childbearing or have fewer children. Yet, the fertility implications of this structural change have not been systematically examined. This study addresses this gap by analysing how job-related high learning demands relate to the transition to the first birth. The results indicate that individuals in jobs with high learning demands, both men and women, tend to delay the transition to the first birth. However, these delays do not appear to preclude them from becoming parents later, suggesting a postponement rather than a withdrawal from parenthood. |
| Keywords: | fertility, childbearing, learning demands, labour market transformation, work-family conflict |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2025-29 |
| By: | Nguyen, Duc Duy; Nguyen, Huyen; Nguyen, Trang; Sila, Vathunyoo |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how firms adjust the number and types of workers they hire in response to increased biodiversity transition risk. Using the adoption of the Key Biodiversity Areas Standard of 2016 as a source of variation that increases the risk of future land-use restrictions, we find that firms reduce job postings in affected areas and reallocate labor to less exposed regions. This effect is concentrated among firms that make negative impacts on biodiversity. Cuts are stronger among production roles, while hiring in green and adaptive occupations increases. The effect is not driven by changes in capital investment or workers' labor supply decisions. Our findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the costs and benefits of biodiversity conservation policies and their implications for labor market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity risk, Key Biodiversity Areas, labor demand, labor supply |
| JEL: | G30 J01 Q57 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:331888 |
| By: | Stefanie J. Fischer; Shuhei Kaneko; Heather Royer; Corey D. White |
| Abstract: | Cesarean section rates vary widely across U.S. counties, yet it remains unclear how much of this variation reflects demand-side factors (such as patient risk or preferences) versus supply-side factors (such as physician practices or hospital incentives). We develop a new empirical strategy to isolate the influence of supply-side forces. Exploiting hospital obstetric unit closures from 1989–2019 that reallocate some mothers to counties with different C-section rates, we find that a one–percentage-point increase in the delivery county’s rate raises a mother’s likelihood of a C-section by roughly one point. The results point to a dominant role for provider behavior and local practice norms in driving geographic variation in C-section use, the most common major surgery in the United States. |
| JEL: | I18 I38 J08 J13 J18 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34469 |
| By: | Grenet, Julien (Paris School of Economics and CNRS); Grönqvist, Hans (Linnaeus University and the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Hertegård, Edvin (SOFI, Stockholm University); Nybom, Martin (IFAU, Uppsala University); Stuhler, Jan (Department of Economics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | We study how students adjust their early career choices in response to economic crises and how these decisions affect their long-run labor market outcomes. Focusing on Sweden’s deep recession in the early 1990s—which hit the manufacturing and construction sectors hardest—we first show that students whose fathers lost jobs in these sectors were more likely to choose career paths tied to less-affected industries. These students later experienced better labor market outcomes, including higher employment and earnings. Our findings suggest that informational frictions are a key obstacle to structural change and identify career choice as an important channel through which recessions reshape labor markets in the long run. |
| Keywords: | High School Major; Recession; Information Frictions; Structural Change |
| JEL: | E32 I25 J24 J63 |
| Date: | 2025–11–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2025_020 |
| By: | Koning, Pierre (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Prudon, Roger (Lancaster University) |
| Abstract: | Spikes in exits at unemployment insurance (UI) benefit exhaustion into other benefit schemes such as sickness insurance (SI) are well-documented. These spikes could be driven by relatively healthy workers maximizing their total duration of benefit receipt, or workers in ill health who remain on UI while incapable of working. While the first explanation calls for a stricter SI and UI system, the second highlights the need for increased information provision. We study the importance of these explanations by first documenting a spike in exits into SI at UI benefit exhaustion in the Netherlands. Comparing detailed health and labor market characteristics of exit cohorts, we show that the spike is unlikely to be driven by maximizing behavior of relatively healthy workers. Instead, our results point to catch-up of initial non-take-up of SI by workers with substantial mental and physical health conditions. This opposes earlier work on substitution between UI and SI/DI. |
| Keywords: | spikes, unemployment insurance, sickness benefits, non-take-up |
| JEL: | H53 H75 J65 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18264 |
| By: | Agata Kałamucka (University of Warsaw, LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics); Anna Matysiak (University of Warsaw, LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics); Beata Osiewalska (University of Warsaw, LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics; Cracow University of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Objective: This study examines the relationship between men's and women's working-time flexibility and relationship dissolutions (cohabitating and married couples) in Germany. Background: Globalisation and technological advancements have popularised flexible working hours, necessitating a deeper understanding of their implications on family dynamics and relationship stability. Employee-oriented flexibility, which allows workers to adjust their schedules to meet family needs, generally supports work-family balance and reduces conflict, yet it can also blur the boundaries between work and personal life and may reduce family time. On the other hand, employer-oriented flexibility, characterised by unpredictable hours, can heighten marital strain and increase the risk of relationship dissolution. Method: Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), the final sample consists of 15, 519 cohabiting and married couples, and the number of relationship dissolutions during the analysed time period is 1, 463. The study employs event history analysis to explore the relationship between working-time flexibility and relationship dissolutions, differentiating by gender, parental status and the age of the youngest child. Results: Preliminary results indicated that employee-oriented flexibility of men tends to lower the risk of dissolution among couples with more than 2 children, especially when they are young, highlighting its benefits in facilitating family responsibilities. Any significant results on employer-oriented flexibility have not been found in comparison to fixed schedules. Conclusion: Fathers’ more than mothers’ working-time flexibility relates to lowering the risk of relationship dissolutions, especially when children are young and in families with two or more kids, suggesting that men’s control over their schedules may facilitate greater involvement at home and alleviate care burdens on women. |
| Keywords: | working-time flexibility, couples, flexible hours, dissolutions, Germany |
| JEL: | J11 J17 J18 J24 J81 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2025-28 |
| By: | Ferreira, Francisco H. G. (London School of Economics); Brunori, Paolo (University of Florence); Neidhofer, Guido (ZEW Mannheim); Salas-Rojo, Pedro (London School of Economics); Sirugue, Louis (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that relative measures of intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunity are closely related ways of quantifying the inheritability of inequality. We review both literatures for Latin America, looking both at income and educational persistence. We document very high levels of intergenerational persistence and inequality of opportunity for education, with inherited characteristics predicting 29% to 52% of the current-generation variance in years of schooling. Inherited circumstances are somewhat less predictive of educational achievement, measured through standardized test scores, accounting for 20% to 30% of their variance. Our estimates of inequality of opportunity for income acquisition suggest that between 46% to 66% of contemporary income Gini coefficients can be predicted by a relatively narrow set of inherited circumstances, making Latin America a region of high inequality inheritability by international standards. Our review also finds a very wide range of intergenerational income elasticity estimates, with substantial uncertainty driven by data challenges and methodological differences. |
| Keywords: | inequality of opportunity, intergenerational mobility, inherited inequality, Latin America |
| JEL: | D31 I39 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18254 |
| By: | Gobbi, Paula (Université Libre de Bruxelles); Hannusch, Anne (University of Bonn); Rossi, Pauline (CREST) |
| Abstract: | Much of the observed cross-country variation in fertility aligns with the predictions of classic theories of the fertility transition: countries with higher levels of human capital, higher GDP per capita, or lower mortality rates tend to exhibit lower fertility. However, when examining changes within countries over the past 60 years, larger fertility declines are only weakly associated with greater improvements in human capital, per capita GDP, or survival rates. To understand why, we focus on the role of family institutions, particularly marriage and inheritance customs. We argue that, together with the diffusion of cultural norms, they help explain variations in the timing, speed and magnitude of the fertility decline. We propose a stylized model integrating economic, health, institutional and cultural factors to study how these factors interact to shape fertility transition paths. We find that family institutions can mediate the effect of economic development by constraining fertility responses. |
| Keywords: | marriage, family institutions, fertility, inheritance |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18262 |
| By: | Dadgar, Iman (Center for educational leadership and excellence, Stockholm School of Economics, Swedish institute for Social research (SOFI), Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the influence of students’ ordinal positions in the distribution of grades in their ninth-grade school cohort on subsequent educational and labor market outcomes using population-wide data for Sweden. The identification strategy uses differences between students’ ranks in their school and their ranks in the country-wide ability distribution after conditioning on school-cohort fixed effects and school-level grade distributions. The findings reveal an advantage of occupying a higher rank in school with respect to educational and labor market accomplishments in adulthood, whereas a lower rank yields adverse consequences. Contrary to findings from the United States, no effect is found for students situated in the middle of the rank distribution. This study also shows that ordinal rank effects are more pronounced for students with lower socio-economic status and for female students at the top of their school ability distribution. This study highlights the importance of students’ rank positions in determining their future academic and professional outcomes. |
| Keywords: | education; income; ordinal rank; peer effects |
| JEL: | I20 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2025–11–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2025_021 |
| By: | Dalla-Zuanna, Antonio (Bank of Italy); Liu, Kai (University of Cambridge) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows how the Marginal Value of Public Funds (MVPF) can guide treatment allocation to improve social welfare. Under budget constraints, the optimal treatment targets individuals with MVPFs above a threshold that minimizes the opportunity cost of treatment. Using experimental data, we show that prioritizing high-MVPF groups under tight budgets can double Head Start’s social benefits compared to random assignment. Analyzing joint allocation across early (Head Start) and late (Job Corps) skill investment programs, we find that exclusive investment in early interventions is not optimal unless substantially higher welfare weights are placed on young children. |
| Keywords: | budget constraints, treatment allocation, Marginal Value of Public Funds (MVPF), welfare maximization |
| JEL: | H43 I38 D61 J68 I26 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18259 |
| By: | Derek Yu (Department of Economics, University of the Western Cape) |
| Abstract: | Since the advent of democracy, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) has been collecting comprehensive labour market data with the October Household Survey (1995-1999), Labour Force Survey (2000-2007) and Quarterly Labour Force Survey (2008 – ). In addition, the Census and other surveys have also been capturing some labour market data. In August 2025, StatsSA announced that the revamped Quarterly Labour Force Survey would be launched in the third quarter of the year, with various changes to define and derive some labour market status variables differently. This study is timely by aiming to provide further suggestions on possible changes that can still be made to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey questionnaire so as to capture labour market information even better. |
| Keywords: | Labour market, Labour market survey, Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Employment, Unemployment, Entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | C80 J00 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers390 |
| By: | Mutsami , Chrispinus; Parlasca, Martin C.; Qaim, Matin |
| Abstract: | Off-farm employment is increasingly important for rural households in Africa. While previous research has analyzed welfare implications of off-farm activities at a household level, little attention has been given to potential nutritional benefits of individual household members, particularly women. Using survey data from rural Tanzania and Zambia, we examine the relationship between female off-farm employment and women’s dietary quality. We also explore potential underlying mechanisms such as income, bargaining power, and time allocation. Our findings show that female off-farm employment is positively associated with improved dietary diversity. Women engaged in off-farm work consume more meat, fish, and vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables, suggesting improved intake of critical micro-nutrients. Pathway analysis suggests that the positive association between off-farm employment on dietary diversity is mainly driven by increased household income and enhanced bargaining power of women. The results remain robust across several sensitivity checks, indicating that female labor force participation can improve women’s nutrition in rural areas of developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Labor and Human Capital |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes025:356756 |
| By: | Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham; Peter Hull; Michal Kolesár |
| Abstract: | We develop a step-by-step guide to leniency (a.k.a. judge or examiner instrument) designs, drawing on recent econometric literatures. The unbiased jackknife instrumental variables estimator (UJIVE) is purpose-built for leveraging exogenous leniency variation, avoiding subtle biases even in the presence of many decision-makers or controls. We show how UJIVE can also be used to assess key assumptions underlying leniency designs, including quasi-random assignment and average first-stage monotonicity, and to probe the external validity of treatment effect estimates. We further discuss statistical inference, arguing that non-clustered standard errors are often appropriate. A reanalysis of Farre-Mensa et al. (2020), using quasi-random examiner assignment to estimate the value of patents to startups, illustrates our checklist. |
| JEL: | C01 G0 H0 J0 K0 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34473 |
| By: | Almås, Ingvild (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Caeyers, Bet (CMI - Chr. Michelsen Institute); Dautheville, Adrien (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Kazi, Vivian (Economic and Social Research Foundation); Krutikova, Sonya (Faculty of Humanities, University of Manchester); Somville, Vincent (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | The transition from school to the labor market presents significant challenges. This is particularly the case in low- and middle-income countries where the youth population attending primary and secondary school is expanding rapidly and overoptimism combined with limited information can lead to suboptimal decision-making regarding further education and other career preparation choices. We design and test through a cluster-randomized controlled trial a scalable low-cost intervention designed to help secondary school students in Tanzania develop hopeful yet realistic career plans. This is done through a structured, edutainment podcast series and teacher-led classroom discussions. We show that treated students perform better academically, with a significant increase in national exam success and a higher likelihood of selection into further education. Additionally, self-employment rates and income levels increase. These outcomes are plausibly driven by enhanced hope—characterized by improved agency and pathway clarity—, by an increase in the likelihood of developing b-plans, and by a reduction in stress. Our findings highlight the potential of structured guidance through edutainment in improving the transition from secondary school. |
| Keywords: | School-to-labor-market transition; Low- and middle-income countries; Decision-making; Cluster-randomized controlled trial |
| JEL: | J15 |
| Date: | 2025–11–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2025_019 |
| By: | Magdalena Adamus (Masaryk University, Faculty of Economics and Administration); Martin Guzi (Masaryk University, Faculty of Economics and Administration); Eva Ballová Mikušková (Slovak Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates gender biases and differential treatment of women and men in the business start-up phase. A sample of 498 entrepreneurs from Slovakia participated in an online experiment and evaluated three fictitious business plans in terms of the applicants’ competence, likeability, and business ability. The start-ups were positioned in three different sectors—cosmetics production, services provision, and software development—where men’s and women’s chances of success may be viewed differently. Following Goldberg’s paradigm, half of the evaluators received business plans presented as written by female and half by male applicants; otherwise the plans were identical. Results imply that female applicants are assessed similarly to male applicants, but more masculine evaluators assess women’s business plans and their potential in entrepreneurship more critically. The study advises caution in recommending more female evaluators in the business plan assessment. If women who become involved in entrepreneurship are excessively masculine and masculinity is associated with a less favourable evaluation of potential female entrepreneurs, such policies could backfire against women, putting them in a more disadvantaged position. |
| Keywords: | gender identity; masculinity; entrepreneurship; start-up; Goldberg paradigm; gender-role theory |
| JEL: | J16 M13 L26 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mub:wpaper:2025-07 |
| By: | Araujo, Daniel; Laudares, Humberto; Murillo, Dafne; Paredes, Hector; Valencia Caicedo, Felipe |
| Abstract: | Can a brief period of economic prosperity leave a legacy of long-term adversity for local populations? This study investigates the enduring impact of the Amazon rubber boom around 1900 on contemporary income, inequality, Indigenous groups presence, and forest conservation. Identification exploits variation in historical rubber suitability across municipalities and discontinuities around rubber concession boundaries. Municipalities with larger shares of rubber-suitable land experienced an initial economic surge, as evidenced by higher per capita GDP in the 1920 Census, but this prosperity was not sustained by 2010. Increased ethnic mixing, already visible in the 1872 Census, indicates that earlier economic expansion intensified contact with Indigenous groups. In the long run, rubber-suitable areas show lower population density, higher extinction of Indigenous groups, and greater income inequality. Consistent with the disproportionate violence and labor coercion inflicted on Indigenous groups, our Regression Discontinuity analysis further documents long-lasting environmental effects, with higher rates of deforestation, coca cultivation, and cattle raising in former rubber concession areas. Together, the results suggest that while the rubber boom generated short-term wealth, it left a legacy of persistent underdevelopment, social transformation, and environmental degradation. |
| Keywords: | Commodity Exploitation;Rubber;Amazon;indigenous peoples;Forced Labor;Persistence;Private Concessions;Economic history |
| JEL: | N36 O15 J15 O13 N56 Q33 D31 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14374 |
| By: | William Brock; Anastasios Xepapadeas |
| Abstract: | This paper puts forth a growth model that takes into account the fact that the economy is embedded in a finite Earth. Economic activity uses services which are provided by the biosphere; however, this supply is finite. The question we explore in this paper is whether ideas that drive the accumulation of "brown" and "green" R&D that produces material goods which could be biosphere using or biosphere saving can provide persistent growth when the whole system is embedded in a finite Earth. Or, to put it differently, whether it is possible to have persistent growth supported by idea-driven technical change without violating the impact inequality proposed by Dasgupta (2021), which compares global demand for services provided by the biosphere to the supply of these services. We develop optimal time allocation models and provide conditions that support the feasibility of growth when the net impact on biosphere is zero. |
| Keywords: | growth, limits, biosphere, impact inequality, biosphere saving technology, combination of ideas, spillovers |
| JEL: | O44 J13 Q01 |
| Date: | 2025–11–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aue:wpaper:2564 |