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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Daphné Skandalis; Arnaud Philippe |
| Abstract: | Why do women's labor earnings drop upon motherhood? We shed new light on this question by analyzing the changes in job search behavior associated with motherhood. We exploit data on the job applications sent on a popular online platform linked with administrative registers for 350, 000 involuntarily unemployed workers in France. After losing their job, mothers have a 11.7% lower probability to find a job than similar women without children and send 12.2% fewer job applications. To explore the underlying mechanisms, we analyze the timing of job applications. Unlike other women, mothers' rate of applications decreases by about 20.5% in the hours when there is no school. Moreover, the French reform that introduced school on Wednesday in 2014 led mothers to send more applications on Wednesdays. Our results highlight that childcare creates constraints on the timing of job search activities for mothers. We finally provide suggestive evidence that these constraints decrease their return-to-search, and thereby contribute to their lower application and job finding rates. |
| Keywords: | Gender inequality, Motherhood, Time allocation, Job search |
| JEL: | J16 J22 J64 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26129 |
| By: | Nynke de Groot; Bas van der Klaauw |
| Abstract: | Active labor market programs targeted at older unemployed workers are often believed to be ineffective. We exploit a large-scale randomized experiment involving approximately 50, 000 older unemployed workers to evaluate an intensive job search assistance program that focuses on exploiting the social network. Participation in the program increases exits from unemployment insurance by 4.4 percentage points. Program participation reduces cumulative benefit payments by about €715, exceeding the program costs of €470. Participants compensate the reduced benefits receipt with higher earnings. We find that participants change their job search behavior according to the content of the program, and that both the trainer and the training group composition affect the program effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | Randomized experiment, older unemployed workers, ALMP, job search assistance, social network |
| JEL: | C93 J14 J64 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26132 |
| By: | Henrik Kleven; Camille Landais; Anne Sophie Lassen; Philip Rosenbaum; Herdis Steingrimsdottir; Jakob Egholt Søgaard |
| Abstract: | We study whether policy can shift gendered beliefs, norms, and labor market outcomes by exploiting a major expansion of earmarked paternity leave in Denmark. The reform generated large first-stage effects, substantially reallocating leave from mothers to fathers. Using a regression discontinuity design combined with new survey data linked to administrative records, we show that the reform makes parents more supportive of paternity leave, shifts gender-role beliefs in a progressive direction, and reduces perceived differences in childcare ability. The reform also narrows gender gaps in earnings and hours worked. The earnings gap falls by 34pp in the first year following childbirth (during leave) and by 2.8pp in the second year (after leave). These results demonstrate that policy can meaningfully influence beliefs, norms, and gender inequality. On the other hand, earmarking restricts families' ability to allocate leave freely and lowers leave satisfaction, highlighting a central trade-off inherent in paternalistic policies. |
| Keywords: | Paternity Leave, Gender Norms, Gender Wage Gap |
| JEL: | J13 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26123 |
| By: | Del Pizzo, Andrea (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Nybom, Martin (Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU)); Stuhler, Jan (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | This chapter reviews indirect estimators of intergenerational mobility, focusing on approaches that infer parent - child or other family associations when direct income data are incomplete or unavailable. We synthesize methods based on instrumental variables, imputation using observable characteristics such as education and occupation, surname-based estimators, and multigenerational linkages. To unify these approaches, we introduce a stylized framework in which socioeconomic status is transmitted through multiple pathways with heterogeneous persistence rates. Within this framework, both direct and indirect estimators can be interpreted as weighted averages of these underlying transmission channels. A central insight is that the choice of instrument or imputation strategy determines these weights, leading different methods to capture distinct aspects of the transmission process. We highlight implications for interpretation, showing that indirect estimators need not recover conventional parent–child correlations but can instead provide complementary evidence on long-run persistence and the mechanisms underlying persistent inequalities. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, instrumental variables, surnames, multigenerational mobility |
| JEL: | J62 J12 C26 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18641 |
| By: | Bart Cockx; Johan Egebark; Greet van Hoye; Emilie Videnord; Johan Vikström |
| Abstract: | Reduced motivation among jobseekers over the unemployment spell may lead to declining job-finding rates. We report findings from a low-cost digital intervention with motivational emails aimed at enhancing and sustaining motivation and search effort among job seekers in Sweden. Using a randomized controlled trial that included 200, 720 job seekers, we evaluate both carrot messages aimed at encouraging the pursuit of personal goals and intrinsic motivation and stick messages focusing on external pressure and constraints. A large share of job seekers opened the emails, and they triggered behavioral responses. Both types of messages backfired, reducing search effort and job-finding rates. The carrot messages reduced both the number of job applications and job finding, particularly among men. One likely explanation is that these messages signal to job seekers that the Public Employment Service was less controlling than initially perceived, prompting a reduction in effort. The stick messages backfired for job seekers who, at the onset of unemployment, reported that they were motivated by an inner drive rather than by constraints. These findings underscore the challenges of motivating job seekers to actively search for jobs and suggest that low-cost digital interventions, in isolation, are inadequate and may even be counterproductive. |
| Keywords: | Job search, motivation, experiment |
| JEL: | A12 D01 D91 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26115 |
| By: | Del Boca, Daniela (University of Turin); Favero, Luca (University of St Andrews); Pronzato, Chiara (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Many advanced economies face persistently low fertility alongside rapid population ageing, raising concerns about economic sustainability and demographic balance. Addressing these challenges requires both sustained labor market participation among the working-age population and conditions that support childbearing. These objectives place women, and particularly mothers, at the center of the demographic debate, as motherhood remains a key turning point in employment trajectories and family formation. Using experimental evidence from an intervention targeting mothers who curtailed employment due to childcare responsibilities, the paper finds that improving work–family reconciliation can support mothers’ labor market reintegration, promote investments in existing children, and, under conditions of greater stability, strengthen fertility desires. |
| Keywords: | work, motherhood, family friendly policies, fertility desire |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J22 J11 C93 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18630 |
| By: | Nicholas Bloom; Gordon B. Dahl; Dan-Olof Rooth |
| Abstract: | There has been a dramatic rise in disability employment since the pandemic. At the same time, work from home (WFH) has risen four-fold. This paper asks whether the two are causally related. Controlling for compositional changes and labor market tightness, a 1 percentage point increase in WFH increases full-time employment by 1.0% for individuals with a physical disability. The postpandemic increase in working from home explains 68%-85% of the rise in full-time employment. Wage data suggests that WFH increased the supply of workers with a physical disability, likely by reducing commuting costs and enabling better control of working conditions. |
| Keywords: | Disability Employment, Work from Home |
| JEL: | J14 J42 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26112 |
| By: | Devos, Louise (Ghent University (UGent@Work, CESSMIR)); Rycx, François (Free University of Brussels); Senterre, Thomas (ULB (CEBRIG, DULBEA), UMONS (Soci&ter)); Volral, Mélanie (UMONS (Soci&ter) and ULB (CEBRIG, DULBEA)) |
| Abstract: | Using matched employer-employee data on more than 62, 000 master’s graduates, this paper examines how gender differences in wage returns to fields of study vary by migration background and how educational specialisation contributes to the gender wage gap. We estimate wage regressions and apply a decomposition approach to separate sorting across fields from differences in pay within fields. Returns vary widely, with law, economics and management, and science yielding the highest returns, and women earning less than men within all fields, especially in high-paying ones. First-generation immigrants from developing countries obtain the lowest returns regardless of field of study, while second-generation immigrants approach but do not fully match natives. Fields of study explain a substantial share of gender wage inequality among natives and second-generation immigrants, whereas among first-generation immigrants broader wage disadvantages dominate. Results further vary with the number of parents originating from developing countries and with age at arrival. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, first- and second-generation immigrants, field of study, employer-employee data |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18640 |
| By: | Jaerim Choi (Yonsei University); Jakob R. Munch (University of Copenhagen, CESifo and IZA); William W. Olney (Williams College) |
| Abstract: | Offshoring can reduce unionization rates by changing the composition of domestic employment or by eroding the union's bargaining power and thus decreasing the benefits of membership. Using an employeremployee matched data set we measure the exogenous threat of offshoring at the firm-level and union decisions of individual workers. Findings show that the threat of offshoring reduces unionization rates, even within a job-spell. This is not simply due to the changing composition of industries, firms, or workers, but is consistent with a decline in the union's bargaining position. Additional results confirm that the union-wagepremium and the rent-sharing elasticity are both smaller at offshoring firms. |
| Keywords: | Offshoring, Unions, Trade, Globalization, Collective Bargaining |
| JEL: | F66 F16 J50 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yon:wpaper:2026rwp-286 |
| By: | Jacob Arendt; Iben Bolvig |
| Abstract: | This study estimates the effects of an employment programme for disadvantaged unemployed individuals. The programme emphasized on-the-job training and contracting the unemployed for a few paid work hours as a stepping stone into the labour market. Evaluated through a randomised controlled trial, the programme was found to accelerate transitions into part-time work. Contrary to its intention, it permanently increased the share of participants receiving disability pensions among the most disadvantaged groups. To explain this finding, we suggest that training, while enhancing productivity for some, simultaneously provided information of employability used in the assessment of disability pension eligibility. |
| Keywords: | Unemployed, Active Labour Market Policy, Disability Pension, Immigration |
| JEL: | J14 J15 J64 D61 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26131 |
| By: | Leites, Martin (Instituto de Economía, Universidad de la República); Ramos, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Rodríguez, Cecilia (Instituto de Economía, Universidad de la República); Vilá, Joan (Instituto de Economía, Universidad de la República) |
| Abstract: | We contribute to the very incipient literature that estimates the intergenerational mobility of income from large-scale administrative data using high-quality income data and provide novel evidence of intergenerational income mobility in a middle-income country, Uruguay. Our estimates address the important role of informal labor markets, one of the features of low- and middle-income countries, and a major challenge to obtain unbiased estimates of intergenerational mobility in these countries. We estimate an IRA of 0.292, indicating that persistence is higher in Uruguay than in high-income countries, but lower than in the US. Our results show that (i) informal income increases intergenerational persistence, (ii) intergenerational persistence is higher at the upper half of the distribution, especially at the richest decile, and (iii) intergenerational income persistence is largest among parents and children of the same sex. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational income mobility, informal labor markets, Uruguay, non-linearities |
| JEL: | D31 J62 E26 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18642 |
| By: | Ali Abboud; Samuel Bazzi; Serena Canaan; Antoine Deeb; Pierre Mouganie |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how authority figures in higher education shape gender norms over the long run. We exploit the random assignment of first-year students to faculty advisors at an elite university in the Middle East and combine administrative records with an alumni survey measuring gender attitudes up to 24 years later. Women assigned to female advisors adopt more egalitarian views about politics and work, while men become more conservative. These effects are strongest among religious students and in male-dominated STEM fields, where female authority is especially counter-stereotypical. The effects may persist through reinforcement, as women assigned to female advisors later sort toward female instructors and more gender-themed courses. Our results do not appear to be driven by generic exposure to successful women. Instead, they point to a distinct role for authority in transmitting gender norms: randomized exposure to high-achieving female peers has little effect, while the largest impacts come from senior and high-value-added female advisors. A simple framework combining belief updating and identity-based status threat helps explain these patterns of female empowerment and male backlash. More broadly, our findings reveal a progress paradox whereby gains in female representation in elite authority expand opportunities for women while intensifying backlash among men, thereby deepening gender polarization. |
| JEL: | I24 J16 J24 P00 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35174 |
| By: | Jaerim Choi (Yonsei University); Hyoungchul Kim (University of Pennsylvania); Seung Hoon Lee (Yonsei University) |
| Abstract: | Using Korean administrative data spanning nearly two decades and covering the universe of bilateral migration flows across local labor markets, we examine how the China trade shock shapes internal migration. While prior studies rely on net population changes to measure labor adjustment, we exploit bilateral migration flows that separately capture in- and out-migration. We find that trade exposure primarily increases out-migration from adversely affected regions, with limited effects on in-migration, revealing asymmetric spatial adjustment. Decomposing the shock, export expansion reduces out-migration, whereas import competition increases it. Migration responses are strongest among prime working-age individuals and substantially weaker among younger and older cohorts. Single-person households are more responsive than multiperson households. Overall, bilateral data reveal substantial migration responses that conventional net population measures fail to detect, offering new insight into the "missing migration puzzle." |
| Keywords: | China trade shock, Labor adjustment, Internal migration, Korea |
| JEL: | F14 F16 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yon:wpaper:2026rwp-287 |
| By: | Miller, Sarah (University of Michigan Ross School of Business); Persson, Petra (Stanford University); Rossin-Slater, Maya (Stanford University); Wherry, Laura (New York University) |
| Abstract: | We study an intervention that reduced cesarean deliveries among low-risk first-time mothers, using California birth records linked to earnings data. Exposed mothers were 8% less likely to have a c-section, with no adverse health effects. We find suggestive evidence that they were more likely to return to their pre-birth employerandhadhigherwithin-firmearningsrankingsinthequarterpostbirth. These labor market gains fade over time. However, mothers who had a second child were less likely to have a c-section or preterm delivery, suggesting our estimated effects from avoiding a first c-section may be lower bounds on total gains. |
| Keywords: | c-section, maternal health, child penalty |
| JEL: | I14 I15 J13 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18629 |
| By: | Rigissa Megalokonomou |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how gender representation affects collective decision-making in expert committees. I exploit quasi-random assignment of judges to panels in the Greek Supreme Court using newly digitized data on 3, 700 criminal appeals. I find that panels with more female judges are more likely to reject appeals and less likely to delegate cases. Effects are nonlinear and emerge primarily once at least three of five judges are female; below this level, representation has no detectable effect. The mechanism appears to operate at the panel rather than the individual level — panels with a higher share of female judges take significantly longer to decide, especially in complex cases and in familiar panel compositions, consistent with more thorough deliberation rather than coordination costs. These findings suggest that diversity policies targeting modest increases in female representation will have limited impact unless they shift the deliberative composition of the group itself. |
| Keywords: | panel decisions, gender composition, quasi-random assignment, Supreme Court |
| JEL: | J16 D03 D71 J78 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12661 |
| By: | Rathore, Udayan; Singh, Ashish |
| Abstract: | We leverage a quasi-natural experiment from India on introduction of free bus schemes for women to study its impact on women's labour force participation (WLFP) and other welfare indicators. We use two rounds of the representative Time Use Survey (2019 and 2024) and a triple difference estimation strategy, complemented by an event study type framework to identify the causal relationship of interest. Findings reveal that the bus scheme is successful in improving women's paid work participation and the duration of employment. These results are not a continuation of prior trends. The effects are mainly concentrated among early adopters like Punjab and Tamil Nadu, two states with historically different levels of WLFP. Moreover, the effects are disproportionately higher for women residing in more patriarchal districts and those facing higher mobility restrictions. We argue that the scheme works through easing of non-financial binding constraints, which lowers barriers to women's mobility and workforce participation. |
| Keywords: | Women labour force participation, Women's mobility, Patriarchy, Public transit subsidies, Time-Use, India |
| JEL: | J16 J17 J22 J28 R48 O53 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1755 |
| By: | Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy; Yun So |
| Abstract: | This paper documents variation in intergenerational income mobility (IIM) over time and between different regions of New Zealand. Our sample is a cohort of males born between 1963 and 1982 that reached adulthood over a period spanning the policy reforms of the 1980s. We show that the intergenerational elasticity of income (IGE) measure of IIM is higher for men born later in the sample, suggesting that IIM has decreased over the period of rising income inequality following the reforms. To more closely examine the statistical association between income inequality and IIM, we exploit spatiotemporal variation in IGE estimates and Gini coefficients to show that growing up in regions or periods in which there is higher income inequality is associated with lower IIM. Although these results do not imply causality, they are consistent with an international literature that establishes a statistical association between income inequality and IIM. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Income Mobility; Intergenerational Elasticity of Income; Income Inequality |
| JEL: | J62 D31 D63 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cyc:wpaper:022 |
| By: | Lee C. Tucker |
| Abstract: | Using detailed tabulations from matched employer-employee administrative data, I document evidence of an immediate, sizable, and persistent decrease in the level of early career (22-24 year old) hires following introduction of ChatGPT within the industry-state cells that are most exposed to AI. The decline in hires is the primary cause of large observed declines in employment over the subsequent period. Regressionadjusted employment of early career workers in the most AI-exposed quintile of industry-state cells declined by 12% over the 10 quarters following the introduction of ChatGPT, even as employment in lessexposed industries has remained stable. The rate of hiring largely recovered by early 2025, attributable to a smaller employment base. Earnings growth of early career workers in the most exposed industries slowed slightly relative to those in less exposed industries. Although the most AI-exposed quintile of detailed industries is dominated by a handful of industry sectors, I find that the association of higher AI exposure with reduced early career employment and fewer hires is observed across most sectors of the economy. Timing of effects in event studies is consistent with an immediate effect on hiring following introduction of ChatGPT. However, triple difference estimates provide some evidence of earlier trend shifts on employment, hiring, and separations around the onset of the COVID pandemic. I discuss potential explanations, including the increase in remote work and increased educational attainment among workers in AI-exposed occupations. Nonetheless, job gains to early career workers and backfill hires show evidence of discontinuous decline at the time of ChatGPT’s release in comparison to older workers in the same industries. A local projections analysis at the NAICS industry group level shows that industries with high AI exposure are not particularly sensitive to unexpected fluctuations in monetary policy on average relative to other industries in employment, hiring, or separations. A historical decomposition suggests that up to one quarter of relative early career employment declines through 2025q2 may be attributable to monetary policy shocks through 2023, but the analysis does not find evidence that these shocks can explain the rapid decline in hires at the most AI-exposed firms in comparison to others. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:26-27 |
| By: | Judith M. Delaney; Paul J. Devereux |
| Abstract: | We use population-level administrative data covering secondary school students in England to study how mathematical and verbal skills shape education and labour market outcomes. Following cohorts completing national exams at age 16 through higher education and into employment until age 34, we show that mathematics and verbal skills operate through fundamentally different pathways. Verbal skills strongly predict educational attainment-including college enrolment, graduation, and postgraduate study-while mathematics skills generate substantially larger earnings returns. At ages 30-34, moving from the 25th to the 75th percentile of the mathematics skill distribution is associated with 29% higher earnings, compared with 14% for verbal. This divergence operates partly through field-of-study choice: individuals with stronger verbal skills disproportionately select into fields with higher graduation rates but lower earnings returns, while those with stronger mathematics skills enter STEM and other high-paying majors. Gender differences in skills explain the female advantage in college attendance and part of the STEM gap but have little effect on the gender earnings gap due to offsetting effects across these pathways: women's verbal advantage facilitates educational access but also steers them toward lower-return fields. |
| Keywords: | returns to skills |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26114 |
| By: | Naomi Kodama (Faculty of Economics, Meiji Gakuin University, Japan); Naomi Shohei Momoda (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan); Masahiro Mikayama (Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance, Japan); Tomohiro Iguchi (Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance, Japan) |
| Abstract: | This study estimates the elasticity of hours worked with respect to hourly wages among female part-time workers to examine the influence of the labor supply. Using data on female part-time workers in Japan from 1998 to 2022, we find that wage elasticity is consistently negative, indicating that higher hourly wages are associated with reduced hours worked. This relationship remains stable across income levels, including those around the tax and social insurance premium thresholds. While taxes and social insurance contributions reportedly play a major role in the adjustment of hours worked, this evidence suggests that these policies are not the primary drivers of working hours adjustments. Further analysis reveals that many women, particularly married women and those in their 30s to 50s, tend to seek additional income to meet economic needs as second earners in their households. When income targets serve as reference points to meet these needs, women often adjust their working hours to reach these targets even under relatively low wage rates. Female part-time workers are more likely to adjust their hours worked in response to income targets rather than to taxes or social insurance premium thresholds. These results suggest that tax and social insurance reforms alone may be insufficient to increase working hours among second earners in Japan. |
| Keywords: | Labor supply elasticity, Second earner, Income target, Tax and social insurance premiums |
| JEL: | J22 H24 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mof:wpaper:ron383 |
| By: | Julian Jacobs; Jordan Canedy |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates whether the U.S. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) supported American worker resilience to technological automation. Analyzing over 23 million WIOA participation records (2017-2023), we introduce the "Retrainability Index, " which measures program outcomes through post-intervention wage recovery and shifts in Routine Task Intensity (RTI). We show WIOA rarely shifts workers into less automation-exposed work, with a significant portion of participants simply returning to their prior field. Successful outcomes driven mostly by wage gains, possibly due to "catch-up" mean reversion, rather than changes in occupation. Outcomes are moderated by a person's prior occupational skill set and area of work, as well as their local economy. We find evidence that employer led programs--notably apprenticeships--are associated with the highest incidence of success. This suggests the United States' existing public active labor market programming can support baseline wage recovery for vulnerable populations, but is not well-equipped to support the large-scale, cross-industry labor transitions. |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2605.03767 |
| By: | Yunhan Zheng; Jinhua Zhao |
| Abstract: | Geographic constraints have long structured access to high-growth career opportunities, concentrating upward mobility within a limited set of cities and organizations. The expansion of remote work potentially alters this opportunity structure by decoupling job matching from physical proximity, yet its implications for career mobility remain unclear. Using 48 million U.S. job transitions between 2020 and 2024 linked to employer-level measures of remote eligibility, we estimate how entering remote-eligible jobs shapes career outcomes at job transitions. Workers entering remote-eligible jobs experience significantly higher wage growth and higher rates of upward seniority mobility than comparable workers entering fully on-site roles. These transitions are also associated with greater cross-metropolitan job mobility and moves toward smaller, less prestigious employers. Importantly, effects are largest among lower-income workers and those originating from regions with limited high-skill opportunity density. Together, the findings indicate that remote work relaxes geographic constraints in job matching, reshaping the distribution of upward mobility across places and workers. |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2605.01268 |
| By: | Jialu (Gloria) Dou; Rania Gihleb; Osea Giuntella; Jakub Lonsky |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of California’s Senate Bill 328 (SB 328), the first statewide mandate requiring later school start times for middle and high schools, on adolescent sleep, mental health, and academic outcomes. Using difference-in-differences and eventstudy designs across five data sources, we find that SB 328 increased the share of students sleeping at least 8 hours per night by 13%, meeting the CDC-recommended minimum for this age group. Average mental health effects are imprecisely estimated, but boys show significant reductions in sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation, and Hispanic students, who experienced the largest sleep-timing shifts, show parallel reductions in difficulty concentrating; together these patterns are consistent with a dose-response relationship between sleep improvement and mental well-being. Math and English scores in grade 8 improved by approximately 0.08–0.10 standard deviations, with the largest gains among Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. A within-state analysis using teachers’ commute arrival times as a proxy for pre-policy school start times corroborates these findings, and shows academic gains accumulating over 2023–2025 alongside a suggestive decline in high school dropout rates. The absence of effects on chronic absenteeism rules out an attendance-driven mechanism, pointing instead to the direct cognitive benefits of aligning school schedules with adolescents’ biological rhythms. |
| JEL: | I0 I1 I20 J0 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35184 |
| By: | Fang, Tony (Memorial University of Newfoundland); Gahramanov, Emin (Department of Economics, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates); Ming, Hui (College of Economics, Sichuan Agriculture University, Sichuan, China); Tang, Xueli (Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia) |
| Abstract: | Building on seminal contributions by Bloom et al. (2015) and Davis (2024), we develop a simple theoretical model that captures the trade-off between externalities associated with remote work and those derived from in-office work. The model is based on the premise that both productivity and firm profitability are influenced by the intensity or proportion of remote work arrangements by firms. Ultimately, higher workforce productivity and firm profitability due to remote work translate into higher wages. While remote work can lead to cost savings and positive externalities, excessive adoption may undermine benefits, increase management complexity, and raise the risk of employee shirking. The central theoretical result is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the extent of remote work and wages. To test this prediction, we use data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey to examine the relationship between industry-level remote work intensity and individual wages. The empirical findings reveal that wages rise with remote work intensity up to a threshold, approximately 52.1–63.9%, beyond which they begin to decline, supporting the model’s non-linear prediction. |
| Keywords: | work from home, remote work, wages, productivity, externality |
| JEL: | D24 E24 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18643 |