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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Devereux, Kevin; Long, Blair; Samahita, Margaret |
| Abstract: | In 2019 Canada's second-largest province introduced a selective ban on religious clothing in the public service as part of a broader effort to promote secularism in the public sphere. Using novel survey data we find evidence of spillovers onto labour force participation and religious expression among those outside the public service. We study the largest legally targeted group: Muslim women. Conducting a difference-in-difference analysis comparing Muslim women in Quebec to those in the rest of Canada, we find a relative reduction in the most liminal religious behaviour - wearing a veil in public - among both Canadian-born Muslim women and immigrants. We also find a relative increase in labour force participation among Canadian-born Muslim women, but not among immigrants. We corroborate the employment results using high quality administrative tax records, and document an anticipation effect: Muslim women sort into the targeted occupations in the year before implementation. The results are consistent with social norm signaling influencing private religious behaviour and labour market outcomes. |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:clefwp:340037 |
| By: | Jose Garcia-Louzao; Alessandro Ruggieri |
| Abstract: | We exploit a novel opportunity to study the dynamics of wage inequality and labor market competition over the course of economic development. Our context is Lithuania, where two decades of sustained growth and labor market tightening coincided with a substantial decline in wage inequality. We first fit a two-way fixed-effects model with worker and firm heterogeneity and document that the compression of the variance of firm fixed effects has been the main source of the fall in inequality. Guided by a standard dynamic monopsony model, we then estimate firms' labor supply elasticities and show that labor market competition has increased over the same period. Finally, we construct a shift-share instrument and provide evidence that new job opportunities created by the accession to the European Union in 2004 contributed to the fall in inequality through their impact on labor market competition in Lithuania. |
| JEL: | J31 J42 O15 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1570 |
| By: | Pawel Adrjan; Jonas Jessen; Carlos Victoria Lanzón |
| Abstract: | We examine whether restricting temporary contracts increases firms' investment in worker training, exploiting Spain's 2022 labour market reform. Using 3.1 million online job postings from 2018 to 2024, we implement a difference-in-differences design that leverages pre-reform variation in reliance on temporary contracts across occupations. More exposed occupations shifted toward permanent hiring and increased advertised training relative to less exposed occupations. Training rose by 4.3 percentage points, fully closing the pre-reform gap by 2024. These results provide evidence that longer expected employment duration increases firms' investment in training, identifying a channel through which labour market regulation can shape human capital formation. |
| Keywords: | temporary employment, on-the-job training, human capital investment, employment contracts |
| JEL: | J24 J41 J63 J68 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12594 |
| By: | István Boza (ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies); Szabó Endre (ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Databank); Róbert Károlyi (ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies; Corvinus University of Budapest) |
| Abstract: | Immigrants’ economic integration remains one of the most debated aspects of international migration, as they often experience persistent employment and wage disadvantages compared to natives. We provide the first large-scale evidence on immigrant pay gaps in Hungary (and more generally from Central Eastern Europe) based on administrative matched employer–employee data. Contrary to the pattern documented in Western Europe and North America, most immigrant groups in Hungary earn more than native-born workers on average. We show that this advantage is largely explained by sorting: immigrants are disproportionately employed in higher-paying firms and higher-paying occupation–firm cells, rather than receiving higher pay than natives for the same job in the same workplace. Within-job pay differences are close to zero for transborder Hungarians (ethnic Hungarians born abroad) and remain small but positive for other immigrant groups. These results suggest that immigrant wage differentials in Hungary reflect employer demand and selective recruitment into relatively well-paying segments of the labor market, rather than systematic under or overpayment. Decomposition results (based on the AKM literature) reinforce our interpretation: immigrant–native wage differentials in Hungary are driven mainly by between-job sorting along skill composition and firm and occupation pay premia, not within-job pay inequality. |
| Keywords: | wage differentials, immigration, segregation, wage sorting |
| JEL: | J31 J61 J71 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:2606 |
| By: | Krafft, Caroline; Armas Montalvo, Carmen |
| Abstract: | High rates of unemployment and non-participation in the labor market are often attributed to labor market mismatch. This paper examines the mismatch between job seekers' expectations and Egypt's labor market realities. For the non-employed, analyses examine reservation wages and what occupations the unemployed would accept. For the employed, analyses explore skills and educational attainment relative to the skill and educational requirements of their jobs. The results demonstrate that the non-employed generally have reasonable wage expectations and are willing to accept public sector jobs, but these jobs, and to some degree formal private sector jobs, are not readily available. The non-employed, and especially women, are less likely to accept more readily available informal private sector employment. As a result of women being more selective in what employment they accept, among the employed, women's skills and qualifications better match their job requirements than men's, although overeducation and over-skill are substantial issues for both men and women. There are not differences in overeducation by vocational secondary specialization or among most higher education specializations, suggesting a pervasive problem of mismatch throughout the education system. |
| Keywords: | Mismatch, labor markets, education, skills, unemployment, reservation wages, Egypt |
| JEL: | J21 J23 J24 J31 J64 I21 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1739 |
| By: | Alison Doxey; Ezra Karger; Peter Nencka |
| Abstract: | Between 1850 and 1910, the share of young Americans living in towns with high schools increased from 17% to 46%—the fastest expansion of school access in U.S. history. Using new data on every high school in the United States, we show that this expansion transformed economic opportunities for many young adults but widened class and racial inequalities. We find sharp increases in school attendance rates for high school-aged children in towns that opened a high school relative to children in nearby towns without one. Linking children to adult outcomes, we show that high schools increased women's labor force participation and job quality, while reducing the probability of early marriage and childbearing. Increased access to high school accounts for a third of the increase in women's labor force participation between 1870 and 1930. High schools had the largest effects on children from already-wealthy families, and did not, on average, benefit Black children. While the high school movement substantially narrowed gender gaps in labor market outcomes, it also widened existing race- and class-based disparities. |
| JEL: | I2 I25 I28 N00 N31 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35068 |
| By: | Cristiano C. Carvalho; Trine E. Vattø (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how an often-overlooked source of pay transparency—the public disclosure of tax information—affects gender wage gaps. We exploit a 2001 change in Norway that made individual tax returns searchable online. Using matched employer–employee data and a difference in-differences design, we find that within-firm gender wage gaps fell by 2.2 percentage points (8.7 percent), driven by rising female wages. Effects are strongest in private-sector firms, industries with initially larger gaps, and municipalities that previously lacked easy access to printed tax lists. Wage gains are concentrated among job-changing women, suggesting that broad-based transparency mainly operates through improved information for job search. |
| Keywords: | Gender Wage Gap; Income Transparency; Public Disclosure of Tax Information |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J38 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:1033 |
| By: | Baktash, Mehrzad B.; Jirjahn, Uwe |
| Abstract: | Concerns about corporate scandals and abusive leadership suggest that individuals with an opportunistic and manipulative personality sort into managerial positions. Indeed, a fledgling number of econometric studies have shown that individuals high in Machiavellianism are more likely to hold a management position. Our study takes that research an important step further by analyzing the moderating role of gender. It examines whether gender has an influence on how far Machiavellians climb the managerial hierarchy. Using representative data from Germany, we find that Machiavellianism increases the likelihood of holding a middle management position for both men and women. However, Machiavellianism is associated with a higher likelihood of occupying a top-level management position only among men but not among women. For men, the impact of Machiavellianism even appears to increase the further they climb the managerial hierarchy. These findings fit theoretical considerations. |
| Keywords: | Machiavellianism, Gender Career Gap, Women, Top-Level Managers, Managerial Hierarchy |
| JEL: | D90 J16 M12 M51 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1741 |
| 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: | work from home, disability employment |
| JEL: | J14 J42 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12604 |
| By: | Mehrzad B. Baktash |
| Abstract: | Does working from home lead to loneliness? If yes, how and for whom? Using a quasi-natural experiment and individual fixed-effects, this study shows that work from home leads to increased worker loneliness. Teleworking not only increases overall loneliness, but it also affects each of the three dimensions of loneliness (feeling isolated, feeling left out, lacking companionship). Working from home increases irregular work hours and decreases satisfaction with leisure time, dwelling, and family life. Consequently, teleworkers feel lonelier. However, the effect is highly heterogeneous. Work from home particularly exacerbates the loneliness levels of employees who are extroverted, not married, without children, living in smaller households, working in the private sector, or residing in East Germany. Importantly, this detrimental effect is mainly driven by fully working remotely. Implications are discussed. |
| JEL: | I31 M5 I10 J81 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trr:wpaper:202604 |
| By: | Maria Giovanna Bosco (Department of Management, Marche Polytechnic University, Italy); Elisa Valeriani (Department of Law, University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia, Italy); Linda Armano (Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem - Temporary Project Centre, Ca' Foscari University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | The study rigorously analyzes the occupational trajectories of foreign- and native-born workers in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region. Using a comprehensive administrative dataset spanning 2008-2015, we assess patterns of upward professional mobility and empirically test the widely discussed stepping-stone hypothesis by examining job transitions across skill levels. Our empirical findings reveal a persistent and significant disparity. Specifically, foreign workers have a substantially higher probability of remaining in low-skilled occupations, indicating limited upward mobility. We also separately analyze the stability of initial employment and the incidence of subsequent unemployment spells, revealing clear and quantifiable differences between the two cohorts. These results provide robust evidence for the existence of an ethnicity penalty and a low-skill penalty that systematically impede professional advancement within the regional labor market. This form of occupational segregation, differentiated by ethnic origin, is consistent with patterns observed in other Southern European and Asian economies. |
| Keywords: | Foreign workers, low-skill jobs, occupational mobility |
| JEL: | J20 J21 J41 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:507 |
| By: | C. Monfardini; E. Pisanelli |
| Abstract: | Why do large gender inequalities in everyday life persist even as women strengthen their attachment to paid work? Existing evidence shows that women continue to do more unpaid work than men, but much of that evidence is based on individual diaries, says little about how inequality is jointly organized within couples, and rarely links daily time allocation to directly measured gender attitudes. This paper addresses that gap using the TIMES Observatory, an original survey of 1, 928 co-resident couples with at least one child younger than 11 in Emilia-Romagna or Campania. The data combine matched partner diaries for one weekday and one weekend day with rich socio-economic information and direct measures of gender norms. We document three main findings. First, women do substantially more unpaid work and spend more time with children, while men do more paid work and enjoy more leisure without children. Second, these asymmetries remain sizeable even among dual full-time couples, implying that stronger female labor-market attachment does not by itself equalize daily life. Third, more traditional gender attitudes - especially among men - are descriptively associated with lower male participation in childcare and domestic work and with wider gaps in discretionary leisure. The analysis is descriptive rather than causal, but it shows that gender inequality within couples is visible not only in the amount of work performed, but also in the distribution of time that is genuinely discretionary. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2604.13896 |
| By: | Hailemariam, Abebe; Lukas, Erica; Mavisakalyan, Astghik; True, Jacqui |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of proximity to mining activity on men's adherence to traditional masculinity norms. Combining geocoded survey data with detailed spatial information on mining activity across 37 countries, we employ an instrumental variable strategy that exploits exogenous variation in geological mineral endowments and global commodity prices to address endogeneity concerns. We find that residing within 20 km of an active mine increases conformity to traditional masculinity norms approximately by 0.29 points on a four-point scale. The effects are concentrated in the violence and help avoidance dimensions, indicating that men living near active mines display greater tolerance of aggression and stronger resistance to help-seeking - traits closely aligned with the masculine culture of extractive workplaces. Heterogeneity analyses further show that these effects are strongest among lower-educated, unmarried, and older men. The results are robust to an alternative difference-in-differences identification strategy comparing areas near active versus inactive mines and to the use of an alternative measure of traditional gender role attitudes as the outcome variable. The analysis of mechanisms suggests that mining proximity increases male employment in the extractive sector while reducing female labor force participation in surrounding communities. These findings provide new insights into how extractive industries can shape and reinforce traditional masculinity norms in mining communities. |
| Keywords: | Mining, Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory, Gender Norms, Gender Equality, Sustainable Development Goal 5 |
| JEL: | J16 J24 O13 Q33 Z13 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1742 |
| By: | Deniz Dutz; Morten Håvarstein; Magne Mogstad; Alexander Torgovitsky |
| Abstract: | We study the identification of labor supply elasticities from kinked budget sets in a model with income effects and individual heterogeneity in the elasticities. We provide point and partial identification results for compensated elasticities, uncompensated elasticities, and income effects. We use administrative data to apply our results to the Norwegian tax system, which exhibits a kink for the self-employed. There is clear bunching around the kink point, suggesting that the self-employed respond to the change in incentives created by the kink. We find that the bounds are often tight even under weak assumptions. Our results show that uncompensated elasticities are close to zero and compensated elasticities are sufficiently small to conclude that the excess burden of taxation is low. |
| JEL: | C14 C18 H21 H24 J22 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35047 |
| By: | Michaelides, Marios (Actus Policy Research); Mueser, Peter; Poe-Yamagata, Eileen; Nearchou, Paris; Ciobanu, Iuliana |
| Abstract: | The Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program is a job-search assistance intervention targeting Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants in the United States. The program requires new UI claimants to attend a counseling session at the start of their UI claims to: 1) undergo an eligibility review to confirm their compliance with UI work search requirements, and 2) receive customized reemployment services. This study reports the results of a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Iowa RESEA/RCM program conducted in 2022-2023, a period of strong labor market conditions. The program required participants to attend regular case management and job counseling meetings for the duration of their UI claims. Results show that the program increased take-up of job counseling services and significantly reduced UI duration and benefit amounts collected, generating substantial savings for the UI system. |
| Date: | 2026–04–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:z796a_v1 |