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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Ziegler, Lennart (University of Vienna) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how caseworkers influence job finding rates and job quality. To rule out selection effects, I exploit that caseworkers are assigned based on the jobseekers’ month of birth in some offices of the Austrian public employment service. Combining administrative data on caseworkers and jobseekers, I compute value-added measures for multiple jobseeker outcomes. A one-standard-deviation increase in caseworker performance corresponds to six additional days of employment in the first year and two percent higher earnings. For older workers and workers of foreign nationality, I observe the largest differences in caseworker performance. Employment and earnings effects are positively correlated, suggesting that faster job finding does not come at the expense of job quality. Analyzing differences in caseworker strategies, I find that caseworkers who refer more vacancies to jobseekers achieve higher employment rates, and those who refer better-paying jobs also achieve higher earnings. In contrast, frequent use of training programs or benefit sanctions is associated with worse job search outcomes. |
| Keywords: | job search assistance, caseworkers, unemployment, vacancy referrals |
| JEL: | J64 J68 J31 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18094 |
| By: | Gert Bijnens (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effectiveness of Belgium’s short-time work (STW) program during the Great Recession, a period when the country recorded the highest STW take-up rate in Europe. STW allows firms to reduce working hours in response to temporary shocks while avoiding layoffs, playing a key role in European labor market insurance systems. Using an instrumental variable strategy that exploits quasi-exogenous variation stemming from an institutional feature of the Belgian program, we estimate the causal effects of STW on employment and wages. We find that, while STW significantly reduces the volume of work per worker, it does not lead to statistically significant employment gains for the average treated firm. Importantly, positive employment effects are concentrated among small manufacturing firms, which are more likely to face binding liquidity constraints. These findings highlight the importance of targeting and screening in improving the cost-effectiveness of STW programs and minimizing deadweight losses. |
| Keywords: | Short-time work; employment; wages; unemployment insurance. |
| JEL: | E24 J22 J23 J63 J65 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:202509-481 |
| By: | Dachille, Giuseppe (University of Rome Tor Vergata); De Paola, Maria (University of Calabria); Nistico, Roberto (University of Naples Federico II) |
| Abstract: | We study the fertility effects of Italy’s Reddito di Cittadinanza (RdC), a national minimum income program introduced in 2019. Exploiting administrative data from the Italian Social Security Institute and a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, we document that RdC increased recipients’ childbirth probability by 1.5 percentage points (18%) over two years in the South, with no effect in the Centre-North. Labor supply declined by 10%, but only in the Centre-North. Regional heterogeneity reflects differences in gender norms, financial constraints, and opportunity costs of childbearing. Our findings highlight how income transfers interact with local context to shape demographic and labor market behavior. |
| Keywords: | RDD, fertility, guaranteed minimum income |
| JEL: | H53 J13 C21 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18105 |
| By: | Huixin Bi; Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau; Nora Traum; Greg Woodward |
| Abstract: | We present new monthly city-level and national measures of worker and firm search from 1900 to 1938, derived from scanned images of U.S. newspapers. To our knowledge, we are the first to systematically use the “situations-wanted” advertisements placed by job seekers. We document fresh insights into early 20th-century labor market dynamics: (1) worker and firm search efforts are procyclical; (2) posting costs affect advertising behavior and labor search intensity; (3) the Beveridge curve is stable over the last 125 years, with similar shifts following the 1918 flu and Covid-19 pandemic; and (4) regional and gender heterogeneity exists. |
| Keywords: | job search; Great Depression |
| JEL: | C82 E24 E32 J64 N32 |
| Date: | 2025–07–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedkrw:101724 |
| By: | Artz, Benjamin (University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh); Siemers, Sarinda (University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh); Li, Tianfang (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: | This study explores preferences for work-from-home (WFH) among U.S. wage and salaried workers in the post-COVID era with a focus on gender and managerial heterogeneity. Using data from the Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes collected between April 2023 and January 2024, we analyze how demographic and work-related factors influence WFH preferences. Our findings reveal that women generally express a stronger preference for WFH than men. However, a nuanced picture emerges for female managers, particularly those aged 40 and older, who prefer fewer WFH days compared to non-manager women. Furthermore, we find that higher education, the presence of children, higher incomes, and racial minority groups (specifically Black and Hispanic individuals) are positively associated with a greater desire for WFH. These findings underscore the complex interplay among individual circumstances, the pursuit of work-life balance, leadership approaches, and persistent gender norms within households and workplaces that shape WFH preferences. Understanding these factors is crucial for organizations to design inclusive workplace policies and cultures that benefit both employees and the organization. |
| Keywords: | work from home preferences, remote work, work from home, attitudes toward working from home |
| JEL: | J16 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18089 |
| By: | Kelly, Elish (ESRI, Dublin); Maitre, Bertrand (ESRI, Dublin) |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 health pandemic had a profound impact on labour markets worldwide, disproportionately affecting subgroups of the population, including individuals with disabilities. Despite extensive research on the broader impacts of the pandemic, there remains a notable gap in the literature concerning the labour market impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities. This paper attempts to fill this gap for Ireland by examining the impact of the pandemic on disabled peoples’ unemployment status. The paper finds that individuals with disabilities were 2.7 percentage points more likely to be unemployed during the pandemic compared to those without disabilities. Even in 2023, people with disabilities remained more likely to be unemployed. However, our year interaction models revealed that the impact of disabilities on unemployment risk remained largely stable during and after the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment Risk, Disabilities, COVID-19, Ireland, OLS |
| JEL: | J01 J14 J18 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18088 |
| By: | Sonia Bhalotra (Department of Economics, University of Warwick); N.Meltem Daysal (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen); Mircea Trandafir (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit) |
| Abstract: | Mental health disorders tend to emerge in childhood, with half starting by age 14. This makes early intervention important, but treatment rates are low, and antidepressant treatment for children remains controversial since an FDA warning in 2004 that highlighted adverse effects. Linking individuals across Danish administrative registers, we provide some of the first evidence of impacts of antidepressant treatment in childhood on objectively measured mental health indicators and economic outcomes over time, and the first attempt to investigate under- vs overtreatment. Leveraging conditional random assignment of patients to psychiatrists with different prescribing tendencies, we find that treatment during ages 8-15 improves test scores at age 16, particularly in Math, increases enrollment in post-compulsory education at age 18, and that it leads to higher employment and earnings and lower welfare dependence at ages 25–30. We demonstrate, on average, a reduction in suicide attempts, self harm, and hospital visits following AD initiation. The gains to treatment are, in general, larger for low SES children, but they are less likely to be treated. Using a marginal treatment effects framework and Math scores as the focal outcome, we show positive returns to treatment among the untreated. Policy simulations confirm that expanding treatment among low SES children (and boys) generates substantial net benefits, consistent with under-treatment in these groups. Our findings underscore the potential of early mental health treatment to improve longer term economic outcomes and reducing inequality. |
| Keywords: | Antidepressants, mental health, education, test scores, human capital, Denmark, physician leniency, marginal treatment effects |
| JEL: | I11 I12 I18 J13 |
| Date: | 2025–09–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kucebi:2509 |
| By: | Díaz Rivera, Orlando Ángel |
| Abstract: | Instrumental variables are often used to identify the causal effect of immigration on labor market outcomes of natives. In this paper, I investigate the sensitivity of 2SLS estimators in the (common) case where a simultaneous shock occurs to the unit of interest and we do not explicitly account for it. For this purpose, I estimate the effects of both the Venezuelan immigration shock and the Peruvian emigration during the last decades on the labor market outcomes of Peruvian native stayers. Using shift-share instruments, I document positive effects of both immigration and emigration on employment rates, household income, and household expenditure (with emigration effects being about eight times larger). Reassuringly for the literature, even in a context of instruments correlated with the omitted flow the point estimates are shown to be robust to the inclusion of the omitted variable. |
| Date: | 2025–09–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:47870 |
| By: | Schnabel, Claus (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Abraham, Martin (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Wieser, Luisa (FAU, Erlangen Nuremberg); Niessen, Cornelia (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Bergmann, Sara (FAU Erlangen Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the digital gender divide (DGD) in Germany by analyzing gendered patterns of digital technology use in both private and professional contexts, and their consequences for wages. Using data from the GESIS Panel, we construct a Digital Involvement at Work index covering ten technologies to assess both active use and passive exposure. Our results reveal a significant DGD in the workplace: women are consistently less involved with digital technologies at work, even after controlling for education, occupational qualification, and digital affinity. In contrast, private digital use appears more balanced. This suggests that structural constraints—rather than individual preferences—play a key role in shaping the divide. Further, we find that digital involvement is positively associated with individual income, yet it does not close the gender pay gap (GPG). On the contrary, digital involvement yields greater wage returns for men than for women. These findings highlight how gendered patterns of digitalization in the workplace reinforce existing inequalities. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for policy and labor market equity, emphasizing the need for measures that promote equitable digital inclusion. |
| Keywords: | gender, digital involvement, digitalisation, wages, gender pay gap, Germany |
| JEL: | J31 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18097 |
| By: | Perihan O. Saygin (Department of Applied Economics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.); Garrison Pollard (Department of Economics, University of Florida, US.); Thomas Knight (Department of Economics, University of Florida, US.); Mark Rush (Department of Economics, University of Florida, US.) |
| Abstract: | Responses to performance feedback play a critical role in shaping future out comes in educational and professional contexts. This paper examines whether evaluator gender influences the likelihood that individuals contest feedback. Using an experiment conducted in large introductory economics courses, we exploit the random assignment of evaluators with randomly assigned male- or female-sounding names to identify a systematic gender bias: individuals are significantly more likely to contest feedback when it is delivered by an evaluator with a female-sounding name than when similar feedback comes from a male-sounding evaluator. This gender disparity is most pronounced when evaluations are harsh relative to a “fair” assessment, fall short of students’ performance expectations, and are more ambiguous. These findings suggest that women in evaluative positions face disproportionate resistance when delivering negative assessments and have implications for their authority, credibility, and career advancement in both educational and workplace settings. |
| Keywords: | gender, backlash, stereotypes. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea2510 |
| By: | N. Meltem Daysal (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen); Hui Ding (School of Economics, Fudan University); Maya Rossin-Slater (Department of Health Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine); Hannes Schwandt (School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University) |
| Abstract: | Preschool-aged children get sick frequently and spread disease to other family members. Despite the universality of this experience, there is limited causal evidence on the magnitudes and consequences of these externalities, especially for infant siblings with developing immune systems and brains. We use Danish administrative data to document that, before age one, younger siblings have 2-3 times higher hospitalization rates for respiratory conditions than older siblings. We combine birth order and within-municipality variation in respiratory disease prevalence among young children, and find lasting differential impacts of early-life respiratory disease exposure on younger siblings earnings, educational attainment, chronic respiratory health and mental health-related outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Children; Early-life conditions; Human capital; Earnings; Birth order; Infectious disease |
| JEL: | I12 I18 J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2025–09–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kucebi:2510 |
| By: | Albarrán, Pedro (Universidad de Alicante); Robles, Antonio (Universidad de Alicante); Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna (Universidad de Alicante) |
| Abstract: | Colombia’s prolonged conflict has made the country one of the most affected by forced internal displacement (FID) in the world. This study examines the impact of the FARC’s 2014 unilateral and permanent ceasefire on FID. We use a difference-in-differences strategy that exploits the timing of the ceasefire and the pre-conflict distribution of FARC presence across municipalities. Results show a substantial reduction in severe displacement episodes in affected areas, with effects that emerged gradually and persisted over time. These findings highlight the importance of stability and the effective implementation of peace agreements in mitigating FID and its far-reaching consequences. |
| Keywords: | ceasefire, armed conflict, forced internal displacement, FARC, Colombia |
| JEL: | D74 R23 J61 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18087 |
| By: | Bryce Morsky; Tyler Meadows; Felicia Magpantay; Troy Day |
| Abstract: | The gig economy has grown significantly in recent years, driven by the emergence of various facilitating platforms. Triggering substantial shifts to labour markets across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this growth. To understand the crucial role of such an epidemic on the dynamics of labour markets of both formal and gig economies, we develop and investigate a model that couples disease transmission and a search and match framework of unemployment. We find that epidemics increase gig economy employment at the expense of formal economy employment, and can increase the total long term unemployment. In the short run, large sharp fluctuations in labour market tightness and unemployment can occur, while in the long run, employment is reduced under an endemic disease equilibrium. We analyze a public policies that increase unemployment benefits or provide benefits to gig workers to mitigate these effects, and evaluate their trade-offs in mitigating disease burden and labour market disruptions. |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2508.18377 |
| By: | María Edo (Universidad de San Andrés and CONICET); Mariana Marchionni (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP and CONICET); María Florencia Pinto (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP); Mariana Viollaz (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP and IZA) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to document the situation of women and the gender gaps in the economics profession across the full range of academic tiers, focused in Argentina. We conduct a comprehensive examination of the representation of women in Economics at various academic levels, from undergraduate programs to faculty and research positions. The analysis is based on several sources, including administrative national databases, administrative data coming from universities and other academic institutions, and microdata obtained from those institutions or through Web scraping. We assess gender differences in career trajectories, academic performance, access to research opportunities in the country and participation in relevant networks. By shedding light on the specific challenges faced by women in Economics in Argentina, we aim to inform policy recommendations and interventions that can promote gender equality and create a more inclusive and diverse economics profession. |
| JEL: | J16 I23 O30 A20 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0355 |
| By: | Gert Bijnens (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first systematic and comprehensive empirical study of management and strategy consulting. We unveil the workings of this opaque industry by drawing on universal administrative business-to-business transaction data based on value-added tax links from Belgium (2002-2023). These data permit us to document the nature of consulting engagements, take-up patterns, and the effects on client firms. We document that consulting take-up is concentrated among large, high-labor-productivity firms. For TFP and profitability, we find a U-shaped pattern: both high and low performers hire consultants. New clients spend on average 3 % of payroll on consulting, typically in episodic engagements lasting less than one year. Using difference-in-differences designs exploiting these sharp consulting events, we find positive effects on labor productivity of 3.6% over five years, driven by modest employment reductions alongside stable or growing revenue. Average wages rise by 2.7% with no decline in labor’s share of value added, suggesting productivity gains do not come at workers’ expense through rent-shifting. We do observe organizational restructuring with small increases in dismissal rates, and higher services procurement but reduced labor outsourcing. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals larger productivity gains for initially less productive firms, suggesting improvements in allocative efficiency. Our findings broadly align with ex-ante predictions from surveyed academic economists and consulting professionals, validating the productivity- enhancing view of consulting endorsed by most practitioners though only half of academics, while lending less support to a rent-shifting view favored by many economists. |
| Keywords: | Management Consulting, Productivity, Firm Performance, Network Data, Organizational Change, Allocative Efficiency |
| JEL: | E20 E22 E23 J0 L2 M0 O4 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:202508-480 |
| By: | Bedük, Selçuk (University of Oxford); Yong, Anna |
| Abstract: | While any experience of child poverty can affect life chances, longer exposure is particularly concerning due to its lasting effects on education, health and earnings. This study adopts a life-course perspective, tracking poverty from birth to age 10 for cohorts born in Britain between 1991 and 2017. On average, 17% of children spent at least half of their childhood in poverty. Long-term poverty affected 25% of those born in the early 1990s, markedly declined to 13-14% for cohorts born after the 1997 welfare reforms, and substantially increased again to 23% for children born following the 2013 austerity reforms. Decomposition analysis shows that cross-cohort changes are driven more by shifts in the penalties associated with work and family risk factors than by changes in their prevalence. These shifts in penalties reflect broader changes in redistribution and predistribution. The early decline in long-term poverty was largely due to rising employment and earnings in low-income households, while the post-austerity increase stems mainly from reduced redistribution. For cohorts born in the 2000s, social transfers played a substantial role in containing long-term poverty despite worsening predistribution. Overall, the findings show that long-term childhood poverty remains a significant challenge in Britain and highlight the need for both stronger redistribution and improved predistribution to address it. |
| Date: | 2025–08–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:e7pkj_v1 |
| By: | Lorenz Meister; Lukas Menkhoff; Carsten Schröder |
| Abstract: | Stock market participation among working household heads jumped upwards in 2020 – in Germany by about 25%. A major cause is the required use of work from home (WfH). We show this by adding WfH to a large set of explanatory variables. Moreover, we implement an instrumental variables estimation based on industry-specific levels of WfH-capacity. The transmission channels seem to work via increased available time and time flexibility. Moreover, we show that WfH makes the stock market accessible to a broader population, including lower income groups, which may contribute to lower income inequality in the future. |
| Keywords: | Stock market participation, work from home, inequality |
| JEL: | D31 G11 G51 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2138 |
| By: | Chernozhukov, Victor (MIT); Fernández-Val, Iván (Boston University); Meier, Jonas (Swiss National Bank); van Vuuren, Aico (University of Groningen); Vella, Francis (Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | We employ distribution regression to estimate the joint distribution of two outcome variables conditional on covariates. Bivariate Distribution Regression (BDR) is particularly valuable when some dependence between the outcomes persists after accounting for the impact of the covariates. Our analysis relies on Chernozhukov et al. (2018) which shows that any conditional joint distribution has a local Gaussian representation. We describe how BDR can be implemented and present some functionals of interest. As modeling the unexplained dependence is a key feature of BDR, we focus on functionals related to this dependence. We decompose the difference between the joint distributions for different groups into composition, marginal and sorting effects. We provide a similar decomposition for the transition matrices which describe how location in the distribution of one outcome is associated with location in the other. Our theoretical contributions are the derivation of the properties of these estimated functionals and appropriate procedures for inference. Our empirical illustration focuses on intergenerational mobility. Using the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics data, we model the joint distribution of parents’ and children’s earnings. |
| Keywords: | local Gaussian correlation, joint distribution, bivariate distribution regression, decomposition, intergenerational mobility |
| JEL: | C14 C21 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18091 |
| By: | Yang, Tianli (Renmin University of China); Zhao, Zhong (Renmin University of China) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) policy on the development of elderly care enterprises in China. Employing a policy shock and a difference-in-differences design, we find that the implementation of LTCI significantly promotes the the number of new entries and survival rate of elderly care enterprises, particularly for individual businesses, enterprises in the health and social work industry, and those located in eastern regions. Notably, service-only LTCI policy exhibits stronger effect on the development of elderly care enterprises compared to policy combining service and cash benefits. Mechanism analysis suggests that LTCI stimulates market demand for formal elderly care services and increases government expenditures on social security and healthcare, both of which drive the development of elderly care enterprises. We also find that LTCI policy boosts labor demand in the elderly care industry. Overall, our empirical findings suggest that LTCI can help address the shortage of long-term care services and enhance family welfare. |
| Keywords: | elderly care enterprises, long-term care insurance, China |
| JEL: | H55 I28 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18104 |
| By: | Brent Bundick; Isabel Cairó; Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau |
| Abstract: | Asymmetries play an important role in many macroeconomic models. We show that assumptions on household and firm expectations play a key role in determining the effects of these asymmetries on macroeconomic outcomes. If households and firms have perfect foresight and hence do not account for the possibility of future shocks, then the implied longer-run averages and distributions for unemployment and inflation can differ significantly from their rational expectations counterparts. We first derive this result analytically under either an asymmetric monetary policy rule or a nonlinear Phillips curve before numerically examining some of the key nonlinearities featured in the recent literature. |
| Keywords: | asymmetries; macroeconomics; business cycles; expectations |
| JEL: | E32 E52 J64 |
| Date: | 2025–09–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:101697 |
| By: | Acton, Riley (Miami University); Cook, Emily E. (Texas A&M University); Ugalde Araya, Paola (Louisiana State University) |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of students’ political views in shaping college enrollment decisions in the United States. We hypothesize that students derive utility from attending institutions aligned with their political identities, which could reinforce demographic and regional disparities in educational attainment and reduce ideological diversity on campuses. Using four decades of survey data on college freshmen, we document increasing political polarization in colleges' student bodies, which is not fully explained by sorting along demographic, socioeconomic, or academic lines. To further explore these patterns, we conduct a series of survey-based choice experiments that quantify the value students place on political alignment relative to factors such as cost and proximity. We find that both liberal and conservative students prefer institutions with more like-minded peers and, especially, with fewer students from the opposite side of the political spectrum. The median student is willing to pay up to $2, 617 (12.5%) more to attend a college where the share of students with opposing political views is 10 percentage points lower, suggesting that political identity plays a meaningful role in the college choice process. |
| Keywords: | politics, polarization, college choice, higher education |
| JEL: | I20 I23 J1 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18099 |