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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Dimico, Arcangelo (Queen's University Belfast) |
| Abstract: | I evaluate the impact of abortion policies in sub-Saharan Africa to understand the potential consequences of a reduced international support for women’s rights following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. I find that decriminalizing abortion reduces fertility through two complementary channels. For households at the top of the wealth distribution, the effect manifests as a reduction in excess fertility, which is more pronounced among lower-educated women due to their lower likelihood of using contraception. For households at the bottom of the wealth distribution, the impact runs through a decline in the number of children with a low survival probability. This latter effect is more pronounced among highly educated women, who are more likely to control their own health-related decisions and view abortion as a viable option. I also find that while women’s education levels rise after decriminalization, this does not lead to better labor market opportunities. Children born afterwards tend to achieve higher levels of education. |
| Keywords: | abortion, gender, fertility, child mortality, human capital |
| JEL: | O15 J13 J16 K38 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17910 |
| By: | Lebedinski, Lara (Department of Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria); Liedl, Bernd (Department of Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria); Skirbekk, Vegard (University of Oslo; Columbia University and Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway); Steiber, Nadia (Department of Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria and Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), Vienna); Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf (Department of Economics, University of Linz and Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), Vienna) |
| Abstract: | The relationship between parenthood and gendered labor market outcomes has been extensively studied, with the ‘child penalty'—defined as the effect of having children on mothers' labor earnings relative to their partners'—documented in many countries. While prior research has explored institutional and normative drivers of this gap, the role of religious affiliation remains understudied, particularly at the population level. Religious beliefs shape both fertility decisions and labor market behavior and hence are potentially an important factor shaping heterogeneity in the size of the child penalty. Using comprehensive Austrian register data, this study provides novel evidence on the intersection of religious affiliation and the child penalty. Our results indicate that religious affiliation acts as a moderator of child penalties. Women with a religious affiliation, particularly those belonging to the Catholic majority, experience substantially larger earnings losses following childbirth compared to their secular peers. A decade after the birth of the first child, the woman’s share of the couple’s joint labor income declines by around 25 percentage points among couples where both partners are Catholic, compared to 18 percentage points among religiously unaffiliated couples. These findings underscore the importance of cultural factors in shaping the economic consequences of motherhood. |
| Keywords: | Child penalty, gender earnings gap, religion |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ihs:ihswps:number59 |
| By: | Musayir, Arlan (Department for Employment UK); Arabsheibani, Reza (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the causal impact of childbirth on women’s likelihood of informal employment in Russia using twenty years of RLMS. We apply an event study framework following Kleven et al. (2019) to quantify child penalties in labour market outcomes and whether women are more likely to find themselves working informally following the birth of their first child. We find that childbirth significantly increases the probability of informal employment for women. The rise in informality is concentrated in only the first year after childbirth. For first-time mothers this transition is largely involuntary. Our findings align with recent evidence on Russia’s relatively integrated but segmented informal labour market (Bargain et al. 2021). |
| Keywords: | informality, female employment, fertility |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J46 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17916 |
| By: | Belot, Michèle (Cornell University); de Koning, Bart (Cornell University); Fouarge, Didier (ROA, Maastricht University); Kircher, Philipp (Cornell University); Muller, Paul (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Philippen, Sandra (University of Groningen) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of online information provision to unemployed job seekers who are looking for work in occupations in slack markets, i.e. with only few vacancies per job seeker. Job seekers received suggestions about suitable alternative occupations, and how the prospects of these alternatives compare to their current occupation of interest. Some additionally received a link to a motivational video. We evaluate the interventions using a randomized field experiment covering all eligible job seekers registered to search in the target occupations. The vast majority of treated job seekers open the message revealing the alternative suggestions. The motivational video is rarely watched. Effects on unemployed job seekers in structurally poor labor markets are large: their employment, hours of work and labor income all improve by 5% to 6% after 18 months. Additional survey evidence shows that treated job seekers find employment in more diverse occupations. |
| Keywords: | information treatment, randomized experiment, occupational mobility, job search |
| JEL: | J62 J63 C93 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17905 |
| By: | Zachary Ward; Kasey Buckles; Joseph Price |
| Abstract: | Using data on 2.5 million great-grandchildren linked to their great-grandfathers in the US (1850–1940), we show that economic gaps persisted strongly across four generations despite major structural change. We find that one-third of the initial differences in economic status across white great-grandfathers remained in their great-grandchildren. When including both Black and white families, this persistence rises to about 50 percent, largely because the gap between Black and white families closed slowly over time. Grandparent and great-grandparent status matter beyond the father's status, indicating slower convergence to the mean than predicted by two-generational estimates. However, this excess persistence is largely driven by enduring racial inequality as grandparent effects are small within the white population. |
| JEL: | J62 N31 N32 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33923 |
| By: | Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina (University of California, Merced); Wang, Chunbei (Virginia Tech) |
| Abstract: | Since 2012, DACA has provided deportation relief and work authorization to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. This study examines how legal and political uncertainty, triggered by efforts to terminate the program in 2017, affected recipients’ economic and social outcomes. Using difference-in-differences and event study methods, we find that gains in education, health, and geographic mobility largely persisted, while employment and income benefits eroded, particularly in non-sanctuary and high-enforcement states. However, strong local DACA networks helped buffer these losses. The results underscore how policy instability can undermine progress in some areas while resilience emerges in others, especially within supportive local environments. |
| Keywords: | DACA, undocumented immigrants, employment, education, policy uncertainty, local enforcement |
| JEL: | J12 J15 J18 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17914 |
| By: | Barigozzi, Francesca (University of Bologna); Biroli, Pietro (University of Bologna); Monfardini, Chiara (University of Bologna); Montinari, Natalia (University of Bologna); Pisanelli, Elena (University of Bologna); Vitellozzi, Sveva (University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces a novel, scalable methodology to measure individual perceptions of gaps in mental load—the cognitive and emotional burden associated with \textit{organizing} household and childcare tasks—within heterosexual couples. Using original data from the TIMES Observatory in Italy, the study combines time-use diaries with new survey indicators to quantify cognitive labor, emotional fatigue, and the spillover of mental load into the workplace. Results reveal systematic gender asymmetries: women are significantly more likely than men to bear organizational responsibility for domestic tasks, report lower satisfaction with this division, and experience higher emotional fatigue. These burdens are underestimated by their partners. The effects are particularly pronounced among college-educated and employed women, who also report greater spillovers of family responsibilities than men during paid work hours. The perceived responsibility for managing family activities is more strongly associated with within-couple gaps in time use than with the absolute time spent on their execution, underscoring the relational and conflictual nature of mental load. |
| Keywords: | mental load, gender, time allocation, time-use data |
| JEL: | J16 J22 D91 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17912 |
| By: | Martinenghi, Fabio I. (University of Newcastle, Australia); Naghsh Nejad, Maryam (University of Technology, Sydney) |
| Abstract: | We use whole-population linked administrative data from Australia to ex- amine the economic and mental health impacts of IVF treatment and invol- untary childlessness. Leveraging detailed information on fertility treatment, income, and prescription drug use, we implement a dynamic triple-difference framework comparing women who remain childless five years after initiating IVF to those who successfully conceive. Results reveal large and persistent effects on both mental health and income. We further show that the IVF process itself leads to income declines among childless women, underscoring substantial unmeasured costs and suggesting downward bias in child penalty estimates that use unsuccessful IVF patients as controls. |
| Keywords: | involuntary childlessness, IVF, mental health, labor market outcomes, fertility and career trade-offs |
| JEL: | J13 J22 I14 I31 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17965 |
| By: | Huynh, Quynh (University College London); Ku, Hyejin (University College London) |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between economic development and female labor force participation, with a focus on the impact of gender norms. Analyzing quasi-random variation in provincial exports in reunified Vietnam from 2002 to 2018, we find that a positive economic shock led to a significant decline in women’s labor market engagement, particularly among married women from wealthier households and those with husbands in more skilled occupations. This trend is more pronounced in the South (formerly capitalist) than in the North (always socialist), and among native Southerners compared to Northerners relocated to the South after the war. Our findings highlight the importance of gender role attitudes in shaping women’s responses to rising incomes. |
| Keywords: | female labor force participation, social norms, gender role attitudes, income and substitution effects, trade liberalization |
| JEL: | J16 J22 O12 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17911 |
| By: | Ottosson, Lillit (Stockholm University, Uppsala Center for Labor Studies (UCLS) and UIL, Uppsala University; IFAU); Vikman, Ulrika (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy) |
| Abstract: | We study an active labor market program aimed at immigrants with very limited language skills. The program consists of a three-month on-the-job training program in a regular workplace, facilitated by bilingual caseworkers speaking the participant’s native language. The aim of the program is to improve participants’ language skills and to provide labor market experience. We apply dynamic inverse probability weighting to account for dynamic selection into the program. After an initial lock-in effect, we find that the program leads to sizable increases in employment throughout the three-year follow-up period. These effects are explained by both subsidized and regular employment, and are mainly driven by women. |
| Keywords: | Immigrants; Integration; On-the-job training; Language support |
| JEL: | H75 I38 J15 |
| Date: | 2025–06–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2025_009 |
| By: | Vadim Ustyuzhanin |
| Abstract: | The present study aimed to improve upon the existing correlational literature on the parenthood penalty in Russia. An instrumental variables approach based on sibling sex composition and multiple births was employed alongside difference-in-differences designs to analyze rich census and longitudinal datasets. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to provide causal estimates of the effect of fertility decisions on subsequent labor market outcomes for mothers and fathers in contemporary Russia. The study's primary finding is that, in contrast to the approximately 10 percent long-term motherhood penalty observed in developed countries, the causal impact of childbearing on women's employment in Russia is most significant in the first year after birth, reducing employment by around 15 percent. This penalty then rapidly declines to a modest 3 percent once children reach school age. The analysis indicates an absence of a systematic fatherhood penalty in terms of employment, although a modest increase in labor supply is observed. |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2506.11858 |
| By: | Holford, Angus J. (University of Essex); Sen, Sonkurt (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of racial representation among academic staff on university students’ academic and labor market outcomes. We use administrative data on the universe of staff and students at all UK universities, linked to survey data on students’ post-graduation outcomes, exploiting idiosyncratic variation (conditional on a set of fixed effects and observable student, staff, and university department level characteristics) in the proportion of racial minority academic staff to whom students are exposed. We find that minority representation benefits the academic outcomes of minority groups: When minority students are exposed to 1 SD higher proportion of minority academics, they are 1.03ppt more likely to graduate with a first or upper second class honors degree and they are also 0.88ppt more likely to graduate on time. There is no beneficial impact of minority or own-race representation on the labor market outcomes of minorities. However, we do find that minority representation among academic staff significantly increases progression of minority students to graduate study, suggesting that there may be benefits of same-race representation operating through provision of role models or domain-specific advice and guidance. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, representation, minorities, labor market outcomes |
| JEL: | I23 I26 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17944 |
| By: | Scervini, Francesco; Volponi, Laura |
| Abstract: | Horizontal gender segregation in education negatively impacts both equity and efficiency in the labor market, contributing to disparities in career opportunities and economic outcomes. This paper examines the influence of social origins on gender segregation in Italian tertiary education over recent decades. Utilizing high-quality data on individuals born between 1941 and 1995, we find that parental education significantly shapes offspring's field of study choices. Specifically, higher parental education increases the likelihood of students making nontraditional field choices - girls selecting traditionally maledominated fields, such as STEM, and boys opting for traditionally female-dominated fields. This effect is primarily driven by girls entering male-dominated fields. The results remain robust across various field classifications and model specifications, highlighting the enduring role of family background in shaping educational and occupational outcomes. These findings align with previous research conducted in other countries. |
| Keywords: | Higher education, Fields of study, Gender inequality, Equality of opportunities, Intergenerational inequality |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1623 |
| By: | Kertesi, Gabor (Institute of Economics, Budapest); Köllő, János (Institute of Economics, Budapest); Károlyi, Róbert (HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies); Szabó, Lajos Tamás (Central European University) |
| Abstract: | Hungary's sizeable Roma minority is hit by massive prejudice. Using 2011 Census data and supplementary sources, we study how ethnic bias translates to employment discrimination in local labor markets. The male ethnic employment gap, adjusted for a rich battery of controls, was 20-40 percent wider than average if, and only if, the local population strongly supported an openly anti-Roma far-right party and, at the same time, small firms had a substantial share in the local economy. Roma women's (very low) employment is less responsive to prejudice and the small firm share. The results for men, the sole breadwinners in most Roma families, survive robustness checks and confrontation with alternative explanations. Since small firms easily elude the anti-discrimination regulations, the results draw attention to the limits of legal instruments and call for active policy. |
| Keywords: | minorities, discrimination, regional labor markets, small firms |
| JEL: | J15 J71 R23 D22 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17901 |
| By: | Berniell, Inés (University of La Plata); Marchionni, Mariana (Universidad Nacional de la Plata); Pedrazzi, Julián (Universidad Nacional de la Plata); Viollaz, Mariana (CEDLAS-UNLP) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores how female political leaders impact environmental outcomes and climate change policy actions using data from mixed-gender mayoral races in Brazil. Using a Regression Discontinuity design, we find that, compared to male mayors, female mayors significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This effect is driven by a reduction in emissions intensity (CO2e/GDP) in the Land Use sector, without changes in municipal economic activity. Part of the reduction in emissions in the Land Use sector is attributable to a decline in deforestation. We examine potential mechanisms that could explain the positive environmental impact of narrowly electing a female mayor over a male counterpart and find that in Amazon municipalities, female elected mayors allocate more space to the environment in their government proposals and are more likely to invest in environmental initiatives. Differences in the enforcement of environmental regulations do not explain the results. |
| Keywords: | Brazil, Amazon, mayoral elections, climate change, gender, Latin America |
| JEL: | J16 D72 Q54 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17920 |
| By: | Tadashi ITO; Toshiyuki MATSUURA |
| Abstract: | Using firm-level data from Japan, this study examines how firms restructure in response to import competition from China, with a focus on employment adjustments and industry switching. The results indicate that many firms reduced their workforce in response to rising imports, with production workers experiencing the most substantial job losses. An analysis of the time lag in the effects of import shocks suggests that while the number of production workers declines immediately following an increase in imports, broader employment adjustments and industry switching typically occur after a delay of two or more years. Moreover, a comparison between firms that switched industries and those that did not shows that non-switching firms faced more severe negative impacts from import competition. Offshoring plays a critical role in mitigating these adverse effects. |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:25059 |
| By: | Broer, Tobias (Paris School of Economics); Kramer, John (University of Copenhagen); Mitman, Kurt (Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Negative oil supply shocks since the 1980s have increased German inflation and reduced aggregate economic activity. Using 45 years of high-frequency German administrative data, we find that these shocks disproportionally harm low-income individuals: their earnings growth falls by two percentage points two years after a 10-percent exogenous oil price rise, while high-income individuals are largely unaffected. Job-finding probabilities for low-income workers also decline significantly. This contrasts with the distributional effects of monetary policy shocks, which, while also stronger at the bottom, primarily impact job-separation probabilities. To understand the role of monetary policy in shaping these outcomes, we analyze counterfactual scenarios of policy non-response. Because the actual policy response to oil shocks involves an initial rate rise followed by a fall, a fully anticipated non-response (McKay-Wolf, 2023) leaves the oil shock's aggregate and distributional effects little changed. When monetary policy repeatedly surprises by not reacting (Sims-Zha, 2006), in contrast, the implied initial monetary loosening dominates, boosting activity, inflation, and particularly employment prospects for low-income individuals. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy, inequality, Oil shocks, counterfactual |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17949 |
| By: | Muñoz, Ercio; Sansone, Dario; Ysique Neciosup, Mayte |
| Abstract: | Economic research on sexual minority individuals in low- and middle-income countries is limited due to the lack of representative data including information on sexual orientation. This paper uses census data from eight Latin American countries to explore socioeconomic disparities between same-sex and different-sex couples. Individuals in same-sex couples tend to be younger, less likely to identify as Indigenous, more educated, and less likely to live with children. Unemployment and income gaps vary by country. Individuals in same-sex couples have higher individual incomes in Brazil, while in Mexico women in same-sex couples earn more than they do in different-sex couples, but the opposite is true for men. Homeownership rates are lower among same-sex couples than among different-sex couples. Finally, asset-based welfare measures show mixed results: same-sex couples are overrepresented at the lower end of the distribution in some countries, while in others, they appear less frequently at the lower end. |
| JEL: | B54 D10 I20 I32 J15 J70 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14155 |
| By: | Sara Ayllón; Lars J. Lefgren; Richard W. Patterson; Olga B. Stoddard; Nicolás Urdaneta Andrade |
| Abstract: | How should gender discrimination and systemic disadvantage be addressed when more discriminatory and less generous students systematically sort into certain fields, courses, and instructors’ sections? In this paper, we estimate measures of gender bias and evaluation generosity at the student level by examining the gap between how a student rates male and female instructors, controlling for professor fixed effects. Accounting for measurement error, we find significant variation in gender bias and generosity across students. Furthermore, we uncover that bias varies systematically by gender and field of study and that patterns of sorting are sufficiently large to place female faculty at a substantive disadvantage in some fields and male faculty at a disadvantage in others. Finally, we document that sexist attitudes are predictive of gender-based sorting and propose Empirical Bayes inspired measures of student-level bias to correct for instructor-specific advantages and disadvantages caused by sorting. |
| JEL: | I20 J01 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33911 |
| By: | Lepinteur, Anthony (University of Luxembourg); Nistico, Roberto (University of Naples Federico II) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether access to administrative data mitigates or reinforces inequalities in academic careers. We study the VisitINPS program, which grants researchers access to rich administrative records, and construct a longitudinal dataset covering the quasi-universe of applicants. Using a Two-Way Fixed Effects model complemented by a Regression Discontinuity Design, we find that administrative data access improves research visibility and career progression but does not increase overall publication volume. However, these gains are unequal and our findings suggest that administrative data access may magnify, rather than reduce, existing disparities in the academic economics community. |
| Keywords: | two-way fixed-effects, career progression, administrative data |
| JEL: | J01 J60 J40 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17906 |
| By: | Masao Fukui; Toshihiko Mukoyama |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the efficiency of a decentralized equilibrium in a broad class of random-search job-ladder models. We decompose the source of inefficiency into two margins: (i) the investment margin, that is, the difference between the private and social benefit of job creation given the surplus of a match, and (ii) the valuation margin, that is, the difference between the private valuation and the social valuation of a match surplus. In the presence of on-the-job searches, the well-known Hosios condition no longer guarantees the market equilibrium aligns with the efficient allocation along both margins. On-the-job searches contribute to the overvaluation of the match surplus in market equilibrium, especially at the top of the job ladder. Consequently, the decentralized equilibrium with the Hosios condition features excess creation of vacancies in the steady state. On-the-job searches also lead to excess volatility in unemployment in response to aggregate productivity shocks. Quantitatively, we find a significant difference between the equilibrium outcome and the efficient allocation under standard calibration. We also consider several decentralizations of the efficient allocation to shed light on the optimal policies under the frictional labor market. |
| JEL: | E0 J01 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33910 |
| By: | Marco Vivarelli (Dipartimento di Politica Economica, DISCE, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy – UNU-MERIT, Maastricht, The Netherlands – IZA, Bonn, Germany - Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen, Germany); Mariacristina Piva (Dipartimento di Politica Economica, DISCE, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy); Massimiliano Tani (School of Business, The University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia – IZA, Bonn, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Labor mobility is considered a powerful channel to acquire external knowledge and trigger complementarities in the innovation and R&D investment strategies; however, the extant literature has focused on either scientists’ mobility or migration of high-skilled workers, while virtually no attention has been devoted to the possible role of short-term business visits. Using a unique and novel database originating a country/sector unbalanced panel over the period 1998-2019 (for a total of 8, 316 longitudinal observations), this paper aims to fill this gap by testing the impact of BVs on R&D investment. Results from GMM-SYS estimates show that short-term mobility positively and significantly affects R&D investments; moreover, our findings indicate - as expected - that the beneficial impact of BVs is particularly significant in less innovative countries and in less innovative industries. These outcomes justify some form of support for BVs within the portfolio of the effective innovation policies, both at the national and local level. |
| Keywords: | Business visits; labor mobility; knowledge transfer; R&D investments |
| JEL: | O31 J61 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie5:dipe0049 |
| By: | Diogo Baerlocher (Department of Economics, University of South Florida) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between labor regulation and the skill composition of the workforce. Using a quantitative model calibrated to U.S. data, I show that labor market frictions induced by regulation have contrasting effects on different types of workers and across time horizons. Increases in vacancy posting costs reduce welfare for both skilled and unskilled workers, but they raise wages for the unskilled while lowering wages for the skilled. Similarly, policies that strengthen workers' bargaining power tend to benefit unskilled workers but impose costs on skilled workers through reduced earnings and firm profitability. On the empirical side, I exploit health improvements as an instrument for the share of skilled workers to estimate a causal relationship between workforce composition and labor regulation. The findings indicate that countries with larger shares of skilled workers tend to adopt less stringent labor regulations, highlighting how shifts in human capital can shape institutional outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Labor regulation, labor market frictions, skill composition, welfare |
| JEL: | E24 J64 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usf:wpaper:2025-03 |
| By: | Anastasia Cozarenco; Ariane Szafarz |
| Abstract: | There is a growing focus on the issue of inequitable lending practices. It has been demonstrated that institutions with a social mission are not exempt from the potential for negative bias. This paper contributes to the existing literature in two ways. First, we present a theoretical framework for elucidating the nature of bias for mission-driven lenders, who prioritize lending to specific disadvantaged groups. This framework clarifies the distinction between discrimination, which is defined with respect to ethical principles, and mission drift, which is associated with a specific social mission. This classification helps to rigorously assess the nature of identified biases. Second, we test for bias in lending outcomes using data from a European microfinance organization (MFO), with a social mission to prioritize unemployed loan applicants. The findings suggest that the mission-driven lender is subject to both discrimination and mission drift. The results indicate the presence of two discriminatory biases: (i) against women holding European Union (EU) citizenship in comparison to EU men, and (ii) against unemployed women in comparison to unemployed men. The evidence of mission drift stems from the negative bias against unemployed women in comparison to employed women. These three biases are consistent with unconscious gender stereotypes. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed in the conclusion, along with avenues for further research, particularly in the detection of bias in fintech lending. |
| Keywords: | Ethical finance; Discrimination in Lending; Mission Drift; Gender; Migrants; Unemployed |
| JEL: | C12 C44 J15 J16 G21 D63 |
| Date: | 2025–06–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/391728 |
| By: | Yuting Qian; Xi Chen |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of paid family leave (PFL) policies on informal and formal care for middle-aged and older adults with disabilities in the U.S., and how the heterogeneous benefits accrue to different families. We use data from the 1998-2018 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and leverage the PFL programs implemented in California (2004), New Jersey (2009), and New York (2018) in a difference-in-differences (DiD) design. We deploy both the conventional two-way fixed effects (TWFE) model and an adapted DiD estimator developed by Sun and Abraham for staggered rollout designs. We find that PFL access is associated with a 5.7 percentage point increase in the likelihood that individuals with disabilities receive informal care from their children. We also show that PFL access significantly increases the use of home care services and nursing home care. These effects are primarily concentrated among individuals with disabilities who have both a spouse and children, and are almost non-existent among those who have only children and no spouse. Our findings demonstrate that PFL policies improve care access and help address unmet care needs for middle-aged and older adults with disabilities, but their impact remains limited for certain vulnerable subgroups, particularly those with only children. |
| JEL: | I10 I38 J14 J18 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33918 |
| By: | D’Amico , Marco (Uppsala University); Fazio, Martina (Bank of England) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses rich, administrative-quality data on earnings in the UK from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) to provide a detailed analysis of income risk and its patterns across individuals and over time. We develop a model of income dynamics that accounts for the broader state of the economy and successfully captures key features of the UK earnings growth distribution, including: a cyclical variance, procyclical skewness (more frequent negative earnings shocks during recessions), and a distribution that combines sharp peaks with long, heavy tails. The model is simple enough to be integrated into broader macroeconomic frameworks, such as heterogeneous agent models, and could be used to support policy scenario analysis. |
| Keywords: | Idiosyncratic risk; income dynamics; inequality; income process |
| JEL: | C15 C63 J01 |
| Date: | 2025–05–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:1129 |
| By: | Robinson, Elizabeth; Howarth, Candice; Zhou, Zoe; Dasgupta, Shouro |
| Abstract: | Climate change is already having a measurable impact on labour forces across the globe, with far reaching implications for economic growth, in addition to worker health, firm profitability, poverty and inequality, and food security, to name but a few. This study quantifies the impacts of heat stress on the UK labour force, focusing on labour supply, labour productivity, the health of workers, and the extent to which and how adaptation and adaptive capacity is reducing the negative impacts of extreme heat. We collected data in 2024 during the UK summer, just after a period of anomalous heat, surveying over 2, 000 people in the UK labour force, when their recollection of the heat episode was fresh in their memories. Using microeconometric analysis and controlling for a rich set of demographic, occupational, and adaptation covariates, our results clearly show that workers do perceive their health to be harmed by heat stress, and workers and employers rely on a wide range of adaptation measures to protect their health that are at least partially effective. Our results suggest that a 1°C positive temperature anomaly from the long-term average increased the probability of a worker reducing their hours by 9.9% and their effort by 9.5%. However, for workers who received advanced alerts of heat episodes, those probabilities are 6.2% and 6.7% respectively, suggesting that adaptation is only partially effective. In the case of worker health, advanced alerts reduced the probability of workers reporting adverse health effects due to heat episodes by approximately 5 percentage-points. |
| Keywords: | heat stress; labour fource; temperature; adaptation |
| JEL: | R14 J01 N0 |
| Date: | 2025–04–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128513 |