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on Labor Markets - Supply, Demand, and Wages |
| By: | Susan Stone; Ricardo Cavazos Cepeda |
| Abstract: | The relationship between trade and wages has been subject to intense scrutiny in the academic literature with no clear consensus emerging. This paper adds to this body of research by moving beyond the single country analysis level to a panel including developed and developing countries and data through the mid 2000.s. First we examine the relationship between wages and trade using the approach of Feenstra and Hanson to calculate mandated wage changes for our dataset. We find that imports have a significant and positive impact on wages while the sign on tariffs is negative and significant. We also look at the relationship of wage differentials at the occupation level between partner countries. We find that the difference in occupation wage is smaller for large trade partners. Finally, we discuss the potential role of NTMs in influencing the wage and trade relationship. |
| Keywords: | trade, wages, occupations, mandated wages |
| JEL: | F16 |
| Date: | 2011–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaab:122-en&r=lma |
| By: | Isabel Raposo; Tatiane Menezes |
| Abstract: | Using data from the Brazilian Labor Monthly Survey (PME/ IBGE) for the years of 2006 and 2007, the paper investigates if the wage differential by firm size in Brazil can be explained by the predictions of the Efficiency Wage Theory. It is adopted a Switching Regression Model to estimate if large size companies pay a higher wage premium for dispended labor effort, as compared to smaller enterprises. The results proved the EW predictions. Besides the positive relation between effort and wage differentials by firm size, the results also showed that such wage differences favors larger firms, as compared to smaller ones, because they tend to remunerate better more skilled employees with long term contracts. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1465&r=lma |
| By: | Martin Ljunge (University of Copenhagen and SITE) |
| Abstract: | I estimate a price elasticity of sickness absence. Sick leave is an intensive margin of labor supply where individuals are free to adjust. I exploit variation in tax rates over two decades, which provide thousands of differential incentives across time and space, to estimate the price responsiveness. High taxes provide an incentive to take more sick leave, as less after tax income is lost when taxes are high. The panel data, which is representative of the Swedish population, allow for extensive controls including unobserved individual characteristics. I find a substantial price elasticity of sick leave, -0.7, with respect to the net of tax rate. Though large relative to traditional labor supply elasticities, Swedes are half as price elastic as bike messengers, and just as elastic as stadium vendors on the margin which they can adjust freely. |
| Keywords: | sick leave, adjustable labor supply, work effort, taxes |
| JEL: | H31 I31 J22 |
| Date: | 2011–10–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kuiedp:1127&r=lma |
| By: | Giuliano Guerra (Institute for Economic Research (IRE), Faculty of Economics, University of Lugano, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | As observed in many advanced economies experiencing an increase of self-employment rates since the late 1970s, a flourishing small- and medium-size enterprise sector is traditionally associated with positive economic development and growth. In the regional context, areas benefiting from an established entrepreneurial culture are in general more successful and innovative, as well as better equipped to sustain structural changes and to contrast unemployment. It is therefore important to investigate the reasons why individuals choose self-employment, and why they do it despite lower protection, higher risks, and possibly more effort than what is offered in a comparable wage employment position. Existing research identifies better prospects of entrepreneurial earnings as compared to wages as a major attraction towards self-employment. However, beside pecuniary motivations, other factors may be considered when it comes to occupational choice, as, among others, displacement, uncertainty, (the threat of) unemployment, and (dis-)satisfaction. Building on a job quits model, we propose a representation of transition behaviour from wage to self-employment which includes subjective evaluations of pecuniary and nonpecuniary satisfaction on the previous job. Individual microdata are drawn from the Swiss Household Panel (SHP), and cover the time period 1999–2008. Additionally, we focus on the dynamics of job satisfaction in order to highlight the role played by shocks in subjective evaluations, and introduce their interaction with levels to control for threshold effects. |
| Keywords: | self-employment, job satisfaction, job transition, Switzerland |
| JEL: | C25 J62 M13 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lug:wpaper:1201&r=lma |