nep-lma New Economics Papers
on Labor Markets - Supply, Demand, and Wages
Issue of 2013‒08‒23
seven papers chosen by
Erik Jonasson
National Institute of Economic Research

  1. Good Firms, Worker Flows and Productivity By Serafinelli, Michel
  2. Female labour supply and intergenerational preference formation: Evidence for Mexico By Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez; Roberto Velez-Grajales
  3. Sector Surcharges for Temporary Agency Workers in Germany: A Way Out of the Low-Wage Sector? By Spermann, Alexander
  4. Mismatch, sorting and wage dynamics By Jeremy Lise; Costas Meghir; Jean-Marc Robin
  5. Dynamic Wage and Employment Effects of Elder Parent Care By Meghan Skira
  6. How Do the Changing Labor Supply Behavior and Marriage Patterns of Women Affect Social Security Replacement Rates? By April Yanyuan Wu; Nadia S. Karamcheva; Alicia H. Munnell; Patrick Purcell
  7. The effect of firms' partial retirement policies on the labour market outcomes of their employees By Huber, Martin; Lechner, Michael; Wunsch, Conny

  1. By: Serafinelli, Michel
    Abstract: I present direct evidence on the role of firm-to-firm labor mobility in enhancing the productivity of firms located near highly productive firms. Using matched employer-employee and balance sheet data for the Veneto region of Italy, I identify a set of high-wage firms (HWF) and show they are more productive than other firms. I then show that hiring a worker with HWF experience increases the productivity of other (non-HWF) firms. A simulation indicates that worker flows explain 10-15 percent of the productivity gains experienced by other firms when HWFs in the same industry are added to a local labor market.
    Keywords: productivity, agglomeration advantages, linked employer-employee data, labor mobility.
    JEL: J24 J31 J61 R2 R23
    Date: 2013–06–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:49055&r=lma
  2. By: Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez (El Colegio de Mexico); Roberto Velez-Grajales (Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias)
    Abstract: Using a national representative sample for Mexico, we analyse the effect of a husband having a working mother on the probability that he has a working wife. Our results show that labour force participation by a husband’s mother increases the probability of the labour force participation of his wife by 15 percentage points. The effect is mainly driven by males with less than a high school education. One possible confounding factor is the effect of labour force participation of the wife’s mother on the wife’s labour participation decision. However, in a different sample, we do not find any effect of work force participation of wives’ mothers on wives’ decisions to join the labour force. Finally, we test the effect of the work force participation of a husband’s mother on the husband’s preferences regarding child-rearing practices. We find that having a working mother strongly reduces the probability that daughters will be tasked to care for siblings and fosters preferences for a more egalitarian allocation of educational resources among children. Hence, promoting female labour force participation can have important dynamic implications, especially for developing countries.
    Keywords: female labour supply; family; preferences; social norms; role models
    JEL: D10 J12 J16 J22 O54
    Date: 2013–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emx:ceedoc:2013-06&r=lma
  3. By: Spermann, Alexander (Randstad)
    Abstract: Sector-specific surcharge collective labor agreements between the bargaining partners in the staffing industry allow for a reduction of wage gaps between agency workers and permanent staff in case of long-term job assignments to user companies. Surcharges up to 50% after a surcharge-free period between four and six weeks close the wage gap in nine industries for the temporary work agencies. The paper summarizes the development that lead to these collective labor agreements and analyzes repercussions on potential upward mobility of previously unemployed who start their career as agency workers in the low-wage sector. Furthermore, it highlights the interaction with the basic income scheme, documents new evidence on sustainable employment and draws conclusions for the precarious work discussion. It turns out that these new surcharges allow agency workers to leave the low-wage sector in case of longer job assignment in the core user company industries such as the metal and electrical industry.
    Keywords: temporary agency work, staffing industry, collective labor agreement, low-wage sector, precarious work
    JEL: I2 J2 J4
    Date: 2013–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp67&r=lma
  4. By: Jeremy Lise (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University College London); Costas Meghir (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Yale University); Jean-Marc Robin (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Sciences Po)
    Abstract: We develop an empirical search-matching model which is suitable for analysing the wage, employment and welfare impact of regulation in a labour market with heterogeneous workers and jobs. To achieve this we develop an equilirium model of wage determination and employment which extends the current literature on equilibrium wage determination with matching and provides a bridge between some of the most prominent macro models and microeconometric research. The model incorporates productivity shocks, long-term contracts, on-the-job search and counter-offers. Importantly, the model allows for the possibility of assortative matching between workers and jobs due to complementarities between worker and job characteristics. We use the model to estimate the potential gain from optimal regulation and we consider the potential gains and redistributive impacts from optimal unemployment insurance policy. The model is estimated on the NLSY using the method of moments.
    Keywords: sorting, mismatch, search-matching, wage dynamics
    Date: 2013–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:13/16&r=lma
  5. By: Meghan Skira (University of Georgia)
    Abstract: This paper formulates and estimates a dynamic discrete choice model of elder parent care and work to analyze how caregiving affects a woman's current and future labor force participation and wages. The model incorporates parental health changes, human capital accumulation, and job offer availability. The estimates indicate that women face low probabilities of returning to work or increasing work hours after a caregiving spell. I use the estimated model to simulate the caregiving, employment, and welfare effects of a longer unpaid work leave than currently available under the Family and Medical Leave Act, a paid leave, and a caregiver allowance.
    Date: 2013
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed013:79&r=lma
  6. By: April Yanyuan Wu; Nadia S. Karamcheva; Alicia H. Munnell; Patrick Purcell
    Abstract: This paper seeks to determine the impact of the changing lives of women – increased labor force participation/earnings and reduced marriage rates – on Social Security replacement rates. First, our estimates, based on the Health and Retirement Study and Modeling Income in the Near Term, show that Social Security replacement rates have dropped sharply at both the household- and individual-level, and the decline will continue for future retirees. Our second finding is that this aggregate change masks a complex relationship between replacement rates and the marital status and income levels of individuals. The decline in replacement rates over time is largest for married couples with husbands whose earnings are in the top tercile. Decomposing the reasons for the overall decline shows that increases in the labor supply and earnings of women explain more than one-third of the change. In contrast, the impact of changing marital patterns is relatively small. Much of the remaining explanation rests with the increased Full Retirement Age and changing claiming behaviors.
    Date: 2013–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2013-16&r=lma
  7. By: Huber, Martin; Lechner, Michael; Wunsch, Conny
    Abstract: In this paper, we assess the impact of firms introducing part-time work schemes for gradual labour market exit of elderly workers on their employees’ labour market outcomes. The analysis is based on unique linked employer-employee data that combine high-quality survey and administrative data. Our results suggest that partial or gradual retirement options offered by firms are an important tool to alleviate the negative effects of low labour market attachment of elderly workers in ageing societies. When combined with financial incentives to hire unemployed or young jobseekers as replacement, they seem to be particularly beneficial, especially when labour market conditions are difficult. Under such circumstances, they can even have positive spill-over effects on younger workers. Firms should thus be encouraged to offer such schemes.
    Keywords: part-time work, elderly employees, treatment effects, matching
    JEL: J14 J26 C21
    Date: 2013–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2013:16&r=lma

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