|
on Labor Markets - Supply, Demand, and Wages |
| By: | Andrea Diem; Christian Gschwendt; Stefan C. Wolter |
| Abstract: | A university degree is a risky investment because of the non-negligible risk of having to drop out of university without graduating. However, the costs of this risk are controversial, as it is often argued that even an uncertified year of study has a value in the labor market. To determine this value causally, however, alternatives to studying must also be considered, which is done here with the help of a discrete choice experiment with a representative sample of over 2, 500 HR recruiters. The result is that dropping out of university with a major closely related to an advertised job leads to similar labor market outcomes as if someone had not studied at all. Without a direct link to a job, however, dropping out of university significantly reduces lifetime earnings. Furthermore, HR recruiters clearly prefer applicants who have used the years without studying for human capital accumulation in an alternative way, for example in the form of a traineeship. |
| Keywords: | dropouts, hiring decisions, discrete choice experiment, sheepskin effect, willingness to pay, tertiary education |
| JEL: | I26 J23 J24 J31 M51 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11688 |
| By: | Renske Stans; Laura Ehrmantraut; Malin Siemers; Pia Pinger |
| Abstract: | Do employers seek to attract individuals with more education because it enhances human capital or because it signals higher levels of pre-existing traits? We experimentally vary master’s degree completion rates on applicant résumés and examine how this influences candidates’ desirability and employer perceptions of their productive characteristics. Our findings show that while a completed master’s degree increases desirability, an incomplete master’s degree is perceived by human resource managers as less favorable than a bachelor’s degree. This suggests that employers prefer candidates with higher education mainly because they view the degree as a signal of pre-existing productive traits. Consistent with this, employers perceive both cognitive and non-cognitive traits as stronger in master graduates but non-cognitive traits as weaker in master dropouts compared to bachelor’s degree holders. Overall, perceived cognitive and non-cognitive traits play a larger role in determining a candidate’s attractiveness than expertise. This paper thus provides causal evidence on the origins of the education premium. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, beliefs, labor demand, labor productivity, signaling, wages |
| JEL: | I23 I26 J23 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11714 |
| By: | Garcia-Suaza, Andrés; Sarango-Iturralde, Alexander; Caiza-Guamán, Pamela; Gil Díaz, Mateo; Acosta Castillo, Dana |
| Abstract: | The rapid advancements in the domain of artificial intelligence (AI) have exerted a considerable influence on the labor market, thereby engendering alterations in the demand for specific skills and the structure of employment. This study aims to evaluate the extent of exposure to AI within the Colombian labor market and its relation with workforce characteristics and available job openings. To this end, we built a specific AI exposure index or Colombia based on skill demand in job posts. Our findings indicate that 33.8% of workers are highly exposed to AI, with variations observed depending on the measurement method employed. Furthermore, it is revealed a positive and significant correlation between AI exposure and wages, i.e., highly exposed to AI earn a wage premium of 21.8%. On the demand side, only 2.5% of job openings explicitly mention AI-related skills. These findings imply that international indices may underestimate the wage premium associated with AI exposure in Colombia and underscore the potential unequal effects on wages distribution among different demographic groups. |
| Keywords: | Artificial intelligence, labor market, job posts, occupations, skills, Colombia |
| JEL: | E24 J23 J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1604 |
| By: | Eichhorst, Werner (IZA); Marx, Paul (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Germany has long been portrayed as the best real-world example of an export-oriented economic model associated with a dualized labor market and welfare state. The success of this export-centered model over the last decades has typically been ascribed to competitiveness due to wage restraint and widening wage dispersion in line with declining collective bargaining coverage. This paper starts from this widely shared perception, but sheds a new light on the dynamics and structures of employment in Germany after a long boom period for the late 2000s to the most recent period. The paper argues that much of this change is rather market driven than to be explained by institutional reforms. Employment growth was driven by service sector expansion while wage dispersion and non-standard work stagnated and declined somewhat, reducing the extent of these forms of dualisms in the labor market. Following a cyclical argument about political decision-making, we only saw limited re-regulatory activity. However, the favourable economic climate has changed more recently. |
| Keywords: | Germany, non-standard employment, dual labor markets, labor market reforms, political economy |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J31 J38 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17862 |
| By: | Alessandra Casarico; Irene Ferrari; Caterina Pavese |
| Abstract: | We document the extent of employer abuse of power and characterise the employers most likely to engage in abusive relationships with their employees. We leverage an Italian reform that changed the process for submitting voluntary resignations from a paper-based system to an online one. This reform aimed to curb the illegal practice of requiring workers to sign undated resignation letters, which employers could later use at their discretion to avoid the costs associated with dismissals - a clear manifestation of power abuse. Using difference-in-differences estimation, we document that resignations declined more in firms with higher shares of vulnerable workers, those operating in weaker local labour markets, and those with lower productivity. Both firms and workers adjusted their behaviour in response to the reform. Firms reduced overall hiring, with no evidence of differential effects by worker demographics, suggesting that cost-saving motives rather than taste-based discrimination drove their response. At the worker-level, we observe a decrease in workplace injuries, indicating that the reform strengthened workers’ bargaining power and improved overall workplace safety. |
| Keywords: | resignations, power asymmetries, employer power abuse, informality, public policy. |
| JEL: | J18 J46 J81 J83 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11805 |
| By: | Johannes Hirvonen (Northwestern University); Aapo Stenhammar (University of Bonn); Joonas Tuhkuri (Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Industrial policies are widespread, but evidence on their workforce effects remains limited. We present novel evidence on the impact of EU technology subsidies on employment and skill demand in Finnish SMEs, 1994–2018. The subsidies fund new machinery, including robots and CNC machines. Comparing closely matched grant winners and losers, we find that receiving a grant increased employment without changing skill composition. Leveraging application text data and machine learning, we match firms, analyze their plans, and show that subsidies primarily supported expansion, such as launching new products, rather than automating work. In contrast, analysis of a broader sample of manufacturing firms outside the program reveals that IT investments are more strongly associated with skill upgrading than machinery investments, suggesting that different technologies may impact jobs differently. Our findings indicate that machinery grants can create opportunities for non-college-educated workers. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Policy, Subsidies, Technological Change, Labor Demand, Skills |
| JEL: | J23 J24 O33 O25 H25 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2504 |
| By: | Celina Högn; Lea Mayer; Johannes Rincke; Erwin Winkler |
| Abstract: | This paper examines preferences for gender diversity among co-workers. Using stated-choice experiments with 5, 400 PhD students and university students in Germany, we uncover a substantial willingness to pay (WTP) for gender diversity of up to 5% of earnings on average. Importantly, we find that women have a much higher WTP for gender diversity than men. While the WTP differs by career ambition, competitiveness, and family preferences, we find that gender differences in traits and preferences cannot explain gender differences in the WTP for diversity. Our findings provide an explanation for differential sorting of men and women into high-profile jobs based on the share of female co-workers. |
| Keywords: | gender diversity, gender differences, preferences, willingness to pay, stated choice experiment |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J31 J33 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11732 |
| By: | Card, David (University of California, Berkeley); Devicienti, Francesco (University of Turin); Rossi, Mariacristina (University of Turin); Weber, Andrea (Central European University) |
| Abstract: | The gender wage gap rises with experience. To what extent do firm policies mediate this rise? We use administrative data from Italy to identify workers' first jobs and compute wage growth over the next 5 years. We then decompose the contribution of first employers to the rise in the gender wage gap, taking account of maternity events affecting a third of female entrants. We find that idiosyncratic firm effects explain 20% of the variation in early career wage growth, and that the sorting of women to slower-growth firms accounts for a fifth of the gender growth gap. Women who have a child within 5 years of entering work have particularly slow wage growth, reflecting a maternity effect that is magnified by the excess sorting of mothers-to-be to slower-growth firms. Many entrants change jobs within their first 5 years and we find that the male-female difference in early career wage growth arises from gaps for both movers and stayers. The firm components in wage growth for stayers and movers are highly correlated, and contribute similar sorting penalties for women who stay or leave. |
| Keywords: | maternity, firm effects, gender gaps, matched employer-employee data |
| JEL: | J00 J23 J24 J31 J38 J58 L13 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17860 |
| By: | Katharina Adler; Fabian Kosse; Markus Nagler; Johannes Rincke |
| Abstract: | How do students’ earnings expectations differ by being the first in their family to attend university (FiF) and how do they affect field of study choice? We leverage unique survey and administrative data from a German university to document sizable gaps in expected earnings between FiF and non-FiF students. Our data can explain two-thirds of this gap, with the largest share attributable to field of study choice. We show that FiF students sort less into study fields based on their earnings expectations. Investigating potential explanations, we find that they expect lower own ability and worse non-wage amenities in high-earning fields. |
| Keywords: | socio-economic gaps, first-generation, higher education, earnings expectations |
| JEL: | I23 I24 I26 J24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11700 |
| By: | Alexia Delfino; Miguel Espinosa |
| Abstract: | Large organizations often require employees to collaborate with others who may see the world differently. Yet, little is known about whether misalignment in personal values with managers or colleagues affects performance. Using survey and administrative data from a world-leading bank, we find that employees who don’t share their manager’s values perform worse, with a stronger effect in objective productivity measures than subjective evaluations. This result is not explained by diversity in demographics or misalignment with organizational values. The productivity loss going from the least to the most misaligned worker is nearly four times greater than the impact of having a manager of a different gender. Differences in values with teammates do not have similar performance consequences. We provide evidence consistent with a decline in both employee-led communication and morale when workers have values different from those of their managers. Our findings reveal the important but often-overlooked influence of diversity in personal values on organizational performance. |
| JEL: | M14 M51 M54 J24 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11690 |
| By: | Sigurdsson, Jósef; Jósef Sigurdsson |
| Abstract: | I study how transitory increases in the opportunity cost of schooling affect dropout rates and long-run outcomes. Exploiting a tax-free year in Iceland and comparing teenagers around compulsory schooling age, I document increased dropout rates and a permanent loss in educational attainment for men, but not women. Consequently, they experience substantial lifetime earnings losses, enter occupations with limited career advancement, and have reduced marriage and fertility. Dropouts predominantly come from low-education - but not low-income - families and neighborhoods, consistent with misperceptions about the returns to education. The findings suggest that temporary economic booms can permanently reduce aggregate human capital accumulation. |
| Keywords: | educational attainment, opportunity cost, labor supply, tax reform. |
| JEL: | H24 I21 I26 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11807 |
| By: | Claridge, Jordan; Delabastita, Vincent; Gibbs, Spike |
| Abstract: | Much of our understanding of the dynamics of historical economies has been shaped by insights drawn from long-run wage series. Behind much scholarship concerning pre-industrial wages lies the quest for a representative ‘average’ wage trend. Indeed, much methodological discussion surrounds what characterizes an ‘average’ labourer and how best to capture their wages. This paper offers an alternative perspective by undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the diverse forms and levels of remuneration, including both pay rates and methods of payment. We find groups of workers whose working and earning was seemingly unaffected by the societal transmutations which followed the Black Death. At the same time, we find evidence of the ‘commercialization’ of labour markets: a process in which cash wages on lords’ demesne farms were increasingly shaped by market forces, and a more professionalized labour force was supplemented by a variety of higher-paid peripheral jobs. This paper highlights the need for a holistic perspective to fully appreciate the dynamics and statics of pre-industrial labour markets. |
| Keywords: | wages; labour markets; medieval England; inequality |
| JEL: | J33 J42 N33 N53 |
| Date: | 2025–04–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:128024 |
| By: | Andlib, Zubaria |
| Abstract: | Many factors are behind the persistent gender wage gap in a developing economy, such as occupational segregation, social norms, and gender attitudes. To narrow the gender wage gap, it is mandatory to create gender-inclusive work environments, increase minimum wages and implement labour market regulations. The present study investigates the gender wage gap for four occupational groups based on skill levels as per ISCO-8 guidelines in the case of a developing economy, Pakistan. This research has utilised the latest available Labour Force Survey (2020-21) data and applied the Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions and unconditional quantile regressions. The empirical outcome described that women earn lower wages in low and average-skilled occupations; however, in high and very-high-skilled occupations, women are in advantageous positions. In addition, the empirical estimation elaborates on the presence of glass ceiling effects in low, average, and very high-skilled occupations in Pakistan. To tackle the issue of the gender wage gap, governments, employers, and society must undertake a collective effort to achieve equal pay for equal work and provide adequate career opportunities in high-skilled occupations for women in developing economies. |
| Keywords: | Gender wage gap, skill levels, occupations, glass ceiling |
| JEL: | J08 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1555r |
| By: | Blanchard, Pablo (IECON-UdelaR); Burdin, Gabriel (University of Siena); Dean, Andres (IECON, Universidad de la República) |
| Abstract: | Direct evidence on variations in work incentives across different property rights systems remains scarce. This paper examines absenteeism among individuals employed in worker cooperatives—firms that are ultimately controlled by their workforce. By leveraging employment data matched with sick leave records and reform-induced variation in the generosity of Uruguay's statutory sick pay, we find that absenteeism differentially increased for individuals affected by the policy change and employed in cooperatives. The effect is driven by co-op members, hard-to-diagnose (and, hence, more prone to moral hazard reporting problems) musculoskeletal conditions and large cooperatives. Conventional firms used dismissals more intensely than cooperatives as a threat to keep absenteeism in check after the reform. |
| Keywords: | property rights, cooperatives, sick pay, absenteeism, effort, teams, moral hazard |
| JEL: | I18 J22 J54 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17811 |
| By: | Brewer, Mike (London School of Economics); Cominetti, Nye; Jenkins, Stephen P. (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We first review research about income and earnings volatility and second provide new UK evidence about the latter using high quality administrative record data. The USA stands out as a high volatility country relative to the UK and other high-income countries, but volatility levels have remained constant in these countries recently. Almost all research has considered volatility from an annual perspective whereas we provide new evidence about month-to-month earnings volatility. There is a distinct within-year seasonal pattern to volatility, and volatility is highest for the top and bottom tenths of earners. High earnings volatility among top earners and its seasonality reflect pay bonus patterns whereas, for low earners, the instability of hours including zero-hours contracts likely play important roles. Our findings have relevance to the design of cash transfer support in the UK because the monthly reference periods it uses do not align with many earners’ pay periods. |
| Keywords: | administrative record data, PAYE data, earnings volatility, income volatility, survey data |
| JEL: | D31 I31 J31 J38 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17808 |
| By: | Hoa Ho (LMU Munich); Maren Mickeler (ESSEC); SIlvia Castro (LMU Munich) |
| Abstract: | Organizations rely on peer-to-peer knowledge exchange among employees, yet incentivizing cooperative behaviors is a challenge. This study evaluates an intervention designed to encourage peer support in the largest bank in Uganda. Using a cluster randomized controlled trial, we introduced a public recognition incentive-awarding employees identified as the most supportive by their peers and supervisors. The intervention increases employees' willingness to help by 21% in expertise-sharing and 12% in mentoring. The incentive's effectiveness stems from its role in enhancing professional reputation and career prospects. A replication exercise in a second bank confirms the findings and the external validity of the results. |
| Keywords: | workplace cooperation; peer recognition; organizational incentives; knowledge sharing; field experiment; employee motivation; randomized controlled trial (RCT); |
| JEL: | M52 D23 J24 M54 C93 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–04–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:531 |
| By: | Xue, Melanie; Zhang, Boxiao |
| Abstract: | We study the short- and long-term effects of affirmative action policies in the context of China. During imperial China, official positions were awarded to the most academically talented individuals through a multi-stage examination process administered by the central government. In 1712, a reform was implemented to address disparities in exam performance, aiming to equalize acceptance rates across provinces and increase representation from underrepresented regions. Using a unique dataset, we analyze career outcomes and find that more candidates from underrepresented provinces secured positions without compromising their performance after the reform. However, sub-provincial units showed different trends. Although the reform ended in 1905, the gap between underrepresented provinces and others widened again, but some effects of the reform remained. Moreover, the intervention had spillover effects, extending its impact to secondary education. |
| Keywords: | affirmative action; education; inequality; China |
| JEL: | H75 I28 J71 N40 |
| Date: | 2025–04–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:128023 |
| By: | Stoyanov, Andrey (York University, Canada); Zubanov, Nick (University of Konstanz) |
| Abstract: | Existing evidence points to a positive correlation between specific regulations and income inequality at a country or regional level, but little is known about how overall regulatory burden affects inequality at the local labor market level. Our study fills this gap by measuring local exposure to regulation from the industry-relevant articles of U.S. Code of Federal Regulation linked to local industry employment structure in 741 commuting zones (CZs) in the U.S. over the period 1970-2019. Relating our exposure to regulation measure to the CZ-level income inequality, computed from the Census records, we find that heavier regulation is followed by higher income inequality, lower average income and higher unemployment in the affected CZs. The implied effect estimates are sizeable and robust to various checks. We contribute to inequality research by identifying previously unknown, local effects of regulation on income inequality, exploring mechanisms through which they may occur, and demonstrating how available data can be used to produce more granular measures of exposure to regulation. |
| Keywords: | regulation, income, inequality, employment, local labor market |
| JEL: | L5 D63 E24 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17820 |
| By: | Arciniegas, Christian (University of Freiburg); Dumas, Christelle (University of Freiburg); Fahn, Matthias (University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | We investigate labor exchange teams in rural communities, which are prevalent in many developing countries. We show theoretically that these teams are beneficial to employers, who can outsource the monitoring of workers. Team members are incentivized to exert high effort because any deviation would lead to the dissolution of their production team. Data from Tanzania support the model's predictions: members of labor exchange teams are more likely to obtain paid work and are often hired to perform tasks for which monitoring is costly. Consequently, this informal arrangement helps reduce moral hazard in the context of employment relationships. |
| Keywords: | information asymmetries, labor market, labor exchange, relational contracts, Tanzania |
| JEL: | D86 J43 J46 L14 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17852 |
| By: | Ilmakunnas, Ilari (The Finnish Centre for Pensions); Sten-Gahmberg, Susanna |
| Abstract: | Flexible partial retirement schemes are intended to give individuals the opportunity to reduce working hours before moving into full retirement, the expectation being that the reduced workload will contribute to postponed retirement. Yet, there is limited research about whether and how flexible partial pensions are used as a way of exiting the labor force, as an income supplement, or as a way of bridging the transition into retirement through part-time employment. In Finland, individuals can take up part of their accrued old-age pension after reaching age 61 regardless of their employment status. Using high-quality register data with monthly information on retirement and wage income, we use sequence analysis analyze previously employed persons’ wage income trajectories around the take-up of partial old-age pension. We find that only around one in five continue to work at a reduced wage income level, indicating a reduction in working hours. Around one in six left paid employment just before or after pension take-up. Most individuals do not reduce their working hours when taking up a partial pension. Our findings suggest that the Finnish partial old-age pension scheme is currently not likely to extend working lives, raising concerns about its effectiveness in meeting its policy goal. |
| Date: | 2025–03–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:6mznd_v1 |
| By: | Simonetta Longhi (University of Reading) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the evolution of ethnic wage gaps among men and women in the UK over the period 1993–2023. The results show reductions in wage gaps among all South Asian groups, which are driven by higher educational attainment and occupational advancement. In contrast, wage gaps persist for Black ethnic groups. While for Black Caribbeans a key issue is lower levels education, for Black Africans the high proportion of foreign-born individuals limits their returns on education. These trends suggest a reordering of the wage gap hierarchy over time, with Black groups expected to experience the largest disparities in the future, instead of the historically disadvantaged Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups. |
| Keywords: | ethnic wage gaps; gender wage gaps; wage gap trends; impact of characteristics;labour force participation |
| JEL: | J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2507 |
| By: | Darapheak Tin; Chung Tran; Nabeeh Zakariyya |
| Abstract: | We study the evolution of the earnings distributions in Australia from 1991 to 2020, a prolonged period of sustained economic growth without recession. Using a 10% sample of Australian taxpayer records, we document key trends in labour earnings inequality, mobility and risk for workers aged 25 to 55. Our findings reveal strong upward earnings mobility for both men and women. Earnings inequality rose modestly until the early 2010s, driven by top earners, but has since declined. The gender gap in earnings inequality has narrowed, and even reversed in recent years, mainly due to a sharp reduction in inequality among women at the lower end of the earnings distribution. Early-life disparities also play an increasingly important role in shaping later-life inequality, particularly for younger cohorts. This reversal in inequality trends has emerged over the past decade, coinciding with a slowdown in economic growth. Moreover, although aggregate macroeconomic conditions have been relatively stable, idiosyncratic earnings risk-captured by dispersion, skewness, and kurtosis-remains persistent, with greater volatility at both the top and bottom percentiles. Women continue to face higher risk and lower mobility than men, despite experiencing stronger average earnings growth over the entire period. Hence, our findings provide new insights into how prolonged economic expansion shapes the dynamics of earnings across different demographic and income groups. |
| Keywords: | Growth and Inequality; Earnings Dynamics; Mobility; Earnings Risk; Administrative Data |
| JEL: | E62 H24 H31 J31 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:cbeeco:2025-704 |
| By: | Elena Faieta; Zhexin Feng; Michel Serafinelli |
| Abstract: | A quarter of the population in high-income countries lives in rural areas. However, existing empirical evidence on these areas in OECD countries is scarce. Over the past several decades, many rural areas have been declining. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether these struggling rural areas are representative of the broad experience of the universe of rural areas. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of employment evolutions for rural areas in Western Europe during the period 1970-2010. We first analyse 846 rural areas in France, Germany, Italy and the UK, and document large differences in overall employment growth across rural areas in all four countries. A sizable fraction of rural areas lost employment. However, employment in a significant number of rural areas grew during this period. The 90-10 percentile difference in decadal total employment growth of rural areas is 17.4 log points, representing an economically large difference. We then show, using data for Italy and the UK, that changes in the industry structure are fast in rural areas. The estimates also indicate that industry turnover is positively associated with employment growth. Moreover, the evidence shows that areas with stronger total employment growth exhibit stronger employment growth in the manufacturing of food and beverages. All conclusions are similar for rural remote areas. Taken together, our results lend support to the hypothesis that rural economies are not static entities; change is common in these areas, and employment evolutions often result from industry-level dynamics. |
| Keywords: | rural employment, spatial heterogeneity, industry turnover |
| JEL: | R12 R32 J21 R11 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11699 |
| By: | Julia Cagé; Moritz Hengel; Nicolas Hervé; Camille Urvoy |
| Abstract: | How does the media bias the news? And in particular, how much does it cost owners to ensure that journalists comply with their stance? We compile a unique dataset of journalists and guests appearing on French television and radio shows between 2002 and 2020 to quantify the role played by journalist selection and compliance in political coverage. First, we leverage the movements of thousands of journalists between media outlets, and estimate a model in which the share of coverage for each political group is determined both by journalist and outlet components. We find that outlet-level decisions account for three-fourths of the differences in political coverage; in contrast, journalists’ personal editorial preferences play only a minor role. Second, we examine how journalists respond to a major takeover-induced editorial change. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we show that while many journalists left in response to the shock, those who stayed largely adapted to the new editorial direction. Notably, exploiting unique data on journalist salaries, we show that this compliance came at nearly no cost for the new owner, reflecting journalists’ low bargaining power in an industry in crisis. |
| Keywords: | media bias, slant, journalists, media ownership, media concentration, pluralism, media capture, news organizations, wage compensation, monopsony power |
| JEL: | L15 L82 J40 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11741 |
| By: | Leonid V. Azarnert |
| Abstract: | I study the effect of educational policy in the host economy on human capital accumulation and growth. The analysis is performed in a two-country growth model with endogenous fertility. I show that providing additional free educational services for immigrant children can increase the attractiveness of migration for less skilled individuals, which can outweigh the positive effect of this policy on the acquisition of human capital. In contrast, imposing taxes on immigrants in the host country reduces low-skilled immigration flows and has the potential to promote human capital accumulation if the resulting revenues are channeled into educational subsidies. |
| Keywords: | migration, child education, fertility, human capital, growth, brain drain, brain dilution tax |
| JEL: | D30 F22 J10 J13 J24 O15 O40 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11727 |
| By: | Aaheli Ahmed; Sugata Marjit; Debashis Chakraborty |
| Abstract: | A major section of the existing literature on strategic trade policy, following a partial equilibrium framework, observed that imposition of tariff by the domestic country leads to a rise in their wage level. Analysis on the impact of strategic trade policy intervention (tariff) on wages and welfare in a two-country general oligopolistic equilibrium (GOLE) model framework in the current paper leads to a number of interesting results. First, imposition of tariff does not affect the wages in domestic country. In addition, the welfare of the tariff-imposing country unambiguously comes down. Second, a comparison of the revenue generated from tariff and the subsidy required to compensate the affected workers reveals that when only trade in final goods is allowed, such compensation is possible beyond a specific level of tariff rate, which is directly related to foreign tariff rate. In effect, a high value of foreign tariff implies a lower ability of the domestic government to subsidize the workers. Third, however, when trade in both final and intermediate goods take place, the opposite results emerge, where tariff revenue can compensate the workers up to a certain level of tariff rate. The underlying logic is that imposition of tariff may lead to a fall in the overall demand for workers in the domestic country. The results are of crucial policy relevance, especially given the increasing participation of developing countries in Global Value Chains (GVCs) and re-emergence of tariff protectionism in several countries. |
| Keywords: | Cournot Competition, tariff, wage, compensation, general oligopolistic equilibrium (GOLE), welfare |
| JEL: | D43 J33 L13 I31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11707 |
| By: | Clarke, Damian (University of Chile); Bhalotra, Sonia R. (University of Warwick); Nazarova, Angelina (ISER, University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | Looking at the earnings profiles of men and women after their first child is born, a number of studies establish that women suffer a larger penalty in earnings than men—a child penalty. Leveraging randomness in the sex of the first birth, we show that the child penalty in the UK is larger when the first born child is a girl. We label this the daughter penalty. Exploiting rich longitudinal survey data, we examine behavioural responses to the birth of a daughter vs. a son to illuminate the underpinnings of the daughter penalty. We find that the birth of a daughter triggers more household specialisation than the birth of a son, with mothers taking on a larger share of household chores and childcare. Mothers suffer a daughter penalty in mental health, while fathers report more satisfaction with their relationship. Our findings imply that girls and boys in the UK are, on average, growing up in different home environments, with girls growing up in households that, by multiple markers, are more gender-regressive. This is potentially a mechanism for the inter-generational transmission of gendered norms. |
| Keywords: | parental involvement, mental health, gender wage gap, child penalty, gender |
| JEL: | J2 J7 I3 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17817 |