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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2007‒04‒28
five papers chosen by |
| By: | Eichhorst, Werner; Zimmermann, Klaus F |
| Abstract: | Through the Hartz reforms, German active labour market policy was fundamentally restructured and has since been systematically evaluated. This paper reviews the recent evaluation findings and draws some conclusions for the future setup of active labour market policies in Germany. It argues in favour of a reduced range of active labour market policy schemes focusing on programs with proven positive effects (that are wage subsidies, training, start-up grants and placement vouchers) and calls for a systematic evaluation of all instruments not scrutinized so far. |
| Keywords: | active labour market policy; evaluation; Germany |
| JEL: | D61 H43 J68 |
| Date: | 2007–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6246&r=ltv |
| By: | Christian Dustmann (Department of Economics and Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), University College London); Francesca Fabbri (Munich Graduate School of Economics and Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM)) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive description of the economic outcomes and performance of Britain’s immigrant communities today and over the last two decades. We distinguish between males and females and, where possible and meaningful, between immigrants of different origin. Our comparison group are white British born individuals. Our data source is the British Labour Force Survey (LFS). We first provide descriptive information on the composition of immigrants in Britain, and how this has changed over time, their socio-economic characteristics, their industry allocation, and their labour market outcomes. We then investigate various labour market performance indicators (labour force participation, employment, wages, and self-employment) for immigrants of different origin, and compare them to British-born whites of same age, origin, and other background characteristics. We find that over the last 20 years, Britain’s immigrant population has changed in origin composition, and has dramatically improved in skill composition - not dissimilar from the trend in the British born population. We find substantial differences in economic outcomes between white and ethnic minority immigrants. Within these groups, immigrants of different origin differ considerably with respect to their education and age structure, their regional distribution, and sector choice. In general, white immigrants are more successful in Britain, although there are differences between groups of different origin. The investigation shows that immigrants from some ethnic minority groups, and in particular females, are particularly disadvantaged, with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis at the lower end of this scale. |
| Keywords: | International Migration, Economic Performance |
| JEL: | J15 |
| Date: | 2005–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0507&r=ltv |
| By: | Marco Manacorda (Department of Economics, QMUL - CEP, LSE and CEPR); Alan Manning (Department of Economics, LSE - CEP, LSE); Jonathan Wadsworth (Department of Economics, RHUL - CEP, LSE and IZA) |
| Abstract: | Immigration to the UK has risen over time. Existing studies of the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers in the UK have failed to find any significant effect. This is something of a puzzle since Card and Lemieux, (2001) have shown that changes in the relative supply of educated natives do seem to have measurable effects on the wage structure. This paper offers a resolution of this puzzle – natives and immigrants are imperfect substitutes, so that an increase in immigration reduces the wages of immigrants relative to natives. We show this using a pooled time series of British cross-sectional micro data of observations on male wages and employment from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s. This lack of substitution also means that there is little discernable effect of increased immigration on the wages of native-born workers, but that the only sizeable effect of increased immigration is on the wages of those immigrants who are already here. |
| Keywords: | Wages, Wage Inequality, Immigration |
| JEL: | J6 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0608&r=ltv |
| By: | Christian Dustmann (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, Department of Economics, University College London); Yoram Weiss (The Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Tel Aviv University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we discuss forms of migration that are non-permanent. We focus on temporary migrations where the decision to return is taken by the immigrant. These migrations are likely to be frequent, and we provide some evidence for the UK. We then develop a simple model which rationalizes the decision of a migrant to return to his home country, despite a persistently higher wage in the host country. We consider three motives for a temporary migration: Differences in relative prices in host- and home country, complementarities between consumption and the location where consumption takes place, and the possibility of accumulating human capital abroad which enhances the immigrant's earnings potential back home. For the last return motive, we discuss extensions which allow for immigrant heterogeneity, and develop implications for selective in- and out- migration. |
| Keywords: | Life Cycle Models, International Migration, Return Migration |
| JEL: | D9 F22 |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:0702&r=ltv |
| By: | Ravallion, Martin; Chen, Shaohua |
| Abstract: | The authors report new estimates of measures of absolute poverty for the developing world over 1981-2004. A clear trend decline in the percentage of people who are absolutely poor is evident, although with uneven progress across regions. They find more mixed success in reducing the total number of poor. Indeed, the developing world outside China has seen little or no sustained progress in reducing the number of poor, with rising poverty counts in some regions, notably Sub-Saharan Africa. Ther e are encouraging signs of progress in reducing the incidence of poverty in all regions after 2000, although it is too early to say if this is a new trend. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Population Policies,Pro-Poor Growth and Inequality,Services & Transfers to Poor |
| Date: | 2007–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4211&r=ltv |