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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2012‒07‒14
eight papers chosen by |
| By: | Mumford, Karen A. (University of York); Smith, Peter N. (University of York) |
| Abstract: | We explore the relationship between reported job satisfaction and own wage, relative wage and average comparison group wage; allowing for asymmetry in these responses across genders. We find that the choice of relevant comparison group is affected by gender in Britain; men display behaviour characteristic of competitiveness whilst women do not. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, earnings, gender, segregation, workplace |
| JEL: | J3 J7 J28 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6673&r=ltv |
| By: | Stéphane Bonhomme (CEMFI); Laura Hospido (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | We use detailed information on labor earnings and employment from Social Security records to document earnings inequality in Spain from 1988 to 2010. Male earnings inequality was strongly countercyclical: it increased around the 1993 recession, showed a substantial decrease during the 1997-2007 expansion and then a sharp increase during the recent recession. These developments were partly driven by the cyclicality of employment and earnings in the lower-middle part of the distribution. We emphasize the importance of the housing boom and subsequent housing bust, and show that demand shocks in the construction sector significantly impacted aggregate labor market outcomes |
| Keywords: | Earnings inequality, social security data, unemployment, business cycle |
| JEL: | D31 J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:1225&r=ltv |
| By: | Stancanelli, Elena G. F. (CNRS); van Soest, Arthur (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | In the scant literature on partners' joint retirement decisions one of the explanations for joint retirement is externalities in leisure. In this study, we investigate how retirement affects the hours of leisure together of individuals in a couple. Exploiting the law on retirement age in France, we use a regression discontinuity approach to identify the causal effect of retirement on hours of leisure separate and together of individuals in a couple. We find that the retirement probability increases significantly at age 60 for both partners, supporting our identification strategy. We conclude that retirement of the husband significantly increases own hours of leisure of the husband but it does not increase joint leisure hours of the couple. Retirement of the wife increases joint leisure. This asymmetry in responses is well in line with recent literature on joint retirement and suggests that leisure complementarities may not be the main engine of joint retirement. |
| Keywords: | leisure, ageing, retirement, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | D13 J22 J14 C1 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6698&r=ltv |
| By: | Andersson Joona, Pernilla (SOFI, Stockholm University); Datta Gupta, Nabanita (University of Aarhus); Wadensjö, Eskil (Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | The utilization and reward of the human capital of immigrants in the labor market of the host country has been studied extensively. In the Swedish context this question is of great policy relevance due to the high levels of refugee migration and inflow of tied movers. Using Swedish register data covering the period 2001-2008, we analyze the incidence and wage effects of overeducation among non-Western immigrants. We also analyze whether there is state-dependence in overeducation and extend the immigrant educational mismatch literature by investigating whether this is a more severe problem among immigrants than among natives. In line with previous research we find that the incidence of overeducation is higher among immigrants and the return to overeducation is lower indicating that immigrants lose more from being overeducated. We find a high degree of state-dependence in overeducation both among natives and immigrants, but to a higher extent among immigrants. |
| Keywords: | educational mismatch, immigrants, wages, state-dependence |
| JEL: | J61 I21 J24 J31 F22 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6695&r=ltv |
| By: | Mansour, Hani (University of Colorado Denver); McKinnish, Terra (University of Colorado, Boulder) |
| Abstract: | In direct contrast to conventional wisdom and most economic models of gender differences in age of marriage, we present robust evidence that men and women who are married to differently-aged spouses are negatively selected. Earnings analysis of married couples in the 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 Decennial Censuses finds that male earnings decrease with within-couple age difference, regardless of whether the man is older or younger than his wife. In contrast, female earnings increase with within-couple age difference, but this is due to the fact that women with differently-aged spouses work more hours not because they command higher wages. We test for negative selection into differently-aged couples using three measures: average earnings per hour in occupation using Census data, cognitive skills assessments from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY79), and measures of physical appearance from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The point estimates indicate negative selection on all of these characteristics, although statistical significance varies by outcome and sample. |
| Keywords: | marriage markets, age difference, selection |
| JEL: | J12 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6678&r=ltv |
| By: | Eriksson, Stefan (Uppsala University); Johansson, Per (IFAU); Langenskiöld, Sophie (IFAU) |
| Abstract: | We study the recruitment behavior of Swedish employers using data from a stated choice experiment. In the experiment, the employers are first asked to describe an employee who recently and voluntarily left the firm, and then to choose between two hypothetical applicants to invite to a job interview or to hire as a replacement for their previous employee. The two applicants differ with respect to characteristics such as gender, age, education, experience, ethnicity, religious beliefs, family situation, weight, and health. Our results show that employers discriminate against applicants who are old, non-European, Muslim, Jewish, obese, have several children, or have a history of sickness absence. Moreover, increasing the firms' cost of uncertainty in hiring – through more firm co-payment in the sickness benefit system – may reduce hiring, but does not affect the degree of discrimination. Also, there are only small differences in the degree of discrimination between different types of recruiters and firms. Overall, our results suggest that the discrimination, at least partially, should reflect statistical discrimination. |
| Keywords: | stated choice experiment, discrimination, gender, age, ethnicity, obesity, sickness absence |
| JEL: | J71 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6691&r=ltv |
| By: | Andersson Joona, Pernilla (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS); Datta Gupta, Nabanita (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS); Wadensjö, Eskil (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS) |
| Abstract: | The utilization and reward of the human capital of immigrants in the labor market of the host country has been studied extensively. In the Swedish context this question is of great policy relevance due to the high levels of refugee migration and inflow of tied movers. Using Swedish register data covering the period 2001–2008, we analyze the incidence and wage effects of overeducation among non-Western immigrants. We also analyze whether there is state-dependence in overeducation and extend the immigrant educational mismatch literature by investigating whether this is a more severe problem among immigrants than among natives. In line with previous research we find that the incidence of overeducation is higher among immigrants and the return to overeducation is lower indicating that immigrants lose more from being overeducated. We find a high degree of state-dependence in overeducation both among natives and immigrants, but to a higher extent among immigrants. |
| Keywords: | educational mismatch; immigrants; wages; state-dependence |
| JEL: | F22 I21 J24 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sulcis:2012_002&r=ltv |
| By: | Chen, Shaohua; Ravallion, Martin |
| Abstract: | Relative deprivation, shame and social exclusion can matter to the welfare of people everywhere. The authors argue that such social effects on welfare call for a reconsideration of how we assess global poverty, but they do not support standard measures of relative poverty. The paper argues instead for using a weakly-relative measure as the upper-bound complement to the lower-bound provided by a standard absolute measure. New estimates of global poverty are presented, drawing on 850 household surveys spanning 125 countries over 1981-2008. The absolute line is $1.25 a day at 2005 prices, while the relative line rises with the mean, at a gradient of 1:2 above $1.25 a day. The authors show that these parameter choices are consistent with cross-country data on national poverty lines. The results indicate that the incidence of both absolute and weakly-relative poverty in the developing world has been falling since the 1990s, but more slowly for the relative measure. While the number of absolutely poor has fallen, the number of relatively poor has changed little since the 1990s, and is higher in 2008 than 1981. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Regional Economic Development,Achieving Shared Growth,Services&Transfers to Poor |
| Date: | 2012–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6114&r=ltv |