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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2024‒02‒12
eight papers chosen by |
| By: | Joan Costa-Font (LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science); Sarah Fleche (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Ricardo Pagan (Universidad de Málaga [Málaga] = University of Málaga [Málaga]) |
| Abstract: | Despite the growing prevalence of insufficient sleep among individuals, we still know little about the labour market return to sleep. To address this gap, we use longitudinal data from Germany and leverage exogenous fluctuations in sleep duration caused by variations in time and local sunset times. Our findings reveal that a one-hour increase in weekly sleep is associated with a 1.6 percentage point rise in employment and a 3.4% increase in weekly earnings. Such effect on earnings stems from productivity improvements given that the number of working hours decreases with longer sleep duration. We also identify a key mechanism driving these effects, namely the enhanced mental well-being experienced by individuals who sleep longer hours. |
| Keywords: | Sleep, Employment, Productivity, Mental health, Sunset times |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04331898&r=ltv |
| By: | Del Boca, Daniela (University of Turin); Pronzato, Chiara D. (University of Turin); Schiavon, Lucia (University of Verona) |
| Abstract: | One of the aims of parenting programs is to enhance parental skills and behaviours for the well-being of children. This study examines the effects of the FA.C.E. ("Becoming Educating Communities") program, focusing on parents' use of time with their children. Promoted by the non-profit organization Con I Bambini, FA.C.E. ran for three years, with funding from several Italian philanthropic foundations and the Italian government. Here we evaluate the impact of the second edition of the program on parental perceptions and on children's time use during the 2020/2021 school year. Two obstacles prevented us from implementing randomization, which would have necessitated the randomization of two cohorts of families, with the first commencing the program immediately and the second starting later. The initial challenge arose from the COVID-19 pandemic, which confined people to their homes. It was therefore decided to encourage families to attend in person as often and whenever they could, with no restrictions imposed on their impromptu participation. The second issue stemmed from the randomization used to evaluate the first edition of FA.C.E., which led several families to abandon the program, either because they had wanted to start immediately or because they had not been placed with their family's friends. For the second edition of the program, we collected data from each family before and after their participation in the program and rely on two different empirical strategies to evaluate the program's impact. We also include a test to help determine which is the most reliable estimate. |
| Keywords: | parenting skills, use of time, well-being, policy evaluation, impact evaluation methods, treated-controls model, mixed methods |
| JEL: | J13 J18 C80 D1 I26 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16694&r=ltv |
| By: | Carlsson, Fredrik (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Johansson-Stenman, Olof (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Kataria, Mitesh (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | Based on a tailor-made survey, we find that experts – academics and civil servants – are much more willing than citizens in Sweden to accept liberty-reducing regulations. Moreover, both citizens and experts are more supportive of regulating negative internalities (in terms of health) than negative externalities (in terms of climate change). While less liberty-reducing policy instruments receive more support, around 20 percent of citizens and experts support very intrusive measures such as non-transferable individual quotas for air travel and unhealthy foods. Both experts and citizens prefer encouraging to discouraging information provision, while experts are more positive than citizens to tax instruments. |
| Keywords: | externalities; internalities; paternalism; experts; citizens |
| JEL: | D04 D62 D91 Q58 |
| Date: | 2024–01–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0841&r=ltv |
| By: | Dang, Hai-Anh (World Bank); Raju, Dhushyanth (World Bank); Tanaka, Tomomi; Abanokova, Kseniya (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Ghana has managed to consistently keep its poverty rate lower than the regional average over the past 25 years, but this positive trend slowed down recently. We investigate the dynamics of overall, moderate, and extreme poverty in Ghana during 2005/06–2016/17, addressing the lack of actual panel data by constructing synthetic panel data from repeated cross-sectional data. While we find considerable conditional chronic (extreme) poverty rates hovering around 50-60 percent, there is more upward mobility than downward mobility. Poor households are also more likely to have enjoyed stronger consumption expenditure growth. Our findings suggest that factors such as education attainment, female household headship, urban residence, and non-agricultural work are positively correlated with poverty reduction. Compared to all other correlates, education attainment appears to be most effective in pushing households out of poverty and keeping them from falling into poverty. |
| Keywords: | poverty, poverty dynamics, pro-poor growth, synthetic panel, household surveys, Ghana, sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | C15 D31 I31 O10 O57 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16738&r=ltv |
| By: | Dimitrios, Theodoridis (Unit for Economic History, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Klas, Rönnbäck (Unit for Economic History, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Stefania, Galli (Unit for Economic History, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | Was there any redistribution of resources in the Caribbean societies after emancipation from slavery? What were ex-slaves’ prospects to improve their socioeconomic status after emancipation? To shed some light on these questions this paper provides unique empirical evidence on patterns of wealth inequality before and after emancipation for the island of St. Croix, a typical slave-based sugar island in the Caribbean. Our findings suggest that there was no decrease in inequality following the institutional break of emancipation. A key explanation, we argue, rest on factor endowments and more specifically on the restrictive land-labor ratios that prevailed on several Caribbean islands, such as St. Croix. Due to these factor endowments, former slaves remained unable to accumulate any substantial amounts of wealth for decades after emancipation. |
| Keywords: | inequality; wealth; slavery; Caribbean; emancipation |
| JEL: | D31 J47 N36 |
| Date: | 2024–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunhis:0033&r=ltv |
| By: | Cortes, Patricia (Boston University); Feng, Ying (National University of Singapore); Guida-Johnson, Nicolás (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana); Pan, Jessica (National University of Singapore) |
| Abstract: | We examine the differential effects of automation on the labor market and educational outcomes of women relative to men over the past four decades. Although women were disproportionately employed in occupations with a high risk of automation in 1980, they were more likely to shift to high-skill, high-wage occupations than men in over time. We provide a causal link by exploiting variation in local labor market exposure to automation attributable to historical differences in local industry structure. For a given change in the exposure to automation across commuting zones, women were more likely than men to shift out of routine task-intensive occupations to high-skill, high wage occupations over the subsequent decade. The net effect is that initially routine-intensive local labor markets experienced greater occupational gender integration. College attainment among younger workers, particularly women, also rose signicantly more in areas more exposed to automation. We propose a model of occupational choice with endogenous skill investments, where social skills and routine tasks are q-complements, and women have a comparative advantage in social skills, to explain the observed patterns. Supporting the model mechanisms, areas with greater exposure to automation experienced a greater movement of women into occupations with high social skill (and high cognitive) requirements than men. |
| Keywords: | automation, gender, occupational segregation, gender skill gap |
| JEL: | J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16695&r=ltv |
| By: | Addison, John T.; Portugal, Pedro; de Almeida Vilares, Hugo |
| Abstract: | We examine the association between union density and wages in Portugal where just 10 percent of all workers are union members but nine-tenths of them are covered by collective agreements. Using a unique dataset on workers, firms, and collective bargaining agreements, we examine the union density wage gap in total monthly wages and its sources – namely, worker, firm, and job-title or ‘occupational’ heterogeneity – using the Gelbach decomposition. The most important source of the mark-up associated with union density is the firm fixed effect, reflecting the differing wage policies of more and less unionized workplaces, which explains two-thirds of the wage gap. Next in importance is the job-title fixed effect, capturing occupational heterogeneity across industries. It makes up one-third of the gap, the inference being that the unobserved skills of workers contribute at most only trivially to the union density wage gap. In a separate analysis based on disaggregations of the total wage, it is also found that employers can in part offset the impact of the bargaining power of unions on wages through firm-specific wage arrangements in the form of the wage cushion. Finally, union density is shown to be associated with a modest reduction in wage inequality as the union density wage gap is highest among low-wage workers. This result is driven by the job-title fixed effect, low-wage workers benefiting more from being placed in higher paying ‘occupations.’ |
| Keywords: | Gelbach decomposition; union density; union density wage gap; wage inequality; worker/firm/job-title fixed effects; 1642247 |
| JEL: | J30 J33 J44 J51 J52 |
| Date: | 2023–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113474&r=ltv |
| By: | Cai, Shu; Zimmermann, Klaus F. |
| Abstract: | Previous research on internal mobility has neglected the role of local identity contrary to studies analyzing international migration. Examining social identity and labor market outcomes in China, the country with the largest internal mobility in the world, closes the gap. Instrumental variable estimation and careful robustness checks suggest that identifying as local associates with higher migrants' hourly wages and lower hours worked, although monthly earnings seem to remain largely unchanged. Migrants with strong local identity are more likely to use local networks in job search, and to obtain jobs with higher average wages and lower average hours worked, suggesting the value of integration policies. |
| Keywords: | assimilation, social identity, labor market, migration, internal mobility, China's Great Migration |
| JEL: | J22 J31 J61 Z13 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:716pre&r=ltv |