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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2024‒05‒06
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Marchesi, Daniele (University of Groningen); Nikolova, Milena (University of Groningen); Angelini, Viola (University of Groningen) |
| Abstract: | Research on the consequences of income inequality on subjective well-being has yielded mixed results, including a lack of a statistically significant correlation. We propose that this inconsistency may arise from the failure to differentiate between perceived and actual income inequality. Perceptions of inequality matter because individuals often do not know the actual level of inequality in their country. Leveraging data from the 2016 Life in Transition Survey, which includes unique information on individuals' inequality perceptions, we find a positive association between these perceptions and life satisfaction across 33 countries. Individuals who believe that inequality has increased in the previous 4 years are on average 8% less satisfied with their life (on a 1-5 scale) compared to respondents who perceive no increase in inequality. The magnitude of the estimate is sizeable, being twice as large as the influence of unemployment. Taking actual inequality levels and changes into account does not alter the conclusions, suggesting that inequality perception matters for life satisfaction above and beyond actual inequality. Our findings survive a battery of robustness checks, including an instrumental variables approach and addressing common method variance bias. We also find that mobility expectations and fairness perceptions cushion but do not fully offset the negative association between perceived inequality increases and life satisfaction. Our findings imply that understanding the role of inequality perceptions can be key to improving social cohesion and individual and societal well-being. |
| Keywords: | inequality, perceptions, life satisfaction, subjective well-being |
| JEL: | D63 E31 I31 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16905&r=ltv |
| By: | Ana C. Gómez Ugarte Valerio (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Ugofilippo Basellini (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Carlo G. Camarda (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Fanny Janssen; Emilio Zagheni (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Commonly used measures of socioeconomic inequalities in mortality, such as the slope and the relative index of inequality, are based on summary measures of the group-specific age-at-death distributions (e.g. life expectancy). While this approach is informative, it ignores valuable information contained in the group-specific distributions. We apply and evaluate a novel measure of socio-economic inequality in mortality. Leveraging a metric of statistical distance, our Population Total Variation (PTV) measure is sensitive not only to changes in the means or variances, but also to broader mortality changes that affect distributional shapes. The PTV also allow the levels and trends of socioeconomic inequalities in mortality to be decomposed into mortality changes versus changes in the composition of the population. We use mortality data by socioeconomic groups to assess mortality inequalities with both established measures and our proposed PTV. Our findings suggest that levels and trends in mortality inequalities computed with the PTV differ compared to other conventional summary-based measures. The method we propose can be applied to any context where mortality rates are available by socio-economic groups. We conclude that measuring distributional similarities in mortality enhances our understanding of between groups inequalities in mortality. |
| Keywords: | Denmark, England, Sweden, inequality, mortality |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2024-007&r=ltv |
| By: | Andrés César (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & CONICET); Guillermo Falcone (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & CONICET) |
| Abstract: | We study the causal impact of export growth on Chilean local economic development during 2000–2006 by exploiting spatial and temporal variations in local exposure stemming from the interaction of past differences in industry specialization across local labor markets and the evolution of tariffs cuts and exports across industries. We find that growing exports implied a significant reduction in labor informality and labor income gains in more exposed local markets, driven by job creation and wage growth in the formal sector. These effects concentrate on senior skilled workers. Exposed locations also exhibit a greater relative decline in the poverty rate. |
| JEL: | F14 F16 J23 J31 O17 Q02 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0329&r=ltv |
| By: | Jaime Arellano-Bover (Yale University/IZA/CESifo); Fernando Saltiel (McGill University/IZA) |
| Abstract: | We present evidence that is consistent with large disparities across firms in their onthe-job learning opportunities, using administrative datasets from Brazil and Italy. Wecategorize firms into discrete “classes”—which our conceptual framework interprets asskill-learning classes—using a clustering methodology that groups together firms withsimilar distributions of unexplained wage growth. Mincerian returns to experience varywidely across experiences acquired in different firm classes. Four tests leveraging firmstayers and movers, occupation and industry switchers, hiring wages, and displacedworkers point towards a portable and general human capital interpretation. Heterogeneousemployment experiences explain an important share of wage variance by age 35, thus contributing to shape wage inequality. Firms’ observable attributes only mildlypredict on-the-job learning opportunities. |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoz:wpaper:317&r=ltv |
| By: | Gørtz, Mette (University of Copenhagen); Jensen, Vibeke Myrup (Aarhus University); Sander, Sarah (University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | Many parents return to work, placing their child in nonparental care before the age of one. Using variations in daycare vacancy rates, we estimate the causal effects of enrollment age in universal daycare on child development. In general, we find no evidence that earlier enrollment harms early child development, except for a temporary health shock. Children who enter later initially have fewer primary care visits, but the effects fade in preschool. Conversely, the results suggest some positive effects of early enrollment. Children who enter daycare later are more likely to demonstrate inadequate language skills by age five, particularly among boys. |
| Keywords: | daycare, child development, health, cognitive skills |
| JEL: | I00 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16881&r=ltv |
| By: | Antonio Alfonso (LoyolaBehLab/Universidad Loyola Andalucía); Pablo Brañas-Garza (LoyolaBehLab/Universidad Loyola Andalucía); Diego Jorrat (LoyolaBehLab/Universidad Loyola Andalucía); Benjamín Prissé (Singapore University of Technology and Design); María José Vázquez-De Francisco (Fundación ETEA-Development Institute/Universidad Loyola Andalucía) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to examine whether girls and boys exhibit different risk and timepreferences and how this difference evolves during the critical phase of adolescence. To achievethis, we use a large and powered sample of 4830 non-self-selected teenagers from 207 classesacross 22 Spanish schools with very different socioeconomic backgrounds. Alongside time andrisk preferences, we also collected additional information about class attributes, social networkmeasures, students’ characteristics, and the average level of economic preferences of friends.These measures enable us to account for potentially omitted variables that were not consideredin previous studies. The results indicate that there are no significant gender differences intime and risk preferences, but older subjects exhibit more sophisticated time preferences andhigher risk aversion. We also perform an exploratory heterogeneity analysis, which unveils twoimportant results: first, cognitive abilities play a critical role in the development of time andrisk preferences; second, interaction within the class social network does matter. |
| Keywords: | Developmental Decision-Making, Field Experiment, Economic Preferences, Teenagers. |
| JEL: | C91 D81 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoz:wpaper:316&r=ltv |