Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102647
Yujung Hwang , Toan Nguyen
{"title":"Is sex ratio a valid distribution factor in a collective model?","authors":"Yujung Hwang , Toan Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102647","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102647","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A distribution factor generates exogenous variation in household members’ bargaining weights, and therefore, it helps identify a collective model. We derive testable hypotheses of the exogeneity of a single distribution factor in a general collective model. Next, we test whether the local sex ratio – a popular distribution factor in the literature – satisfies the exclusion restriction required of distribution factors using the dual-earner sample in Japanese and Australian data. We reject the exclusion restriction for Japan but not for Australia, which is explained by a dependency between the local sex ratio and local gender norms in Japan. We discuss its implication on the marriage market matching model equilibrium. Next, we conclude by investigating alternative distribution factors, but we find similar endogeneity issues in the Japanese sample, implying that understanding cultural context would be critical when choosing a distribution factor.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102647"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142748693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-11-16DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102650
Andrew Brudevold-Newman, Diego Ubfal
{"title":"Soft-skills, networking, and workforce entry: Impacts of a training program for recent graduates in Rwanda","authors":"Andrew Brudevold-Newman, Diego Ubfal","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102650","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102650","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Young adults seeking to enter the labor market often confront a skills mismatch, with employers expressing challenges in recruiting new entrants who possess the necessary soft skills. This paper reports findings from a randomized controlled trial in Rwanda, in which recent tertiary education graduates were randomly selected to participate in a two-week intensive soft skills training program developed and delivered by the staff of the University of Rwanda. Results indicate that the program expedited the graduates’ entry into the job market during a period marked by disruptions due to COVID-19. These effects dissipated over the following year as more jobs became available in the economy, and the employment rate of the control group caught up with that of the treatment group. The faster labor market entry for the training participants seems to be driven by an expansion and more intensive use of their job networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102650"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142704609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-11-16DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102649
Marina Bonaccolto-Töpfer , Sascha Satlukal
{"title":"Gender differences in reservation wages: New evidence for Germany","authors":"Marina Bonaccolto-Töpfer , Sascha Satlukal","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102649","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102649","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Generally, women set lower reservation wages than men what may translate into substantial gender pay gaps in the labor market. This paper compares both parametric and semiparametric estimators to analyze unexplained gender gaps in reservation wages among non-employed individuals in Germany. We examine these estimators using both conventional and data-driven model specifications. The results suggest substantial unexplained gaps in favor of men (up to 8%). In addition, we show that the gaps are larger at the top of the reservation wage distribution as well as among individuals with children and with a high educational attainment. The estimates are robust across the various estimators and model specifications. These findings imply that pronounced unexplained gender gaps in reservation wages do exist in Germany. As they are likely to result in actual gender pay gaps, gender gaps in reservation wages should be on the political agenda.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102649"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142705221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-11-14DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102646
Thomas Breda , Luke Haywood , Haomin Wang
{"title":"Equilibrium effects of payroll tax reductions and optimal policy design","authors":"Thomas Breda , Luke Haywood , Haomin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102646","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102646","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We quantify the unintended effects of a low-wage payroll tax reduction using an equilibrium search model featuring bargaining, worker and firm productivity heterogeneity, labor taxes, and a minimum wage. The decentralized economy is inefficient due to search externalities and labor market policies. We estimate the model using French data and find that a significant reduction in low-wage payroll taxes in 1995 leads to an overall improvement in economic efficiency by increasing employment and correcting existing policy distortions that disincentivize labor force participation. However, the tax reduction, by increasing labor force participation among low-productivity workers and vacancy postings by low-productivity firms, results in negative but minor spillover and reallocation effects due to congestion. We find that the optimal policy mix is a lower minimum wage and lower payroll taxes compared to the policies in place in the early 1990s.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102646"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142705220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-10-30DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102645
Kenta Fukuda
{"title":"Job loss, consumption insurance, and household time allocation","authors":"Kenta Fukuda","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102645","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102645","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how married households respond to negative income shocks resulting from the husband’s job loss, focusing on both monetary insurance channels and changes in the time use of husbands and wives. Using a unique Japanese panel dataset, the empirical analysis shows that the husband’s involuntary job loss leads to significant and persistent declines in his labor earnings. However, the impact on household consumption expenditure is considerably smaller, with only about one-fifth of the income shock transmitted to consumption, suggesting that a substantial amount of monetary insurance is at work. In the short run, unemployment benefits play a crucial role in mitigating the shock, while the wife’s labor supply becomes important in the long run, especially for households where the wife was not employed full-time before the job loss. Additionally, husbands significantly increase their time spent on home production following job loss, and this effect persists for at least three years.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102645"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-10-30DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102644
Deborah A. Cobb-Clark , Sarah C. Dahmann , Anne C. Gielen
{"title":"The intergenerational effects of requiring unemployment benefit recipients to engage in non-search activities","authors":"Deborah A. Cobb-Clark , Sarah C. Dahmann , Anne C. Gielen","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102644","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102644","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We use a quasi-experimental design and national administrative data to analyze the intergenerational effects of introducing non-search activity requirements for long-term unemployment benefit recipients aged 18–34. The young-adult children of these recipients were in early adolescence when the requirements were introduced. Using a regression discontinuity approach, we find that young adults, particularly men, whose fathers were subject to the requirements have a lower incidence of unemployment benefit receipt compared to those whose fathers were not. More detailed investigation suggests completion of the mandated activities, role modeling, changes in attitudes, improved health, and greater support and stability as potential channels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102644"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142656036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-10-26DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102643
Liwen Chen , Guanghua Wang
{"title":"Good personality traits in bad times: Does conscientiousness mitigate the adverse effects of graduating in a recession?","authors":"Liwen Chen , Guanghua Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102643","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102643","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper studies whether and how conscientiousness, a personality trait, helps individuals mitigate the adverse effects of graduating during a recession on early career outcomes. By analyzing college-educated individuals who graduated in the 1980s, we find that conscientiousness reduces the income losses of workers who graduated during a recession. This effect results mainly from workers’ adjustments in the labor supply. When graduating during a recession, college graduates high in conscientiousness are more likely to find full-time jobs and work more hours per week than their counterparts low in conscientiousness. Regarding the other four Big Five personality traits, while agreeableness has a modest effect on mitigating the effects of adverse labor market entry conditions on hourly wages, extraversion, openness to experience, and emotional stability do not appear to buffer against such early career losses. Additionally, cognitive ability does not offset the challenges posed by graduating during a recession.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102643"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142572500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-10-19DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102638
Stéphane Bonhomme , Angela Denis
{"title":"Estimating heterogeneous effects: Applications to labor economics","authors":"Stéphane Bonhomme , Angela Denis","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102638","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102638","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A growing number of applications involve settings where, in order to infer heterogeneous effects, a researcher compares various units. Examples of research designs include children moving between different neighborhoods, workers moving between firms, patients migrating from one city to another, and banks offering loans to different firms. We present a unified framework for these settings, based on a linear model with normal random coefficients and normal errors. Using the model, we discuss how to recover the mean and dispersion of effects, other features of their distribution, and to construct predictors of the effects. We provide moment conditions on the model’s parameters, and outline various estimation strategies. A main objective of the paper is to clarify some of the underlying assumptions by highlighting their economic content, and to discuss and inform some of the key practical choices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102638"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Golfing CEOs","authors":"Yutaro Izumi , Hitoshi Shigeoka , Masayuki Yagasaki","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102639","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102639","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Izumi et al. (2023) document the existence of CEO gender homophily in firm-to-firm transactions, where CEOs of the same gender are more likely to trade more than those of the opposite gender, putting female CEOs at a disadvantage in a male-dominated business landscape. In this paper, we examine whether informal networking tools, in particular playing golf as a hobby, mitigate this disadvantage for female CEOs. Using a unique dataset that includes both CEO hobbies and detailed inter-firm networks, we show that playing golf does not benefit female CEOs in finding male business partners, while for male CEOs playing golf is associated with a higher share of trading with male CEOs. This result suggests that women’s participation in traditionally male-dominated socializing activities does not necessarily help them gain access to male business networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102639"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142530576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Labour EconomicsPub Date : 2024-10-18DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102641
Takiko Igarashi, Sandy Maulana, Daniel Suryadarma
{"title":"Mother tongue-based education in a diverse society and the acquisition of foundational skills: Evidence from the Philippines","authors":"Takiko Igarashi, Sandy Maulana, Daniel Suryadarma","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102641","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102641","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Philippines is an ethnolinguistically diverse country with 180 languages spoken. In 2012, the government massively expanded the language of instruction (LoI) options, a shift from a bilingual Filipino-English education to mother tongue-based education using 19 languages targeting students in kindergarten to grade 3. The policy intended to create a closer link between the school instructional language and students’ mother tongue in the early stage of formal schooling, which would improve foundational skills and increase the students’ ability to acquire proficiency in additional languages. We use nationally representative data to evaluate the policy's impact on foundational reading and mathematics skills, exploiting a variation between student cohorts and the variation in the instructional languages before and after the policy. We find that the policy reduced the mean linguistic distance between children's mother tongue and school LoI by between 43 % to 76 %. However, we find a statistically significant and negative effect on foundational reading skills when tested in Filipino or English. The magnitude is not negligible given the Philippines’ flat learning profiles. We find the policy also negatively impacted the foundational mathematics skills of the first cohort fully exposed to the policy. Our findings imply that governments need to reconsider the mother tongue-based education policy as a tool to improve foundational skills in a diverse society.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 102641"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142587272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}