A new GLO Discussion Paperreviews gender identity and workplace legislation at national and international levels across Europe.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: It is a fact that transgender people experience severe discrimination in various forms not only in their everyday lives but also in their working lives, especially when transitioning. It seems that Europe is slowly changing over the years as there are constant calls to tackle this complex issue by considering the inclusion of a third gender option, the abolition of any abusive practices, recommendations for legal redress in cases of violation, and a more transparent and self-determined legal recognition procedure. There are national laws which offer protection on the basis of gender identity at national and international levels. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of uniformity due to a number of unresolved matters such as uncertainty about who is covered, whether gender identity should be covered as a protected ground, what is required to gain a legal change of name and gender marker in official documents, who is responsible for authorization and uncertainty over the stages, nature and duration of the actual procedure. Fewer distressed transgender employees and transphobic incidents are observed when there is greater social acceptability, organizational effort and national intervention. Research and collective actions by movements, political leaders, academics, medical experts and non-governmental organizations are further required to minimize societal and employment exclusions of transgender people.
In his new book, GLO Research Director Danny Blanchflower has explained us why the job market is not as healthy as we think, in particular he promotes to look at underemployment instead of unemployment. glabor.org had announced the book earlier this year and published in the summer an interview with the author. In her book review for theLSE Review of Books website, GLO Fellow Hélène Syed Zwick provides more details and insights, but also formulates questions and challenges.
GLO Research Director David G. Blanchflower.GLO bio. He is the Bruce V. Rauner Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, Professor of Economics at the University of Stirling, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
GLO Fellow Hélène Syed Zwick. GLO bio. She is Executive Director of the ESLSCA Research Center and Associate Professor in Economics at ESLSCA University (Egypt).
“In Not Working: Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone?, David Blanchflower contributes to the already substantial stream of scholarship on job quality, happiness and economic downturns. The author, a prominent economist and former external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) between 2006 and 2009, offers a praiseworthy, didactic and anticipated analysis ‘on well-paying [or good] jobs and the failure of policymakers to deliver them’ (11).
In the first part of the book, the author skillfully argues that most Western countries, especially the US and the UK, are far away from full employment, despite their respective low unemployment rates. Through a heavy reliance on data, he argues, and brilliantly demonstrates, that the unemployment rate is no longer an accurate signal of labour market slack. He repeats throughout his book that the main signal that confirms this hypothesis is the lack of sustained wage and price growths. Normally, Blanchflower explains, in a situation of full employment, there ‘would be so few people looking for jobs’ (25) that wages would grow rapidly and ‘workers would be able to climb the occupational ladder’ (140). Unfortunately, he writes, this is not happening either in the US or the UK. On the contrary, underemployment – which relates to ‘unstable, precarious, low-paying, and temporary jobs’ (35) and which expanded after the Great Recession in most rich Western countries – appears as a significant new predictor of wage and inflation growth. Here we reach the central argument of the book: underemployment associated with weak bargaining power on the part of workers leads to contained wage pressure. Blanchflower advises that we therefore rely on underemployment rather than unemployment to analyse the labour market situation, especially within this post-recession period characterised by ‘an extended semi-slump, of subnormal prosperity’ (80).
If such a proposal is quite orthodox, three elements transversal to
this first part capture the reader’s attention: the economics of walking about
(EWA); the societal consequences; and house-ownership and mobility. Firstly, thanks
to Blanchflower’s EWA approach which is ‘fundamental’ to the book (184), he is
in contact with what has been happening to ordinary people. As he explains,
Blanchflower believes in data from the real world. His thinking has been
‘driven mostly by observing how the world works and attempting to uncover
fundamental truths and patterns in the data’ (9). Discussions with London
cabbies or looking at jingle mails (the act of mailing the keys back to the
mortgage lender) are common ways for Blanchflower to feel what is going on in
societies. Secondly, he discusses the links between feelings of insecurity on
the labour market, happiness and societal outcomes like obesity, mental
disorders, depression and even suicide. Thirdly, he examines the negative impact
of house ownership on mobility. He evokes the fall in the homeownership rate,
especially in the US and the UK, and explains that an unconstrained housing
market leads to more efficient labour markets and to a fall in the equilibrium
unemployment rate thanks to higher mobility. These effects have too often been neglected
by researchers, he argues.
The second part of Not Working is composed of five chapters
and aims to study the response to the Great Recession. Blanchflower’s analysis
led him to anticipate the crisis in 2007, while most of his colleagues did not.
The author calls therefore for a ‘big rethink’ (11, 315), especially among
policymakers, central bankers and economists. Scathingly, he denounces their
obstinacy in relying on theoretical, mathematical-based models and
prescriptions from the 1970s. As he argues, ‘the elites were stuck in the past’
(171) and ‘the experts were looking in the wrong places’ (162). Policymakers
decided in 2009-10, under the recommendations of economists, to launch what
Blanchflower names a ‘reckless and unnecessary austerity’ (173) ‘attacking the
Keynesian school of thought from multiple directions’ (171). The author writes
that this was a ‘unique opportunity [for them] to decrease the size of the
state’ (173).
In this section of the book, Blanchflower’s efforts may appear overly
detailed to the less specialised reader and not especially innovative for the
specialists. Yet, he convincingly establishes the socio-economic, demographic
and geographic profile of the ‘left-behinds’ in the US, the UK and Eurozone
countries after 2010. Unsurprisingly, decreases in expenditure ‘hit the weak,
the disabled and vulnerable’ (214). Such fractures between the have-nots and
haves were already present before the Great Recession, which only ‘exacerbated
them’ (37). He notes that the left-behinds from the US, the UK, France and
Austria have been ‘strongly opposed to political and social developments they
see as threatening sovereignty, identity and continuity’ (258). He therefore indicates
that he was already expecting in 2010 a political ‘backlash’ (265) after all
the pain and suffering. Why should politics not therefore suffer? Few can have
ignored recent populist movements in the US with Donald Trump’s presidency, in
the UK with the Brexit vote and in France with Marine Le Pen. The author
establishes a direct relationship between the profile of the left-behinds and
those who voted for populist parties.
This inquiry leads us to the third part dedicated to prescriptions
and policy recommendations. Whilst the quality of analysis and richness of its
scholarly references impresses across two-thirds of the book, here the author
fails in making the reader optimistic or confident about the future. Why? First,
because the recommendations he formulates are unoriginal and lack ambition, and
second, because several dimensions elsewhere detailed in the book, like the
decline in unionism and bargaining power, are not even discussed. Strictly
speaking, the use of idioms and expressions in the titles and subtitles in this
third part appear by far insufficient to convince me. Most of the Keynesian recommendations
that he formulates are well-known and have been debated for decades. For
instance, he recommends reaching full employment by decreasing the interest
rate to boost wages and therefore living standards, investing more in infrastructure
to create jobs, subsidising childcare services and providing incentives for
low-skilled workers. From my point of view, such advice relies far too much on
the intervention of public authorities, which seems quite inconsistent with Blanchflower’s
lack of trust in policymakers and politicians that he claims throughout his
book: ‘Why believe them?’ he asks several times. ‘Why should we trust any of
them now? I don’t,’ he writes (211).
It could certainly be argued that this third part is disappointing as Blanchflower fails to provide sufficient depth in the formulation of his recommendations, which is essential once the analysis has been delivered. However, even with this limitation, this encyclopedic book is highly welcome and will be an unquestionably worthy addition to the bookshelves of a general readership as well as scholars in labour economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics and political science.”
Dr. Hélène Syed Zwick, Executive Director of ESLSCA Research Center, ESLSCA University, Egypt
A new GLO Discussion Paperstudies through counterfactual analysis how income taxation affects the correlation of income across generations. Introducing a flat tax regime reduces the correlation in comparison to no taxes, which is enforced through child benefits and a progressive scheme.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: We study the impact of income taxation on intergenerational income correlation. We estimate a life cycle dynastic model and conduct counterfactual analysis to observe the effects of various tax regimes. Compared to a no tax environment, a flat tax regime reduces the correlation only by one percentage points. If the flat tax regime provides child benefits, the correlation additionally declines by four percentage points. Finally, if the taxes are progressive, the reduction, which is due to the increase in the fertility rate (quantity) and the decrease in the educational outcome of children (quality), is highly significant (seven percentage points).
The Global Labor Organization (GLO) and the University of Kent (UoK) affiliate. The two organizations will support each other in their common missions on research and educational issues. UoK will provide a local platform of GLO in the UK.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.
The University of Kent (UoK), the UK’s European university, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. It has a rural campus in Canterbury as well as campuses in Kent and European postgraduate centers in various European cities. The University is committed to rigorous research and excellent education; it is international, with over 20,000 students from about 160 nationalities and about 40% of international academic staff. It provides GLO with a local platform in the UK.
GLO Director Matloob Piracha is Senior Lecturer at the University of Kent and Country Lead of GLO for the entire UK; he will act as Head of the local initiatives at Kent. A first joint research workshop is planned for April 2020 at Kent; a Call for Papers will appear in due course.
GLO’s Virtual Young Scholars (VirtYS) program for emerging young scholars is also headed from Kent, namely by GLO Fellow Olena Nizalova, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Kent.
The GLO Discussion Paper of the Month of September finds that inclusive labor market access regulations substantially increase the employment chances of asylum seekers, in particular if the language distance is short.
Author Abstract:In the face of recent refugee migration, early integration of asylum seekers into
the labor market has been proposed as an important mechanism for easing their
economic and social lot in the short as well as in the long term. However, little
is known about the policies that foster or hamper their participation in the labor
market, in particular during the important initial period of their stay in the host
country. In order to evaluate whether inclusive labor market policies increase the
labor market participation of asylum seekers, we exploit the variation in asylum
policies in Swiss cantons to which asylum seekers are as good as randomly allocated.
During our study period from 2011 to 2014, the employment rate among asylum
seekers varied between 0% and 30.2% across cantons. Our results indicate that
labor market access regulations are responsible for a substantial proportion of these
differences, in which an inclusive regime increases participation by 11 percentage
points. The marginal effects are larger for asylum seekers who speak a language
that is linguistically close to the one in their host canton.
GLO DP Team Senior
Editors: Matloob Piracha (University of Kent) & GLO; Klaus F.
Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and Bonn University). Managing Editor: Magdalena Ulceluse, University of Groningen. DP@glabor.org
A new GLO Discussion Paperstudies the shortcomings and merits of the first experiment of establishing a quasi-market in the provision of employment services.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: This paper aims to study the shortcomings and merits of the first experiment of quasi-market in the provision of employment services: the Lombardy DUL (Dote Unica Lavoro). This system, which has inspired the 2015 national reform within the Jobs Act, has reactivated and revitalized the sector by providing important job opportunities to jobless workers. The system has the typical problems of quasi-markets in the provision of public services (lion’s share of private organizations; cherry picking; gaming). However, different expedients are devised in the program to minimize these shortcomings. The empirical analysis suggest that such phenomena if existent are at a physiological level. Analysis of the determinants of completing successfully the program provides non-trivial results as to, among others, the role organizations of different ownership type and of services provided.
A new GLO Discussion Paperdocuments evidence on the impact of household air pollution on mental health in China.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: While adverse health effects of ambient air pollution have been well documented, there is scarce evidence on the impact of household air pollution (HAP) on mental health. We investigated the causal link between HAP exposure from the use of solid fuel on depressive symptoms using a nationally representative dataset of middle-aged and older population in China. Employing the propensity match score method (PSM), matching and adjusting for potential confounders, we found significantly higher Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) score and risk of depressive symptoms among solid fuel users than clean fuel users. These associations were especially stronger for older females who were less educated, of lower income, of higher body mass index, or had chronic diseases.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that collective bargaining in Portugal has a relatively small role as a source of effective labor law.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: How much value does collective bargaining add to the working conditions already established in general labour law? In this paper we propose a methodology to address this question: we compare the specific contents of collective agreements (except minimum wages) to their equivalent norms set by base law. We illustrate this approach by analysing in detail about 400 norms from six collective agreements in Portugal and then comparing them to the country’s Labour Code. We find that as many as 62% of those collective bargaining norms are exactly or virtually equal to the Labour Code; only 25% (an average of 16 norms per convention) are more favourable for the worker; and 12% (8) are more favourable for the employer. We conclude that collective bargaining in Portugal has a relatively small role as a source of effective labour law. We also present several potential explanations for our findings, including the wide range of base law, which may reduce the negotiating space of bargaining.
A new GLO Discussion Paper reveals that based on standard measures, inequality in Egypt and Tunisia is not unusually high. This is qualified exploring a new dimension decomposing inequality by income sources.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: Egypt and Tunisia are perceived to have high levels of inequality, yet based on standard measures, inequality in these two countries is not unusually high. In this study we explore a new dimension of inequality in Egypt and Tunisia by using a more complete measure of income and decomposing inequality by income sources (factor components). We find that higher-income households have more income sources than lower-income ones. Informal wage work and earnings from household enterprises are more common in Egypt than Tunisia, while formal wage work, pensions, and social assistance are more common in Tunisia. Social assistance does little to offset income inequality in either country. Enterprise earnings (in Egypt) and agricultural earnings (in Tunisia) as well as rent and other capital income in both countries play a large role in inequality. High inequality in these non-wage income sources may help explain why inequality is perceived to be high.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that cohorts born around the start of transition are shorter than their older or younger peers. While the transition process has been a traumatic experience, its negative impact has largely been overcome.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: Using newly available data, we re-evaluate the impact of transition from plan to market on objective and subjective well-being. We find clear evidence of the high social cost of early transition reforms: cohorts born around the start of transition are shorter than their older or younger peers. The difference in height suggests that the first years of reform were accompanied by major deprivation. We provide suggestive evidence on the importance of three mechanisms which partially explain these results: the decline of GDP per capita, the deterioration of healthcare systems, and food scarcity. On the bright side, we find that cohorts that experienced transition in their infancy are now better educated and more satisfied with their lives than their counterparts. Taken together, our results imply that the transition process has been a traumatic experience, but that its negative impact has largely been overcome.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.
The International Economic Association (IEA) was founded in 1950 as a Non Governmental Organization, at the instigation of the Social Sciences Department of UNESCO. It has since its creation maintained information and consultative relations with UNESCO and is since 1973 a federated member of the International Social Science Council. Its aim from the beginning has been to promote personal contacts and mutual understanding among economists in different parts of the world through the organization of scientific meetings, through common research programs and by means of publications of an international character on problems of current importance.
GLO will contribute to the July 3-7, 2020 event in Bali, Indonesia: International Economic Association World Congress. Conference announcement. Submission deadline November 15, 2019.
Labor market issues broadly defined will be the emphasis of the Second Renmin University of China – GLO Conference in Beijing on 7-8 December 2019. Keynote speakers will be GLO Fellows Shi Li of Beijing Normal University and Xi Chen of Yale University.
This continues the very successful tradition started with the first conference. See program and event pictures of the 2018 event.
What is it about? The conference provides a platform for researchers working on topics related to the labor market, including migration, income discrimination, health and well-being, education, environment, labor market policies, and other labor-related issues. Submissions focusing on the Chinese labor market are encouraged.
Organization The event is organized by the School of Labor and Human Resources at Renmin University of China and GLO. There are no conference fees. Travel and accommodation need to be arranged by participants. Renmin University will offer catered lunch and refreshments throughout the event and conference dinner on December 7.
Submission Papers or long abstracts to be submitted by October 31: renmin-glo@ruc.edu.cn Selected participants will be notified by 10 November 2019.
Program Committee GLO FellowsSylvie Démurger (CNRS), Shuaizhang Feng (Jinan University), Corrado Giulietti (University of Southampton) & Jun Han (Renmin University of China)
A new GLO Discussion Paper reveals that in Poland women find independence at work and for those in professional occupations a job matching their competences as a desirable job attribute, while for men the lack of stress, a good salary and independence is key. Financial constraints strongly determine the entry into self-employment.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: We examine supply-side determinants of transition from the wage and salary sector to selfemployment of women and men living Poland. The empirical analysis is made possible due to a unique and under explored longitudinal survey — Social Diagnosis – that contains rare indicators such as job preferences and work events. The empirical results in the 2007-2015 period indicate that women and men transitioning into self-employment are differently motivated. In terms of job attributes, women find independence at work and for those in professional occupations a job matching their competences as a desirable job attribute, while for men the lack of stress, a good salary and independence is key. The analysis of work events and its influence on selfemployment weakly confirms the glass-ceiling hypothesis. In line with other research, our analysis indicates that financial constraints strongly determine the entry into self-employment. A key human capital determinant is past entrepreneurial experience indicating a slow, cautious transition process into self-employment.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfindsthat a women’s self-help group program in India has contributed to sustainable development through improvements in the quality of life.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: This paper investigates a women’s self-help group program with more than 1.5 million participants in one of the poorest rural areas of Northern India. The program has four streams of activity in micro-savings, agricultural enterprise training, health and nutrition education, and political participation. The paper considers whether there is any evidence that program membership is associated with quality of life improvement. Using new data on a variety of self-reported capability indicators from members and non-members, the paper estimates propensity score matching models and reports evidence of differences in some dimensions as well as significant benefits to those from the most disadvantaged groups—scheduled castes and tribes. The paper considers robustness and concludes that for some dimensions, there is evidence that the program has contributed to sustainable development through improvements in the quality of life.
Does the growth of self-employment and in particular gig work among females explain part of the observed declining fertility rates? A new GLO Discussion Paperfindsfor Portugalno statistically significant differences in fertility between employees and self-employed women.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: The growth of self-employment and in particular gig work may explain part of the declining fertility rates observed in many countries. This study examines this question drawing on longitudinal data to compare women’s fertility, proxied by maternity leave uptake, when self-employed or wage workers. It considers the case of Portugal, which allows to focus on structural aspects of work types, as fertility-related social protection there does not discriminate between self-employment and wage work. Results indicate that there are no statistically significant differences in fertility between employees and self-employed women. These findings highlight the importance of social protection for the self-employed, at least as far as their fertility is concerned.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that the fracking innovations who had revolutionized the United States oil and gas industry and facilitated a boom in energy production were responsible for positive effects on the labor markets, in particular outside the oil and gas industry.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: Fracking innovations revolutionized the United States oil and gas industry and facilitated a boom in energy production in states with oil and gas resources. This paper examines effects of oil and gas booms within a state on individual employment and earnings. To account for endogenous migration decisions, we instrument for oil and gas production in workers’ state of residence via the predicted percent of oil and gas employment in their state of birth. We find statistically significant and economically meaningful positive effects. The bulk of the effects accrue to workers employed outside the oil and gas industry indicating sizable spillovers.
A new GLO Discussion Paper reviews the economic literature to understand delayed graduations and university dropouts.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non- governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: This paper surveys the theoretical approaches used in the literature to study the phenomenon of delayed graduation and university dropout. The classical human capital model does not contemplate failure, which the amended human capital model does. Delayed graduation and university dropout are two stages of the same decision repeated over the years to step aside or leave when the net returns to education expected ex ante are negative. Failure can also be taken as a signal of the real skills of individuals who do not succeed to gain a higher level of education. The job search approach underlines the role of positive/negative local labor market conditions as a factor able to explain choices of investment in human capital. Within the bargaining approach, the decision to delay graduation or dropout from university is related to bargaining within the family between parents and children: the former give their children better consumption opportunities in return for their presence at home. Although the amended human capital model is certainly the most compelling one, the other approaches help framing factors which are neglected in the human capital model, forming a well-structured body of knowledge to better understand the phenomenon under scrutiny, while also suggesting a set of policy tools to better control it.
A new GLO Discussion Paperstudies forItaly how over-education affects migrants and it evaluates the role informal networks play in producing it. Migrants are more over-educated than natives, but the role of networks is equally relevant for both ethnic groups.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: Whilst migration has become a structural feature of most European countries, the integration of foreigners in the labour market continues to raise concerns. Evidence across countries shows that migrants are more often over-educated than natives. Over the last years, scholarship has intended to capture the effect of informal networks on migrants’ over-education. Interestingly, no study has looked into the Italian case, yet a country for which the effect of networks on education-occupation mismatch is well documented. This article has two objectives: it assesses the extent to which over-education affects migrants and it evaluates the role informal networks play in producing it. We find that foreigners are more over-educated than natives but that the role of networks is consistent across the two groups. Empirical evidence is drawn from the application of quantitative and counter-factual methods to PLUS 2018 – Participation, Labour, Unemployment Survey.
A new GLO Discussion Paper providing an updated picture of main empirical evidence on the relationship between new technologies and employment.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: The present technological revolution, characterized by the pervasive and growing presence of robots, automation, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, is going to transform societies and economic systems. However, this is not the first technological revolution humankind has been facing, but it is probably the very first one with such an accelerated diffusion pace involving all the industrial sectors. Studying its mechanisms and consequences (will the world turn into a jobless society or not?), mainly considering the labor market dynamics, is a crucial matter. This paper aims at providing an updated picture of main empirical evidence on the relationship between new technologies and employment both in terms of overall consequences on the number of employees, tasks required, and wage/inequality effect.
The article finds thatparents compensate disadvantaged children with greater cognitive resources using data fromprimary school-aged Ethiopian siblings.
Author Abstract: A small but increasing body of literature finds that parents invest in their children unequally. However, the evidence is contradictory, and providing convincing causal evidence of the effect of child ability on parental investment in a low-income context is challenging. This paper examines how parents respond to the differing abilities of primary school-aged Ethiopian siblings, using rainfall shocks during the critical developmental period between pregnancy and the first 3 years of a child’s life to isolate exogenous variations in child ability within the household, observed at a later stage than birth. The results show that on average parents attempt to compensate disadvantaged children through increased cognitive investment. The effect is significant, but small in magnitude: parents provide about 3.9% of a standard deviation more in educational fees to the lower-ability child in the observed pair. We provide suggestive evidence that families with educated mothers, smaller household size and higher wealth compensate with greater cognitive resources for a lower-ability child.
Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019): Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi: “Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“ Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123 Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS. GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds for Switzerland thatinclusive labor market policies increase the labor market participation of asylum seekers.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: In the face of recent refugee migration, early integration of asylum seekers into the labor market has been proposed as an important mechanism for easing their economic and social lot in the short as well as in the long term. However, little is known about the policies that foster or hamper their participation in the labor market, in particular during the important initial period of their stay in the host country. In order to evaluate whether inclusive labor market policies increase the labor market participation of asylum seekers, we exploit the variation in asylum policies in Swiss cantons to which asylum seekers are as good as randomly allocated. During our study period from 2011 to 2014, the employment rate among asylum seekers varied between 0% and 30.2% across cantons. Our results indicate that labor market access regulations are responsible for a substantial proportion of these differences, in which an inclusive regime increases participation by 11 percentage points. The marginal effects are larger for asylum seekers who speak a language that is linguistically close to the one in their host canton.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds thatparental migration has a significant negative effect on children’s non-cognitive development.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: Many children worldwide are left behind by parents who are migrating for work. While previous literature has studied the effect of parental migration on children’s educational outcomes and cognitive achievements, this study focuses on how parental migration affects children’s non-cognitive development. We use longitudinal data of children in rural China and adopt labor market conditions in destination provinces as instrumental variables for parental endogenous migration choice. We find that parental migration has a significant negative effect on children’s non-cognitive development. Differentiating inter- and intra-provincial migrations suggests that the negative effect of parental migration is mainly driven by inter-provincial migrations. We test four different mechanisms of how parental migration affects child development including parental financial inputs, parental time inputs, household bargaining, and children’s own time input. Our results provide insights into the relative importance of different mechanisms in determining the effect of parental migration on children’s non-cognitive skill formation.
The GLO Discussion Paper of the Month of August finds that government redistribution through expenditures is a useful tool capable of reducing net income inequality, and even more effectively than has been predicted by previous studies.
Author Abstract:Expansion of the public sector and redistributive policies may reduce income inequality, but formal tests suffer from the problem of endogeneity of government size with respect to the distribution of income. Studying 30 European countries over the period 2004-2015, we apply instrumental variable estimation techniques to identify a causal relationship between income inequality and government size, measured as the government expenditure share in GDP. Using a novel instrument – the number of political parties in the ruling coalition – we find that accounting for the possible endogeneity of government size increases the magnitude of the estimated negative effects. Our findings thus suggest that much of the literature underestimates the true role of the government in attenuating income inequality. The estimated relationship between income inequality and government size persists in a series of robustness checks.
GLO DP Team Senior Editors: Matloob Piracha (University of Kent) & GLO; Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and Bonn University). Managing Editor: Magdalena Ulceluse, University of Groningen. DP@glabor.org
GLO is affiliated with many events and conferences over the year. For our complete listing see the GLO Events page. New events will be announced on the News page, where you can register to obtain regular email messages.
Brisbane, Australia. ThirdAustralian Gender Economics Workshop (AGEW) will take place on February 5-7, 2020 at the Queensland University of Technology. Submission deadline is 18 September 2019.MORE INFORMATION.
The first GLO/EHERO Symposium, chaired by Martijn Burger of EHERO, took place on September 6, 2019 and featured presentations by Dimitris Ballas (University of Groningen) and GLO Fellows Kelsey O’Connor (STATEC) & Martijn Hendriks (EHERO). O’Connor and Hendriks presented research on the subjective well-being consequences of labor migration and refugee asylum centers, respectively, while Ballas discussed novel methods for understanding the geographical distribution of happiness.
Chaired by GLO FellowMilena Nikolova (The University of Groningen), the second GLO/EHERO Symposium on September 7, 2019 offered talks by GLO Fellows Carol Graham (The Brookings Institution/The University of Maryland, College Park), Spiros Stavropoulos (EHERO), and Milena Nikolova. Graham discussed her novel work on the consequences of hope, aspirations, and resilience and future outcomes, such as mortality and income growth. Stavroupoulos’ presentation concerned the implications of industrial change for life satisfaction and Nikolova discussed her research on the causes and consequences of meaningful work.
Both GLO/EHERO symposia were well-attended and a great success and the organizers hope to continue organizing them in future ISQOLS conferences. The next ISQOLS conference will take place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, between August 25-28, 2020.
Note: O’Connor’s paper “The effect of immigration on natives’ well-being in Europe” is available as a GLO Discussion Paper.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that the effect of early childcare attendance differs between native and immigrant children. Early childcare seems to be particularly relevant for immigrant children from a disadvantaged background.
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Author Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of attending early childcare on second generation immigrant children’s cognitive outcomes. Our analysis draws on administrative data on the entire population of students in fifth grade collected by the Italian Institute for the Evaluation of the Educational System (INVALSI) for school years 2014/2015 to 2016/2017 matched to unique administrative records on the early childcare public available slots at the municipal level. Our identification strategy exploits cross-sectional and time series variation in the provision of early childcare service across Italian municipalities as an instrument for individual early childcare attendance. Our results point out that the effect of early childcare attendance differs between native and immigrant children. Although we find no effects for Italian children, our estimates show a positive and significant effect on literacy test scores for immigrant children of low educated mothers, which suggests that early childcare may be particularly relevant for immigrant children from a disadvantaged background.
Gender pay gaps are still of much concern, in particular in the United States. A new GLO Discussion Paper adds to our understanding how the gender gap is shaped by multiple different forces such as parenthood, gender segregation, part-time work and unionization.
GLO Fellows Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster The paper is also GLO Discussion Paper No. 363, 2019.
Author Abstract: This study examines the gender wage gap in the USA using two separate cross-sections from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The extensive literature on this subject includes wage decompositions that divide the gender wage gap into “explained” and “unexplained” components. One of the problems with this approach is the heterogeneity of the sample data. In order to address the difficulties of comparing like with like, this study uses a number of different matching techniques to obtain estimates of the gap. By controlling for a wide range of other influences, in effect, we estimate the direct effect of simply being female on wages. However, a number of other factors, such as parenthood, gender segregation, part-time working, and unionization, contribute to the gender wage gap. This means that it is not just the core “like for like” comparison between male and female wages that matters but also how gender wage differences interact with other influences. The literature has noted the existence of these interactions, but precise or systematic estimates of such effects remain scarce. The most innovative contribution of this study is to do that. Our findings imply that the idea of a single uniform gender pay gap is perhaps less useful than an understanding of how gender wages are shaped by multiple different forces.
Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019): Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi: “Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“ Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123 Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS. GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds for Italy a gender gap of 5% to 8% in hourly wages among PhD holders with sizeable differences by sector of employment and field of specialization.
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is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
GLO Fellows Lorenzo Cicatiello, Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Sergio Pinto
Author Abstract: A growing number of academic studies are devoting their attention to the study of the gender wage gap. This paper contributes to the literature by analyzing the existence of this gap specifically among those who hold the highest possible educational qualification, i.e. a PhD. The analysis relies on Italian cross-sectional data collected through a highly representative survey of the employment conditions of PhD holders. The econometric analysis is carried out by means of OLS regression, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis and quantile decomposition. Findings suggest that a gender gap in hourly wages exists among PhD holders, that it lies approximately between 5% and 8%, with sizeable differences by sector of employment and field of specialization, and that such a gap is largely unexplained.
The third edition of the Australian Gender Economics Workshop (AGEW) will take place in Brisbane at the Queensland University of Technology on 5-7 February 2020.
The aim of AGEW is to foster a community of economic researchers who can collectively contribute to the evidence base needed to guide the pursuit of more gender equitable outcomes in society.
Submissions of both applied and theoretical work on any topic of gender economics are invited.
Victor Lavy and GLO Fellows Shoshana Grossbard & Gigi Foster are the keynote speakers.
GLO Fellows Tina Rampino (Chair) & Rigissa Megalokonomou are among the members of the AGEW2020 Organizing Committee.
Full papers or extended abstracts (min. 1500 words)
A new GLO Discussion Paperon the Great Mexico-US migration finds that large families per se do not boost offspring out-migration. The likelihood of migrating is higher for sons and decreases sharply with birth order.
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functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: We investigate how fertility and demographic factors affect migration at the household level by assessing the causal effects of sibship size and structure on offspring’s international migration. We use a rich demographic survey on the population of Mexico and exploit presumably exogenous variation in family size induced by biological fertility and infertility shocks. We further exploit cross-sibling differences to identify birth order, sibling-sex, and sibling-age composition effects on migration. We find that large families per se do not boost offspring out-migration. Yet, the likelihood of migrating is not equally distributed within a household, but is higher for sons and decreases sharply with birth order. The female migration disadvantage also varies with sibling composition by age and gender.
Most of the studies on how electoral outcomes in Western Europe and in the US are influenced by the presence of immigrants in the neighborhood provide evidence that living in an area with a greater number of immigrants increases the probability of voting for anti-immigrant parties. The immediate policy implication would be that people want to restrict immigration tout court. But is this so?
In a recent GLO Discussion Paper and forthcoming in the Journal of Population Economics, we contribute to the debate on this topic by analyzing the dynamic aspects related to this effect. This is to investigate if policies should be concerned with the time and geographical concentration of new arrivals more than on their number and focus on integration as well as coping ability of local populations. In particular, we formulate the hypothesis that hostility toward immigration is temporary: there is “hate at first sight” only.
We focus on the 2004, 2009 and 2014 European elections in the United Kingdom, a country in which the immigration issue has been central to all of the latest electoral outcomes. The UK Independent Party (Ukip), a party founded in 1993 by Conservatives who were cross with the EU, became a strongly anti-immigration party under the leadership of Nigel Farage. It boosted its votes from 15.6% in 2004 to 26.8% in 2014 in correspondence with an increase in the number of immigrants from 8% to 11% of the total population. ____________________
What we do.
We first
test for a short-run effect of the presence of immigrants on votes for Ukip. In our statistical model we add to
the share of immigrants the 2-year migration flows, as this is the time lag suggested
by time series tests. After having verified that the appropriate statistical
conditions for time consistency are satisfied, we proceed to our main analysis.
Our models control for unemployment,
demographic variables, and population and include specifications with fixed
effects for each area and with an instrumental variable approach.
Previous
studies on Denmark and Italy find that hostility is stronger in rural areas. Immigration
to larger urban centers has generally started before immigration to more rural
areas, which can explain why previous studies have found a different effect in
these two different contexts. Therefore, we test if this difference is
completely explained by the time path of immigration or if there is something
more, maybe related to political and cultural factors.
We explore
potential issues related to integration. Do changes in unemployment, welfare
expenditures per capita or in the number of crimes explain the short-run effect
of the presence of immigrants? These are very common explanations, as
individuals may feel that immigrants are to be blamed for increased unemployment,
for reduced access to welfare or for an increasing number of crimes.
What we find.
The effect of
immigration on anti-immigrant votes is indeed a short-run effect. Areas where there
has been an acceleration of new arrivals by 1 percentage point see an increase
in votes for Ukip by 1.1-1.2 p.p.. In other words, immigration flows boost Ukip
votes. In contrast, an increase of 1 p.p. in the share of immigrants
corresponds to 1.7-1.9 p.p. fewer votes for Ukip.
There is something more to hostility in rural areas than
just the time path of immigration. First, we replicate previous evidence that
the long-run effect of immigration is declining by population density. Second,
if we look at heterogeneity by socioeconomic characteristics, we find that the effect of immigration flows, although positive and
significant in all UK, is different in magnitude across areas and reaches a
peak of 2.1 p.p. in the “English and Welsh Countryside” (see Figure 1). Only in
“London cosmopolitan, Suburban traits and Business and Education centres” and
“Mining Heritage and Manufacturing” the share of immigrants has a negative
significant effect. This further suggests that political and cultural factors may be more relevant
in explaining the difference in votes across areas than the difference between
urban and rural areas.
Looking more closely at
integration issues, in areas that have diminishing welfare benefits per capita
immigration flows have a stronger effect on votes for Ukip. Increase in
unemployment and in crimes do not seem to matter in relation to hostility to
immigration. It is to note that the coefficient of immigration flows always
stays significant, suggesting that there is substantially more that is left
unexplained.
Figure 1
– UKIP votes by supergroups of area: estimated coefficients and confidence
intervals for immigrant share and flows.
————————–
Our findings clearly substantiate that the “hate at first sight” effect , e.g the impact of immigration on the ascent of anti-immigrant parties as the result of the short-term material consequences and/or identity reactions induced by migration flows, is indeed a temporary phenomenon. Two main policy implications follow. First, there is a need to pay closer attention to how flows are distributed over time and space: it is probably better to allow immigrants to arrive in small waves and distribute recent arrivals in a homogeneous manner and based on local political and cultural factors, rather than in large ones and concentrated in certain areas. Second, policies should focus more on integration across its cultural, social and economic dimensions. Clearly, in the long run, social forces can drive toward integration; however, policies can expedite this process. In fact, we find that the electoral impact of immigration is weaker and shortly reverted when more welfare resources become available. Therefore, policies and resources should aim both at facilitating the integration process of migrants as well as the local population’s ability to cope with the changes.
References
Barone G, D’Ignazio A, De Blasio G, Naticchioni P (2016). Mr. Rossi, Mr. Hu and politics. The role of immigration in shaping natives’ voting behavior. J Public Econ 136: 1–13.
Brunner B, Kuhn A (2018). Immigration, cultural distance and natives’ attitudes Towards immigrants: Evidence from Swiss voting results. Kyklos 71(1): 28-58.
Dustmann C, Vasiljeva K, Damm AP (2018). Refugee migration and electoral outcomes. Rev Econ Stud online.
Halla M, Wagner AF, Zweimüller J (2017). Immigration and voting for the far right. J Eur Econ Assoc 15(6): 1341-1385.
Harmon NA (2018). Immigration, ethnic diversity, and political outcomes: Evidence from Denmark. Scand J Econ 120(4): 1043-1074.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that almost 85 percent of “engineering” and “economics and administrative science” faculty students describe health and elderly care as the two major concerns they have for their old ages.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: University students represent nearly more than half of the youth population (age group of 15-24) in Turkey. Meanwhile, the latest demographic data shows that they will constitute a majority of the elder generation in the context of the recent rapid aging trend in the near future. That said, and although the number of studies related to the students’ perceptions of old ages are increasing in recent years, there is still room to extend our understanding of the influence of demographics, social and economic patterns on students’ self perceptions of old age. To investigate the Turkish students’ views towards their own 65+ ages, a questionnaire is applied to 450 students from two different universities located in different regions in Turkey. Survey analysis shows that, almost 85 percent of “engineering” and “economics and administrative science” faculty students describe health and elderly care as the two major concerns in their old ages. On the contrary, answers of the two faculties differentiated clearly in terms of happiness, ability to save more and living with someone else in their old ages. Also, students accept retirement period as a reflection of aging and most of the students claim they had never thought about the aging process before. Yet, female and male students describe the meaning of retirement as the most comfortable period and a period that makes no sense, respectively.
A new GLO Discussion Paperindicate that male and female immigrants from countries with a higher concentration of Protestant missionaries tend to exhibit higher levels of English language proficiency and earnings, and those from countries with a greater concentration of Catholic missionaries exhibit lower levels of both, compared to countries with lower concentrations of missionaries.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
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functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how potential exposure to missionary activity impacts both English language proficiency and labor market earnings of male and female immigrants to the United States. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study uses the pooled files of the American Community Survey (2005-09). To estimate the relationship between the missionary activity of both Protestants and Catholics on an immigrant’s English language proficiency using a linear probability model and their labor market earnings using the human capital earnings function that is estimated with an ordinary least squares model. Among other relevant variables, the analysis controls for the colonial heritage of the immigrant’s country of origin. Findings: Overall, and within colonial heritages, our results indicate that male and female immigrants from countries with a higher concentration of Protestant missionaries tend to exhibit higher levels of English language proficiency and earnings, and those from countries with a greater concentration of Catholic missionaries exhibit lower levels of both, compared to countries with lower concentrations of missionaries. Furthermore, a greater proficiency in English enhances earnings. One of the important implications of the findings in this paper is that a “missionary variable” often used in other studies is too aggregate and may mask important findings because of strikingly different effects of Protestant and Catholic activities and characteristics of the missionaries. Originality/value: This study explores for the first time how, through a missionary concentration variable, potential exposure to missionary activity impacts the English language proficiency and earnings of immigrants.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds evidence that immigrants are more likely to engage in informal education and, conditionally on participation, they allocate more time to these activities.
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Author Abstract: In this paper we study the allocation of time devoted to informal learning and education, i.e. those activities carried out during leisure time and outside formal education courses which boost individuals’ human and social capital. For immigrants the private investment in these activities is likely to have relevant external effects as informal learning and education enhances the likelihood of greater socio-economic integration in the host society. We first develop a simple theoretical framework, which allows us to highlight the different constrains/opportunity costs faced by immigrants as compared with natives. Then, we empirically investigate the determinants of participation in informal education using the American Time Use Data (ATUS; period 2003-2015) which contains detailed information on daily time budgets of a large sample of immigrants and natives in the US. Consistently with a theoretical model of time allocation we find evidence that immigrants are more likely to engage in informal education and, conditionally on participation, they allocate more time to these activities. Over time, immigrants show a higher degree of assimilation into the host society. Our results also highlight heterogeneous patterns across gender.
A new GLO Discussion Paper proposes a simple solution to the independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) problem in the Choo and Siow (2006) model. The original marriage matching function gets modified by an adjustment factor that improves its empirical properties.
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functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: This paper proposes a simple solution to the independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) problem in Choo and Siow (2006) model, overcoming what is probably the main limitation of this approach. The solution consists of assuming match-specific rather than choice-specific random preferences. The original marriage matching function gets modified by an adjustment factor that improves its empirical properties. Using the American Community Survey, I show that the new approach yields significantly different results affecting the qualitative conclusions of the analysis. The proposed solution to the IIA problem applies to other settings in which the relative “supply” of choices is observable.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that those who married prior to migration, who first married at an older age, who are better positioned in the labor market and are less closely connected to their ethnic origins are less likely to be divorced in the United States.
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functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: This paper analyzes the status of being currently divorced among European and Mexican immigrants in the U.S., among themselves and in comparison to the native born of the same ancestries. The data are for males and females age 18 to 55, who married only once, in the 2010-2014 American Community Surveys. Among immigrants, better job opportunities, measured by educational attainment, English proficiency and a longer duration in the U.S. are associated with a higher probability of being divorced. Those who married prior to migration and who first married at an older age are less likely to be divorced. Those who live in states with a higher divorce rate are more likely to be divorced. Thus, currently being divorced among immigrants is more likely for those who are better positioned in the labor market, less closely connected to their ethnic origins, and among Mexican immigrants who live in an environment in which divorce is more prevalent.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that asset diversity increased between 2007 and 2009, in particular with age, education and income. It is lower at the bottom of the wealth distribution.
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functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: We apply diversity indices, such as the Gini-Simpson index and entropy related indices, to the study of the distribution of individual asset holdings in the United States in 2007 and 2009. We examine the impact of the 2008 recession on asset diversity and the way individual socio-economic characteristics as well as important life events affect this measure. The focus of our analysis is on financial assets. We use a unique panel data set that provides us with comprehensive household level data for 2007 and 2009 in the United States– the Survey of Consumer Finances. We find that asset diversity increases between 2007 and 2009. In addition, it increases with age, education and income and it is lower at the bottom of the wealth distribution. Life changing situations such as getting divorced or losing one’s job have a statistically significant negative effect on a change in diversity, while getting married or having deteriorating health have a positive effect. Active money management also affects asset diversity positively.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that IV estimates indicate that there is no statistically significant relationship between BMI and mental health for young adults, whereas there is a positive and statistically significant relationship for the elderly.
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global research, debate and collaboration.
GLO Fellows Carlos Flores & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes
Author Abstract: We examine the relationship between BMI and mental health for young adults and elderly individuals using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the Health & Retirement Study. While OLS estimates show that BMI is significantly associated with worse mental health in both young adulthood and old age, they are likely to be confounded by (i) unobserved factors that affect both BMI and mental health and (ii) reverse causality. To tackle confounding, we take two complementary approaches. First, we use a polygenic score for BMI as an IV and adjust for polygenic scores for other factors that may invalidate this IV. The IV estimates indicate that there is no statistically significant relationship between BMI and mental health for young adults, whereas there is a positive and statistically significant relationship for the elderly. Moreover, we show that IV estimates likely have to be interpreted as identifying a weighted average of effects of BMI on mental health mostly for individuals on the upper quantiles of the BMI distribution. Given potential remaining concerns about the validity of the IV, our second approach is to consider it an “imperfect” IV and estimate an upper bound on the average treatment effect for the corresponding population following Nevo & Rosen (2012). The estimated upper bounds reinforce the conclusions from the IV estimates: they show little evidence of a detrimental effect of BMI on mental health for young adults while being consistent with an economically meaningful effect for elderly individuals. Lastly, we explore some of the potential channels through which BMI may affect mental health for the elderly.
Author Abstract: Many family planning programs are based on the idea that small families lead to improved development outcomes, such as more schooling for children. Because of endogeneity issues, this idea is however difficult to verify. A handful of studies have made use of twin birth to deal with the endogeneity of family size. We do so for sub-Saharan African countries. In a compilation of 86 survey rounds from 34 countries, we exploit the birth of twins to study the effect of a quasi-exogenous increase in family size on the schooling of children at the first, second and third birth order. Our findings do not support the generally assumed negative effect of family size on schooling.
Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019): Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi: “Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“ Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123 Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS. GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi
A new GLO Discussion Papersuggests that smartphone use has a causal negative effect on academic performance.
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functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: After a decade of correlational research, this study attempts to measure the causal impact of (general) smartphone use on educational performance. To this end, we merge survey data on general smartphone use, exogenous predictors of this use, and other drivers of academic success with the exam scores of first-year students at two Belgian universities. The resulting data are analysed with instrumental variable estimation techniques. A one-standard-deviation increase in daily smartphone use yields a decrease in average exam scores of about one point (out of 20). When relying on ordinary least squares estimations, the magnitude of this effect is substantially underestimated. The negative association between smartphone use and exam results is more outspoken for students (i) with highly educated fathers, (ii) with divorced parents and (iii) who are in good health. Policy-makers should at least invest in information and awareness campaigns of teachers and parents to highlight this trade-off between smartphone use and academic performance.
The article is testing bequest motives by using a population-wide administrative dataset from Sweden to find that children who likely provided services and daughters with children receive more. However, while adopted stepchildren receive less (Cinderella effect), there is no support for altruism motives.
Author Abstract: This study contributes to the empirical literature testing bequest motives by using a population-wide administrative dataset, covering data on inherited amounts for complete families matched with an extensive set of economic and demographic variables, to estimate the influence of child characteristics on differences in inherited amounts among siblings. Our main findings are, first, children who are more likely to have provided services to the parent receive more than their siblings, as predicted by the exchange model. Second, daughters with children receive more than sons with children. This is consistent with the prediction of the evolutionary model that larger investments should go to offspring who are certain to be genetically related. There are also Cinderella effects—that is, adopted stepchildren receive less than siblings who are biological or children who are adopted by both parents. Third, we do not find support for the prediction of the altruism model that bequests are compensatory.
Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019): Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi: “Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“ Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123 Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS. GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi
A new GLO Discussion Papersuggests that migration has fostered development across European Union member states but has not necessarily decreased economic inequalities between them.
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is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: This paper explores the long-term effect of migration on economic inequality between the 28 EU member states, covering the period 1995-2017. The cross-national, longitudinal analysis demonstrates that migration has had a positive and significant effect on development and economic growth in 28 member states. However, the findings also indicate that some countries have benefitted from migration more than others. Specifically, for countries experiencing positive net migration the effect is disproportionately larger than for countries experiencing negative net migration. This seems to indicate that, while migration has indeed contributed to economic development in all member states over the period analysed, it has not necessarily contributed to decreasing economic inequalities between them.
Author Abstract: We analyze the economic growth effects of rising longevity in a framework of endogenous growth driven by quality-improving innovations. A rise in longevity increases savings and thereby places downward pressure on the market interest rate. Since the monopoly profits generated by a successful innovation are discounted by the endogenous market interest rate, this raises the net present value of innovations, which, in turn, fosters R&D investments. The associated increase in the employment of scientists leads to faster technological progress and a higher long-run economic growth rate. From a welfare perspective, the direct effect of an increase in life expectancy tends to be larger than the indirect effect of the induced higher consumption due to faster economic growth. Consequently, the debate on rising health care expenditures should not be predominantly based on the growth effects of health care.
Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019): Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi: “Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“ Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123 Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS. GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds thatextreme temperatures increased violent mortality in Russia with unequal impact across gender and age groups.
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is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: We examine the relationship between extreme temperatures and violent mortality across Russian regions, with implications for the social costs of climate change. We assess the unequal impact of temperature shocks across gender and age groups by exploring a dataset on temperature and violence in Russia, between the years 1989 and 2015. Hot days lead to an increase in both female and male victims, one hot day resulting in the loss of 1,579 person-years of life for men, and 642 for women. However, the likelihood of victimization during weekends rises noticeably for women, with women between 25 and 59 more victimized on weekends. Our results suggest that female victimization on hot days would be mitigated by increases in regional income and job opportunities, and on cold days, by decreasing the consumption of spirits.
Author Abstract: This paper examines the impacts of a large and anticipated government transfer, the Russian old-age pension, on labor supply, home production, and subjective wellbeing. The discontinuity in eligibility at pension age is exploited for inference. The 2006–2011 Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey is employed. At pension age, women reduce market work and appear to increase home production. They report increased wellbeing. Men reduce labor supply without any apparent increase in wellbeing. Pension receipt does not impact household composition.
Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019): Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi: “Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“ Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123 Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS. GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi
A new GLO Discussion Papersuggests that government size reduced inequality in European countries over the period 2004-2015.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO)
is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: Expansion of the public sector and redistributive policies may reduce income inequality, but formal tests suffer from the problem of endogeneity of government size with respect to the distribution of income. Studying 30 European countries over the period 2004-2015, we apply instrumental variable estimation techniques to identify a causal relationship between income inequality and government size, measured as the government expenditure share in GDP. Using a novel instrument – the number of political parties in the ruling coalition – we find that accounting for the possible endogeneity of government size increases the magnitude of the estimated negative effects. Our findings thus suggest that much of the literature underestimates the true role of the government in attenuating income inequality. The estimated relationship between income inequality and government size persists in a series of robustness checks.
Using data for Morocco, the paper provides further evidence that international migration fosters the transfer of political and social norms (social remittances).
Author Abstract: This paper focuses on the impact of international migration on the transfer of political and social norms. Exploiting recent and unique data on Morocco, this paper explores whether households with return and current migrants bear different political preferences and behaviours than non-migrant families. Once controlling for the double selection into emigration and return migration, the findings suggest that having a returnee in the household increases the demand for political and social change. This result is driven by returnees mostly from Western European countries, who were exposed to more democratic norms in the destination. However, we find a negative impact of having a current migrant on the willingness of the left-behind households to change. This result is driven by migrants to non-Western countries, where the quality of political and social institutions is lower. Our results are robust to also controlling for destination selectivity.
Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019): Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi: “Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“ Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123 Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS. GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi
A new GLO Discussion Papersuggests that the periods of yen appreciation over the last decades had more than just transitory negative effects on Japanese manufacturing.
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is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that
functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate
global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: Since the demise of the Bretton Woods system, the yen has seen several episodes of strong appreciation, including in the late 1970s, after the 1985 Plaza Agreement, the early and late 1990s and after 2008. These appreciations have not only been associated with “expensive yen recessions” resulting from negative effects on exports; since the late 1980s, the strong yen has also raised concerns about a de-industrialisation of the Japanese economy. Against this backdrop, the paper investigates the effects of changes to the yen exchange rate on the hollowing out of the Japanese industrial sector. To this end, the paper uses both aggregate and industry-specific data to gauge the effects of yen fluctuations on the output and exports of different Japanese industries, exploiting new data for industry-specific real effective exchange rates. Our findings support the view that the periods of yen appreciation had more than just transitory effects on Japanese manufacturing. The results also provide indication of hysteresis effects on manufacturing. While there are certainly also other factors that have contributed to a hollowing out of Japanese industry, a strong yen played a role, too.
The article finds that girls living in localities with return migrants in Mali are less likely to be circumcised. This effect is driven mainly by the returnees from Côte d’Ivoire, suggesting that, in addition to punitive action against those who practice Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or information campaigns, having lived in an African country where FGM practice is not customary is equally influential. This is evidence for the relevance of social remittances through return migration here by improving social norms.
Author Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the power of migration as a mechanism in the transmission of social norms, taking Mali and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a case study. Mali has a strong FGM culture and a long-standing history of migration. We use an original household-level database coupled with census data to analyze the extent to which girls living in localities with high rates of return migrants are less prone to FGM. Malians migrate predominantly to other African countries where female circumcision is uncommon (e.g., Côte d’Ivoire) and to countries where FGM is totally banned (France and other developed countries) and where anti-FGM information campaigns frequently target African migrants. Taking a two-step instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity of migration and return decisions, we show that return migrants have a negative and significant influence on FGM practices. More precisely, we show that this result is primarily driven by the flow of returnees from Cote d’Ivoire. We also show that adults living in localities with return migrants are more informed about FGM and in favor of legislation. The impact of returnees may occur through several channels, including compositional effects, changes in return migrants’ attitudes toward FGM, and return migrants convincing stayers to change their FGM practices.
Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019): Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi: “Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“ Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123 Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS. GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi
