Author Abstract: Schools are ripe for policy intervention. We demonstrate that implementing different teaching practices is effective, finding a greater prevalence of group discussion used in schools positively affects students’ life satisfaction and noncognitive skills but has no impact on test scores. The benefits do not apply to girls, however, unless they attend all-girl schools. These findings are based on a sample from the 2015 PISA which includes more than 35 thousand students from approximately 1500 schools in 14 countries or regions. We perform regressions of student life satisfaction on the prevalence of group discussion and lecturing used in their school, including a battery of individual, teacher, and school controls, as well as random intercepts by school. For robustness we use instrumental variables and methods to account for school-selection. The average impact of group discussion is not small – a one standard deviation leads to an increase in life satisfaction that is about one-half of the negative association with grade repetition. On the other hand, more or less lecturing does not affect life satisfaction, noncognitive skills, nor test scores. We conclude that teaching practices – group discussion – can be used to improve student life satisfaction, thereby likely positively affecting future economic outcomes and well-being.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper reviews the literature to find that Covid-19 may endanger progress in gender equality but hasalso contributed to increased awareness around the globe of the importance of caring labor and care workers.
Author Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered simultaneously a global health crisis and a global economic crisis which have further deepened existing inequalities along several dimensions, including gender. Increasing gender inequalities in paid and unpaid work has been a primary outcome of the pandemic and the associated economic crisis. Given the disproportionate gender division of labor, women were foremost in bearing the brunt of the increased demands on unpaid care work under the lockdown conditions. At the same time, women were also overrepresented in informal employment and service sectors hard-hit by the pandemic resulting in more severe job loss for female workers overall. In many labor markets, women constituted the majority of so-called essential workers, who were protected from job loss yet exposed to increased health risks and prolonged work hours under distressed work conditions. The increasing demand for household production and the unpaid work burden contributed to weakening women’s labor market attachment resulting in higher declines in female labor force participation than male. The increased prevalence of teleworking under the pandemic has the potential to provide improved work-life balance conditions, yet at the risk of widening the gender inequalities in the labor market. While these outcomes point to the threat that Covid-19 poses at rolling back the gains achieved in gender equality, the experiences under the pandemic conditions have also contributed to increased awareness around the Globe of the importance of caring labor and care workers, establishing a solid basis for advocacy of gender equal care policies.
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 COVID pandemic that took the world economy by surprise at the beginning of 2020 brought many drastic changes to the way individuals carry on their daily lives. One that will have long lasting effects, even after the spread of the virus is contained, is a shift towards flexible work arrangements, including remote work options. Initially implemented to comply with government imposed stay-at-home orders, many employers decided to allow remote work even after the orders were lifted. In this chapter we will review some of the metrics used in the literature to measure the potential that a specific occupation is suitable for telework. This is important because Working From Home was often the only option for businesses to remain open during the first part of the pandemic. We also review the results of the literature on two important dimensions of inequality: the gender wage gap and income inequality, Moreover, we review some evidence of the effect of WFH on worker’s productivity in general and during the pandemic and on physical and mental health. We conclude with a description of what WFH may look like after the pandemic, by describing the process towards a possible “new normal” in the labour market.
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.
On behalf of the GLO Happiness Cluster, we are pleased to announce the call for submissions for the conference Wellbeing 2022: Knowledge for informed decisions, organized by STATEC Research. The conference organizing team includes GLO Fellows Francesco Sarracino and Kelsey O’Connor and is supported by an international Scientific Committee, including among others, GLO Fellows Milena Nikolova (GLO Cluster Lead Happiness) and Stephanie Rossouw. For complete details, see the website https://www.wellbeing2022.lu.
This international conference will bring together leading scholars to discuss the quest for better lives, including the measurement of well-being, its causes and consequences, and related questions in presentations of their work.
The program features:
Three keynote talks (Stefano Bartolini, University of Siena; GLO Fellow Carol Graham, Brookings Institution and University of Maryland, College Park; and Andrew Oswald, University of Warwick);
A roundtable discussion on how policy-makers can integrate the findings from well-being studies (GLO Fellow Andrew Clark, Paris School of Economics; Carrie Exton, OECD; Linda Laura Sabbadini (ISTAT); and three MPs from the Parliament of Luxembourg);
An opening talk given by a well-being activist (John de Graaf);
And a workshop on the recently updated World Database of Happiness, given by its creator, Ruut Veenhoven.
Paper submission and deadlines
To apply, please, submit an abstract complete with name of the author/s and a title to: submitSWB2020@statec.etat.lu.
Extended abstracts and full manuscripts are welcome. The deadline for application is the 31 January 2022. We will notify the authors of accepted papers by the end of March 2022. submitSWB2020@statec.etat.lu.
For more information, please, visit our conference website (www.wellbeing2022.lu) or send an e-mail to: infoSWB2020@statec.etat.lu
We look forward to welcoming you in Luxembourg!
The scientific committee
Serge Allegrezza, STATEC Martijn Burger, Erasmus University of Rotterdam Conchita d’Ambrosio, University of Luxembourg Johannes Hirata, Osnabruck University Milena Nikolova, University of Groningen, GLO Kelsey O’Connor, STATEC Research, GLO Chiara Peroni, STATEC Research Maurizio Pugno, University of Cassino Stephanie Rossouw, Auckland University of Technology, GLO Francesco Sarracino, STATEC Research, GLO
A new GLO Discussion Paper reviews the literature to find that initial school closurescontributed to a reduction of virus transmission, but schools could reopen safely when substantial within-school preventive measures were implemented; students learned less and learning inequalities widened when school closed.
Author Abstract: To reduce the spread of COVID-19, schools closed to an unprecedented degree in the spring of 2020. To varying extent, students have moved between in-person and remote learning up until the spring of 2021. This chapter surveys the literature on the implications of school closures of primary to upper-secondary schools for virus transmission, student learning, and mental health among children and adolescents in high-income countries. Subject to severe methodological challenges, most studies indicate that the initial school closures at least to some extent contributed to a reduction of virus transmission. However, several studies find that schools could reopen safely, especially when substantial within-school preventive measures were implemented and the general level of transmission was moderate. Student age also matters and keeping schools open for younger students contributes less to overall virus transmission. Most studies find that students learned less and that learning inequalities widened when school closed. These patterns are particularly pronounced for younger students who face more challenges adjusting to remote instruction. Essentially nothing can be said concerning the implications for vocational training. High-quality evidence on the impact on mental health is scarce and the results are mixed, but there are some indications that older students coped better with school closures also in this regard. On balance, closing schools for younger students is less well-motivated than for older students.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper reveals a statistically significant but small impact on active commuting (i.e. cycling and walking) around the border of the charging zone. The effect is larger for lower-income households and car owners. The findings are robust against multiple specifications and validation tests.
Author Abstract: This study investigates the impact of economic incentives on travel-related physical activity, leveraging the London Congestion Charge’s disincentivising of sedentary travel modes via increasing the cost of private car use within Central London. The scheme imposes charges on most types of cars entering, exiting and operating within the Central London area, while individuals living inside the charging zone are eligible for a 90% reduction in congestion charges. Geographical location information provides the full-digit postcode data necessary to precisely identify the eligibility for the discount of participants in the London Travel Demand Survey for the period 2005-2011. Using a boundary regression-discontinuity design reveals a statistically significant but small impact on active commuting (i.e. cycling and walking) around the border of the charging zone. The effect is larger for lower-income households and car owners. The findings are robust against multiple specifications and validation tests.
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 it is well known that there are systematic birth order effects on life cycle outcomes, there is less consensus about underlying channels and mechanisms of birth order effects. We find negative birth order effects among Chinese adolescents, favoring earlier-born children within household in academic achievement and cognitive skill measures. We highlight harsh parenting as a novel channel of birth order effects, in which earlier-born children are less likely to be physically punished by their parents. Focusing on son preference as a potential mechanism generating birth order effects, our tests show limited support for the existence of son preference among Chinese siblings. These findings are in contrast to positive birth order effects and strong evidence of son preference among earlier generations of Chinese siblings reported in the literature, suggesting weakened role of son preference within families in contemporary 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.
The 38th EBES Conference on January 12-14, 2022 started in Warsaw in Hybrid Mode (online and in-person). The event is supported by the Istanbul Economic Research Association and hosted by the Faculty of Economics Sciences, University of Warsaw. GLO & EBES are collaborating organizations. The conference started on January 12 with welcome speeches by EBES Vice-President Mehmet Bilgin,Gabriela Grotkowska, Dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, and EBES President Klaus F. Zimmermann, who is also GLO President. Zimmermann also chairs a panel in the afternoon on journal publishing.
Link to the general conference program scheduling 197 papers:LINK
Gabriela Grotkowska, Dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, speaking.
On 20 January 2022, GLO Fellow Martijn Hendriks will speak in a public seminar about Happiness and Migration. The talk is based on his Springer Handbook Chapter with Martijn Burger. The GLO Discussion Paper version of the chapter is here. For further details see below.
A new GLO Discussion Paper studies gender preferences in Pakistan across three decades to reveal that preference for boys is visible in a increasing desired sex ratio and a worsening sex ratio at last birth.
Author Abstract: Using data from two representative Demographic and Health Surveys, we examine the change in son preference over the past three decades and its effects on Pakistani women’s fertility. We analyse a number of indicators and employ different empirical methods to come up with strong and persistent evidence for both the revealed and stated preference for sons. This disproportionate preference for boys is visible in increasing desired sex ratio and worsening sex ratio at last birth. Reliance over differential birth-stopping has significantly increased over time as couples are more likely to stop childbearing once the desired number of boys is achieved.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds for China that having disadvantaged peers significantly lowers conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, and social skills.
Author Abstract: Despite extensive literature on peer effects, the role of peers on personality skill development remains poorly understood. We fill this gap by investigating the effects of having disadvantaged primary school peers, generated by random classroom assignment and parental migration for employment. We find that having disadvantaged peers significantly lowers conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, and social skill. The implied effects of a 10-15 percentage point change in the classroom proportion of disadvantaged peers are comparable to the effects of popular early childhood interventions. Furthermore, we find suggestive evidence that these effects are driven by the peers’ personality skills.
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.
Further on peer effects for children:
Chakraborty, Tanika & Schüller, Simone & Zimmermann, Klaus F. (2019), Beyond the Average: Ethnic Capital Heterogeneity and Intergenerational Transmission of Education, GLO Discussion Paper No. 322. Published in: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (JEBO), Vol. 163 (2019), pp. 551-569. Published PDF.
Author Abstract: We study the relationship between trust and vaccination. We show theoretically that vaccination rates are higher in countries with more transparent and accountable governments. The mechanism that generates this result is the lower probability of a transparent and accountable government to promote an unsafe vaccine. Empirical evidence supports this result. We find that countries perceived as less corrupt and more liberal experience higher vaccination rates. Furthermore, they are less likely to adopt a mandatory vaccination policy. One unit of the Corruption Perception Index (scaled from 0 to 10) is associated with a vaccination rate that is higher by one percentage point (pp) but with a likelihood of compulsory vaccination that is lower by 10 pp. In addition, Google Trends data show that public interest in corruption is correlated with interest in vaccination. The insight from our analysis is that corruption affects not only the supply but also the demand for public 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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds for China that cities whose top officials had public health or medical backgrounds had significantly lower infection rates than cities whose top officials lacked such backgrounds.
Author Abstract: In response to the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there have been substantial variations in policy response and performance for disease control and prevention within and across nations. It remains unclear to what extent these variations may be explained by bureaucrats’ professionalism, as measured by their educational background or work experience in public health or medicine. To investigate the effects of officials’ professionalism on their response to and performance in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, we collect information from the résumés of government and Party officials in 294 Chinese cities, and integrate this information with other data sources, including weather conditions, city characteristics, COVID-19-related policy measures, and health outcomes. We show that, on average, cities whose top officials had public health or medical backgrounds (PHMBG) had significantly lower infection rates than cities whose top officials lacked such backgrounds. We test the mechanisms of these effects and find that cities whose officials had PHMBG implemented community closure more rapidly than those lacked such backgrounds. Our findings highlight the importance of professionalism in combating the pandemic.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that notwithstanding its beneficial effects, the rapid and widespread diffusion of new technologies poses serious challenges as to their appropriate use once the pandemic will be over and their long-lasting and transformative effects on both social and industrial relations.
Author Abstract: This contribution reviews the rich interdisciplinary literature covering the relationship between the diffusion of COVID-19 and the adoption of technologies in various sectors of the economy, ranging from health care facilities to manufacturing companies. Besides covering the technical and technological progress achieved to enhance contact tracing, tracking and mapping with the intent of stopping the diffusion of the disease, this chapter also discusses the wide range of innovations introduced to detect the disease and treat the affected people. Finally, the analysis addresses how companies and institutions adopted various technologies (from advanced robotics to artificial intelligence) to mitigate the adverse effects of the virus on their employees, customers, and suppliers, as well as to preserve uncontaminated environments and enforce personal distancing in the workplace. In most cases, modern technologies played a key role to transform workplaces, human resource management, production and sale networks. This contribution points out that, notwithstanding its beneficial effects, the rapid and widespread diffusion of new technologies poses serious challenges as to their appropriate use once the pandemic will be over (i.e., privacy data protection and fundamental rights) and their long-lasting and transformative effects on both social and industrial relations.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that performance pay consistently and importantly associates with greater stress, but the risk tolerant receiving performance pay suffer less stress than the risk averse.
Author Abstract: While performance pay can benefit firms and workers by increasing productivity and wages, it has also been associated with a deterioration of worker health. The transmission mechanisms for this deterioration remain in doubt. We examine the hypothesis that increased stress is one transmission mechanism. Using unique survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we find performance pay consistently and importantly associates with greater stress even controlling for a long list of economic, social and personality characteristics. It also holds in instrumental variable estimations accounting for the potential endogeneity of performance pay. Moreover, we show that risk tolerance moderates the relationship between performance pay and stress. The risk tolerant receiving performance pay suffer less stress than the risk averse. Featured image: Jason-Leung-on-unsplash
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that vaccination take-up as of November 2021 in England is positively associated with pre-vaccine COVID-19-related deaths.
Author Abstract: In this study, we investigate whether COVID-19 deaths that occurred before vaccination rollouts impact subsequent vaccination take-up. We use data on local vaccination rates and COVID-19-related deaths from England measured at high geographic granularity. We find that vaccination take-up as of November 2021 is positively associated with pre-vaccine COVID-19-related deaths, controlling for demographic, economic, and health-related characteristics of the localities, while including geographic fixed effects. In addition, the share of ethnic minorities in a locality is negatively associated with vaccination rates, and localities with a larger share of ethnic minorities increase their vaccination rates if they are exposed to more COVID-related-deaths. Further evidence on vaccination intention at the individual level from a representative sample corroborates these patterns. Overall, our evidence suggests that social proximity to victims of the disease triggers a desire to take protective measures against it
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that immigrants’ location decisions respond strongly to long-run, technology-driven changes in their economic opportunities.
Author Abstract: An important goal of immigration policy is to facilitate the entry of foreignborn workers whose skills are in short supply in national labor markets. In recent decades, information and communication technology [ICT] has fueled the demand for highly educated workers at the expense of lower educated groups. Exploiting the fact that different regions in Switzerland have been differentially exposed to ICT due to their pre-ICT industrial composition, we present evidence suggesting that more exposed regions experienced stronger ICT adoption, accompanied by considerably stronger growth in relative employment and wage-premia for college-educated workers. Following this change in the landscape of relative economic opportunities, we find robust evidence that these regions experienced a much stronger influx of highly educated immigrants in absolute terms as well as relative to lower educated groups. Our results suggest that immigrants’ location decisions respond strongly to these long-run, technology-driven changes in their economic opportunities.
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: Child labor is a widespread phenomenon and therefore is of interest to both researchers and policy makers. Various reasons for the existence of child labor have been proposed with the goal of designing appropriate solutions. While household poverty is viewed as the main reason for child labor, we choose to focus on the phenomenon that parents who worked during own childhood are more likely to send their children to work. We also look at the effect of social norms on the parents’ child labor decision and analyze both these effects on the supply of labor and equilibrium in the labor market. Finally, we suggest an explanation for the phenomenon of poor societies with similar income levels that differ significantly in literacy rates and propose policy improvements.
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 Bank of Italy is organizing a one-day workshop on human capital, which will take place (in presence, if possible) in Rome on the 25th of March 2022. Chris Neilson (Princeton University) will be the keynote speaker. The size of the workshop will be rather small (8-10 papers) in order to have time for fruitful discussions.
The call for papers is available at this link. The deadline for submission is January 23.
Author Abstract: The Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EE) approach makes specific predictions regarding how EE inputs are converted into high-growth firms (HGFs) as an output. A simulation model draws out our hypothesis of regional persistence in HGF shares. Based on intuitions that EEs are persistent, we investigate whether regional HGF shares are persistent, using census data for 2 European countries taken separately (Croatia for 2004-2019, and Slovenia for 2008-2014). Overall, there is no clear persistence in regional HGF shares – regions with large HGF shares in one period are not necessarily likely to have large HGF shares in the following period. This is a puzzle for EE theory. In fact, there seems to be more persistence in industry-level HGF shares than for regional HGF shares. We formulate a ‘broken clock’ critique – just as a broken clock is correct twice a day, EE recommendations may sometimes be correct, but are fundamentally flawed as long as time-changing outcomes (HGF shares) are predicted using time-invariant variables (such as local universities, institutions and infrastructure).
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 4th Renmin University of China, Beijing & GLO Conference 2021 on Chinese labor market issues took place online on December 12, 2021 organized by the School of Labor and Human Resources together with GLO. The event was supported by the Journal of Population Economics.
Organizers: Liqiu Zhao (Renmin University of China and GLO); Corrado Giulietti (University of Southampton and GLO, Associate Editor Journal of Population Economics); Zhong Zhao (Renmin University of China and GLO, Associate Editor Journal of Population Economics). The conference was opened by GLO President & Editor-in-Chief Klaus F. Zimmermann (Renmin University of China & Free University of Berlin). Zimmermann mentioned that the journal has published important Chinese studies and will continue to do so.
The full academic program is provided below.
Papers in the Journal of Population Economics Invited Session can be accessed here:
Author Abstract: We investigate the gender gap in Economics among bachelor’s and master’s graduates in Italy between 2010 and 2019. First we establish that being female exerts a negative impact on the choice to major in Economics: at the bachelor level, only 73 women graduate in Economics for every 100 men, with the mathematical content of high school curricula as the key driver of the effect and a persistence of the gap at the master level. Second, within a full menu of major choices, Economics displays the largest gap, followed by STEM and then Business Economics. Third, decomposition analyses expose a unique role for the math background in driving the Economics gender gap relative to other fields. Fourth, a triple difference analysis of a high school reform shows that an increase in the math content of traditionally low math curricula caused an increase in the Economics gender gap among treated students.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that improving pay and employment conditions for care staff employed by independent providers would reduce staff turnover.
Author Abstract: Staff turnover in the long-term care (LTC) sector in England is perceived to be relatively high. Most job leavers do not leave the sector, but rather move to other LTC employers. Nevertheless, there are concerns that the high ‘churn’ has a negative impact on continuity and quality of care, care providers’ recruitment and training costs, and the remaining staff workload and motivation. Using a large employer-employee panel dataset, this study aimed to provide quantitative evidence on the drivers of LTC staff retention and sick leave in England, with a focus on job quality. After controlling for observed individual, organisational and local market characteristics as well as unobserved worker and employer heterogeneity, we found that, everything else being equal, wages and employment conditions (i.e. full time contracts and contracts with guaranteed working hours) significantly improve staff retention. The wage effect was significantly underestimated when not controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. Our findings show that improving pay and employment conditions for care staff employed by independent providers would reduce the staff turnover in LTC. We also found that, everything else being equal, the amount of sick leave was strongly associated with employment in publicly owned care establishments, most likely due to the relatively more generous sick leave terms they offer.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that being a self-employed supervisor is correlated with more work meaningfulness and autonomy compared with being a salaried supervisor working for an employer.
Author Abstract: We examine the moderating role of being a supervisor for meaning and autonomy of self-employed and employed workers. We rely on regression analysis applied after entropy balancing based on a nationally representative dataset of over 80,000 individuals in 30 European countries for 2005, 2010, and 2015. We find that being a self-employed supervisor is correlated with more work meaningfulness and autonomy compared with being a salaried supervisor working for an employer. Wage supervisors and self-employed supervisors experience similar stress levels and have similar earnings, though selfemployed supervisors work longer hours. Moreover, solo entrepreneurs experience slightly less work meaningfulness, but more autonomy compared with self-employed supervisors. This may be explained by the fact that solo entrepreneurs earn less but have less stress and shorter working hours than selfemployed supervisors.
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.
TheGLO Virtual Seminar is a monthly internal GLO research event chaired by GLO Director Matloob Piracha and hosted by the GLO partner institution University of Kent. The results are available on the GLO website and the GLO News section, where also the videos of the presentations are posted. All GLO related videos are also available in the GLO YouTube channel. (To subscribe go there.)
The November 2, 2021 seminar in the series was given on London/UK time at 1-2 pm, by Mathilde Maurel (CNRS, FERDI and GLO). See below for a report and the full video of the seminar.
Mathilde Maurel
Matloob Piracha
Report
A new approach for evaluation of the economic impact of decentralized electrification projects
The 4th Renmin University of China, Beijing & GLO Conference 2021 takes place online on December 12, 2021 organized by the School of Labor and Human Resources together with GLO. Topics covered deal with Chinese labor market issues. The event is supported by the Journal of Population Economics.
Organizers: Liqiu Zhao (Renmin University of China and GLO); Corrado Giulietti (University of Southampton and GLO, Associate Editor Journal of Population Economics); Zhong Zhao (Renmin University of China and GLO, Associate Editor Journal of Population Economics).
A new GLO Discussion Paper documents causal effects of Chinese import competition for negative health outcomes of individuals working in the German manufacturing sector.
Author Abstract: Whether or not immigration negatively affects the labor market outcomes of natives is an ongoing debate. One of the challenges for empirical evidence is the simultaneity of supply- and demand-side effects. To isolate the demand side, we focus on recent refugees in Germany who are exogenously allocated to districts and largely excluded from the labor market. Using panel data of all German districts between 2010 and 2018 and leveraging variation in the local stock of asylum seekers, we find that 1,000 asylum seekers create 267 jobs on average in a district. This growth effect is mainly driven by a demand for additional labor in service, public administration, and social work. As a consequence, we also observe a significant reduction in the local unemployment rate when more refugees arrive. The dynamic panel data estimates are robust to various sensitivity checks and two different instrumental variable approaches. Quantifying the demand side of immigration adds to our understanding of local labor market dynamics in an increasingly mobile world.
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 firm-level data on 11,000 companies across seven countries in South Asia, this paper explores the effects of access to finance on employment growth and performance at the firm level. The paper focuses on how the impact of financing obstacles varies across firm sizes. The results show that higher obstacles in access to finance reduces employment growth and performance for firms of all sizes, especially micro and small firms. We find significant differences between firms with less than 10 employees and small firm, which suggests that significant reforms are needed to drive micro firm growth to small and medium enterprises.
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 4th Renmin University of China, Beijing & GLO Conference 2021 takes place online on December 12, 2021 organized by the School of Labor and Human Resources together with GLO. Topics covered deal with Chinese labor market issues. The event is supported by the Journal of Population Economics.
Organizers: Liqiu Zhao (Renmin University of China and GLO); Corrado Giulietti (University of Southampton and GLO, Associate Editor Journal of Population Economics); Zhong Zhao (Renmin University of China and GLO, Associate Editor Journal of Population Economics).
The Journal of Population Economics(JOPE) organizes an event on December 6, 16:00-18:00 CET (Maastricht/Dutch time) to present the Kuznets Prize 2022 and a selection of the Covid-19 articles fromissue 34(4)/2021. The event is supported by GLO and hosted by UNU-MERIT via Zoom (see link below).
Managing Editor Michaella Vanore, (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, Netherlands, and GLO) will welcome the participants and guide through the event. Editor-in-Chief Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, Netherlands, and GLO) will introduce into publishing Covid-19 research with JOPE and present the prize. Editor Terra McKinnish (University of Colorado Boulder, USA, and GLO) and Associate Editor Kompal Sinha (Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, and GLO) will also attend to chair sessions.
A highlight of the event is the presentation of the Kuznets Prize, which was awarded to
The authors, Luca Bonacini, Giovanni Gallo & Sergio Scicchitano will be all present in the online ceremony and discuss their work with a panel including Xi Chen (co-author of the Kuznets Prize winning article 2021), Terra McKinnish (JOPE Editor), Kompal Sinha (JOPE Associate Editor) and Klaus F. Zimmermann (JOPE Editor-in-Chief).
This is a unique opportunity to keep contact with fresh research and to meet the researchers behind.
The online event will also highlight a selection of the 10 articles published in issue 34(4)/2021 entirely on Covid-19 issues. All articles are published freely accessible and possible to download.
Since the first days of the pandemic, the journal has become a leading outlet for research on the disease by publishing influential articles. JOPE will continue to strengthen this reputation.
Open to the public. Mark your calendars. Detailed program below. The event will be recorded. Please click the link to join the event on December 6, 2021; 16:00-18:00 CET (Maastricht time):
16:00-16:30 Welcoming Remarks: Michaella Vanore (Managing Editor) Kuznets Prize 2022: Announcement and presentation: Klaus F. Zimmermann (Editor-in-Chief) Panel with Luca Bonacini, Giovanni Gallo & Sergio Scicchitano and Xi Chen (co-author of the Kuznets Prize winning article 2021), Terra McKinnish (Editor), Kompal Sinha (Associate Editor).
TOP 5 of Covid-19 papers in the Journal of Population Economics (as of December 5, 2021 ranked according to Google Scholar citations):
1. Qiu, Y., Chen, X. & Shi, W.: Impacts of social and economic factors on the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China. J Popul Econ33, 1127–1172 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00778-2 Springer measures: 59k accesses, 148 citations; Google citations: 367
2. Bonacini, L., Gallo, G. & Scicchitano, S.: Working from home and income inequality: risks of a ‘new normal’ with COVID-19.J Popul Econ34, 303–360 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00800-7 Springer measures: 43k accesses, 51 citations; Google citations: 149
3. Papageorge, N.W., Zahn, M.V., Belot, M. et al.: Socio-demographic factors associated with self-protecting behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic. J Popul Econ34, 691–738 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00818-x Springer measures: 14k accesses, 32 citations; Google citations: 130
4. Brodeur, A., Grigoryeva, I. & Kattan, L.: Stay-at-home orders, social distancing, and trust. J Popul Econ34, 1321–1354 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-021-00848-z Springer measures: 1.8k accesses, 12 citations; Google citations: 77
5. Milani, F.: COVID-19 outbreak, social response, and early economic effects: a global VAR analysis of cross-country interdependencies. J Popul Econ34, 223–252 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00792-4 Springer measures: 10k accesses, 33 citations; Google citations: 66
A new GLO Discussion Paper explores the impact of financial and legal obstacles utilizing the most recent and unique dataset from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys.
Author Abstract: This paper explores the impact of financial and legal obstacles that affect small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in middle-income East Asian countries by utilizing the most recent and unique dataset from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys. We particularly assess whether and at what level the effects on SMEs differ from those on large firms; We also examine how financial and institutional development levels contribute to firm performance. Our findings provide important guidance for regulators, including the authorities of middle-income nations, who seek to facilitate SMEs’ 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: Whether or not immigration negatively affects the labor market outcomes of natives is an ongoing debate. One of the challenges for empirical evidence is the simultaneity of supply- and demand-side effects. To isolate the demand side, we focus on recent refugees in Germany who are exogenously allocated to districts and largely excluded from the labor market. Using panel data of all German districts between 2010 and 2018 and leveraging variation in the local stock of asylum seekers, we find that 1,000 asylum seekers create 267 jobs on average in a district. This growth effect is mainly driven by a demand for additional labor in service, public administration, and social work. As a consequence, we also observe a significant reduction in the local unemployment rate when more refugees arrive. The dynamic panel data estimates are robust to various sensitivity checks and two different instrumental variable approaches. Quantifying the demand side of immigration adds to our understanding of local labor market dynamics in an increasingly mobile world.
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: Governments face a potential trade-off between provision for the growing population in retirement and the support of working-age households with low income. Using EUROMOD-based microdata from 28 countries, we (a) quantify the redistribution to the pensioner and non-pensioner populations, (b) study the position of net beneficiaries in the overall income distribution and (c) analyse how taxes and benefits affect the working-age population with low income. Our results provide novel insights into the distributive role of tax-benefit systems across Europe. Interestingly, a strong overall redistribution between households is associated with generous pensions for a portion of the retirees but negatively related to support for low-income households.
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 Journal of Population Economics awards annually the Kuznets Prize for the best paper published in the Journal in a particular year. The 2022 Prize based on the articles in 2021 goes to:
The award ceremony is part of a journal workshop on December 6, 2021. 4-6 pm CEST: Presentation of Kuznets Prize 2022 & Highlights of JOPE Issue 4/2021 on Covid-19 economics. MORE information and info to participate: LINK
Luca Bonacini
Giovanni Gallo
Sergio Scicchitano
Luca Bonacini, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
Giovanni Gallo, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; National Institute for Public Policies Analysis (INAPP), Rome, Italy
Sergio Scicchitano, National Institute for Public Policies Analysis (INAPP), Rome, Italy
***
Paper abstract: In the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home (WFH) became of great importance for a large share of employees since it represents the only option to both continue working and minimize the risk of virus exposure. Uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic and future contagion waves even led companies to view WFH as a ‘new normal’ way of working. Based on influence function regression methods, this paper explores the potential consequences in the labor income distribution related to a long-lasting increase in WFH feasibility among Italian employees. Results show that a positive shift in WFH feasibility would be associated with an increase in average labor income, but this potential benefit would not be equally distributed among employees. Specifically, an increase in the opportunity to WFH would favor male, older, high-educated, and high-paid employees. However, this ‘forced innovation’ would benefit more employees living in provinces have been more affected by the novel coronavirus. WFH thus risks exacerbating pre-existing inequalities in the labor market, especially if it will not be adequately regulated. As a consequence, this study suggests that policies aimed at alleviating inequality, like income support measures (in the short run) and human capital interventions (in the long run), should play a more important compensating role in the future.
GLO andFOM University of Applied Sciences are strategic partners and institutional supporters. After years of cooperation, representatives have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) about their successful collaboration on research and educational activities. As the MOU states: “The collaboration aims to advance academic knowledge in both parties through the encouragement of academic research, the communication among scholars through meetings, conferences and seminars, the promotion of publication opportunities and by providing networking opportunities for scholars through events, projects and other joint activities.” The agreement was signed in November 2021 by FOM’s Chancellor Harald Beschorner and GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann.
Author Abstract: This paper represents one of the first attempts at building a direct measure of occupational exposure to robotic labour-saving technologies. After identifying robotic and LS robotic patents retrieved by Montobbio et al. (2022), the underlying 4-digit CPC definitions are employed in order to detect functions and operations performed by technological artefacts which are more directed to substitute the labour input. This measure allows to obtain fine-grained information on tasks and occupations according to their similarity ranking. Occupational exposure by wage and employment dynamics in the United States is then studied, complemented by investigating industry and geographical penetration rates.
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 Journal of Population Economics(JOPE) announces an event for December 6, 16:00-18:00 CET (Maastricht/Dutch time) to present the Kuznets Prize 2022 and a selection of the articles fromissue 34(4)/2021. The event is supported by GLO and hosted by UNU-MERIT via Zoom. Editor-in-Chief Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, Netherlands, and GLO) will welcome the participants and present the prize. Managing Editor Michaella Vanore, (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, Netherlands, and GLO) will guide through the event. Editor Terra McKinnish (University of Colorado Boulder, USA, and GLO) and Associate Editor Kompal Sinha (Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, and GLO) will also attend to chair sessions. This is a unique opportunity to keep contact with fresh research and to meet the researchers behind.
The webinar will highlight a selection of the 10 articles published in issue 34(4)/2021 entirely on Covid-19 issues. All articles are published freely accessible and possible to download.
Since the first days of the pandemic, the journal has become a leading outlet for research on the disease by publishing influential articles. JOPE will continue to strengthen this reputation.
Open to the public. Mark your calendars. Detailed program below. The event will be recorded. Please click the link to join the event on December 6, 2021; 16:00-18:00 CEST: LINK https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83267591773?pwd=ZkpuSExTTnQ4emZMTC9QTXl3TzQ1dz09
16:00-16:30 Welcoming Remarks: Michaella Vanore (Managing Editor) Kuznets Prize 2022: Announcement and presentation: Klaus F. Zimmermann (Editor-in-Chief)
TOP 5 of Covid-19 papers in the Journal of Population Economics (as of November 29, 2021):
1. Qiu, Y., Chen, X. & Shi, W.: Impacts of social and economic factors on the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China. J Popul Econ33, 1127–1172 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00778-2 Springer measures: 59k accesses, 146 citations; Google citations: 364
2. Bonacini, L., Gallo, G. & Scicchitano, S.: Working from home and income inequality: risks of a ‘new normal’ with COVID-19.J Popul Econ34, 303–360 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00800-7 Springer measures: 42k accesses, 46 citations; Google citations: 146
3. Milani, F.: COVID-19 outbreak, social response, and early economic effects: a global VAR analysis of cross-country interdependencies. J Popul Econ34, 223–252 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00792-4 Springer measures: 10k accesses, 33 citations; Google citations: 66
4. Papageorge, N.W., Zahn, M.V., Belot, M. et al.: Socio-demographic factors associated with self-protecting behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic. J Popul Econ34, 691–738 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00818-x Springer measures: 13k accesses, 32 citations; Google citations: 128
5. Bonacini, L., Gallo, G. & Patriarca, F.: Identifying policy challenges of COVID-19 in hardly reliable data and judging the success of lockdown measures. J Popul Econ34, 275–301 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00799-x Springer measures: 4.8k accesses, 27 citations; Google citations: 46
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that initially authoritarian countries are slow in the vaccination process, while education is most relevant for scaling up the campaign and financial strength of the economies drive them to higher vaccination rates.
Author Abstract: Since vaccination is the decisive factor for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to understand the process to vaccination success. We identify a variety of factors playing a crucial role including the availability of vaccines, pandemic pressures, economic strength (GDP), educational development and political regimes. Examining the speed of vaccinations across countries, we find that initially authoritarian countries are slow in the vaccination process, while education is most relevant for scaling up the campaign and financial strength of the economies drive them to higher vaccination rates.
Featured image: Markus-Spiske-on-Unsplash
Further research on the pandemic:
Gokhan Karabulut, Klaus F. Zimmermann, Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin and Asli Cansin Doker (2021), “Democracy and COVID-19 Outcomes”, Economics Letters, Vol. 203, June 2021, 109840 Open Access; free PDF. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109840
Klaus F. Zimmermann, Gokhan Karabulut, Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin and Asli Cansin Doker (2020), “Inter-country Distancing, Globalization and the Coronavirus Pandemic“, The World Economy, Vol. 43, pp. 1484-1498. OPEN ACCESS, doi:10.1111/twec.12969. PDF.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that a school reform in Hungary increasing the length of schooling did not decrease the probability of dropping out of secondary school at all levels.
Author Abstract: This paper examines the effects of increasing the compulsory school leaving age from 16 to 18 in Hungary using a difference-in-regression-discontinuities design identification strategy. While the reform increased the length of schooling, it did not decrease the probability of dropping out of secondary school, either on average or among the most at-risk group of Roma ethnic minority young people. Due to grade retentions, marginal students were older than their peers and couldn’t have made it to the final grade of secondary school by age 18. Neither did the reform increase the probability of employment at age 20 and 25. I show descriptive evidence that the share of disadvantaged students increased heavily in vocational training schools -that most marginal students attended- and potentially crowded out resources. This mechanism raises concerns about using school leaving age reforms as instrumental variables for education as it may violate its monotonicity assumption.
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.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that restricting family allowance eligibility criteria decreases fertility and increases both male and female labor supply.
Author Abstract: This paper examines fertility and labor supply responses to a French policy reform that consisted in conditioning the amount of child allowances on household income. Relying on Regression Discontinuity Design and administrative income data, the paper finds that restricting family allowance eligibility criteria decreases fertility. The results also highlight that receiving half the amount of the allowances or not receiving any leads to an increase in both male and female labor supply. Auxiliary regressions show that at least part of the decline in fertility is due to timing effects, as the fertility impact declines as women’s age increases.
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.
TheGLO Virtual Seminar is a monthly internal GLO research event chaired by GLO Director Matloob Piracha and hosted by the GLO partner institution University of Kent. The results are available on the GLO website and the GLO News section, where also the videos of the presentations are posted. All GLO related videos are also available in the GLO YouTube channel. (To subscribe go there.)
Forthcoming (GLO members & special invitations): December 2, 2021; 1 pm London/UK time:Mathilde Maurel (CNRS, FERDI and GLO
A new approach for evaluation of the economic impact of decentralized electrification projects (with J.C. Berthélémy)
The November 2, 2021 seminar in the series was given on London/UK time at 1-2 pm, by Karin Mayr-Dorn (University of Linz and GLO). See below for a report and the full video of the seminar.
Karin Mayr-DornGLO DirectorMatloob Piracha
Report
Trade diversion and labor market adjustment: Vietnam and the U.S.-China trade war
A new GLO Discussion Paper studies how institutional quality affects the size of the informal economyto find a positive and a significant association between labor productivity and the size of the shadow economy, among others.
Author Abstract: The relationship between shadow economy (or informal economy) and development has been extensively researched. But there is a lack of consensus on how institutional quality affects the size of informal economy in any country. Using the Kuznets Curve hypothesis we assess the relationship between institutional quality and the size of SE for a group of Latin American and Eurozone countries for 1991-2015. We examine the rationale of the ‘exclusion’ and ‘escape’ theories in short and long-run with the multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) model. We use two techniques, namely an instrumental variable (IV) and Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) approach. The results show positive and a significant relationship between labour productivity and the size of the shadow economy. We also find that the size of the informal sector is related to the institutional framework, and while the size of the informal sector varies across countries, both formal and informal sectors can co-exist in the long run. High corruption together with an excessive tax burden and adverse socio-economic conditions impact the size of the informal sector in an economy.
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: Multitasking – alternating between two different tasks at the same time – has become a daily habit for many university students. However, this may come at a cost since the existing literature emphasises the negative association between multitasking and academic performance. Nonetheless, this literature is based on cross-sectional observational data so that that estimates cannot be given a causal interpretation. To complement these studies, we opted for a longitudinal design in this study. Specifically, for three consecutive years, students at two Belgian universities, in more than ten different study programmes, were surveyed on their multitasking preferences and academic performance. Then, these results were merged with the students’ exam scores. We exploited the longitudinal character of the data by running random and fixed effect models. Our results indicate that the positive and negative aspects of multitasking with respect to academic performance cancel each other out.
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: Adopting a panel event study framework, we estimate the effect of unemployment on health outcomes by exploiting the variation in the timing of entering unemployment using longitudinal data for Greece. We find, that in the periods ahead of an unemployment event, health outcomes decline and unmet needs for medical care increase. These findings are valid only for men and are robust to alternative definitions of health outcomes, unemployment events and model specifications.
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: Technological change and globalization have sparked debates on the changing demand for skills in western labour markets, especially for middle skilled workers who have seen their tasks replaced. This paper provides a new data set, which is based on text data from curricula of the entire Dutch vocational education system. We extract verbs and nouns to measure social, technical and basic skills in a novel way. This method allows us to uncover the skills middle-skilled students learn in school. Using this data, we show that skill returns vary across students specialized in STEM, economics or health, as well as across sectors of 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: Gender disparities in STEM fields participation are a major cause of concern for policymakers around the world. In addition to talent misallocation, low female enrollment rates in STEM careers contribute to gender-based inequalities in earnings and wealth, given the higher average level of earnings in these fields. This paper studies the effects of exposure to role models on female preferences for STEM majors. We conduct a randomized control trial where female senior students currently enrolled in engineering programs at an elite private university in Peru give talks about their experiences at randomly selected high schools. We find that exposure to this treatment increases high ability female students’ preferences for engineering programs by 14 percentage points. The effect is only statistically significant for the subgroup of female students with baseline math scores in the top 25 percentile, and who reside close to the city where the role models’ university is located. We also find positive but smaller effects on “low ability” male students. In a context where females are discouraged from enrolling in STEM fields, our results have important policy implications.
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.
