Author Abstract: I review trends in migration to the UK since the Brexit referendum, examining first the sharp fall in net migration from the EU that resulted, and then the recent more dramatic exodus of foreign-born residents during the covid-19 pandemic. I describe the new post-Brexit system, and review studies which attempt to estimate both the impact on future migration flows and on GDP and GDP per capita. Finally, I discuss the wider economic impact of the new system and some of the 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.
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST freely accessible finds for Japan that during Covid-19 school closures increased the inequality of mental health between genders and parents with different educational backgrounds.
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.
Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics OPEN ACCESS andPDF.
Author Abstract: The spread of the novel coronavirus disease caused schools in Japan to close to cope with the pandemic. In response to the school closures, parents of students were obliged to care for their children during the daytime, when children usually were at school. Did the increase in the burden of childcare influence parents’ mental health? Based on short panel data from mid-March to mid-April 2020, we explore how school closures influenced the mental health of parents with school-aged children. Using a fixed-effects model, we find that school closures led to mothers of students suffering from worse mental health compared to other females, while the fathers’ mental health did not differ from that of other males. This tendency is only observed for less-educated mothers who had children attending primary school, not for those with children attending junior high school nor for more-educated mothers. The contribution of this paper is showing that school closures increased the inequality of mental health between genders and parents with different educational backgrounds.
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST freely accessible finds for Portugal’s wage gap between vocational and general secondary education no support for either the human capital prediction of crossing wage profiles or the hypothesis that general graduates increasingly outperform vocational graduates in late career.
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 document and analyse the wage gap between vocational and general secondary education in Portugal between 1994 and 2013. As Portuguese workers have been educated in different school systems, we have to distinguish between birth cohorts. Analysing the wage gaps within cohorts, we find no support for either the human capital prediction of crossing wage profiles or the hypothesis that general graduates increasingly outperform vocational graduates in late career. We discover that the lifecycle wage profiles have shifted over time. We link the pattern of shifting cohort profiles to changes in the school system and in the structure of labour demand. We conclude that assessing the relative value of vocational education requires assessing how the vocational curriculum responds to changes in economic structure and technology. We show that the decline in assortative matching between workers and firms has benefited vocationally educated workers.
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST freely accessible finds for Germany that among the self-employed, who generally face a higher likelihood of income losses due to COVID-19 than employees, women are about one-third more likely to experience income losses than their male counterparts. No comparable gender gap among employees is found.
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 investigate how the economic consequences of the pandemic and the government-mandated measures to contain its spread affect the self-employed — particularly women — in Germany. For our analysis, we use representative, real-time survey data in which respondents were asked about their situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings indicate that among the self-employed, who generally face a higher likelihood of income losses due to COVID-19 than employees, women are about one-third more likely to experience income losses than their male counterparts. We do not find a comparable gender gap among employees. Our results further suggest that the gender gap among the self-employed is largely explained by the fact that women disproportionately work in industries that are more severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis of potential mechanisms reveals that women are significantly more likely to be impacted by government-imposed restrictions, e.g., the regulation of opening hours. We conclude that future policy measures intending to mitigate the consequences of such shocks should account for this considerable variation in economic hardship.
On invitation of the International Economic Association (IEA) the Global Labor Organization (GLO) had organized three sessions for the IEA World Congress, which were recorded by GLO with support of Kent University on June 10, 2021.
The video is available here. It will be also available through the IEA Congress Website.
The Covid-19 delayed IEA World Congress (“Bali”) now takes place virtually on 2-6 July 2021.
Seebackground material to the papers below where available.
PROGRAM
Session I.“Socioeconomic Status and Identity”. Chair: Kompal Sinha (Macquarie University)
“Social Assimilation and Labor Market Outcomes of Internal Migrant Workers” Shu Cai (Jinan University) with Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO) Discussion: Matloob Piracha (University of Kent)
“Ethnic Identity and Immigrants’ Labour Market Outcomes” Matloob Piracha (University of Kent) with Massimiliano Tani (University of New South Wales), Zhiming Cheng (University of New South Wales) and Ben Zhe Wang (Macquarie University) Discussion: Shu Cai (Jinan University)
“Distributional Analysis of the Role of Breadth and Persistence of Multiple Deprivation in the Health Gradient Measured by Biomarkers” Kompal Sinha (Macquarie University) with Apostolos Davillas (Norwich Business School), Andrew M. Jones (University of York) and Anurag Sharma (University of New South Wales) Discussion: Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO)
Eva Van Belle & Martin Kahanec
Session II. “The Migration Challenge“. Chair: Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO)
“Global Challenges and the Handbook Project” (Klaus F. Zimmermann, Ed., Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, Springer Nature, forthcoming). Chapters presented here in this session will appear in the Handbook. Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO)
“Welfare Migration” Martin Guzi (Masaryk University) with Martin Kahanec (Central European University)
“Climate Change and Migration” Shuaizhang Feng (Jinan University) with Xiaomeng Cui, (Jinan University)
Discussion: Martin Kahanec (Central European University)
Eskil Wadensjö
Session III. “Wage gaps”. Chair: Amelie Constant (Princeton University)
“The Native-Immigrant Wage Gap: A Meta-Analysis” Eva Van Belle (nccr and University of Neuchâtel) with Didier Ruedin (University of Neuchâtel) Discussion: Hans Lööf (Royal Institute of Technology)
“Occupational Sorting and Wage Gaps of Refugees” Hans Lööf (Royal Institute of Technology) with Christopher F. Baum (Boston College), Andreas Stephan (Jönköping University and DIW Berlin) and Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO) Discussion: Eva Van Belle (nccr and University of Neuchâtel)
“Fifty-five Years of Wage Disparities between Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites in the U.S.” Amelie Constant (Princeton University) with Douglas S. Massey (Princeton University) Discussion: Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO)
Klaus F. Zimmermann, Ed., Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, Springer Nature, forthcoming. Further information LINK.
Martin Guzi and Martin Kahanec, Welfare Migration. Forthcoming in: Zimmermann K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham.
Aycan Çelikakso and Eskil Wadensjö, Child Migration. Forthcoming in: Zimmermann K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham.
Xiaomeng Cui and Shuaizhang Feng (2020), Climate Change and Migration. In: Zimmermann K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_115-1
A new GLO Discussion Paperindicates that introducing a hypothetical wage penalty for discriminatory choice behavior lowers discrimination and that higher penalties have a greater effect.
Author Abstract: Using a choice experiment, we test whether taste-based employee discrimination against ethnic minorities is susceptible to loss aversion. In line with empirical evidence from previous research, our results indicate that introducing a hypothetical wage penalty for discriminatory choice behaviour lowers discrimination and that higher penalties have a greater effect. Most notably, we find that the propensity to discriminate is significantly lower when this penalty is loss-framed rather than gain-framed. From a policy perspective, it could therefore be more effective to financially penalise taste-based discriminators than to incentivise them not to discriminate.
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 employers’ violations of the wage contracts of workers on H-1B temporary work visas to the US; higher labor market power is associated with fewer violations, higher unemployment rates and subcontractor firms are associated with more.
Author Abstract: This study explores what determines employers’ violations of the wage contracts of workers on H-1B temporary work visas, which occur when firms pay those workers below the promised prevailing or “market” wage. A theoretical framework is proposed that predicts more violations during economic downturns, fewer violations when firms have more labor-market power, and more violations by subcontractor firms. Empirical analysis is based on a firm-level matched dataset of wage and hour violations and the firms that sponsor H-1Bs. Higher labor market power, measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, is associated with fewer violations. Higher unemployment rates and subcontractor firms are associated with more violations. The effects of the unemployment rate and labor market power are amplified in subcontractor firms.
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.
Sergio Scicchitano is Co-Lead of the GLO Coronavirus Cluster. On behalf of the Cluster he is organizing the “Panel Session CO466: The econometrics of Covid-19 pandemic” at the 15th International Conference on Computational and Financial Econometrics (CFE 2021), hosted by King’s College London on 18-20 December 2021.
Sergio Scicchitano
Abstact submission now open until 6th September 2021. How to submit: http://www.cfenetwork.org/CFE2021/submission.php
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that there is no significant difference between valuations of a private good and various versions of a public good as long as the good itself is the same.
Author Abstract: A frequent finding in the empirical literature on cost-benefit analysis of traffic safety measures is that valuations of public goods are lower than valuations of private goods, contrary to theory predictions. This study elicits the willingness to pay for publicly and privately provided safety improvement benefiting cyclists and pedestrians, a relatively neglected group in this literature. Our results suggest that there is no significant difference between valuations of a private good and three versions of a public good as long as the good itself is the same, in our case a mobile phone app. The public good versions differ in attributes such as mandatory or voluntary use and private or public provision institutions. . This finding is consistent with the simultaneous presence of both financial altruism and safety altruism, or neither. Public institutions are preferred to private ones in the provision of the public goods, and voluntary participation is preferred to mandated regulation. We also find evidence that attitudes that favor using taxes to fund traffic safety projects, and public responsibility for traffic safety are associated with a higher willingness to pay.
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 video of the presentation is posted. All GLO related videos are also available in the GLO YouTube channel. (To subscribe go there.)
The last seminar was given on June 3, 2021, London/UKat 1-2 pm, by Chiara Rapallini (Università degli Studi di Firenze and GLO) on Personality Traits and Earnings: A Meta-Analysis. See below a report and the full video of the seminar.
1. Provides a meta-analytical review of the empirical literature on the relationship between personal earnings and the Big Five personality traits.
2. Based on 936 partial effect sizes collected from 65 peer-reviewed articles published between 2001 and 2020.
3. Finds that personal earnings are positively associated with the traits of Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion, and negatively associated with the traits of Agreeableness and Neuroticism.
4. Meta-regression estimates suggest that the results of the primary literature are at least partially driven by the characteristics of the study design and, in particular, that the inclusion of individual controls like the level of education attained or/and a proxy for cognitive abilities helps to explain study heterogeneity.
The paper is co-authored with Gimmarco Alderotti and Silvio Traverso.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that tenure exhibits an inverted-U-shaped relationship with respect to productivity, but its impact differs widely across workforce and firm dimensions.
Author Abstract: In this paper, we explore the impact of workers’ tenure on firm productivity, using rich longitudinal matched employer-employee data on private Belgian firms. We estimate a production function augmented with a firm-level measure of tenure. We deal with endogeneity, which arises from unobserved firm heterogeneity and reverse causality, by applying a modified version of Ackerberg et al.’s (2015) control function method, which explicitly removes firm fixed effects. Consistently with recent theoretical predictions, we find that tenure exhibits an inverted-U-shaped relationship with respect to productivity. The existence of decreasing marginal returns to tenure is corroborated in our analysis on the tenure composition of the workforce. We also find that the impact of tenure differs widely across workforce and firm dimensions. Tenure is particularly beneficial for productivity in contexts characterized by a certain degree of routineness and lower job complexity. Along the same lines, our findings indicate that tenure exerts stronger (positive) impacts in industrial and high capital-intensive firms, as well as in firms less reliant on knowledge- and ICT-intensive processes.
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 light-touch intervention can increase socioeconomic and racial diversity in undergraduate economics.
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 assess whether a light-touch intervention can increase socioeconomic and racial diversity in undergraduate Economics. We randomly assigned over 2,200 students a message with basic information about the Economics major; the basic message combined with an emphasis on the rewarding careers or financial returns associated with the major; or no message. Messages increased the proportion of first generation and underrepresented minority (URM) students majoring in Economics by five percentage points. This effect size was sufficient to reverse the gap in Economics majors between first generation/URM students and students not in these groups. Effect sizes were larger and more precise for better-performing students and first generation students. Extrapolating to the full sample, the treatment would double the proportion of first generation and underrepresented minority students majoring in Economics.
Featured image: Photo-by-Mikael-Kristenson-on-Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that bad economic conditions when young can significantly predict higher entrepreneurship in later 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: We argue that past events experienced during the critical ages of 18-25 can influence an individual’s future entrepreneurship based on the “impressionable years hypothesis”. Accordingly, we empirically investigate the relationship between bad economic conditions during youth and later-life entrepreneurship using Gallup from 2009 to 2014. The identification is achieved through variations across 77 countries and age cohorts born between 1954 and 1989. Our findings indicate that bad economic conditions when young can significantly predict higher entrepreneurship in later life. For example, experiencing at least one economic contraction during youth increases future self-employment/business ownership propensities by about 6/10% at the outcome means. Graduating from college and entering the job market in a bad economy cannot explain our results. Findings are robust to numerous methods of measuring economic contractions and controlling for behavioural measures as well as economic shocks experienced before and after the impressionable years.
A new GLO Discussion Paper studies online food ordering which tops online orders and creates millions of food delivery rider jobs/gigs in mainland 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: This article investigates the motivation of contingent workers in the gig economy of China, particularly focusing on the two Mobile Food Delivery Aggregators (MFDA) – Meituan and Ele.me that controls over 80% of the food delivery market in China. The convenience of one ‘super-app’ on phone, offered by each of these companies, allows users to order a diversified range of products and services starting from food, clothing to travel booking and ride-hailing. Online food ordering, however, tops the chart of online orders and this creates millions of food delivery rider jobs/gigs in mainland China. This paper draws key insights from the employee motivation theories by Herzberg and Taylor which underpins the findings and thematic discussion of this qualitative paper. While it is important to recognise that the usage growth of these MFDAs and consequently new gig creation is exponentially growing, the implications of this research would inform these online platform-based companies how to better design motivational factors or incentives to boost their employee satisfaction, engagement and levels of commitments in the colossal Gig economy of mainland China.
Organized by POP@UNU-MERIT, GLO & Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and hosted by UNU-MERIT, Maastricht, an Online Workshop on “Technological Change, Employment & Skills” will take place on June 7, 2021, 2.00 – 6.00 pm CEST/Maastricht/Dutch time. The workshop presents the core findings of 10 chapters of the 20 review articles of the section on ‘Technological Changes and the Labor Market’ in the Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics Handbook supported by the GLO and published by Springer Nature. The event is motivated by the attempt to review and discuss the general findings and the state-of-the-art in the economics and business literature.
Below you find an introduction to the Handbook Project, the detailed Workshop Program (PDF) and a listing of the 20 Handbook Chapters with links to access them on the Springer Nature website.
No advanced registration needed. Zoom Link: https://maastrichtuniversity.zoom.us/j/92175077007
The Handbook Project
The Handbook in “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” provides an integrated picture of knowledge about the economic and social behaviors and interactions of human beings on markets, in households, in companies and in societies. A fast evolving project by the GLO with a core basis in labor economics, human resources, demography and econometrics, it will provide a large and complete summary and evaluation of the scientific state of the art. Chapters are developed under the guidance of an engaged team of editors led by the GLO President administered in 30 sections.
to find out how to contribute to this exciting venture with an own chapter.
The Section “Technological Changes and the Labor Market” is directed by Marco Vivarelli, who is also the GLO Cluster Lead of the “Technological Change” area. The Section is just completing its set of 20 published papers now available for use, review and debate.
Workshop: Technological Change, Employment and Skills. June 7, 2021
14:00Opening Remarks Welcome: Neil Foster-McGregor (Deputy Director, UNU-MERIT) Introduction: Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO; Editor of the “Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics”)
14:15Aims and Scope Marco Vivarelli(Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore & GLO; Editor of the Section “Technological Changes and the Labor Market”)
14:30Technology and Work: Key Stylized Facts for the Digital Age Mario Pianta (Scuola Normale Superiore & GLO)
14:45Innovation, Technology Adoption and Employment: Evidence Synthesis Mehmet Ugur (University of Greenwich)
15:00Innovation, Employment, and the Business Cycle Bernhard Dachs (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology)
15:15Technological Innovations and Labor Demand Using Linked Firm-Level Data Eva Hagsten (University of Iceland)
15:30General Discussion Chaired by Marco Vivarelli(Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore & GLO)
16:00Coffee/Tea Break
16:15AI and Robotics Innovation Daniele Vertesy (Joint Research Center & GLO)
16:30Robots at Work: Automatable and Non-automatable Jobs Cecily Josten(LSE)
16:45Why do Employees Participate in Innovations? Skills and Organisational Design Issues and the Ongoing Technological Transformation Nathalie Greenan (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers & GLO)
17:00Skill-Sets for Prospective Careers of Highly Qualified Labor Dirk Meissner (HSE University)
17:15Quantity and Quality of Work in the Platform Economy Dario Guarascio (Sapienza University of Rome & GLO)
18:00Conclusions Marco Vivarelli and Klaus F. Zimmermann
Handbook Section “Technological Changes and the Labor Market“
The Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics Editor: Klaus F. Zimmermann
Section – Technological Changes and the Labor Market Marco Vivarelli, Section Editor Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Department of Economic Policy, Milan, Italy Note: Find abstract links of the articles below the chapter titles.
Digitization and the Future of Work: Macroeconomic Consequences Melanie Arntz1,2, Terry Gregory3,1, Ulrich Zierahn5,1,4 1 Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, 2University of Heidelberg, 3Institute of Labor Economics, IZA,4CESifo Research Network, 5Utrecht University
Innovation, Employment, and the Business Cycle Bernhard Dachs1, Martin Hud2, Bettina Peters2,3 1AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, 2Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, 3University of Luxembourg
Why do employees participate in innovations? Skills and organisational design issues and the ongoing technological transformation, in production Nathalie Greenan, Silvia Napolitano Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers
Quantity and Quality of Work in the Platform Economy Francesco Bogliacino1, Cristiano Codagnone2,3, Valeria Cirillo4, Dario Guarascio5 1Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2Università degli Studi di Milano, 3Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 4INAPP, National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies, 5Università degli Studi di Roma
Integration in Global Value Chains and Employment Filippo Bontadini1, Rinaldo Evangelista2, Valentina Meliciani3, Maria Savona1 1University of Sussex, 2University of Camerino, 3University Luiss Guido Carli
After the pandemic is before the next pandemic: A new GLO Discussion Paper navigates through a long-awaited health policy transformation in areas that help to better prepare for the next pandemic.
Author Abstract: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is bringing about once-in-a-century changes to human society. Three key properties escalate the COVID-19 pandemic into a syndemic. To address this triple crisis, we discuss the importance of integrating early, targeted and coordinated public health measures with more equitable social policy, and with health care policy that realigns incentives of the major players in the health care market. Drawing on evidence from past and present epidemics as well as comparing variations in response to the current health emergency between China, the U.S. and beyond, we navigate long-awaited health policy transformation in areas that help us better prepare for the next 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 while most counties in the U.S. experienced a Baby Boom following the war, the increase in fertility was lower in high-casualty rate counties than in low-casualty rate counties which were positively related to 1950s female employment and household income.
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 examines the impact of male casualties due to World War II on fertility and female employment in the United States. We rely on the number of casualties at the county-level and use a difference-in-differences strategy. While most counties in the U.S. experienced a Baby Boom following the war, we find that the increase in fertility was lower in high-casualty rate counties than in low-casualty rate counties. Analyzing the channels through which male casualties could have decreased fertility, we provide evidence that county male casualties are positively related to 1950s female employment and household income.
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST freely accessible estimates the effects of an increase in free pre-school education in Englandon child development which were found to be small.
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.
by Jo Blanden, Emilia Del Bono, Kirstine Hansen & Birgitta Rabe
Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics OPEN ACCESS andPDF.
Author Abstract: Policy-makers wanting to support child development can choose to adjust the quantity or quality of publicly funded universal pre-school. To assess the impact of such changes, we estimate the effects of an increase in free pre-school education in England of about 3.5 months at age 3 on children’s school achievement at age 5. We exploit date-of-birth discontinuities that create variation in the length and starting age of free pre-school using administrative school records linked to nursery characteristics. Estimated effects are small overall, but the impact of the additional term is substantially larger in settings with the highest inspection quality rating but not in settings with highly qualified staff. Estimated effects fade out by age 7.
May 17, 2021: “Human Resources Challenges” Virtual Workshop of the Academia Europaea (AE) Section “Economics, Business and Management Sciences”, all CET/Vienna. See also: Academia Europaea Website; CEU Website. The morning session presented work from the forthcoming Handbook of “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics”published by Springer Nature reviewing and evaluating literature to human resources and technology as well as migation and aging. The afternoon session dealt with Covid-19 issues in the context of Mass Antigen Testing as well as female self-employment; presentations were based on GLO Discussion Papers referenced below forthcoming in the Journal of Population Economics. Both sessions were recorded and the videos are freely accessible below.
PROGRAM
Moderator of the event: Marton Leiszen (Central European University, Skills and Applied Learning Coordinator at the School of Public Policy)
Marton Leiszen
11.00 – 11.10 am Welcome Marton Leiszen (CEU), Martin Kahanec (MAE & CEU), Klaus F. Zimmermann (MAE, UNU-MERIT & GLO)
13.00 – 15.00 pm SESSION II:Covid-19 Research Both presentations were based on fresh and elaborated research papers, which are forthcoming in the Journal of Population Economics. The Journal has established a tradition of publishing some highly referenced research papers on Covid-19.
13.00 – 14.00 pm Martin Kahanec (MAE & CEU) with Lukas Laffers and Bernhard Schmidpeter The Impact of Mass Antigen Testing for COVID-19 on the Prevalence of the Disease GLO Discussion Paper No. 775, 2021, Journal of Population Economics.
Martin Kahanec
14.00 – 15.00 pm Alexander Kritikos (DIW Berlin & Potsdam University) with Daniel Graeber & Johannes Seebauer COVID-19: A Crisis of the Female Self-employed GLO Discussion Paper No. 788, 2021, Journal of Population Economics.
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST freely accessible argues that, in the presence of idiosyncratic ability shocks after childbirth, irreversible fertility decisions distort the resource allocation between the quantity and quality of children.
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.
Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics OPEN ACCESS andPDF.
Author Abstract: This research argues that, in the presence of idiosyncratic ability shocks after childbirth, irreversible fertility decisions distort the resource allocation between the quantity and quality of children. In underdeveloped environments, where family size is locked into large levels, education investment places a heavy financial burden on households, which deprives some competent children of learning opportunities. In contrast, in more developed environments, family size is locked into smaller levels, which facilitates education investment even for some children with low aptitude. A redistributive policy to mitigate the distortion is proposed for each stage.
A new GLO Discussion Paper discusses reverse brain drain of white-collar migrant workers returning to live in their countries of origin while continuing to work for employers in their countries of destination as a consequence of working-from home experiences during the Covid-19 period.
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-19 pandemic has led to a substantial increase in the prevalence of working from home among white-collar occupations. This can have important implications for the future of the workplace and quality of life. We discuss an additional implication, which we label reverse brain drain: the possibility that white-collar migrant workers return to live in their countries of origin while continuing to work for employers in their countries of destination. We estimate the potential size of this reverse flow using data from the European Labor Force Survey. Our estimates suggest that the UK, France, Switzerland and Germany each have around half a million skilled migrants who could perform their jobs from their home countries. Most of them originate from the other EU member states: both old and new. We discuss the potential economic, social and political implications of such reverse brain drain.
Left, Michaella Vanore (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO), Managing Editor of the Journal of Population Economics (JoPE), and right, Alessio J. Brown (Co-Director of POP at UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO), former JoPE Managing Editor, both welcomed the participants to the JoPE Issue 2/2021 Webinar, explained the Maastricht hosting institutions and introduced into the event program.
Program of Journal Webinar for Issue 2/2021
The event took place on January 28, 2021 hosted by UNU-MERIT/Maastricht. Full video of the event. All articles are freely accessible through the links provided below; those with a READLINK are free to read online, the others are free to download.
Time
Topic
Session chair/ Presenter
16:00 CET
Welcome
Michaella Vanore, Alessio J. Brown, Klaus F. Zimmermann
16:15-17:00
Session I: Gender issues in Bangladesh, China and developing countries
The Journal of Population Economicsorganized a webinar on January 28, 16:00-18:00 CET (Maastricht/Dutch time) to present highlights from the newly published issue 34(2)/2021. The event was supported by GLO and hosted by UNU-MERIT via Zoom. Alessio J. Brown (Co-Director of POP at UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO) welcomed the participants. Managing Editor Michaella Vanore, (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO) guided through the event. Editor Terra McKinnish (University of Colorado Boulder and GLO) and Editor-in-Chief Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO) chaired the sessions.
The issue lead paperstudies adolescent girls’ attitudes towards intimate partner violence and child marriage using data from rural Bangladesh. It further investigates how numerous variables relate to preferences for egalitarian gender norms in rural Bangladesh.
Three highly impact blogs are based on this lead article:
Thang Dao on The education gender gap and the demographic transition in developing countries Yun Xiao on: Education and gender role attitudes
Further Workshop Presentations: Covid-19
John P. de New
Matthew Zahn
Abel Brodeur
Happiness in Issue 2/2021
Is Happiness U-shaped Everywhere? Age and Subjective Well-being in 145 Countries by Blanchflower, David G. Free Readlink. https://rdcu.be/b7kyO
Children, Unhappiness and Family Finances by Blanchflower, David G. & Clark, Andrew E. Free Readlink. https://rdcu.be/b7Z4b
Watch the GLO Virtual Seminar presentation of Danny Blanchflower on Despair, Unhappiness and Age explaining this work. Video of seminar. Report of the event.
More on Gender in Issue 2/2021
The Sex Ratio and Global Sodomy Law Reform in the Post-WWII era by Simon Chang Free Readlink. https://rdcu.be/clyvH
The Education Gender Gap and the Demographic Transition in Developing Countries Carole Bonnet, Bertrand Garbinti & Anne Solaz Free Readlink. https://rdcu.be/clyvA
A new GLO Discussion Paper presents a novel theory that immigrants facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship by being willing and able to invest in new 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.
Author Abstract: We present a novel theory that immigrants facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship by being willing and able to invest in new skills. Immigrants whose human capital is not immediately transferable to the host country face lower opportunity costs of investing in new skills or methods and will be more exible in their human capital investments than observationally equivalent natives. Areas with large numbers of immigrants may therefore lead to more entrepreneurship and innovation, even among natives. We provide empirical evidence from the United States that is consistent with the theory’s predictions.
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST with free READLINK provides robust evidence for the Netherlands that policies targeted at working mothers with young children generate the largest labor supply responses but generate little additional government revenue. Introducing a flat tax, basic income or joint taxation is not effective.
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.
Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics FREE ACCESS: Readlink: https://rdcu.be/cloOs
Author Abstract: We combine the strengths of structural models and natural experiments in an analysis of tax-benefit reforms in the Netherlands. We first estimate structural discrete-choice models for labour supply. Next, we simulate key past reforms and compare the predictions of the structural model with the outcomes of quasi-experimental studies. The structural model predicts the treatment effects well. The structural model then allows us to conduct counterfactual policy analysis. Policies targeted at working mothers with young children generate the largest labour supply responses but generate little additional government revenue. Introducing a flat tax, basic income or joint taxation is not effective.
Organized by POP@UNU-MERIT, GLO & Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and hosted by UNU-MERIT, Maastricht, an Online Workshop on “Technological Change, Employment & Skills” will take place on June 7, 2021, 2.00 – 6.00 pm CEST/Maastricht/Dutch time. The workshop presents the core findings of 10 chapters of the 20 review articles of the section on ‘Technological Changes and the Labor Market’ in the Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics Handbook supported by the GLO and published by Springer Nature. The event is motivated by the attempt to review and discuss the general findings and the state-of-the-art in the economics and business literature.
Below you find an introduction to the Handbook Project, the detailed Workshop Program (PDF) and a listing of the 20 Handbook Chapters with links to access them on the Springer Nature website.
No advanced registration needed. Zoom Link: https://maastrichtuniversity.zoom.us/j/92175077007
The Handbook Project
The Handbook in “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” provides an integrated picture of knowledge about the economic and social behaviors and interactions of human beings on markets, in households, in companies and in societies. A fast evolving project by the GLO with a core basis in labor economics, human resources, demography and econometrics, it will provide a large and complete summary and evaluation of the scientific state of the art. Chapters are developed under the guidance of an engaged team of editors led by the GLO President administered in 30 sections.
to find out how to contribute to this exciting venture with an own chapter.
The Section “Technological Changes and the Labor Market” is directed by Marco Vivarelli, who is also the GLO Cluster Lead of the “Technological Change” area. The Section is just completing its set of 20 published papers now available for use, review and debate.
Workshop: Technological Change, Employment and Skills. June 7, 2021
14:00Opening Remarks Welcome: Neil Foster-McGregor (Deputy Director, UNU-MERIT) Introduction: Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO; Editor of the “Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics”)
14:15Aims and Scope Marco Vivarelli(Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore & GLO; Editor of the Section “Technological Changes and the Labor Market”)
14:30Technology and Work: Key Stylized Facts for the Digital Age Mario Pianta (Scuola Normale Superiore & GLO)
14:45Innovation, Technology Adoption and Employment: Evidence Synthesis Mehmet Ugur (University of Greenwich)
15:00Innovation, Employment, and the Business Cycle Bernhard Dachs (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology)
15:15Technological Innovations and Labor Demand Using Linked Firm-Level Data Eva Hagsten (University of Iceland)
15:30General Discussion Introduced by Alessio Brown (UNU-MERIT & GLO)
16:00Coffee/Tea Break
16:15AI and Robotics Innovation Daniele Vertesy (Joint Research Center & GLO)
16:30Robots at Work: Automatable and Non-automatable Jobs Grace Lordan (LSE)
16:45Why do Employees Participate in Innovations? Skills and Organisational Design Issues and the Ongoing Technological Transformation Nathalie Greenan (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers & GLO)
17:00Skill-Sets for Prospective Careers of Highly Qualified Labor Dirk Meissner (HSE University)
17:15Quantity and Quality of Work in the Platform Economy Dario Guarascio (Sapienza University of Rome & GLO)
18:00Conclusions Marco Vivarelli and Klaus F. Zimmermann
Handbook Section “Technological Changes and the Labor Market“
The Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics Editor: Klaus F. Zimmermann
Section – Technological Changes and the Labor Market Marco Vivarelli, Section Editor Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Department of Economic Policy, Milan, Italy Note: Find abstract links of the articles below the chapter titles.
Digitization and the Future of Work: Macroeconomic Consequences Melanie Arntz1,2, Terry Gregory3,1, Ulrich Zierahn5,1,4 1 Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, 2University of Heidelberg, 3Institute of Labor Economics, IZA,4CESifo Research Network, 5Utrecht University
Innovation, Employment, and the Business Cycle Bernhard Dachs1, Martin Hud2, Bettina Peters2,3 1AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, 2Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, 3University of Luxembourg
Why do employees participate in innovations? Skills and organisational design issues and the ongoing technological transformation, in production Nathalie Greenan, Silvia Napolitano Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers
Quantity and Quality of Work in the Platform Economy Francesco Bogliacino1, Cristiano Codagnone2,3, Valeria Cirillo4, Dario Guarascio5 1Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2Università degli Studi di Milano, 3Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 4INAPP, National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies, 5Università degli Studi di Roma
Integration in Global Value Chains and Employment Filippo Bontadini1, Rinaldo Evangelista2, Valentina Meliciani3, Maria Savona1 1University of Sussex, 2University of Camerino, 3University Luiss Guido Carli
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST with free READLINK provides robust evidence that housing market regulations in China significantly increase the propensity for strategic divorce of married couples.
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.
Housing market regulations and strategic divorce propensity in China
by James Alm, Weizheng Lai and Xun Li
Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics FREE ACCESS: Readlink: https://rdcu.be/cloDS
Author Abstract: In China’s regulated housing markets, a married couple may choose strategically to divorce in order to purchase more houses and/or purchase with more favorable financial conditions. Our study examines the propensity for strategic divorce induced by housing market regulations in China. To overcome the difficulty of using conventional divorce data to distinguish between a “true” divorce and a strategic (or a “fake”) divorce, we design an identification strategy using data on internet searches for divorce- and marriage-related keywords in 32 Chinese major cities from 2009 through 2016. Our difference-in-differences estimates provide robust evidence that housing market regulations significantly increase the propensity for strategic divorce. Our results also show that the increase in the propensity for strategic divorce is weaker in cities with higher male–female ratios and with stronger Confucian ideologies. These findings point to the role that housing market regulations play in distorting a family’s choices, as well as to the importance for policymakers to consider unintended impacts of regulations.
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST with free READLINK argues that the rewards and punishments that incentivize religious behavior are more effective for speakers of languages without inflectional future tense.
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.
Heaven can wait: future tense and religiosity
by Astghik Mavisakalyan, Yashar Tarverdi and Clas Weber
Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics FREE ACCESS: Readlink: https://rdcu.be/clovY
Author Abstract: This paper identifies a new source of differences in religiosity: the type of future tense marking in language. We argue that the rewards and punishments that incentivise religious behaviour are more effective for speakers of languages without inflectional future tense. Consistent with this prediction, we show that speakers of languages without inflectional future tense are more likely to be religious and to take up the short-term costs associated with religiosity. What is likely to drive this behaviour, according to our results, is the relatively greater appeal of the religious rewards to these individuals. Our analysis is based on within-country regressions comparing individuals with identical observable characteristics who speak a different language.
The Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR) at Jinan University and the Global Labor Organization (GLO) are jointly organizing the Fourth IESR-GLO Virtual Conference. The conference this year will be held from June 24 (Thursday) to June 26 (Saturday), 2021 through Zoom. The theme is Social Safety Net and Welfare Programs. Robert Moffitt and Timothy Smeeding will be the keynote speakers.
The IESR-GLO annual conference is aimed to provide a platform for scholars and experts to exchange ideas on the current pressing economic issues through presentations of high-quality academic papers and policy discussions. Previous IESR-GLO Conferences have covered topics such as the Economics of Covid-19 in 2020 and on the Labor Markets in Belt and Road countries in 2019.
Submission
We welcome papers on topics related to Social Safety Net and Welfare Programs, especially social assistance programs.
Please submit a full paper or extended abstracts at
no later than 24:00 May 31, 2021 (Beijing Time, GMT+8).
The corresponding author will be notified of the decision by June 10, 2021.
No submission fee is required.
Time Structure on June 24 – 26, 2021
8.00-11.00 pm Beijing Time / 8:00-11.00 am New York / 1:00-4:00 pm London
Keynote speakers
Robert Moffitt on June 24; 8.00 pm Beijing Time
Robert A. Moffitt is the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Economics at Johns Hopkins University and holds a joint appointment at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Brown University. His research interests are in the areas of labor economics and applied microeconometrics, with a special focus on the economics of issues relating to the low-income population in the U.S.. A large portion of his research has concerned the labor supply decisions of female heads of family and its response to the U.S. welfare system. He has published on the AFDC, Food Stamp, and Medicaid programs.
Moffitt has served as Chief Editor of the American Economic Review, Coeditor of the Review of Economics and Statistics, Chief Editor of the Journal of Human Resources, and as Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Panel to Evaluate Welfare Reform. He is currently editor of Tax Policy and the Economy.
Moffitt is also a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a recipient of a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health, a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Past President of the Population Association of America.
Timothy Smeeding on June 26; 8.00 pm Beijing Time
Timothy Smeeding is Lee Rainwater Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Economics of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was director of the Institute for Research on Poverty from 2008–2014 and was the founding director of the Luxembourg Income Study from 1983-2006. He was named the John Kenneth Galbraith Fellow, American Academy of Political and Social Science in 2017.
Professor Smeeding’s recent work has been on social and economic mobility across generations, inequality of income, consumption and wealth, and poverty in national and cross-national contexts.
His recent publications include: SNAP Matters: How Food Stamps Affect Health and Well Being (Stanford University Press, 2015); Monitoring Social Mobility in the 21st Century (Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2015); From Parents to Children: The Intergenerational Transmission of Advantage (Russell Sage Foundation, 2012); Persistence, Privilege and Parenting: The Comparative Study of Intergenerational Mobility (Russell Sage Foundation, 2011); The Handbook of Economic Inequality (Oxford University Press, 2009); Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America’s Children in Comparative Perspective (Russell Sage Foundation, 2003); and The American Welfare State: Laggard or Leader?, (Oxford University Press, 2010).
Policy Forum on Social Assistance Systems
June 25th: 8:pm-11pm Beijing Time/ 8:00am-11am New York / 1:00pm-4:00pm London Chair: Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO)
8:00-8:45 pm: Japan. Masayoshi Hayashi (University of Tokyo) Public Assistance in Japan: Current State and Challenges
8:45-9:30 pm: Korea. Inhoe Ku(Seoul National University) Social Assistance in South Korea: Policy Developments, Impacts and Implications for Future Reform
9:30-10:15 pm: Germany. Alexander Spermann (FOM/Cologne, University of Freiburg and GLO) Basic Income in Germany 1991-2021: Challenges After Reunification, Hartz Reforms and the Current Reform Debate
10:15-11:00 pm: Sweden. Björn Gustafsson (University of Gothenburg and GLO) Social Assistance in Sweden – Provision, Recipients and Challenges
Masayoshi Hayashi (University of Tokyo) Professor of Economics at the University of Tokyo, and the President of the Japan Institute of Public Finance. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from Queen’s University at Kingston, Canada. His research interests include redistribution, taxation and fiscal federalism.
Inhoe Ku(Seoul National University) Professor at the Department of Social Welfare, Seoul National University. He is currently working as the President of the Korean Academy of Social Welfare. His research has been focusing on poverty, inequality and social policy.
Alexander Spermann (FOM/Cologne, University of Freiburg and GLO) Has started his research on social assistance more than thirty years ago. After finishing his dissertation and habilitation at the University of Freiburg, he held leading positions at international research institutes (ZEW, IZA) and is currently Professor of Economics at FOM Cologne and University of Freiburg. He has been a regular contributor to the media for decades.
Björn Gustafsson (University of Gothenburg and GLO) Professor Emeritus, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He has published several papers on social assistance in Sweden. Since the 1990s he has also studied various aspects on income among Chinese households.
From the left: Masayoshi Hayashi, Inhoe Ku, Alexander Spermann, and Björn Gustafsson
Klaus F. Zimmermann, GLO Shuaizhang Feng, Jinan University Sen Xue, Jinan University
Contact
For inquiries regarding the conference, please contact Sen Xue at sen.xue@jnu.edu.cn. General inquiries regarding the submissions should be directed to iesrjnu@gmail.com.
The Journal of Population Economicsannounces a webinar for May 27, 16:00-18:00 CET (Maastricht/Dutch time) to present a selection from the newly published issue 34(3)/2021. The event is supported by GLO and hosted by UNU-MERIT via Zoom. Editor-in-Chief Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO) will welcome the participants. Managing Editor Michaella Vanore, (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO) will guide through the event. Editor Oded Galor (Brown University and GLO), Editor Alfonso Flores-Lagunes (Syracuse University and GLO), and Managing Editor Madeline Zavodny (University of North Florida and GLO) will also attend to chair sessions. This is a unique opportunity to keep contact with fresh research and to see the researchers behind the papers.
The webinar will highlight a selection of the 10 articles published in issue 34(3)/2021 on Covid-19 & the Media, the Labor Market, Health and Growth. All articles are published ONLINE FIRST and are freely accessible through the links below the titles at the end of this post; those with a provided READLINK are free to read online, the others are free to download.
Open to the public. Mark your calendars. Detailed program announced until early next week. The event will be recorded. Please click the link below to join the webinar on May 27, 2021; 16:00-18:00 CEST: https://maastrichtuniversity.zoom.us/j/97676750817
Welcoming Remarks (16:00-16:15) Michaella Vanore (Managing Editor), Klaus F. Zimmermann (Editor-in-Chief)
Session I. Chair: Oded Galor (Editor) Lead paper (16:15-16:45) Maxim Ananyev, Michael Poyker & Yuan Tian: The safest time to fly: pandemic response in the era of Fox News Growth (16:45-17:00) Maja Pedersen, Claudia Riani & Paul Sharp: Malthus in preindustrial Northern Italy?
Session II. Chair: Alfonso Flores-Lagunes (Editor) Health (17:00-17:30) Thomas Hofmarcher: The effect of paid vacation on health: evidence from Sweden Benjamin Artz, Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood: Does performance pay increase alcohol and drug use?
Session III. Chair: Madeline Zavodny (Managing Editor) Labor (17:30-18:00) Elena Del Rey, Andreas Kyriacou & José I. Silva: Maternity leave and female labor force participation: evidence from 159 countries. Rita Pető & Balázs Reizer: Gender differences in the skill content of jobs.
Note: Authors in BOLD are presenting.
The involved editors from the left: Michaella Vanore, Klaus F. Zimmermann, Oded Galor, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, and Madeline Zavodny.
Authors presenting:
Michael Poyker
Thomas Hofmarcher
Benjamin Artz
José I. Silva
Rita Pető
FULL LIST OF PUBLISHED PAPERS OF ISSUE 34 (3) 2021 WITH FREE ACCESS
A new GLO Discussion Paper reviews the literature attempting to identify causal effects before discussing the potential mechanisms at play.
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 chapter provides a narrative review of the literature relating socioeconomic circumstances early in life to mental health and well-being later in life. It starts by highlighting the various contributions focusing on associations, then moves on to the literature attempting to identify causal effects before discussing the potential mechanisms at play. The chapter closes with a view toward research questions that may inform a future research agenda and highlights some anchors for policy.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds differential effects by gender that favor men, by marital status and gender that favor married men over married women, and by gender, marital, and parental status that favor married fathers over married mothers.
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 study estimates random effects and difference-in-difference-in-differences models to examine the initial impacts of COVID-19 on the employment and hours of unincorporated selfemployed workers using monthly panel data from the Current Population Survey. For these workers, effects were visible in March as voluntary social distancing began, largest in April as complete shutdowns occurred, and slightly smaller in May as some restrictions were eased. We find differential effects by gender that favor men, by marital status and gender that favor married men over married women, and by gender, marital, and parental status that favor married fathers over married mothers. The evidence suggests that self-employed married mothers were forced out of the labor force to care for children as prescribed by gender norms and the division and specialization of labor within households. Remote work and working in an essential industry mitigated some of the negative effects on employment and hours.
A new GLO Discussion Paper documents the crucial role happiness plays in migration decisions.
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: A subjective well-being angle has emerged as an important new frontier to advance the understanding of the causes and consequences of migration. The purpose of this chapter is to organize and take stock of this emerging literature on the bi-directional relationship between migration and happiness by reviewing the available literature from a global perspective. The literature review covers both international migration and internal migration and considers the outcomes of various stakeholders (migrants, hosting communities, and family members left behind). The literature documents ample evidence that happiness plays an important role in migration decisions, with relatively unhappy people moving to happier places, even after accounting for standard predictors of migration. In some contexts, internal migrants experience a pre-migration happiness dip. Most international migrants gain happiness from migration, hosting populations tend to experience a mixed but small impact, and family members staying behind generally experience a positive impact on evaluative well-being but not emotional well-being. However, the outcomes are strongly context-dependent and important differences exist between individuals. The impact of migration is much smaller for internal migrants. Overall, the current evidence suggests that migration contributes to a happier world because of the generally positive effects on migrants and the marginal effects on hosting communities.
The Journal of Population Economicsannounces a webinar for May 27, 16:00-18:00 CET (Maastricht/Dutch time) to present a selection from the newly published issue 34(3)/2021. The event is supported by GLO and hosted by UNU-MERIT via Zoom. Editor-in-Chief Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO) will welcome the participants. Managing Editor Michaella Vanore, (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and GLO) will guide through the event. Editor Oded Galor (Brown University and GLO), and Managing Editor Madeline Zavodny (University of North Florida) will also attend to chair sessions. This is a unique opportunity to keep contact with fresh research and see the researchers behind.
The webinar will highlight a selection of the 10 articles published in issue 34(3)/2021 on Covid-19 & the Media, the Labor Market, Health and Growth. All articles are published ONLINE FIRST and are freely accessible through the links below the titles; those with a provided READLINK are free to read online, the others are free to download.
Open to the public. Mark your calendars. Detailed program announced until early next week. The event will be recorded. Please click the link below to join the webinar on May 27, 2021; 16:00-18:00 CEST: https://maastrichtuniversity.zoom.us/j/97676750817
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST with free OPEN ACCESS shows that past consumption of culture is associated with higher happiness levels during crises.
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.
Culture and mental health resilience in times of COVID-19
by Annie Tubadji
Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics OPEN ACCESS
Author Abstract: This paper aims to clarify the role of culture as a public good that serves to preserve mental health. It tests the evolutionary hypothesis that cultural consumption triggers a microeconomic mechanism for the self-defense of mental health from uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic offers a natural experiment of cultural consumption under increased uncertainty. Using primary data from a pilot survey conducted online during the pandemic and applying Probit and Heckman selection models, the study analyzes levels of happiness and propensity to help others. The results suggest that past consumption of culture is associated with higher happiness levels during crises. Moreover, spontaneous cultural practices (such as group singing) during times of uncertainty are associated with an increase in the pro-social propensity to help others. These findings highlight culture as a tool for promoting mental health at the micro level and social capital resilience at the aggregate level.
A new GLO Discussion Paper suggests that the stepping stone effect is more likely to emerge when self-selectivity issues are dealt with.
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 present a meta-analysis on the debate about the “stepping stone vs. dead end” hypothesis related to the causal effect of temporary jobs on future labour market performances. We select academic papers published on international peer-reviewed journals from 1990 until 2021. Among 78 observations from 64 articles, 32% support the hypothesis according to which temporary contracts are a port of entry into stable employment positions, 23% report ambiguous or mixed findings, and the remaining 45% provide evidence in favour of the dead end hypothesis. The results from meta-regressions suggest that the stepping stone effect is more likely to emerge when self-selectivity issues are dealt with, especially when using the timing-of-events approach. The studies focusing on temporary work agency jobs and casual/seasonal jobs detect more easily results in favour of the dead end hypothesis. Finally, in more recent years and when the unemployment rate is larger, the dead end hypothesis is more likely to prevail.
With immediate effect, Alfonso Flores-Lagunesjoins the group of Editors of the Journal of Population Economics. He is aProfessor of Economics at the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Syracuse University, USA, and a Section Editor of the Springer Handbook “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” for “Methods and Data”. He will strengthen the editorial team on issues related to the evaluation of public programs, education and health.
Alfonso Flores-Lagunes
He will work with Editors Shuaizhang Feng (Jinan University), Oded Galor (Brown University), Terra McKinnish (University of Colorado Boulder), Grégory Ponthière (UCLouvain), Editor-in-Chief Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT) and with Managing Editors Michaella Vanore (UNU-MERIT) and Madeline Zavodny (University of North Florida).
A new GLO Discussion Paper shows that short-time work accounts for almost all of the working-time reduction in Germany during 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.
Author Abstract: We analyse measures of internal flexibility taken to safeguard employment during the Coronavirus Crisis in comparison to the Great Recession. Cyclical working-time reductions are again a major factor in safeguarding employment. Whereas during the Great Recession all working-time instruments contributed to the reduction in working time, short-time work (STW) now accounts for almost all of the working-time reduction. STW was more rapidly extended, more generous, and for the first time a stronger focus was put on securing household income on a broad basis. Still, the current crisis is more severe and affects additional sectors of the economy where low-wage earners are affected more frequently by STW and suffered on average relatively greater earnings losses. A hypothetical average short-time worker had a relative income loss in April 2020 that was more than twice as large as that in May 2009. Furthermore, marginal employment is affected strongly but not protected by STW.
The new GLO Discussion Paper finds that Dutch graduates from international programsstart their career with higher wages and the initial wage advantages persist in the long-run.
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: International study programmes are increasing in number worldwide, but little is known about the impact on local students’ job prospects, especially in a non-English speaking countries. Using rich administrative data from Statistics Netherlands, we analyse labour market outcomes of native graduates in master programmes of Dutch universities between 2006 to 2014 within 5 years after graduation. A coarsened exact matching analysis within cohort-university-detailed field of study group addresses the self-selection issue by generating a matched sample of students with similar characteristics. We find that graduates from international programmmes obtain a wage premium of 2.3% starting from the 1st year after graduation, ceteris paribus. The wage premium keeps increasing by about 1% every year. We investigate the mechanisms through which the wage premium operates. The wage premia can neither be explained by wage increase via cross-firm mobility, nor by faster upward mobility within a firm. Instead, evidence point towards the differential characteristics of the first job upon graduation. Graduates from international programmes are much more likely to choose large firms that have a higher share of foreign-born employees and have business of trade for the first job. They get a head start in wage level and the initial wage advantages persist in the long-run.
A new paper published ONLINE FIRST with free OPEN ACCESS shows that the life satisfaction of elderly people in West Germany declined; they are experiencing their remaining lifetime in states of dissatisfaction.
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.
Increasing longevity and life satisfaction: Is there a catch to living longer?
by Janina Nemitz
Published ONLINE FIRST 2021: Journal of Population Economics OPEN ACCESS
Author Abstract: Human longevity is rising rapidly all over the world, but are longer lives more satisfied lives? This study suggests that the answer might be no. Despite a substantial increase in months of satisfying life, people’s overall life satisfaction declined between 1985 and 2011 in West Germany due to substantial losses of life satisfaction in old age. When compared to 1985, in 2011, elderly West Germans were, on average, much less satisfied throughout their last five years of life. Moreover, they spent a larger proportion of their remaining lifetime in states of dissatisfaction, on average. Two important mechanisms that contributed to this satisfaction decline were health and social isolation. Using a broad variety of sensitivity tests, I show that these results are robust to a large set of alternative explanations.
The new GLO Discussion Paper reveals the detrimental effects performance-related paymay have on health.
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 study examines the efficiency and distributional effects of selected labor market institutions in Albania, a rather underresearched country. An initial overview of the postcommunist developments articulates why Albania has the poorest labor market performance among other South East European countries. Using a set of mixed qualitative and descriptive quantitative methods we find evidence of inefficient segmental effects and a predatory structure of labor market institutions which noticeably diverge from the efficient institutions’ point of reference. The institutional/welfare regime at the cross-national level points out at a relationship between the labor market institutional framework and labor market performance, as measured by unemployment. At the country level, a disproportional relationship between the “de jure” labor market regulation and unemployment is identified, which is also moderated by the interaction between labor market and economic institution
The new GLO Discussion Paper reveals the weaknesses of Albanian labor market institutions.
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 study examines the efficiency and distributional effects of selected labor market institutions in Albania, a rather underresearched country. An initial overview of the postcommunist developments articulates why Albania has the poorest labor market performance among other South East European countries. Using a set of mixed qualitative and descriptive quantitative methods we find evidence of inefficient segmental effects and a predatory structure of labor market institutions which noticeably diverge from the efficient institutions’ point of reference. The institutional/welfare regime at the cross-national level points out at a relationship between the labor market institutional framework and labor market performance, as measured by unemployment. At the country level, a disproportional relationship between the “de jure” labor market regulation and unemployment is identified, which is also moderated by the interaction between labor market and economic institution
School-to-Work Transition: An International Comparative Perspective
for: International Journal of Manpower. Guest Editor: Francesco Pastore. Professor Pastore is Head of the GLO Cluster on School-to-Work Transition and GLO Country Lead Italy.
Francesco Pastore
The school-to-work transition is at the centre of several academic and public debates. It is behind the debate on persistent youth unemployment in many countries. It is also at the centre of the debate on the future of work and the need to adapt educational and training institutions to the needs of the fourth industrial revolution which is ongoing at a pace which has been clearly accelerated by the COVID-19 emergency.
The new GLO Discussion Paper shows that deregulation creates jobs.
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 a deregulation of German pharmacists to assess its effects on retail and labor markets. From 2004 onward, the reform allowed pharmacists to expand their single-store firms and to open or acquire up to three affiliated stores. This partial deregulation of multi-store prohibition reduced the cost of firm expansion substantially and provides the basis for our analysis. We develop a theoretical model that suggests that the general limitation of the total store number per firm to four is excessively restrictive. Firms with high managerial efficiency will open more stores per firm and have higher labor demand. Our empirical analysis uses very rich information from the administrative panel data on the universe of pharmacies from 2002 to 2009 and their affiliated stores matched with survey data, which provide additional information on the characteristics of expanding firms before and after the reform. We find a sharp immediate increase in entry rates, which continues to be more than five-fold of its pre-reform level after five years for expanding firms. Expanding firms can double revenues but not profits after three years. We show that the increase of the number of employees by 50% after five years and the higher overall employment in the local markets, which increased by 40%, can be attributed to the deregulation.
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 video of the presentation is posted. All GLO related videos are also available in the GLO YouTube channel. (To subscribe go there.)
The last seminar was given on May 6, 2021, London/UKat 1-2 pm, by Keith Bender, University of Aberdeen and GLO on Employment Contracts and Stress. See below a report and the full video of the seminar.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds almost no statistically significant effects of a 6 to 9 month career interruption for young German men, with the exception of hourly wages.
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 this paper, we estimate the effects of mandatory military service by exploiting the post-cold war decrease in the need for soldiers causing a substantial number of potential conscripts not to be drafted into the German military. Specifically, using previously unavailable information on degree of fitness in the military’s medical exam as a control variable, we test for the effects of mandatory military service on wages; employment; marriage/partnership status; and satisfaction with work, financial situation, health, family life, friends, and life in general. We find almost no statistically significant effects of this 6 to 9 month career interruption for young German men, with the exception of hourly wage, which shows a negative point estimate of -15 percent with a large confidence interval of between -30 and -0.2 percent. This interval estimate is consistent with previous findings for the United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
The findings in a new GLO Discussion Paper suggest that policies supporting female higher education and rural-urban mobility could reduce persistent inequalities in Eswatini’s labor market outcomes
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: Persistent gender gaps characterize labor markets in many African countries. Utilizing Eswatini’s first three labor market surveys (conducted in 2007, 2010, and 2013), this paper provides first systematic evidence on the country’s gender gaps in employment and earnings. We find that women have notably lower employment rates and earnings than men, even though the global financial crisis had a less negative impact on women than it had on men. Both unadjusted and unexplained gender earnings gaps are higher in self-employment than in wage employment. Tertiary education and urban location account for a large part of the gender earnings gap and mitigate high female propensity to self-employment. Our findings suggest that policies supporting female higher education and rural-urban mobility could reduce persistent inequalities in Eswatini’s labor market outcomes as well as in other middle-income countries in southern Africa.
A new GLO Discussion Paper confirms a strong relationship between exposure to technological risk and support for social safety nets among men but not for 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: This paper investigates the role of exposure to technological risk in shaping social policy preferences, specifically on support for universal basic income and means-tested generalised minimum income. Evidence is provided for Italy, to exploit the availability of high-quality data, allowing measures of two dimensions of technological risk. Objective risk hinges upon the degree of substitutability of one’s occupation by machines, while subjective risk concerns a worker’s perception of their substitutability. We posit that exposure to technological risk induces individuals to ask for protection, and thus increases support for social policy. We test two hypotheses: first, that exposure to objective risk of replacement by machines is correlated with support for both safety nets; second, that such effect is increased by high perception of risk. On the whole, results confirm a strong relationship between exposure to technological risk and support for social safety nets, once objective risk is disentangled from subjective perceptions. However, we find that such relationship only holds for men, while it cannot be confirmed for women.
A new GLO Discussion Paper highlights that the level of parental education is more relevant than the level of parental occupational skill in individuals’ educational and social 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: In this paper, we explore channels by which household background determines an individual’s educational and social opportunities in Italy. Our analysis relies on a rich dataset that contains data both on individuals and their real parents, as well as information on individuals’ non-cognitive skills. This paper also represents the first attempt to evaluate if and to what extent personality traits affect educational and occupational opportunities in Italy and how they interact with household background. The results highlight that the level of parental education is more relevant than the level of parental occupational skill in individuals’ educational and social opportunities. The inclusion of ‘Big-5’ variables in the model helps control for omitted variables and reduces the unobserved heterogeneity in intergenerational social mobility among individuals with the same level of education and skills. Our results depict a dual and unequal labour market.
A new GLO Discussion Paper provides long-term evidence that sentiment analysis of Tweets can provide reliable and timely information on 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.
Author Abstract: In this article we describe how well-being changed during 2020 in ten countries, namely Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, South Africa, and Spain. Our measure of well-being is the Gross National Happiness (GNH), a country-level index built applying sentiment analysis to data from Twitter. Our aim is to describe how GNH changed during the pandemic within countries, to assess its validity as a measure of well-being, and to analyse its correlates. We take advantage of a unique data-set made of daily observations about GNH, generalized trust and trust in national institutions, fear concerning the economy, loneliness, infection rate, policy stringency and distancing. To assess the validity of data sourced from Twitter, we exploit various sources of survey data, such as Eurobarometer and consumer satisfaction, and big data, such as Google Trends. Results indicate that sentiment analysis of Tweets can provide reliable and timely information on well-being. This can be particularly useful to timely inform decision-making.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that Italian firms managed by a CEO that belongs to a family with past emigration experience tend to perform better and to be more productive.
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 effect of the attitudes of a CEO’s ancestors on firm performance. To do so, we collect detailed information on emigrants from Italian municipalities during the Age of Mass Migration (1892-1924) from Ellis Island ships lists and use emigration experience as a proxy for ancestors’ risk propensity. We adopt an epidemiological approach complemented with an instrumental variables strategy and find that Italian firms managed by a CEO that belongs to a family with past emigration experience tend to perform better and to be more productive. In line with an inter-generational transmission of attitudes hypothesis, we show a positive relationship between the emigration experience of a CEO’s ancestors and alternative measures of corporate risk-taking. The attitudes of a CEO’s ancestors have as well consequences on firm solvency and on the cost of capital.
