A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that people who consider migrating abroad will have either lower years of schooling, or generally have not completed professional schools.
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 consider how the possibility of international migration affects an individual’s educational choices in their home country. Without the opportunity to emigrate abroad people choose their educational investment (and hence their skill level) as we might expect, taking into account the utility they derive from the status their attainment bestows. A result of this paper is that if there are low chances of obtaining professional (requires tertiary schooling) jobs in the host country, individuals may well choose an educational track leading to a less-skilled lower status occupational profession in order to increase their chances of obtaining a job in the host country after migration. Thus, all home country students may choose the non-professional education track. Those who might have otherwise pursued higher, professional education may forgo that schooling. The theory developed here explains the forsaken schooling phenomenon, which shows that low-skilled and skilled home country workers are willing to accept low-skilled positions in host countries. This leads to the forgoing of professional schooling in the home country since it is not optimal for the worker in the home country to choose a high skilled education since, they will be overqualified in the host country. This will have a long run affect. As time goes on, therefore, people who consider migrating abroad will have either lower years of schooling, or generally have not completed professional schools (technical-vocational or tertiary).
Featured image: Photo-by-Mikael-Kristenson-on-Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds strong empirical evidence supporting the crucial role of financial access in promoting entrepreneurship among informal sector firms in India.
The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.
Author Abstract: How does informal economic activity respond to increased financial inclusion? Does it become more entrepreneurial? Does access to new financing options change the gender configuration of informal economic activity and, if so, in what ways and what directions? We take advantage of nationwide data collected in 2010/11 and 2015/16 by India’s National Sample Survey Office on unorganized (informal) enterprises. This period was one of rapid expansion of banking availability aimed particularly at the unbanked, under-banked, and women. We find strong empirical evidence supporting the crucial role of financial access in promoting entrepreneurship among informal sector firms in India. Our results are robust to alternative specifications and alternative measures of financial constraints using an approach combining propensity score matching and difference-in-differences. However, we do not find conclusive evidence that increased financial inclusion leads to a higher likelihood of women becoming entrepreneurs than men in the informal sector.
A new GLO Discussion Paper identifies and analyses a new effect related to the cyclical behavior of labor supply: the Entitled-Worker Effect (EWE) and provides evidence for the effect in Spain.
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 identifies and analyses a new effect related to the cyclical behavior of labor supply: the Entitled-Worker Effect (EWE). This effect is different from the well-known Added-Worker Effect (AWE) and Discouraged-Worker Effect (DWE). The EWE is a consequence of one of the most important labor institutions: the unemployment benefit (UB). We develop a model with uncertainty about the results of the job seeking and transactions costs linked to such a search process in which a kind of moral hazard appears. This creates new incentives for workers and produces an additional counter-cyclical pressure on aggregate labor supply, but with a different foundation from that of the AWE. Finally, we show some empirical evidence supporting the EWE for the Spanish case.
A new GLO Discussion Paper documents that education can generate important externalities that contribute towards economic growth and convergence.
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: Education can generate important externalities that contribute towards economic growth and convergence. In this paper, we study the drivers of such externalities by conducting the first meta-analysis of the social returns to education literature. We analyse over 1,000 estimates from 31 articles published since 1993 that cover 15 countries. Our results indicate that: 1) spillovers slow down with economic development; 2) tertiary schooling and schooling dispersion increase spillovers; 3) spillovers are smaller under fixed-effects and IV estimators but larger when measured at the firm level; and 4) there is publication bias (but not citation bias).
Featured image: Photo-by-Mikael-Kristenson-on-Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paper reviews the long-term evidence about the relationship between unions and job satisfaction.
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 focuses on the lessons learned from four decades of studying the relationship between unions and job satisfaction. We discuss the original paradox that started the literature and trace the on-going debate over results that differ by sample and by estimation technique. We emphasize the cross-national evidence suggesting that the paradox of dissatisfied union members may be largely associated with Anglophone countries. Within Anglophone countries we explore exactly what is typically being measured and how unionization may influence both job characteristics and perceptions of given job characteristics. We explore differences in the influence of union membership on job satisfaction and on broader life satisfaction. We also review the literature on alternative forms of employee representation. We conclude by summarizing and suggesting avenues for future research.
Featured image: Photo-by-Jose-Antonio-Gallego-Vázquez-on-Unsplash
This is an internal meeting on special invitation only. If you wish to attend, please contact office@glabor.org.
Central European University (CEU), Vienna
November 23, 2020: “COVID-19” Virtual Workshop of the Academia Europaea (AE) Section “Economics, Business and Management Sciences”, all CET/Vienna.
PROGRAM
Ingy Kassem
Starting at 9.00 am; Informal get together, flexible entry….
Moderator of the event: Ingy Kassem (Central European University, Executive Assistant to the Head of the School of Public Policy)
NOTE: Ingy Kassem will announce the program parts. The session chairs will briefly announce the speakers. The speakers will upload their presentations and share screens. 20 minutes presentation. 10 minutes discussion. Ingy will help with communicating the questions. Breaks are for intense communication. You need to bring your food and drinks…. The meeting is internal on invitation only. It will be not recorded.
9.30 am; Klaus F. Zimmermann (MAE, UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO): Welcome of the Section Chair
9.35 – 9.50 am; Martin Kahanec (MAE, Central European University, Acting Dean of CEU School of Public Policy): Welcome of the Host & and CEU Business
9.50 – 10.40 am; Graziella Bertocchi (MAE, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia): COVID-19, Race, and Redlining Chair: Andreu Mas-Colell (MAE, Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
10.50 – 11.40 am; Matthias Sutter (MAE, University of Cologne & Max-Planck Bonn): Nudging or Paying? Evaluating the effectiveness of measures to contain COVID-19 in rural Bangladesh in a randomized controlled trial. Chair:Reinhilde Veugelers(MAE, University of Leuven)
11.50am – 12.40 pm;Anil Duman (Guest, Central European University): Wage Losses and Inequality in Developing Countries: labor market and distributional consequences of COVID-19 lockdowns in Turkey Chair: Klaus F. Zimmermann(MAE, UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University & GLO)
12.40 – 13.50 pm; Lunch with 3 random “seat” allocations…. (virtual, bring your food and drinks)
13.50 – 14.40 pm; Peter Nijkamp (MAE, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam): Corona Impacts on the Hospitality Market. A Space-time Economic Roller-Coaster Analysis Chair:Martin Kahanec (MAE, Central European University)
14.50 – 15.40 pm; Luiz Moutinho (MAE, University of Suffolk): Artificial Intelligence and Control of COVID-19 Chair: Mirjana Radovic-Markovic (MAE, Institute of Economic Sciences)
15.40 – 15.50 pm; “Conference picture – group photo”.
15.50 – 16.40 pm; Marcella Alsan(Guest, Harvard University): Civil Liberties in Times of Crises Chair: Amelie Constant (MAE, Princeton University)
16.40 – 16.50 pm; Final remarks: Martin Kahanec& Klaus F. Zimmermann 16.50 – 17.00 pm; “After the hour”: Section Committee only. Group photo.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that employment discrimination increased after the 2016 presidential election in the United States.
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 whether employment discrimination increased after the 2016 presidential election in the United States. We submitted fictitious applications to publicly advertised positions using resumes that are manipulated on perceived race and ethnicity (Somali American, African American, and white American). Prior to the 2016 election, employers contacted Somali American applicants slightly less than white applicants but more than African American applicants. After the election, the difference between white and Somali American applicants increased by 8 percentage points. The increased discrimination predominantly occurred in occupations involving interaction with customers. We continued data collection from July 2017 to March 2018 to test for seasonality in discrimination; there was no substantial increase in discrimination after the 2017 election.
A new GLO Discussion Paperdevelops a dynamic version of the competitive search model with adverse selection. Numerical results show that firm learning does not increase labor market efficiency.
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: I develop a dynamic version of the competitive search model with adverse selection in Guerrieri, Shimer and Wright (2010). My model allows for an analysis of the effects of firm learning on labor market efficiency in the presence of search frictions. I find that firm learning increases relative expected earnings in high-ability jobs and, thereby, enhances imitation incentives of low-ability workers. The net effect on the aggregate expected match surplus and unemployment is indeterminate a priori. Numerical results show that firm learning does not increase labor market efficiency.
Featured image: Photo-by-Alex-Kotliarskyi-on-Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds on experimental basis with students from middle- and high-school classes in the city of Rome that obtaining information about migrants shape open attitudes more effectively than meeting one, but neither treatment affects feelings associated to immigrants.
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 analyze whether (correct) information provision on immigration is more effective than contact in shaping attitudes towards immigration. We collect data from a randomized experiment in 18 middle- and high-school classes in the city of Rome. Half of the classes meet a refugee from Mauritania, whereas the rest of them attend a lecture on figures and numbers on immigration in Italy and the world. On average, students develop better attitudes towards immigration (especially in the case of policy preferences and the perceived number of immigrants in their country) after the information treatment more than they do after the contact treatment, whereas neither treatment affects feelings associated to immigrants. Also, students having received the information treatment strongly adjust their knowledge on immigration. However, students’ individual characteristics and school type (i.e. middle vs. high school) affect treatments’ effectiveness.
Featured image: Photo-by-Joshua Hoehne-on-Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that removing the criminal ties makes it challenging for the firm to maintain profitability and efficiency.
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, I assess the causal effects of judicial administration on a sample of Italian criminal firms in the period 2004-2016, to shed light on the dynamic path of the firm’s performance from pre-seizure to the post-entry judicial administration phase. By using exogenous enforcement law decisions imposed by authorities for each case, I estimate their impact, highlighting the economic consequences of having new legal governance aiming to establish legality and the perpetuation of activities. The results show that there are adverse effects on profitability and efficiency with an increase in the leverage level. The empirical evidence shows how organised crime firms are intrinsically managed by their dark criminal side; removing the criminal ties makes it challenging to maintain profitability and efficiency. Overall, the negative results are due to difficulty in establishing a new economic framework for (ex-criminal) firms in which they are able to operate efficiently and according to market rules.
A new GLO Discussion Paper suggests that Donald Trump would likely have won re-election if COVID-19 cases in the United States had been 5 percent lower.
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: What is the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 U.S. presidential election? Guided by a pre-analysis plan, we estimate the effect of COVID- 19 cases and deaths on the change in county-level voting for Donald Trump between 2016 and 2020. To account for potential confounders, we include a large number of COVID-19-related controls as well as demographic and socioeconomic variables. Moreover, we instrument the numbers of cases and deaths with the share of workers employed in meat-processing factories to sharpen our identification strategy. We find that COVID-19 cases negatively affected Trump’s vote share. The estimated effect appears strongest in urban counties, in swing states, and in states that Trump won in 2016. A simple counterfactual analysis suggests that Trump would likely have won re-election if COVID-19 cases had been 5 percent lower. Our paper contributes to the literature of retrospective voting and demonstrates that voters hold leaders accountable for their (mis-)handling of negative shocks.
A new GLO Discussion Paperdocuments that poorer households bear disproportionate costs of water quality violations in the United States.
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: Up to 45 million Americans in a given year are potentially exposed to contaminated drinking water, increasing their risk of adverse health outcomes. Existing literature has demonstrated that individuals respond to drinking water quality violations by increasing their purchases of bottled water and filtration avoidance, thereby avoiding exposure to contaminants. This paper demonstrates that poorer households, for whom the costs of avoidance comprise a greater share of disposable income, bear disproportionate costs of water quality violations in the United States. Following a health-based water quality violation, poor households’ expenditure on nutritious grocery products in a nationally representative panel differentially decreases by approximately $7 per month. This is associated with a decrease of about 1,500 calories per household member per day, placing these individuals at a higher risk of food insecurity. This finding suggests that the indirect costs of drinking water contamination through economic channels exacerbate health disparities associated with poverty.
Volume 34, issue 1, 2021 of the Journal of Population Economics is published online. See below the list of articles and access links to read or download the contributions.
PARTICIPATE in the November 19, 2020 (Thursday); (2-5 pm CET) Journal of Population Economics Online Workshop (Webinar). Hosted by UNU-MERIT. Maastricht . Open to the general public. The detailed agenda is below presenting highlights on “Covid-19” and “societal conflict” from the new issue.
Journal of Population Economics: Report Klaus F. Zimmermann (Editor-in-Chief; UNU-MERIT & Maastricht University)
2.15 – 2.45 pm CET Maastricht
Lead paper Issue 1/2021: Session Chair Terra McKinnish (Editor; University of Colorado Boulder)
“Names and behavior in a war” presented by Štěpán Jurajda (CERGE-EI, Prague) Co-author: Dejan Kovač (Princeton University and Zagreb)
Discussion
Michaella Vanore
Klaus F. Zimmermann
Terra McKinnish
Štěpán Jurajda
Dejan Kovač
2.45 – 3.15 pm CET Maastricht
Kuznets Prize 2021: “Impacts of social and economic factors on the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China”, published in the Journal of Population Economics (2020), 33(4), pp. 1127–1172.
Klaus F. Zimmermann (Editor-in-Chief; UNU-MERIT & Maastricht University) Bartel Van de Walle (Director, UNU-MERIT)
Panel with the authors: Yun Qiu (Jinan University), Xi Chen (Yale University), and Wei Shi (Jinan University)
Bartel Van de Walle
Klaus F. Zimmermann
Yun Qiu
Xi Chen
Wei Shi
3.15 – 4.00 pm CET Maastricht
Panel: Publishing in Population Economics Alessandro Cigno (Editor; University of Florence), Shuaizhang Feng (Editor; Jinan University), Oded Galor (Editor; Brown University), Pierre Pestieau (Editor; Université de Liège), Erdal Tekin (Editor; American University), Katharina Wetzel-Vandai (Springer Nature), Junsen Zhang (Editor; Chinese University of Hong Kong), Klaus F. Zimmermann (Editor-in-Chief; UNU-MERIT & Maastricht University)
Sandro Cigno, Klaus F. Zimmermann, Katharina Wetzel-Vandai, Erdal Tekin
Shuaizhang Feng
Oded Galor
Pierre Pestieau
Junsen Zhang
Alessandro Cigno (Editor, Journal of Population Economics, 1988 – 2020)
Shuaizhang Feng (Editor; Journal of Population Economics, 2020 – )
Oded Galor (Editor; Journal of Population Economics, 2019 – ; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Economic Growth)
Pierre Pestieau (Editor; Journal of Population Economics, 1988 – 1995; previously: Co-Editor Journal of Public Economics)
Erdal Tekin (Editor; Journal of Population Economics, 2010 – 2018; Editor-in-Chief Journal of Policy Analysis and Management)
Junsen Zhang (Editor; Journal of Population Economics, 2001 – 2019; Coeditor, Journal of Human Resources)
Klaus F. Zimmermann (Editor-in-Chief; Managing Editor; Journal of Population Economics, 1988 – ; previously: Managing Editor, Economic Policy)
4.00 – 5.00 pm CET Maastricht
Covid-19 in Issue 1/2021: Session Chair Madeline Zavodny (Managing Editor; University of North Florida)
Fabio Milani (University of California, Irvine): “COVID-19 outbreak, social response, and early economic effects: a global VAR analysis of cross-country interdependencies”
Discussion
Domenico Depalo (Bank of Italy): “True COVID-19 mortality rates from administrative data”
Discussion
Fabrizio Patriarca (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia): “Identifying policy challenges of COVID-19 in hardly reliable data and judging the success of lockdown measures” Co-authors: Luca Bonacini (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia); Giovanni Gallo (National Institute for Public Policies Analysis)
Discussion
Sergio Scicchitano (National Institute for Public Policies Analysis): “Working from home and income inequality: risks of a ‘new normal’ with COVID-19” Co-authors: Luca Bonacini (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia); Giovanni Gallo (National Institute for Public Policies Analysis)
A new GLO Discussion Paper makes the case that the COVID-19 pandemic may cause a permanent reduction in innovation and entrepreneurship and may even bring the 4th industrial revolution to a premature end.
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: Industrialization is vital for inclusive and sustainable global development. The two engines of industrialization – innovation and trade – are in danger of being compromised by the COVID-19 pandemic, under conditions increasingly reminiscent of the medieval world. It comes at a time when innovation had already been stagnating under guild-like corporate concentration and dominance, and the multilateral trade system had been buckling under pressure from a return to mercantilist ideas. The COVID-19 pandemic may cause a permanent reduction in innovation and entrepreneurship and may even bring the 4th industrial revolution (4IR) to a premature end. Hence the post-COVID-19 world may be left with trade as the only engine for industrialization for the foreseeable future. If the global community fails to fix the multilateral trade system, the world may start to resemble the Middle Ages in other, even worse, aspects.
A new GLO Discussion Paperdocuments that in Africa both the intensive and extensive margins of contemporary conflict are higher close to historical ethnic borders.
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 explore the effect of historical ethnic borders on contemporary conflict in Africa. We document that both the intensive and extensive margins of contemporary conflict are higher close to historical ethnic borders. Exploiting variations across artificial regions within an ethnicity’s historical homeland and a theory-based instrumental variable approach, we find that regions crossed by historical ethnic borders have 27 percentage points higher probability of conflict and 7.9 percentage points higher probability of being the initial location of a conflict. We uncover several key underlying mechanisms: competition for agricultural land, population pressure, cultural similarity and weak property rights.
A new GLO Discussion Paperdemonstrates that massive online social networks can advance the study of human culture by providing quantitative, scalable, and high-resolution measurement of behaviorally revealed cultural values and preferences.
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: Culture has played a pivotal role in human evolution. Yet, the ability of social scientists to study culture is limited by the currently available measurement instruments. Scholars of culture must regularly choose between scalable but sparse survey-based methods or restricted but rich ethnographic methods. Here, we demonstrate that massive online social networks can advance the study of human culture by providing quantitative, scalable, and high-resolution measurement of behaviorally revealed cultural values and preferences. We employ publicly available data across nearly 60,000 topic dimensions drawn from two billion Facebook users across 225 countries and territories. We first validate that cultural distances calculated from this measurement instrument correspond to traditional survey-based and objective measures of cross-national cultural differences. We then demonstrate that this expanded measure enables rich insight into the cultural landscape globally at previously impossible resolution. We analyze the importance of national borders in shaping culture, explore unique cultural markers that identify subnational population groups, and compare subnational divisiveness to gender divisiveness across countries. The global collection of massive data on human behavior provides a high-dimensional complement to traditional cultural metrics. Further, the granularity of the measure presents enormous promise to advance scholars’ understanding of additional fundamental questions in the social sciences. The measure enables detailed investigation into the geopolitical stability of countries, social cleavages within both small and large-scale human groups, the integration of migrant populations, and the disaffection of certain population groups from the political process, among myriad other potential future applications.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds for European countries that school friendship networks arise according to homophily along many characteristics (gender, school achievement and ethnic and cultural 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.
Author Abstract: This paper investigates the determinants of school friendship networks among adolescents, proposing a model of network formation and estimating it using a sample (CILS4EU) of about 10,000 secondary school students in four countries: England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. We test the idea that networks arise according to homophily along many characteristics (gender, school achievement and ethnic and cultural backgrounds), and assess the relative importance of each factor. In addition to gender, we find that country of origin, generational status and religion predict friendship for foreign-born students. For country-born individuals, ties depend on a broader set of factors, including socioeconomic status and school achievement. In sum, homophilic preferences go considerably beyond ethnicity. Multiculturalism, which gives prominence to ethnic backgrounds, risks emphasising the differences in that dimension at the expense of affinity in others.
A new GLO Discussion Papercarefully analyzes the components of the low female work participation in MENA countries and draws policy conclusions.
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 considers the female labor force participation (FLFP) behavior over the past decade in five MENA countries namely, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Tunisia. Low FLFP rates in these countries, as it is in other MENA countries, are well documented. We conduct synthetic panel analysis using age-period-cohort (APC) methodology and decompose FLFP rates into age, period and cohort effects. We present our results with Hanoch-Honig/Deaton-Paxson normalization and maximum entropy estimation approaches to the APC methodology in order to observe robustness of our results. We first study the aggregate FLFP and note the differentials in age, period and cohort effects across the countries we consider. The analysis is carried also out by rural/urban regional differentiation, marital status and educational attainment. Implications of our results for possible government policies to increase FLFP rates are discussed.
A new GLO Discussion Paper studies the short-term labor market effects of the Great Lockdown in the United States. It shows that jobs with a high non-routine content are especially well-protected, even if they are not teleworkable, and underlines the importance of their task content.
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: I examine the short-term labor market effects of the Great Lockdown in the United States. I analyze job losses by task content (Acemoglu & Autor 2011), and show that they follow underlying trends; jobs with a high non-routine content are especially well-protected, even if they are not teleworkable. The importance of the task content, particularly for non-routine cognitive analytical tasks, is strong even after controlling for age, gender, race, education, sector and location (and hence for differential demand and supply shocks). Jobs subject to higher structural turnover rates are much more likely to be terminated, suggesting that easier-to-replace employees were at a particular disadvantage, even within sectors; at the same time, there is evidence of labor hoarding for more valuable matches. Individuals in low-skilled jobs fared comparatively better in industries with a high share of highskilled workers.
A new GLO Discussion Paperprovides evidence for the existence of social barriers to female migration.
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: Traditional gender norms can restrict independent migration by women, thus preventing them from taking advantage of economic opportunities in urban non-agricultural industries. However, women may be able to circumvent such restrictions by using marriage to engage in long-distance migration – if they are able to match with migrating grooms. Guided by a theoretical model in which women make marriage and migration decisions jointly, we hypothesize that marriage and labor markets will be inextricably linked by the possibility of marital migration. To test our hypotheses, we use the event of the construction of a major bridge in Bangladesh – which dramatically reduced travel time between the economically deprived north-western region and the manufacturing belt located around the capital city Dhaka – as a source of plausibly exogenous variation in migration costs. Our empirical findings support our model’s main predictions and provide strong evidence for the existence of social barriers to female migration.
Interested researchers are cordially invited to submit their abstracts or papers for presentation consideration. The 34th EBES Conference – Athens/Greece will take place on January 6-8, 2021 co-organized with Department of Economics, School of Economics, Business and International Studies, University of Piraeus. (Online/Virtual Presentation Only)
This is aGLO supported event. EBESis theEurasia Business and Economics Society, a strategic partner and institutional supporter of GLO. GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann is also President of EBES.
Invited Speakers
EBES is pleased to announce that distinguished colleagues Jonathan Batten, Douglas Cumming, Kevin Lang, Narjess Boubakri, Keun Lee, Wolfgang Kürsten, Christos Kollias, and Michael Chletsos will join the conference as the invited editors and/or the keynote speakers.
Jonathan Batten is professor of finance and CIMB-UUM Chair in Banking and Finance at the School of Economics, Finance and Banking at the University Utara Malaysia (Malaysia). Prior to this position, he worked at the Monash University (Australia), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Hong Kong), and Seoul National University (Korea). He is a well-known academician who has published articles in many of the leading economics and finance journals and currently serves as the Editor of Emerging Markets Review (SSCI), Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money (SSCI), and Finance Research Letters (SSCI). He was also the President of EBES from July 2014 till December 2018. His current research interests include: financial market development and risk management; spread modelling arbitrage and market integration; and the investigation of the non-linear dynamics of financial prices.
Douglas Cumming, J.D., Ph.D., CFA, is the DeSantis Distinguished Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship at the Florida Atlantic University (USA). In his prior position, he was a Professor and the Ontario Research Chair at York University (Canada) and has also held visiting appointments at Essex Business School, Kobe University, and EMLyon, among others. He has published over 18 academic books and 150 articles in leading refereed academic journals in finance, management, and law and economics, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking &Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of International Business Studies and the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. His papers were cited more than 17K (Google Scholar). He is currently serving in numerous academic journals: Review of Corporate Finance (Founding Editor-in-Chief), British Journal of Management (Managing Editor-in-Chief), Corporate Governance: An International Review (Co-Editor), European Journal of Finance (Assoc. Editor), Studies in Economics and Finance (Assoc. Editor), and Journal of Banking and Finance (Assoc. Editor). Previously, he was the Managing Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Corporate Finance and Finance Research Letters and Co-Editor of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. His areas of expertise are crowdfunding, venture capital, private equity, hedge funds and law & finance. He earned both a law degree and a doctoral degree in Economics and Finance at the University of Toronto.
Kevin Lang is a professor in the Department of Economics at Boston University (USA), elected Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the Center for Research and Analysis of Migration (University College, London), a Research Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn) and a Fellow of the Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality (Stanford University), and a member of the Advisory Board of the Canadian Employment Research Forum. He served as a co-editor of Labour Economics, the Journal of the European Association of Labor Economists and remains as an associate editor. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Labor Economics. Prior to BU, he spent a year at the NBER as an Olin Foundation Fellow and before that was an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine. He has also visited MIT as a visiting scholar and professor and spent his sabbatical at the Collegio Carlo Alberto (Italy), the School of Economics at the University of New South Wales (Australia) and the Center for Research and Analysis of Migration. He has published many articles in top journals such as Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Review of Economics and Statistics, and Quarterly Journal of Economics. His research interests are economics of labor markets and education, including such topics as discrimination, unemployment, the relation between education and earnings and the relation between housing prices, taxes and local services. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA).
Narjess Boubakri is professor of Finance at American University of Sharjah (AUS) (United Arab Emirates) where she joined in 2007. She is currently the Dean of the School of Business Administration at AUS as well. She has taught at Laval University and HEC Montreal School of Business (Canada). She has also several editorial roles at leading journals such as Editor (Finance Research Letters), Co-Editor (Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance), Associate Editor (Journal of Corporate Finance), and Subject Editor (Emerging Markets Review; Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions, and Money; and Journal of International Business Policy). Her papers were published in well-known journals such as Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Journal of Accounting Research. Her research has been widely cited (Google Scholar=6,000+). Her research areas are corporate governance, privatization, corporate finance, international finance, mergers and acquisitions, legal and political institutions, lobbying, and earnings management.
Keun Lee is a Professor of Economics at the Seoul National University (South Korea). He had also short-term positions at University of California, Davis (USA) and University of Aberdeen (UK). He was the winner of the 2014 Schumpeter Prize for his monograph on Schumpeterian Analysis of Economic Catch-up (2013 Cambridge Univ. Press). He is currently Editor of Research Policy, an associate editor of Industrial and Corporate Change, and a council member of the World Economic Forum since 2016. He served as the President of the International Schumpeter Society (2016-18), a member of the Committee for Development Policy of UN (2014-18). One of his most cited articles is a paper on Korea’s Technological Catch-up published in Research Policy, with 1.3K citations (Google Scholar). His research areas are economics of development, transition, and catch-up, economics of innovation, and corporate organization and growth, among others. He obtained Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley (USA).
Wolfgang Kürsten is a Full Professor at the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, Germany. Prior to his current role, he worked in many leading institutions such as the Catholic University of Eichst, Germany, the University of Zürich, Switzerland, and University of Hannover, Germany, among others. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Operations Research Spectrum – Quantitative Approaches in Management and the Managing Editor of Review of Managerial Science (SSCI). He also served as Co-Editor in Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft and Operations Research Spectrum-Quantitative Approaches in Management. He has published many articles in journals such as Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics and Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft. His research interests include investments, capital structure, and asymmetric information, optimal credit contracts under moral hazard, credit rationing, asset-liability-management of banks, hedging with derivatives, stock options, and management incentives, corporate finance and governance, risk measures and stochastic dominance, decisions under uncertainty, mergers and acquisitions and firm valuation.
Christos Kollias is a Professor of Applied Economics and Acting Dean at the University of Thessaly, Greece. In his career, he has published more than 100 papers and many edited volumes and books. His papers were published in many of the leading journals such as Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Applied Economics, Applied Economics Letters, Finance Research Letters, Public Choice, Southern Economic Journal, and Journal of Business Ethics. He is currently the Editor of Defence and Peace Economics (SSCI) and a member of the Editorial Boards of Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy and the Economics of Peace and Security Journal and a member of the governing body of the Network of European Peace Scientists (NEPS). His research interests include defence economics, terrorism, international political economy, and applied macroeconomics.
Michael Chletsos is a Professor of Economic Analysis at the Department of Economics at the University of Piraeus where he is currently the Director of the Postgraduate Program. Prior to his current position, he taught at the University of Thessaly, the University of Crete, and the University of Ioannina. He was the head of the Dept. of Economics at the University of Ioannina and a senior researcher at the National Labour Institute and the Centre of Planning and Economic Research and Director of the Research Department of the Employment Observatory Research and Informatics S.A. He has been elected by Cedefop to serve as National Expert in skills forecasting and labor market developments. His research interests are labor economics, public economics, health economics and economics of social protection, poverty, and income inequalities, and economics of education. He holds a Ph.D. in economics degree from the University of Picardie, France.
Board Prof. Klaus F. Zimmermann, UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, & GLO. Prof. Jonathan Batten, University Utara Malaysia, Malaysia & GLO Prof. Iftekhar Hasan, Fordham University, U.S.A. Prof. Euston Quah, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Prof. John Rust, Georgetown University, U.S.A., & GLO Prof. Dorothea Schäfer, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), Germany, and GLO Prof. Marco Vivarelli, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Italy, & GLO
Abstract/Paper Submission
Authors are invited to submit their abstracts or papers no later than December 10, 2020.
Qualified papers can be published in EBES journals (Eurasian Business Review and Eurasian Economic Review) or EBES Proceedings books after a peer review process without any submission or publication fees. EBES journals (EABR and EAER) are published by Springer and both are indexed in the SCOPUS, EBSCO EconLit with Full Text, Google Scholar, ABS Academic Journal Quality Guide, CNKI, EBSCO Business Source, EBSCO Discovery Service, ProQuest International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), OCLC WorldCat Discovery Service, ProQuest ABI/INFORM, ProQuest Business Premium Collection, ProQuest Central, ProQuest Turkey Database, ProQuest-ExLibris Primo, ProQuest-ExLibris Summon, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, Naver, SCImago, ABDC Journal Quality List, Cabell’s Directory, and Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory. In addition, while EAER is indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics), EABR is indexed in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Current Contents / Social & Behavioral Sciences.
Also, all accepted abstracts will be published electronically in the Conference Program and the Abstract Book (with an ISBN number). Although submitting full papers are not required, all the submitted full papers will also be included in the conference proceedings in a USB. Conference program/abstract book with ISBN and conference proceedings will be available on a cloud server for participants to download as well.
After the conference, participants will also have the opportunity to send their paper to be published (after a refereeing process managed by EBES) in the Springer’s series Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics (no submission and publication fees). This is indexed by Scopus. It will also be sent to Clarivate Analytics in order to be reviewed for coverage in the Conference Proceedings Citation Index – Social Science & Humanities (CPCI-SSH). Please note that the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th (Vol. 2), 21st, and 24th EBES Conference Proceedings are accepted for inclusion in the Conference Proceedings Citation Index – Social Science & Humanities (CPCI-SSH). Other conference proceedings are in progress. it is also indexed by Scopus.
Important Dates
Conference Date: January 6-7-8, 2021 Abstract Submission Deadline: December 10, 2020 Reply-by: December 14, 2020* Registration Deadline: December 20, 2020 Submission of the Virtual Presentation: December 21, 2020 Announcement of the Program: December 25, 2020 Paper Submission Deadline (Optional): December 20, 2020** Paper Submission for the EBES journals: March 15, 2021
* The decision regarding the acceptance/rejection of each abstract/paper will be communicated with the corresponding author within a week of submission.
** Completed paper submission is optional. If you want to be considered for the Best Paper Award or your full paper to be included in the conference proceedings in the USB, after submitting your abstract before December 10, 2020, you must also submit your completed (full) paper by December 20, 2020.
Contact Ugur Can, Director of EBES (ebes@ebesweb.org); EBES & GLO Dr. Ender Demir, Conferene Coordinator of EBES (demir@ebesweb.org); EBES & GLO
A new GLO Discussion Paperstudies how firms in Brazil respond to predictable, but uncertain, worker absences that arise from maternity and non-work-related sickness leave.
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 costs to a firm of employee absence depend on how easy it is to find a replacement. We study how firms respond to predictable, but uncertain, worker absences that arise from maternity and non-work-related sickness leave. Using administrative data on over two million spells of leave in Brazil, we identify the short-run effects of a leave spell starting on a firm’s employment, hiring, and separations. We find that firms respond immediately to the start of leave by hiring new workers, and to a lesser extent, by limiting job separations. However, firms replace leave-takers at far less than the one – for- one rate implied by a frictionless labor market model. Hiring responses are more pronounced for absences arising in occupations with more transferable skills and in firms operating in thicker labor markets. Altogether, our results suggest that replacing workers using external markets is costly and firms manage predictable worker absences through other channels.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that the Bologna reform decreased the number of new highly educated apprentices and aggravated the skills shortage in the German 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: Starting in 1999, the Bologna Process reformed the German five-year study system for a first degree into the three-year bachelor’s (BA) system to harmonize study lengths in Europe and improve competitiveness. This reform unintentionally challenged the German apprenticeship system that offers three-year professional training for the majority of school leavers. Approximately 29% of new apprentices are university-eligible graduates from academic-track schools. We evaluate the effects of the Bologna reform on new highly educated apprentices using a generalized difference-in-differences design based on detailed administrative student and labor market data. Our estimates show that the average regional expansion in first-year BA students decreased the number of new highly educated apprentices by 3%-5%; average treatment effects on those indecisive at school graduation range between -18% and -29%. We reveal substantial gender and occupational heterogeneity: males in STEM apprenticeships experienced the strongest negative effects. The reform aggravated the skills shortage in the economy.
Issue 1, 2021 of the Journal of Population Economics is already published online. See below the list of articles and access links to read the contributions.
November 19, 2020 (Thursday); (2-5 pm CET): Journal of Population Economics Online Workshop (Webinar). Hosted by UNU-MERIT. Maastricht . Open to the general public. Mark your calendar. Detailed agenda and registration information will be provided in time through the GLO & POP @ UNU-MERIT websites.
AGENDA: Presentation of the Kuznets Prize 2021 Highlights of Issue 1/2021 – Lead article – 4 articles on Covid-19 Meeting with the authors, prize winners and editors. *******
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds that the gender wage gap disappears for licensed self-employed workers.
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 use a unique survey of the EU labor force to investigate the relationship between occupational licensing and the gender wage gap. We find that the gender wage gap is canceled for licensed self-employed workers. However, this closure of the gender wage gap is not mirrored by significant changes in the gender gap in hours worked. Our results are robust using decomposition methods, quantile regressions, different datasets, and selection correction.
A new GLO Discussion Paperconfirms supplier-induced demand in health care in China and discusses the implications for health policy.
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: Doing “more” in healthcare can be a major threat to the delivery of high-quality health care. This study used coarsened exact matching to test the hypothesis of supplier-induced demand (SID) by comparing health care utilization and expenditures between patients affiliated with healthcare professionals and their counterpart patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals. Using the China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) in 2014, we identified 806 patients affiliated with healthcare professionals and 22,788 patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals. The matched outpatient proportion of patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals was 0.6% higher (p=.754) than that of their counterparts, and the matched inpatient proportion was 1.1% lower (p =.167). Patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals paid significantly more (680 CNY or 111 USD, p<.001) than their counterparts did per outpatient visit, while patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals paid insignificantly less ( 2,061 CNY or 336 USD, p=.751) than their counterparts did per inpatient visit. Our results lend support to the SID and highlight the need for policies to address the large outpatient care expenses for patients not affiliated with healthcare professionals. Our study also suggests that as the public becomes more informed, the demand of health care may persist while heath care expenditure per outpatient visit may decline sharply due to the weakened S ID. To address misbehaviors and contain costs in health care provision, it is important to realign provider incentives.
A new GLO Discussion Paper covering China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United Statesfinds that poorer individuals are less supportive of government responses. Greater transfers to the poor may ameliorate their resistance, increase support for strict policies, and may reduce the potential deepening of social inequalities caused by 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: Despite a rich literature studying the impact of inequality on policy outcomes, there has been limited effort to bring these insights into the debates about comparative support for government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We fill in this gap by analyzing rich survey data from six countries spanning different income levels and geographical locations-China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We find that poorer individuals are less supportive of government responses, and that poorest individuals are least supportive. Furthermore, poorer individuals residing in more economically unequal countries offer even less government support. We also find that both economic and non-economic factors could affect the poor’s decisions to support stringent government policies. These findings suggest that greater transfers to the poor may ameliorate their resistance, increase support for strict policies, and may reduce the potential deepening of social inequalities caused by the pandemic.
A new GLO Discussion Paperexamines the influence of the statutory minimum wage in Germany on labor demand elasticities for low-skilled workers.
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 influence of the statutory minimum wage on labor demand elasticities regarding low-skilled workers. For this, a regression discontinuity analysis is conducted using company panel data from 2013 to 2018. In addition, a possible endogeneity of the remuneration for low-skilled workers was considered using an IV estimation. It is shown that the monopsonistic structures of the labor market may continue to exist after the introduction of the minimum wage. Additionally, the own-wage elasticity for low-skilled workers did not change over the period considered. However, in the short run, stronger substitutive relationships with medium-skilled workers seem to exist, and probably also with highly qualified employees in the long run.
A new GLO Discussion Papersuggests that the gender gap in unpaid work in Columbia depends on factors such as educational level, paid employment status, and family composition.
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 inequality is much more than wage gaps. Indeed, one interesting case is how individuals allocate time among different activities such as paid work, unpaid work and domestic work. This paper aims to quantify gender inequality in the time use in unpaid care and home activities and to investigate the main drivers of gender gaps in Colombia using the National Time Use Survey. Our results suggest that the gender gap in unpaid work depends on factors such as educational level, paid employment status, and family composition. Counterfactual exercises comparing individuals under different family contexts suggest that the gender gap varies importantly with the presence of children, marital status and individual’s participation in the generation of household income.
A new GLO Discussion Paperstudies the occupational selection among generations of immigrants in the United States and shows how their choices are linked to the occupational wage distribution in their country of origin.
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 studies the occupational selection among generations of immigrants in the United States and links their choices to the occupational wage distribution in their country of origin. The empirical results suggest that individuals are more likely to take up an occupation in the US that was more lucrative in the origin country, conditional on individual demographics, parental human capital, and ethnic networks. However, the importance of the origin wage declines with the length of time that immigrants spend in the US and over generations. Information friction may be an explanation.
A new paper published online in the Journal of Population Economicsfinds thatrailroads affected population growth during the first globalization (1865–1920) in Chile.
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 Andres Forero, Francisco A. Gallego, Felipe Gonzalez and Matıas Tapia
Published ONLINE: Journal of Population Economics, scheduled for 2021. FREE READLINK
GLO Fellow Francisco A. Gallego
Railway
Author Abstract: We explore how railroads affected population growth during the first globalization (1865–1920) in Chile. We look at areas with a strong comparative advantage in agriculture using novel data that document 60 years of railroad construction. Using instrumental variables, we present four main findings. First, railroads increased both urban and rural population growth. Second, the impact was stronger in areas with more potential for agricultural expansion. Third, railroads increased specialization in agriculture when combined with a high level of the real exchange rate. And fourth, railroads had little effect on human capital and fertility. These results suggest that the effects of transportation technologies depend on existing macroeconomic conditions.
LEAD ARTICLE OF ISSUE 4: Yun Qiu, Xi Chen & Wei Shi, Impacts of social and economic factors on the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China Journal of Population Economics33, 1127–1172 (2020). OPEN ACCESS Over 29K journal downloads & over 80 Google Scholar cites as of October 26, 2020.
A new paper published online in the Journal of Population Economicsstudies the labor market effects of a work-first policy that aimed at speeding up the labor market integration of refugees. New requirements for refugees to actively search for jobs and to participate in on-the-job training immediately upon arrival in Denmark led to limited employment effects among males but not for females.
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: Journal of Population Economics, scheduled for 2021. OPEN ACCESS!! GLO Fellow Jacob Nielsen Arendt GLO Discussion Paper No. 662, 2020
Author Abstract: This study estimates the labor market effects of a work-first policy aimed at speeding up the labor market integration of refugees. The policy added new requirements for refugees to actively search for jobs and to participate in on-the-job training immediately upon arrival in the host country, Denmark. The requirements were added to an existing policy that emphasizes human capital investments in language training. The results show that the work-first policy speeded up entry into regular jobs for men, but they find work in precarious jobs with few hours. Long-run effects are uncertain since the policy crowds out language investments but raises enrollment in education. The policy had no or very small effects for women, which is partly explained by a lower treatment intensity for women.
LEAD ARTICLE OF ISSUE 4: Yun Qiu, Xi Chen & Wei Shi, Impacts of social and economic factors on the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China Journal of Population Economics33, 1127–1172 (2020). OPEN ACCESS Over 27K journal downloads & over 80 Google Scholar cites as of October 18, 2020.
The new GLO Discussion Paperpresents evidence about the effects of stereotypical beliefs of teachers on learning outcomes of secondary school students in India.
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 effect of stereotypical beliefs of teachers on learning outcomes of secondary school students in India. We measure teacher’s bias through an index capturing teacher’s subjective beliefs about the role of gender and other characteristics in academic performance. We tackle the potential endogeneity of teacher’s subjective beliefs by controlling for teacher fixed effects in a value-added model that includes lagged test score of students. We find that a standard deviation increase in biased attitude of the math teacher widens the female disadvantage in math performance by 0.07 standard deviation over an academic year. This negative effect of biased teachers is significant only for male teachers. The effect is especially strong among the medium-performing students and in classes where the majority of students are boys. Moreover, among the medium-performing students, having a female teacher significantly reduces the gender gap in math performance. As a plausible mechanism, we show that biased teachers negatively affect girls’ attitude towards math as compared to boys. Unlike math outcome, we do not find any significant effect when we analyze the effect of biased English teachers on English scores of the same students.
Featured image: Photo-by-Element5-Digital-on-Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paper explores the impact of the adoption and the removal of restrictive measures in the Italian Covid-19 crisis on changes in individual mobility in Italy.The measures lowered individual mobility by about 7 percentage points.
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: Italy was among the first countries to introduce drastic measures to reduce mobility in order to prevent the diffusion of Covid-19. On March 9, 26 out of 111 provinces were subject to severe limitations on individual mobility between municipalities. One day later, new restrictive measures were introduced in the whole country with no regional distinctions: this continued until June 3 when the limits on movements across regions were eventually lifted. By looking at these watershed moments, this paper explores, for the first time, the impact of the adoption and the removal of restrictive measures on changes in individual mobility in Italy. By using a spatial discontinuity approach, we show that these measures were effective in that they lowered individual mobility by about 7 percentage points relative to what is accounted for by the characteristics of the local population and the disease. The analysis shows, however, that local features played an important role after the travelling bans were lifted: the catching up with pre-Covid-19 patterns has been stronger in those areas where the labour force is relatively less exposed to the risk of contagion and less likely to work from home.
Amsterdam, October 23, 2020, 2 pm. Wageindicator Foundation. Virtual conference on the “GIG Economy Around the World”. Welcome by Paulien Osse, Wageindicator Foundation Director. Keynote speech by Klaus F. Zimmermann (President, GLO; UNU-MERIT & Maastricht University). Conference website for registration. GLO and Wageindicator Foundation are collaborating organizations.
A new GLO Discussion Paper finds an increase in poverty and labor income inequality in the majority of the LAC countries due to social distancing. Most of the dispersion in the labor income loss across countries is explained by the sectoraland occupational structure of the economies, while the rest is explained by the type of lockdown policy implemented.
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 evaluates the distributional consequences of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty and labor income inequality in 20 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. We gather detailed information from national laws and decrees on the strictness and the duration of the lockdown in each country and use rich harmonized household surveys from the IADB. We estimate the share of individuals that are potentially able to remain active under the first phase of the lockdown by constructing the Lockdown Working Ability (LWA) index which takes into account individuals’ ability to work from home but also whether their occupation is affected by workplace closures or mobility restrictions. We find that, on average, 1 worker out of 2 is able to work under the lockdown in the LAC region. We document considerable variation in the share of individuals able to work under the lockdown across countries and within countries across occupations, economic activities and specific population groups. Based on the LWA index, we then estimate individual’s potential labor income losses and examine changes in poverty and labor income inequality. We find an increase in poverty and labor income inequality in the majority of the LAC countries due to social distancing. At the national level, the highest increase in the headcount poverty index is 1.4 pp and the highest increase in the Gini coefficient is 2 pp. Decomposing overall labor income inequality in the LAC region, we find that social distancing has lead to a small decrease (-0.1 pp) in inequality between countries but to an increase (2 pp) in inequality within countries. Finally, we document that 63% of the dispersion in the labor income loss across countries is explained by the sectoral/occupational structure of the economies, while the rest is explained by the type of lockdown policy that was implemented.
A new GLO Discussion Paperproposes that ancestral use of irrigation reduces contemporary female labor force participation and female property rights.
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.
GLO Fellows Per Fredriksson and Satyendra Kumar Gupta
Per Fredriksson
Satyendra K. Gupta
Author Abstract: This paper proposes that ancestral use of irrigation reduces contemporary female labor force participation and female property rights. We test this hypothesis using an exogenous measure of irrigation and data from the Afrobarometer, cross-country data, the European Social Survey, the American Community Survey, and the India Demographic and Household Survey. Our hypothesis receives considerable empirical support. We find negative associations between ancestral irrigation and actual female labor force participation, and attitudes to such participation, in contemporary African and Indian populations, 2nd generation European immigrants, 1.5 and 2nd generation US immigrants, and in cross-country data. Moreover, ancestral irrigation is negatively associated with attitudes to female property rights in Africa and with measures of such rights across countries. Our estimates are robust to a host of control variables and alternative specifications. We propose multiple potential partial mechanisms. First, in pre-modern societies the men captured technologies complementary to irrigation, raising their relative productivity. Fertility increased. This caused lower female participation in agriculture and subsistence activities, and the women worked closer to home. Next, due to the common pool nature of irrigation water, historically irrigation has involved more frequent warfare. This raised the social status of men and restricted women’s movement. These two mechanisms have produced cultural preferences against female participation in the formal labor market. Finally, irrigation produced both autocracy and a culture of collectivism. These are both associated with weaker female property rights.
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Author Abstract:Little evidence currently exists on the effects of COVID-19 on air quality in poorer countries, where most air pollution-linked deaths occur. We offer the first study that examines the pandemic’s impacts on improving air quality in Vietnam, a lower-middle income country with worsening air pollution. Employing the Regression Discontinuity Design method to analyze a rich database that we compile from satellite air pollution data and data from various other sources, we find the concentration of NO2 to decrease by 24 to 32 percent two weeks after the COVID-19 lockdown. While this finding is robust to different measures of air quality and model specifications, the positive effects of the lockdown appear to dissipate after ten weeks. We also find that mobility restrictions are a potential channel for improved air quality. Finally, our back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that two weeks after the lockdown, the economic gains from better air quality are roughly $0.6 billion US dollars.
GLO DP Team Senior Editors: Matloob Piracha (University of Kent) & GLO; Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and Bonn University). Managing Editor: Magdalena Ulceluse, University of Groningen. DP@glabor.org
A new paper published online in the Journal of Population Economicsfinds that individuals whose mothers were affected by an abortion ban Romania employed in the mid-1960shad asignificantly lower demand for childrenthan those who were not.
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: Journal of Population Economics, scheduled for 2021. Free Readlink
GLO Fellow Federico Gutierrez
Featured image: dawid-zawila-on-unsplash
Author Abstract: This study examines the extent to which banning women from having abortions affected the fertility of their children, who did not face a similar legal constraint. Using multiple censuses from Romania, I follow men and women born around the time Romania banned abortion in the mid-1960s to investigate the demand for children over their life cycle. The empirical approach combines elements of regression discontinuity design and the Heckman selection model. The results indicate that individuals whose mothers were affected by the ban had significantly lower demand for children than those who were not. One-third of the decline is explained by inherited socio-economic status.
LEAD ARTICLE OF ISSUE 4: Yun Qiu, Xi Chen & Wei Shi, Impacts of social and economic factors on the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China Journal of Population Economics33, 1127–1172 (2020). OPEN ACCESS Over 27K journal downloads & over 80 Google Scholar cites as of October 18, 2020.
A new paper published online in the Journal of Population Economicsstudies 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.
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: Journal of Population Economics, scheduled for issue 2/2021. Free Readlink – Download PDF GLO Discussion Paper No. 658, 2020
GLO FellowsM. Niaz Asadullah & Zahra Siddique
Niaz Asadullah
Zahra Siddique
Author Abstract: We elicit adolescent girls’ attitudes towards intimate partner violence and child marriage using purposefully collected data from rural Bangladesh. Alongside direct survey questions, we conduct list experiments to elicit true preferences for intimate partner violence and marriage before age 18. Responses to direct survey questions suggest that very few adolescent girls in the study accept the practises of intimate partner violence and child marriage (5% and 2%). However, our list experiments reveal significantly higher support for both intimate partner violence and child marriage (at 30% and 24%). We further investigate how numerous variables relate to preferences for egalitarian gender norms in rural Bangladesh.
LEAD ARTICLE OF ISSUE 4: Yun Qiu, Xi Chen & Wei Shi, Impacts of social and economic factors on the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China Journal of Population Economics33, 1127–1172 (2020). OPEN ACCESS Over 27K journal downloads & over 80 Google Scholar cites as of October 18, 2020.
A new GLO Discussion Paperinvestigates the 2008 policy change in Sweden’s immigration policy. The new non-selective labor-migration policy lowered labor migrants’ mean income by opening the door to unskilled labor.
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 2008, Sweden changed its labor-migration policy in order to facilitate more labor migration from countries outside the EU. The unique design of the new law meant abandoning most state ambitions to shape labor migration. Under the new regulation, there are no labor-market tests or any consideration of the level of human capital. Instead, policy-makers trusted employers to select workers. We adopt a difference-in-differences approach and apply a series of OLS regressions on register data to assess the effects of the policy change on non-EU labor migrants’ labor-market outcomes, as measured by income. The effects of the policy change are substantial. Non-EU labor migration increased and its composition changed after the reform, resulting in a significant decrease in mean incomes. The regression analysis shows that, despite the favorable economic cycle during the post-reform period, moving to Sweden as a third-country labor migrant following the 2008 labor-migration reform had a negative effect on the migrants’ annual income. However, this effect became marginal after controlling for occupational level. We conclude that changes in their occupational composition were the main drivers of the income drop for non-EU labor migrants. In sum, the new non-selective labor-migration policy lowered labor migrants’ mean income by opening the door to unskilled labor.
Featured image: Photo-by-Jose-Antonio-Gallego-Vázquez-on-Unsplash.
All the presentation in this series are based on the projects that GLO-VirtYS program scholars completed as part of their program participation. Videos of the event are available below.
October 15th Program
Sydney (10pm), Beijing (8pm), Istanbul (3pm), Berlin (2pm), London (1pm), Cape Town (2pm), Washington DC (8am), Santiago de Chile (8am)
Zhiling Wang, Assistant Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam and GLO Fellow Do International Study Programmes Pay off for Native Students?VIDEO (GLO VirtYS program advisor Professor Francesco Pastore)
Ömer Tuğsal Doruk, Assistant Professor at Adana Alparslan Türkeş Science and Technology University and GLO Fellow School to Work Transition and Macroeconomic Conditions in the Turkish EconomyVIDEO (GLO VirtYS program advisor Professor Francesco Pastore)
Chaired by GLO VirtYS Program Director Olena Nizalova. Full video of the event. For more information about both speakers and their paper abstracts.
Featured image: Photo-by-The-Coherent-Team-on-Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paperinvestigates how many discrimination tests per single agent are needed to convincingly proof discrimination.For the Belgium real estate market, it appears that 10 or more tests are needed per realtor to detect discrimination with a high degree of certainty.
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: Correspondence tests have been used by scholars and civil rights organizations to measure ethnic discrimination. In contrast to research testing covering a whole market through many discrimination tests, litigation testing typically targets a single agent, which can only be tested through a very low number of tests per agent. This low number of tests poses serious methodological challenges to disentangle systematic discrimination from random treatment. This study examines from a purely statistical point of view how many discrimination tests per single agent are needed to convincingly proof discrimination. We collected unique longitudinal data about 114 real estate agents, which were tested through 10 repeated pairwise matched correspondence tests. It appears that 10 or more tests are needed per realtor to detect discrimination with a high degree of certainty. The required number of tests per agent depends on the pattern of discrimination among the agent under study, the expected non-response rate and the desired degree of certainty.
Featured image: Photo-by-Mika-Baumeister-on-Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds rising inequality in the Nordic countries in the composition of individual incomes which is due mostly to a shift in capital incomes towards the top of the distribution.
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: As far as standard measures of income inequality are concerned, the Nordic countries rank among the most equal economies in the world. This paper studies whether and how this picture changes when the focus is on inequality of income composition, meaning the heterogeneity in individuals’ factor income shares. We highlight the structural change taking place in all the Nordic countries since the early 1990s, with rising inequality in composition of individual incomes due mostly to a shift in capital incomes towards the top of the distribution. We link this result to changes in taxation of factor incomes, by highlighting the role played by the introduction of Dual Income Taxation reforms in the 1990s throughout the Nordic countries. Our estimates of the degree of income composition inequality allow a descriptive analysis of the role of functional distribution as a determinant of personal income inequality in the Nordics. We show that for Denmark in the period 2009-2013, Finland 1990-2007, and Norway 1991-2005, rising capital shares of income contributed to changes in personal income inequality, whilst for Sweden the evidence leads to disregard the capital share as a determinant of income inequality.
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds a significant contribution of foreign capital on the accumulated growth of GDP over the period of analysis in Spain.
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: Foreign direct investment (FDI) has played a major role in the deep process of transformation experienced by the Spanish economy since the first 1960s, which even intensified following the integration with the now European Union (EU) in 1986. In this paper, we analyse the long-run effects of FDI in Spain, by estimating a production function including the foreign capital stock over the period 1964-2013. We find a significant contribution of foreign capital on the accumulated growth of GDP over the period of analysis, which seems however to have been greater during the first years of the period analysed.
A new GLO Discussion Paperstudies the demand for academic support services at a large U.S. public university. Approximately one-third of students are never attentive to student services, and the characteristics of advertising messages matter.
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: More than two of every five students who enroll in college fail to graduate within six years. Prior research has identified ineffective study habits as a major barrier to success. We conducted a randomized controlled advertising experiment designed to increase demand for academic support services among more than 2,100 students at a large U.S. public university. Our results reveal several striking findings. First, the intervention shifted proxies of student attention, such as opening emails and self-reported awareness of service availability. However, the experimental variation indicates that approximately one-third of students are never attentive to student services. Second, advertising increased the use of extra practice problems, but did not affect take-up of tutoring and coaching, the other two services. Structural estimates suggest that transaction costs well in excess of plausible opportunity costs explain the differences in service use. Third, the characteristics of advertising messages matter. Several common nudging techniques—such as text messages, lottery-based economic incentives, and repeated messages—either had no effect or in some cases reduced the effectiveness of messaging.
Featured image: Photo by Mikael Kristenson on Unsplash
A new GLO Discussion Paperfinds for Russia that although the returns to schooling increased for a time, they are now much lower than the global average. Private returns to education are three times greater for higher education compared with vocational education, and the returns to education for females are higher than for males.
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 presents new estimates of the returns to education in the Russian Federation using data from 1994 to 2018. Although the returns to schooling increased for a time, they are now much lower than the global average. Private returns to education are three times greater for higher education compared with vocational education, and the returns to education for females are higher than for males. Returns for females show an inverse U-shaped curve over the past two decades. Female education is a policy priority and there is a need to investigate the labor market relevance of vocational education. Higher education may have reached an expansion limit, and it may be necessary to investigate options for increasing the productivity of schooling.
A new GLO Discussion Paperstudies the motherhood penalty on the Indian labor market and how it varies across the different cultural values pertaining to different family settings, regions and workplaces.
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: Labor market penalty associated with motherhood (in short, motherhood penalty) is an important issue related to gender equality in the society. Our paper is an attempt to empirically examine the extent of motherhood penalty in the context of Indian labor market. We use a nationally representative longitudinal survey data to address this question. We find negative relationship between motherhood and labor market outcomes for women. Besides using conventional measures of motherhood such as number of children, we also devise a new measure of motherhood relevant for our research question. The survey asked the respondents about their desired number of children. We deduct the desired number of children from the actual number of children to come up with a new measure of motherhood that we call extra children. We reckon that often women’s decision to join specific occupations or labor markets in general often internalize their desired number of children; the number they originally planned for. Hence, it is the number of children above the desired number which leads to stronger negative outcomes in the labor market. We find that the extra children variable has a stronger negative impact on women’s labor market outcomes than the conventional measures. We also examine how the extent of motherhood penalty varies across different cultural values pertaining to different family settings, regions and workplaces. We find, depending on different cultures prevailing in the places of residence or workplace, motherhood penalty gets either mitigated or exacerbated. Our results remain robust to alternative measures of motherhood.
Below is the program of the “2nd Bank of Italy Human Capital Workshop”, which will be held online on the 26th of October, 2020. Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. To attend please register with: human_capital@bancaditalia.it. The event is co-organized by GLO Fellows Domenico Depalo and Marta De Philippis.
DP of the Month September
