2021 Virtual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies ISQOLS 2021 CONFERENCE: “Quality-of-life and Adaptation in a Virulent World” VIRTUAL EVENT: 23-27, AUGUST 2021
The 2021 Virtual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2021) on “Quality-of-life and Adaptation in a Virulent World” takes place on 23-27 August 2021 as a virtual event. The conference features five GLO/EHERO Special Sessions on Happiness Economics put together under the direction of Martijn Hendriks, Martijn Burger, and Milena Nikolova. Milena Nikolova is also the GLO Cluster Lead on Happiness Economics and a Section Editor dealing with happiness economics in the GLO-supported forthcoming Handbook “Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics” edited by GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann. A number of review papers presented in the GLO/EHERO Special Sessions are articles from this Handbook.
Stephanie Rossouw and Talita Greyling: Big Data and Happiness
Olga Popova and Vladimir Otrachshenko: Religion and happiness
Clemens Hetschko, Andreas Knabe and Ronnie Schöb: Happiness, Work and Identity
Martin Binder and Ann-Kathrin Blankenberg: Self-Employment and Subjective Well-Being
Happiness Economics II: 10.00-11.40
Diana Tam and Arthur Grimes: The Economics of Free Speech: A Subjective Wellbeing Approach
Philip Morrison: Whose happiness in which cities? The urban wellbeing paradox revisited
Martijn Hendriks and Randall Birnberg: Happiness in the daily socio-cultural integration process: A day reconstruction study among US immigrants in Germany
Jeehoon Han and Caspar Kaiser: Changes in Time Use and Happiness
Happiness Economics III: 12.00-13.40
Richard Easterlin and Kelsey O’Connor: The Easterlin Paradox
Alberto Prati and Claudia Senik: Feeling good or feeling better?
Robin Konietzny, Milena Nikolova and Bart Los: Trade and Job (In)Security: The Two Sides of Occupational Import Exposure
Happiness Economics IV: 14.00-15.40
Carol Graham, Emily Dobson and James Kunhardt: When Public Health Crises Become Entwined: How Trends in COVID-19, Deaths of Despair, and Well-being Track Across the U.S.A.
Francesco Sarracino, Kelsey O’Connor, Chiara Peroni, Talita Greyling and Stephanie Rossouw: Well-being expressed through Twitter during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Julia Schmidtke, Clemens Hetschko, Gesine Stephan, Michael Eid, Ronnie Schöb and Mario Lawes: The impact of Covid-19 on mental health and well-being. An event-study based on high-frequency longitudinal survey data
Happiness Economics V: 19.00-20.40
Paul Fenton Villar: Is there a Mineral-Induced ‘Economic Euphoria’?: Evidence from Latin America
Mariano Rojas, Karen Watkins and Lázaro Rodríguez: The Happiness of CEOs in Family and Nonfamily Firms: Different Explanatory Structures and its Consequences
Annie Tubadji: Consumer Happiness and AI Sensitivity to Cultural and Moral Preferences
The 36th EBES Conference in Istanbul took place July 1-3, 2021 in Hybrid Mode. A highlight of the second day was the GLO Handbook Session on “Worker Representation, Labor-Management Relations and Labor Standards” chaired by GLO Fellow Uwe Jirjahn. GLO and EBES are collaborating organizations.
The conference included a GLO Handbook Session on “Worker Representation, Labor-Management Relations and Labor Standards” organized and chaired by Uwe Jirjahn (University of Trier and GLO), who is a Section Editor of the Handbook. The event took place on July 2, 3.50-5.50 pm, Istanbul time.
Decent Work and the Quality of Work and Employment Francis Green (University College London and GLO)
Union Membership and Collective Bargaining: Trends and Determinants Claus Schnabel (Universität Erlangen Nürnberg)
Unions, Worker Participation and Worker Well-Being Benjamin Artz (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and GLO) and John S. Heywood (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and GLO)
Worker Voice and Political Participation in Civil Society John Budd (University of Minnesota and GLO) and Ryan Lamare (University of Illinois and GLO)
Works Councils Jens Mohrenweiser (Bournemouth University)
Board-Level Worker Representation Aleksandra Gregoric (Copenhagen Business School)
The Covid-19 delayed IEA World Congress (“Bali”) now takes place virtually on 2-6 July 2021.
On invitation of the International Economic Association (IEA) the Global Labor Organization (GLO) has organized three sessions for the IEA World Congress, which were recorded by GLO with support of Kent University on June 10, 2021. See program details, report and video access: LINK
Using data for young Romanians, a new GLO Discussion Paper finds that it is external religiosity that interacts with weaker addictive behaviors like smoking, drinking and using drugs.
Author Abstract: While under communism, identity-providing religion was suppressed, religiosity is strong today even among the youth in post-communist countries. This provides an appropriate background to investigate how external and internal religiosity relates to addictive behaviors like smoking, drinking and drugs among the young. This study shows that not religion as such or internal religiosity, but largely observable (external) religiosity prevents them from wallowing those vices.
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.
Since 2019 the Databank of the Center for Economic and Regional Studies (CERS) is a strategic partner of GLO. The data service has been improved by the availability of a new website. Those interested working with rich Hungarian data sources should explore the possibilities on the web.JánosKöllő, Head of the Databank, is a GLO Fellow, and the GLO Country Lead Hungary.
János Köllő (right) with the GLO President 2019 in the building
The Databank (i) collects, cleans, and harmonizes the most important Hungarian repeated cross-section surveys (ii) builds big LEED panels based on administrative data, which cover up to 5 million people followed on a monthly basis. Data on labor market and school careers, employer characteristics and state of health are available. (iii) Operates a Data Room. Researchers can work with full population and firm censuses, product-level trade data, and a register of inter-firm payments, among others. The data can be linked. Results should go through an output checking procedure. (iv) A laboratory is open for experiments. All the data and facilities are available for joint research with the employees of CERS, and many of them are unconditionally open for the international research community.
LINK to the website: https://adatbank.krtk.mta.hu/en/
The Global Labor Organization (GLO) and the Collaborating Centre for Labour Research(CU-COLLAR) at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand affiliate. The two organizations will support each other in their common missions on research and educational issues. CU-COLLAR will provide the local platform of GLO in Thailand and beyond. GLO Fellow and GLO Country Lead Thailand Ruttiya Bhula-or will head the local activities. The English website is available since February 2021: Link.
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.
TheCollaborating Centre for Labour Research(CU-COLLAR) at Chulalongkorn University is dedicated to promoting cutting-edge labor researches to facilitate the implementation of policies, and to support the development of labor & socioeconomic data infrastructure and analysis to boost dialogues on labor research toward better wellbeing and decent work in an integrated and sustainable manner. The CU-COLLAR supports cooperation and partnership from a wide range of disciplines and universities with government, private sectors, employers’ representatives, workers’ representatives, international organizations, non-for-profit organizations at national and international levels. CU-COLLAR will provide the local platform of GLO at Chulalongkorn University, in Thailand and beyond.
Ruttiya Bhula-or is Associate Dean at the College of Population Studies, Chulalongkorn University, and GLO Country Lead Thailand. She will act as Head of the local GLO initiatives at CU-COLLAR.
Chulalongkorn University with its Collaborating Centre for Labour Research(CU-COLLAR) has become a supporting organization of GLO.
Samuel Mann, Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods and GLO affiliate Gender Identity, Employment, Self-Employment and Trans Legislation (GLO VirtYS program advisor Professor Nick Drydakis). VIDEO of this presentation.
Chaired by GLO VirtYS Program Director Olena Nizalova. Full video of the event.
Yannis Galanakis
Yannis Galanakis is a Ph.D. Candidate in the School of Economics at the University of Kent (UK). His research centres around Labour Economics and Applied Microeconomics. Yannis’ recent empirical and theoretical work regards the Human Capital Mismatch (HCM) in the labour market accounting for differences across workers in more than one dimension of skill. His contribution argues that the mismatch might come from market frictions; hence, he proposes an alternative method to estimate its extent. Part of his analysis focuses on the female labour market highlighting not only the magnitude of their HCM, but also the discrimination they face even before entering the market. Furthermore, Yannis is a network research affiliate of the GLO. He participated in the VirtYS program for 2019/20. His project – advised by Prof. Nick Drydakis – intersects the female employees’ HCM and the public-sector affiliation. For more information, please visit https://ygalanak.github.io/.
This paper looks at the extent of labour market mismatch of public-sector female employees. It contributes to earlier findings for the British labour market by accounting for the endogenous self-selection into jobs. Estimates are based on data from the British Household Panel Study and the ‘Understanding Society’ covering the years 1991-2016. The analysis verifies that the public sector offers a few low-skilled jobs and employs, mostly, highly-educated (female) workers. Regarding the market flows, findings show the greater mobility of the female workforce, which moves proportionately between sectors. Greater in-/out-flows to/from private sector are observed regardless the gender of the employee. Once comparing women to the median employee, a sizeable incidence of mismatch arises due to negative selection. Specifications using the selection model for the public sector illustrate a systematically higher magnitude of mismatch. Pooled results seem to dominate when women seen in the male labour market or in a restricted subsample. Finally, the map of occupations in mismatch supports that the public sector is more attractive as a waiting room for highly-qualified graduates. They queue less time until they find a good job. Hence, policy implications regarding the allocation of jobs for women may arise.
Samuel Mann
Samuel Mann is an applied labour economist with expertise in the areas of LGBT+ economics, wellbeing, inequality, and political economy. His (ESRC funded) PhD thesis was titled “Sexual Orientation and Wellbeing”. Since completing his PhD, he has worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Welsh Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) at Swansea University. His postdoctoral research explores the wellbeing, labour market outcomes, and trust of sexual minorities, and evaluates the impact of different policies on these measures. Samuel has previously published in journals such as Work, Employment, and Society, and Economic Letters. As a GLO virtual young scholar Samuel has worked under the supervision of Prof. Nick Drydakis on a project analysing the labour market outcomes of transgender people in the US and evaluating the impact of several trans policies.
GLO VirtYS Project
Gender Identity, Employment, Self-Employment and Trans Legislation
This paper uses data from the BRFSS over the period 2014-2018 to document the incidence of employment and self-employment of trans individuals compared to their cisgender counterparts. Additionally, the effects of employment non-discrimination acts, credit non-discrimination acts, and restrictions on changing gender identity on ID documents are analysed for the first time. Results demonstrate that FtM and gender nonconforming trans people are less likely to be employed than their cisgender counterparts in the US, while MtF trans people are more likely than their cisgender counterparts to be employed. FtM trans people are less likely to be self-employed than their cisgender counterparts, while MtF trans people are more likely to be self-employed. On the surface our policy analysis suggests that all three policies have little impact on the employment and self-employment of trans people, however, further analysis highlights that these policies do have positive impacts on certain trans populations, namely, older and non-college educated transgender people. ENDA’s and removing the requirement of surgical procedures to reassign the gender on birth certificates have the greatest traction in improving the employment outcomes of trans people, while credit non-discrimination acts have the greatest traction in increasing the self-employment incidence of trans people. The findings highlight the important role that trans legislation has on the labour market outcomes of trans people, and the detrimental economic impact of surgical requirements to reassign gender on birth certificates.
The last issue 4 (October) 2020, Volume 33, of the Journal of Population Economics is now published. Access the Table of Content and the papers.
Clarivate Analytics Social Sciences Citation Index Factor released July 2020: IMPACT FACTOR1.840 (2019) from 1.253 (2018); 5-YEAR IF 2.353 (2019) from 2.072 (2018)
A new GLO Discussion Paper reveals that in the Greek economic crisis the relative position of households with unemployed members deteriorated sharply, while their contribution to aggregate poverty skyrocketed.
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 Greek economic crisis resulted in a decline in household disposable income by more than 40%. Even though all population groups lost income in absolute terms, some were substantially more severely hit by the crisis. The paper examines the effect of the crisis on the population shares, the mean incomes and the level of poverty of various population groups using SILC data for the period 2007-2016. The population is partitioned according to four criteria: socioeconomic group of the household head, presence of unemployed individuals in the household, age of the population member and household type. When “anchored” poverty lines and distribution-sensitive poverty indices are employed the level of poverty rises to incredibly high levels. When the poverty lines used are “relative”, the poverty rate does not change substantially but when distribution-sensitive indices are used the increase in poverty is very substantial. The most interesting results are related to the changes in the structure of poverty. The crisis was associated with a very substantial increase in unemployment. Unemployment protection in Greece was inadequate while there was no “benefit of last resort”. As a result, the relative position of households with unemployed members (and, especially, with unemployed heads) deteriorated sharply, while their contribution to aggregate poverty skyrocketed. Unlike what is often claimed in the Greek public discourse, the relative position of pensioner-headed households improved, although they also experienced a considerable decline in their living standards.
“COVID-19 Lockdown plays havoc with emotions and our “Happiness Index” stays under pressure“, GLO Fellows Talita Greyling and Stephanié Rossouw find in a new study. The lockdown strategy shows immediate negative consequences for wellbeing in South Africa. The Gross National Happiness data set used (a real-time Happiness Index) is an ongoing project, the two researchers launched in April 2019 in South- Africa, New-Zealand and Australia. See the detailed analysis below.
The authors
Talita Greyling:School of Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, and GLO; email: talitag@uj.ac.za Stephanié Rossouw:Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand,and GLO; email: stephanie.rossouw@aut.ac.nz
Stephanie Rossouw
Talita Greyling
The analysis
South Africans are “angry” after their first weekend under lockdown. COVID-19 has been playing havoc with South African’s emotions over the last month. We have made 180 degrees turn in our emotional state; from being joyful, anticipating good things to happen and showing trust, to being angry, anticipating the worst and showing disgust and fear. Over the period, the most significant gainers, among the emotions, were anger, up with almost 10%, followed by disgust (+8%) (see figure 1, indicated by the black arrows). In contrast, the biggest losers were trust (-13%) and joy (-6%) (see figure 1 indicated by grey arrows) (Greyling & Rossouw 2020).
These are the results of Prof Talita Greyling (University of Johannesburg) and Dr Stephanie Rossouw (Auckland University of Technology) who in collaboration with Afstereo launched South Africa’s Happiness Index in April 2019 and recently expanded their study to include the analysis of the emotions of South Africans.
Why are South Africans
so angry? From the analyses of the
Tweets (see www.gnh.today)
the team (Greyling & Rossouw, 2020) found the following:
Mad at police and military, because of the aggressive and violent manner the COVID – regulations are enforced.
Angry about people being greedy and making money out of COVID-19, when the country is suffering.
Angry at government playing politics in a time of fear, and uncertainty about the future.
Mad about Moody’s downgrade to junk status, “kicking the country when it is already down”.
Angry about being isolated, cut-off and no way to release stress or alleviate depression and anxiety.
Concerned about the increase in domestic violence, interesting not only men towards women, but among all members of the household.
Mad at not being able to buy alcohol (previously also cigarettes).
Being stuck at home and then also having to endure loadshedding
Lack of groceries after the rich has bought everything
God is mad, this is a sign of His wrath
Is there anything that South Africans are positive about at the moment? Well, it seems that in true South African spirit we cling to the silver lining in this storm that threatens to swallow us. “Family time” seems to be one of the few positives. In this never-ending rat race, being able to spend quality time with our loved ones seems to be our saving grace. Other positives mentioned are “time for self-reflection” and “time to turn to God”.
If we turn to the Happiness Index itself, which measures the sentiment levels of South Africans on a scale from zero to 10 J, with 5 being neutral (neither happy or unhappy) (see www.gnh.today), we note that the index stays under pressure. After the significant lows on the days before-, on- and after the announcement of the lockdown (23 March 2020), there was a short lived increase in happiness levels, as people rushed to shops and their home towns/steads (migrating out of the cities), in anticipation of the lockdown. However, the happiness levels soon returned to the “new lows” we have been experiencing since the announcement of the first COVID-19 patient in South Africa (see figure 2).
As reality sinks in
and the health and livelihoods of South Africans’ come under threat, it becomes
clear that “Twenty Plenty” has made a 180-degree turnaround to “Twenty
Catastrophe”.
Reference Greyling T. & Rossouw S. 2020. Gross National Happiness Project. Afstereo (IT partner). University of Johannesburg (funding agency). Pretoria, South Africa. www.gnh.today.
The Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the COVID-19 disease continue to spread across the world. A new Life with Corona study will provide valuable information for researchers studying the social and economic implications of the Coronavirus pandemic. LINK to the survey website.
The project is led by GLO Fellow Tilman Brück and his International Security and Development Center (ISDC) in Berlin. ISDC and its Director Tilman Brück are long-term partners of the GLO. GLO congratulates ISDC and Director Brück for this important new initiative at difficult times.
It is an innovative citizen science project that will help us understand how the Corona crisis is changing our lives. The findings will deliver important insights for policy-makers and researchers into how to better manage and mitigate the crisis.
Based on cutting-edge methodologies, the survey captures the voices and sentiments of citizens around the world.
Be part of the survey now! Just fill in the questionnaire and please forward this call in your networks. The more people participate, the more we know!
Amsterdam, 29 March, 2020. The WageIndicator Foundation announces the Continuous Global Online Survey ‘Living and Working in Corona Times’! Press Release.
The WageIndicator Foundation led by GLO Fellow Paulien Osse as the Director, is a long-term partner of the GLO. GLO congratulates the WageIndicator Foundation for this important new initiative at difficult times.
Continuous Global Online Survey ‘Living and Working in Corona Times’
WageIndicator shows coronavirus-induced changes in living and working conditions in 110 countries. The changes are visualized in maps and graphs. These infographics show, from day to day, the consequences the large majority of the working population of the world experiences, on the basis of answers on the following questions in the Corona survey:
– Is your work affected by the corona crisis? – Are precautionary measures taken at the workplace? – Do you have to work from home? – Has your workload increased/decreased? – Have you lost your job/work/assignments?
First results show an enormous impact of the coronavirus on work in general. In the Netherlands for instance, a country severely hit, 95 percent of participants in the survey state that their work is impacted by the corona-crisis.
The survey contains questions about the home situation of respondents as well as about the possible manifestation of the corona disease in members of the household. Also the effect of having a pet in the house in corona-crisis times is included.
WageIndicator – a respected partner of GLO – is a non-profit foundation, which aims to share and compare wages and labour law on a global scale through its national websites in 140 countries with millions of web visitors. WageIndicator’s web visitors are invited to complete the survey on Living and Working in Corona Times. The survey reaches out to all people in working age, contracted, self-employed and unemployed alike.
WageIndicator’s online infrastructure is built up over the past two decades and consists of online and offline surveys and data collection. For this particular survey, the international WageIndicator team cooperates with academic research institutes from half a dozen countries. The survey asks the same questions across countries. Therefore WageIndicator is able to closely monitor the development of the corona crisis and its impact on the world of work.
WageIndicator has rolled out its survey on March 26, 2020. From March 31 onwards WageIndicator maps changes in 110 countries, shown permanently online and updated each day.
A new GLO Discussion Paper surveys evidence in the literature that trans people’s self-esteem and self-respect can be enhanced by policy makers’ positive actions to promote inclusivity at the workplace.
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 Nick Drydakis, Katerina Sidiropoulou and Anna Paraskevopoulou
Author Abstract: This study provides empirical patterns regarding trans people’s self-esteem-oriented reflections during observations of positive workplace actions. The case of a 2015 UK workplace guide is utilized to fulfill our aims. We adopt Rawls’ political philosophy framework in order to evaluate whether trans people’s self-esteem-oriented concepts might be enhanced by policy makers’ positive actions. The study does find that trans people’s self-esteem and self-respect are enhanced by policy makers’ positive actions to promote inclusivity in the workplace. Due to these actions trans people feel more accepted, valued and trusted by the government. We suggest that if a workplace policy is perceived to be recognizing trans people’s worth this may be internalized, resulting in positive self-evaluations by trans people. In addition, we present empirical patterns from HR departments which have been aware of the workplace guide. HR officers suggest that the workplace guide informs their strategies, and positively affects the creation of a more inclusive workplace culture, the corporate profiles of their firms and staff organizational behaviours (such as, achieving results, fostering collegiality, reducing complaints) and addresses LGBT business and trans staff-members’ needs. We suggest that if employers adopt policy makers’ positive workplace policies aiming to increase inclusivity, they may be able to realize positive organizational outcomes in their firms.
Using data for Morocco, the paper provides further evidence that international migration fosters the transfer of political and social norms.
Read more in:
Michele Tuccio, Jackline Wahba and Bachir Hamdouch: “International migration as a driver of political and social change: evidence from Morocco” Journal of Population Economics, online, issue forthcoming.
GLO Fellows Michele Tuccio, Jackline Wahba and Bachir Hamdouch
Author Abstract: This paper focuses on the impact of international migration on the transfer of political and social norms. Exploiting recent and unique data on Morocco, this paper explores whether households with return and current migrants bear different political preferences and behaviors than non-migrant families. Once controlling for the double selection into emigration and return migration, the findings suggest that having a returnee in the household increases the demand for political and social change. This result is driven by returnees mostly from Western European countries, who were exposed to more democratic norms in the destination. However, we find a negative impact of having a current migrant on the willingness of the left-behind households to change. This result is driven by migrants to non-Western countries, where the quality of political and social institutions is lower. Our results are robust to also controlling for destination selectivity.
Despite a measured strong cross-sectional relationship between income and health, the study finds no necessary connection between changes in income inequality and changes in health inequality.
Read more in:
Janet Currie,Hannes Schwandt & Josselin Thuilliez: “Pauvreté, Egalité, Mortalité: mortality (in)equality in France and the United States” Journal of Population Economics, online, in print.
Author Abstract: We develop a method for comparing levels and trends in inequality in mortality in the United States and France between 1990 and 2010 in a similar framework. The comparison shows that while income inequality has increased in both the United States and France, inequality in mortality in France remained remarkably low and stable. In the United States, inequality in mortality increased for older groups (especially women) while it decreased for children and young adults. These patterns highlight the fact that despite the strong cross-sectional relationship between income and health, there is no necessary connection between changes in income inequality and changes in health inequality.
The paper studies the migrant-native differences in wealth among older households in Europe which is significant and to the advantage of the natives. The importance of origin country, age at migration, and citizenship status in reducing the gap is shown.
Read more in:
Irene Ferrari: “The nativity wealth gap in Europe: a matching approach “ Journal of Population Economics, online, issue forthcoming.
Author Abstract: This study uses a matching method to provide an estimate of the nativity wealth gap among older households in Europe. This approach does not require imposing any functional form on wealth and avoids validity-out-of-the-support assumptions; furthermore, it allows estimation not only of the mean of the wealth gap but also of its distribution for the common-support sub-population. The results show that on average there is a positive and significant wealth gap between natives and migrants. However, the average gap may be misleading as the distribution of the gap reveals that immigrant households in the upper part of the wealth distribution are better off, and those in the lower part of the wealth distribution are worse off, than comparable native households. A heterogeneity analysis shows the importance of origin, age at migration, and citizenship status in reducing the gap. Indeed, households who migrated within Europe, those who moved at younger ages rather than as adults, and those who are citizens of the destination country display a wealth gap that is consistently smaller over the entire distribution.
The article provides evidence that countries with stronger beliefs that hard work leads to a higher social status (the ‘American Dream’) attract a higher proportion of high-skilled immigrants.
Read more in:
Claudia Lumpe: “Public beliefs in social mobility and high-skilled migration” Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 3, pp. 981–1008.
Author Abstract: This paper investigates how beliefs of the destination country’s population in social mobility may influence the location choice of high-skilled migrants. We pool macro data from the IAB brain-drain dataset with population survey data from the ISSP for the period 1987–2010 to identify the effect of public beliefs in social mobility on the share of high-skilled immigrants (stocks) in the main OECD immigration countries. The empirical results suggest that countries with higher “American Dream” beliefs, i.e., with stronger beliefs that climbing the social ladder can be realized by own hard work, attracted a higher proportion of high-skilled immigrants over time. This pattern even holds against the fact that existing social mobility in these countries is relatively lower.
Dowry is a common custom in South Asia with rising use and increasing amounts. The paper shows that a higher dowry amount, especially in terms of furniture, electronics, and kitchenware, is positively associated with women’s status in the marital household.
Read more in: Momoe Makino: “Marriage, dowry, and women’s status in rural Punjab, Pakistan” Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 3, pp. 769-797.
Author Abstract: Dowry is a common custom observed in South Asian countries. Despite alleged negative consequences caused by dowry and the legal ban or restrictions on its practice, the custom has been extended, and recently, dowry amounts seem to be increasing. Compared with public interest in and theoretical studies on dowry, empirical studies are relatively scarce mainly due to data unavailability and inadequacy. We conducted a household survey specifically designed to empirically investigate how dowry is associated with women’s status in the marital household in rural Punjab, Pakistan. The dataset is unique because it gathers information on disaggregated marriage expenses, which enables us to examine the relation between each itemized component of dowry and women’s status. Results show that a higher dowry amount, especially in terms of furniture, electronics, and kitchenware, is positively associated with women’s status in the marital household. The positive association of these illiquid items adds suggestive evidence that in rural Punjab, Pakistan, dowry serves as a trousseau that the bride’s parents voluntarily offer to their daughter.
The value of immigrants for the UK has played an important role in the Brexit debate. A recent GLO Discussion Paper explores the effects of immigration on the allocation of occupational physical burden and work injury risk using data for England and Wales. Migrants seem to reduce the risks for UK-born workers and they report report lower injury rates than natives. The paper is now published in the Journal of Population Economics and available online. See also below.
GLO Discussion Paper now published in the Journal of Population Economics, July 2019, Volume 32, Issue 3, pp 1009–1042; already 2.4k downloads on July 5, 2019! OPEN ACCESS….
GLO FellowsOsea Giuntella, Fabrizio Mazzonna, Catia Nicodemo & Carlos Vargas-Silva
Author Abstract:This paper studies the effects of immigration on the allocation of occupational physical burden and work injury risks. Using data for England and Wales from the Labour Force Survey (2003–2013), we find that, on average, immigration leads to a reallocation of UK-born workers towards jobs characterized by lower physical burden and injury risk. The results also show important differences across skill groups. Immigration reduces the average physical burden of UK-born workers with medium levels of education, but has no significant effect on those with low levels. We also find that that immigration led to an improvement self-reported measures of native workers’ health. These findings, together with the evidence that immigrants report lower injury rates than natives, suggest that the reallocation of tasks could reduce overall health care costs and the human and financial costs typically associated with workplace injuries.
A recent GLO Discussion Paper found that girls living in localities with return migrants in Mali are less likely to be circumcised. This effect is driven mainly by the returnees from Côte d’Ivoire, suggesting that, in addition to punitive action against those who practice Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or information campaigns, having lived in an African country where FGM practice is not customary is equally influential. This is evidence for the relevance of social remittances through return migration here by improving social norms. The paper is now accepted for publication in the Journal of Population Economics and already available online. See the detailed discussion (in French) in a newsletter.
See also below.
GLO Discussion Paper of the Month of March 2019 now forthcoming in the Journal of Population Economics!
Abstract:In this paper, we investigate the power of migration as a mechanism in the transmission of
social norms, taking Mali and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a case study. Mali has a strong
FGM culture and a long-standing history of migration. We use an original household-level
database coupled with census data to analyze the extent to which girls living in localities with
high rates of return migrants are less prone to FGM. Malians migrate predominantly to other
African countries where female circumcision is uncommon (e.g. Côte d’Ivoire) and to countries
where FGM is totally banned (France and other developed countries) and where anti-FGM
information campaigns frequently target African migrants. Taking a two-step instrumental
variable approach to control for the endogeneity of migration and return decisions, we show
that return migrants have a negative and significant influence on FGM practices. More precisely,
we show that this result is primarily driven by the flow of returnees from Cote d’Ivoire. We also
show that adults living in localities with return migrants are more informed about FGM and in
favor of legislation. The impact of returnees may occur through several channels, including
compositional effects, changes in return migrants’ attitudes toward FGM, and return migrants
convincing stayers to change their FGM practices.
May 29-31: Coventry, UK. 28thEBES conference.The Eurasia Business and Economics Society(EBES) meets with support of the Global Labor Organization (GLO) at the Coventry Business School. For the full program see here.
EBES President Klaus F. Zimmermann, who is also the President of GLO, will open the EBES congress on Wednesday. GLO members are involved in two important conference panel sessions, among others, on Wednesday May 29:
EBES & GLO Panel on “The Future of Europe and Brexit after the EU Election”:
09:30-10:30 Chair & Introduction: Klaus F. Zimmermann, President, EBES & GLO & Central European University, Budapest, Hungary Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin, EBES, GLO, & Istanbul Medeniyet University, Turkey Matloob Piracha, Director GLO & University of Kent, United Kingdom Dorothea Schäfer, DIW Berlin, GLO, & Jönköping University, Sweden Marco Vivarelli, GLO& Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milano, Italy
JOURNAL EDITORS SPECIAL SESSION:How to Publish in WOS Journals?
14:30-15:50 Klaus F. Zimmermann, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Population Economics (SSCI) David B. Audretsch, Editor-in-Chief, Small Business Economics (SSCI) Marco Vivarelli, Editor-in-Chief, Eurasian Business Review (SSCI) Dorothea Schäfer, Editor-in-Chief, Eurasian Economic Review (Scopus & ESCI)
The GLO Discussion Paper of the Month of April 2019 provides a historical explanation on within-country differences in levels of trust. Specifically, the paper finds that the lower trust levels present in former USSR countries can be traced back to the system of forced prison labor present during Stalin’s regime, which created terror and mass repression, causing individuals to lose trust in neighbors, institutions and society at large.
by Nikolova, Milena & Popova, Olga & Otrachshenko, Vladimir
GLO Fellows Milena Nikolova and Olga Popova
Abstract:We show that current differences in trust levels within former Soviet Union countries can be
traced back to the system of forced prison labor during Stalin’s rule, which was marked by high
incarceration rates, repression, and harsh punishments. We argue that those exposed to forced
labor camps (gulags) became less trusting and transferred this social norm to their descendants.
Combining contemporary individual-level survey data with historical information on the location
of forced labor camps, we find that individuals who live near former gulags have low levels of
social and institutional trust. Our results are robust to a battery of sensitivity checks, which
suggests that the relationship we document is causal. We outline several causal mechanisms and
test whether the social norm of mistrust near gulags developed because of political repression or
due to fear that inmates bring criminality. As such, we provide novel evidence on the channels
through which history matters for current socio-economic outcomes today.
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
Invitation to the next seminar in the Centre for Workforce Futures Seminar Series, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, on May 6, 2019.
Topic: Ethnic Identity and Immigrants’ Labour Market Outcomes
Speaker: Dr Matloob Piracha Venue: 120 Lend Lease Room, 1 Management Drive, Macquarie University NSW 2109 When: Monday 6th May 2019 Time: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Abstract:
In this seminar, Dr. Piracha will address the following questions: i) what are the determinants of ethnic identity, and (ii) whether those who identify with the host country culture have a higher probability of getting a job as well as better wages than those who identify more with the culture of their country of origin. The paper will use the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA), which consists of data collected for two cohorts of immigrants. The first cohort entered the country in 1993–1995 while the second cohort entered in 2000–2001. The paper will consider what role ethnic identity plays in the labour market integration of immigrants. It will then compare the determinants of ethnic identity of the cohort that entered before the immigration policy change in 1995, when the level of English required in the selective (points-based) system increased, with the one that entered after the change.
Dr Matloob Piracha:
Dr Matloob Piracha is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the University of Kent, UK. He has extensive experience of working on migration and related issues and has published a number of papers on the impact of migration on sending and receiving countries as well as on migrants and their left-behind families. Matloob has acted as a consultant or a collaborator for a number of international organisations including the OECD, UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the World Bank. He is also Director of the Global Labour Organisation (GLO), a virtual network connecting eminent scholars and policymakers from around the world.
The Central European University (CEU) has appointed Klaus F. Zimmermann, who is also President of the Global Labor Organization (GLO), the George Soros Chair Professor at the School of Public Policy of CEU for April-June (Spring Term) 2019. He took residence in Budapest on April 1, 2019 and teaches since then a class in “Global Labor Economics“. He will provide the public George Soros Lecture on “Global Labor Economics: Challenges and Benefits” on May 8, 2019 (see special announcement).
GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann (on the morning walk to work)
Budapest has played a particular role in the academic career of Klaus F. Zimmermann. Already early 1984, he received as academic youngster the honor of an invitation to the small-scale Winter Symposium of the Econometric Society, which took place in Budapest guided by Martin Hellwig, Janos Kornai and Jean-Jacques Laffont. In 1990 he came back as the then Secretary of the European Society for Population Economics (ESPE) to speak at the Workshop “Demographic Change and Social Policy” of the demographic institutes of the countries of the Eastern Socialist Block organized by the Hungarian Demographic Research Institute. Its then Director Istvan Monigl had invited Zimmermann and showed him also parts of Hungary in a personal tour. The ambitions of the two men was to initiate soon a big population economics congress in Budapest to foster change, which was achieved in 1993 when the annual ESPE congress took place in the city. Zimmermann came back regularly since then.
While 1984, 1990 and 1993 were visits in periods of change and transition with a high appreciation of freedom, mobility and collaboration, the current visit as a George Soros Chair Professor takes place in a period where free mobility, academic independence and European unity face declining popularity.
Half way to the office in Budapest: In the back the Hungarian Academy of SciencesPlace of Work and Exchange
The postgraduate section of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy (FBEA), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), organized the first UMS-GLO Joint Public Lecture on 17th April 2019 in East Malaysia. The objective of this event is to encourage research networking and exchange of ideas especially among labor economists in Malaysia.
Professor M Niaz Asadullah of the University of Malaya and the South East Asia Lead and the Malaysia Lead for the Global Labor Organization (GLO) presented the keynote paper entitled ‘The Changing Pattern of Wage Returns to Education in Post-Reform China’. In his lecture, Professor Asadullah emphasized the importance of human capital development in China’s post reform economy.
The keynote lecture was followed by two presentations: Dr. Borhan S Abdullah and Dr. James Alin, both UMS lecturers, spoke on migration and unemployment issues in Malaysia, respectively. A total of 30 postgraduate students and lecturers of FBEA UMS attended the event, including GLO Fellow and Head of the Human Resource Economics Program of the Faculty, Dr. Beatrice Lim.
The GLO Discussion Paper of the Month in March finds that girls living in localities with return migrants in Mali are less likely to be circumcised. This effect is driven mainly by the returnees from Côte d’Ivoire, suggesting that, in addition to punitive action against those who practice Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or information campaigns, having lived in an African country where FGM practice is not customary is equally influential. This is evidence for the relevance of social remittances through return migration here by improving social norms.
GLO Fellow Sandrine Mesplé-Somps, Paris School of Economics.
Sandrine Mesplé-Somps
Abstract:In this paper, we investigate the power of migration as a mechanism in the transmission of
social norms, taking Mali and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a case study. Mali has a strong
FGM culture and a long-standing history of migration. We use an original household-level
database coupled with census data to analyze the extent to which girls living in localities with
high rates of return migrants are less prone to FGM. Malians migrate predominantly to other
African countries where female circumcision is uncommon (e.g. Côte d’Ivoire) and to countries
where FGM is totally banned (France and other developed countries) and where anti-FGM
information campaigns frequently target African migrants. Taking a two-step instrumental
variable approach to control for the endogeneity of migration and return decisions, we show
that return migrants have a negative and significant influence on FGM practices. More precisely,
we show that this result is primarily driven by the flow of returnees from Cote d’Ivoire. We also
show that adults living in localities with return migrants are more informed about FGM and in
favor of legislation. The impact of returnees may occur through several channels, including
compositional effects, changes in return migrants’ attitudes toward FGM, and return migrants
convincing stayers to change their FGM practices.
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
Place: 31 May-June 1: Brasov, Romania, at the Transilvania University of Brasov.
Organizers: Transilvania University of Brasov; Romanian Academy, Institute of Economic Forecasting; Global Labor Organization (GLO)
Invited Speakers are Filomena Maggino and Klaus F. Zimmermann.
To participate: Register until April 26 through the conference website and send an abstract asap. CONTACT.
GLO is interested in research papers for a special session related to the Labor Markets of Countries in South East Europe; GLO members who wish to contribute to this are invited to send an abstract by April 20 to Klaus F. Zimmermann. (klaus.f.zimmermann@gmail.com)
Morocco, a North-African country that has become a major emigration hub to Europe, has seen many calls for political change over the last few years. The Discussion Paper of the Month of February is using micro data from that country to confirm that social remittances induced by international migrants are driversof social and political change in the context of Morocco.
GLO Fellows Bachir Hamdouch, Michele Tuccio and Jackie Wahba.
Abstract:This paper focuses on the impact of international migration on the transfer
of political and social norms. Exploiting recent and unique data on Morocco, it
explores whether households with return and current migrants bear different political
preferences and behaviours than non-migrant families. Once controlling for the
double selection into emigration and return migration, findings suggest that having a
returnee in the household increases the demand for political and social change, driven
by returnees mostly from Western European countries, who have been exposed to
more democratic norms at destination. However, we find a negative impact of having
a current migrant on the willingness to change of the left-behind household, driven by
migrants to non-West countries, where the quality of political and social institutions
is lower. Our results are robust to also controlling for destination selectivity.
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
Deadline for the submission of abstracts is 30 June 2019.
New Economic & Statistical Perspectives on Urban & Territorial Themes (NESPUTT 2019)
The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology and Social Sciences (CISEPS) and the Department of Economics, Management and Statistics (DEMS) at the University of Milan-Bicocca in collaboration with the Regional Economic Modelling Team (REMO) of the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) are organizing an international workshop entitled New Economic & Statistical Perspectives on Urban and Territorial Themes (NESPUTT), which will take place in Milan on the 21st and 22nd of November 2019.
The workshop aims at fostering an interdisciplinary debate involving economists, statisticians, modellers and other social scientists towards a better understanding of contemporary regions and cities, viewed as complex socio-economic systems. The NESPUTT Workshop encourages contributions about new theoretical/methodological approaches and applied research from regional economics, behavioral economics, environmental economics, experimental economics, statistics and other quantitative disciplines.
The following list illustrates, but does not exhaust, possible topics applied to regional and urban themes:
Behavioral economics
Digital transformation
Environmental economics
Experimental economics
Inequality
Innovation and competitiveness
Migration
Nudging
Regional divide
Regional economic adjustment and development
Small areas
Social exclusion
Social mobility
Spatial modelling/statistics/econometric
Submissions of papers based on the application of behavioral, experimental and computational economics approaches to urban studies are also welcome. Special sessions devoted to particularly innovative approaches may be organized.
Participation of interested researchers and policy makers from all countries is welcome.
Proceedings: The NESPUTT2019 workshop will publish an electronic “Papers and Proceedings” edition with ISBN highlighting selected short papers (maximum 4 pages) from the meeting. You must indicate that your paper is to be included in the proceedings.
Location of the conference: University of Milan-Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milan.
Scientific Committee: Riccardo Borgoni (UnimiB), Andrea Caragliu (PoliMi), Andrea Conte (European Commission JRC), André De Palma (ENS Paris Saclays), Giacomo Degli Antoni (University of Parma), Marco Faillo (University of Trento), Patrizio Lecca (European Commission, JRC), Alessandra Michelangeli (UnimiB), Nathalie Picard (University of Cergy-Pontoise).
Theme: “Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation” June 12-14, 2019, College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda, Kigali
NOTE: Deadline for paper submissions is APRIL 30!
June 12-14: Kigali, Rwanda.College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda. 4th EABEW Conference (International Conference of Eastern Africa Business and Economic Watch) on “Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation” with GLO support. GLO Fellows Manfred Fischedick, Almas Heshmati and GLO PresidentKlaus F. Zimmermann are among the invited speakers. Call for Papers with deadline April 30, 2019. Almas Heshmati is the academic Lead of the GLO Research Cluster on “Labor Markets in Africa”. GLO Fellow Rama B. Rao is the Chair of the Organizing Committee of the conference.
Call for Papers. Original evidence based theoretical, methodological, empirical research, policy or practice oriented research papers on the theme are invited from researchers, academicians, industry practitioners for presentation at the conference. Submitted papers should be in the areas of economics and business management and any other interdisciplinary fields that contribute to socio-economic transformation that may fall in any of the tracks defined in the call.
Journal of Population Economics. Volume 32 Number 2 is now available online.
Ten new articles in Population Economics are published, see listing and access below. Ten new Associate Editors have been appointed. Their names and pictures are below.
In this issue: TABLE OF CONTENT and article access
The discussion paper of the month explores the vote on the Swiss minaret initiative in 2009 as a natural experiment to identify the effect of newly revealed reservations towards immigrants on their location choices. The research finds that the probability of immigrants to relocate to a municipality that unexpectedly revealed stronger negative attitudes towards them is significantly reduced in the time after the vote. The effect seems to apply to all immigrant groups – Muslim, non-European and European -, and to be stronger for high-skilled immigrants.
Abstract: In a national ballot in 2009, Swiss citizens surprisingly approved an amendment to the Swiss constitution to ban the further construction of minarets. The ballot outcome manifested reservations and anti-immigrant attitudes in regions of Switzerland which had previously been hidden. We exploit this fact as a natural experiment to identify the causal effect of negative attitudes towards immigrants on foreigners’ location choices and thus indirectly on their utility. Based on a regression discontinuity design with unknown discontinuity points and administrative data on the population of foreigners, we find that the probability of their moving to a municipality which unexpectedly expressed stronger reservations decreases initially by about 40 percent. The effect is accompanied by a drop of housing prices in these municipalities and levels off over a period of about 5 months. Moreover, foreigners in high-skill occupations react relatively more strongly highlighting a tension when countries try to attract well-educated professionals from abroad.
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
On 8 February 2019, M Niaz Asadullah, Professor at the University of Malaya, Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO) and GLO Lead for South-East Asia, gives the
GLO-MSUIIT Public Lecture on “Education 4.0: Technology, Teachers and Learners”.
The event takes place on 8.00 am to 12:00 pm at the Amphitheatre, College of Education, Mindanao State University, Iligan Institute of Technology (MSUIIT), Philippines.
Abstract
This lecture provides an overview of the challenges that developing country education systems face to prepare youths for Industry 4.0. I start with a critical overview of the global “learning crisis” and summarize the evidence on automation risks. I then discuss how teachers are responding to these two challenges by adopting new technologies to re-design the learning space in order to impart 21st Century skills and future-proof the labor force. The discussion also highlights some of the factors that limit the potential positive impact of technology on learners in developing countries. I conclude by discussing the importance of system-wide reforms and early interventions to deliver New Economy skills and achieve the SDG 4 target of quality education for all.
28th EBES Conference. May 29-31, 2019 in Coventry, United Kingdom Hosted by the Centre for Financial and Corporate Integrity (CFCI), Coventry University
Interested researchers are cordially invited to submit abstracts or papers for presentation consideration at the 28th EBES Conference in Coventry. It will take place on May 29th, 30th, and 31st, 2019 atCoventry University in Coventry, United Kingdom. The conference will be organized with the support of the Istanbul Economic Research Association and will be hosted by the Centre for Financial and Corporate Integrity (CFCI) in collaboration with the Coventry Business School Trading Floor.
To support the event, the Global Labor Organization (GLO) will organize three invited paper sessions. If you are a GLO Fellow or Affiliate and interested to be be included, please submit the title of a potential contribution to office@glabor.org until February 20, 2019.
Invited Speakers are David B. Audretsch, Marco Vivarelli and Klaus F. Zimmermann.
David B. Audretsch is a Distinguished Professor
at Indiana University, where he also serves as Director of the Institute
for Development Strategies. He is an Honorary Professor of Industrial
Economics and Entrepreneurship at the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of
Management in Germany and a Research Fellow of the CEPR in London. He
has also worked as a consultant to the UN, World Bank, OECD, EU
Commission, and U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Prof. Audretsch’s
research has focused on the links between entrepreneurship, government
policy, innovation, economic development, and global competitiveness. He
is co-author of The Seven Secrets of Germany (Oxford University Press)
along with several other books. He is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief
of Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal and many other
journals. He was awarded the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research
by the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum (Entreprenörskapsforum). He has
received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Augsburg in
Germany and Jonköping University in Sweden. Prof. Audretsch was also
awarded the Schumpeter Prize from the University of Wuppertal in
Germany. He has served as an advisory board member to a number of
international research and policy institutes, including Chair of
the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Berlin(German Institute
for Economic Analysis Berlin), Chair of the Stifterverband für die
Deutsche Wissenschaft (Foundation for the Promotion of German Science)
in Berlin, Germany, and the Center for European Economic
Research (Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung) in Mannheim,
Germany etc. He has authored numerous papers which were published in
prestigious journals such as American Economic Review, European Economic
Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, and Journal of
Management and his researches have been cited more than 77,000 (Google
Scholar). He holds a PhD in economics from University of Wisconsin,
Madison in U.S.A.
Marco Vivarelli, Ph.D. in Economics and Ph.D. in Science and Technology Policy, is full professor at the Catholic University of Milano, where he is also Director of the Institute of Economic Policy. He is Professorial Fellow at UNU-MERIT, Maastricht; Research Fellow at IZA, Bonn; Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO). He is member of the Scientific Executive Board of the Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES, Istanbul); member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO, Vienna) and has been scientific consultant for the International Labour Office (ILO), World Bank (WB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the European Commission. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Eurasian Business Review, Editor of Small Business Economics, Associate Editor of Industrial and Corporate Change, Associate Editor of Economics E-Journal, member of the Editorial Board of Sustainability and he has served as referee for more than 70 international journals. He is author/editor of various books and his papers have been published in journals such as Cambridge Journal of Economics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Economics Letters, Industrial and Corporate Change, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Economics, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Journal of Productivity Analysis, Labour Economics, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Regional Studies, Research Policy, Small Business Economics, Southern Economic Journal, World Bank Research Observer, World Development. His current research interests include the relationship between innovation, employment and skills; the labor market and income distribution impacts of globalization; the entry and post-entry performance of newborn firms.
Publication Opportunities: Qualified papers can be
published (after refereeing) in the EBES journals (no submission and
publication fees). EBES journals (Eurasian Business Review and Eurasian
Economic Review) are published by Springer Nature and indexed by SCOPUS,
EBSCO EconLit with Full Text, Google Scholar, ABI/INFORM, ABS Academic
Journal Quality Guide, CNKI, EBSCO Business Source, EBSCO Discovery
Service, EBSCO TOC Premier, Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate
Analytics), International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS),
OCLC, ProQuest Business Premium Collection, ProQuest Central, ProQuest
Turkey Database, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), Summon by
ProQuest, Cabell’s Directory, and Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory.
Furthermore, qualified papers after review will be recommended to be
considered for publication in regular issues of the Journal of Corporate
Finance after a review process. However, presentation at the EBES
Conference does not guarantee publication in the Journal of Corporate
Finance.
Also all accepted abstracts will be published electronically in
the Conference Program and the Abstract Book (with an ISBN number). It
will be distributed to all conference participants at the conference via
USB. Although submitting full papers are not required, all the
submitted full papers will also be included in the conference
proceedings in the USB. After the conference, participants will also
have the opportunity to send their paper to be published in the
Springer’s series Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics (no
submission and publication fees).
This 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 and 19th EBES Conference Proceedings
were accepted for inclusion in the Conference Proceedings Citation Index
– Social Science & Humanities (CPCI-SSH). 18th, 20th and subsequent
conference proceedings are in progress.
Important Dates Abstract Submission Deadline: February 28, 2019 Decision Communicated by: March 8, 2019* Registration Deadline: April 19, 2019 Announcement of the Program: April 30, 2019 Paper Submission Deadline (Optional): April 19, 2019** Paper Submission for the EBES journals: July 31, 2019 * The decision regarding the acceptance/rejection of each abstract/paper will be communicated with the corresponding author within a week of submission. ** Full 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 February 28, 2018, you must also submit your completed (full) paper by April 19, 2019.
Contact: Ugur Can (ebes@ebesweb.org); Dr. Ender Demir (demir@ebesweb.org)
The Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration within Transilvania University of Brasov, in collaboration with the Institute for Economic Forecasting of the Romanian Academy cordially invites you to submit research papers for presentation and discussions at the third edition of the International Conference„Inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Challenges, measures and solutions” (ISEG 2019). The 2019 event is supported by the Global Labor Organization (GLO).
The conference will be hosted by Transilvania University of Brasov and will be held 31 May-1 June 2019 in the Transilvania University Hall, Street Iuliu Maniu no. 47A, Brasov.
The keynote speakers of the 2019 ISEG
conference are:
Klaus F. Zimmermann, President of the Global Labor
Organization (GLO); Co-Director of POP at UNU-MERIT; Full Professor of Economics
at Bonn University; Honorary Professor, Maastricht University, Free University
of Berlin and Renmin University of China, Beijing.
Filomena Maggino, Full Professor at Sapienza University of Rome;
Editor-in-Chief of Social Indicators Research (Springer); Counsellor – Prime
Minister Office – Italian Government (Conte’s cabinet); Editor-in-Chief of
Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-being Research; Past-President of the
International Society for Quality Of Life Studies; President of the Italian
Association for Quality of Life Studies.
The meeting will be an excellent
opportunity for academics, researchers and doctoral students to present new
research results and to discuss challenging issues on the topics of conference.
The aim of this new series of conferences is to gather research interests and
to stimulate collaborative research around actual macro- and microeconomic
topics (as suggested below).
Topics:
We are inviting submissions of both empirical
and theoretical work that fits into the conference topics. Being a multi- and
interdisciplinary conference, we encourage submission of papers in the following
broad research areas: economics, finance, marketing and management. Examples of
suitable topics:
Economic
growth and convergence perspectives in the European Union: Measurement methods
and new empirical evidence
Public
and Private Finance Sustainability in the Context of Current Economic
Challenges
Issues
and challenges in the Romanian higher education
Challenges
and prospects of economic growth in South Eastern Europe
New
inequalities, multidimensionality and
growth pro-poorness
Business for sustainable development
New
approaches in marketing and management
Submission
Deadline for abstract submission is 1st of March, 2019, and for full paper submission is May 15th, 2019. Authors of accepted abstracts will be informed by the 1st of April, 2019.
Please submit your abstracts and full papers through the conference website!
Publication opportunities
All papers must be written and
presented in English. A blind review process apply to all submissions. During
the conference, one discussant will be assigned to each paper.
Accepted papers will be included
in the conference proceedings volume, which will be sent for being indexed by ISI Proceedings volume (CPCI –
Conference Proceedings Citation Index) under Clarivate Analytics (or former
Thomson Reuters).
Selected papers from the
conference may be subsequently published in one of the following journals, subject
to the agreement and decision of editors:
Romanian Journal of Economic Forecasting
Journal of Smart Economic Growth
Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov
Registration
The conference fee is 100 euro
for each paper. The conference fee must be paid until the 26th of
April by bank transfer, according to the indications which will be posted on
the conference website. The fee covers the book of abstracts, the attendance
certificate, as well as the access to all conference sessions, coffee breaks,
lunch and festive dinner.
Best paper award
The “Best Paper Award” is granted to the best paper in the
conference. Junior researchers are particularly encouraged to submit papers.
Updated information about the conference program, the organizing and scientific committees, and other related information will be posted on the conference website: http://unitbv.ro/iseg/
“We study the effects of immigration restrictions on the cultural assimilation of second-generation migrants. In our theoretical model, when mobility is free, individuals with a stronger taste for their native culture migrate temporarily. When immigration is restricted, however, these individuals are incentivized to relocate permanently. Permanent emigrants procreate in the destination country and convey their cultural traits to the second generation, who will therefore find assimilation harder. We test this prediction by using the 1973 immigration ban in Germany (Anwerbestopp) as a quasi-experiment. Since the ban only concerned immigrants from countries outside the European Economic Community, they act as a treatment group. According to our estimates, the Anwerbestopp has reduced the cultural assimilation of the second generation. This result demonstrated robustness to several checks. We conclude that restrictive immigration policies may have the unintended consequence of delaying the intergenerational process of cultural assimilation. “
Read further open access for a short period:
Yoo-Mi Chin & Nicholas Wilson, Disease risk and fertility: evidence from the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Journal of Population Economics, 31 (2018), 429–451.
Kuznets Prize Winner 2019. The paper is freely downloadable for a short period. The Award Study shows that a rise in the disease risk increases the total fertility rate and the number of surviving children, a finding which has important policy implications.
Authors: Julia Jauer, Thomas Liebig, John P. Martin, Patrick A. Puhani
Abstract
” We estimate whether migration can be an equilibrating force in the labour market by comparing pre- and post-crisis migration movements at the regional level in both Europe and the United States, and their association with asymmetric labour market shocks. Based on fixed-effects regressions using regional panel data, we find that Europe’s migratory response to unemployment shocks was almost identical to that recorded in the United States after the crisis. Our estimates suggest that, if all measured population changes in Europe were due to migration for employment purposes—i.e. an upper-bound estimate—up to about a quarter of the asymmetric labour market shock would be absorbed by migration within a year. However, in Europe and especially in the Eurozone, the reaction to a very large extent stems from migration of recent EU accession country citizens as well as of third-country nationals.”
Read also open access for a short period:
Yoo-Mi Chin & Nicholas Wilson, Disease risk and fertility: evidence from the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Journal of Population Economics, 31 (2018), 429–451.
Kuznets Prize Winner 2019. The paper is freely downloadable for a short period. The Award Study shows that a rise in the disease risk increases the total fertility rate and the number of surviving children, a finding which has important policy implications.
The Kuznets Prize Paper of the Journal of Population Economics was announced and given at the #ASSA2019 meeting in Atlanta. The Award Study shows that a rise in the disease risk increases the total fertility rate and the number of surviving children, a finding which has important policy implications. In every year, the Prize is selected by the Editors of the Journal among the papers published in the previous year. List of Kuznets Prize winners.
Yoo-Mi Chin & Nicholas Wilson, Disease risk and fertility: evidence from the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Journal of Population Economics, 31 (2018), 429–451.
Yoo-Mi Chin
Interview with Author Yoo-Mi Chin, Professor of Economics at Baylor University
GLO: Is a rise of fertility after a disaster not the expected proper Malthusian response?
Yoo-Mi Chin: It is ambiguous whether we can clearly expect a Malthusian response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is true that population might recover from a positive check like diseases by increasing fertility. But after all, HIV is a sexually transmitted disease, and proliferation of HIV may lower fertility by inducing the use of contraception for safe sex. Further, HIV takes a heavy toll on working age adults. Like we see in the case of Black Death, as large-scale mortality causes labor shortages and subsequent higher wages, more women participate in labor market, which would lead to lower fertility. On the other hand, it is also possible that higher wages generate an income effect on the number of children. A lower life expectancy may increase fertility through lower returns to education and the child quantity-quality trade-off. Given such theoretical ambiguity, we find that an empirical examination of the issue is warranted.
GLO: How is fertility affected by a rise in the disease risk?
Yoo-Mi Chin: We find that a doubling of HIV prevalence increased total fertility rate by approximately 1.37 births and increased surviving children by approximately 0.38 children, using distance to the origin of the pandemic as an instrument for HIV prevalence. Although HIV/AIDS likely has increased child mortality, our findings suggest that the increase in births exceeded the increase in child mortality.
GLO: What are the policy implications?
Yoo-Mi Chin: The rise of the HIV/AIDS pandemic appears to have increased total fertility and the number of surviving children. Although the net effect of the pandemic on GDP per capita needs to be more thoroughly examined in future research, the increases in total fertility and the number of surviving children coupled with high mortality of working age adults could potentially lead to increases in dependency ratios and decreases in GDP per capita. Our results suggest that positive externalities generated by HIV prevention efforts might be larger than previously thought in that they contribute not only to reductions in HIV prevalence but also to reductions in total fertility, which could potentially enhance future welfare. Therefore, more resources for HIV prevention efforts are warranted.
The Story
Yoo-Mi Chin & Nicholas Wilson, Disease risk and fertility: evidence from the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Journal of Population Economics, 31 (2018), 429–451.
Abstract: A fundamental question about human behavior is whether fertility responds to disease risk. The standard economic theory of household fertility decision-making generates ambiguous predictions, and the response has large implications for human welfare. We examine the fertility response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic using national household survey data from 14 sub-Saharan African countries. Instrumental variable (IV) estimates using distance to the origin of the pandemic suggest that HIV/AIDS has increased the total fertility rate (TFR) and the number of surviving children. These results rekindle the debate about the fertility response to disease risk, particularly the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and highlight the question of whether the HIV/AIDS pandemic has reduced GDP per capita.
The Author
Yoo-Mi Chin is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Baylor University with a Ph.D. from Brown University. She is also a Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO). Most of her research focuses on the analysis of domestic violence. She has published her previous work in the Journal of Applied Statistics, the Journal of Health Economics, and World Development, among other outlets. Prior to joining Baylor University, she was an Assistant Professor at the Missouri University of Science & Technology.
YOO-Mi Chin and Editor-in-Chief Klaus F. Zimmermann during the award ceremony in Atlanta
The awarded study receiving the Kuznets Prize shows that a rise in the disease risk increases the total fertility rate and the number of surviving children. This has important policy implications.
The Kuznets Prize Paper of the Journal of Population Economics in a particular year is selected by the Editors of the Journal among the papers published in the previous year. Then the winners will be presented in a prize ceremony. This time, the winners remained confidential until January 4, 2019. The prize committee for the 2019 award consisted out of Alessandro Cigno, Erdal Tekin, Junsen Zhang and Klaus F. Zimmermann selecting from the 2018 published articles they were in charge of as acting Editors.
Dean Shuaizhang Feng, Head of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR) of Jinan University, had invited the members of the Global Labor Organizations (GLO) and the Kuznets Prize Ceremony of the Journal of Population Economics as other ASSA 2019 participants to join the reception of the Institute. IESR and GLO are collaborating organizations, and Shuaizhang Feng is a GLO Fellow and Associate Editor of the Journal.
GLO President Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT & Maastricht University) and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal had visited Jinan University and IESR in March 2018 for a longer period and a GLO-IESR workshop. He had also presented the Journal in 2018 to various academic events in Beijing, Xiamen and Hongkong to strengthen the already strong contacts to the Chinese research community. A larger number of economists participated, including many Editorial Board Members of the Journal of Population Economics and Kuznets Prize winners of previous years.
Shuaizhang Feng reported about the activities of IESR and the hiring interviews at the ASSA job market and explained the attractive research climate at the Institute. He also warmly welcomed the affiliates of GLO and the Journal of Population Economics. Klaus F. Zimmermann congratulated Feng for the successful development of IESR and the strong research climate and the attractive working conditions he had observed while visiting the Institute in 2018 and met with the very many strong and ambitious researchers.
Zimmermann also welcomed the 2018 Kuznets Prize Winner, Le Wang (University of Oklahoma), who received the award together with Chunbei Wang (University of Oklahoma) for their article:
Both authors had studied and graduated at Jinan University before they came to the United States. Le Wang expressed his gratitude for receiving the Kuznets Prize and explained how it created visibility for his work.
Then the 2019 Kuznets Prize paper was announced. Studying the HIV/AIDS pandemic using national household survey data from 14 sub-Saharan African countries, it suggests that a rise in the disease risk increases the total fertility rate and the number of surviving children. This has important policy implications.
Abstract:
A fundamental question about human behavior is whether fertility
responds to disease risk. The standard economic theory of household
fertility decision-making generates ambiguous predictions, and the
response has large implications for human welfare. We examine the
fertility response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic using national household
survey data from 14 sub-Saharan African countries. Instrumental variable
(IV) estimates using distance to the origin of the pandemic suggest
that HIV/AIDS has increased the total fertility rate (TFR) and the
number of surviving children. These results rekindle the debate about
the fertility response to disease risk, particularly the HIV/AIDS
pandemic, and highlight the question of whether the HIV/AIDS pandemic
has reduced GDP per capita.
Yoo-Mi Chin is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Baylor University with a Ph.D. from Brown University. She is also a Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO). Most of her research focuses on the analysis of domestic violence. She has published her previous work in the Journal of Applied Statistics, the Journal of Health Economics, and World Development, among other outlets. Prior to joining Baylor University, she was an Assistant Professor at the Missouri University of Science & Technology.
Nicholas Wilson is a Fellow with the Office of Evaluation Sciences, an Associate Professor of Economics at Reed College and the Chair of the Department of Economics. He is also a Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO). His research focuses on fundamental puzzles about human behavior in the context of health, development, and behavioral economics. Prior to joining Reed College, he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and an Assistant Professor of Economics at Williams College. He has published a larger number of papers in journals including the American Economic Review, Demography, Economics & Human Biology, Journal of Development Economics and Journal of Health Economics.
Yoo-Mi Chin was present at the ceremony and happily took the prize. The large crowd of participants congratulated the prize winners and networked intensively within the remaining reception time.
Yoo-Mi Chin & Nicholas Wilson Yoo-Mi Chin & Klaus F. ZimmermannKlaus F. Zimmermann & Shuaizhang Feng
The School of Labor and Human Resources at Renmin University of China (Beijing) and the Global Labor Organization (GLO) had organized their First Joint Conference on the Chinese labor market on 20 and 21 October 2018 at Renmin University of China, Beijing. The conference series provides a platform for researchers working on topics related to the Chinese labor market, including migration, discrimination, health and well-being, education, environment and labor market policies. The event is part of the Chinese Labor Market Cluster of GLO headed by GLO Cluster LeadCorrado Giulietti (University of Southampton & GLO), who is also a GLO Research Director.
GLO Cluster LeadCorrado Giulietti
Keynote speakers were Xin Meng (Australian National University & GLO) Junsen Zhang (Chinese University of Hong Kong & GLO ) Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University & GLO )
Xin Meng
Junsen Zhang
Klaus F. Zimmermann
The Program Committee consisted of Sylvie Démurger (French National Centre for Scientific Research & GLO ) Shuaizhang Feng (Jinan University & GLO ) Corrado Giulietti (University of Southampton & GLO ) Jun Han (Renmin University of China & GLO)
Sylvie Démurger
Shuaizhang Feng
Jun Han
The Organizers were: Corrado Giulietti (University of Southampton & GLO ) Jun Han (Renmin University of China& GLO
The well organized event brought a larger number of labor economists interested in the Chinese labor market together for intensive two days of high quality academic exchange and social interactions to foster future research. All participants were very satisfied with the outcomes and are grateful for the work of the local organizing team led by Jun Han and the strong support of GLO FellowDean Weiguo Yang of Remin University of China.
Day 1: 20 October 2018
Zhong Zhao, Klaus F. Zimmermann, Corrado Giulietti
Corrado Giulietti, Jun Han
Corrado Giulietti
Zimmermann, Meng
Jun Han
Keynote: Intergenerational Behavioural Consequences of a Socio-Political Upheaval Xin Meng (Australian National University & GLO)
Session: “Labor Demand”Chair : Zhong Zhao (Renmin University of China & GLO)
Workers’ Valuation of Workplace Flexibility: A Field Experiment Haoran He (Beijing Normal University), David Neumark (University of California at Irvine), Qian Weng (Renmin University of China)
A Curse or a Blessing: Long-term Effects of the Soviet Union Aid Plants to China Jingxuan Du (Renmin University of China), Zhong Zhao (Renmin University of China & GLO)
To Upgrade or To Relocate? Explaining Heterogeneous Responses of Chinese Light Manufacturing Firms to Rising Labor Costs Fei Wang (Renmin University of China & GLO), Junjie Xia (Peking University), Jiajun Xu (Peking University)
Qian Weng
Fei Wang
Jingxuan Du
Zhong Zhao
Keynote: China’s One-Child Policy and Its Relaxation Effects on Fertility Junsen Zhang (Chinese University of Hong Kong & GLO)
Session: “Family Economics”Chair : Rufei Guo(Wuhan University & GLO)
The Effects of Children’s Gender Composition on Filial Piety and Old-Age Support Rufei Guo (Wuhan University & GLO), Junsen Zhang (Chinese University of Hong Kong & GLO)
Son Preference and Human Capital Investment Among China’s Rural-Urban Migrant Households Carl Lin (Bucknell University & GLO), Yan Sun (Beijing Normal University), Chunbing Xing (Beijing Normal University & GLO)
Rufei Guo
Chunbing Xing
Liqiu Zhao & Corrado Giulietti
Session: “Productivity and Innovation”Chair : Teng Li(National University of Singapore)
From Tradition to Modern: The Impact of Knowledge Diffusion on Idea Liu Xuke (Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences)
Non-linear Incentives and Worker Productivity: Evidence from a Quasi-experiment Richard Freeman (Harvard University), Wei Huang (National University of Singapore), Teng Li (National University of Singapore)
The Wage-productivity Nexus in the World Factory Economy Giovanni Dosi (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna & GLO), Maria Enrica Virgillito (Catholic University of Milan & GLO), Xiaodan Yu (University of Nottingham Ningbo China & GLO)
Teng Li
Xiaodan Yu
Liu Xuke
Day 2: 21 October 2018
Session: “Education”Chair : Haoran He (Beijing Normal University)
Labor Market Discrimination against Family Responsibilities: A Correspondence Study with Policy Change in China Haoran He (Beijing Normal University), Sherry Xin Li (University of Texas at Dallas), Yuling Han (Beijing Normal University)
Dynamics of Returns to Elite University Education: Evidence from Chinese Labor Market Sylvie Démurger (French National Center for Scientific Research & GLO), Eric A. Hanushek (Stanford University), Lei Zhang (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
Elite School Designation and House Prices: Quasi-experimental Evidence from Beijing, China Bin Huang (Nanjing University of Finance and Economics), Xiaoyan He (Nanjing University of Finance and Economics), Lei Xu (National Institute of Economic and Social Research), Yu Zhu (University of Dundee & GLO)
Air Pollution, Student Health, and School Absences: Evidence from China Siyu Chen (National University of Singapore), Chongshan Guo (Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention), Xinfei Huang (International School of Business and Finance)
Haoran He
Lei Zhang
Yu Zhu
Siyu Chen
Fei Wang
Chongshan Guo
Keynote: Recent Labor Market Research on China Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, Renmin University of China & GLO)
Conclusions and Farewell : The intention is to organize the next joint workshop in October 2019.
As of 1 January 2019, the President of the Global Labor Organization (GLO), KlausF. Zimmermann also serves as the President of the Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES). EBES is a non-partisan, scholarly association dedicated to the discussion and publication of business and economics research and aims to advance the economic and business knowledge and the profession. EBES encourages plurality, freedom of expression and multidisciplinary. While the focus of EBES is the Eurasia region, the membership covers all parts of the world. MORE DETAILS.
Zimmermann had received the EBES Fellow Award 2018, was already a member of the Executive Board of EBES and a member of the Editorial Board of one of the EBES Journals, the Eurasian Economic Review (EAER, since 2017). In May 2018, EBES and GLO organized a very successful conference together in Berlin. In the summer, both organizations had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) about establishing a long-term collaboration on educational and research activities. GLO will support paper sessions in the three conferences, EBES is organizing per year. This year, the events will be in Bali, Coventry and Lisbon.
EBES publishes two research journals, theEurasian Economic Review (EAER) and the Eurasian Business Review (EABR). The EABR with GLO Fellow Marco Vivarelli as the Editor-in-Chief just got accepted for inclusion in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) starting with volume 6, issue 1 in 2016. The editorial team of EAER works with a similar ambition, since January 2019 under the leadership of Dorothea Schäfer as the Editor-in-Chief.
“EBES and GLO will both greatly benefit from the collaboration”, argues Zimmermann. “The motives of the two organizations are truly global and with a similar academic spirit, while their various strengths are complementary. I congratulate Vivarelli and his team to the great success and EBES for getting Schäfer for the new role with EAER.”
Bilgin, Zimmermann, Vivarelli
Participants in Berlin 2018
Participants in Berlin 2018
Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin is the long-term driving force of EBES and one of its Vice-Presidents, Marco Vivarelli the Editor-in-Chief of EABR. Bilgin and Vivarelli are also GLO Fellows; Bilgin is further the GLO Country Lead Turkey and Vivarelli the GLO Cluster Lead ‘Technological Change and the Labor Market’.
The Centre for Workforce Futures at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, has joined the network of institutions of the Global Labor Organization (GLO) following intensified research collaborations. Prestigious ARC Discovery Research Grant of the Australian Research Council (ARC) won.
The Centre for Workforce Futures is a collaborative hub connecting researchers from a wide range of disciplines and universities with government, industry, not-for-profit organizations and the broader community to undertake problem-focused research and thought leadership that addresses current and future economic and social challenges relating to work, working people, work organization and employment. Directors are Lucy Taksa and Daryll Hull of Macquarie University.
In November 2017, Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT & President of the Global Labor Organization, GLO) had been a Visiting Professor at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia and he has recently affiliated with Macquarie University further by accepting to join the Centre for Workforce Futures as an Associate Member. The Co-Director of the Centre, Lucy Taksa is also a Professor of Management and Associate Dean for Research of the Faculty of Business & Economics at Macquarie University, and a GLO Fellow.
A team of GLO Fellows affiliated with the Centre for Workforce Futures consisting of Chief Investigators Fei Guo, Lucy Taksa, Zhiming Cheng, Massimiliano Tani and Partner Investigators Lihua Liu (University of Southern California) and Klaus F. Zimmermann have recently won a very prestigious ARC Discovery Research Grant of the Australian Research Council (ARC) on “Demographic and Social Dimensions of Migrant Ageing and Wellbeing in Australia”.
The discussion paper of the month examines the potentials multiple language skills have for employment and wages in a globalized world.The research finds in the context of an open and multilingual economy that language training improves employability, but the skills are not sufficiently rewarded by higher wages.
Abstract:In a world increasingly globalized, multiple language skills can create more employment opportunities. Several countries include language training programs in active labor market programs for the unemployed. We analyze the effects of a language training program on the re-employment probability and hourly wages of the unemployed simultaneously, using high quality administrative data from Luxembourg. We address selection into training by exploiting the rich administrative information available, and account for the complication that wages are “truncated” by unemployment by adopting a principal stratification framework. Estimation is undertaken with a mixture model likelihood-based approach. To improve inference, we use the individual’s hours worked as a secondary outcome and a stochastic dominance assumption. These two features considerably ameliorate the multimodality problem commonly encountered in mixture models. We also conduct sensitivity analysis to assess the unconfoundedness assumption employed. Our results strongly suggest a positive effect (of up to 12.7 percent) of thelanguage training programs on the re-employment probability, but no effects on wages for those who are observed employed regardless of training participation. It appears that, in the context of an open and multilingual economy, language training improve employability but the language skills acquired are not sufficiently rewarded to be reflected in higher wages.
GLO Discussion Papers of December 2018
Titles and free access/links to GLO Discussion Papers
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
The discussion paper of the month (see below) deals with the sources of inequality in East Africa. It concludes that promoting equity in education requires policies that go beyond raising average school quality and should attend to the distribution of school quality as well as assortative matching between households and schools.
Titles and free access/links to GLO Discussion Papers
Abstract: Inequalities in the opportunity to obtain a good education in low-income countries are widely understood to be related to household resources and schooling quality. Yet, to date, most researchers have investigated the contributions of these two factors separately. This paper considers them jointly, paying special attention to their covariation, which indicates whether schools exacerbate or compensate for existing household-based inequalities. The paper develops a new variance decomposition framework and applies it to data on more than one million children in three low-income East African countries. The empirical results show that although household factors account for a significant share of total test score variation, variation in school quality and positive sorting between households and schools are, together, no less important. The analysis also finds evidence of substantial geographical heterogeneity in schooling quality. The paper concludes that promoting equity in education in East Africa requires policies that go beyond raising average school quality and should attend to the distribution of school quality as well as assortative matching between households and schools.
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
The discussion paper of the month (see below) presents a remarkable review of the growing economic and epidemiologic evidence linking air pollution, cognition performance and real-world decision making. All by a leading expert of the field, GLO Fellow & GLO Cluster Lead Xi Chen. Further, the paper relates to an outstanding GLO workshop in Hong Kong on climate change and human resources consequences.
Titles and free access/links to GLO Discussion Papers
Abstract: Cognitive functioning is critical as in our daily life a host of real-world complex decisions in high-stakes markets have to be made. The decision-making process can be vulnerable to environmental stressors. Summarizing the growing economic and epidemiologic evidence linking air pollution, cognition performance and real-world decision making, we first illustrate key physiological and psychological pathways between air pollution and cognition. We then document the main patterns of air pollution affecting cognitive test performance by type of cognitive tests, gender, window of exposure, age profile, and educational attainment. We further extend to a review of real-world decision making that has been found to be affected by air pollution and the resulting cognitive impairments. Finally, rich implications on environmental health policies are drawn based on existing evaluations of social costs of air pollution.
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
On the invitation of GLO Fellow Daniela Andren and Magnus Lodefalk, Klaus F. Zimmermann, (UNU-MERIT and President of the Global Labor Organization, GLO) was visiting Örebro University/Sweden on 19-20 November 2018 to attend a workshop on publishing in scientific journals. In his function as keynote speaker to the event, he was also reporting about his experience as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Population Economics and his role with many other journals in the profession. (MORE INFORMATION about the Journal of Population Economics.) The workshop discussed publication strategies and studied them on a selection of papers presented by the authors together with invited external reviewers, among them GLO Fellow Björn Gustafsson of Gothenburg University and Daniel Halvarsson of the Ratio Institute, Stockholm. Zimmermann and department members further discussed ways to intensify contacts with the GLO. He also enjoyed parts of Örebro, this wonderful Swedish city, which is very much worth visiting.
Workshop Co-Organizer and GLO Fellow Daniela Andren of Örebro University (left).
On the invitation of Natig Shirinzade, Chairman of theInstitute of Global Economic Problems, the President of the Global Labor Organization (GLO), Klaus F. Zimmermann, has visited Baku, Azerbaijan, on 10-13 November 2018 to discuss research and policy issues and to intensify contacts. Chairman Natig Shirinzade is also a GLO Fellow and the GLO Country Lead Azerbaijan representing GLO. MORE DETAILS.
Organized by Natig Shirinzade (right side of the picture), Zimmermann met with researchers and scientists, representatives from business and government including members from the office of the First Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Executive Director of the State Oil Fund and his staff, the Minister of Labor and the Minister of Education with their staff, the Chairman of the Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship Committee of the National Assembly, and the Deputy Foreign Minister and Founding Rector of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA University) with various administrators and professors from ADA University and the Azerbaijan State University of Economics.
The full program on November 12-13, 2018 included the following major program points in this sequence:
Meeting withEmin Huseynov, AssistantFirst Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Khalid Ahadov, Assistant First Vice President of the Republic ofAzerbaijan.
Shahmar Movsumov, Executive Director of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan and his staff.
SahilBabayev, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan and his staff.
Public Lecture for ADA students on “Human Challenges and Solutions at Times of Rapid Global Changes” in the ADA Global Perspectives Lecture Series on November 13, 2018.
The joint initiative of Natig Shirinzade and Klaus F. Zimmermann was broadly covered by the Azerbaijani media:
Left picture: In the middle, Sahil Babayev, Minister of Labor and Social Protection. Right: Natig Shirinzade and Klaus F. Zimmermann
Excellent and deep discussions with key staff members of the office of the First Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva: Emin Huseynov (left) and Khalid Ahadov (right). Broad and common understanding about the global human challenges and the large potentials for deeper collaborations between Azerbaijan and Europe.
With Shahmar Movsumov as the Executive Director of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Fund prepares for the future of the country investing resources around the world and supporting the change of the country including activities strengthening infrastructure and human resources. Both Natig Shirinzade and Klaus F. Zimmermann were visiting Shahmar Movsumov and his staff in his headquarter to introduce the respective institutions and to discuss the research needs to deal with the major challenges of the country. Bellow: In the headquarter of the Fund.
In both ministries, labor and education, the exchange was about the political strategies to deal with the demand for effective government using the instruments of the digital age, establishing the physical and administrative infrastructure needed for the post oil age, the need to strengthen entrepreneurship and the development of skills and education. A particular need was identified in vocational training, where large efforts of both ministries are under way. Zimmermann agreed with ministers Sahil Babayev (labor) and Ceyhun Bayamon (education) that vocational training could be key for the development if combined with proper entrepreneurship and small business. He advertised for the German dual system, knowing the difficulties with an adaption of the model that requires long traditions and the strong support of the business community.
Shirinzade and Zimmermann further met with AmbassadorHafiz Pashayev, Deputy Foreign Minister and Founding Rector of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA University). At the ADA University, they met with him and Fariz Ismailzade (Vice Rector for External, Government and Student Affairs), Elkin Nurmammadov (Dean of the School of Business), Rahman Shahhuseynli (Director of the Office of International Affairs), Kavus Abushov (Assistant Professor, Political Sciences), all ADA University, and Anar Rzayev, Vice-Rector International Relations and Programs of UNEC, the Azerbaijan State University of Economics. Topics discussed included the mission of GLO, the natural role of the country as a geographic, economic and political meeting point between Europe and Asia, and potentials for academic exchange of the universities with Europe. The visit at ADA University ended with a lecture of Zimmermann for ADA students.
Zimmermann speaking at the ADA University Global Perspectives Lecture Series in front of a large audience of interested students.
On the more touristic side, Zimmermann explored on November 11 and 12 the city of Baku and the environment directed by a strongly motivated team of tourist guide, interpreter and driver. These experiences provided him with deep insides into history, modern developments, challenges and potentials of the country. On November 10, he was visiting modern Baku and enjoyed some of the local culture. On November 10 in the afternoon, he has been in the old city of Baku, and on November 11, among others, in the Gobustan National Park, saw the Petroglyphs and investigated the Zoroastrian temple of Ateshgah (Part III). At the end, he inspected Yanardag, the burning mountain. (The links lead to the four individual reports on Zimmermann’s private website for those interested.)
