Publisher Summary The chapter presents a survey on the economics of labor market discrimination, motivated by two fundamental problems associated with income and wage differences among groups classified by sex, race, ethnicity, and other characteristics. The first is the inequity of long-lasting differences in economic well-being among the groups; in particular, differences in household or family income. The second is the inequity of long-lasting differences in the average wage rates among groups of workers classified by these demographic traits, when the groups may be presumed to be either equally productive or to have equal productive capacity. The second problem also raises the question of whether a labor market that pays unequal wages to equally productive workers is inefficient. Economic discrimination is defined in terms of income differences among families and wage differences among workers. The chapter discusses these definitions and presents data from the United States on the income and earnings differences of blacks, Hispanics, whites, women, and men. The chapter surveys theories of economic discrimination in the labor market. The theories are classified into competitive and monopolistic neoclassical models with (essentially) complete information, competitive neoclassical models with imperfect information-leading to “statistical discrimination,” and institutional theories. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the economic research on discrimination.

Chapter 13 The economic analysis of labor market discrimination: A survey

Internal migration in developed countries

This survey article aims at critically discussing the recent literature on firm formation and survival and the growth of new-born firms. The basic purpose is to single out the microeconomic entrepreneurial foundations of industrial dynamics (entry and exit) and to characterise the founder’s ex-ante features in terms of likely ex-post business performance. The main conclusion is that entry of new firms is heterogeneous with innovative entrepreneurs being found together with passive followers, over-optimist gamblers and even escapees from unemployment. Since founders are heterogeneous and may make “entry mistakes,” policy incentives should be highly selective, favouring nascent entrepreneurs endowed with progressive motivation and promising predictors of better business performance. This would lead to the least distortion in the post-entry market selection of efficient entrepreneurs.

/pdf/entrepreneurship-and-the-process-of-firms-entry-survival-and-2riyn34i46.pdf

Entrepreneurship and the process of firms’ entry, survival and growth

The diffusion of Temporary Work Agency (TWA) jobs originated a harsh policy debate and ambiguous empirical evidence. Results for the US, based on quasi-experimental evidence, suggest that a TWA assignment decreases the probability of finding a stable job, while results for Europe, based on the Conditional Independence Assumption (CIA), typically reach opposite conclusions. Using data for two Italian regions, we use a matching estimator to show that TWA assignments can be an effective springboard to permanent employment. We also propose a simulation-based sensitivity analysis, which highlights that only for one of these two regions our results are robust to specific failures of the CIA. We conclude that European studies based on the CIA should not be automatically discarded, but should be put under the scrutiny of a sensitivity analysis like the one we propose.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm?abstractid=905551

From Temporary Help Jobs to Permanent Employment: What Can We Learn from Matching Estimators and their Sensitivity?

To estimate the causal effect of refugee migration on voting outcomes in parliamentary and municipal elections in Denmark, our study is the first that addresses the key problem of immigrant sorting by exploiting a policy that assigned refugee immigrants to municipalities on a quasi-random basis. We find that in all but the most urban municipalities, allocation of larger refugee shares between electoral cycles leads to an increase in the vote share for right-leaning parties with an anti-immigration agenda, and we show large differences in voters’ responses to refugee allocation according to pre-policy municipal characteristics. However, in the largest and urban municipalities, refugee allocation has—if anything—the opposite effect on vote shares for anti-immigration parties. This coincides with a sharp divide in attitudes to refugees between urban and rural populations, which may be partly explained by distinctive interactions between natives and those with different background in cities and rural areas. Refugee allocation also has a large impact on the anti-immigration parties’ choice of where to stand for municipal election, and we provide some evidence that it influences voter turnout.

/pdf/refugee-migration-and-electoral-outcomes-31oevx8cw3.pdf

Refugee Migration and Electoral Outcomes

Sweden : A Viable Public-Private Pension System

I denna rapport kartlaggs de kompletterande ersattningar som finns till olika slags socialforsakringar. Rapporten visar hur manga anstallda som faktiskt tacks av de kompletterande ersattningarna oc ...

Ett svårlagt pussel - kompletterande ersättningar vid inkomstbortfall

Avtalsbestämda ersättningar, andra kompletterande ersättningar och arbetsutbudet

Most countries including Sweden have an ageing population. The costs of the welfare state increase with the old age share, leading to problems for public finances. If the number of hours worked increases, tax revenues increase and less income transfers are paid out. A higher retirement age is one way to increase the numbers of hours worked in the economy. The age when people leave the labour market has already increased in Sweden. The new pensions system is part of the explanation but improved health and changes in the educational level of the cohorts close to retirement are also important. The problem of financing the welfare state is however not solved by that development. We conclude our article by discussing changes in laws and collective agreements which may contribute to further increases in the actual retirement age. We also shortly discuss the implications of the present economic crisis.

/pdf/retirement-pensions-and-work-in-sweden-4ue26rzgjb.pdf

Retirement, Pensions and Work in Sweden

The number of children fleeing and/or seeking asylum alone without parents or guardians has been increasing during the last decade worldwide, where Sweden has been receiving the largest number of asylum claims by unaccompanied minors (UAM) in Europe. This paper addresses the Swedish case by giving an overview of the policies and practices in relation to the introductory stage determining how they are treated in Sweden. We also investigate the situation of UAM during their youth. While doing these we focus on areas where there is a need for improvement and we provide a model for a more incorporated approach that integrates the different stages that UAM go through in their lives. The introductory stage consists of the reception and the asylum process. The policies and practices in relation to the main sub-areas of the reception and asylum processes are discussed in relation to the well-being of this group and in relation to integration as well as consonance with the UN conventions.

Eskil Wadensjö

Papers

Sweden : A Viable Public-Private Pension System

Ett svårlagt pussel - kompletterande ersättningar vid inkomstbortfall

Avtalsbestämda ersättningar, andra kompletterande ersättningar och arbetsutbudet

Retirement, Pensions and Work in Sweden

Policies, Practices and Prospects: The Unaccompanied Minors in Sweden