Showing papers in "Labour in 2005"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the extent to which female labour force participation is affected by the cost of formal childcare and found that childcare price subsidies have a modest impact both on labour-force participation and on the use of formal child care.
Abstract: . Mothers of young children may be prevented from working because of the high cost of available, formal childcare. In the UK, the typical cost of a nursery place is more than the average household spends a year on either food or housing. This study examines the extent to which female labour force participation is affected by the cost of formal childcare. The results suggest that childcare price subsidies have a modest impact both on labour force participation and on the use of formal childcare.
102 citations
TL;DR: The role of pre-marital job characteristics in female labour force participation after the birth of the first child was investigated in this paper, where the authors found that new mothers who worked without a contract were less likely to participate, while those who worked in the public sector or in a large private firm had a higher probability of being in the labour force after childbearing.
Abstract: In this paper we use newly available individual-level data from the Longitudinal Survey of Italian Households to investigate the factors associated with female labour force participation after the birth of the first child. We focus on the role of pre-marital job characteristics and find that new mothers who worked without a contract are less likely to participate, while those who worked in the public sector or in a large private firm have a higher probability of being in the labour force after childbearing. We suggest that these effects could be at least partly attributed to differences in the level of job protection and employment sta- bility enjoyed by workers. This implies that in Italy women with highly protected and stable jobs might find it easier to combine career and family, whereas those who are less sheltered by the legislation might be more likely to be inactive after becoming mothers.
96 citations
93 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the link between family-friendly policies and women's employment after birth of the first child in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and Japan in the 1980s and the 1990s.
Abstract: This paper investigates the link between family-friendly policies and women's employment after birth of the first child in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Japan in the 1980s and the 1990s. Our econometric analyses use household panel data from each of the five countries: BHPS, GSOEP, OSA, HUS, and JPSC, respectively. Public policies that facilitate the combination of motherhood and paid employment offer an effective means in increasing the participation rate of first-time mothers. The results also indicate that the availability and stimulation of good-quality part-time employment can provide additional, strong incentives for new mothers to enter active employment.
86 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a model of labor supply and fertility, using data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for the period 1994-2000, merged with regional data describing the available labor market opportunities in the households' environment, is presented.
Abstract: . According to the agenda for employment set by the European Union in 2000 for the following 10 years, the target for female employment was set at 60 per cent for the year 2010. Although Northern and most Continental countries have achieved this quantitative target, the Mediterranean countries are lagging behind. Labor market policies should be aimed to encourage women's participation and reduce the cost of working. However, the persistence of a negative relationship between participation and fertility in these countries implies that it is important to take fertility into account. We analyse a model of labor supply and fertility, using data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for the period 1994–2000, merged with regional data describing the available labor market opportunities in the households’ environment.
79 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the Hausman-Taylor IV estimator is applied to account for unobservable heterogeneity including also time-invariant indicators to analyze whether taller workers earn more then their shorter counterparts.
Abstract: This paper analyzes whether taller workers earn more then their shorter counterparts. Using GSOEP data from 1991 to 2002, earnings functions are estimated separately for male and female workers in both West and East German regions. The Hausman-Taylor IV estimator is applied to account for unobservable heterogeneity including also time-invariant indicators. The results do not suggest for an effect of height on the earnings of female workers and male East German workers. However, for the height range between 175cm and 195cm there is an earnings premium associated with stature for male workers from West Germany of about 4% for additional 10cm in height.
73 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used matched employer-employee data from Denmark to examine how gender segregation at the level of occupation, industry, establishment, and job-cell impacts the gender wage differential of full-time, private-sector salaried and manual workers.
Abstract: . This paper uses matched employer–employee data from Denmark to examine how gender segregation at the level of occupation, industry, establishment, and job-cell impacts the gender wage differential of full-time, private-sector salaried and manual workers. Wage effects of gender segregation at the above four levels are estimated through fixed effects or through controls for the proportion females within these structures. We find that occupation has a much larger role than industry or establishment in accounting for the gender gap for salaried but not manual workers, and that for both groups there is a significant within-job-cell gender wage differential.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors apply an econometric framework that allows for non-convex budget sets, non-linear labour supply curves and imperfect markets with institutional constraints.
Abstract: It is a stated aim to improve physician services in underserved sectors and areas. Increased wages is one instrument for boosting the hours provided by the personnel to the prioritized sub-markets. This study applies an econometric framework that allows for non-convex budget sets, non-linear labour supply curves and imperfect markets with institutional constraints. The labour supply decision is viewed as a choice from a set of discrete alternatives (job packages) in a structural labour supply model estimated on Norwegian micro data. An out-of-sample prediction is also presented and evaluated by means of a natural experiment. Copyright 2005 CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
50 citations
47 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated transitions from employment to non-employment and downward occupational mobility after motherhood in Spain and found that around 40% of Spanish women who were at work 1 year before childbearing leave employment, most permanently, and one-third of these exits move to unemployment.
Abstract: . This paper investigates transitions from employment to non-employment and downward occupational mobility after motherhood in Spain. Around 40 per cent of Spanish women who were at work 1 year before childbearing leave employment, most permanently, and one-third of these exits move to unemployment. The probability of staying on at work after birth is reduced with the rise of fixed-term contracts and increased with experience and level of education. Downward occupational mobility is not common amongst women remaining employed since they do not switch to part-time jobs.
40 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of group incentives on productivity, pay and employment in a large unionized firm in India were investigated. And the results generally confirm predictions from theory that productivity returns to incentives are non-linear and concave in shape and that the effectiveness of incentives is decreasing in group size.
Abstract: This paper estimates the effects of group incentives on productivity, pay and employment in a large unionized firm in India. Using plant-level monthly time-series data from the payroll office for the period 1985-95, and controlling for both (plant) fixed effects and (contract) time effects, the paper provides econo- metric evidence on the effectiveness of both the level and intensity of incentive pay on the outcome measures. In addition, the relative performance of two types of group incentives defined on the basis of group size is also analysed. The results generally confirm predictions from theory that productivity returns to incentives are non-linear and concave in shape and that the effectiveness of incentives is decreasing in group size. It is argued that the latter is most likely due to the less- ening of the free-rider problem and the increased effectiveness of peer monitoring associated with smaller groups. The results also point to a negative relationship between the level of incentives and employment over time.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the effects of the Adult Education Initiative in Sweden on the employment of the unemployed in the Swedish adult education system and found that the effect was minimal.
Abstract: Comprehensive Education for the Unemployed : Evaluating the Effects on Unemployment of the Adult Education Initiative in Sweden
Abstract: . The area-wide wage agreement is at the centre of Germany's system of collective bargaining. In recent years, however, there has been a tendency towards the decentralization of collective bargaining. Individual wage agreements have led to more moderate wage developments, whilst collective agreements with individual firms, and agreements at the production unit level, have not had this moderating effect. On the other hand, collective bargaining has become more flexible, leading to greater pay differentiation. The further decentralization of collective bargaining, although desirable, has given rise to objections based in constitutional law and to resistance from employees and employers.
Abstract: The childcare market has been emerging in the Netherlands since the first Child Care Stimulation Act in 1990. The Dutch government has chosen to increase availability and share the costs of childcare between government, employers and parents. We estimate the determinants of Dutch women's decisions to participate in the labour market and the use of paid childcare in 1995. Furthermore, we estimate the effect of the price of childcare on female labour supply. We discuss whether the route that is taken by the Dutch government regarding childcare leads to smaller dead weight losses than in Sweden.
TL;DR: In this paper, a particular two-stage modelling and estimation procedure designed to analyse the effects of multiple labour market programs on multiple outcomes is used to control for selection bias, and the model is applied to non-experimental longitudinal data on young unemployed individuals in Norway in the early 1990s, a period during which unemployment was rising.
Abstract: . Unemployed youth in Europe have access to a variety of labour market programmes, the intention of which is to improve the chances of employment or education. A particular two-stage modelling and estimation procedure designed to analyse the effects of multiple programmes on multiple outcomes is used to control for selection bias. The model is applied to non-experimental longitudinal data on young unemployed individuals in Norway in the early 1990s, a period during which unemployment was rising. Separate analyses for subgroups indicate that employment programmes increase the full-time employability of females but not of males, and for the younger age group, but not of those over 20 years of age. Training programmes have no positive effects, irrespective of subgroup. Vocational programmes are counterproductive for teenagers, which is the group at which it is targeted.
TL;DR: The authors assesses the role of structural factors and institutions in explaining the common patterns and main differences in the recent expansion of service employment in OECD countries, and finds that GDP per capita, the size of the government sector and the extent of urbanization are positively associated with the service employment share.
Abstract: We live in a service economy, but the extent of development of service employment differs across developed countries. This paper assesses the role of structural factors and institutions in explaining the common patterns and main differences in the recent expansion of service employment in OECD countries. It finds that GDP per capita, the size of the government sector and the extent of urbanization are positively associated with the service employment share. However, the evidence suggests that laws and institutions such as product market regulations, unions and more coordinated wage-setting systems are hampering the expansion of service employment. JEL Classification: J21, L80, L51
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive profile of the working poor is presented using data from the 2003 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS) and an earnings model with effective cost constraints.
Abstract: In this paper, a comprehensive profile of the 'working poor' is presented using data from the 2003 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey. We test an earnings model with effective cost constraints. The dependent variable is the likelihood of an employed individual being a member of the working poor. The explanatory variables are the worker's occupation and firm characteris- tics, and cost constraints comprising, on the one hand, the worker's family char- acteristics (notably family income), and, on the other, the costs to the worker of signals used by firms in making employment decisions. These include not only the cost of education but also what we call 'discriminatory signals', e.g. gender, race, ethnicity and citizenship status. The paper provides new insight into the complex set of relationships between the signaling variables themselves, between signals and occupations, and between industries and occupations, in the formation of relative wage rates.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors take a matching approach to local labour markets in Finland and find that job seekers from neighbouring areas cause additional heterogeneity in the matching process in densely populated areas, which decreases the matching efficiency.
Abstract: . This paper takes a matching approach to local labour markets in Finland. The monthly data comprise 120 Local Labour Office areas over a 12 year period between January 1991 and August 2002. The basic matching function is extended to account for spatial spillovers across borders. The role of population density in the matching process is also examined. According to the results, there is a congestion effect among job seekers in the local labour markets, which is further strengthened by spatial spillovers. The results also indicate that job seekers from neighbouring areas cause additional heterogeneity in the matching process in densely populated areas, which decreases the matching efficiency in these areas.
Abstract: In October 2002 Brazil elected as president a former metalworker and founder of a socialist party, a man whose family had left the miserable northeastern hinterland fi ve decades earlier to face prejudice and hardship in industrial Sao Paulo. The election of Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva of the Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, or PT) was a clear signal that deep changes were going on in a country marked by huge social inequalities and a contempt for manual labor engendered by almost four centuries of slavery. In the fi rst round of the 2002 presidential election, the former trade union leader had received 46 percent of the vote and won in twenty-four of twentyseven states. In the runoff election on October 27, Lula received 52.8 million votes, 61.3 percent of the nationwide total, and won in all but one state. With their vote, Brazilians had overwhelmingly supported a candidate and a party who were harsh critics of the procapitalist orthodoxies of neoliberalism and contemporary globalization. In doing so, Brazilian voters defi ed attempts by Washington, London, and the international fi nancial markets to warn them away from this use of their democratic rights, an attempt at blackmail that failed even though the value of Brazil’s national currency went down by 40 percent between the beginning of 2002 and the October elections. The vote for Lula was more than twice as large, in absolute terms, as the vote given to all other PT candidates for political offi ce. Yet it would be misleading to label this triumph as only personal in nature, since one of the most surprising developments was the jump in overall support for the PT. Although the PT and its allied parties did not win control of the Chamber of Deputies, the PT did become, for the fi rst time, the party with the largest number of deputies (91 of 513 seats) and the only one with representatives from all states, also a fi rst. Thus the 2002 election was both a personal triumph of the candidate Lula and a PT party victory (it also doubled its senators), although the PT did less well in gubernatorial races (winning in only three states) and lost control of Rio Grande do Sul (an area of party strength). C O N T E M P O R A RY A F FA I R S
TL;DR: The number of strikes reported in British industry has been on a downward trend over the past two decades, falling in 1998 to its lowest level since records began, which may indicate that relations within British industry have improved; however, the same period has also witnessed a sharp increase in the number of individual ACAS and employment tribunal cases.
Abstract: . The number of strikes reported in British industry has been on a downward trend over the past two decades, falling in 1998 to its lowest level since records began. This may indicate that relations within British industry have improved; however, the same period has also witnessed a sharp increase in the number of individual ACAS and employment tribunal cases. We discuss possible reasons for the changes in the patterns of industrial unrest over time and use individual micro-data to examine whether the observed decline in strike activity has actually been associated with an improvement in perceptions of workplace industrial relations.
TL;DR: In this paper, a rational choice model that simultaneously analyses women's decisions about welfare dependency, labor supply, and marriage is presented. But the model is based on the Demand and Supply (D&S) models of marriage inspired by Becker's theory of marriage.
Abstract: . This paper provides a rational choice model that simultaneously analyses women's decisions about welfare dependency, labor supply, and marriage. The model is based on the Demand and Supply (D&S) models of marriage inspired by Becker's theory of marriage. In addition to reproducing old insights about income effects and marriage market effects on welfare dependency, the model offers new insights regarding the effects on welfare dependency of sex ratios, divorce laws, cohort size, and traditional expectations about marriage and family. The model helps understand why welfare is more common among black women in the USA and offers a new interpretation for past trends in American women's welfare dependency: the big increase in welfare dependency in the late 1960s is interpreted as a baby-boom phenomenon and recent reductions in welfare dependency are partially seen as the expression of young women's better marriage market opportunities.
TL;DR: The pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Labour, vol19 (3), 491-515, 2005, which has been published in final form at doi: 101111/j1467-9914200500311x.
Abstract: Authors Submitted Version This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Labour, vol19 (3), 491-515, 2005, which has been published in final form at doi: 101111/j1467-9914200500311x