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The editors of RLE are very pleased to announce the appointment of an Editorial Advisory Board.
Board members are:
Orley C. Ashenfelter
Francine D. Blau
Richard Blundell
David Card
Ronald G.Ehrenberg
Richard B. Freeman
Daniel S. Hamermesh
James J. Heckman
Alan B. Krueger
Edward P. Lazear
Christopher A. Pissarides
Klaus F. Zimmermann
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Research in Labor Economics invites all academics and researchers in the field of labor economics to submit their work for consideration in the series. Online submission can be done through the IZA’s website. Submissions for special issues and symposia are also considered.
This volume contains ten original innovative chapters on worker well-being. Three chapters are on time allocated to work and
human capital acquisition, three on aspects of risk in the earnings process, two on migration, and finally two on the role of
public policies and institutions on employment and earnings. Questions answered include: Are more educated women now opting out
of work with a higher probability than in the past? Under what circumstances do young adults allocate non-school time to
educational pursuits? How do macroeconomic shocks affect labor force participation rates? Can tax policies alleviate poverty?
Are workers compensated adequately for taking risks? Do differences in private and public sector earnings affect mobility between
the two sectors? Do migrant parents affect educational decisions of their offspring? Why is the service sector growing less quickly
in Europe than the US?
HOW DO ADOLESCENTS SPELL TIME USE? AN ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR ANALYZING TIME DIARY DATA
Charlene M. Kalenkoski
Ohio University
David C. Ribar
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Leslie S. Stratton
Virginia Commonwealth University
Abstract. We investigate how household disadvantage affects the time use of 15-18 year
olds using 2003-2006 data from the American Time Use Survey. Applying
competing-risk hazard models, we distinguish between the incidence and
duration of activities and incorporate the daily time constraint. We find that
teens living in disadvantaged households spend less time in nonclassroom
educational activities than other teens. Girls spend some of this time in work
activities, suggesting that they are taking on adult roles. However, we find
more evidence of substitution into unsupervised activities, suggesting that it
may be less-structured environments that reduce educational investment.
THE OPT-OUT REVOLUTION: RECENT TRENDS IN FEMALE LABOR SUPPLY
Heather Antecol
Claremont McKenna College
Abstract. Using data from the U.S. Census in conjunction with data from the
Current Population Survey (1980-2009), I find little support for the
opt-out revolution - highly educated women, relative to their lesseducated
counterparts, are exiting the labor force to care for their
families at higher rates today than in earlier time periods - if one focuses
solely on the decision to work a positive number of hours irrespective of
marital status or race. If one, however, focuses on both the decision to
work a positive number of hours and the decision to adjust annual hours of
work (conditional on working), I find some evidence of the opt-out
revolution, particularly among white college educated married women in
male-dominated occupations.
FEMALE LABOR PARTICIPATION AND OCCUPATION DECISIONS IN POST-NAFTA MEXICO
Rafael E. De Hoyos
Government of Mexico
Abstract. The objective of this chapter is to estimate the parameters defining female
labor participation and occupation decisions in mexico. Based on a theoretical
framework, we use micro data to estimate the wage-participation
elasticity in urban Mexico. Consistency between the selectivity-adjusted
wages and the multinomial participation equations is achieved via a two-step
estimation procedure following Lee (1983). We use the results of our model
to test and quantify three hypotheses explaining recent increases in female
labor participation in urban mexico. Our results show that the observed 12
percent increase in female labor participation in mexico between 1994 and
2000 is explained by the combination of a negative income shock caused by
the 1994-1995 participation; wage differentiaeso crisis, the increase in
expected wages taking place in the manufacturing sector during the post-
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) period, and a reduction
in female reservation wage.
A RISK AUGMENTED MINCER EARNINGS EQUATION? TAKING STOCK
Joop Hartog
University of Amsterdam
Abstract. We survey the literature on the Risk Augmented Mincer equation that
seeks to estimate the compensation for uncertainty in the future wage to
be earned after completing an education. There is wide empirical support
for the predicted positive effect of wage variance and the negative effect of
wage skew. We discuss robustness of the findings across specifications,
potential bias from unobserved heterogeneity and selectivity and consider
the core issue of students’ information on benefits from education.
WORKERS' MOBILITY AND THE RETURN TO EDUCATION, EVIDENCE FROM PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS
Yuval Mazar
Bank of Israel
Abstract. This chapter examines whether changes in return to education affect
workers’ mobility between jobs. Employee panel data are used to study staff
movement from the public sector to the private sector or vice versa from
1995 to 2005. It is found that in line with the situation in other advanced
economies, the wage structure in the public sector in Israel is more
compressed than that in the private sector, for employees with similar
characteristics and in general, and that the difference widened during the
period reviewed. Hence, the findings support the contention that the public
sector compensates employees less for their skills than does the private
sector. In addition, it is found that during that period the return to education
increased in the private sector by about 1 percentage point more than in the
public sector. In an analysis of those who switched from one sector to the
other, our findings imply that if the return to education changed at the same
rate in both sectors, the probability of highly educated workers moving
from the public sector to the private sector would be 5 percent lower, and the
probability of highly educated workers moving from the private sector to
the public sector would be 2 percent higher.
FORGONE EARNINGS FROM SMOKING: EVIDENCE FOR A DEVELOPING COUNTRY
Michael Lokshin
World Bank
Kathleen Beegle
World Bank
Abstract. This chapter estimates the negative effect of smoking on earnings in the
context of a developing country. Using data from the 2005 Albania Living
Standards Measurement Survey, models are estimated by parametric and
semi-parametric methods to account for the effect of observable and
unobservable characteristics that could affect individual smoking decisions
and earnings. Information on the smoking behaviour of parents is used to
address the endogeneity of the smoking decision. The results show that, after
controlling for observed individual characteristics and parental education and
taking into account unobserved heterogeneity in personal characteristics,
smoking is found to have a substantial negative impact on earnings. The main
results are robust to a range of alternative specifications.On average, smokers’
earnings are 19-23 percent lower than the earnings of similar non-smokers.
EXERTED EFFORT AND PUBLIC POLICY TOWARDS CONTRACTED TEMPORARY MIGRATION
Gil S. Epstein
Bar-Ian University
Alessandra Venturini
University of Turin
Abstract. Temporary and circular migration programs have been devised by many
destination countries and supported by the European Commission as a
policy to reduce welfare and social costs of immigration in destination
countries. In this chapter, we present an additional reason for proposing
temporary migration policies based on the characteristics of the foreign
labor-effort supply. The level of effort exerted by migrants, which
decreases over their duration in the host country, positively affects
production, real wages, and capital owners’ profits. We show that the
acceptance of job offers by migrants results in the displacement in
employment of national workers. However, it increases the workers’
exertion, decreases prices, and thus can counter anti-immigrant voter
sentiment. Therefore, the favorable sentiment of the capital owners and
the local population toward migrants may rise when temporary migration
policies are adopted.
MIGRANT NETWORKS, MIGRANT SELECTION, AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION IN MEXICO
Alfonso Miranda
Institute of Education, University of London
Abstract. This chapter enquires whether family migration experience affects the
probability of high school graduation of children once unobserved
heterogeneity is properly accounted for. Bivariate dynamic random
effects probit models for cluster data are estimated to control for the
potential endogeneity of education and migration outcomes of elder
members of a family in a regression for the education and migration of
younger children. Correlation of unobservables across migration and
education decisions as well as within groups of individuals such as the
family are explicitly modeled. Results show that children from households
headed by a migrant are less likely to graduate from high school than
children from households headed by a non-migrant. However, as the
number of migrants in the family increase, a larger number of migrants in
the family is associated with a higher probability of graduation from high
school in Mexico. Negative migrant selection in unobservables is detected.
IN-WORK TRANSFERS IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD: SIMULATIONS FOR IRELAND
Olivier Bargain
University College Dublin
Karina Doorley
University College Dublin
Abstract. In-work transfers are often seen as a good trade-off between redistribution
and efficiency as they alleviate poverty among low-wage households,
while increasing financial incentives to work. In the context of the recent
economic downturn, they have been advocated to offset the disincentive
effect of wage cuts and to cushion the negative redistributive impact of
earnings losses and cuts in the minimum wage. We study this double effect
for Ireland, a country deeply affected by the economic crisis, and for
which existing in-work support policies are of limited scope. The
employment and poverty effects of alternative policies are analysed
thanks to counterfactual simulations built using a micro-simulation
model, the Living in Ireland Survey 2001 and labour supply estimations.
We focus on an extension of the existing scheme, the Family Income
Supplement and its replacement by the refundable tax credit in force in
the United Kingdom.
EXPLORING THE DETERMINANTS OF EMPLOYMENT IN EUROPE: THE ROLE OF SERVICES
Roberta Serafini
European Central Bank
Melanie Ward
European Central Bank
Abstract. Over recent decades both Europe and the United States have experienced
an increase in the share of service-related jobs in total employment.
Although narrowing in all European countries, a significant gap in the
share of service jobs relative to the United States still persists. The aim of
the chapter is to identify the main drivers of the service sector
employment share in the EU-15 as well as its gap relative to the United
States. The analysis is carried out for the aggregate service sector, 4
sub-sectors and 12 service sector branches over the period 1970-2003.
We find some evidence to support the hypothesis that a number of
labour market regulations - such as union density and the degree of
centralisation of wage bargaining - together with the mismatch between
workers’ skills and job vacancies, have affected Europe’s ability to adjust
efficiently to the reallocation of labour from manufacturing into services.
Furthermore, we find significant heterogeneity in the relative weight of
the various determinants of the employment share across sub-sectors and
branches.
The series Research in Labor Economics began in 1977 by Ronald Ehrenberg and JAI Press. Solomon Polachek has been editor since 1995. Since 2006,
the series has benefited from affiliating with the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) and has extended to two volumes per year. The first volume
remains in the tradition of the series with empirical and theoretical papers in labor economics. The second volume, which is edited by the Institute
of the Study of Labor (IZA) is more policy-oriented, in the spirit of IZA's focus on policy aspects of labor economics. The series is published by
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Each volume in this book series consists of a collection of refereed research papers written by top economists in the field of labor economics.
Recent volumes have hosted papers by D. Acemoglu, J. D. Angrist, D. Card, H.Farber, A. Krueger, E. Lazear, G. Field, and J. Mincer, among others.
Editorial Objectives:
Research in Labor Economics presents important new research in labor economics related particularly to worker well-being covering themes such as work
and worker welfare, earnings distribution, skills, training, public policy, discrimination and migration.
Key Benefits:
Research in Labor Economics is one of the major references for all academics and researchers in labor economics and is important reading for government
policy makers and think-tanks.
Key Audiences:
Research in Labor Economics invites all academics and researchers in the field of labor economics to submit their work for consideration in the series.
An online submission form is now available. Submissions for special issues and symposia are also considered.
Coverage:
The series encourages full length articles in all aspects of labor economics. Coverage includes, but it is not restricted to: