Although it is well-established in the literature that unemployment is a labour market insertion problem in the Middle East and North Africa, the dynamics driving unemployment remain poorly understood. Using data from the Labor Market Panel Surveys in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, we offer insights into youth unemployment by studying flows into and out of unemployment. Female youth and Tunisian youth of both genders are particularly likely to experience long periods of unemployment. Educated youth from higher socioeconomic status backgrounds are more likely to experience unemployment, but there is not a strong relationship between background and unemployment duration.
{"title":"Labour market dynamics and youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa: Evidence from Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia","authors":"Ragui Assaad, Caroline Krafft","doi":"10.1111/labr.12257","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12257","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Although it is well-established in the literature that unemployment is a labour market insertion problem in the Middle East and North Africa, the dynamics driving unemployment remain poorly understood. Using data from the Labor Market Panel Surveys in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, we offer insights into youth unemployment by studying flows into and out of unemployment. Female youth and Tunisian youth of both genders are particularly likely to experience long periods of unemployment. Educated youth from higher socioeconomic status backgrounds are more likely to experience unemployment, but there is not a strong relationship between background and unemployment duration.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135780129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jingyuan Deng, Nelly Elmallakh, Luca Flabbi, Roberta Gatti
This article studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on men's labour supply in the West Bank and Gaza, both on the extensive (participation) and intensive (hours of work) margins. We find that the pandemic was associated with a decline in employment and labour supply in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, with large adjustments at the intensive margin. Afterwards, labour market indicators quickly bounced back to their pre-pandemic levels, but less so for the most vulnerable segments of the workforce, such as informal workers, workers in blue collar occupations, the least educated, and residents in refugee camps.
{"title":"Labour market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the West Bank and Gaza","authors":"Jingyuan Deng, Nelly Elmallakh, Luca Flabbi, Roberta Gatti","doi":"10.1111/labr.12258","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12258","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on men's labour supply in the West Bank and Gaza, both on the extensive (participation) and intensive (hours of work) margins. We find that the pandemic was associated with a decline in employment and labour supply in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, with large adjustments at the intensive margin. Afterwards, labour market indicators quickly bounced back to their pre-pandemic levels, but less so for the most vulnerable segments of the workforce, such as informal workers, workers in blue collar occupations, the least educated, and residents in refugee camps.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135729948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article uses Swiss firm-level panel data to show that complementarities among workers with different types of education affect firms' productivity. We consider workers with four different types of education: no post-secondary education, upper secondary vocational education and training (VET), tertiary professional education, and tertiary academic education. To account for possible endogeneity, we exploit within-firm variation and employ a structural estimation technique that uses intermediate inputs as a proxy for unobserved productivity shocks. Our results suggest that workers with an upper secondary VET education are complementary to workers with a tertiary academic education, while workers with no post-secondary education are complementary to workers with a tertiary professional education. Altogether, our findings highlight the importance of vertical and horizontal education diversity within firms.
{"title":"Complementarities among types of education in affecting firms' productivity","authors":"Thomas Bolli, Filippo Pusterla","doi":"10.1111/labr.12256","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12256","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article uses Swiss firm-level panel data to show that complementarities among workers with different types of education affect firms' productivity. We consider workers with four different types of education: no post-secondary education, upper secondary vocational education and training (VET), tertiary professional education, and tertiary academic education. To account for possible endogeneity, we exploit within-firm variation and employ a structural estimation technique that uses intermediate inputs as a proxy for unobserved productivity shocks. Our results suggest that workers with an upper secondary VET education are complementary to workers with a tertiary academic education, while workers with no post-secondary education are complementary to workers with a tertiary professional education. Altogether, our findings highlight the importance of vertical and horizontal education diversity within firms.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135352626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper provides a theoretical rationale for flexicurity policies, consisting of low employment protection, generous unemployment insurance and active labour market programmes. Education efforts give access to high productivity firms, more likely to survive and thus exposing less their workers to unemployment risk. Activation programmes support reallocation from risky and unproductive to safer and more productive firms, reducing unemployment. Low employment protection can provide incentives for self-insurance against unemployment risk through education, mitigating the moral hazard cost of unemployment insurance and activation programmes. The paper identifies conditions for flexicurity to be optimal and confronts theoretical predictions to the data.
{"title":"Flexicurity, education and optimal labour market policies","authors":"Thomas Davoine","doi":"10.1111/labr.12255","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12255","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The paper provides a theoretical rationale for flexicurity policies, consisting of low employment protection, generous unemployment insurance and active labour market programmes. Education efforts give access to high productivity firms, more likely to survive and thus exposing less their workers to unemployment risk. Activation programmes support reallocation from risky and unproductive to safer and more productive firms, reducing unemployment. Low employment protection can provide incentives for self-insurance against unemployment risk through education, mitigating the moral hazard cost of unemployment insurance and activation programmes. The paper identifies conditions for flexicurity to be optimal and confronts theoretical predictions to the data.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45103012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jacob Ladenburg, Mette Andersen Nexø, Bryan Cleal, Frederik Thuesen
People with diabetes experience increasing needs for accommodation as their workability diminishes due to their disease. Companies and society have economic incentives to ensure that people with diabetes keep their attachment to the labour market. In the present paper, we estimate the preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) among people with diabetes for going on part-time, receiving job accommodation relative to skills, having more breaks during working hours, and taking time off during working hours for medical visits/educational activities. Using a latent class model, we test and showcase how preferences and WTP vary over individual and job characteristics.
{"title":"Willingness to pay heterogeneity for accommodating job attributes among people with diabetes","authors":"Jacob Ladenburg, Mette Andersen Nexø, Bryan Cleal, Frederik Thuesen","doi":"10.1111/labr.12254","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12254","url":null,"abstract":"<p>People with diabetes experience increasing needs for accommodation as their workability diminishes due to their disease. Companies and society have economic incentives to ensure that people with diabetes keep their attachment to the labour market. In the present paper, we estimate the preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) among people with diabetes for going on part-time, receiving job accommodation relative to skills, having more breaks during working hours, and taking time off during working hours for medical visits/educational activities. Using a latent class model, we test and showcase how preferences and WTP vary over individual and job characteristics.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46567784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study examines joint retirement in Finland. Employing a regression discontinuity design, the study leverages the exogenous variation provided by the eligibility age for earnings-related pensions. The analysis yields three key findings. First, reaching the eligibility age has a significant effect on an individual's retirement. Second, male spouses' retirement at the age of 63 has a spillover effect on their female spouses. Third, disaggregated analyses show that older spouses in low-income households delay their retirement, older male (female) spouses with female (male) primary earners postpone their retirement, and younger female spouses with male primary earners expedite their retirement.
{"title":"Couples' joint retirement by household type: Evidence from Finland","authors":"Mika Haapanen, Jaakko Pehkonen, Ville Seppälä","doi":"10.1111/labr.12253","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12253","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study examines joint retirement in Finland. Employing a regression discontinuity design, the study leverages the exogenous variation provided by the eligibility age for earnings-related pensions. The analysis yields three key findings. First, reaching the eligibility age has a significant effect on an individual's retirement. Second, male spouses' retirement at the age of 63 has a spillover effect on their female spouses. Third, disaggregated analyses show that older spouses in low-income households delay their retirement, older male (female) spouses with female (male) primary earners postpone their retirement, and younger female spouses with male primary earners expedite their retirement.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/labr.12253","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45908156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study aims to estimate the causal impact of detrimental working conditions on the self-reported disabilities in France. Using a retrospective lifelong panel, we implement a mixed econometric strategy that relies on difference-in-differences and matching methods to take into account for selection biases as well as unobserved heterogeneity. Deleterious effects from exposure on disability are found, depending on the nature and magnitude of the strains. These results provide insights into the debate on legal retirement age postponement and justify policies being enacted early in individuals' careers, but also schemes that are more focused on psychosocial risk factors.
{"title":"Work strains and disabilities in French workers: A career-long retrospective study","authors":"Thomas Barnay, Éric Defebvre","doi":"10.1111/labr.12252","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12252","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study aims to estimate the causal impact of detrimental working conditions on the self-reported disabilities in France. Using a retrospective lifelong panel, we implement a mixed econometric strategy that relies on difference-in-differences and matching methods to take into account for selection biases as well as unobserved heterogeneity. Deleterious effects from exposure on disability are found, depending on the nature and magnitude of the strains. These results provide insights into the debate on legal retirement age postponement and justify policies being enacted early in individuals' careers, but also schemes that are more focused on psychosocial risk factors.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43436053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The routine task intensity of occupations is a concept frequently used to analyse the impact of technological change on employment. However, existing studies disagree on whether it can explain the observed job polarization in advanced economies. This article first shows that these seemingly contradictory results can be explained by the different routine task measurements used in these studies. Subsequently, the validity of these measurements is discussed. Preliminary results suggest that all measurements have conceptual weaknesses but that some appear more valid than others. Job polarization may therefore be explained by occupations' routine task intensity, but only to a limited extent.
{"title":"The link between routine tasks and job polarization: A task measurement problem?","authors":"Simon Walo","doi":"10.1111/labr.12251","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12251","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The routine task intensity of occupations is a concept frequently used to analyse the impact of technological change on employment. However, existing studies disagree on whether it can explain the observed job polarization in advanced economies. This article first shows that these seemingly contradictory results can be explained by the different routine task measurements used in these studies. Subsequently, the validity of these measurements is discussed. Preliminary results suggest that all measurements have conceptual weaknesses but that some appear more valid than others. Job polarization may therefore be explained by occupations' routine task intensity, but only to a limited extent.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/labr.12251","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49345405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper explores the long-term consequences of career arduousness and career instability for both physical and mental health in the European context. One of its strengths is to link what happens during the entire career and the health status at an older age. The paper finds a positive link between career arduousness (i.e. the sum of job demands individuals have been exposed to during their entire career) and late-life mental and physical ill health, but also evidence that career instability (i.e. career gaps, job insecurity, displacements, unemployment spells) could matter as much as arduousness per se. And this has implications for pension policy inter alia.
{"title":"Career arduousness and instability: Both matter for health beyond 50","authors":"Vincent Vandenberghe","doi":"10.1111/labr.12246","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12246","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper explores the long-term consequences of career arduousness and career instability for both physical and mental health in the European context. One of its strengths is to link what happens during the entire career and the health status at an older age. The paper finds a positive link between career arduousness (i.e. the sum of job demands individuals have been exposed to during their entire career) and late-life mental and physical ill health, but also evidence that career instability (i.e. career gaps, job insecurity, displacements, unemployment spells) could matter as much as arduousness per se. And this has implications for pension policy inter alia.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49119163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In 2017, a Finnish policy reform intensified the Public Employment Services' practice of periodically interviewing unemployed jobseekers. This study used high-quality administrative data to analyse the effect of interviews on unemployment duration. We used a difference-in-differences approach that exploited regional variations in treatment intensity. Our results show that a 10 percentage point increase in interview probability increased the monthly hazard rate of employment by 3.1 per cent, with the effect being strongest among jobseekers aged 25–34 and jobseekers with a low education level. Also, our results demonstrate a strong effect on participation in active labour market programmes.
{"title":"The impact of periodic interviews on unemployment duration: Evidence from the 2017 Finnish reform","authors":"Jussi Huuskonen","doi":"10.1111/labr.12245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/labr.12245","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In 2017, a Finnish policy reform intensified the Public Employment Services' practice of periodically interviewing unemployed jobseekers. This study used high-quality administrative data to analyse the effect of interviews on unemployment duration. We used a difference-in-differences approach that exploited regional variations in treatment intensity. Our results show that a 10 percentage point increase in interview probability increased the monthly hazard rate of employment by 3.1 per cent, with the effect being strongest among jobseekers aged 25–34 and jobseekers with a low education level. Also, our results demonstrate a strong effect on participation in active labour market programmes.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/labr.12245","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50150461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}