Minimum wage policies are widely implemented in developing countries, but their consequences remain uncertain. This study empirically investigates the impact of the minimum wage on monthly income inequality and its spillover effects in Turkey between 2004 and 2022, utilizing comprehensive micro data. We aim to shed light on the impact of national minimum wage policies by examining their diverse influences on the wage structure within the country. Our findings reveal that the minimum wage significantly reduces income disparities, particularly among formal workers at the lower and upper end of the wage distribution. While wage gaps below the median wage decline, those above it experience a slower growth rate, ultimately leading to wage convergence. Notably, this effect is more pronounced during macroeconomic instability from 2016 to 2022, compared with the relatively stable period of 2004–15. Moreover, the outcomes differ depending on individual attributes like gender, age, education, and other relevant factors. Furthermore, we observe tentative evidence of a lighthouse effect to some degree: the minimum wage seems to exert an equalizing influence on the wage structure of workers in the informal sector beyond a certain percentile.
{"title":"Minimum wage and spillover effects in a minimum wage society","authors":"Sinem Sefil-Tansever, Ensar Yılmaz","doi":"10.1111/labr.12259","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/labr.12259","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Minimum wage policies are widely implemented in developing countries, but their consequences remain uncertain. This study empirically investigates the impact of the minimum wage on monthly income inequality and its spillover effects in Turkey between 2004 and 2022, utilizing comprehensive micro data. We aim to shed light on the impact of national minimum wage policies by examining their diverse influences on the wage structure within the country. Our findings reveal that the minimum wage significantly reduces income disparities, particularly among formal workers at the lower and upper end of the wage distribution. While wage gaps below the median wage decline, those above it experience a slower growth rate, ultimately leading to wage convergence. Notably, this effect is more pronounced during macroeconomic instability from 2016 to 2022, compared with the relatively stable period of 2004–15. Moreover, the outcomes differ depending on individual attributes like gender, age, education, and other relevant factors. Furthermore, we observe tentative evidence of a lighthouse effect to some degree: the minimum wage seems to exert an equalizing influence on the wage structure of workers in the informal sector beyond a certain percentile.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":"38 1","pages":"150-176"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139745071","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}
Using long-term Finnish register data on labor market outcomes, we examine how personality traits predict the sorting of individuals into public and private sector employment. Our findings suggest that personality-based sectoral sorting primarily occurs during the selection of educational fields. Once education and occupation are controlled for, public sector employment is negatively related to self-confidence among males and extraversion among females. We also find that pecuniary incentives and shifts between the sectors may partly explain these relationships. Overall, our empirical results, combined with values that we use as theoretical mechanisms, suggest that values may serve as mediators explaining our results.
{"title":"Personality and public sector employment in Finland","authors":"Terhi Maczulskij, Jutta Viinikainen","doi":"10.1111/labr.12260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/labr.12260","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Using long-term Finnish register data on labor market outcomes, we examine how personality traits predict the sorting of individuals into public and private sector employment. Our findings suggest that personality-based sectoral sorting primarily occurs during the selection of educational fields. Once education and occupation are controlled for, public sector employment is negatively related to self-confidence among males and extraversion among females. We also find that pecuniary incentives and shifts between the sectors may partly explain these relationships. Overall, our empirical results, combined with values that we use as theoretical mechanisms, suggest that values may serve as mediators explaining our results.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":"38 1","pages":"122-149"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139745070","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":"37 3","pages":"409-436"},"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":"37 3","pages":"385-408"},"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":"37 3","pages":"437-467"},"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":"37 3","pages":"343-384"},"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":"37 3","pages":"468-490"},"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}
This article examines the impact of a firm's position in Global Value Chains (GVCs) on wages according to workers' origin. Based on a unique linked employer–employee dataset regarding the Belgian manufacturing industry covering the 2002–2010 timespan, our estimates show that firms that are more upstream in the value chain pay on average significantly higher wages. However, the wage premium associated with upstreamness is also found to be unequally shared among workers. Unconditional quantile regressions and decomposition methods suggest that high-wage workers born in developed countries benefit the most from being employed higher up the value chain, while workers born in developing countries appear to be unfairly rewarded.
{"title":"Wage differences according to workers' origin: The role of working more upstream in GVCs","authors":"Valentine Fays, Benoît Mahy, François Rycx","doi":"10.1111/labr.12244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/labr.12244","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article examines the impact of a firm's position in Global Value Chains (GVCs) on wages according to workers' origin. Based on a unique linked employer–employee dataset regarding the Belgian manufacturing industry covering the 2002–2010 timespan, our estimates show that firms that are more upstream in the value chain pay on average significantly higher wages. However, the wage premium associated with upstreamness is also found to be unequally shared among workers. Unconditional quantile regressions and decomposition methods suggest that high-wage workers born in developed countries benefit the most from being employed higher up the value chain, while workers born in developing countries appear to be unfairly rewarded.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":"37 2","pages":"319-342"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50133651","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 massive shift towards teleworking during the COVID pandemic relatively deteriorated working conditions of people occupying positions that could not be teleworked because they were more exposed to the risk of infection. Exploiting French data, we analyse the differential changes in sorting across occupations of immigrants and natives during years preceding the pandemic. Immigrants sorted relatively more into occupations intensive in non-routine manual tasks. These occupations cannot be teleworked. We find an increase in immigrants' sorting into occupations intensive in non-routine interactive and analytical tasks. However, in contrast with natives, immigrants were moving away from occupations intensively using new technologies.
{"title":"The birthplace bias of teleworking: Consequences for working conditions","authors":"Eva Moreno Galbis, Felipe Trillos Carranza","doi":"10.1111/labr.12243","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12243","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The massive shift towards teleworking during the COVID pandemic relatively deteriorated working conditions of people occupying positions that could not be teleworked because they were more exposed to the risk of infection. Exploiting French data, we analyse the differential changes in sorting across occupations of immigrants and natives during years preceding the pandemic. Immigrants sorted relatively more into occupations intensive in non-routine manual tasks. These occupations cannot be teleworked. We find an increase in immigrants' sorting into occupations intensive in non-routine interactive and analytical tasks. However, in contrast with natives, immigrants were moving away from occupations intensively using new technologies.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":"37 2","pages":"280-318"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49030817","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}
Exploiting the exogenous introduction of the Non-regular Worker Protection Act on non-regular workers, this paper examines the impact of this law's enactment on workers' job satisfaction. Using the Korea Labor and Income Panel Study, we apply a difference-in-differences method combined with propensity score matching to confirm the common trends assumption and construct a comparable control group. We investigate workers' job satisfaction in terms of the following categories: satisfaction with wages, satisfaction with job stability, satisfaction with working conditions, and overall satisfaction. Our results indicate positive effects of the Non-regular Worker Protection Act on job satisfaction for all workers affected by the law, including those who converted from non-regular employment to regular employment.
{"title":"Impact of Korea's Non-regular Worker Protection Act on job satisfaction","authors":"Koangsung Choi, Chung Choe, Yoo Bin Kim","doi":"10.1111/labr.12242","DOIUrl":"10.1111/labr.12242","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Exploiting the exogenous introduction of the Non-regular Worker Protection Act on non-regular workers, this paper examines the impact of this law's enactment on workers' job satisfaction. Using the Korea Labor and Income Panel Study, we apply a difference-in-differences method combined with propensity score matching to confirm the common trends assumption and construct a comparable control group. We investigate workers' job satisfaction in terms of the following categories: satisfaction with wages, satisfaction with job stability, satisfaction with working conditions, and overall satisfaction. Our results indicate positive effects of the Non-regular Worker Protection Act on job satisfaction for all workers affected by the law, including those who converted from non-regular employment to regular employment.</p>","PeriodicalId":45843,"journal":{"name":"Labour-England","volume":"37 2","pages":"222-241"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49551134","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}