Pub Date : 2025-11-13DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102828
Jorge M. Agüero , Francisco B. Galarza Arellano , Gustavo Yamada
We study the signaling effect of a college scholarship in a labor market where disadvantaged groups face discrimination. Using a correspondence (audit) study, we find that including information about being a scholarship recipient on a resume increases the likelihood of receiving a job interview callback by 20 %. However, the effect is much smaller for resume profiles featuring characteristics that are less common among low-income individuals. This pattern is consistent with the scholarship also conveying a negative socioeconomic signal to employers, helping explain why actual beneficiaries rarely include it on their resumes.
{"title":"College scholarships, poverty, signaling and employment opportunities: Evidence from a field experiment","authors":"Jorge M. Agüero , Francisco B. Galarza Arellano , Gustavo Yamada","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102828","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102828","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We study the signaling effect of a college scholarship in a labor market where disadvantaged groups face discrimination. Using a correspondence (audit) study, we find that including information about being a scholarship recipient on a resume increases the likelihood of receiving a job interview callback by 20 %. However, the effect is much smaller for resume profiles featuring characteristics that are less common among low-income individuals. This pattern is consistent with the scholarship also conveying a negative socioeconomic signal to employers, helping explain why actual beneficiaries rarely include it on their resumes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102828"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145941378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-13DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102826
Alexander Hijzen , Mateo Montenegro , Ana Sofia Pessoa
This paper provides an assessment of the 2019 minimum-wage hike in Spain, which increased the minimum wage by 22 % and directly concerned 7 % of dependent employees. We make use of two complementary approaches, one that follows incumbent workers over time and hence does not take account of any possible effects on new hires, and one that tracks employment in wage bins over time and takes account of both separations and new hires. The results are as follows. First, the minimum wage hike significantly increased the wages of directly affected workers, with small positive wage spillovers on workers with initial wages just about the new minimum wage. Second, the increase in wages comes at the expense of a reduction in low-wage employment. While employment increases just above the minimum wage, it is not sufficient to offset the decline in employment below it. Third, the reduction in employment is mainly driven by a reduction in hires of workers on open-ended contracts and to a smaller extent job losses among workers on fixed-term contracts. This illustrates that limiting the study of minimum wage hikes to stayers can dampen the estimated impact on employment.
{"title":"Minimum wages in a dual labor market: Evidence from the 2019 minimum-wage hike in Spain","authors":"Alexander Hijzen , Mateo Montenegro , Ana Sofia Pessoa","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102826","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102826","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper provides an assessment of the 2019 minimum-wage hike in Spain, which increased the minimum wage by 22 % and directly concerned 7 % of dependent employees. We make use of two complementary approaches, one that follows incumbent workers over time and hence does not take account of any possible effects on new hires, and one that tracks employment in wage bins over time and takes account of both separations and new hires. The results are as follows. First, the minimum wage hike significantly increased the wages of directly affected workers, with small positive wage spillovers on workers with initial wages just about the new minimum wage. Second, the increase in wages comes at the expense of a reduction in low-wage employment. While employment increases just above the minimum wage, it is not sufficient to offset the decline in employment below it. Third, the reduction in employment is mainly driven by a reduction in hires of workers on open-ended contracts and to a smaller extent job losses among workers on fixed-term contracts. This illustrates that limiting the study of minimum wage hikes to stayers can dampen the estimated impact on employment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 102826"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145625306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-12DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102823
Francesca Carta , Francesco D’Amuri , Till von Wachter
Using Italian matched employer–employee data, this paper quantifies the effect of an exogenous increase in older workers, driven by an unexpected increase in the statutory retirement age, on the input mix and economic outcomes of medium and large firms. Data on lifetime pension contributions are used to calculate the unexpected additional number of older workers retained by each firm as a result of the pension reform. Instrumental variable estimates show that an increase in the number of older workers leads to a precisely estimated rise in the employment of younger workers, value added and total labor costs relative to less affected firms, holding average labor productivity and unit labor costs constant. The effect is stronger and mostly concentrated in larger firms and in firms where older workers are scarcer, suggesting the existence of firm-specific human capital that generates replacement frictions that the pension reform can alleviate.
{"title":"Older workers, pension reforms and firm outcomes","authors":"Francesca Carta , Francesco D’Amuri , Till von Wachter","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102823","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102823","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using Italian matched employer–employee data, this paper quantifies the effect of an exogenous increase in older workers, driven by an unexpected increase in the statutory retirement age, on the input mix and economic outcomes of medium and large firms. Data on lifetime pension contributions are used to calculate the unexpected additional number of older workers retained by each firm as a result of the pension reform. Instrumental variable estimates show that an increase in the number of older workers leads to a precisely estimated rise in the employment of younger workers, value added and total labor costs relative to less affected firms, holding average labor productivity and unit labor costs constant. The effect is stronger and mostly concentrated in larger firms and in firms where older workers are scarcer, suggesting the existence of firm-specific human capital that generates replacement frictions that the pension reform can alleviate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 102823"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-11DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102825
Chengyuan Hua , Brad R. Humphreys
We investigate the impact of a large negative labor market shock on short-run and long-run labor market outcomes of new entrants exposed to this shock. The shock, a labor dispute over a new collective bargaining agreement, resulted in the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season in the National Hockey League (NHL). We compare career outcomes of new entrants exposed to this shock, players who declared for the 2004 draft, to career outcomes of new entrants in the 2003 draft who were not exposed, generating estimates of the average impact of the treatment on the treated. Results show that new entrants exposed to the shock experienced shorter careers than new entrants in the control group. The results also show strong effect heterogeneity based on observable worker characteristics. New entrants born in Europe benefited from exposure to the shock compared to new entrants born in North America, who were less likely to ever play in the NHL and had shorter careers than treated Europeans. Alternative employment opportunities in European hockey leagues represents a likely mechanism for these results.
{"title":"The effects of negative labor market conditions at entry: Evidence from the 2004–05 NHL lockout","authors":"Chengyuan Hua , Brad R. Humphreys","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102825","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102825","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the impact of a large negative labor market shock on short-run and long-run labor market outcomes of new entrants exposed to this shock. The shock, a labor dispute over a new collective bargaining agreement, resulted in the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season in the National Hockey League (NHL). We compare career outcomes of new entrants exposed to this shock, players who declared for the 2004 draft, to career outcomes of new entrants in the 2003 draft who were not exposed, generating estimates of the average impact of the treatment on the treated. Results show that new entrants exposed to the shock experienced shorter careers than new entrants in the control group. The results also show strong effect heterogeneity based on observable worker characteristics. New entrants born in Europe benefited from exposure to the shock compared to new entrants born in North America, who were less likely to ever play in the NHL and had shorter careers than treated Europeans. Alternative employment opportunities in European hockey leagues represents a likely mechanism for these results.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102825"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145519855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The impact of immigration on native wages remains a contentious issue in labour economics. This meta-analysis synthesises evidence from 88 studies published between 1985 and 2023, offering a comprehensive assessment of reduced-form estimates. We document substantial heterogeneity across estimates and show that contexts and empirical designs systematically shape reported effects. In particular, shift-share instrumental-variable strategies correct the upward bias seen in OLS estimates. Our findings emphasise the necessity for replication and enhanced transparency in methodological reporting.
{"title":"Does immigration affect native wages? A meta-analysis","authors":"Amandine Aubry , Jérôme Héricourt , Léa Marchal , Clément Nedoncelle","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102815","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102815","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact of immigration on native wages remains a contentious issue in labour economics. This meta-analysis synthesises evidence from 88 studies published between 1985 and 2023, offering a comprehensive assessment of reduced-form estimates. We document substantial heterogeneity across estimates and show that contexts and empirical designs systematically shape reported effects. In particular, shift-share instrumental-variable strategies correct the upward bias seen in OLS estimates. Our findings emphasise the necessity for replication and enhanced transparency in methodological reporting.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 102815"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-07DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102816
Matteo Targa
This paper investigates whether employers share rents equally between white-collar and blue-collar workers. Using bias-corrected methods on administrative data from Italy’s Veneto region, I reject this null hypothesis. On average, white-collar workers receive premia that are 13%–15% higher than those of their blue-collar counterparts. This average disparity conceals substantial heterogeneity: half of the top 20% of firms for white-collar workers fall within the bottom 60% of the blue-collar distribution. High-type firms are, thus, not equally beneficial for all employees. Finally, the paper shows that firm premia differentiation has a long history: since the late 1980s, employers have steadily reduced the rents shared with blue-collar workers.
{"title":"Are ‘good’ firms, good for all employees?","authors":"Matteo Targa","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102816","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102816","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates whether employers share rents equally between white-collar and blue-collar workers. Using bias-corrected methods on administrative data from Italy’s Veneto region, I reject this null hypothesis. On average, white-collar workers receive premia that are 13%–15% higher than those of their blue-collar counterparts. This average disparity conceals substantial heterogeneity: half of the top 20% of firms for white-collar workers fall within the bottom 60% of the blue-collar distribution. High-type firms are, thus, not equally beneficial for all employees. Finally, the paper shows that firm premia differentiation has a long history: since the late 1980s, employers have steadily reduced the rents shared with blue-collar workers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102816"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145465496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-06DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102820
Agar Brugiavini , Marco Di Cataldo , Giulia Romani
The spatial concentration of knowledge-intensive activities can generate multiplicative effects at the local level. This paper examines how employment growth in knowledge-intensive and tradable sectors affects wage, days worked, and internal migration of non-tradable workers in Italy. We leverage matched employer-employee data (2005–2019) to track individuals across jobs and locations. Our empirical strategy combines a two-step estimation with a shift-share instrument to disentangle the roles of worker sorting and local spillovers. We find that knowledge sector expansion increases the number of days worked locally and attracts non-tradable workers. It also raises nominal wages, but only when sorting is not accounted for, suggesting selective inflows of more productive workers into knowledge hubs. However, rising local living costs offset nominal wage gains, leading to lower real wages.
{"title":"Knowledge economy, internal migration, and local labour markets","authors":"Agar Brugiavini , Marco Di Cataldo , Giulia Romani","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102820","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102820","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The spatial concentration of knowledge-intensive activities can generate multiplicative effects at the local level. This paper examines how employment growth in knowledge-intensive and tradable sectors affects wage, days worked, and internal migration of non-tradable workers in Italy. We leverage matched employer-employee data (2005–2019) to track individuals across jobs and locations. Our empirical strategy combines a two-step estimation with a shift-share instrument to disentangle the roles of worker sorting and local spillovers. We find that knowledge sector expansion increases the number of days worked locally and attracts non-tradable workers. It also raises nominal wages, but only when sorting is not accounted for, suggesting selective inflows of more productive workers into knowledge hubs. However, rising local living costs offset nominal wage gains, leading to lower real wages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102820"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145465495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-05DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102821
Fernanda Estevan , Thomas Gall , Louis-Philippe Morin
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds remain underrepresented in prestigious and high-paying fields of study, such as STEM. While affirmative action (AA) policies have been shown to increase the representation of minority students in selective universities, they may also affect students’ choice of majors, with potential implications for social mobility. We study a policy implemented by a highly selective Brazilian university that expanded the range of majors accessible to lower-SES applicants, using it as a natural experiment. The policy led targeted students to apply to and enroll in more prestigious, higher-paying STEM majors and attenuated the influence of socioeconomic background on major choices. Our findings suggest that in contexts where applicants select their majors before university entry and these choices are influenced by strategic considerations, AA policies can be particularly effective in promoting social mobility.
{"title":"On the road to social mobility? Affirmative action and major choice","authors":"Fernanda Estevan , Thomas Gall , Louis-Philippe Morin","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102821","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102821","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Students from disadvantaged backgrounds remain underrepresented in prestigious and high-paying fields of study, such as STEM. While affirmative action (AA) policies have been shown to increase the representation of minority students in selective universities, they may also affect students’ choice of majors, with potential implications for social mobility. We study a policy implemented by a highly selective Brazilian university that expanded the range of majors accessible to lower-SES applicants, using it as a natural experiment. The policy led targeted students to apply to and enroll in more prestigious, higher-paying STEM majors and attenuated the influence of socioeconomic background on major choices. Our findings suggest that in contexts where applicants select their majors before university entry and these choices are influenced by strategic considerations, AA policies can be particularly effective in promoting social mobility.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102821"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145519854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-03DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102814
Paul Schüle
Career decisions, that is educational and occupational choice, are not only taken by comparing expected incomes, but also by considering non-monetary rewards such as social impact, chances of promotion, or the compatibility of work and family. In this paper, I use rich panel data from Germany and the UK to demonstrate that preferences about such aspects of a career as stated at age 17 are strong predictors of future earnings in the labor market. At the same time, these preferences differ significantly by gender and socio-economic background, and intergenerational income persistence is reduced by 7 to 28 percent when accounting for career preferences.
{"title":"Career preferences and socio-economic background","authors":"Paul Schüle","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102814","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102814","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Career decisions, that is educational and occupational choice, are not only taken by comparing expected incomes, but also by considering non-monetary rewards such as social impact, chances of promotion, or the compatibility of work and family. In this paper, I use rich panel data from Germany and the UK to demonstrate that preferences about such aspects of a career as stated at age 17 are strong predictors of future earnings in the labor market. At the same time, these preferences differ significantly by gender and socio-economic background, and intergenerational income persistence is reduced by 7 to 28 percent when accounting for career preferences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 102814"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145600360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-02DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102817
Shira Buzaglo-Baris
This paper analyzes the gender wage gap across various margins in the labor market: between industries, between firms within industries, and within firms, with a particular focus on parenthood — an event that significantly shapes the gender wage gap. Using comprehensive Employer-Employee administrative data from Israel, the study finds that industry sorting is the primary driver, explaining 22% of the overall gender wage gap, with an additional 4% attributable to women sorting into lower-paying firms within the same industry. Sorting intensifies following parenthood, as mothers are less likely to move to higher-paying firms, especially within the industry. In high-paying industries, mothers tend to accept positions in lower-paying firms while maintaining their relative industry position, whereas in low-paying industries, fathers advance faster up the industry ladder, reinforcing a motherhood penalty at the industry-level. These findings suggest that women’s initial sorting into industries has long-lasting consequences.
{"title":"Firms, industries and the gender wage gap","authors":"Shira Buzaglo-Baris","doi":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102817","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102817","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper analyzes the gender wage gap across various margins in the labor market: between industries, between firms within industries, and within firms, with a particular focus on parenthood — an event that significantly shapes the gender wage gap. Using comprehensive Employer-Employee administrative data from Israel, the study finds that industry sorting is the primary driver, explaining 22% of the overall gender wage gap, with an additional 4% attributable to women sorting into lower-paying firms within the same industry. Sorting intensifies following parenthood, as mothers are less likely to move to higher-paying firms, especially within the industry. In high-paying industries, mothers tend to accept positions in lower-paying firms while maintaining their relative industry position, whereas in low-paying industries, fathers advance faster up the industry ladder, reinforcing a motherhood penalty at the industry-level. These findings suggest that women’s initial sorting into industries has long-lasting consequences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48153,"journal":{"name":"Labour Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 102817"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145465497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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