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Selected Works

Timothy J. Bartik

2015

Income distribution and low wage labor markets

Articles 1 - 21 of 21

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Examining The Effect Of Industry Trends And Structure On Welfare Caseloads, Timothy J. Bartik, Randall W. Eberts Jan 2015

Examining The Effect Of Industry Trends And Structure On Welfare Caseloads, Timothy J. Bartik, Randall W. Eberts

Timothy J. Bartik

Previous studies of the macro-economic determinants of welfare caseloads have had difficulty in explaining changes in welfare caseloads during the last decade or so using the simple macroeconomic measure of unemployment. Because welfare recipients will typically get entry-level jobs, employment variables that are closely related to job vacancies, such as employment growth, are also important in determining welfare caseloads, as we show empirically in this study. Recognizing that welfare recipients face more substantial barriers to employment than those who typically have more education and skills, we constructed several macro-economic variables that reflect the education requirements of industries and the predominance …


Living Wages And Local Governments, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Living Wages And Local Governments, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Will Welfare Reform Cause Displacement?, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Will Welfare Reform Cause Displacement?, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Performance Standards And Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Performance Standards And Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Subsidizing Increased Employment For The Urban Poor: What Labor Market Problems Might Justify It?, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Subsidizing Increased Employment For The Urban Poor: What Labor Market Problems Might Justify It?, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Estimated State And Local Fiscal Effects Of The Nurse Family Partnership Program, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Estimated State And Local Fiscal Effects Of The Nurse Family Partnership Program, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

This short paper estimates the state and local fiscal benefits of the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) program. NFP provides nurse home visiting services to low-income first-time mothers. In addition to social benefits, NFP provides state and local fiscal benefits by reducing costs of social services, welfare, and crime, and increasing tax receipts due to increased earnings of mothers and former child participants when they grow up. Based on previous studies, this paper estimates that the present value, in 2007 dollars, of these state and local fiscal benefits is a little over $15,000 per NFP case.


Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Long-Run Implications Of Employment At Different Wage Rates For The Disadvantaged, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Long-Run Implications Of Employment At Different Wage Rates For The Disadvantaged, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Using Performance Indicators To Improve The Effectiveness Of Welfare-To-Work Programs, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Using Performance Indicators To Improve The Effectiveness Of Welfare-To-Work Programs, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

This paper argues that it is feasible to develop good indicators of the performance of a particular welfare-to-work program, office, or contractor. Performance indicators can motivate local offices, contractors, and staff to be more effective in achieving the program's goals. Performance indicators can provide information on what program strategies lead to the greatest long-run success. To be most useful, performance indicators must be simple and timely and control for factors other than the program's effectiveness that influence whether welfare recipients "succeed."


Adding Labor Demand Incentives To Encourage Employment For The Disadvantaged, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Adding Labor Demand Incentives To Encourage Employment For The Disadvantaged, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Economic Development And Black Economic Success, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Economic Development And Black Economic Success, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Short-Term Employment Persistence For Welfare Recipients: The "Effects" Of Wages, Industry, Occupation And Firm Size, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Short-Term Employment Persistence For Welfare Recipients: The "Effects" Of Wages, Industry, Occupation And Firm Size, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

Using data from 13 years (1983-95) of the March Current Population Survey, this study examines how the types of jobs held by welfare mothers during the preceding year affects their employment and earnings at the time of the March interview. The estimates suggest that the wages of last year's job affect current employment and earnings, but the effects of wages are more modest than might be expected. The industry and occupation of last year's job make a great deal of difference, with industry being more important than occupation. The industries with the most positive effects on current employment are hospitals …


Question - What Can Be Done To Promote Inner City Development?: Answer - Focus On Labor Demand Policies To Increase Employment Of The Poor, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Question - What Can Be Done To Promote Inner City Development?: Answer - Focus On Labor Demand Policies To Increase Employment Of The Poor, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


The Labor Supply Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

The Labor Supply Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

Will welfare reform increase unemployment and reduce wages? The answer depends in part on how much welfare reform increases labor supply. This paper considers the labor supply effects of the welfare reforms that have occurred since 1993, when President Clinton entered office with a promise to "end welfare as we know it." The paper reviews previous estimates, and provides new estimates, of how many additional labor force participants have entered the labor force due to welfare reform. I estimate that welfare reform from 1993-96 increased the U.S. labor force by between 100,000 and 300,000 persons. Between 1996, when the major …


Solving The Many Problems With Inner City Jobs, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Solving The Many Problems With Inner City Jobs, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

Inner-city business development is often proposed as a solution to inner-city poverty. However, research evidence suggests that creating new jobs in the inner city is unlikely by itself to significantly increase the employment or earnings of the inner city poor. Public subsidies for inner city business development may be justified by greater environmental, congestion, and fiscal benefits of inner city vs. suburban business location decisions. The research evidence suggests that some boost in inner city business development may be provided by a combination of economic development incentives with enhanced public services. A different set of policies must be used to …


Jobs For Welfare Recipients, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Jobs For Welfare Recipients, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Fighting Poverty With Labor Demand Policies, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Fighting Poverty With Labor Demand Policies, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.


Aggregate Effects In Local Labor Markets Of Supply And Demand Shocks, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Aggregate Effects In Local Labor Markets Of Supply And Demand Shocks, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

Anti-poverty policy in the U.S. has emphasized labor supply policies, such as welfare reform or job training. Anti-poverty policy in the U.S. has not emphasized policies to increase labor demand for the poor, such as public employment or subsidizing private employers to hire the poor. What are the aggregate effects of such policies on wages and unemployment of different groups? This paper estimates and simulates a model with several types of labor, using data from the Current Population Survey on state labor markets. The simulations suggest that forcing more disadvantaged persons into the labor market can displace many other persons …


Instrumental Variable Estimates Of The Labor Market Spillover Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Instrumental Variable Estimates Of The Labor Market Spillover Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

By increasing the labor supply of welfare recipients, welfare reform may reduce wages and increase unemployment among other less-educated groups. These "spillover effects" are difficult to estimate because welfare caseloads decrease in response to improvements in the economy, which leads caseload reductions to be associated with improvements in labor market outcomes. This paper corrects for the endogeneity of caseloads by using instruments that reflect policy. The estimates suggest that welfare reform has significant spillover effects: welfare reform reduces employment of male high school dropouts, and reduces wages of single mothers and male high school dropouts.


The Effects Of Local Labor Demand On Individual Labor Market Outcomes For Different Demographic Groups And The Poor, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

The Effects Of Local Labor Demand On Individual Labor Market Outcomes For Different Demographic Groups And The Poor, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

The contribution of this paper is to use panel data on individuals (specifically, data from the Panel Survey on Income Dynamics) to examine how local demand conditions affect the economic well-being of disadvantaged groups and the poor. Previous research on local labor demand conditions uses data from a single cross-section of local economies, or a time-series of cross-sections of regions. With such data, estimated effects of local labor demand conditions on average labor market outcomes might be attributable to changes in local population composition, as we would expect local demand conditions to change in- and out-migration patterns. Because panel data …


Thinking About Local Living Wage Requirements, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Thinking About Local Living Wage Requirements, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

This paper reviews what we currently know about the benefits and costs of different varieties of a "living wage": a local government requirement, now adopted by over 50 local governments, for wages above the federal minimum imposed on employers with some financial link to the local government. The review includes economic theory, empirical research on local labor markets, and empirical research on the living wage. The paper concludes that moderate living wage requirements applied to the local government's own employees, and contractors' and grantees' employees who are funded by the local government, may do more good than harm. Excessive living …


Employment As A "Solution" To Welfare: Challenges Over The Next Ten Years, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2015

Employment As A "Solution" To Welfare: Challenges Over The Next Ten Years, Timothy J. Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.