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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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- LABOR MARKET ISSUES (13)
- Wages, health insurance and other benefits (10)
- UNEMPLOYMENT, DISABILITY, and INCOME SUPPORT PROGRAMS (9)
- Earnings (7)
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- Poverty and income support (6)
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- Health insurance (4)
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- Regional policy and planning (3)
- Safety net (3)
- Temporary employment (3)
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- Unemployment compensation (3)
- Administrative data (2)
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- Inequality (2)
Articles 1 - 25 of 25
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Production And Stock Of College Graduates For U.S. States, John V. Winters
The Production And Stock Of College Graduates For U.S. States, John V. Winters
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
The stock of human capital in an area is important for regional economic growth and development. However, highly educated workers are often quite mobile, and there is a concern that public investments in college graduates may not benefit the state if the college graduates leave the state after finishing their education. This paper examines the relationship between the production of college graduates from a state and the stock of college graduates residing in the state using microdata from the decennial census and American Community Survey. The relationship is examined across states and across cohorts within states. The descriptive analysis suggests …
The Pros And Cons Of Sick Pay Schemes: Testing For Contagious Presenteeism And Shirking Behavior, Stefan Pichler, Nicolas R. Ziebarth
The Pros And Cons Of Sick Pay Schemes: Testing For Contagious Presenteeism And Shirking Behavior, Stefan Pichler, Nicolas R. Ziebarth
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper proposes a test for the existence and degree of contagious presenteeism and negative externalities in sickness insurance schemes. First, we theoretically decompose moral hazard into shirking and contagious presenteeism behavior and derive testable conditions. Then, we implement the test exploiting German sick pay reforms and administrative industry-level data on certified sick leave by diagnoses. The labor supply adjustment for contagious diseases is significantly smaller than for noncontagious diseases. Lastly, using Google Flu data and the staggered implementation of U.S. sick leave reforms, we show that flu rates decrease after employees gain access to paid sick leave.
Migration And Housing Price Effects Of Place-Based College Scholarships, Timothy J. Bartik, Nathan Sotherland
Migration And Housing Price Effects Of Place-Based College Scholarships, Timothy J. Bartik, Nathan Sotherland
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Place-based college scholarships, such as the Kalamazoo Promise, provide students who live in a particular place, and/or who attend a particular school district, with generous college scholarships. An important potential benefit from such “Promise programs” is their short-term effects on local economic development. Generous Promise scholarships provide an incentive for families to locate in a particular place, which may change migration patterns, and potentially boost local employment and housing prices. Using data from the American Community Survey, this paper estimates the average effects of eight relatively generous Promise programs on migration rates and housing prices in their local labor market. …
Testing The Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek Theory With A Natural Experiment, Assaf Zimring
Testing The Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek Theory With A Natural Experiment, Assaf Zimring
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper uses the historical episode of the near-elimination of commuting from the West Bank into Israel, which caused a large and rapid expansion of the local labor force in the West Bank, to test the predictions of the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek (HOV) mode of trade. I use variation between districts in the West Bank to test these predictions, and find strong support for them: Wage changes were not correlated with the size of the shock to the district labor force (Factor Price Insensitivity); Districts that received larger influx of returning commuters shifted production more towards labor intensive industries (Rybczynski effect); And …
Optimal Social Assistance And Unemployment Insurance In A Life-Cycle Model Of Family Labor Supply And Savings, Peter Haan, Victoria Prowse
Optimal Social Assistance And Unemployment Insurance In A Life-Cycle Model Of Family Labor Supply And Savings, Peter Haan, Victoria Prowse
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
We analyze empirically the optimal design of social insurance and assistance programs when families obtain insurance by making labor supply choices for both spouses. For this purpose, we specify a structural life-cycle model of the labor supply and savings decisions of singles and married couples. Partial insurance against wage and employment shocks is provided by social programs, savings, and the labor supplies of all adult household members. The optimal policy mix focuses mainly on Social Assistance, which provides a permanent universal household income floor, with a minor role for temporary earnings-related Unemployment Insurance. Reflecting that married couples obtain intra-household insurance …
Using Linked Survey And Administrative Data To Better Measure Income: Implications For Poverty, Program Effectiveness And Holes In The Safety Net, Bruce D. Meyer, Nikolas Mittag
Using Linked Survey And Administrative Data To Better Measure Income: Implications For Poverty, Program Effectiveness And Holes In The Safety Net, Bruce D. Meyer, Nikolas Mittag
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
We examine the consequences of underreporting of transfer programs in household survey data for several prototypical analyses of low-income populations. We focus on the Current Population Survey (CPS), the source of official poverty and inequality statistics, but provide evidence that our qualitative conclusions are likely to apply to other surveys. We link administrative data for food stamps, TANF, General Assistance, and subsidized housing from New York State to the CPS at the individual level. Program receipt in the CPS is missed for over one-third of housing assistance recipients, 40 percent of food stamp recipients, and 60 percent of TANF and …
Jobless Capital? The Role Of Capital Subsidies, Carlianne E. Patrick
Jobless Capital? The Role Of Capital Subsidies, Carlianne E. Patrick
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Using tax abatements, financial incentives, and public investments to attract (or retain) firms is the primary economic development tool for many local governments. Often local job creation policies focus on increasing capital through grants, low-interest financing, and other economic development incentives. Theory predicts that capital subsidies induce firm behaviors that limit their job creation effects. This paper employs the Incentives Environment Index, constructed from state constitutional provisions that limit and structure the ability of state and local governmental entities to aid private enterprises, and five-year county panels to test theoretical predictions on county capital expenditure and input mixes as well …
The Effect Of Income On Subjective Well-Being: Evidence From The 2008 Economic Stimulus Tax Rebates, Marta Lachowska
The Effect Of Income On Subjective Well-Being: Evidence From The 2008 Economic Stimulus Tax Rebates, Marta Lachowska
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper uses tax rebate payments from the 2008 economic stimulus to estimate the effect of a one-time change in income on three measures of subjective well-being: life satisfaction, health satisfaction, and affect. The income effect is identified by exploiting the plausibly exogenous variation in the payment schedule of the rebates. Using both ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares estimators, I find that the rebates had a large and positive impact on affect, which is explained by a reduction in feelings of stress and worry. For life satisfaction and health satisfaction, there is weaker evidence of a positive impact. …
Should Ui Eligibility Be Expanded To Low-Earning Workers? Evidence On Employment, Transfer Receipt, And Income From Administrative Data, Pauline Leung, Christopher J. O'Leary
Should Ui Eligibility Be Expanded To Low-Earning Workers? Evidence On Employment, Transfer Receipt, And Income From Administrative Data, Pauline Leung, Christopher J. O'Leary
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Recent efforts to expand unemployment insurance (UI) eligibility are expected to increase low-earning workers’ access to UI. Although the expansion’s aim is to smooth the income and consumption of previously ineligible workers, it is possible that UI benefits simply displace other sources of income. Standard economic models predict that UI delays reemployment, thereby reducing wage income. Additionally, low-earning workers are often eligible for benefits from means-tested programs, which may decrease with UI benefits. In this paper, we estimate the impact of UI eligibility on employment, means-tested program participation, and income after job loss using a unique individual-level administrative data set …
Use Of Unemployment Insurance And Public Employment Services After Leaving Welfare, Christopher J. O'Leary
Use Of Unemployment Insurance And Public Employment Services After Leaving Welfare, Christopher J. O'Leary
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
In this paper I examine the rates at which adults in households recently receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) become jobless, apply for and receive unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, and participate in publicly funded employment services. I also investigate the correlation of UI and employment services receipt with maintenance of self-sufficiency through return to work and independence from TANF. The analysis is based on person-level administrative program records from four of the nine largest states between 1997 and 2003. Evidence suggests that three-quarters of new TANF leavers experience joblessness within three years, and one-quarter of the newly jobless apply …
The Rise Of Domestic Outsourcing And The Evolution Of The German Wage Structure, Deborah Goldschmidt, Johannes Schmieder
The Rise Of Domestic Outsourcing And The Evolution Of The German Wage Structure, Deborah Goldschmidt, Johannes Schmieder
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
The nature of the relationship between employers and employees has been changing over the last three decades, with firms increasingly relying on contractors, temp agencies, and franchises rather than hiring employees directly. We investigate the impact of this transformation on the wage structure by following jobs that are moved outside of the boundary of lead employers to contracting firms. For this end we develop a new method for identifying outsourcing of food, cleaning, security, and logistics services in administrative data using the universe of social security records in Germany. We document a dramatic growth of domestic outsourcing in Germany since …
Eligibility Recertification And Dynamic Opt-In Incentives In Income-Tested Social Programs: Evidence From Medicaid/Chip, Zhuan Pei
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Conventional labor supply studies assume constant eligibility monitoring of income-tested program participants, but this is not true for most programs. For example, states can allow children to enroll in Medicaid/CHIP for 12 months regardless of family income changes. A long recertification period reduces monitoring costs but is predicted to induce program participation by temporary income adjustments. However, I find little evidence of strategic behavior from the 2001 and 2004 Survey of Income and Program Participation. Given the lack of dynamic responses, I propose a framework to compute the optimal recertification period and find 12 months to be its lower bound.
The Effect Of Health Insurance On Workers' Compensation Filing: Evidence From The Affordable Care Act's Age-Based Threshold For Dependent Coverage, Marcus O. Dillender
The Effect Of Health Insurance On Workers' Compensation Filing: Evidence From The Affordable Care Act's Age-Based Threshold For Dependent Coverage, Marcus O. Dillender
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper identifies the effect of health insurance on workers' compensation (WC) filing for young adults by implementing a regression discontinuity design using WC medical claims data from Texas. The results suggest health insurance factors into the decision to have WC pay for discretionary care. The implied instrumental variables estimates suggest a 10 percentage point decrease in health insurance coverage increases WC bills by 15.3 percent. Despite the large impact of health insurance on the number of WC bills, the additional cost to WC at age 26 appears to be small as most of the increase comes from small bills.
The Effect Of The Earned Income Tax Credit In The District Of Columbia On Poverty And Income Dynamics, Bradley L. Hardy, Daniel Muhammad, Rhucha Samudra
The Effect Of The Earned Income Tax Credit In The District Of Columbia On Poverty And Income Dynamics, Bradley L. Hardy, Daniel Muhammad, Rhucha Samudra
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Using unique longitudinal administrative tax panel data for the District of Columbia (DC), we assess the combined effect of the DC supplemental earned income tax credit (EITC) and the federal EITC on poverty and income dynamics within Washington, DC, from 2001 to 2011. The EITC in DC merits investigation, as the DC supplement to the federal credit is the largest in the nation. The supplemental DC EITC was enacted in 2000, and has been expanded from 10 percent of the federal credit in 2001 to 40 percent as of 2009. To implement the study, we estimate least squares models with …
Temporary Help Employment In Recession And Recovery, Susan N. Houseman, Carolyn J. Heinrich
Temporary Help Employment In Recession And Recovery, Susan N. Houseman, Carolyn J. Heinrich
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
The temporary help industry, although small, plays a significant role in the macro economy, reflecting employers’ growing reliance on temporary help agencies to provide flexibility in meeting staffing needs. Drawing on detailed temporary-help order data between 2007 and 2011 from a large, nationally representative staffing company, we provide insights into the characteristics of temporary help work, employers’ use of temporary agencies to screen workers for permanent positions, and the industry’s role in labor market adjustment over the business cycle. We estimate that the temporary help industry accounted for a large share of gross job losses and job gains over this …
The Potential Effects Of Federal Health Insurance Reforms On Employment Arrangements And Compensation, Marcus O. Dillender, Carolyn J. Heinrich, Susan N. Houseman
The Potential Effects Of Federal Health Insurance Reforms On Employment Arrangements And Compensation, Marcus O. Dillender, Carolyn J. Heinrich, Susan N. Houseman
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) presents an opportunity to significantly improve compensation for American workers. A potential concern, though, is that employers will circumvent the employer mandate by increasing their use of workers in staffing arrangements that are not covered by the mandate: workers averaging less than 30 hours per week, working on a temporary basis, or working in organizations with fewer than 50 full-time employees. In this paper, we shed light on the likely effects that the ACA will have on employment arrangements. We first examine how part-time employment in Massachusetts changed after its health insurance reform, which is …
Military Retention Incentives: Evidence From The Air Force Selective Reenlistment Bonus, Justin Joffrion, Nathan Wozny
Military Retention Incentives: Evidence From The Air Force Selective Reenlistment Bonus, Justin Joffrion, Nathan Wozny
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
The limited lateral entry and rigid pay structure for U.S. military personnel present challenges in retaining skilled individuals who have attractive options in the civilian labor market. One tool the services use to address this challenge is the Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB), which offers eligible personnel with particular skills a substantial cash bonus upon reenlistment. However, the sequential nature of the bonus offer and reenlistment process limits the ability to adjust manpower quickly, raising interest in research that estimates the effect of the SRB on retention. While this literature has acknowledged challenges including potential endogeneity of bonus levels, attrition, and …
Who Benefits From A Minimum Wage Increase?, John W. Lopresti, Kevin J. Mumford
Who Benefits From A Minimum Wage Increase?, John W. Lopresti, Kevin J. Mumford
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper addresses the question of how a minimum wage increase affects the wages of low-wage workers. Most studies assume that there is a simple mechanical increase in the wage for workers earning a wage between the old and the new minimum wage, with some studies allowing for spillovers to workers with wages just above this range. Rather than assume that the wages of these workers would have remained constant, this paper estimates how a minimum wage increase impacts a low-wage worker’s wage relative to the wage the worker would have if there had been no minimum wage increase. The …
Estimating Hispanic-White Wage Gaps Among Women: The Importance Of Controlling For Cost Of Living, Peter Mchenry, Melissa Mcinerney
Estimating Hispanic-White Wage Gaps Among Women: The Importance Of Controlling For Cost Of Living, Peter Mchenry, Melissa Mcinerney
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Despite concern regarding labor market discrimination against Hispanics, previously published estimates show that Hispanic women earn higher hourly wages than white women with similar observable characteristics. This estimated wage premium is likely biased upwards because of the omission of an important control variable: cost of living. We show that Hispanic women live in locations (e.g., cities) with higher costs of living than whites. After we account for cost of living, the estimated Hispanic-white wage differential for non-immigrant women falls by approximately two-thirds. As a result, we find no statistically significant difference in wages between Hispanic and white women in the …
Inference On Causal Effects In A Generalized Regression Kink Design, David Card, David S. Lee, Zhuan Pei, Andrea Weber
Inference On Causal Effects In A Generalized Regression Kink Design, David Card, David S. Lee, Zhuan Pei, Andrea Weber
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
We consider nonparametric identification and estimation in a nonseparable model where a continuous regressor of interest is a known, deterministic, but kinked function of an observed assignment variable. This design arises in many institutional settings where a policy variable (such as weekly unemployment benefits) is determined by an observed but potentially endogenous assignment variable (like previous earnings). We provide new results on identification and estimation for these settings, and apply our results to obtain estimates of the elasticity of joblessness with respect to UI benefit rates. We characterize a broad class of models in which a sharp “Regression Kink Design” …
The Impact Of Affirmative Action On The Employment Of Minorities And Women Over Three Decades: 1973-2003, Fidan Ana Kurtulus
The Impact Of Affirmative Action On The Employment Of Minorities And Women Over Three Decades: 1973-2003, Fidan Ana Kurtulus
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
What role has affirmative action played in the growth of minority and female employment in U.S. firms? This paper analyzes this issue by comparing the employment of minorities and women at firms holding federal contracts and therefore mandated to implement affirmative action, and at noncontracting firms, over the course of three decades spanning 1973–2003. It constitutes the first study to comprehensively document the long-term impact of affirmative action in federal contracting on the U.S. employment landscape. The study uses a new panel data set of over 100,000 large private-sector firms across all industries and regions, obtained from the U.S. Equal …
Mothers' Long-Term Employment Patterns, Alexandra Killewald, Xiaolin Zhuo
Mothers' Long-Term Employment Patterns, Alexandra Killewald, Xiaolin Zhuo
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Previous research on maternal employment has disproportionately focused on married, college-educated mothers and examined either current employment status or postpartum return to employment. Following the life course perspective, we instead conceptualize maternal careers as long-term life course patterns. Using data from the NLSY79 and optimal matching, we document four common employment patterns of American mothers over the first 18 years of maternity. About two-thirds follow steady patterns, either full-time employment (38 percent) or steady nonemployment (24 percent). The rest experience “mixed” patterns: long-term part-time employment (20 percent), or a multiyear period of nonemployment following maternity, then a return to employment …
Trade Reform And Regional Dynamics: Evidence From 25 Years Of Brazilian Matched Employer-Employee Data, Rafael Dix-Carneiro, Brian K. Kovak
Trade Reform And Regional Dynamics: Evidence From 25 Years Of Brazilian Matched Employer-Employee Data, Rafael Dix-Carneiro, Brian K. Kovak
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
We empirically study the dynamics of labor market adjustment following the Brazilian trade reform of the 1990s. We use variation in industry-specific tariff cuts interacted with initial regional industry mix to measure trade-induced local labor demand shocks, and then examine regional and individual labor market responses to those one-time shocks over two decades. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we do not find that the impact of local shocks is dissipated over time through wage-equalizing migration. Instead, we find steadily growing effects of local shocks on regional formal sector wages and employment for 20 years. This finding can be rationalized in a …
The Effect Of Medicare Eligibility On Spousal Insurance Coverage, Marcus O. Dillender, Karen Mulligan
The Effect Of Medicare Eligibility On Spousal Insurance Coverage, Marcus O. Dillender, Karen Mulligan
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
A majority of married couples in the United States take advantage of the fact that employers often provide health insurance coverage to spouses. When the older spouses become eligible for Medicare, however, many of them can no longer provide their younger spouses with coverage. In this paper, we study how spousal eligibility for Medicare affects the health insurance and health care access of the younger spouse. We find spousal eligibility for Medicare results in the younger spouse having worse insurance coverage and reduced access to health care services.
Effects Of The Minimum Wage On Employment Dynamics, Jonathan Meer, Jeremy West
Effects Of The Minimum Wage On Employment Dynamics, Jonathan Meer, Jeremy West
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
The voluminous literature on minimum wages offers little consensus on the extent to which a wage floor impacts employment. We argue that the minimum wage will impact employment over time, through changes in growth rather than an immediate drop in relative employment levels. We conduct simulations showing that commonly-used specifications in this literature, especially those that include state-specific time trends, will not accurately capture these effects. Using three separate state panels of administrative employment data, we find that the minimum wage reduces job growth over a period of several years. These effects are most pronounced for younger workers and in …