Labor Economics Commons^™

The Great Resignation Among Restaurant Workers: A Content Analysis Of News Sources’ Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage, Mackenzie M. Williams

The Cardinal Edge

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

Grease Or Grit?: International Case Studies Of Occupational Licensing And Its Effects On Efficiency And Quality, Morris M. Kleiner Editor, Maria Koumenta Editor

Upjohn Press

The book provides a comprehensive approach to whether a dominant governmental institution in the labor market-occupational licensing-greases, which enhances, or on the other hand results in grit, which diminishes the efficient workings of labor and service markets in parts of Europe and the United States. The detailed case studies in the book indicate that an increase in the availability of service providers or enhanced competition does not have negative effects on the quality of the services provided, prices, or survey measures of consumer satisfaction.

Seize The Time: Needed Research On Local Economic Development In An Era Of Increased Attention To Problems Of Place, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

With the increased attention to place-based policies comes an increased need for policy-relevant research on local economic development. Within the policy area of local economic development, this paper identifies five types of research needs: 1) better definitions of local labor markets; 2) policy know-how on how local economic development’s benefits can be better spread to distressed neighborhoods; 3) evidence on what types of jobs have both good growth prospects in the U.S. economy yet also provide good long-run job opportunities in local labor markets for the majority of U.S. workers who lack a bachelor’s degree; 4) estimates of how local …

Beauty Premium Of Working Women In Urban Indonesia, Tri Putri Octafia, Diahhadi Setyonaluri

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

Being attractive is believed to give many benefits in life. Economic studies have observed that physical attractiveness is associated with a higher wage. The benefits of being attractive have been perceived from early age, to the labor market, and to the marriage market. Despite all the advantages that beauty brings, efforts are being made to achieve or maintain attractiveness. People spend substantial resources,such as time and money, to enhance appearance. Using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression, this study examines the correlation between perceived attractiveness and earnings among urban working women in Indonesia. Findings show that the income of women who …

Helping Distressed Places: Best Practices And Needed Scale, Timothy J. Bartik

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Critical Review Of The Enactment Of The Minimum Wage On Poverty Alleviation In Hong Kong Since 2011, Man Yu Ngan

Lingnan Theses (Doctoral degree)

The academic discussion on the minimum wage law's effect is controversial and continuous. Given that Hong Kong is one of the free economies worldwide with the most competitive labour market, it is one of the best natural laboratories for testing how minimum wage law influences the labour market.

This study aims to answer four important research questions:1.What are the effects of statutory minimum wage legislation and its adjustment level?2.Which groups of employees will mostly benefit or suffer, and to what extent?3.Can Hong Kong’s minimum wage law achieve its policy goal of reducing poverty?4.How could Hong Kong’s minimum wage policy re-enter …

In A Gig Economy, Do People Work More When Wages Rise?, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Study finds that when wages go up, how the supply of labour changes can depend on how the change in pay is communicated

Essays On Social Mobility And Distribution, Luis A. Monroy Gómez Franco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters on the relationship between immutable characteristics of a person (also known as circumstances) and the intergenerational social mobility experienced by them, as well as their human capital accumulation. It pays particular attention to the role played by the economic resources of the household of origin in producing differences in the economic outcomes across persons.

In the first chapter, I show that the decomposition of intergenerational persistence indicators into their structural and positional components offers a clearer understanding of the determinants of heterogeneity in subnational mobility rates. The crucial element for the separate analysis of …

Latinas In The Labor Market, Lorna Rivera, Vishakha Agarwal, Phillip Granberry

Gastón Institute Publications

In Massachusetts, the share of Latinas in the overall population has been rapidly increasing. From 2000 to 2019, the number of Latinas increased by 81.5%1 even as the number of Non-Latina women declined by about 5.8% during that same period. The share of Non-Latina White women in the Massachusetts female population dropped from approximately 82% in 2000 to 71% in 2019.

This report offers an in-depth look at the difference between the median wage income and other labor market outcomes of Latina and Non-Latina women in the Massachusetts workforce. (A great majority of Non-Latina women workers in Massachusetts are White …

Information, Intermediaries, And International Migration, Samuel Bazzi, Lisa Cameron, Simone Schaner, Firman Witoelar

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Job seekers face substantial information frictions, especially in international labor markets where intermediaries match prospective migrants with overseas employers. We conducted a randomized trial in Indonesia to explore how information about intermediary quality shapes migration outcomes. Holding access to information about the return to choosing a high-quality intermediary constant, intermediary-specific quality disclosure reduces the migration rate, cutting use of low-quality providers. Workers who do migrate receive better pre-departure preparation and have improved experiences abroad, despite no change in occupation or destination. These results are not driven by changes in beliefs about average provider quality or the return to migration. Nor …

Centering Work: Integration And Diffusion Of Workforce Development Within The U.S. Manufacturing Extension Network, Nichola Lowe, Greg Schrock, Matthew D. Wilson, Rumana Rabbani, Allison Forbes

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

As the U.S. economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, strategies that promote long-term transformation toward high-quality jobs will be critical. This includes workplace-improving interventions that enable employers to upgrade existing jobs, often while enhancing their own competitive position. This paper focuses on the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a national network of federally funded centers that support small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. We document the range of workforce- and workplace-enhancing strategies that MEP centers have adopted since the network’s inception in the mid-1990s. While workforce development is unevenly implemented across today’s MEP network, leading centers within the network are devising transformative strategies …

The Great Resignation, Unemployment, And Underemployment In The Us: A Study Of Labor Market Segmentation, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

During 2021 and 2022 many news media outlets have been reporting that millions of workers in the US have been quitting their jobs in record numbers. In a global economy rebounding from the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 outbreak and demanding more workers, a high rate of resignations has exacerbated labor shortages and may be aggravating underemployment rates if many workers are choosing not to be part of the labor force or only to work part time. Many reasons have been offered to explain this “Great Resignation” including high day care costs for working parents which may in turn …

Keep Me In, Coach: The Short- And Long-Term Effects Of Targeted Academic Coaching, Serena Canaan, Stefanie Fischer, Pierre Mouganie, Geoffrey C. Schnorr

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

To boost college graduation rates, policymakers often advocate for academic supports such as coaching or mentoring. Proactive and intensive coaching interventions are effective, but are costly and difficult to scale. We evaluate a relatively lower-cost group coaching program targeted at first-year college students placed on academic probation. Participants attend a workshop where coaches aim to normalize failure and improve self-confidence. Coaches also facilitate a process whereby participants reflect on their academic difficulties, devise solutions to address their challenges, and create an action plan. Participants then hold a one-time follow-up meeting with their coach or visit a campus resource. Using a …

How State Governments Can Help Distressed Places, Timothy J. Bartik

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

What Types Of Local Job Creation Most Benefit Residents?, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

Mismatch In Local Labor Markets: How Demand Shocks To Different Occupations Affect Less- Or More-Educated Workers In Diverse Local Labor Markets, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

This paper estimates the effects on local labor market outcomes (employment rates, real wages, real earnings) of local labor demand shocks to different types of occupations. Occupations are divided into three groups, “high, middle, and low,” with occupations differing in wages paid and education credentials required. Effects are considered on both workers with less than a four-year college degree and workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The strongest benefits for labor market outcomes come from demand shocks to “mid jobs.” Mid-job demand shocks particularly benefit less-educated workers. High-job demand shocks often hurt labor market outcomes for less-educated workers, in …

Universal Basic Income And The Alaska Permanent Fund: Impact On Labor Outcomes And Skill Composition, Michele Cafasso

Theses and Dissertations

To analyze the effects of universal basic income on labor supply and human capital, I estimate the effects of Alaska’s Permanent Fund on employment, hours worked, and skills using data from the Current Population Survey and O*NET. My method combines synthetic control and difference-in-differences regressions.

The Economic Returns To Bilingualism In The U.S Labor Market, Mara Macdonald

All Theses

This paper uses pooled cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey to analyze the economic returns of bilingualism to adults in the U.S labor market. Bilingualism in the US is defined as English proficient individuals who also report speaking a foreign language “very well” or “well”. Using OLS Least Squares regression estimation where the dependent variable is the logarithm of earnings, I modify the Mincer earnings function to include foreign language skill variables and controls for observed demographic characteristics. Holding all levels of human capital constant, bilinguals earn 7.7% less than English monolinguals in the U.S labor market; however, this …

Moderate, Overlooked Weather Events And Local Labor Markets, Michael Ellis

All Theses

A substantial amount of research exists on the economic effects of natural disasters and extreme weather, as well as comparatively minor variations in daily weather conditions such as precipitation, temperature, and wind. I construct a sample of over a million storms that range from intense daily weather conditions to extreme weather. I analyze written descriptions of the damages caused by many of these storms to identify 93,743 weather events within the sample that appear to be underemphasized in the existing economic literature. These storms cause more damage and disruptions to commerce than 63.5% of storms in the sample, yet do …

Why Has The Median Real Income Of Lawyers Been Declining?, James V. Koch, Barbara Blake-Gonzalez

Economics Faculty Publications

The median real incomes of lawyers have been declining. In 2001, the median real income of lawyers in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia was $129,389 (July 2020 prices). Almost two decades later, in 2020, this number had fallen to $126,930, 1.90% less than in 2001. By contrast, the median real income of workers in all occupations together rose 3.93% between 2001 and 2020, while the median real income of the average family practice physician rose 20.15% and the median real income of a typical economist rose 10.9%. We examine both supply and demand influences to explain the …

Firms And Unemployment Insurance Take-Up, Marta Lachowska, Isaac Sorkin, Stephen A. Woodbury

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We use administrative data to quantify the firm role in unemployment insurance (UI) take-up. First, there are firm effects in both claiming and appeals, and, consistent with deterrence effects, these are negatively correlated. Second, low-wage workers are less likely to claim and more likely to have their claims appealed than median-wage workers, and firm effects explain a large share of these income gradients. Third, high-claiming and low-appealing firms are desirable firms: they are higher-paying and have lower separation rates. Finally, the dominant source of targeting error in the UI system is that eligible workers do not apply. Our findings emphasize …

Common Ownership In Labor Markets, José Azar, Yue Qiu, Aaron Sojourner

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

In this paper, we study common ownership in U.S. labor markets, and document that common ownership more than doubled over the period 1999–2017. To identify the causal effects of common ownership on labor market outcomes, we use a firm’s addition to the S&P 500 index as a shock to the common ownership of its competitors in local labor markets. Using a matched difference-in-differences analysis, we find that, after a firm enters the S&P 500 index, the average annual earnings per employee of its local competitors decrease relative to the counterfactual. The effect of S&P 500 index additions on employee earnings …

Return Migration, Human Capital, And Labor Outcomes, Avinandan Chakraborty

Economics ETDs

This dissertation is a collection of chapters that demonstrate the relationship between return migration, human capital, and labor outcomes in the origin developing countries. Return migration is an intrinsic part of the cycle of international migration and development. Migrants acquire new skills, accumulate human capital and savings during their stay abroad. When they return, this accumulated capital may generate benefits for the left behind family members but may also affect their reintegration into the labor markets in the origin countries.

In my first chapter, I estimate the effect of a return migrant in the household on the schooling outcomes of …

Dampak Pinjaman Mikro Terhadap Kesejahteraan Rumah Tangga Perempuan Pengusaha Mikro Dan Kecil, Dewi Ratna Sjari M, Bonar M. Sinaga, Nunung Kusnadi, Yusman Syaukat

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This study aims to examine how credit lending can improve MSEs performance, its impact on women micro and small entrepreneurs (PPMK) household welfare, and the determinants of their disinterest in subsidised loans. Using a sample of 82 PPMK households in Depok City and Bogor Regency with the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method, the results showed loans could boost business income. Still, the government’s credit with low-interest rates is not the primary choice due to limited knowledge, an obligation for collateral, and religious issues such as usury. This study also shows government credit assistance can improve the welfare of MSE households.

The Wagner-Peyser Act And U.S. Employment Service: 75 Years Of Matching Job Seekers And Employers, Christopher J. O'Leary, Randall W. Eberts

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Two Essays In Applied Microeconomics: Retirement, Income Inequalities, And Other Economic Indicators Of Health And Life Satisfaction, Zahra Akbari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following proposal includes two essays in applied microeconomics. The first essay studied the relationship between income differences among siblings and the health outcomes of the individuals. Health inequalities and the factors associated with them have been a significant interest of health economists. Among those factors that can lead to health differences in adulthood, many studies have studied financial status. There are still many questions about these factors which should be answered in this area, especially about the adulthood income relative to a reference group and how it can be related to differences in adulthood health. The main goal of …

Education-Occupation Mismatch Among University Graduates In Egypt: Determinants And Consequences, Nouran Elkhouly

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reviews the literature on the education-occupation mismatch. The thesis focuses on Egyptian university graduates and postgraduates in 2018. It studies the determinants of the education-occupation mismatch, and its effect on earnings and workers’ job satisfaction using the 2018 wave of the Egyptian Labor Market Survey (ELMPS). Ordinary least squares (OLS) and probit models were used to investigate the determinants of the education-occupation mismatch, and an OLS and a two-stage least square (2SLS) regressions were estimated with the use of the father’s education and father’s employment status as instrumental variables to determine the effect of the mismatch on labors’ …

Addressing Teacher Attrition Through Trauma-Informed Practices In The Workplace, Amy Pahl, Amy L. Pahl

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Teacher attrition and turnover have been widely studied to understand the reason for the number of teachers moving each year or leaving the profession altogether. Researchers have attempted to understand the contributing factors that lead to teacher movement and attrition, yet a knowledge gap exists between understanding the problem and finding solutions. The aim of this study was to investigate how implementing trauma-informed practices in the workplace impacts teacher mobility and attrition. A grounded theory approach was taken, which data from interviews to investigate the problem. Teachers who have left the profession or have moved from a position were interviewed …

How State Governments Can Help Distressed Places, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

How State Governments Can Target Job Opportunities To Distressed Places, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

The United States has two types of “place-based” jobs problems: low employment rates in 1) local labor markets and 2) neighborhoods. The local labor market problem can be dealt with by targeting distressed local labor markets for job creation. The neighborhood problem can be dealt with by targeting distressed neighborhoods with programs to improve residents’ job access. This report describes the magnitude of these place-based jobs problems and reviews research on the most cost-effective programs to address these problems. The report also reviews current state government efforts to target job opportunities to distressed places, pointing out that such targeting is …