Labor Economics Commons^™

Dynamic Responses To Labor Demand Shocks: Evidence From The Financial Industry In Delaware, Russell Weinstein

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper analyzes an important shock to local labor demand in the financial services sector: firm relocation to Delaware following a Supreme Court ruling and state legislation in the 1980s. Using synthetic controls and bordering states, I find significant effects on employment growth, the unemployment rate, and participation in the first decade. Employment spillovers to the nontradable sector and migration appear larger than estimates from shocks to the tradable sector. Effects persist for 10 to 20 years after Delaware loses its original policy-induced advantage. The shift towards a low unemployment sector explains this persistence, rather than direct productivity effects or …

Using Behavioral Insights To Improve Take-Up Of A Reemployment Program: Trial Design And Findings, Matthew Darling, Christopher J. O'Leary, Irma L. Perez-Johnson, Jaclyn Lefkowitz, Kenneth J. Kline, Ben Damerow, Randall W. Eberts, Samia Amin, Greg Chojnacki

External Papers and Reports

No abstract provided.

Genes, Education, And Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence From The Health And Retirement Study, Nicholas W. Papageorge, Kevin Thom

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Recent advances have led to the discovery of specific genetic variants that predict educational attainment. We study how these variants, summarized as a genetic score variable, are associated with human capital accumulation and labor market outcomes in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We demonstrate that the same genetic score that predicts education is also associated with higher wages, but only among individuals with a college education. Moreover, the genetic gradient in wages has grown in more recent birth cohorts, consistent with interactions between technological change and labor market ability. We also show that individuals who grew up in economically …

Jornaleros Engaged In A Multidimensional Struggle: A Critical Ethnography With Day Laborers In Las Vegas, Jorge Adrian Castrejon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Day labor work has spread across the entire Unite States as part of the secondary labor market, or as Cherrie Moraga describes it- survival work. Day laborers in Las Vegas, Nevada have become a significant part of this trend in the Southwest, where the highest rate of day laborers work, and for which little community and scholarly work has been produced. The National Day Labor Survey, the most comprehensive study with day laborers, reports that the day labor market is rife with abuse and violations of worker rights. But, the exploitation of this predominantly migrant workforce would not be possible …

Women’S Work: Labor Market Outcomes And Female Entrepreneurship In Ghana, Loretta Agyemang

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper is an investigation of female entrepreneurship in Ghana. It seeks to answer the following question: Why are Ghanaian women so heavily concentrated in microenterprise in the informal economy? The literature review explores labor market trends for women on three different scales including an overview of developing countries, Sub-Saharan Africa regional, and Ghana-specific analysis. After exploring issues women face in formal employment, the study delves into business operations of informal, urban-based market participants by analyzing data pertaining to Ghanaian microenterprise. Additionally, the paper details the experiences and views of female entrepreneurs through in-depth interviews and participant observations with thirty …

Blade Runner And The Divine Menace, Alexander W. Pickens

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Following the decline of Christianity in mainstream Western culture, a void rose in the moral and societal code. Those writers that emerged presented alternate visions that worked their way into the literature of the 20th century. Karl Marx's interpretation of the structure of labor in capitalism presented a new societal hierarchy whose finer points have been worked out in the complex film Blade Runner. This dystopian nightmare, in which a Marxist interpretation of current society bogged down by the ennui of capitalist accumulation is confronted, describes a new religious order based upon this economic theory. Central to this reimagining …

Migration And Injustice In The Neoliberal Era: A Comparative Analysis Of Migratory Laws And Sweatshop Labor Conditions In Argentina And The United States, Kelly L. Johnson

Spanish Honors Papers

In the contemporary neoliberal era, the global phenomenon of migration dominates the international political discourse and generates empirical and normative questions regarding the admission, rights, and realities of migrants who leave their home countries to live elsewhere. Argentina and the United States are countries in which migration was, and continues to be, a main factor in shaping the nation’s identity. Despite the similar migratory phenomenon in both of these countries, their migratory policies vastly differ—Argentina considers migration to be a right, but the United States constantly strengthens its efforts to deter migrants from entering the country. Even though migratory policies …

Estimating The Impacts Of Plazacorp Investments Related To The Acquisition Of The Arcadia Ramp In Downtown Kalamazoo On The Region, Jim Robey, Kathleen Bolter, Claudette Robey

Reports

No abstract provided.

Facing Racial Discrimination In The Labor Environment, Ya Xu

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

Almost 50 years after the signing of the 1968 Civil Rights Act, and over 150 years after the official end of slavery in the US, the labor market is still far from equal. Minorities, especially those who racially identify as black and Latino, still face higher unemployment rates, lower median salaries (Wilson, 2015), and higher difficulty in obtaining interview opportunities (Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004). The overarching question for my Capstone is as follows: How does perceived racial discrimination affect a person in the labor environment1? To investigate this question, I conducted a survey for Bryant University alumni which asked the …

Fertility And Female Labor Force Participation: The Role Of Legal Access To Contraceptives, Chaney Skadsen

Student Research – Stevenson Center

Around the world there has been a global trend of falling fertility rates and increasing female labor force participation rates, simultaneously. The negative association between the two provides impetus to investigate whether fertility acts as an obstruction to the labor market for women and the possibility of incompatibility between motherhood and employee. I find that fertility only acts as an inhibiter to the labor force for women when instrumented with legal access to sterilization as a form of contraception among the other three forms tested. Therefore, when permanent forms of contraceptives are legal and available it allows for more women …

Working Longer, Retiring Later: Are Employers Ready For The New Employment Trend?, Robert L. Clark, Melinda Sandler Morrill

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Better Incentives Data Can Inform Both Research And Policy, Timothy J. Bartik

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Employment Service-Unemployment Insurance Partnership: Origin, Evolution, And Revitalization, David E. Balducchi, Christopher J. O'Leary

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This study traces the origin and evolution of the partnership between the employment service and unemployment insurance programs in the United States. We examine objectives of the framers of the Wagner-Peyser and Social Security Acts that established these programs. Using primary sources, we then analyze early actions of the architects of social insurance to facilitate cooperation between the two programs to meet economic exigencies, grapple with political cronyism, and surmount legal barriers. We also discuss factors that caused changes in the employment service–unemployment insurance partnership over time. We identify reasons for the erosion in cooperation starting in the 1980s, and …

Does Wage-Inflation Targeting Complement Foreign Exchange Intervention? An Evaluation Of A Multi-Target, Two-Instrument Monetary Policy Framework, Taojun Xie, Jingting Liu, Joseph D. Alba, Wai-Mun Chia

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We assess the inclusion of wage inflation as an intermediate target of an emerging central bank using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with sticky wages and prices calibrated for the South Korean economy. The model includes wage inflation as an additional target jointly with domestic price inflation and the output gap in a Taylor- type interest rate rule operating with a sterilized foreign exchange (FX) intervention rule. Our results show a complementary relationship between wage inflation targeting and price inflation targeting. That is, by supplementing price inflation targeting with wage inflation targeting, welfare improves for cases with and without …

Nafta And The Gender Wage Gap, Shushanik Hakobyan, John Mclaren

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Using U.S. Census data for 1990–2000, we estimate effects of NAFTA on U.S. wages, focusing on differences by gender. We find that NAFTA tariff reductions are associated with substantially reduced wage growth for married blue-collar women, much larger than the effect for other demographic groups. We investigate several possible explanations for this finding. It is not explained by differential sensitivity of female-dominated occupations to trade shocks, or by household bargaining that makes married female workers less able to change their industry of employment than other workers. We find some support for an explanation based on an equilibrium theory of selective …

No More Starving Artists: Why The Art Market Needs A Universal Artist Resale Royalty Right, Allison Schten

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Artists often struggle to make a living because they see profits only from the first sales of their work. Unlike other creative arts, where the creator can earn a living via sales of books or music, an artist’s product is valuable for its singularity. Droit de suite, or the artist resale royalty right, allows artists to recover a percentage of profits from resales of their work. Implementing resale royalty schemes has been a subject of controversy worldwide due to fears that the art market will relocate to areas without such additional transaction costs—but broad-scale, international implementation of droit de …

The National-Level Economic Impact Of The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Mep), Jim Robey, Randall W. Eberts, Kathleen Bolter, Marie Holler, Nicholas Marsh, Brian Pittelko, Claudette Robey

Reports

No abstract provided.

A New Business Incentives Database: Implications For Michigan, Timothy J. Bartik

Testimonies

No abstract provided.

P29. Basic Skills Or Major-Specific Knowledge? Sources Of Wage Penalties For Working Outside The Major Field Of Study, Yuki Onozuka

Western Research Forum

Background: This paper examines the sources of wage penalties for working outside the major field of study. Recent research shows that workers in a job unrelated to their major field of study experience significantly lower wages than those in a related job. A substantial amount of human capital may be underutilized. Identifying the sources of the wage penalty is important in terms of how to decrease the inefficient use of human capital, students' college major choice, and type of human capital accumulated in college.

Methods: I use the 1993 National Survey of College Graduates and the O*NET to divide the …

Garment Workers In Kentucky Oral History Project (Fa 865), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project FA 865. Interviews conducted by Lisa Karen Miller containing details about the lives of garment workers in Kentucky and Tennessee. Some of the topics included were technological changes, job layoffs, and labor unions.

The Selection And Causal Effects Of Work Incentives On Labor Productivity: Evidence From A Two Stage Randomized Controlled Trial In Malawi, Hyuncheol Bryant Kim, Seonghoon Kim, Thomas T. Kim

Research Collection School Of Economics

Incentives are essential to promote labor productivity. We implemented a two-stage field experiment to measure effects of career and wage incentives on productivity through self-selection and causal effect channels. First, workers were hired with either career or wage incentives. After employment, a random half of workers with career incentives received wage incentives and a random half of workers with wage incentives received career incentives. We find that career incentives attract higher-performing workers than wage incentives but do not increase productivity for existing workers. Instead, wage incentives increase productivity for existing workers. Observable characteristics are limited in explaining the selection effect.

A New Panel Database On Business Incentives For Economic Development Offered By State And Local Governments In The United States, Timothy J. Bartik

Reports

No abstract provided.

Housing Market Liquidity And The Effect On Unemployment In The United States: An Application To The U.S. Housing Market, Isolating Regional Housing Market Liquidity And The Associated Effect On Unemployment, Lindsey M. Piegza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study proposes a measure of price spread between the bid (or the offer price from the buyer) and the ask (or the list price of the seller) in order to isolate the effect of housing market liquidity on unemployment. Housing market liquidity is defined as its impact on labor market equilibrium and unemployment at the state and regional levels. This proxy for housing market liquidity offers a more thorough measure of housing liquidity or market clearing ability compared with the current literature, which has relied on price or price changes alone as the primary measure of activity in the …

Why Do Negative Employment Outcomes For Workers With Disabilities Persist?: Investigating The Effects Of Human Capital, Social Capital, And Discrimination, Martine Maculaitis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Little is known about why poor job outcomes for workers with disabilities (WD) persist. Hence, the aim of this study was to combine and extend human capital, social capital, and multiple jeopardy advantage theories to develop and test a comprehensive model of the processes explaining job outcomes for WD. Data from the 2010 US National Health Interview Survey (N=3,887) and O*Net were analyzed to investigate the extent to which disability status (i.e., WD with work limitations, WD with no work limitations, or non-disabled workers [NDW]) relates to four types of work outcomes (i.e., annual compensation, employment status, job …

The Gettysburg Economic Review, Volume 10, Spring 2017

Gettysburg Economic Review

No abstract provided.

The Rise Of Technology And Its Influence On Labor Market Outcomes, Maja K. Thomas

Gettysburg Economic Review

Technological progress has significantly changed the inputs and production processes utilized by firms. Such shifts have led to warnings throughout the past few decades that substantial numbers of jobs, particularly things belonging to the middle class, would be eliminated and replaced by technology. This paper examines the validity of this argument by estimating the impact of technology investment on local labor markets during that period. I find evidence for a positive, rather than negative, relationship between technology and employment. Furthermore, my estimates suggest there exists a complementary relationship between technology investment and growth in labor opportunities, rather than a substitution …

The Missouri Quality Jobs Program: Rearranging The Deck Chairs (And Throwing Some Overboard), Howard J. Wall

Center for Applied Economics

According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED), the Missouri Quality Jobs Program (MQJP) will create 118 new jobs by 2020 for each $1 million dollars in tax credits awarded under the program. The claimed sources of these job gains are the direct increase in employment at the firms receiving the credits, and indirect increases at other firms due to spinoff and multiplier effects. Unfortunately, the DED’s estimates for these effects are based more on faith than on evidence. First, the DED rather naively assumes that all of the job gains at the firms receiving tax credits occur only …

Three Essays On Food Safety Regulations And International Trade Of Agricultural Products, Jun Ho Seok

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation investigates food safety regulations and international trade of agricultural products dividing into three aspects: the signalling effect from U.S. strict food safety regulations on U.S. vegetable exports, political determinants of sanitary and photosanitary non-tariff barriers, and the impact of trade barriers on employment in developing countries. In chapter 2, we investigate the impact of high U.S. maximum residue limit (MRL) standards on U.S vegetable exports to 102 countries utilizing the hierarchical model. MRL, which is one of non-tariff barriers with respect to food safety, is applied to home and foreign countries at the same time. Thus, firms in …

Memorandum: Data Needs For Research On Domestic Outsourcing In The United States, Susan N. Houseman, Annette Bernhardt

All Staff Papers and Presentations

Available evidence points to substantial growth in U.S. firms’ outsourcing of various functions to domestic as well as foreign suppliers, a phenomenon sometimes called the vertical disintegration of the firm. Although receiving less attention than its offshore counterpart, domestic outsourcing is changing how work in the U.S. is organized across firms and industries. Good data allowing documentation of such supply networks is critical to the accuracy of many analyses, including employment impact analyses of a wide range of federal, state, and local economic policies; occupational workforce projections; and sector and industry productivity statistics. Moreover, although there are many reasons why …

Growing Portland: Not Whether, But How, Richard Barringer Phd, Joseph Mcdonnell Phd

Faculty Publications

In the 400 years since European settlement, Portland has survived the ravages of war, invasion, pestilence, conflagration, and economic depression and recession. Once a renowned manufacturing, trade, and shipping center, it now enjoys what might be called a post-industrial renaissance as a vibrant center for the arts, education, entertainment, and banking, legal, and medical services; and is frequently cited as one of America’s best small cities. As a result, Portland is growing today and is positioned for more growth.

The question, then, is not whether Portland will grow, but how well it will grow; or, how best to manage the …