Does the elimination of work flexibility contribute to reducing wage inequality? Empirical evidence from Ecuador

As workplace flexibility can promote employment for people with disabilities, people with disabilities need information about the characteristics of organizations that are more likely to provide this environment. Using the 2017 and 2022 Kessler Foundation National Employment & Disability Survey: Supervisor Perspectives, we examine organizational characteristics associated with the flexible work accommodations of working from home, flexible work schedules, and job sharing, prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We employ a linear probability model to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the provision of flexible workplaces and explore structural (industry, sector, and size) as well as cultural factors (central accommodation fund and upper management commitments) that are related to the flexible workplace practices. The pandemic increased flexible workplace practices. Different organizational structural and cultural characteristics are noted as correlates to providing greater workplace flexibility. Our findings can inform job seekers with disabilities to identify organizations that are more likely to offer flexibility. In addition, this information can be useful to vocational rehabilitation professionals in supporting positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Employers can also use our findings to guide their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Using panel data from the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey (ENEMDU) for Ecuador, we analyze the outcomes of life and job satisfaction whether moving from bad job to a good job-and vice versa-on life and job satisfaction. In contrast with bad jobs, good jobs are characterized by being employed in the formal sector, with social security registration, and earning at least the minimum wage. Using a conditional logit estimate, we found that workers who move from a bad to a good job increase job satisfaction by 9.5%, whereas when the transition is from a good to a bad job, job satisfaction decreases by 8.5%; in terms of gender, the effect is greater for men than women. Finally, we did not find any significant effect of job transitions on life satisfaction.

natural rate is an abstraction; like faith, it is seen by its works. can only say if bank policy succeeds in stabilizing prices, bank rate must have been brought in line with natural rate, but if it does not, it must not have been. (1) THE CONVENTIONAL PARADIGM for conduct of monetary policy calls for monetary authority to attain its objectives of a low and stable rate of inflation and full employment by adjusting its short-term interest rate instrument--in United States, federal funds rate--in response to economic developments. In principle, when aggregate demand and employment fall short of economy's natural levels of output and employment, or when other deflationary concerns appear on horizon, central bank should ease monetary policy by bringing real interest rates below economy's natural rate of interest for some Conversely, central bank should respond to inflationary concerns by adjusting interest rates upward so as to bring real interest rates above natural rate. In this setting, natural rate of unemployment is unemployment rate consistent with stable inflation; natural rate of interest is real interest rate consistent with unemployment being at its natural rate, and therefore with stable inflation. (2) In carrying out this strategy in practice, policymaker would ideally have accurate, quantitative, contemporaneous readings of natural rate of interest and natural rate of unemployment. Under those circumstances, economic stabilization policy would be relatively straightforward. However, an important difficulty complicates policymaking in practice and may limit scope for stabilization policy is policymakers do not know values of these natural rates in real time, is, when they make policy decisions. Indeed, even in hindsight there is considerable uncertainty regarding natural rates of unemployment and interest, and ambiguity about how best to model and estimate natural rates. Milton Friedman, arguing against natural rate-based policies in his presidential address to American Economic Association, posited One problem is [the policymaker] cannot know what `natural' rate is. Unfortunately, we have as yet devised no method to estimate accurately and readily natural rate of either interest or unemployment. And `natural' rate will itself change from time to time. (3) Friedman's comments echo those made decades earlier by John H. Williams and by Gustav Cassel, who wrote of natural rate of interest: The bank cannot know at a certain moment what is equilibrium rate of interest of capital market. (4) Even earlier, Knut Wicksell stressed the natural rate is not fixed or unalterable in magnitude. (5) Recent research using modern statistical techniques to estimate natural rates of unemployment, output, and interest indicates this problem is no less relevant today than it was 35, 75, or 105 years ago. These measurement problems appear particularly acute in presence of structural change, when natural rates may vary unpredictably, subjecting estimates to increased uncertainty. Douglas Staiger, James Stock, and Mark Watson document estimates of a time-varying natural rate of unemployment are very imprecise. (6) Orphanides and Simon van Norden show estimates of related concept of natural rate of output (that is, potential output) are likewise plagued by imprecision. (7) Similarly, Thomas Laubach and John C. Williams document great degree of uncertainty regarding estimates of natural rate of interest. (8) These difficulties have led some observers to discount usefulness of natural rate estimates for policymaking. William Brainard and George Perry conclude that conventional estimates from a NAIRU [nonaccelerating-inflation rate of unemployment] model do not identify full employment range with a degree of accuracy is useful to policymaking. …

This paper estimates an index of the risk of labour displacement in the face of automation, using datafrom the National Employment and Occupation Survey (enoe) for the years 2005 and 2019. The resultsshow that the risk of displacement due to automation has increased in Mexico, and that women facea lower risk of labour displacement compared to men. It also shows that higher levels of human capitalare associated with a lower risk of displacement. Industrial and clerical workers are most at risk fromautomation, and workers in the north of the country face a higher risk than those in the south.Using the principal components analysis, this work estimates an index of risk of job displacementin the face of automation, with data from the National Occupation and Employment Survey (enoe) forthe years 2005 and 2019. The results show that job displacement risk has increased in Mexico, and thatwomen face less risk of job displacement when compared to men. They also indicate that higher levelsof human capital promote a lower risk of displacement. Industrial and office workers are those mostat risk from automation, and workers in the north of the country face a greatest risk when compared tothose in the south.

Persistent unemployment, like that plaguing Europe since the early 1980's, has been a persistent problem for economic theory. Competitive equilibrium theory assumes that all markets clear, including the labor market. All theories of unemployment thus must reflect significant departures from that paradigm. The last 20 years have generated a plethora of such theories. The challenge is to construct models that generate unemployment and are broadly consistent with a host of other labor and macroeconomic phenomena, including patterns of real wages and hours. The traditional approach is to focus on a simple static equilibrium in which wages are kept above their market-clearing level for a variety of reasons: in the older versions of this story minimum wages, union power, and normative traditions; in its more recent incarnations, efficiency-wage considerations.' Within the United States, the older variants of these models have received decreasing credence, as union power has eroded, the real value of the minimum wage has declined, and empirical evidence has buttressed a broader set of theoretical arguments (based on imperfect competition within the labor market and efficiency-wage considerations) suggesting at most negligible effects from these government interventions. Efficiency-wage variants are more broadly consistent with observed labormarket behavior and help explain both natural rates of unemployment and certain cyclical phenomena (e.g., the use of layoffs rather than job-sharing) (see Carl Shapiro and Stiglitz, 1984; Lawrence Summers, 1990). Moreover, to the extent that unemployment compensation and protection against separations for cause have improved recently in Europe, these models can explain the secular rise in European unemployment (see Edmund Phelps, 1994).2 On the other hand, as conventionally formulated, they leave many aspects of the labor market unexplained.3 More-recent theories analyze unemployment as the result of imbalances between flows into and out of the job market.4 In these models, in steady state, on average, the flow supply into unemployment must balance the flow out. The equilibrium level of unemployment is thus determined through relations between these flows and the level of unemployment. Most noted within this genre are the labor-turnover theories, in which labor costs are affected by wages and the unemployment rate, and the job-search models, in which unemployment arises from the need for job matches, which by assumption, can only occur among the

This article analyses the effects of a rise in the minimum wage on wages and employment in Mexico. The source of variation is the equalization in late 2012 of the minimum wage in two areas of the country. Using the National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE), econometric analyses are performed of cross-section and individual panel data. The results of the first indicate that, on average, the hourly wage in zone B rose by between 1.6% and 2.6% for workers overall and between 1.8% and 3.3% for wage workers. The panel analysis yields similar results. Although the cross-section analysis does not show an impact in terms of employment, the panel data indicate that the probability of being an informal (formal) worker falls (rises) among those affected by the wage rise policy.

BackgroundThe third Sustainable Development Goal aims to ensure healthy lives and to promote well-being for all at all ages. The health system plays a key role in achieving these goals and must have sufficient human resources in order to provide care to the population according to their needs and expectations.MethodsThis paper explores the issues of unemployment, underemployment, and labor wastage in physicians and nurses in Mexico, all of which serve as barriers to achieving universal health coverage. We conducted a descriptive, observational, and longitudinal study to analyze the rates of employment, underemployment, unemployment, and labor wastage during the period 2005–2017 by gender. We used data from the National Occupation and Employment Survey. Calculating the average annual rates (AAR) for the period, we describe trends of the calculated rates. In addition, for 2017, we calculated health workforce densities for each of the 32 Mexican states and estimated the gaps with respect to the threshold of 4.45 health workers per 1000 inhabitants, as proposed in the Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health.ResultsThe AAR of employed female physicians was lower than men, and the AARs of qualitative underemployment, unemployment, and labor wastage for female physicians are higher than those of men. Female nurses, however, had a higher AAR in employment than male nurses and a lower AAR of qualitative underemployment and unemployment rates. Both female physicians and nurses showed a higher AAR in labor wastage rates than men. The density of health workers per 1000 inhabitants employed in the health sector was 4.20, and the estimated deficit of workers needed to match the threshold proposed in the Global Strategy is 70 161 workers distributed among the 16 states that do not reach the threshold.ConclusionsWe provide evidence of the existence of gender gaps among physicians and nurses in the labor market with evident disadvantages for female physicians, particularly in labor wastage. In addition, our results suggest that the lack of physicians and nurses working in the health sector contributes to the inability to reach the health worker density threshold proposed by the Global Strategy.

Introduction Work includes schooling and experience as explanatory variables of the level of salaries; It has been considered important to incorporate others in this research, these being: gender, area where the work activity takes place and having knowledge of another language. Objective of the present investigation is to analyze income inequality in the Ecuadorian labor market. Materials and methods The research takes data from the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey of INEC estimating the Mincerian equation (1974) by adding dummy variables. Results the estimations allow to conclude that there is actually female and rural discrimination with respect to the salaries that the masculine gender has and in general of the workers who come from residential zones. Discussion. all the variables included in the model, experience is the one with the lowest incidence, anyway Conclusions establishes that the result is consistent with what the Ecuadorian legislation indicates, specifically the Internal Control Regulations.

Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the

PurposeThis study aims at estimating the gender wage gap in Ecuador, and its evolution over the last decade and a half, exploring its heterogeneity through different working conditions (formal/informal, full employment/underemployment, short term/long term and tenure/no tenure) and workers personal characteristics (education level; age and children).Design/methodology/approachPropensity score matching (PSM) and coarsened exact matching (CEM) are used to examine the gender pay inequality of wage earners in Ecuador, using the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey (ENEMDU) data set from 2007 to 2022.FindingsResults show a persistent gender pay gap, evidencing a significant heterogeneity through the different dimensions taken into account, in terms of working conditions and workers personal characteristics. The evolution of the pay gap during the years analyzed hardly shows any reduction of differences in earnings between men and women; on the contrary, women exposure to precarious and unregulated jobs seems to be increasing wage inequality.Practical implicationsThe results make the case for active policies oriented not only at containing the negative effects of the traditional division of labor within the family but also at improving labor law enforcement, mitigating informality and workers rapid turnover.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few that use matching techniques to study the gender wage gap and the first in Ecuador; the time span taken into account is larger than previous studies, allowing a medium-long run perspective across different economic phases.

Introduction The Human Capital Theory exposes that inequality in labor income is due to different factors, including productivity and education. Objectiveanalyze income inequality in the Ecuadorian labor market. The research takes data from the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey of INEC estimating the Mincerian equation (1974) by adding dummy variables.Materials and methods The research takes data of secondary information that rests in the ENEMDU survey updated to December 2018 that includes the characteristics of the EAP in Ecuador. Resultscharacterization of the gender variable, schooling positively influences their hourly wages. Discussion Regarding the gender variable, this long term of not correcting the salary differences may have an impact on old age. ConclusionsWhen there is gender discrimination, it is imperative to identify and quantify the jobs and professions to which women have access in a lesser proportion.

Context: This study examines the relationship between fuel price variations and the socioeconomic conditions of households in the province of Manabí during 2024. The main objective was to analyze the potential correlation between the monthly behavior of key fuels (Diesel, Ecopais, Extra, and Super) and critical variables such as average labor income and employment structure. Methodology: A time-series analysis of real fuel prices and consumer price index (CPI) data was conducted. In addition, microdata from the National Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment Survey (ENEMDU) were processed and refined, specifically filtered for the province of Manabí. Results: The findings reveal significant monthly fluctuations in fuel prices, with particular emphasis on Super gasoline. A progressive decline in average income was observed as prices increased, with Ecopais showing the strongest negative correlation with income (-0.49). Moreover, a negative correlation between income and underemployment was identified, as well as a positive relationship between income and adequate employment. Conclusions: Although the correlations are not highly intense, their consistency supports the claim that variations in fuel prices produce measurable effects on the household economy of Manabí. These results provide valuable evidence for the design of public policies aimed at mitigating the impact of energy price fluctuations on the population.

The aim of this paper is to identify the microeconomic determinants of underemployment and unemployment in Ecuador before and after COVID-19. A multinomial logit model was estimated on the accumulated data from the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey (ENEMDU) for 2019 and 2022. The results show that the average worker has a 59% probability of being in an adequate job, 35% of being underemployed and 6% of being unemployed. These probabilities change significantly depending on the worker's education and experience. In addition, significant differences were evident by gender, ethnicity, role in the home, and marital status. These differences increased after COVID-19. Thus, underemployment and unemployment promote labor inequality in Ecuador. Based on the results, the public policy should be aimed at reducing economic and opportunity inequalities because vulnerable groups were identified in the labor market.

This paper estimates the microeconomic determinants of job´s quality in Ecuador before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Using data from the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey (ENEMDU) from 2019 and 2021, a job quality variable was created. This variable considers characteristics such as labor income, job stability and labor benefits. The empirical methodology consisted on estimating a Generalized Ordered Response Logistic Model (GOLM). The results show a process of precariousness in the labor market in Ecuador, with younger workers, less-educated workers and ethnic minorities being the most affected. Public policy should design programs for youth employment insertion and the prevention and elimination of labor discrimination.

This article aims to examine the existence of rule manipulation and moral hazard in the Brazilian Unemployment Insurance Program. For empirical analysis, the rule manipulation test by Cattaneo, Janson and Ma (2016) was used, as well as fuzzy and sharp regression discontinuity. The data was built using data from the National Employment and Unemployment Survey from January 2008 to June 2014 due to the greater homogeneity of the rules for benefit access. Based on the results, the program is an influence on the length of employment of Brazilian workers given the existence of rule manipulation, assessed by the length of stay in the last job. Furthermore, it was found that heads of families and their children were less likely to search for employment. This findings were corroborated when data from the program beneficiaries only was assessed, showing a lower job search probability, between -21.80 p.p. and -15.08 p.p. for the children, and between -39.40 p.p. and -28.50 p.p. for the heads of families. Thus, it is possible to confirm the existence of both rule manipulation the access of the program, as well as moral hazard, which points to the need to restructure the program, and above all, have less influence on the national labor market.