Determining Labor Market Outcomes Research Articles

Time Pressure Preferences

Many professional and educational settings require individuals to be willing and able to perform under time pressure. We use a laboratory experiment and survey data to study preferences for working under time pressure. We make three main contributions. First, we develop an incentivized method to measure preferences for working under time pressure and document that participants in our laboratory experiment are averse to working under time pressure on average. Second, we show that there is substantial heterogeneity in the degree of time pressure aversion across individuals and that these individual preferences can be partially captured by simple survey questions. Third, we include these questions in a survey of bachelor’s degree students and a nationally representative survey panel and show that time pressure preferences predict career choices and income. Our results indicate that individual differences in time pressure aversion could be an influential factor in determining labor market outcomes. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Funding: This work was supported by the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation, European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme [Grant 850590]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.02078 .

The Determinants of Okun’s Coefficients in Oil-Producing Countries: New Evidence from Quantile Regression

Oil dependence, as a main factor in driving economic growth, undoubtedly plays a crucial role in determining labour market outcomes. This paper utilises the quantile regression approach and the dynamic system GMM methods to investigate the role of oil dependence in determining Okun’s coefficient differences. This study uses the difference version of Okun’s law to estimate Okun’s coefficients for each country through the “rolling window technique” from 1991 to 2019 for panel data from 29 oil-producing countries. Okun’s coefficients, estimated in the previous step, became the dependent variable in the second step. The results indicated that the differences in oil dependence prove relevant when accounting for Okun’s law differences in oil-producing countries. In other words, oil dependency is found to be the key determinant of Okun’s coefficient. Particularly as oil production per capita increases, unemployment becomes less sensitive to output growth. Additionally, this study has found that better institution quality and a higher level of unemployment strengthen Okun’s coefficient. Finally, our results confirm the effect of the financial crisis on Okun’s coefficients. The findings of this paper conclude with clear evidence for policymakers about the role of oil dependency in economic performance. Economic policy improvements enable a country’s oil income to be used more effectively by strengthening its economic sectors, achieving higher economic growth, and thus lowering unemployment rates. The governments of these countries should pay attention to the structural reforms that enhance the development of the non-oil sector and improve the incentives for workers to promote employment in other economic sectors

Youth labor market vulnerabilities: evidence from Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence and drivers of employment vulnerability among youth in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, and their propensity to transition to better jobs over time.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on longitudinal data from Labor Market Panel Surveys spanning 6–20 years. The authors use transition matrices to examine the prevalence of transitions between labor market statuses for the same individuals over time, distinguishing between youth and non-youth, and men and women, as well as multinomial logistic regressions that control for individual and family background, including previous labor market status, family wealth and parental education.FindingsThe paper finds that youth in all three countries were disadvantaged in terms of labor market outcomes with most young men in particular ending up in vulnerable jobs while women of all ages were most likely to exit the labor market all together, unless they had formal jobs. Moreover, youth who started out in the labor market in a vulnerable job were unlikely to move to a better-quality job over time. Family wealth, parental education and father's occupation were found to be important determinants of labor market outcomes and vulnerability, even after a long period of work experience.Social implicationsThe paper finds that wealth effects, parental education and occupation effects follow workers throughout their careers, implying low equality of opportunity and inter-generational and lifetime mobility.Originality/valueThe findings indicate worsening labor market outcomes over time, heavily influenced by family background. High levels of vulnerable employment persistence, regardless of skill and experience, reinforce the importance of initial labor market outcome on the quality of lifetime employment prospects.

Labor mobility barriers and rural-urban migration in transitional China

Rural-urban migration is an inherent component of urbanization and economic development. This paper develops a model of labor migration, focusing on the role of selection effects in determining labor market outcomes. The model is then calibrated to quantify the effects of China's labor market reforms on labor market outcomes, outputs, and income. Results find that the removal of legal labor mobility constraints and lowering of migration costs benefit the overall economy in terms of GDP and total welfare, but rural-urban migration also causes a brain drain in rural areas, and decreases agricultural production while inflating the price of agricultural products. In terms of inequality, migration narrows the urban-rural labor income gap, but when considering capital income, migration actually increases urban-rural inequality.

The Determinants of Labor Market Outcomes in Four-year graduates through Principal Component Analysis and Correspondence Analysis By training institution

The Determinants of Labor Market Outcomes in Four-year graduates through Principal Component Analysis and Correspondence Analysis By training institution

Uncertainty and the geography of the great recession

The variation in a state-level measure of local economic-policy uncertainty during the 2007–2009 recession matches the cross-sectional distribution of unemployment outcomes in this period. This relationship is robust to numerous controls for other determinants of labor market outcomes. Using preexisting state institutions that amplified uncertainty, we find evidence that this type of local uncertainty played a causal role in increasing unemployment. Together, these results suggest that increased uncertainty contributed to the severity of the Great Recession.

Putting social capital in (a family) perspective: Determinants of labour market outcomes among Senegalese women in Europe

This article examines the ways in which the family context of migration and migrant networks shape the economic integration of immigrant women. It focuses on Senegalese women’s labour market outcomes in Europe, using recently collected quantitative data from the ‘Migration between Africa and Europe’ project. The family context of migration is one of the most important drivers of employment: women migrating independently are more likely to work than those who reunite with their partner at destination; marriage migrants are the least likely to be employed. In contrast, the role of migrant networks is less influential and depends largely on the family context. Sharing childcare is the most important function of social networks for women migrating with young children. For those migrating independently of a partner, female ties are the most influential social resource in securing employment. However, confirming previous qualitative findings, these networks lead to low-quality jobs upon arrival.

Making the cut: occupation-specific factors influencing employers in their recruitment and selection of immigrant professionals in the information technology and accounting occupations in regional Australia

The ongoing underutilisation of immigrant skills has become a topical issue for researchers and policy-makers alike. Within Australia, the majority of studies conducted in this space have adopted either the immigrant or policy-maker perspective, and have utilised human capital theory or labour market segmentation theory to explain the phenomenon. This paper contributes to the existing literature by proposing a novel occupation-specific approach focusing on the employer as a central player in determining labour market outcomes. In this exploratory study, interviews were conducted with 21 employers of accounting and IT employers in the regional city of Wollongong, Australia. The findings suggest that employers of accountants held a greater preference for Australian work experience and qualifications; communication skills beyond English language skills; and emphasised person–organisation fit over person–job fit. Conversely, employers of immigrant IT professionals were more tolerant of overseas-based qualifications and experience; were willing to accept candidates with ‘sub-standard’ communication skills; and were open to personal attribute variations. Immigrant accounting professionals were therefore more likely than their IT counterparts to experience disadvantage when seeking employment opportunities in Australia; a finding that represents important implications for immigrant professionals, policy-makers and employers.

Commercial migration intermediaries and the segmentation of skilled migrant employment

Like all migration, skilled migration depends on intermediary operators providing services that assist the mobility, labour market entry and integration of migrant workers. However, within what is a relatively disparate body of literature on migrant work, there is often either a complete neglect, or only fragmented acknowledgement and analysis of how migration intermediaries influence migrants’ access to destination labour markets. By re-engaging with the literature on skilled migration, the authors highlight the importance of new theorizing and empirical investigations into the labour market implications of intermediary activities, which at present remain poorly understood. Most particularly, this article highlights how migration intermediaries shape recruitment, selection and placement, thereby in part determining labour market outcomes for particular groups of migrant workers.

Institutional Determinants of Labor Market Outcomes for Community College Students in North Carolina

Objective: The labor market success of community college students depends on both the attributes of individual students and the characteristics of the community colleges they attend. In this article, we examine the impact of community college characteristics on the earnings of first-time college students who enrolled in the North Carolina Community College System in 2002-2003. Method: We estimate multilevel models that incorporate variables representing institutional features of community colleges along with individual characteristics obtained from student-level administrative college transcript data, Unemployment Insurance wage data, and enrollment and graduation data from the National Student Clearinghouse across 830,000 community college students between 2001 and 2010. Results: We find that a number of characteristics of community colleges enhance earnings independently of the attributes of individuals. In particular, males attending community colleges in service areas with higher unemployment rates receive lower earnings, and students in colleges with larger enrollments earn more. Contributions: There are relatively few studies of how institutional factors affect community college effectiveness and those that do this usually concentrate on the attainment of particular awards or transfer rates to 4-year colleges. We address this gap by examining how institutional factors influence the labor market returns to community college participation. Our results underscore the importance of social contexts for explaining student achievement and success as well as highlight the need for much more research to understand differences in labor market outcomes of community college participation and the economic value of credentials and credits.

Macroeconomic Determinants of Labour Market Outcomes in Economic Community of West African States

Macroeconomic Determinants of Labour Market Outcomes in Economic Community of West African States

The effect of sexual activity on wages

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate whether sexual activity is associated with wages, and also to estimate potential interactions between individuals’ characteristics, wages and sexual activity. Design/methodology/approach – The central hypothesis behind this research is that sexual activity, alike health indicators and mental well-being, may be thought of as part of an individual’s set of productive traits that affect wages. Using two-stage estimations the author examines the relationship between adult sexual activity and wages. Findings – The author estimates that there is a monotonic relationship between the frequency of sexual activity and wage returns, whilst the returns to sexual activity are higher for those between 26 and 50 years of age. In addition, heterosexuals’ sexual activity does not seem to provide higher or lower wage returns than that of homosexuals, but wages are higher for those health-impaired employees who are sexually active. Over-identification tests, robustness checks, falsification tests, as well as, decomposition analysis and sample selection modelling enhance study’s strength. Social implications – Contemporary social analysis suggests that health, cognitive and non-cognitive skills and personality are important factors that affect wage level. Sexual activity may also be of interest to social scientists, since sexual activity is considered to be a barometer for health, quality of life, well-being and happiness. Originality/value – The paper adds to the literature on the importance of unobserved characteristics in determining labour market outcomes.

Unemployment among Canadians with physical and a co-morbid mental disability: An examination of the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS)

BackgroundCo-occurring disabilities are common and data indicate that those with both physical and mental disabilities face greater discrimination in the workforce. However, studies that consider disability type in determining labor market outcomes are needed; particularly in Canada. ObjectiveThe objective was to examine the association of disability type and unemployment among working-aged Canadians using data from the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS). MethodsThe 2006 PALS is a post-censal sample survey of individuals whose everyday activities are limited due to a physical/mental condition. The study design is cross-sectional. Two groups were compared: persons with one or more physical disabilities exclusively vs. those with one or more physical disabilities and a mental disability. We calculated the prevalence of unemployment and used multiple logistic regression to measure the association between disability type and unemployment, while considering relevant covariates. ResultsThe prevalence of unemployment was 20% overall; 35.4% in those with a co-morbid mental disability and 18.5% in those with exclusively physical disabilities. Those with a mental co-morbidity had approximately double the odds of being unemployed relative to those with exclusively physical disabilities and the effect remained significant (at p < 0.05) after adjustment for socio-economic indicators and disability severity. ConclusionsCompared to those with exclusively physical disabilities, individuals with co-morbid physical and mental disabilities were found to be at a significantly greater disadvantage when accessing employment. More research is needed to clarify whether these findings are indicative of discrimination and to proceed toward removing workplace barriers that persist in this population.

Determinants of Labor Market Outcomes by College Majors: Comparing Graduates in Social Sciences and Humanities with in Natural Sciences and Engineering

Determinants of Labor Market Outcomes by College Majors: Comparing Graduates in Social Sciences and Humanities with in Natural Sciences and Engineering

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF ENTERPRISE BARGAINING: DISCUSSANT'S COMMENTS

The perennial $64m question of Australian Labour Economics: How to identify the effect of institutions on labour market outcomes? The complexity of the Australian industrial relations system, the lack of data allowing workers to be matched to the institutional arrangements under which they are working, and the difficulty of distinguishing the effects of institutions from other determinants of labour market outcomes - All these factors have contributed to there being a relatively limited empirical literature in Australia compared to other countries on topics such as the effects of labour market institutions on wages, employment or productivity.

Seeking Success in Canada and the United States: The Determinants of Labour Market Outcomes Among the Children of Immigrants

This paper reviews recent research on the determinants of the labour market outcomes of the children of immigrants in Canada and in the U.S. New research on labour market outcomes in Canada is also presented. In the aggregate, and with no controls, the labour market outcomes of the second generation - the children of immigrants - are equal to, or better than, those of the third-and-higher generations - the children of domestic-born parents. However, the story is somewhat different when the superior educational levels and the residential locations of the second generation are taken into account. In the U.S., the second generation’s advantage in labour market outcomes disappears; in Canada, among second-generation members of a visible-minority group, the advantage turns marginally negative. Ethnic group/source region differences in outcomes loom large in both countries. The important determinants of the earnings gap between the second generation and the third-and-higher generations include educational attainment, residential location, ethnic background, the degree of “ethnic capital,” and the educational and earnings mobility between immigrants and their children.

The Effects of Personality Traits on Adult Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Siblings

While large literatures have shown that cognitive ability and schooling increases employment and wages, an emerging literature examines the importance of so-called in producing labor market outcomes. However, this smaller literature has not typically used causal methods in estimating the results. One source of heterogeneity that may play an important role in producing both personality and other non-cognitive skills and labor market outcomes is family background, including genetic endowments. This paper is the first to use sibling differences to estimate the effects of personality on employment and wages and is also able to control for many other sources of heterogeneity, including attractiveness, cognitive ability, schooling, occupation, and other factors. Overall, the findings suggest that personality measures are important determinants of labor market outcomes in adulthood and that the results vary considerably by demographic group. The findings also highlight the potential role of extraversion in leading to favorable labor market outcomes, which has not been documented in many other studies.

Why Do So Many Women End Up in ‘Bad Jobs’? A Cross-country Assessment for Developing Countries

This study addresses gender differentials in labour market outcomes in developing countries. There is emerging evidence that even though women in developing countries increasingly enter the labour force, they often end up in jobs with low pay, low security and limited social mobility. We find that in addition to well-established factors determining labour market outcomes (such as education and training, care obligations and barriers to asset accumulation), social institutions are statistically associated with a gender bias in activity patterns and in occupations by sector and status. Our findings suggest that addressing discriminatory social norms, traditions and laws against women is crucial in allowing women to take up more and better jobs.

Structural Relationships Among Determinants of Labor Market Outcomes of College Graduates : Focusing on the Effects of Non-cognitive Abilities

Structural Relationships Among Determinants of Labor Market Outcomes of College Graduates : Focusing on the Effects of Non-cognitive Abilities

Resources in vocational education and post‐schooling outcomes

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of labour market outcomes after the initial vocational basic education (ISCED 3).Design/methodology/approachA multinomial logit model is used for examining the effect of school resources and other factors on students' post‐schooling outcomes defined as employment, further studies, non‐employment and dropping out. Analysis has been done by using unique linked register data on students, their parents, teachers, educational organisations and business companies in Finland.FindingsThe results indicate that teaching expenditures do not matter but teachers' characteristics have a role to play. Teachers with a university degree increase the employment probability of the students, whereas the formal competence of the teachers does not have such positive effects. The students' characteristics and performance in comprehensive schools play an important role in determining the outcomes. Local business conditions affect the outcomes of boys but less those of girls. The official quality evaluations adopted in recent years seem to pay attention especially to such aspects of education production that are important for providing capabilities for further studies but less so for employability.Originality/valueEmployability seems to be a great challenge to the initial vocational basic education. The findings for local business conditions give support to the view that measures of education policy do not suffice but need to be complemented with those of regional or employment policy, for example, policies aiming to increase regional mobility of the labour force. Such complementary tools are particularly important for boys.