Earn Higher Wages Research Articles

Filipino Immigrants in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain: Health and Access to Services.

The Philippines is a source of labor for many countries. Roughly 10 million overseas Filipinos are working and living outside of the Philippines. This paper examines the association between sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, educational level, and income) and self-rated physical and mental health, access to healthcare, and health habits among immigrant Filipinos living in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. Through convenience sampling, Filipino migrants (n = 103) aged 18 years and above participated in the online survey between October 2022 and March 2023. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis and chi-square. Almost all respondents self-rated their health as excellent and very good. Female respondents are more affected by mental health. Most are enrolled in the Universal Health System of Spain (public insurance). There is more utilization of private health insurance among respondents aged 60 years and above and high-wage earners. Cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking are associated with males. More than half of the respondents perform weekly exercise occasionally or never. These findings suggest a potential need for targeted interventions with an emphasis on the practice of preventive health and the promotion of healthy lifestyles, especially among financially disadvantaged migrants with lesser health access.

Education as opportunity? The causal effect of education on labor market outcomes in Jordan

ABSTRACT This paper studies the impact of the 1988/1989 educational reform in Jordan which extended mandatory schooling from nine to ten years and restructured secondary schooling. Despite weakness in the Jordanian labor market, our estimates suggest that an additional year of required schooling in the late 1980s was sufficient to improve labor force participation, employment, and wages. These effects were initially largest for women, while males with more education were also slightly more likely to be self-employed, work longer hours, and earn higher wages. We show that the extensive margin gains we observe for women persist over the life cycle, while intensive margin gains materialize only later in life. In contrast, the impacts for men strengthen over the life-cycle. These patterns are consistent with a persistent influence of traditional gender norms in Jordanian society influencing labor market decision making.

Effects of supported employment on the competitive integrated employment outcomes of transition age and young adults with intellectual disabilities: A non-experimental causal comparative study

BACKGROUND: Supported employment has long been recognized as one of the most effective services for individuals with the most significant disabilities in achieving competitive integrated employment (CIE) outcomes. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effect of supported employment interventions on the employment outcomes of transition-age youth and young adults with intellectual disabilities served by state vocational rehabilitation agencies using a propensity score matching (PSM) approach. METHODS: We conducted a non-experimental causal comparative study with PSM to create a treatment group (n = 2162) and a comparison group (n = 2191) using the Rehabilitation Services Administration Case Service Report database (Program Year 2018). Chi-square test and t-test were used to analyze the differences between the treatment and control groups on employment outcomes, hourly wage and hours worked per week. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that transition-age youth and young adults with intellectual disabilities who received supported employment were more likely to achieve CIE, earn higher wages, and work longer hours weekly than the control group. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that supported employment is an effective service for enhancing the vocational rehabilitation outcomes of transition-age youth and young adults with intellectual disabilities and provides valuable information for policy makers, health care providers, rehabilitation counselors, and educators.

Urbanization favors high wage earners

As cities increase in size, total wages grow superlinearly, meaning that average wages are higher in larger cities. This phenomenon, known as the urban wage premium, supports the notion that urbanization and the growth of cities contribute positively to human well-being. However, it remains unclear how the distribution of wages changes as cities grow. Here we segment the populations of U.S. cities into wage deciles and determine the scaling coefficient of each decile’s aggregate wages versus city size. We find that, while total wages of all deciles grow superlinearly with city size, the effect is uneven, with total wages of the highest wage earners growing faster than all other deciles. We show that this corresponds with the predominance of high-wage jobs in larger cities. Thus, the effects of urbanization are mixed -- it is associated with higher average wages but with increasing inequality, thus inhibiting prospects for long-term sustainability.

APPROACHES TO FAIR AND EFFICIENT DISTRIBUTION OF THE TAX BURDEN IN TERMS OF INCOME TAX

The article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of applying income tax in three different regimes. The features of taxation of citizens with different levels of income were calculated and compared in case of application of progressive, flat and regressive system. Economic evaluations were given regarding the preservation and violation of the principle of justice in three taxation regimes. The article argues that in the case of applying a flat income tax system in Armenia, high and low wage earners are taxed at the same rates, which is certainly an unfair approach. Due to legislative changes, the tax burden of the socially disadvantaged class has increased, as the rates of excise taxes have also increased. The tax burden is unfairly distributed, due to which the social polarization in the country deepens. As a result of the study of international experience and taking into account the features of our country's economy, proposals were made that will contribute to the more fair distribution of the tax burden in terms of income tax. In order to distribute the tax burden fairly, it was proposed to review the current income tax system in the Republic of Armenia, in particular, to apply the former progressive system, but reducing the differences between the rates, and in case of leaving the current system, to set a non-taxable threshold. It has been presented under which regime the probability of the occurrence of tax loopholes is the greatest.

Gender Imbalances and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Large-Scale Mexican Migration

Abstract We study the consequences of international migration on labor market outcomes in a developing country. Specifically, we look at the case of Mexico, where large-scale international migration has led to significant declines in the male/female ratio. We explore whether this results in Mexican women entering high-skilled and better paying jobs over time. This question is relevant since there has been an increase in women's education and labor force participation across the developing world, but less evidence of improvements in the gender wage gap. Using an instrumental variables strategy that relies on historical migration patterns, we find that when there are relatively fewer men, women are more likely to work, have high-skilled jobs, and some earn higher wages. These results are robust to the inclusion of state, age group, and year fixed effects, and to different measures of migration and data sources. We explore investments in human capital as a key mechanism. We find that the gains in schooling are concentrated among women with the same average level of education of the men who migrate. From an aggregate perspective, these improvements in job type and wages are important given that higher female income may benefit the status, education, and health of both women and children, which in turn increases a country's development and growth. Our findings are among the few that show some movement toward improvements in the gender wage gap in a developing country setting.

Scaling of Inequality: Urbanization Favors High Wage Earners

As cities increase in size, total wages grow superlinearly, meaning that average wages are higher in larger cities. This phenomenon, known as the urban wage premium, supports the notion that urbanization and the growth of cities contribute positively to human well-being. However, it remains unclear how the distribution of wages changes as cities grow. Here we segment the populations of U.S. cities into wage deciles and determine the scaling coefficient of each bracket's aggregate wages versus city size. We find that, while total wages of all these categories grow superlinearly with city size, the effect is uneven, with total wages of the highest wage earners growing faster than all other wage brackets. We show that this is partly due to the predominance of high-wage jobs in larger cities. Thus, the effects of urbanization are mixed -- it brings higher average wages but with increasing inequality, thus inhibiting prospects for long-term sustainability.

Stochastic Earnings Growth and Equilibrium Wealth Distributions

The cross-section distribution of U.S. wealth is more skewed than the distribution of labor earnings. Stachurski and Toda (2019) explain how plain vanilla Bewley-Aiyagari-Huggett (BAH) models with infinitely lived agents can't generate that pattern because an equilibrium risk-free rate is lower than the time rate of preference and each person's wealth process is stationary. We provide two modifications of a BAH model that generate this pattern: (1) overlapping generations of agents who have low wealth at birth and pass through N life-stage transitions of stochastic lengths, and (2) labor-earnings processes that exhibit stochastic growth. With only a few parameters such a model can well approximate mappings from the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient for cross-sections of labor earnings to their counterparts for cross sections of wealth. Three forces amplify inequality in wealth relative to inequality in labor-earnings: stochastic life-stage transitions; a precautionary savings motive for high wage earners that is especially strong after they receive positive permanent earnings shocks; and an energetic life-cycle saving motive for agents who have low wealth at birth. An equilibrium risk-free interest rate that exceeds a time preference rate fosters a fat-tailed wealth distribution. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

Disentangling retirement and savings responses

In January 2006, the Dutch government implemented a pension reform that substantially reduced the public pension wealth of workers born in 1950 or later. At the same time, a tax-facilitated savings plan was introduced that implied a large savings subsidy for all workers, irrespective of birth year. This paper uses linked administrative and survey data to assess the effect of the reform on the savings and retirement expectations and realizations of two virtually identical male cohorts that differ only in treatment status, the treated having been born in 1950 and the controls having been born in 1949. We show that retirement expectations are in line with realizations and that the reform increased the labor supply for the larger part of the workers, namely, those without sufficient means to substantially increase private savings to counter the effect of the reform. These workers have zero substitution rates between private and public wealth. On the other hand, there is a group of mostly high-wage workers who participate in the tax-facilitated savings plan and increase their private savings to fully counter the impact of the drop in public wealth. An unintended side effect of the introduction of the tax-facilitated savings plan is that high-wage earners who are not affected by the drop in pension wealth retire even sooner than initially planned.

Disentangling Retirement and Savings Responses

In January 2006, the Dutch government implemented a pension reform that substantially reduced the public pension wealth of workers born in 1950 or later. At the same time, a tax-facilitated savings plan was introduced that implied a large savings subsidy for all workers, irrespective of birth year. This paper uses linked administrative and survey data to assess the effect of the reform on the savings and retirement expectations and realizations of two virtually identical male cohorts that differ only in treatment status, the treated having been born in 1950 and the controls having been born in 1949. We show that retirement expectations are in line with realizations and that the reform increased the labor supply for the larger part of the workers, namely, those without sufficient means to substantially increase private savings to counter the effect of the reform. These workers have zero substitution rates between private and public wealth. On the other hand, there is a group of mostly high-wage workers who participate in the tax-facilitated savings plan and increase their private savings to fully counter the impact of the drop in public wealth. An unintended side effect of the introduction of the tax-facilitated savings plan is that high-wage earners who are not affected by the drop in pension wealth retire even sooner than initially planned.

Does employer learning with statistical discrimination exist in China? Evidence from Chinese Micro Survey Data

Because employers cannot perfectly recognize workers’ actual ability when recruiting, they have rational expectations for worker productivity only through considering easily observable characteristics such as education. However, with the increase in labour market experience, employers gradually learn actual productivity through historical working performance. The above phenomenon is called employer learning with statistical discrimination (EL-SD). This paper confirms that EL-SD significantly exists in the Chinese labour market based on Chinese Household Income Program (CHIP) data from 2013 and Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data from 2012 to 2014. Furthermore, EL-SD is hardly corroborated for advantaged workers such as males, college graduates, highly skilled workers, high wage earners, and workers in large businesses or the urban labour market.

Where are they now? Flexi school graduates reflect on their experiences of alternative education

ABSTRACT Young people who graduate from high school are more likely to transition into further study or training, get a job and earn higher wages. However, many young people with the highest needs leave or become excluded from mainstream school settings and some complete their education in alternative education contexts. This paper shares reflections from Flexi School graduates on their experiences of alternative education, demonstrating their commitment to employment and integration into their communities, because their alternative education enabled them to gain a sense of belonging. Graduates assert the significance of their alternative schooling experiences in improving their outcomes and helping them overcome disadvantage and marginalisation. We contend that alternative schooling can help marginalised young people attain the skills and qualifications required for further study or training by giving them proficiencies, confidence and attitudes that help to generate positive opportunities and outcomes.

Bachelor Diploma and Professional Achievement of Recent Graduates

In 2015 Narxoz University introduced a major change to its academic policy. Final year bachelor students were required to complete team-based diploma projects, focused on solving real business problems, instead of writing standard, often purely descriptive and theoretical diploma theses. This article uses data science models (linear regression, logit and CART) to analyze the effects of this policy change on recent graduates’ employability and wage levels using results of telephone survey conducted among 1956 graduates in 2015 and 2016. Estimated models show that students who have firm plans to find jobs, acquire valuable competences when preparing bachelor diploma and actively participate in student life, have higher probability of employment and earn higher wages. It means that the process of writing bachelor diploma should be carefully designed and monitored and that student learning outcomes also depend on their extra-curricular activity. Such analysis provides deep and interesting insights into the learning and assessment processes and should be a part of annual quality assurance review in every university. For example, results indicate that grading practices at Narxoz require a major review, as graduates with higher GPA did not exhibit higher employability nor higher wages. Similarly, curricula of some specializations (majors) should be reviewed due to low employment rate of graduates. Appropriate changes have already been implemented at Narxoz in 2017. Finally, we found that economic shocks have much stronger short-term impact on recent graduates’ employability and wages than reforms of academic curricula.

Duration of Parental Leave and Women's Employment

The impact of the duration of parental leave on women's employment in Korea is examined by focusing on the heterogeneous effects. The results of the extension of the maximum job-protected leave from 12 months to 15 months are as follows. First, the policy change led to more female employees taking leave more often and for longer periods. The impact of leave take-up on high wage earners is found to be smaller than that on their low wage counterparts, but that on duration is larger; this points to a fixed cost in switching between own and paid child care. Further, those in large firms tend to benefit more than those in small- or medium-sized firms. Second, the extension encouraged women to return to work 2–3 years after childbirth, but this effect diminished after 4 years. The findings suggest that the distributional effect should be considered in designing leave policy.

Pension Reform: Disentangling Retirement and Savings Responses

In January 2006, the Dutch government implemented a pension reform that substantially reduced the public pension wealth of workers born in 1950 or later. At the same time, a tax-facilitated savings plan was introduced that substantially reduced the saving costs of all workers, irrespective of birth year. This paper uses linked administrative and survey data to assess the effect of the reform on the savings and retirement expectations and realizations of two virtually identical male cohorts that differ only in treatment status, the treated having been born in 1950 and the controls having been born in 1949. We show that retirement expectations are in line with realizations and that the reform had the intended effect on the labor supply for the larger part of the workers, namely, those without sufficient means to substantially increase private savings to counter the effect of the reform. These workers, who are generally in worse health, have zero substitution rates between private and public wealth. On the other hand, there is a group of mostly high-wage workers who participate in the tax-facilitated Life Course Savings Scheme and who increase private savings to fully counter the impact of the drop in public wealth. A further, unintended side effect of the introduction of the tax-facilitated savings plan is that high wage earners who are not affected by the drop in pension wealth retire even sooner than initially planned.

Labour income inequality in Mexico: Puzzles solved and unsolved

We analyse the evolution and proximate determinants of labour income inequality in Mexico between 1989 and 2017. Labour income inequality increased between 1989 and 1994 and declined between 1994 and 2006. What happened after 2006 is subject to uncertainty. The national labour force survey shows a steady decline and the income expenditure survey suggests that inequality increased. We correct for high and rising item (labour income) non-response and underrepresentation of high-wage earners through a ‘hot deck’ imputation method and post-survey weight adjustments. We obtain the new weights for formal workers from tabulations recently released by the Mexican social security administration. For informal workers, we correct using the hot deck imputation method. With corrected data, inequality no longer declines between 2006 and 2017.

Bad Karma or Discrimination? Male–Female Wage Gaps Among Salaried Workers in India

Summary We use nationally representative data from the Employment–Unemployment Surveys in 1999–2000 and 2009–10 to explore gender wage gaps among Regular Wage/Salaried (RWS) workers in India, both at the mean, as well as along the entire wage distribution to see “what happens where”. The gender log wage gap at the mean is 55% in 1999–2000 and 49% in 2009–10, but this change is not statistically significant. The Blinder–Oaxaca and the Machado–Mata–Melly decompositions indicate that, in both years, the bulk of the gender wage gap is unexplained, i.e., possibly discriminatory. They also reveal that over the decade, while the wage-earning characteristics of women improved relative to men, the discriminatory component of the gender wage gap also increased. In fact, in 2009–10, if women were “paid like men”, they would have earned more than men on account of their characteristics. In both years, we see the existence of the “sticky floor”, in that gender wage gaps are higher among low-wage earners and lower for high-wage earners. Over the ten-year period, we find that the sticky floor became “stickier” for RWS women. Machado–Mata–Melly decompositions reveal that, in both years, women at the lower end of the wage distribution face higher discriminatory gaps compared to women at the upper end.

The extent and nature of downward nominal wage flexibility: An analysis of longitudinal worker/establishment data from Korea

Analysis of a special dataset constructed from the Survey on Labor Conditions by Type of Employment finds evidence that does not support the downward nominal wage rigidity hypothesis during the 2008–2009 through 2012–2013 period, which was a period of low inflation and low economic growth. Our analysis finds at least one in every four job stayers experienced nominal wage cuts from one year to the next, and few experienced nominal wage freezes. The extent of downward nominal wage flexibility is somewhat greater in Korea than in Great Britain and the United States, which have the most flexible labor markets among OECD countries. Our analysis at the establishment level uncovers the nature of this downward nominal wage flexibility. The observed downward flexibility does not result from a fraction of employers cutting most of their workers’ wages, but from a majority of employers cutting a fraction of their workers’ wages fairly routinely. The size of nominal wage reductions is substantial. In addition, employers tend to ‘choose’ high wage earners for wage cuts.

Who Reacts to Income Tax Rate Changes? The Relationship between Income Taxes and the Motivation to Work: The Case of Azerbaijan

This research investigates the effects of income taxation on the motivation to work by employing a survey method for the Azerbaijan population. The two research questions of interest are, if subjects consider income taxes when deciding how many hours to work and how subjects would react to a hypothetical 5% income tax rate increase. Also examined are the responses to these questions between subjects with different socio-economic characteristics. Examining cross-sectional data of 326 respondents reveals that income taxes do not influence Azerbaijan labour market participants’ motivation to work, regardless of their socio-economic characteristics. Empirical results indicate that reactions to hypothetical income tax rate increases show that the strength of response differs significantly across gender, age, marital status, field of employment, and income level. However, there are no significant results for differences in gender and after-tax wages. Our study contributes to the labour supply literature with the theory that after an income tax is imposed, both the average price and the average utility of leisure is greater for high wage earners than low wage earners.

Child Care Provision and Women's Careers in Firms

This paper investigates the impact of government provided child care on women's careers. Using a unique employer-employee matched dataset from Germany and persistent county level differences in government provided child care between East and West Germany, we find that women and particularly mothers earn higher salaries if child care provision is high. In addition, they are more likely to experience large positive wage changes. Results are accentuated for high female wage earners, women with higher education, and mothers with many and small children. The positive impact of child care provision on women's careers results in a larger pool of qualified women firms can draw from. In line with this view, we show that the negative stock market reaction to mandated gender quotas that has been posited in the literature is mitigated for firms located in regions with high government provided child care.