Labor Market Choices Research Articles

Expected Income and the Labor Market Choices of US Workers: A Geographically Weighted Regression Approach

This paper applies a locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (loess) method to estimate the spatially heterogeneous wages of demographic groups of workers across precisely defined US labor markets. We estimate a location choice model using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) using these estimates of labor market specific wages for men and women as determinants of their place of residence. We compare estimates of this model to a model using more aggregated measures of wages and locations from CPS. We show that these more refined definitions of labor markets and demographic groups provide more explanatory power in a simple migration model than less detailed definitions of labor markets and demographic groups.

Family and Labor Market Choices: Requirements to Guide Effective Evidence-Based Policy

Microsimulation methods and models of labor market decisions have attracted a lot of attention as an approach to the assessment of consequences of family related policies in the area of labor market and fertility. We set these models in the context of relevant demographic theories and present them from the point of view of their potential as tool to guide effective policy making with the aim to reconcile the objectives of increasing female participation and fertility and reducing poverty levels among families with children.

Factors motivating women's informal micro‐entrepreneurship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which motivate women's informal micro‐entrepreneurship in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative analysis employed in this paper is based upon empirical findings from field work conducted in the state of Penang on the north‐western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. In total, 39 hawkers (petty traders) were interviewed using an interview guide which contained open‐ended questions regarding work‐life history, labor market choices and conditions of work. The paper presents two selected case stories, as well as the general findings across the whole sample.FindingsIn contrast to the view that women's informal micro‐entrepreneurship is motivated only by “involuntary exclusion from the labor market” or “poverty”, this paper has found that women's micro‐entrepreneurship can be motivated by a wide range of factors including: to earn an income; interest in doing business; increased flexibility and autonomy; possibility to combine with family obligations; and re‐negotiating spatial practices. Conclusive with previous studies it also argues that necessity and choice may be “co‐present” in the motives to enter into entrepreneurship.Research limitations/implicationsThe limited sample of this study has implications for the generalizability of results. Further studies into the women's micro‐entrepreneurial activities in Malaysia are therefore encouraged.Social implicationsWomen's micro‐entrepreneurship is increasingly being promoted as a way to create growth and development (particularly through micro‐credit schemes). Increasing knowledge around motivational factors, performance and conditions of work for women informal micro‐entrepreneurs is therefore important when trying to establish appropriate policies.Originality/valueThere are very few studies in the Malaysian context which focus upon women's informal micro‐entrepreneurship in general and hawking in particular. This study therefore presents new knowledge around women's informal micro‐entrepreneurship in Malaysia.

Family and Labor Market Choices: Requirements to Guide Effective Evidence-Based Policy

Microsimulation methods and models of labor market decisions have attracted a lot of attention as an approach to the assessment of consequences of family related policies in the area of labor market and fertility. We set these models in the context of relevant demographic theories and present them from the point of view of their potential as tool to guide effective policy making with the aim to reconcile the objectives of increasing female participation and fertility and reducing poverty levels among families with children.

Decent Work and Domestic Workers in South Africa

The majority of domestic workers in South Africa are (black African) women. As long as women do not have the freedom to make their labour market choices, it cannot be said that they are empowered. Ideally, a move away from vulnerable employment into wage and salaried work would contribute towards the empowerment of women. However, the move from the agricultural sector to the services sector in private households hides the limited nature of women's empowerment. This article examines to what degree domestic workers in South Africa are afforded decent work institutionally. To this end, it considers four main challenges. First, the employment deficit: this means that people cannot find work or business opportunities in the formal economy. Second, the representational deficit: due to being unorganized, informal economy workers are excluded from (or under-represented in) social dialogue institutions and processes. Third, the rights deficit: workers' rights relating to freedom of association, collective bargaining, absence of forced labour, and discrimination are insufficient or non-existent. Fourth, the social protection deficit: clearly even though the workers in the domestic sector and informal economy are most in need of social protection, they are unable to access formal social protection schemes due to membership and contribution issues. It has been argued that when attempting to give meaning to the Decent Work Agenda, one may have regard to four strategic objectives, namely, promoting and realizing standards and fundamental principles and rights at work, creating opportunities for women (and men) to secure decent employment and income, enhancing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all, and strengthening tripartism and social dialogue. This paper analyses and critically evaluates how these strategic objectives have been pursued with respect to domestic workers and to what extent they have been achieved.

The Implications of Cultural Background on Labour Market Choices: The Case of Religion and Entrepreneurship

We suggest a methodology for identifying the implications of alternative cultural and social norms embodied by religious denomination on labour market outcomes, by estimating the differential impact of Protestantism versus Catholicism on the propensity to be an entrepreneur, on the basis of the diverse minority status of both confessions across European regions. Our quasi-experimental research design exploits the stronger degree of attachment to religious ethic of religious minorities and the exogenous historical determination of the geographical distribution of religious minorities in Europe. Our analysis of European Social Survey data collected in four waves between 2002 and 2008 in 22 European countries, indicates that cultural background has a significant effect on the individual propensity to become an entrepreneur, with Protestantism increasing the chances to be an entrepreneur by around 3% with respect to Catholicism. Our findings, stable across a number of robustness checks, provide further evidence on the need to take cultural elements into consideration when analysing economic behaviour.

Welfare Conditionality, Inequality and Unemployed People with Alternative Values

Labour and Conservatives' claims that welfare conditionality is ‘fair’ rely upon an empirically unsupported assumption that almost-equal opportunities can exist alongside starkly unequal outcomes. Fifty interviews examined in-depth a diverse sample's values, views about work and welfare, and labour market choices. Respondents' views on equality strongly influenced their views on conditionality and what they considered acceptable labour market behaviour. ‘Alternative’ unemployed respondents, who rejected politicians' suggestions they ‘should work’, nevertheless favoured an equal society with work obligations and often undertook voluntary work. The article concludes that policy-makers should be more sensitive to Jobseeker's Allowance claimants' diverse moralities and motivations.

THE EFFECT OF WORK STATUS AND WORKING CONDITIONS ON MENTAL HEALTH IN FOUR OECD COUNTRIES

This study aims to assess empirically whether being employed or returning to work is beneficial for all in terms of mental health, especially for those who already suffer from a longstanding illness or disability. We use longitudinal surveys from Australia, Canada, Switzerland and the UK to estimate panel data models that link decisions regarding labour market choices to health developments. To allow for state dependence of mental health, a dynamic panel model is used. The longitudinal analysis shows that non-employment generally is worse for mental health than working. The mental-health payoff to employment varies depending on the type of employment contract and working conditions. In particular, the mental health benefits for inactive individuals who obtain a non-standard job appear to be smaller than for those moving into standard employment arrangements, even after controlling for pre-existing mental health problems.

Opportunity Wages, Classroom Characteristics, and Teacher Mobility

This article analyzes the impact of classroom characteristics and opportunity wages on four possible labor market choices of teachers in Florida: remaining at their present school, switching schools within a school district, changing school districts, and leaving teaching. Discrete‐time multinomial‐logit‐hazard model estimates indicate that classroom characteristics play a larger role than school average student characteristics in determining teacher mobility. Opportunity wages based on past teacher movements to other competing districts and professions are found to pull teachers away from their initial placements. Once opportunity wages and working conditions are considered, teachers' own salaries are found to exert little impact on teacher mobility within the profession; although, they reduce attrition out of the profession. Policy simulations indicate that targeted salary increases based on teacher‐specific working conditions are important to retain teachers at a given school.

Labor market work and home care's unpaid caregivers: a systematic review of labor force participation rates, predictors of labor market withdrawal, and hours of work.

As people continue to age and receive complex health care services at home, concern has arisen about the availability of family caregivers and their ability to combine employment with caregiving. This article evaluates the international research on unpaid caregivers and their labor market choices, highlighting three conclusions: first, caregivers in general are equally as likely to be in the labor force as noncaregivers; second, caregivers are more likely to work fewer hours in the labor market than noncaregivers, particularly if their caring commitments are heavy; and finally, only those heavily involved in caregiving are significantly more likely to withdraw from the labor market than noncaregivers. Policy recommendations are targeting greater access to formal care for "intensive" caregivers and developing workplace policies for employed caregivers.

Regulator performance, regulatory environment and outcomes: An examination of insurance regulator career incentives on state insurance markets

In this paper we test whether the past or future labor market choices of insurance commissioners provide incentives for regulators in states with price regulation to either favor or oppose the industry by allowing prices that differ significantly from what would otherwise be the competitive market outcome. Using biographical data on insurance regulators, economic and state specific market structure and regulatory variables, and state premium and loss data on the personal automobile insurance market, we find no evidence consumers in prior approval states paid significantly different “unit prices” for insurance than consumers in states that allow competitive market forces to determine equilibrium prices during the time period 1985–2002. We do, however, find evidence regulators who obtained the position of insurance commissioner by popular election and those who seek higher elective office following their tenure as insurance commissioner allow higher overall “unit prices” relative to competitive market states. The “unit price” of insurance in regulated states is not statistically different from the competitive market outcome for regulators that make lateral moves back into state government and it is mildly higher for regulators who enter the insurance industry following their tenure. Finally, we find some evidence regulators who describe themselves as consumer advocates are successful reducing the price of insurance in favor of consumers in regulated markets. Overall the results are consistent with the existence of asymmetric information in the regulatory process that agents use to enhance their career aspirations.

Regulator Performance, Regulatory Environment and Outcomes: An Examination of Insurance Regulator Career Incentives on State Insurance Markets

In this paper we test whether the past or future labor market choices of insurance commissioners provides incentives for regulators in states with regulation to either favor or oppose the industry by allowing that differ significantly from what would otherwise be the competitive market outcome. Using biographical data on insurance regulators, economic and state specific market structure and regulatory variables, and state premium and loss data on the personal automobile insurance market, we find no evidence consumers in prior approval states paid significantly different unit prices for insurance than consumers in states that allow competitive market forces to determine equilibrium during the time period 1985-2002. We do, however, find evidence regulators who seek higher elective office following their tenure as insurance commissioner allow higher overall unit prices relative to competitive market states. The unit price of insurance in regulated states is not statistically different from the competitive market outcome for regulators that make lateral moves back into state government and it is mildly higher for regulators who enter the insurance industry following their tenure. Overall the results are consistent with the existence of asymmetric information in the regulatory process that agents use to enhance their career aspirations.

Health insurance and labor market outcomes: Joint decision-making within households

Most Americans obtain access to health insurance through an employer. In this paper, we ask how the link between health insurance and employment affects labor market choices such as whether to work full-time. To understand the effect of the incentives embedded in the employer-based insurance system, we study the joint decision-making of husbands and wives that determines the household's access to health insurance. We estimate the effect on a wife's (husband's) labor market outcomes of husband's (wife's) health insurance, allowing the health insurance of both spouses to be endogenous. Obtaining unbiased estimates of such effects is complicated by the likelihood that positive assortative mating creates correlations between a couple's characteristics and the possibility that there are important unobservable household income effects. Our innovation is to measure these biases by examining a second fringe benefit, paid sick leave, in addition to health insurance. We find that, as predicted, spouse's insurance has statistically significant negative effects on being offered own employer insurance as well as on the probability of working full-time with health insurance.

Agency Versus Structure: Path Dependency and Choice in Low-Wage Labor Markets

The growing preponderance of low-wage work in America challenges the dual mission of Human Resource Development Practitioners to foster individual and organizational learning and performance. In the prevailing discourse of the learning society, individual success and mobility are available to all who assume personal responsibility and agency in the labor market. A competing discourse posits that the emerging structure of work disadvantages a growing number of workers, leading to labor market segregation and significant economic disparity. The author argues that both agency and structure interact in low-wage labor markets to create and limit opportunity for workers. The aim of this article is to locate the learning challenges faced by low-wage workers and their employers and to explore what Human Resource Development Practitioners can do to mitigate the growth of low-wage work and its individual and social consequences.

Self-Esteem and Labour Market Choices

We assume that people have beliefs about their abilities, that these generate self-esteem, and that self-esteem is valued intrinsically. We consider the implications for an individual's incentive to manage their self-esteem in the labour market. Employing a model of labour market search with Bayesian updating, we show that a self-esteem sensitive individual has an incentive to avoid the situation (in avoiding the truth), self-handicap (in avoiding the truth without avoiding search), to employ downward comparison (in manipulating the truth), and engage in defensive pessimism (in avoiding materially damaging strategies like self-handicapping).

Labour market concentration of Asian ethnic groups in US metropolitan areas: a disaggregated study

AbstractEthnic labour market concentration has been attracting increasing attention in recent years. But the Asian ethnic group has been treated as a homogeneous group in most studies on ethnic labour market segmentation. Using the 1% Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) from the metropolitan areas in the United States with the largest Asian populations, this study shows that Asian ethnic groups are quite diverse in their labour market concentrations. Asian Indian, Japanese and Filipino workers are more concentrated in professional and management employment sectors, which generally require higher levels of skill, English proficiency and education. By contrast, Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese groups are more concentrated in the labour‐intensive, semi‐ or low‐skilled manufacturing and personal service sectors. Their concentration patterns are closely related to their human capital characteristics. However, human capital cannot entirely explain the process of labour market choice. Analysis indicates that working with co‐ethnic populations could provide more job opportunities for disadvantaged workers, as a result of social networking. Location factors also impact niche employment choice. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Leaving home, returning home: Migration as a labor market choice for Alaska Natives

We investigate determinants of the pattern of recent migration of Alaska Natives between rural homelands and urban areas. A review of the literature on moving in the North American North suggests that economic opportunities draw migrants, although such opportunities must be viewed in the context of the mixed subsistence-cash economy prevailing in rural areas of the region. Consequently, we model Native migration as a simultaneous decision with labor market participation in a mixed economy. Estimated equations explaining individual Alaska Native migration choices using the U.S. Census Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) are consistent with the model, and also suggest that perceived opportunities differ between women and men.

Constraints and Choices in Mothers' Employment careers: a Consideration of Hakim's Preference Theory

This paper provides an empirical examination of women's work histories following a first birth, their sex-role attitudes, and the relationship between attitudes and work history. In the light of these analyses, the aptness of Preference Theory as an explanation for the position of women in the British labour market is considered. Addressed in particular is Hakim's argument that the main determinant of women's heterogeneous employment patterns and work histories is heterogeneity in their preferences for differing combinations of family work and paid employment. Although support is found for Hakim's argument that employment careers are centrally important for only a minority of women, little evidence is adduced that it is preferences that distinguish the minority from the majority. The existence of a continuum of work-family preferences means that women with similar preferences (but differing capacities for overcoming constraints) will have very different labour market careers. Analysis of longitudinal data fails to support the central argument of Preference Theory that women in Britain and North America (countries where women live 'in the new scenario') have genuine, unconstrained choices about how they wish to live their lives. Instead, it is argued that a complete explanation of women's labour market choices after childbirth, and of the outcomes of those choices, depends as much on understanding the constraints that differentially affect women as it does on understanding their personal preferences.

Household Labor Market Choices and the Demand for Recreation

This paper introduces household labor market choices into the demand for recre- ation, showing that the opportunity cost of time- wage rate connection is severed when several household members have the opportunity to par- ticipate in the labor market at fixed wages. An ap- plication of recreation demand for households in New Bedford, Massachusetts, shows that the rec- reation demand models and estimates of con- sumer surplus are sensitive to household labor market choices. (Q26)

Pitfalls in Including Current Earnings in Labour Market Choice Estimating Equations

This paper examines the conditions under which an empirical model of employment choice based on the differential in current earnings is an adequate specification when the theoretical model suggests the use of the difference in present values of the stream of lifetime earnings. The difference between the two approaches is shown to be variables for the growth rates of earnings in the employment states over which choice is being made.