Variations In Labor Force Participation Research Articles

Does Country Context Matter? Sub‐Saharan and North African Immigrants’ Labour Market Outcomes in France and Spain

AbstractEuropean debates on immigrant integration focus on employment because of its implications for assimilation. Although studies show that Sub‐Saharan African immigrants are most disadvantaged across Europe, cross‐national analyses do not examine labour force participation (LFP) or control for selection into the labour force before estimating employment, calling these results into question. Furthermore, studies rarely discuss visible minority status or gender making it unclear whether (1) country‐context matters for African LFP and employment and (2) visible minority status matters differently by gender. I use French and Spanish census data to determine whether Sub‐Saharan Africans are most disadvantaged in new and traditional receiving countries. My results indicate that country‐context matters, but previous employment findings likely reflect variation in LFP. Despite smaller penalties to migration characteristics in Spain, Sub‐Saharan African men are the only group significantly less likely to be employed in Spain, indicating that they experience unique barriers to job access.

Living arrangements and older People's labor force participation in Hong Kong, 1986–2016

Using the 1% random sample of Hong Kong population census and by-census data (1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016), we examine labor force participation (LFP) of older adults (aged 65+) and its association with living arrangements over a thirty-year span. Despite the large time period and the cohort variations in LFP, our cross-classified multilevel models (CCMM) showed a remarkably consistent linkage between the family context and older persons' LFP. Co-residence with adult children accompanies a lower level in older adults’ LPF, compared with living alone or with the spouse only, but the extent of the reduction depends on the marital status of the children. Those living with married children have the lowest LFP, but living with unmarried children, sons in particular, increases the likelihood of employment compared with living with married children. We discuss the findings in light of changing macroeconomic conditions, marriage trends, and Chinese cultural traditions in Hong Kong.

ESTIMATING THE NATURAL RATE OF HOURS

This paper proposes an alternative measure for the slack of the aggregate labor market. The natural rate of hours holds valuable information about the state of the labor market that is not reflected by conventional measures, such as the equilibrium rate of unemployment, because it takes the intensive margin into account and is robust to variations in labor force participation. We set up and estimate a multivariate unobserved-components model using information on GDP, inflation, and hours worked, and apply it to the United States and Germany. The estimated hours gap outperforms conventional unemployment gap measures in a Taylor rule by formal model comparison.

Labor force participation among Asian immigrant women: Findings from the 2007 American Community Survey

Using a nationally representative sample of Asian immigrant women in the USA (N = 33,032), we examined ethnic variations in labor force participation and different predictors of labor force participation among six Asian ethnic subgroups, including Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese. Our findings indicated that having a higher level of education, fewer children under age 5, US citizenship, a longer length of residence in the USA, and a better English proficiency were significantly related to higher rates of labor force participation among certain ethnic subgroups. The different predictors of labor force participation by ethnic subgroups were further analyzed in cultural contexts.

Informal Elderly Care and Women's Labour Force Participation Across Europe

This paper uses the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) to analyze the relationship between the dynamics of labour force participation and informal care to the elderly for a sample of women aged 20-59 across 13 European countries. The analysis has two focal points: the relative contributions of state dependence as well as observed and unobserved heterogeneity in explaining the dynamics in women’s labour force participation and the existence and consequences of non-random attrition from the ECHP. The results indicate positive state dependence in labour force participation in all 13 EU countries used in the analysis. The share of unobserved heterogeneity accounts for between 45% and 86% of the total variation in labour force participation. Informal care-giving is found to have a significant, negative impact on the probability of employment only in Germany. Nevertheless, analysis of different sub-groups indicates that the impact is largest for middle-aged women and also for single women in several EU countries.

Informal Eldercare across Europe: Estimates from the European Community Household Panel

This paper uses the European Community Household Panel to analyse the relationship between the dynamics of labour force participation and informal care to the elderly for a sample of 20-59 year old women across 13 European countries. The analysis has two focal points: the relative contributions of state dependence as well as observed and unobserved heterogeneity in explaining the dynamics in female labour force participation and the existence and consequences of non-random attrition from the panel. The results indicate positive state dependence in labour force participation in all 13 EU countries used in the analysis. The share of unobserved heterogeneity accounts for between 45% and 86% of the total variation in labour force participation. Informal care-giving is found to have a significant, negative impact on the probability of employment only in Germany. However, analysis for different sub-groups indicates that the impact is largest for the middle age women and also for single women in several EU countries.

Intermetropolitan Variation in the Labour Force Participation Rates of White and Black Men in the United States

We decompose the variance in black and white male labour force participation rates across US metropolitan areas in 1990 into three effects: that due to variation in labour force participation within labour force categories across metropolitan areas (local labour market effects); that due to variation in the distribution of those categories across metropolitan areas (labour force structure effects); and that due to the covariation between these two effects. Variation in labour force participation rates within labour force categories (local labour market effects) accounts for 56 per cent of the variance in labour force participation rates across metropolitan areas for white men but over 75 per cent for black men. Variation in the frequency of membership in each labour force category is a relatively unimportant factor for both groups. The covariance between labour force effects and local effects is negligible for black men but accounts for 25 per cent of the intermetropolitan variance in white male participation rates. This covariance is a measure of how well adjusted the labour force characteristics of metropolitan areas are to local economic conditions; our results indicate that this adjustment is greater for white men than black men. We also use this decomposition to identify the causes of variation in the difference between black and white labour force participation rates. Black-white differences in response to local labour market effects conditions generate most of this variance. These different local labour market effects are greatest among young single men with less than a high school education.

Why people work: An examination of interstate variations in labor force participation

Why people work: An examination of interstate variations in labor force participation

The Hourly Labor Supply Response of Agricultural Workers

A number of economic policies are believed to influence an individual's decision of how many hours or weeks to work. Among these policies are welfare programs, income maintenance plans, and unemployment insurance. To date, questions of agricultural labor response to economic incentives have been analyzed by resorting to aggregate data and models, typically utilizing state or U.S. time series data. While this does provide needed information for analysis of some policies, aggregate data and models are deficient in isolating substitution and income effects. These are necessary for analysis of particular programs affecting only income or affecting the individual's budget constraint in a discontinuous way. In particular, aggregate models cannot approach the question of a backward bending supply curve, since aggregate data include not only variations in duration of employment but also variations in labor force participation.