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Corak, Miles (2013): Income inequality, equality of opportunity, and intergenerational mobility. In: The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Jg. 27, H. 3, S. 79-102. DOI:10.1257/jep.27.3.79

Abstract

"My focus is on the degree to which increasing inequality in the high-income countries, particularly in the United States, is likely to limit economic mobility for the next generation of young adults. I discuss the underlying drivers of opportunity that generate the relationship between inequality and intergenerational mobility. The goal is to explain why America differs from other countries, how intergenerational mobility will change in an era of higher inequality, and how the process is different for the top 1 percent. I begin by presenting evidence that countries with more inequality at one point in time also experience less earnings mobility across the generations, a relationship that has been called 'The Great Gatsby Curve.' The interaction between families, labor markets, and public policies all structure a child's opportunities and determine the extent to which adult earnings are related to family background -- but they do so in different ways across national contexts. Both cross-country comparisons and the underlying trends suggest that these drivers are all configured most likely to lower, or at least not raise, the degree of intergenerational earnings mobility for the next generation of Americans coming of age in a more polarized labor market. This trend will likely continue unless there are changes in public policy that promote the human capital of children in a way that offers relatively greater benefits to the relatively disadvantaged." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dunifon, Rachel, Anne Toft Hansen, Sean Nicholson & Lisbeth Palmhoj Nielsen (2013): The effect of maternal employment on children's academic performance. (NBER working paper 19364), Cambridge, Mass., 47 S. DOI:10.3386/w19364

Abstract

"Using a Danish data set that follows 135,000 Danish children from birth through 9th grade, we examine the effect of maternal employment during a child's first three and first 15 years on that child's grade point average in 9th grade. We address the endogeneity of employment by including a rich set of household control variables, instrumenting for employment with the gender- and education-specific local unemployment rate, and by including maternal fixed effects. We find that maternal employment has a positive effect on children's academic performance in all specifications, particularly when women work part-time. This is in contrast with the larger literature on maternal employment, much of which takes place in other contexts, and which finds no or a small negative effect of maternal employment on children's cognitive development and academic performance." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Forlani, Emanuele, Elisabetta Lodigiani & Concetta Mendolicchio (2013): The impact of low-skilled immigration on female labour supply. (IAB-Discussion Paper 20/2013), Nürnberg, 43 S.

Abstract

"Wir untersuchen die Auswirkungen von Zuwanderung auf das Arbeitsangebot einheimischer Frauen. Insbesondere betrachten wir die Auswirkung des Anstiegs geringqualifzierter Zuwanderer, die im Haushaltssektor arbeiten, auf hoch- und geringqualifzierte einheimische Frauen. Wir modellieren individuelle Entscheidungen über die Haushaltsproduktion und testen die wichtigsten Aussagen dieses Modells anhand eines harmonisierten Datensatzes (CNEF). Unsere Stichprobe enthält Länder mit unterschiedlich großzügiger Familienpolitik. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass mit einem höheren Anteil an Migranten im Dienstleistungssektor eines lokal begrenzten Arbeitsmarktes die einheimischen hochqualifzierten Frauen ihr Arbeitsangebot erhöhen. Gleichzeitig steigt die Partizipationsrate unqualifizierter einheimischer Frauen. Darüber hinaus zeigen wir, dass diese Effekte in Ländern mit restriktiverer Familienpolitik stärker ausfallen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Gicheva, Dora (2013): Working long hours and early career outcomes in the high-end labor market. In: Journal of labor economics, Jg. 31, H. 4, S. 785-824. DOI:10.1086/669971

Abstract

"This study establishes empirically a positive but nonlinear relationship between weekly hours and hourly wage growth. For workers who put in over 47 hours per week, 5 extra hours are associated with a 1% increase in annual wage growth. This correlation is not present when hours are lower. The relationship is especially strong for young professionals. Data on promotions provide evidence in support of a job-ladder model that combines higher skill sensitivity of output in higher-level jobs with heterogeneous preferences for leisure. The results can be used to account for part of the gender wage gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Goldin, Claudia & Claudia Olivetti (2013): Shocking labor supply. A reassessment of the role of World War II on U.S. women's labor supply. (NBER working paper 18676), Cambridge, Mass., 32 S. DOI:10.3386/w18676

Abstract

"The most prominent feature of the female labor force across the past hundred years is its enormous growth. But many believe that the increase was discontinuous. Our purpose is to identify the short- and long-run impacts of WWII on the labor supply of women who were currently married in 1950 and 1960. We use mobilization rates for various groups of men (by age, race, fatherhood) to see whether there was a wartime impact. We find that an aggregate mobilization rate produces the largest and most robust impacts on both weeks worked and the labor force participation of married white (non-farm) women. The impact, moreover, was experienced primarily by women in the top half of the education distribution. Women who were married but without children during WWII were the group most impacted by the mobilization rate in 1950, although by 1960 WWII still influenced the labor supply decisions of them as well as those with children during WWII. We end the paper with a resolution between the watershed and revisionist views of the role of WWII on female labor supply." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gordon, Judith R. & Elizabeth D. Rouse (2013): The relationship of job and elder caregiving involvement to work-caregiving conflict and work costs. In: Research on Aging, Jg. 35, H. 1, S. 96-117. DOI:10.1177/0164027511424293

Abstract

"This article examines the relationship between job and elder caregiving involvement, bi-directional work-caregiving conflict (work interfering with caregiving [WIC] and caregiving interfering with work [CIW]), and work costs (job interruptions and job changes). Specifically, we consider the effects of both behavioral and psychological involvement and external and internal work caregiving conflict in a sample of 583 women between the ages of 50 and 64 who work full-time and have significant elder caregiving responsibilities. A telephone survey was administered using random-digit-dial procedures. Structural equation model analyses confirmed that behavioral job involvement was associated with external CIW, psychological job involvement was associated with internal WIC and internal CIW, behavioral caregiving involvement was associated with external CIW and work costs, and psychological caregiving involvement was associated with internal CIW. Internal WIC, external CIW, and internal CIW were associated with job costs. Some mediation, particularly through external and internal CIW, occurred." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Herbst, Chris M. (2013): Universal child care, maternal employment, and children's long-run outcomes. Evidence from the U.S. Lanham Act of 1940. (IZA discussion paper 7846), Bonn, 61 S.

Abstract

"This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the Lanham Act of 1940, a heavily subsidized and universal child care program that was administered throughout the U.S. during World War II. I begin by estimating the impact of the Lanham Act on maternal employment using 1940 and 1950 Census data in a difference-in-difference-in-differences framework. The evidence suggests that mothers' paid work increased substantially following the introduction of the child care program. I then study the implications of the Lanham Act for children's long-run outcomes related to educational attainment, family formation, and labor market participation. Using Census data from 1970 to 1990, I assess well-being in a lifecycle framework by tracking cohorts of treated individuals throughout their prime working years. Results from difference-in-differences models suggest that the Lanham Act had strong and persistent positive effects on well-being, equivalent to a 0.36 standard deviation increase in a summary index of adult outcomes. In addition, a supplementary analysis of distributional effects shows that the benefits of the Lanham Act accrued largely to the most economically disadvantaged adults. Together, these findings shed light on the design of contemporary child care systems that balance the twin goals of increasing parental employment and enhancing child well-being." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Johnson, Matthew & Michael P. Keane (2013): A dynamic equilibrium model of the US wage structure, 1968-1996. In: Journal of labor economics, Jg. 31, H. 1, S. 1-49. DOI:10.1086/666698

Abstract

"We develop an equilibrium model of the US labor market, fit to Panel Study of Income Dynamics data from 1968-96. Our main innovation is a finer differentiation of types of labor than in prior work (i.e., by occupation, education, gender, and age). This lets us fit wage and employment patterns better than simpler models. We obtain a good fit to wages and occupational choices over the 29-year period while also explaining college attendance rates. We use the model to assess factors driving changes in the wage structure. Occupational demand shifts and shifts in demand for college labor and female labor within occupations are key factors." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lambert Griggs, Tracy, Wendy J. Casper & Lillian T. Eby (2013): Work, family and community support as predictors of work-family conflict. A study of low-income workers. In: Journal of vocational behavior, Jg. 82, H. 1, S. 59-68. DOI:10.1016/j.jvb.2012.11.006

Abstract

"This study examines relationships between support from work, family and community domains with time- and strain-based work - family conflict in a sample of low-income workers. Results reveal significant within-domain and cross-domain relationships between support from all three life domains with work-family conflict. With respect to family support, support from children was associated with lower time- and strain-based family interfering with work and extended family support was associated with lower strain-based work interfering with family. Non-work support other than family was also important. Neighbor support was related to lower time-based family interfering with work. Community support was related to reduced time and strain-based work interfering with family and strain based family interfering with work. At work, family-supportive organizational perceptions and supervisor support were related to lower time-based work interfering with family. Findings highlight the need to adopt a more comprehensive approach when examining sources from which low-income employees draw social support." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lehrer, Evelyn L. & Lu Chen (2013): The labor market behavior of married women with young children in the U.S. Have differences by religion disappeared? (IZA discussion paper 7254), Bonn, 32 S.

Abstract

"Using data from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, conducted in the United States, we study the role of religious affiliation and participation in the labor supply behavior of non-Hispanic married women with young children. We estimate ordered probit models with a trichotomous dependent variable indicating full-time employment, part-time employment or non-employment. We find that the labor market decisions of Catholic women are not significantly different from those of their mainline Protestant counterparts, and that women affiliated with conservative Protestant denominations continue to stand out for their low levels of labor market attachment. With regard to religious participation, we find a non-linear association: the probability of non-employment is high both among women who have zero attendance at religious services and among those who attend more than once a week - the latter especially. Reasons for these non-linearities are explored. Our results suggest that future research on relationships between religious participation and various economic and demographic outcomes should be based on models that allow for non-linearities and also for differences in the effects of religious participation by religious affiliation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Levine, Judith A. (2013): Ain't no trust - How bosses, boyfriends, and bureaucrats fail low-income mothers and why it matters. Berkeley: University of California Press, 297 S.

Abstract

"Ain't No Trust explores issues of trust and distrust among low-income women in the U.S. - at work, around childcare, in their relationships, and with caseworkers - and presents richly detailed evidence from in-depth interviews about our welfare system and why it's failing the very people it is designed to help.
By comparing low-income mothers' experiences before and after welfare reform, Judith A. Levine probes women's struggles to gain or keep jobs while they simultaneously care for their children, often as single mothers. By offering a new way to understand how structural factors impact the daily experiences of poor women, Ain't No Trust highlights the pervasiveness of distrust in their lives, uncovering its hidden sources and documenting its most corrosive and paralyzing effects. Levine's critique and conclusions hold powerful implications for scholars and policymakers alike." (Publisher's text, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Li, Guo & Thomas A. Mroz (2013): Expected income and labor market choices of US married couples. A locally weighted regression approach. In: Regional science and urban economics, Jg. 43, H. 6, S. 985-995. DOI:10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2013.09.011

Abstract

"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 potential wages based on these more refined definitions of labor markets and demographic groups provide more explanatory power in a simple migration model than do those based upon less detailed definitions of labor markets and demographic groups." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Markowitz, Sara, E. Kathleen Adams, Patricia M. Dietz, Viji Kannan & Van T. Tong (2013): Tobacco control policies, birth outcomes, and maternal human capital. In: Journal of Human Capital, Jg. 7, H. 2, S. 130-160. DOI:10.1086/671020

Abstract

"Smoking during pregnancy can have significant adverse health effects for babies, yet many women smoke during pregnancy. In this paper, we examine whether state tobacco control policies lead to improved birth outcomes and to what extent the success of these policies depends on accumulated maternal human capital. We use data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in a time period when states significantly changed their tobacco control policies. Results show that the smoking policies are limited in their effectiveness. The largest improvements in birth outcomes from higher cigarette prices are among babies of women who have accumulated the least human capital." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Ngai, L. Rachel & Barbara Petrongolo (2013): Gender gaps and the rise of the service economy. (CEP discussion paper 1204), London, 44 S.

Abstract

"This paper explains the narrowing of gender gaps in wages and market hours in recent decades by the growth of the service economy. We propose a model with three sectors: goods, services and home production. Women have a comparative advantage in the production of services in the market and at home. The growth of the services sector, in turn driven by structural transformation and marketization of home services, acts as a gender-biased demand shift and leads to a rise in women's wages and market hours relative to men. Quantitatively, the model accounts for an important share of the observed rise in women's relative wage and market hours and the fall in men's market hours." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Olivetti, Claudia, Eleonora Patacchini & Yves Zenou (2013): Mothers, friends and gender identity. (NBER working paper 19610), Cambridge, Mass., 28 S. DOI:10.3386/w19610

Abstract

"This paper explores a novel mechanism of gender identity formation. Specifically, we explore how the work behavior of a teenager┐s own mother, as well as that of her friends┐ mothers, affects her work decisions in adulthood. The first mechanism is commonly included in economic models. The second, which in social psychology is also emphasized as an important factor in gender identity formation, has so far been overlooked. Accordingly, our key theoretical innovation is how the utility function is modeled. It is assumed that an adult woman's work decisions are influenced by her own mother's choices as well as her friends' mothers' choices when she was a teenager, and the interaction between the two. The empirical salience of this behavioral model is tested using a network model specification together with the longitudinal structure of the AddHealth data set. We find that both intergenerational channels positively affect a woman's work hours in adulthood, but the cross effect is negative, indicating the existence of cultural substitutability. That is, the mother's role model effect is larger the more distant she is (in terms of working hours) from the friends' mothers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Salamaliki, Paraskevi K., Ioannis A. Venetis & Nicholas Giannakopoulos (2013): The causal relationship between female labor supply and fertility in the USA. Updated evidence via a time series multi-horizon approach. In: Journal of population economics, Jg. 26, H. 1, S. 109-145. DOI:10.1007/s00148-012-0418-8

Abstract

"The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causality between female labor supply and fertility in the presence of auxiliary variables such as education, female wages, and male relative cohort size. We employ annual time series data spanning the period 1948 to 2007 for both an aggregate and an age-specific group. Our econometric specification follows closely the concepts and procedures proposed by Dufour and Renault (Econometrica 66(5):1099 - 1125, 1998) and Dufour et al. (J Econom 132:337 - 362, 2006) in that we conduct multi-horizon causality tests that allow for direct and indirect effects to take place. The sign and economic importance of our results is assessed via the estimation of impulse response functions. Our results establish bidirectional indirect causality between female labor supply and fertility and suggest interesting causal chains among the system variables. Causality effects are stronger for the age-specific group." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Shreffler, Karina M. & David R. Johnson (2013): Fertility intentions, career considerations and subsequent births. The moderating effects of women's work hours. In: Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Jg. 34, H. 3, S. 285-295. DOI:10.1007/s10834-012-9331-2

Abstract

"Prior research indicates a negative relationship between women's labor force participation and fertility at the individual level in the United States, but little is known about the reasons for this relationship beyond work hours. We employed discrete event history models using panel data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 2,411) and found that the importance of career considerations mediates the work hours/fertility relationship. Further, fertility intentions and the importance of career considerations were more predictive of birth outcomes as women's work hours increase. Ultimately, our findings challenge the assumption that working more hours is the direct cause for employed women having fewer children and highlight the importance of career and fertility preferences in fertility outcomes." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Webber, Douglas A. (2013): Firm-level monopsony and the gender pay gap. (IZA discussion paper 7343), Bonn, 29 S.

Abstract

"Using a dynamic labor supply model and linked employer-employee data, I find evidence of substantial search frictions, with females facing a higher level of frictions than males. However, the majority of the gender gap in labor supply elasticities is driven by across firm sorting rather than within firm differences, a feature predicted in the search theory literature, but which has not been previously documented. The gender differential in supply elasticities leads to 3.3% lower earnings for women. Roughly 60% of the elasticity differential can be explained by marriage and children penalties faced by women but not men." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Yetis-Bayraktar, Ayse, Michelle J. Budig & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey (2013): From the shop floor to the kitchen floor. Maternal occupational complexity and children's reading and math skills. In: Work and occupations, Jg. 40, H. 1, S. 37-64. DOI:10.1177/0730888412465879

Abstract

"Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics we explore the relationship between current and early maternal occupational complexity and preadolescent children's academic achievement in mathematics and reading. We measure white-collar occupational complexity with an index that incorporates task complexity, authority, and autonomy. Blue-collar occupational complexity is observed with a measure of task complexity with things. Controlling for differential selection into employment, we find that current maternal occupational complexity has positive associations with reading and mathematics scores for children, with stronger associations for sons. We find mixed associations between early maternal employment and children's academic achievement, suggesting that the influence of early maternal employment on child development declines as children age." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"A new cohort of young women - members of the so-called Millennial generation - has been entering the workforce for the past decade. At the starting line of their careers, they are better educated than their mothers and grandmothers had been - or than their young male counterparts are now. But when they look ahead, they see roadblocks to their success. They believe that women are paid less than men for doing the same job. They think it's easier for men to get top executive jobs than it is for women. And they assume that if and when they have children, it will be harder for them to advance in their careers." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))