scholarly journals Temporary layoffs, short-time work and COVID-19: the case of a dual labour market

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Osuna ◽  
José Ignacio García Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Moderate Degree ◽  
Search And Matching ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Heterogeneous Effects ◽  
Time Work ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Short Time

Purpose This paper aims to study the type of short-time work (STW) schemes implemented in Spain to preserve jobs and workers’ incomes during the COVID-19 crisis and the corresponding labour market outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A dynamic macroeconomic model of job creation and destruction of the search and matching type in a dual labour market. Findings The model shows that the availability of STW schemes does not necessarily prevent a large increase in unemployment and job destruction. The quantitative effects depend on the degree of subsidization of payroll taxes and on the design of the policy. A scenario with a moderate degree of subsidization and where the subsidy is independent of the reduction in hours worked is the least harmful for both welfare and fiscal deficit. The cost of such a strategy is a higher unemployment rate. Concerning heterogeneous effects, the unemployed are the ones who experience the strongest distributional changes. Originality/value The effectiveness of STW schemes in dual labour markets using a search and matching model in the context of the COVID-19 crisis has not been analysed elsewhere. The literature has emphasized the importance of dynamics, labour market institutions and workers’ heterogeneity to understand workforce adjustment decisions in the face of temporary shocks to de- mand especially when firms’ human capital is relevant. These elements are present in the model. In addition, this paper computes welfare and distributional effects and the cost of these policies.

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Do short-time work schemes help workers remain in the same firm?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
José M. Arranz ◽  
Carlos García-Serrano ◽  
Virginia Hernanz
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Market Status ◽  
Short Time ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Labour Market Status

PurposeThis paper investigates whether short-time work (STW) schemes were successful in their objective of maintaining employment and keeping workers employed within the same firms after the onset of the financial and economic crisis in 2008.Design/methodology/approachSpanish longitudinal administrative data has been used, making it possible to identify short-time work (STW) participation not only of workers but also of employers and allowing to know the future labour market status of participants and non-participants. Accordingly, treatment and control groups are defined, and Propensity Score Matching models estimated. The dependent variable is measured as the probability that an individual remained employed with the same employer in the future (one, two and three years) after implementation of a STW arrangement.FindingsOur results suggest that treated individuals are about 5 percentage points less likely to remain working with the same employer one year later than similar workers, and this negative effect of participation increases over time. Thus, STW schemes would not have the assumed effect of preventing unemployment by keeping the participants employed relative to non-participants.Research limitations/implicationsAs our analysis is based on the comparison of the employment trajectories of participant and non-participant workers in firms that have used STW arrangements, our findings cannot be interpreted as the job saving effects of either macro or micro studies carried out previously.Practical implicationsThe analysis carried out in the paper is complementary to the country-level and firm-level approaches that have been used in the empirical literature.Originality/valueWe adopt a worker-level approach. This is novel since no previous study has focused attention on the impact of STW participation on the subsequent labour market status of workers.

Still focusing on the “essential 2:1”: exploring student attitudes to extra-curricular activities

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Greenbank
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Peer Norms ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Extra Curricular Activities ◽  
Degree Classification

Purpose – In order to compete for positional advantage in the graduate labour market students need more than a good degree classification. The evidence suggests that participation in extra-curricular activities (ECAs) can have a significant influence on labour market outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which undergraduates engage in ECAs during their studies and analyses the factors influencing their participation in such activities. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a sample of 21 undergraduates in the Business School at a “new” university. These students completed two questionnaires in their first year of study. These were followed-up by in-depth interviews which were carried out in their first and final year of study. Findings – The study found that many of these students were not participating in ECAs because they lacked an appreciation of the value of ECAs to graduate employers. The students were also influenced by social and peer norms, especially the fact that their peers were not engaging in ECAs. Finally, the students often exhibited an extrinsic locus of control and dependency which was not conducive to engagement in ECAs. Research limitations/implications – The generalisability of the findings may be seen as limited by the fact that the study is based on a relatively small sample of students from one university. This research, however, provides detailed insights into the factors influencing student participation in ECAs and adds new perspectives to this under-researched area. Practical implications – The paper concludes by suggesting a range of inter-related approaches that higher education institutions could adopt in order to improve student participation in ECAs. These include careers education at all stages of the students’ studies; the use of unfreezing techniques in conjunction with case studies; a more substantial role for personal tutors; and the development of an institutional habitus that encourages autonomy and agency. Originality/value – Despite the importance of ECAs to graduate employers there have been relatively few studies into the factors influencing undergraduate participation in such activities.

scholarly journals Germany’s Labour Market Policies

2019 ◽  
pp. 283-303
Author(s):  
Florian Spohr
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Economic Resilience ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Employment Agency ◽  
Time Work ◽  
The Government ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Deep Recession

Germany has become one of the most competitive economies in the world. Only a decade and a half ago it was widely derided as stagnant, and ridden by political paralysis in reforming its labour market policies. However, in 2002, the discovery of manipulated statistics in the German Employment Agency opened a window of opportunity to break the stalemate in corporatist policymaking. In response, the government convened a commission to design labour market policy reforms: the Hartz Committee, named for its chair, Peter Hartz. Including experts, politicians, and members from interest groups in the commission enabled the government to promote the ‘Hartz Reforms’ on the basis of expertise and compromise. Their focus was on creating incentives for seeking employment. Job search assistance and monitoring gained importance, whereas ineffective job creation and early retirement schemes were abolished or reduced. These activating reforms successfully tackled structural unemployment and increased the overall employment rate. Their success in strengthening economic resilience was demonstrated during the 2008 economic crisis, when in combination with other measures such as the extension of short-time work, and controlled unit labour costs, they led Germany’s labour market through the deep recession.

University dropouts vs high school graduates in the school-to-work transition

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuela Ghignoni ◽  
Giuseppe Croce ◽  
Alessandro d’Ambrosio
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
School To Work ◽  
Dropping Out ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
School To Work Transition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Transition ◽  
Labour Market Outcomes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the enrolment at university and the subsequent possible dropout as a piece of the school-to-work transition and ask whether it improves or worsens the labour market outcomes a few years after graduation from the high school. Design/methodology/approach The analysis exploits data from the upper secondary graduate survey by ISTAT on a cohort of high school graduates and investigates the effect of dropping out four years after graduation. The labour market outcomes of university dropouts are compared to the outcomes of high school graduates who never enrolled at university. A propensity score matching approach is applied. The model is also estimated on the subsamples of males and females. Findings The findings show that spending a period at university and leaving it before completion makes the transition to work substantially more difficult. Both the probability of being NEET and getting a bad job increase in the case of dropout, while no relevant effect is found on earnings. Moreover, the impact of university dropout tends to be more harmful the longer the spell from enrolment to dropping out. Separate estimates by gender point out that females appear to be relatively more affected in the case of dropping out without a fallback plan. Originality/value While the existing studies in the literature on the school-to-work transition mostly focus on the determinants of the dropout, this paper investigates whether and how the employment outcomes are affected by dropping out in Italy. Moreover, university dropouts are compared to high school graduates with no university experience, rather than to university graduates. Finally, evidence on the mechanisms driving the effect of dropping out is provided, by considering timing and motivations for dropping out.

How does finance influence labour market outcomes? A review of empirical studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1197-1232
Author(s):  
Mark Heil
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
National Income ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Managers ◽  
Labour Market Outcomes

PurposeThis paper reviews economic studies on the effects of various aspects of finance on labour market outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a systematic literature review that reviews the weight of the evidence on the relationships between specific elements of finance and labour outcomes. The review is divided into three major sections: (1) job quantity and job quality; (2) distributional effects; and (3) resilience and adaptability.FindingsFinance interacts with labour market institutions to jointly determine labour outcomes. Firm financial structures influence their labour practices – highly leveraged firms show greater employment volatility during cyclical fluctuations, and leverage strengthens firm bargaining power in labour negotiations. Bank deregulation has mixed impacts on labour depending upon the state of prior bank regulations and labour markets. Leveraged buyouts tend to dampen acquired-firm job growth as they pursue labour productivity gains. The shareholder value movement may contribute to short-termism among corporate managers, which can divert funds away from firm capital accumulation toward financial markets, and crowd out productive investment. Declining wage shares of national income in most OECD countries since 1990 may be driven in part by financial globalisation. The financial sector contributes to rising income concentration near the top of the distribution in developed countries. The availability of finance is associated with increased reallocation of labour, which may either enhance or impede productivity growth. Finally, rising interest rate environments and homeowners with mortgage balances that exceed their home's value may reduce labour mobility rates.Originality/valueThis review contributes to the understanding of the effects of finance on labour by reviewing and synthesising a large volume of literature.

Job outcomes among Korean graduates with vocational qualifications

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 619-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Min Lee ◽  
Sung-Eun Cho
Keyword(s):  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Moderate Degree ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wage Effect ◽  
Vocational Qualification ◽  
Vocational Qualifications ◽  
The Status

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the status of recent Korean four-year college students’ acquisition of vocational qualification certificates (hereinafter “certificates” or “qualifications”), the factors that influence certificate acquisition, and the resulting employment and wage effects. Design/methodology/approach Regression analysis was conducted on the data from the Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey. Findings The results showed that females and medicine and education majors had higher rates of vocational qualifications, as did the students in provincial as compared to metropolitan areas and students with high grades. In terms of effects on labor market outcomes, vocational qualifications exert a moderate degree of positive influence on employment rate, wage at the time of initial employment, and current wage (i.e. there is a persistent wage effect). Originality/value This study will provide policy implications to decrease youth unemployment in Korea and worldwide as well as to build employment services supporting the acquisition of vocational qualifications across various disciplines.

The German Labour Market Miracle

2010 ◽  
Vol 214 ◽  
pp. R38-R50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Boysen-Hogrefe ◽  
Dominik Groll
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Dynamic Simulations ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Wage Moderation ◽  
Time Work ◽  
The Difference ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Minor Reaction

This paper lays out the various reasons for the exceptional performance of the German labour market during and after the Great Recession of 2008/9. The reference point of our analysis is provided by an empirical model of both total hours worked and employment. We conduct dynamic simulations of the crisis period to assess how surprising the reaction of the labour market really was. We argue that the most important precondition for the minor reaction of employment during this crisis was the pronounced wage moderation observed in the years before, which constitutes a distinct difference to all other recessions in Germany. Beyond that, the flexibility of adjusting working time, which has increased considerably during the past ten years, facilitated a tendency to labour hoarding. In contrast, short-time work plays a minor role in explaining the difference from previous recessions, since this instrument has always been available to firms in Germany and its use has not been extraordinary compared with earlier recessions.

scholarly journals Job separation rates of immigrants and natives in the UK during the Great Recession

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 1036-1054
Author(s):  
Dafni Papoutsaki
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the probability of job separations of immigrants and natives in the UK before and during the economic crisis of 2008. Design/methodology/approach A mixed proportional hazard duration model with a semi-parametric piecewise constant baseline hazard is used on a data sample of inflows into employment. Findings It is found that the crisis increased the probability of exits to unemployment for all groups, while immigrants from the new countries of the European Union seemed to have the lowest hazard towards unemployment even after controlling for their demographic and labour market characteristics. More specifically, even when we account for the fact that they tend to cluster in jobs that are most vulnerable to the business cycle, they are still less likely to exit dependent employment than natives. However, this migrant group is adversely affected by the crisis the most. Research limitations/implications Possible implications of out-migration of the lower performers are discussed. Originality/value This paper makes use of the panel element of the UK Quarterly Labour Force Survey, and uses duration analysis on the individual level to assess the labour market outcomes of natives and immigrants in the UK.

Some surprising facts about working time accounts and the business cycle in Germany

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 940-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almut Balleer ◽  
Britta Gehrke ◽  
Christian Merkl
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Working Time ◽  
Hours Worked ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Employment Adjustment ◽  
Time Work ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
Short Time

Purpose Working time accounts (WTAs) allow firms to smooth hours worked over time. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether this increase in flexibility has also affected how firms adjust employment in Germany over the business cycle. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses rich microeconomic panel data and fixed effects estimations to compare the employment adjustment of firms with and without WTAs. Findings The authors show that firms with WTAs show a similar separation and hiring behavior in response to revenue changes as firms without WTAs. One possible explanation is that firms without WTAs used short-time work (STW) to adjust hours worked instead. However, the authors find that firms with WTAs use STW more than firms without WTAs. Originality/value These findings call into question the popular hypothesis that WTAs were the key driver of the unusually small increase in German unemployment in the Great Recession.

scholarly journals Securing Jobs in Times of Recession. The German Experience during the Financial Crisis 2008/2009

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Martin Dietz ◽  
Michael Stops ◽  
Ulrich Walwei
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Sharp Decrease ◽  
Working Time ◽  
Public Subsidies ◽  
Time Work ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Short Time

As a consequence of the global financial crisis Germany experienced the deepest slowdown of its economy since World War II. However, given the sharp decrease of GDP the German labour market was quite stable compared to previous recessions when the labour market response was stronger. Therefore, there are empirical indications for temporary labour hoarding and it can be shown that the most significant factor for securing jobs was a reduction of working time. At the beginning of the crisis the conditions for short-time work became more attractive to firms. Therefore, non-subsidised forms of working time reductions or labour hoarding were complemented by public subsidies in the form of short-time work.

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