Immigration, Wages and Employment under Informal Labor Markets

This paper studies the labor market impacts of a massive inflow of Venezuelans in Colombia. By comparing areas that received different shares of migrants, I find a negative effect on wages and on local employment for natives. The negative wage effect is driven by a large drop of wages in the informal sector, where migrants are mostly employed, while the negative employment effect is driven by a reduction of employment in the formal sector, where the minimum wage is binding. To explain these results, I develop a model in which firms hire formal and informal workers with different costs. If these workers have a high degree of substitutability, and wages for formal workers are rigid, firms reallocate formal to informal employment as a response to lower informal wages. In settings with informal labor markets migration can therefore lead to asymmetric employment and wage effects across the informal and formal sectors.

Unequal Labour Market Impacts of COVID-19 in Sweden — But Not Between Women and Men

So, when asked if men and women in the Swedish labour market have been differently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, our overall conclusion would have to be “no”.

The Local Labor Market Impacts of US Megafires

As we learn to sustainably coexist with wildfire, there is an urgent need to improve our understanding of its multidimensional impacts on society. To this end, we undertake a nationwide study to estimate how megafires (wildfires > 100,000 acres in size) affect US labor market outcomes in communities located within the flame zone. Both year-of-fire and over-time dynamic impacts are studied between 2010−2017. We find that counties located within a megafire flame zone experience significantly lower per capita wage earnings across multiple sources of earnings data for up to two years after megafire event occurrence. We find preliminary evidence that impacts are nonlinear over megafire size. These results highlight a new dimension of megafire impacts and expand the scope of the potential costs of megafires that should be considered in benefit-cost analyses of wildfire control and suppression decisions, especially along sustainability dimensions.

Kazakhstan curbs oil output but eyes future growth

Significance The oil sector's contribution to GDP fell last year, but this was due only to the market impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kazakhstan continues to depend heavily on oil exports for tax revenue and consequently for recurrent government spending and large public investments. Impacts Rising production at the Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan fields will increase their share of total output from 63% in 2020 to 72% in 2025. The continued concentration of foreign investment in the oil and gas sector will thwart attempts at economic diversification. Slowing production at old deposits in western and southern Kazakhstan is fraught with risks of social instability and unrest.

Growing Ontario Responsibly: A Look At The Impact Of The Growth Plan For The Greater Golden Horseshoe On Ontario's Economic Environment

This Major Research Paper (MRP) will examine the consequences of the proposed Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) on the economic trends of southern Ontario. As a type of regulatory tool, the Growth Plan has inevitable market impacts that must be studied, understood, and mitigated when making policy decisions. Increasing evidence has pointed towards housing affordability, and supply of land and housing types, as two broad market impacts of regulatory tools that fall under the branch of ‘growth management’, ‘urban containment’, and ‘smart growth’. The subject of this MRP is the economic impact of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, imposed by the provincial government, and implemented on a municipal level. In 2015, the province initiated its first ten-year review of the 2006 Growth Plan for the GGH. The province released proposed amendments to the Growth Plan in the summer of 2016 following an analysis by a selected panel of experts and input from community consultations. It is anticipated that these proposed amendments will exasperate the widespread affordability issues of the GGH, create a more homogenous built form and building typology, and ignore the diversity of municipalities across the impacted area. A thorough analysis of these adverse effects will be provided along with recommendations on how the province can better balance the environmental, social, and economic goals of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

Growing Ontario Responsibly: A Look At The Impact Of The Growth Plan For The Greater Golden Horseshoe On Ontario's Economic Environment

This Major Research Paper (MRP) will examine the consequences of the proposed Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) on the economic trends of southern Ontario. As a type of regulatory tool, the Growth Plan has inevitable market impacts that must be studied, understood, and mitigated when making policy decisions. Increasing evidence has pointed towards housing affordability, and supply of land and housing types, as two broad market impacts of regulatory tools that fall under the branch of ‘growth management’, ‘urban containment’, and ‘smart growth’. The subject of this MRP is the economic impact of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, imposed by the provincial government, and implemented on a municipal level. In 2015, the province initiated its first ten-year review of the 2006 Growth Plan for the GGH. The province released proposed amendments to the Growth Plan in the summer of 2016 following an analysis by a selected panel of experts and input from community consultations. It is anticipated that these proposed amendments will exasperate the widespread affordability issues of the GGH, create a more homogenous built form and building typology, and ignore the diversity of municipalities across the impacted area. A thorough analysis of these adverse effects will be provided along with recommendations on how the province can better balance the environmental, social, and economic goals of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.