Binge drinking and labor market success: a longitudinal study on young people

This paper presents a two-equation model of joint outcomes on an individual's decision to binge-drink and on his/her annual labor market earnings. The primary data source is the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979–1994. We show that binge-drinking behavior is quite alcohol-price responsive and is a rational addiction. A new result is that an individual's decision to binge-drink has a statistically significant negative effect on his/her earnings. Furthermore, we conducted simulations of the short-run and long-run impacts of increasing the alcohol price. They showed that that the tendency for an individual to binge-drink heavily is reduced significantly, and the reduction is greater in the long- than short-run simulation. Also, an individual's annual earnings were increased. However, in the structural model, an individual's earnings have no significant effect on his/her tendency to engage in binge drinking. Our results contradict earlier findings from cross-sectional evidence that showed increased alcohol consumption raised an individual's earnings or wages.

Ageing and the labor market

Generation size and structure may have substantial effects on the labor market. This perspective is crucial for the German economy which is one of the most rapidly ageing societies. The paper studies the effects of relative cohort size and relative cohort age on unemployment. The time-series analysis employs cointegration techniques to discriminate between short-run and long-run developments. The econometric investigations suggest that in the long-run, there is no sufficient evidence that young cohorts experience higher unemployment rates if their cohort size is relatively high. In the short-run, there is in general a positive impact of relative cohort size and relative cohort age on unemployment.Revised version of Discussion Paper No. 90-25, University of Munich. A first draft of this paper was written, when I was visiting CentER, Tilburg University. I wish to thank Sijbren Cnossen, John De New, Horst Krämer, Walter Krämer, Winfried Schmahl, Christoph M. Schmidt, Bernard M. S. van Praag, Michael R. Veall, Jürgen Wolters, the participants of the ISPE-conference and three referees of this journal for helpful comments, John De New, Lucie Merkle and Martin Milhleisen for able research assistance, and the German Science Foundation (DFG) for financial support. The paper has also benefited from a research visit to Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve.     

Pension reform and labor market incentives

This paper investigates how parametric reform in a pay-as-you-go pension system with a tax–benefit link affects retirement and work incentives of prime-age workers. We find that postponed retirement tends to harm incentives of prime-age workers in the presence of a tax–benefit link, thereby creating a policy trade-off in stimulating aggregate labor supply. We show how several popular reform scenarios are geared either towards young or old workers or, indeed, both groups under appropriate conditions. We characterize the excess burden of pension insurance and show how it depends on the supply elasticities of both decision margins and the effective tax rates.     

Oppositional identities and the labor market

We develop a model in which nonwhite individuals are defined with respect to their social environment (family, friends, and neighbors) and their attachments to their culture of origin (religion or language), and in which jobs are mainly found through social networks. We find that depending on how strong peer pressures are, nonwhites choose to adopt “oppositional” identities because some individuals may identify with the dominant culture and others may reject that culture, even if it implies adverse labor market outcomes.      

Interregional migration and labor market imbalances

This paper investigates the effects of internal migration in developed countries on widening wage inequality and high unemployment, and it addresses the geographical dimension of both problems. A two-region dynamic model is developed, which accounts for the skill composition of recent internal migration flows; it also innovates on the existing literature on migration by introducing capital-skill complementarity in the production function. The main conclusion is that migration can actually aggravate labor market imbalances. In a competitive set-up, migration temporarily amplifies the geographical dispersion of unskilled workers wages and raises the average wage premium of the economy. When wage rigidities are introduced, labor mobility increases regional dispersion of unskilled workers employment. In the short-run it may even reduce the total employment of the economy.A previous version of this paper circulated with the title Migration Flows and Interregional Labor Market Disequilibrium. I would like to thank Samuel Bentolila, Federico Biagi, Fabio Canova, Alessandra Casarico, Rosa Maria Fernandez, Juan Francisco Jimeno, Adriana Kugler, Javier Ortega, Ferdinando Regalia, Gilles Saint-Paul, Etsuro Shioji, Marco Vannini, two anonymous referees, participants at UPF Macro Workshop, 1997 ASSET meeting, Marseille, 1998 ESPE Annual Conference, Amsterdam, and 1999 Winter Meeting of the European Econometric Society, Rotterdam, for helpful comments and suggestions; Alix Beith for her friendly help. The usual disclaimer applies. Responsible editor: Allessandro Cigno.     

Walking a well-being tightrope: young people in Australia

The economic and social contribution young people make to society is increasingly important as the population ages. Yet a substantial number of young people face economic and social challenges that have an impact on their current and future well-being. Independent indicators are often used to describe what we know about how young people are faring, but these fail to show how young people are doing holistically, across their whole life. If we are to better understand and improve young people??s well-being and their lives more generally, it is critical that research establishes the connections and interactions between life domains. This paper uses a well-being framework and secondary analysis of national statistics to begin to understand how young people are faring when we cross economic outcomes with other social indicators. It argues that some Australian young people fare poorly across a large number of other social indicators and thus may be walking a tightrope in regard to their well-being and well-becoming. This paper also aims to generate a dialogue about using a well-being framework for future research with and about young people.     

Combining employment and parenthood: A longitudinal study of intentions of Dutch young adults

This paper examines the intentions of Dutch males and females with regard to combining paid employment and parenthood. Four models of how couples combine these roles are distinguished. Panel data from a representative survey among Dutch young adults show that the traditional model (the female takes care of the children and the male works full-time) is becoming less popular, whereas the supplementary model (the female takes care of the children and supplements the labor force participation of the male), and the egalitarian model (both partners share paid labor more or less equally) are becoming more popular. The no-child model is preferred by about 10% of the respondents. A multivariate analysis shows that both job characteristics, like the flexibility of working hours, and gender role attitudes are important predictors of intentions with regard to combining family and work roles.     

The new labor market: Immigrants and wages after IRCA

We examine the effect of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) on migrants' wages using data gathered in 39 Mexican communities and their U.S. destination areas. We examine changes in the determinants of wages before and after the passage of IRCA, as well as the effects of its massive legalization program. Migrants' wages deteriorated steadily between 1970 and 1995, but IRCA did not foment discrimination against Mexican workers per se. Rather, it appears to have encouraged greater discrimination against undocumented migrants, with employers passing the costs and risks of unauthorized hiring on to the workers. Although available data do not permit us to eliminate competing explanations entirely, limited controls suggest that the post-IRCA wage penalty against undocumented migrants did not stem from an expansion of the immigrant labor supply, an increase in the use of labor subcontracting, or a deterioration of the U.S. labor market.     

Immigration,skills and the labor market: International evidence

Using the 1994–1998 International Adult Literacy Survey, this paper compares cognitive skills and employment of immigrants in Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States. Immigrants had lower cognitive test scores than natives in each country, with the largest gaps in the US, and small gaps in Canada and New Zealand. Male immigrants in the US were no less likely to work than natives, while in the other countries, male immigrants were less likely to be employed. Female immigrants were less likely in each country to be employed than natives, with an especially large gap for the US.The author thanks Francine D. Blau and two anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions and Katsuhide Yamashita for excellent research assistance. Responsible editor: Christoph M. Schmidt.     

Rhythms of moving in and between digital media: a study on video diaries of young people with physical disabilities

This article develops a new framework for analysing digital media use and access by drawing on the concepts of ‘rhythm’ and ‘wayfaring.’ It unravels how young people with physical disabilities move in and between digital media devices, online sites and activities in an embodied and rhythmic way that happens at a fast or slow pace. The framework is used to analyse the video diaries of three male secondary school students with physical disabilities on their use of digital media at home. We propose methodological advances in studying digital media use as dynamic movement and provide alternative insights on digital inequalities.     

Gender-specific labor market conditions and family formation

Slack labor market conditions for women relative to men increase the marriage rate in the USA. This paper examines the long-term consequences of such marriages. Despite the significant effect on marriage timing, labor market conditions experienced in youth do not affect the probability that a woman will marry by the age of 30. Further, labor market conditions at the time of marriage are uncorrelated with the probability of divorce, spouses?? characteristics, or the number of children. These findings suggest that labor market fluctuations induce only intertemporal adjustments for marriage timing without affecting reservation match quality or total fertility.     

The substitutability of labor between immigrants and natives in the Canadian labor market: circa 1995

This paper examines the substitutability or complementarity between Canadian-born and immigrant workers. These are examined by estimating a set of wage equations using a generalized Leontief production function. The paper finds that, in general, there is no displacement of Canadian-born workers by immigrants. Recent immigrants affect the native-born positively, while older immigrants are neither substitute nor complement for natives. However, the effects differ across industries. Overall, the evidence that immigrants harm the opportunities of native-born workers is scant.

Asian-born scientists and engineers: their immigration flow and labor market adjustment

"This paper examines the flow of Asian-born scientists and engineers and their labor market adjustment. First, main elements to affect their immigration flow are described: supply, demand, and institution....The scarcity of domestic workers is the most important factor affecting demand of immigration. Institution, such as immigration policies, is another element to influence the immigration flow....Second, by using the 1980 U.S. Census data set, their labor market adjustment is explored in terms of hourly wages. Compared to the native-born white, there is no evidence that Asian-born scientists and engineers receive lower wages or lower return on human capital."     

中国劳动力市场空间分异研究

随着我国经济转型和体制转轨,作为三大生产要素之一的劳动力市场逐渐发育.本文首先提出我国劳动力市场主要指标体系,然后探讨劳动力市场地域分异规律,进而分析失业率和工资收入区域差异的形成机理.最后,提出缩小劳动力市场区域差距的对策建议.     

The dynamics of immigrant welfare and labor market behavior

This paper analyzes transitions into and out of social assistance, unemployment, and employment. We estimate a dynamic multinomial logit model, controlling for endogenous initial condition and unobserved heterogeneity, using a large representative Swedish panel data set. The empirical results suggest that particularly refugee immigrants display a greater degree of “structural” state dependence than natives. The high welfare participation rates among refugee immigrants may be due to the existence of a “welfare trap”, while participation among natives and non-refugee immigrants is largely due to permanent unobserved characteristics. These results suggest that welfare reforms may have differential effects on refugee immigrants and natives.

The H-1B visa: Free market solutions for business and labor

The H-1B visa program opened the US information technology labor market to temporary, skilled immigrant labor. But the immigrant worker was bound to a specific employer for the duration of the visa. The non-portability of the H-1B visa has benefitted the employer at the expense of immigrant and domestic workers. Much of the political debate surrounding the H-1B program has focused on raising the annual visa cap based on inconclusive evidence of a domestic IT labor shortage. The labor shortage question has obscured the more importantissue of reforming the H-1B program to level the playing field between business and labor.     

Male-female differences in labor market outcomes during the early transition to market: The cases of Estonia and Slovenia

Changes in women's relative wages and employment are analyzed, using social security data from Slovenia (1987–1992) and a retrospective labor force survey in Estonia (1989–1994). Estonia adopted liberal labor market policies. Slovenia took an interventionist approach. Nevertheless, relative wages for women rose in both countries. Factors favoring women included: returns to human capital rose in transition, benefiting women; relative labor demand shifted toward predominantly female sectors; low-wage women had a disproportionate incentive to exit the labor market, especially in Estonia. However, women were less mobile across jobs in both countries, so men disproportionately filled new jobs in expanding sectors. Received: 27 November 1997/Accepted: 20 December 1998