Estimating intrahousehold allocation in a collective model with household production

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the intra-family distribution of income and the individual demand for leisure and household production from Swedish cross-sectional household data. As a basis for the analysis, we use a collective model where each individual is characterized by his or her own utility function and divides total time between leisure, household production and market work. For the purpose of comparison, we also estimate a version that is consistent with a more traditional model of labor supply, the unitary model. Received: 14 April 2000/Accepted: 12 January 2001     

Intention to emigrate in transition countries: the case of Albania

We analyse the profile of potential emigrants from Albania using data from the Central and Eastern Europe Eurobarometer in 1992. Respondents were asked to rate on a four-point scale the likelihood that they would go to live in Western Europe. Our results show that intention to emigrate is correlated positively with males, education and certain occupations, and negatively with age. There is little relation between emigration and income. Those who support the introduction of a free market in Albania are also more likely to emigrate than those who do not. Received: 24 August 1998/Accepted: 17 April 2000     

Endogenous fertility,mortality and growth

Economic and demographic outcomes are determined jointly in a choice-theoretic model of fertility, mortality and capital accumulation. There is an endogenous population of reproductive agents who belong to dynastic families of overlapping generations connected through altruism. In addition to choosing savings and births, parents may reduce (infant) deaths by incurring expenditures on health-care which is also provided by the government. A generalised production technology accounts for long-run endogenous growth with short-run transitional dynamics. The analysis yields testable time series and cross-section implications which accord with the empirical evidence on the relationship between demography and development. Received: 22 April 1996 / Accepted: 2 April 1998     

Uncertain lifetime, fertility and social security

Investigating the effects of population aging on fertility and economic growth, we show that an increase in life expectancy lowers the fertility rate and raises life-cycle savings, and that a pay-as-you-go social security does not reverse the effect on fertility. Received: 10 March 2000/Accepted: 28 April 2000     

An empirical analysis of the welfare magnet debate using the NLSY

This paper examines the extent to which differences in welfare generosity across states leads to interstate migration. Using microdata from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) between 1979 and 1992, we employ a quasi-experimental design that utilizes the categorical eligibility of the welfare system. The pattern of cross-state moves among poor single women with children, who are likely to be eligible for benefits is compared to the pattern among other poor households. We find little evidence indicating that welfare-induced migration is a widespread phenomenon. Received: 3 April 1997/Accepted: 4 September 1998     

Returns to returning

We examine the labor market performance of return migrants using the Hungarian Household Panel Survey. Two distinct selection issues are considered in the estimation of the earnings equation; we implement a natural method using MLE. The result that there is a “premium” to work experience abroad for women is robust across the models we considered. For men, the return to working abroad is not generally significant. Received: 4 June 1998/Accepted: 16 April 1999     

The effect of housing on migrations in Israel: 1988-1994

The analysis of 1988–1994 statistical data indicates that the population of Israel simultaneously moves in two opposite directions: while the initial distribution of new immigrants is primarily focused on the areas where jobs are available, the existing population of these areas tends to move outward, to the less populated districts where housing is more available and affordable. The paper thus argues that the heterogeneity of the population is indeed a crucial consideration for the proper modeling of migration behavior. It is also argued that a) the effect of housing construction on the patterns of in-country migration appears to be attenuated, and b) the low attractiveness of peripheral districts of the country to the new immigrants is mainly caused by a lack of jobs rather than by low rates of housing construction or the harsh climatic conditions of these areas. Received: 22 January 1997 / Accepted: 12 January 1998     

Earnings assimilation of immigrants in Norway – A reappraisal

The relative earnings growth for immigrants in Norway is computed. Unlike Hayfron (1998, this journal) we define immigrants by country of origin rather than citizenship and perform separate studies of immigrants from inside and outside the OECD region. Replicating Hayfron op.cit. we find that the earnings assimilation is considerably weaker. Further, we find that the earnings of OECD immigrants are comparable to those of natives, while Non-OECD immigrants earn considerably less than natives at the time of entry, but that their relative earnings improve gradually over time. Earnings of different immigrant cohorts converged from 1980 to 1990, indicating a non-linear rate of assimilation. Received: 7 April 2000/Accepted: 4 January 2001     

The effect of work absence on wages and wage gaps in Sweden

We use unique information about short-term absence from the labor market among Swedish employees to investigate the potential wage loss attributed to this type of absence. A reform in the Swedish health insurance system was used as an instrument. The results indicate that women's wages are significantly reduced by work absence due to own sickness, while absence to care for a sick child has no significant wage effect. For men, we find no support for effects on wages from short-term absence. We also show that the distribution of the gender wage gap depends to a large extent on work absence. Received: 29 September 1998/Accepted: 16 April 1999     

Can skill-biased technological change compress unemployment rate differentials across education groups?

Our aim is to explain why the pattern of relative unemployment rates by education groups was non monotonic in most of the OECD countries. In a two-sector matching model, a simple unexpected productivity shock biased against unskilled labor can replicate the observed dynamics. Demographic effects of skill-biased shocks can be related to inequality in the distribution of wealth. Received: 27 April 1999/Accepted: 08 June 2000     

Inheritance, land, and capital mobility linked to labour mobility

This paper presents a two-country migration model, following Galor (1986), in which the world population consists of two types individuals. Individuals with a high (low) degree of altruism give to their children a high (low) level of bequest. Production uses three inputs: immobile land, mobile labour, and capital. Capital mobility is linked to labour mobility since individuals move with their inheritance. The model shows that countries are homothetic in the post-migration equilibrium with equal factor prices and equal densities of population. Migration flows are bilateral and the number of each type of migrants is uniquely determined. In some cases, migration leads to a Pareto improvement in both countries. Received: 8 July 1999/Accepted: 7 April 2000     

Education funding and regional convergence

The aim of this paper is to discuss the process of regional convergence within the framework of an overlapping generations model in which the engine of growth is the accumulation of human capital. In particular, we consider different education funding systems and compare their performance in terms of growth rates and pace of convergence between two heterogeneous regions. The analysis suggests that the choice of a particular education system incorporates a possible trade-off between long run growth rate and short run convergence. In such choice, the initial capital stock and the extent of regional human capital discrepancy appear as central variables. Received: 27 January 1999/Accepted: 16 April 1999     

Social security, public education, and growth in a representative democracy

This paper studies the relationship between public education and pay-as-you-go social security in a representative democracy, where the government reacts both to voting and lobbying activities of workers and pensioners. While an intergenerational conflict prevails concerning actual social security contributions, workers may prefer public education for its positive effect on later pension benefits. Population aging diminishes the relative lobbying power of pensioners, leading to a higher contribution rate, educational expansion, and higher per capita income growth. Received: 05 April 1999/Accepted: 20 December 1999     

Enclaves, neighbourhood effects and employment outcomes: Ethnic minorities in England and Wales

Ethnic minorities in England and Wales are spatially concentrated in relatively-deprived urban areas. Both geographic clustering and the economic characteristics of ethnically-concentrated neighbourhoods can impact upon the opportunities and constraints facing residents of such areas. This paper explores the relationship between the existence of enclaves and the employment prospects of ethnic minorities in England and Wales. It is shown that there is considerable spatial variation in employment outcomes. There is a lower incidence of self-employment in more ethnically-concentrated urban areas, which contradicts the view of ethnic entrepreneurship as an enclave phenomenon. Unemployment rates are also higher for minorities living in more concentrated areas. Enclaves in England and Wales do not appear to offer many economic benefits to minority individuals. Received: 31 December 1999/Accepted: 27 November 2000     

Pay-as-you-go financed public pensions in a model of endogenous growth and fertility

Employing an overlapping generations endogenous growth model in which parents derive utility from having children and, additionally, expect children to support them in old age, this paper explores the interrelation between growth, fertility, and the size of pay-as-you-go financed public pensions. It is shown that small sized public pensions stimulate per capita income growth, but further increases in public pensions eventually reduce it. Fertility, on the other hand, falls by an increase in public pensions if they are either small or large. Medium sized public pensions, however, may stimulate fertility. Received: 9 September 1997 / Accepted: 10 April 1998     

Are migrant minorities strategically self-selected?

In this paper we focus on the possibility of migrants' self-selection through strategic remittances. We argue that migrants of a specific community might be pooled with migrants from other ethnic minorities on the labor market of the foreign host country and that this could reduce the occurrence of strategic remittances. In a simple model with two types of workers, skilled and unskilled, facing two possible actions, to migrate or not to migrate, we derive the theoretical conditions under which strategic transfers are still operating when pooling among communities is introduced. We then show through numerical illustrations that the case for strategic transfers is rather weak when using realistic values for the main parameters of the model. Received: 1 October 1997/Accepted: 7 April 1998     

Private versus public financing of education and endogenous growth: A comment on Bräuninger and Vidal

This note shows that the long-run effect in the case of a low skill trap in Br?uninger and Vidal (Journal of Population Economics (2000) 13:387–401) contains a mistake. While not affecting the paper's basic intuition, this implies that the discussion in the short-run analysis also applies in the long-run. Received: 24 April 2001/Accepted: 9 June 2001 I wish to thank Alessandro Cigno and an anonymous referee for useful comments. Responsible editor: Alessandro Cigno.     

Labor immigration and long-run welfare in a growth model with heterogenous agents and endogenous labor supply

This paper examines the consequences of labor immigration in an OLG economy in which agents have an elastic labor supply and differ with respect to degrees of altruism and rates of time preference. It focuses on three substantive questions. First, how do immigrants influence the bequest motive of altruistic natives? Second, what impact do immigrants have on the labor supply of natives? Finally, how does immigration affect the long-run welfare of both altruistic and non altruistic natives? Received: 25 November 1999/Accepted: 07 April 2000     

Optimal food allocation in a slave economy

We propose a model of food allocation in an economy in which property rights exist in human beings. We assume that a slave-owner allocates food over the slave's lifetime so as to maximise his own wealth. The slave's productive capacity is determined endogenously by food consumption. Food allotment during childhood and adolescence determines productive capacity over the life course. The slave owner chooses optimal time paths of food allotment in light of the contribution food makes to both the level and growth of physical capacity, as a function of the price of food and of the value of the slave's productivity. Though conceived for an economy in which property rights exist in human beings, the model can be modified so as to apply to resource allocation within a household economy in which parents provide both nourishment and schooling for their children, in order to enhance their current or future productivity. Received: 14 April 2000/Accepted: 25 August 2001     

The allocation and value of time assigned to housework and child-care: An analysis for Switzerland

In this paper, data from the 1997 Swiss Labour Force Survey are used to analyse the allocation and value of time assigned to housework and child-care. It is shown that men's allocation of time to housework and child-care is largely invariant to changes in socio-economic factors. Women's allocation of time to housework and child-care, on the other hand, is shown to depend on several social, economic, and demographic factors. The value of time assigned to housework and child-care is calculated with two market replacement cost methods and three opportunity cost methods. The results show that the value of time assigned to housework and child-care ranges from 27% to 39% and from 5% to 8% of GDP (in 1997), respectively. The value of time assigned to housework and child-care is also calculated for different household structures. Received: 15 April 1999/Accepted: 5 May 2000