Klaus F. Zimmermann

A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that the effect of early childcare attendance differs between native and immigrant children. Early childcare seems to be particularly relevant for immigrant children from a disadvantaged background.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 394, 2019

Impact of Early Childcare on Immigrant Children’s Educational Performance– Download PDF
by Corazzini, Luca & Meschi, Elena & Pavese, Caterina

GLO Fellow Elena Meschi

Author Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of attending early childcare on second generation immigrant children’s cognitive outcomes. Our analysis draws on administrative data on the entire population of students in fifth grade collected by the Italian Institute for the Evaluation of the Educational System (INVALSI) for school years 2014/2015 to 2016/2017 matched to unique administrative records on the early childcare public available slots at the municipal level. Our identification strategy exploits cross-sectional and time series variation in the provision of early childcare service across Italian municipalities as an instrument for individual early childcare attendance. Our results point out that the effect of early childcare attendance differs between native and immigrant children. Although we find no effects for Italian children, our estimates show a positive and significant effect on literacy test scores for immigrant children of low educated mothers, which suggests that early childcare may be particularly relevant for immigrant children from a disadvantaged background.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper finds for Italy a gender gap of 5% to 8% in hourly wages among PhD holders with sizeable differences by sector of employment and field of specialization.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 393, 2019

The gender wage gap among PhD holders: an empirical examination based on Italian data – Download PDF
by Alfano, Vincenzo & Cicatiello, Lorenzo & Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio & Pinto, Mauro

GLO Fellows Lorenzo Cicatiello, Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Sergio Pinto

Author Abstract: A growing number of academic studies are devoting their attention to the study of the gender wage gap. This paper contributes to the literature by analyzing the existence of this gap specifically among those who hold the highest possible educational qualification, i.e. a PhD. The analysis relies on Italian cross-sectional data collected through a highly representative survey of the employment conditions of PhD holders. The econometric analysis is carried out by means of OLS regression, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis and quantile decomposition. Findings suggest that a gender gap in hourly wages exists among PhD holders, that it lies approximately between 5% and 8%, with sizeable differences by sector of employment and field of specialization, and that such a gap is largely unexplained.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper on the Great Mexico-US migration finds that large families per se do not boost offspring out-migration. The likelihood of migrating is higher for sons and decreases sharply with birth order.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 392, 2019

The Impact of Family Size and Sibling Structure on the Great Mexico-U.S. Migration – Download PDF
by Bratti, Massimiliano & Fiore, Simona & Mendola, Mariapia

GLO Fellows Massimiliano Bratti & Mariapia Mendola and GLO Affiliate Simona Fiore

Author Abstract: We investigate how fertility and demographic factors affect migration at the household level by assessing the causal effects of sibship size and structure on offspring’s international migration. We use a rich demographic survey on the population of Mexico and exploit presumably exogenous variation in family size induced by biological fertility and infertility shocks. We further exploit cross-sibling differences to identify birth order, sibling-sex, and sibling-age composition effects on migration. We find that large families per se do not boost offspring out-migration. Yet, the likelihood of migrating is not equally distributed within a household, but is higher for sons and decreases sharply with birth order. The female migration disadvantage also varies with sibling composition by age and gender.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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• The third edition of the Australian Gender Economics Workshop (AGEW) will take place in Brisbane at the Queensland University of Technology on 5-7 February 2020.
• The aim of AGEW is to foster a community of economic researchers who can collectively contribute to the evidence base needed to guide the pursuit of more gender equitable outcomes in society.
• Submissions of both applied and theoretical work on any topic of gender economics are invited.
• Victor Lavy and GLO Fellows Shoshana Grossbard & Gigi Foster are the keynote speakers.
• GLO Fellows Tina Rampino (Chair) & Rigissa Megalokonomou are among the members of the AGEW2020 Organizing Committee.
• Full papers or extended abstracts (min. 1500 words)
  
• Submission deadline is 13 September 2019!
• MORE DETAILS & FULL CALL.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that almost 85 percent of “engineering” and “economics and administrative science” faculty students describe health and elderly care as the two major concerns they have for their old ages.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 391, 2019

Turkish University Students’ Self-Perceptions of Aging: An Analysis Over Socio-Economic Dimensions – Download PDF
by Yumurtaci, Aynur & Bagis, Bilal

GLO Fellow Bilal Bagis

Author Abstract: University students represent nearly more than half of the youth population (age group of 15-24) in Turkey. Meanwhile, the latest demographic data shows that they will constitute a majority of the elder generation in the context of the recent rapid aging trend in the near future. That said, and although the number of studies related to the students’ perceptions of old ages are increasing in recent years, there is still room to extend our understanding of the influence of demographics, social and economic patterns on students’ self perceptions of old age. To investigate the Turkish students’ views towards their own 65+ ages, a questionary is applied to 450 students from two different universities located in different regions in Turkey. Survey analysis shows that, almost 85 percent of “engineering” and “economics and administrative science” faculty students describe health and elderly care as the two major concerns in their old ages. On the contrary, answers of the two faculties differentiated clearly in terms of happiness, ability to save more and living with someone else in their old ages. Also, students accept retirement period as a reflection of aging and most of the students claim they had never thought about the aging process before. Yet, female and male students describe the meaning of retirement as the most comfortable period and a period that makes no sense, respectively.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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Gender pay gaps are still of much concern, in particular in the United States. A new GLO Discussion Paper adds to our understanding how the gender gap is shaped by multiple different forces such as parenthood, gender segregation, part-time work and unionization.

Read more in:

Katie Meara, Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster
The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study
Journal of Population Economics, now FREE PAPER PDF

GLO Fellows Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster
The paper is also GLO Discussion Paper No. 363, 2019.

Author Abstract: This study examines the gender wage gap in the USA using two separate cross-sections from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The extensive literature on this subject includes wage decompositions that divide the gender wage gap into “explained” and “unexplained” components. One of the problems with this approach is the heterogeneity of the sample data. In order to address the difficulties of comparing like with like, this study uses a number of different matching techniques to obtain estimates of the gap. By controlling for a wide range of other influences, in effect, we estimate the direct effect of simply being female on wages. However, a number of other factors, such as parenthood, gender segregation, part-time working, and unionization, contribute to the gender wage gap. This means that it is not just the core “like for like” comparison between male and female wages that matters but also how gender wage differences interact with other influences. The literature has noted the existence of these interactions, but precise or systematic estimates of such effects remain scarce. The most innovative contribution of this study is to do that. Our findings imply that the idea of a single uniform gender pay gap is perhaps less useful than an understanding of how gender wages are shaped by multiple different forces.

Read also the Lead Article of issue 4 (2019):
Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar & Sudipta Sarangi:
“Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women“
Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 4 (October), pp. 1101-1123
Journal Website, complete issue 4. Paper PDF – OPEN ACCESS.
GLO Fellows Gautam Hazarika, Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi

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A new GLO Discussion Paper indicate that male and female immigrants from countries with a higher concentration of Protestant missionaries tend to exhibit higher levels of English language proficiency and earnings, and those from countries with a greater concentration of Catholic missionaries exhibit lower levels of both, compared to countries with lower concentrations of missionaries.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 390, 2019

The Impact of Exposure to Missionaries on the English Language Proficiency and Earnings of Immigrants in the USA – Download PDF
by Larsen, Nicholas & Chiswick, Barry R.

GLO Fellows Barry R. Chiswick

Author Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how potential exposure to missionary activity impacts both English language proficiency and labor market earnings of male and female immigrants to the United States. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study uses the pooled files of the American Community Survey (2005-09). To estimate the relationship between the missionary activity of both Protestants and Catholics on an immigrant’s English language proficiency using a linear probability model and their labor market earnings using the human capital earnings function that is estimated with an ordinary least squares model. Among other relevant variables, the analysis controls for the colonial heritage of the immigrant’s country of origin. Findings: Overall, and within colonial heritages, our results indicate that male and female immigrants from countries with a higher concentration of Protestant missionaries tend to exhibit higher levels of English language proficiency and earnings, and those from countries with a greater concentration of Catholic missionaries exhibit lower levels of both, compared to countries with lower concentrations of missionaries. Furthermore, a greater proficiency in English enhances earnings. One of the important implications of the findings in this paper is that a “missionary variable” often used in other studies is too aggregate and may mask important findings because of strikingly different effects of Protestant and Catholic activities and characteristics of the missionaries. Originality/value: This study explores for the first time how, through a missionary concentration variable, potential exposure to missionary activity impacts the English language proficiency and earnings of immigrants.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper finds evidence that immigrants are more likely to engage in informal education and, conditionally on participation, they allocate more time to these activities.

The Global Labor Organization (GLO) is an independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization that functions as an international network and virtual platform to stimulate global research, debate and collaboration.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 389, 2019

On the road to integration? Immigrant’s demand for informal (& formal) education – Download PDF
by Coniglio, Nicola D. & Hoxhaj, Rezart & Jayet, Hubert

GLO Fellows Nicola Daniele Coniglio & Rezart Hoxhaj

Author Abstract: In this paper we study the allocation of time devoted to informal learning and education, i.e. those activities carried out during leisure time and outside formal education courses which boost individuals’ human and social capital. For immigrants the private investment in these activities is likely to have relevant external effects as informal learning and education enhances the likelihood of greater socio-economic integration in the host society. We first develop a simple theoretical framework, which allows us to highlight the different constrains/opportunity costs faced by immigrants as compared with natives. Then, we empirically investigate the determinants of participation in informal education using the American Time Use Data (ATUS; period 2003-2015) which contains detailed information on daily time budgets of a large sample of immigrants and natives in the US. Consistently with a theoretical model of time allocation we find evidence that immigrants are more likely to engage in informal education and, conditionally on participation, they allocate more time to these activities. Over time, immigrants show a higher degree of assimilation into the host society. Our results also highlight heterogeneous patterns across gender.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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