Your spouse is fired! How much do you care? New Research Published in the Journal of Population Economics

Posted on July 9, 2019 by admin

Unemployment reduces the life satisfaction of the partner! However, while wives’ life satisfaction does not recover even two years after their partners becoming unemployed, husbands only react to their wives’ joblessness during the first year of unemployment.

Read more in:
Milena Nikolova & Sinem H. Ayhan: Your spouse is fired! How much do you care?
Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 32 (2019), Issue 3, pp. 799-844.

Journal Website. Download PDF of article for free – OPEN ACCESS

GLO Fellows Milena Nikolova and Sinem H. Ayhan

Author Abstract: This study is the first to provide a causal estimate of the cross-spouse subjective well-being consequences of unemployment. Using German panel data on married and cohabiting partners for 1991–2015 and information on exogenous unemployment entry due to workplace closure, we show that one spouse’s unemployment experience reduces the life satisfaction of the other partner. The estimated spillover is at least one quarter of the effect of own unemployment and is equally pronounced among female and male partners. In addition, while wives’ life satisfaction does not recover even two years after their partners becoming unemployed, husbands only react to their wives’ joblessness during the first year of unemployment. Our results are insensitive to income controls and the couple’s position in the income distribution, thus reflecting the non-pecuniary costs of unemployment. Although the income loss hardly explains the negative spillover effects of unemployment on spousal life satisfaction, we document large declines in spousal satisfaction with household income and living standards. This finding supports the argument that the costs of unemployment borne by indirectly affected spouses extend beyond the loss of consumption opportunities and might be rather related to social values attached to market work. Being robust to a battery of sensitivity checks, our findings imply that public policy programs aimed at mitigating unemployment’s negative consequences need to target not only those directly affected but also cohabiting spouses.

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Migrants Reduce the Work Health Risks of Natives – New Research Findings Published in the Journal of Population Economics

Posted on July 5, 2019 by admin

The value of immigrants for the UK has played an important role in the Brexit debate. A recent GLO Discussion Paper explores the effects of immigration on the allocation of occupational physical burden and work injury risk using data for England and Wales.
Migrants seem to reduce the risks for UK-born workers and they report report lower injury rates than natives. The paper is now published in the Journal of Population Economics and available online. See also below.

GLO Discussion Paper now published in the Journal of Population Economics, July 2019, Volume 32, Issue 3, pp 1009–1042; already 2.4k downloads on July 5, 2019!

See online on the Journal website.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 215, 2018.

Immigration and the Reallocation of Work Health Risks – Download PDF
by Giuntella, Osea & Mazzonna, Fabrizio & Nicodemo, Catia & Vargas-Silva, Carlos

GLO Fellows Osea Giuntella, Fabrizio Mazzonna, Catia Nicodemo & Carlos Vargas-Silva

Author Abstract: This paper studies the effects of immigration on the allocation of occupational physical burden and work injury risks. Using data for England and Wales from the Labour Force Survey (2003–2013), we find that, on average, immigration leads to a reallocation of UK-born workers towards jobs characterized by lower physical burden and injury risk. The results also show important differences across skill groups. Immigration reduces the average physical burden of UK-born workers with medium levels of education, but has no significant effect on those with low levels. We also find that that immigration led to an improvement self-reported measures of native workers’ health. These findings, together with the evidence that immigrants report lower injury rates than natives, suggest that the reallocation of tasks could reduce overall health care costs and the human and financial costs typically associated with workplace injuries.

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John Gardner on ‘Intergenerational altruism: Evidence from the African American Great Migration’ online in the Journal of Population Economics

Posted on July 4, 2019 by admin

Intergenerational altruism explains between 24 and 42% of the Northward migration!

Read more in:

John Gardner: Intergenerational altruism in the migration decision calculus: evidence from the African American Great Migration, forthcoming in the Journal of Population Economics.

See Online First on the Journal website.

GLO Fellow John Gardner

Author Abstract: It is widely believed that many migrations are undertaken at least in part for the benefit of future generations. To provide evidence on the effect of intergenerational altruism on migration, I estimate a dynamic residential location choice model of the African American Great Migration in which individuals take the welfare of future generations into account when deciding to remain in the Southern USA or migrate to the North. I measure the influence of altruism on the migration decision as the implied difference between the migration probabilities of altruistic individuals and myopic ones who consider only current-generation utility when making their location decisions. My preferred estimates suggest that intergenerational altruism explains between 24 and 42% of the Northward migration that took place during the period that I study, depending on the generation.

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Anti-Minaret Votes and Migrants’ Location Choices in Switzerland – New Research Findings Published in the Journal of Population Economics

Posted on July 3, 2019 by admin

A recent GLO Discussion Paper explores the vote on the Swiss minaret initiative in 2009 as a natural experiment to identify the effect of newly revealed reservations towards immigrants on their location choices. The research finds that the probability of  immigrants to relocate to  a municipality that unexpectedly revealed stronger negative attitudes towards them is significantly reduced in the time after the vote. The effect seems to apply to all immigrant groups – Muslim, non-European and European -, and to be stronger for high-skilled immigrants. The paper is now published in the Journal of Population Economics and available online. See also below.

GLO Discussion Paper of the Month of January 2019 published in the Journal of Population Economics, July 2019, Volume 32, Issue 3, pp 1043–1095!

See online on the Journal website.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 305, 2019.

The Deterrent Effect of an Anti-Minaret Vote on Foreigners’ Location Choices – Download PDF
by Slotwinski, Michaela & Stutzer, Alois

GLO Fellows Michaela Slotwinski & Alois Stutzer

Abstract: In a national ballot in 2009, Swiss citizens surprisingly approved an amendment to the Swiss constitution to ban the further construction of minarets. The ballot outcome manifested reservations and anti-immigrant attitudes in regions of Switzerland which had previously been hidden. We exploit this fact as a natural experiment to identify the causal effect of negative attitudes towards immigrants on foreigners’ location choices and thus indirectly on their utility. Based on a regression discontinuity design with unknown discontinuity points and administrative data on the population of foreigners, we find that the probability of their moving to a municipality which unexpectedly expressed stronger reservations decreases initially by about 40 percent. The effect is accompanied by a drop of housing prices in these municipalities and levels off over a period of about 5 months. Moreover, foreigners in high-skill occupations react relatively more strongly highlighting a tension when countries try to attract well-educated professionals from abroad.

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Return migrants transfer social norms: Evidence on female genital mutilation in Mali just published in the Journal of Population Economics

Posted on July 1, 2019 by admin

A recent GLO Discussion Paper found that girls living in localities with return migrants in Mali are less likely to be circumcised. This effect is driven mainly by the returnees from Côte d’Ivoire, suggesting that, in addition to punitive action against those who practice Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or information campaigns, having lived in an African country where FGM practice is not customary is equally influential. This is evidence for the relevance of social remittances through return migration here by improving social norms. The paper is now accepted for publication in the Journal of Population Economics and already available online. See also below.

GLO Discussion Paper of the Month of March 2019 now forthcoming in the Journal of Population Economics!

See online on the Journal website.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 329, 2019.

Female genital mutilation and migration in Mali. Do return migrants transfer social norms? – Download PDF
by Diabate, Idrissa & Mesplé-Somps, Sandrine

GLO Fellow Sandrine Mesplé-Somps.

Abstract:   In this paper, we investigate the power of migration as a mechanism in the transmission of social norms, taking Mali and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a case study. Mali has a strong FGM culture and a long-standing history of migration. We use an original household-level database coupled with census data to analyze the extent to which girls living in localities with high rates of return migrants are less prone to FGM. Malians migrate predominantly to other African countries where female circumcision is uncommon (e.g. Côte d’Ivoire) and to countries where FGM is totally banned (France and other developed countries) and where anti-FGM information campaigns frequently target African migrants. Taking a two-step instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity of migration and return decisions, we show that return migrants have a negative and significant influence on FGM practices. More precisely, we show that this result is primarily driven by the flow of returnees from Cote d’Ivoire. We also show that adults living in localities with return migrants are more informed about FGM and in favor of legislation. The impact of returnees may occur through several channels, including compositional effects, changes in return migrants’ attitudes toward FGM, and return migrants convincing stayers to change their FGM practices.

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Leaving Budapest.

Posted on June 30, 2019 by admin

Over April – June 2019, Klaus F. Zimmermann has been George Soros Visiting Chair Professor at the School of Public Policy of the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest. On June 28, he terminated this engagement and returned to the headquarters of the Global Labor Organization (GLO) in Bonn, Germany, which he leads as the President. Currently, “History destroys many dreams we had affiliated with Budapest in the past; this is indeed a sad experience. But I enjoyed this great city and its people during my term.”

  • Farewell reflections
  • # I stand with CEU
  • Farewell Lunch with RA Svetlin Iliev
  • A flying carpet

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Rwanda Post Conference Impressions: Touring the Country

Posted on June 30, 2019 by admin

June 12-14, 2019, Kigali, Rwanda. GLO Fellows provided a number of keynote lectures at the international conference on “Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation” organized at the College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda and the Hotel Nobleza. More conference details.

After the conference on June 15 – 16, the core team was visiting in an intensive tour the Kings Palace Rwanda and the Nyungwe Forest National Park. The tour participants were Manfred Fischedick (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment & Energy, Germany, and GLO), Hans Lööf (Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and GLO), Johnson Bosco Rukundo (Jönköping University, Sweden), Pär Sjölander (Gothenburg University, Sweden), and Klaus F. Zimmermann (Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, and President, GLO, Bonn, Germany) lead byLars Hartvigson (Jönköping University, Sweden, and GLO).

From upper left: Lööf, Rukundo, Fischedick, Sjölander, Hartvigson, Zimmermann

On the road….

Kings Palace…

Nyungwe Forest National Park
“To get a real sense of the scale of Nyungwe,” we tried “East Africa’s highest canopy walk with a metal bridge suspended 50 metres above the forest.” Indeed, “the views of Nyungwe sprawled out below the bridge are unforgettable.” (See also for further reference.)

Hiking in the Nyungwe Forest National Park

Within a local hotel: Sleeping houses uphill, reception downhill, tent houses to the right, campfire next to the bar, farewell.

In the far: Large refugee camp. And we saw massive Rwandian army protecting the border.

#396274
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Kigali Conference Impressions: Hotel Nobleza, After the Hour

Posted on June 29, 2019 by admin

June 12-14, 2019, Kigali, Rwanda. Keynote lecture at the international conference on “Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation” organized at the College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda and the Hotel Nobleza. More conference details.

Hotel Nobleza Nightlife

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German “Mittelstand”: An antithesis to Silicon Valley entrepreneurship? Insights by Friederike Welter & André Pahnke

Posted on June 29, 2019 by admin

Some perceive the German Mittelstand as a low growth, low-tech and non-innovative approach while in contrast the Silicon Valley entrepreneurship is regarded as the salvation for a doomed German economy. Is German type family business at the end? In their GLO Research for Policy Note No. 2, GLO Fellow Friederike Welter & André Pahnke argue that research and policy debates should avoid dichotomies such as “Mittelstand versus Silicon Valley entrepreneurship” and instead acknowledge the vibrant diversity and heterogeneity of entrepreneurship.

Recommended Readings:

Friederike Welter & André Pahnke (2019): The German Mittelstand: an antithesis to Silicon Valley entrepreneurship?, GLO Research for Policy Note No. 2.

Pahnke, A.; Welter, F. (2019): The German Mittelstand: antithesis to Silicon Valley entrepreneurship?, Small Business Economics,  52 (2), 345-358.

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Kigali, University of Rwanda & Hotel Nobleza hosted high-profile conference in economics and business with key participation of distinguished GLO speekers.

Posted on June 28, 2019 by admin

On June 12-14, 2019, in Kigali, Rwanda, at the College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda and the Hotel Nobleza, GLO Fellows Manfred Fischedick, Almas Heshmati, Hans Lööf and GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann were among the invited speakers of an international conference on “Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation”. Almas Heshmati is the academic Lead of the GLO Research Cluster on “Labor Markets in Africa”. GLO Fellow Rama B. Rao , University of Rwanda, was the Chair of the Organizing Committee of the conference.
Examine the full program. MORE PICTURES.

GLO President Klaus F. Zimmermann (i) in front of the Nobleza conference center, (ii) after his keynote speech with university representative, (iii) in the bus with the core group, GLO Fellow Has Lööf, right, (iv) listening to the keynote of Manfred Fischedick, (v) plenary session, (vi) with GLO Fellow Almas Heshmati, (vii) and (viii) with excited speakers and some participants of the sessions he chaired.

Keynote speakers and key organizers (from the right): Rama B. Rao (University of Rwanda and GLO), Manfred Fischedick (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment & Energy, Germany, and GLO), Hans Lööf (Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and GLO), Benson Honig (McMaster University), Faustin Gasheja (Principal, College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda ), Almas Heshmati (Jönköping International Business School, Sweden, and GLO), and Klaus F. Zimmermann (Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, and President, GLO, Bonn, Germany).

KEYNOTE SPEECHES

  • Klaus F. Zimmermann: The Value of Global Labor Mobility
  • Manfred Fischedick: Climate Change and Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation
  • Hans Lööf: Knowledge Spillover, Innovation and Exporting
  • Almas Heshmati: Sustainable Development in Rwanda
  • Benson Honig: Researching the “other”: Successful Approaches and Ongoing Challenges Toward Generalizability

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