Klaus F. Zimmermann

A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that a school reform in Hungary increasing the length of schooling did not decrease the probability of dropping out of secondary school at all levels.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 985, 2021

Is raising the school leaving age enough to decrease dropping out? – Download PDF
by Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna

GLO Fellow Anna Adamecz-Völgyi

Author Abstract: This paper examines the effects of increasing the compulsory school leaving age from 16 to 18 in Hungary using a difference-in-regression-discontinuities design identification strategy. While the reform increased the length of schooling, it did not decrease the probability of dropping out of secondary school, either on average or among the most at-risk group of Roma ethnic minority young people. Due to grade retentions, marginal students were older than their peers and couldn’t have made it to the final grade of secondary school by age 18. Neither did the reform increase the probability of employment at age 20 and 25. I show descriptive evidence that the share of disadvantaged students increased heavily in vocational training schools -that most marginal students attended- and potentially crowded out resources. This mechanism raises concerns about using school leaving age reforms as instrumental variables for education as it may violate its monotonicity assumption.

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.

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.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that restricting family allowance eligibility criteria decreases fertility and increases both male and female labor supply.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 984, 2021

Fertility, Family Policy, and Labor Supply: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from France – Download PDF
by Elmallakh, Nelly

GLO Fellow Nelly El-Mallakh

Author Abstract: This paper examines fertility and labor supply responses to a French policy reform that consisted in conditioning the amount of child allowances on household income. Relying on Regression Discontinuity Design and administrative income data, the paper finds that restricting family allowance eligibility criteria decreases fertility. The results also highlight that receiving half the amount of the allowances or not receiving any leads to an increase in both male and female labor supply. Auxiliary regressions show that at least part of the decline in fertility is due to timing effects, as the fertility impact declines as women’s age increases.

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.

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.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper studies how institutional quality affects the size of the informal economy to find a positive and a significant association between labor productivity and the size of the shadow economy, among others.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 983, 2021

Vicious Circle or New Paradigm? Exploring the Impact of Shadow Economy on Labour Market in Latin America and Eurozone – Download PDF
by Khorana, Sangeeta & Caram, Santiago & Biagetti, Marco

GLO Fellow Sangeeta Khorana & GLO Affiliate Marco Biagetti

Author Abstract: The relationship between shadow economy (or informal economy) and development has been extensively researched. But there is a lack of consensus on how institutional quality affects the size of informal economy in any country. Using the Kuznets Curve hypothesis we assess the relationship between institutional quality and the size of SE for a group of Latin American and Eurozone countries for 1991-2015. We examine the rationale of the ‘exclusion’ and ‘escape’ theories in short and long-run with the multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) model. We use two techniques, namely an instrumental variable (IV) and Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) approach. The results show positive and a significant relationship between labour productivity and the size of the shadow economy. We also find that the size of the informal sector is related to the institutional framework, and while the size of the informal sector varies across countries, both formal and informal sectors can co-exist in the long run. High corruption together with an excessive tax burden and adverse socio-economic conditions impact the size of the informal sector in an economy.

Featured image: JR-Korpa-on-Unsplash

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.

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.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that multitasking does not work out for students.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 982, 2021

Does Multitasking Affect Students’ Academic Performance? Evidence From a Longitudinal Study – Download PDF
by Amez, Simon & Baert, Stijn & Heydencamp, Emily & Wuyts, Joey

GLO Fellow Stijn Baert

Author Abstract: Multitasking – alternating between two different tasks at the same time – has become a daily habit for many university students. However, this may come at a cost since the existing literature emphasises the negative association between multitasking and academic performance. Nonetheless, this literature is based on cross-sectional observational data so that that estimates cannot be given a causal interpretation. To complement these studies, we opted for a longitudinal design in this study. Specifically, for three consecutive years, students at two Belgian universities, in more than ten different study programmes, were surveyed on their multitasking preferences and academic performance. Then, these results were merged with the students’ exam scores. We exploited the longitudinal character of the data by running random and fixed effect models. Our results indicate that the positive and negative aspects of multitasking with respect to academic performance cancel each other out.

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.

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.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper finds that periods ahead of an unemployment event, health outcomes decline and unmet needs for medical care increase.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 981, 2021

Unemployment and health: a panel event study – Download PDF
by Raftopoulou, Athina & Giannakopoulos, Nicholas

GLO Fellow Nicholas Giannakopoulos

Author Abstract: Adopting a panel event study framework, we estimate the effect of unemployment on health outcomes by exploiting the variation in the timing of entering unemployment using longitudinal data for Greece. We find, that in the periods ahead of an unemployment event, health outcomes decline and unmet needs for medical care increase. These findings are valid only for men and are robust to alternative definitions of health outcomes, unemployment events and model specifications.

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.

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.

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A new GLO Discussion Paper extract verbs and nouns in text data to measure social, technical and basic skills in a novel way.

GLO Discussion Paper No. 979, 2021

Learning the Right Skill: The Returns to Social, Technical and Basic Skills for Middle-Educated Graduates – Download PDF
by Cnossen, Femke & Piracha, Matloob & Tchuente, Guy

GLO Fellows Femke Cnossen and Guy Tchuente & GLO Director Matloob Piracha

Author Abstract: Technological change and globalization have sparked debates on the changing demand for skills in western labour markets, especially for middle skilled workers who have seen their tasks replaced. This paper provides a new data set, which is based on text data from curricula of the entire Dutch vocational education system. We extract verbs and nouns to measure social, technical and basic skills in a novel way. This method allows us to uncover the skills middle-skilled students learn in school. Using this data, we show that skill returns vary across students specialized in STEM, economics or health, as well as across sectors of employment.

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.

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.

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