Worker Characteristics (worker + characteristic)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Noncontractible Heterogeneity in Directed Search

ECONOMETRICA, Issue 4 2010
Michael Peters
This paper provides a directed search model designed to explain the residual part of wage variation left over after the impact of education and other observable worker characteristics have been removed. Workers have private information about their characteristics at the time they apply for jobs. Firms value these characteristics differently and can observe them once workers apply. They hire the worker they most prefer. However, the characteristics are not contractible, so firms cannot condition their wages on them. This paper shows how to extend arguments from directed search to handle this, allowing for arbitrary distributions of worker and firm types. The model is used to provide a functional relationship that ties together the wage distribution and the wage,duration function. This relationship provides a testable implication of the model. This relationship suggests a common property of wage distributions that guarantees that workers who leave unemployment at the highest wages also have the shortest unemployment duration. This is in strict contrast to the usual (and somewhat implausible) directed search story in which high wages are always accompanied by higher probability of unemployment. [source]


The effects of competition and equal treatment laws on gender wage differentials

ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 50 2007
Doris Weichselbaumer
SUMMARY International gender wage gaps Discrimination, if it is inefficient, can be eliminated by competition. In most countries, it is also forbidden by law. This paper evaluates the influence of economic and legal factors on the portion of male-female wage differentials that is not explained by other worker characteristics and may be due to discrimination. We use a new international data set of suitable gender wage gap measures, constructed from the results of existing studies. Meta-analysis of the data shows that increased competition and adoption of international conventions concerning equal treatment laws both reduce gender wage gaps, while legislation that prevents women from performing strenuous or dangerous jobs tends to increase it. , Doris Weichselbaumer and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer [source]


Gender Differences in Formal On-the-Job Training: Incidence, Duration, and Intensity

LABOUR, Issue 4 2008
Patrick Lee O'Halloran
This paper explores whether there is a gender gap in the incidence, duration, intensity, and number of events of on-the-job training. Overall, women appear to receive a higher incidence of on-the-job training whereas men receive on-the-job training of longer duration. Including measures intended to capture the extent of labor force attachment and expected tenure fails to reduce the gender gap in the duration of on-the-job training. Therefore, the gender gap in the duration of on-the-job training must be attributed to differences in unobserved worker characteristics that differ by gender or discrimination. [source]


UK Wage Inequality: An Industry and Regional Perspective

LABOUR, Issue 1 2006
Karl Taylor
After controlling for the heterogeneity of productivity characteristics across the population, that part of wage inequality which cannot be explained by observable worker characteristics is examined. This is undertaken at both the industry and regional level to assess the key themes dominant in the literature capable of explaining within-group wage inequality, namely: technology; globalization; female participation; immigration; shifts in the supply of relative education across cohorts; and falling unionization. [source]


The ironic value of loyalty: Dispute resolution strategies in worker cooperatives and conventional organizations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 2 2006
Elizabeth A. Hoffmann
Employee retention and satisfaction are key concerns for employers. In this article, I explore a variety of worker characteristics that affect how workers respond to troubling events and circumstances in the workplace. I examine how they approach their workplace problems, focusing on the value of their loyalty and how this loyalty might affect their problem-related decisions. This research suggests that worker loyalty presents an irony for managers, which I call the ironic value of loyalty: workers with greater loyalty are less likely to exit when they encounter workplace problems, decreasing turnover problems, yet when more loyal workers choose to remain at work, they are more likely to raise grievances, either formally or informally, to confront the problems. Thus, worker loyalty appears both to solve and create problems for managers dealing with worker discontent. [source]


Part-time workers and economic expansion: comparing the 1980s and 1990s with U.S. state data,

PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2003
Mark D. Partridge
Part-time employment; involuntary part-time; regional labor markets; labor shortages Abstract. Economics know little about how the role of part-time workers affect regional labor market dynamics during economic expansion. This study examines this issue using U.S. state data from the 1980s and 1990s. Compared to the 1980s, the labor market during the late 1990s is associated with widespread labor shortages, making this an excellent comparison of how part-time employment responds to economic growth. One key finding is that part-time employment was less responsive to job growth during the 1990s than the 1980s, especially for women. Several explanations are put forth, including firm responses to labor shortages, employer perceptions of inferior part-time worker characteristics and welfare reform. [source]


Education, cost of living and regional wage inequality in Brazil,

PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2002
Carlos R. Azzoni
Brazil; regional wage inequality; cost of living differences; education and regional inequality Abstract The objective of this article is to analyze wage inequality among the 10 largest metropolitan regions in Brazil in the 1990s. We assess the extent to which worker characteristics (education, age, gender, race, position in the family) and job characteristics (occupational position, sector, experience) can explain wage inequality. The analysis is made both with regional-nominal and with regional-real wage data. In the second case regional price indexes are used to control for differences in cost of living among regions. Wage differentials in Brazil were slightly lowered when control variables were introduced, but the leftover inequality remained high. The results indicate that cost of living levels do have a role in explaining wage inequality in Brazil, but even after controlling for this factor, the remaining regional differentials are still important. [source]


FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND DOMESTIC WAGES IN THE USA*

THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 1 2009
SAIF S. ALHAKIMI
High wages generally prevail in industries with substantial foreign direct investment (FDI) in developed countries. This study examines whether such wages are economically justified by revealing the effect of worker and industry characteristics on the FDI,domestic wage relationship. Findings show that while observed worker characteristics that command high wages help explain high FDI wages, the propensity for foreign owners to invest in capital-intensive industries contributes appreciably to the high wage paid to workers in industries with high levels of FDI. [source]


Why Do Part-time Workers Invest Less in Human Capital than Full-timers?

LABOUR, Issue 2009
Annemarie Nelen
We analyse whether lower investments in human capital of part-time workers are due to workers' characteristics or human resource practices of the firm. We focus on investments in both formal training and informal learning. Using the Dutch Life-Long-Learning Survey 2007, we find that part-time workers have different determinants for formal training and informal learning from full-time workers. The latter benefit from firms' human resource practices such as performance interviews, personal development plans, and feedback. Part-time workers can only partly compensate the lack of firm support when they have a high learning motivation and imagination of their future development. [source]


Wage differentials and state-private sector employment choice in Yugoslavia*

THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 3 2003
Michael M. Lokshin
Abstract In this study we use the newly available Yugoslavian Labor Force Survey data to investigate wage differentials and employment decisions in the state and private sectors in Yugoslavia. For the analysis we use three empirical models that rely on different statistical assumptions. We extend the standard switching regression model to allow non-normality in the joint distribution of the error terms. After correcting for the sector selection bias and controlling for workers' characteristics we find a private sector wage advantage. The wage premium is largest for workers with low education levels and declining for workers with higher educational levels. Given the regulatory and tax policies that pushed the private sector into the informal sphere of the economy during the period covered by our data, we argue that the state/private wage gap is likely to grow in the future. This will make it increasingly difficult for the state sector to attract and retain highly skilled employees. [source]