Who Benefits from Marriage?*

The phenomenon that married men earn higher average wages than unmarried men – the marriage premium – is well known. However, the robustness of the premium across the wage distribution and the underlying causes of the marriage premium are unclear. Focusing on the entire wage distribution and employing recently developed semi‐non‐parametric tests for quantile treatment effects, our findings cast doubt on the robustness of the premium. We find that the premium is explained by selection above the median, whereas a positive premium is obtained only at very low wages. The causal effect at low wages may be attributable to employer discrimination.     

The Central Government-Private Sector Wage Differential

Since Ehrenberg and Schwarz (1986) there has been a plethora of articles investigating the relationship between public and private sector wages. This article examines part of this post 1986 literature by reviewing articles that examine central government-private sector wage differentials. In sum, most articles find that there is a premium paid to central government workers, although the premium has declined in recent years. In developing countries, however, the differential is usually negative. Women and minorities tend to do better in the public sector relative to their private sector counterparts. The evidence on union premiums between sectors is mixed, although the premium tends to be higher in the private sector. However public sector union workers do not do much better than private sector union members. The magnitude of all of the wage differentials discussed are sensitive to the estimation technique and data source used. The most common explanation for the public sector wage premium is economic rent accruing to government workers, although the public sector wage determination literature suggests that the differential is due to returns to political and 'vote producing' activities not relevant in the private sector.     

Monopsonistic discrimination, worker turnover, and the gender wage gap

Motivated by models of worker flows, we argue in this paper that monopsonistic discrimination may be a substantial factor behind the overall gender wage gap. Using matched employer–employee data from Norway, we estimate establishment-specific wage premiums separately for men and women, conditioning on fixed individual effects. Regressions of worker turnover on the wage premium identify less wage elastic labour supply facing each establishment of women than that of men. Workforce gender composition is strongly related to employers' wage policies. The results suggest that 70–90% of the gender wage gap for low-educated workers may be attributed to differences in labour market frictions between men and women, while the similar figures for high-educated workers ranges from 20 to 70%.     

Firm-specific Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Brazil*

We introduce firm-specific returns to experience and tenure into a standard two-way fixed effects model, show that they are separately identified under the standard exogenous mobility assumption and with sufficient between firm mobility, and provide a new evidence on heterogeneity of returns to experience and tenure across firms using the administrative data from Brazil over the years 1999–2014. We document that (1) returns to tenure are not strongly related to firm wage premia, (2) returns to experience are strongly negatively correlated with firm wage premia, (3) the relationship between firm wage premium and return to experience is stronger for ‘blue collar’ firms.     

Union wage premiums in Great Britain: Coverage or membership?

This paper presents estimates of union wage premiums for Great Britain and distinguishes between union membership and union coverage effects on wages. For this purpose a panel data system estimator is applied to data from the British Household Panel Survey.For female workers a coverage premium of 6.1% is estimated whilst no evidence of a union membership premium is found. This result lends support to the by-product theory of Olson (1965) [Olson Jr., M., 1965. The logic of collective action. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.)]: if female covered members receive other private benefits than a higher wage from the union the coverage premium could be viewed as a by-product. For male workers no evidence is found of a membership premium nor a coverage premium. To investigate potential bias in the estimated union effects particular attention is paid to measurement error in union membership and the inclusion of job-changes in the sample.     

Wage delegation in the field

By conducting a natural field experiment, we analyze the managerial policy of delegating the wage choice to employees. We find that this policy enhances performance significantly, which is remarkable since allocated wage premiums of the same size have no effect at all. Observed self‐imposed wage restraints and absence of negative peer effects speak in favor of wage delegation, although the chosen wage premium levels severely dampen its net value. Additional experimental and survey data provide important insights into employees' underlying motivations.     

Union effects on pay levels in Britain

The contraction of union representation in Britain raises the question of whether or not unions still achieve a wage premium. Analysis of matched employer–employee data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey shows that there is now no demonstrable premium for private sector workers in general. However, unions do achieve a wage premium of around 9% for about half of employees covered by collective bargaining arrangements. The effect of union bargaining spills over to other employees in the same workplaces. The paper identifies circumstances where union effects are strongest—employer endorsement of union membership, high collective bargaining coverage and multi-unionism.     

WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF HOUSEWORK ON THE MARKET WAGE,AND CAN IT EXPLAIN THE GENDER WAGE GAP?

Abstract Does housework reduce the market wage, and if so, does it have a similar impact for males and females? In this paper, we survey and evaluate the recent and growing empirical literature on the linkages between housework and the wage rate. The review is motivated by unexplained gender wage gaps across studies, which consider personal and market‐related factors. We focus on this less‐studied aspect of wage determination. We consider the required modelling framework, and provide standardized estimated effects of housework on the hourly wage across studies. We evaluate how this literature has addressed potential estimation problems, in particular, the endogeneity of housework, concavity of the housework–wage function, threshold effects and work effort effects. We conclude that the evidence across ordinary least squares, instrumental variable, fixed effects and two‐stage least squares results casts serious doubt on the idea that the negative female housework–wage relationship is only driven by endogeneity bias or individual‐specific characteristics. Yet, much more needs to be done to address modelling and data requirements, and we point out likely and promising future research directions.     

Wages,non-wage characteristics,and predominantly male jobs

This paper estimates the wage premium associated with working in predominantly male jobs. It also examines whether this wage premium is greater than the compensation workers demand for the less desirable non-wage characteristics of such jobs. The coefficients of the change in the proportion of men in an occupation on the change in wages for quits and layoffs provide opposing biased estimates of the wage premium; because workers who voluntarily quit move to better matches, but those that are laid off accept jobs from the representative distribution of job offers. Specifically, when the premium paid over- (under-)compensates for undesirable work characteristics, the quit estimate is a downward (upward) biased estimate of the wage premium, while the layoff estimate is biased upward (downward). Results from the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) and the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) indicate that: (1) the estimated bounds of the wage premium are large; and (2) the wage premium overcompensates for the non-wage characteristics of male jobs.     

Has the Internet changed the wage structure too?

By using recent Current Population Survey (CPS) data sets, this paper investigates whether workers who use the Internet at work earn a higher wage than otherwise similar workers who do not use the Internet at work. Estimates suggest that there was a substantial premium to Internet use in 1997 of about 8%. However, this premium disappeared very quickly thereafter, and there are grounds to believe that it is now negative. This result is in stark contrast with that for computer use.     

城市商业银行金融服务多样化能否影响城市人口集聚？

本文首先通过理论剖析和文献总结探讨城市商业银行金融服务多样化与城市人口集聚之间的关系,之后使用中国60家城市商业银行2001-2010年数据,实证结果证实城市商业银行金融服务多样化对城市人口集聚起到正面作用;城市商业银行经营规模和绩效均促进城市人口集聚,同时本文验证了宏观经济发展和城市人口集聚具有正相关的关系。加入时间效应后的研究结果与基本模型一致,表外业务、非利息收入均对城市人口集聚产生正相关影响,但非利息收入对城市人口集聚的正相关影响只体现在：2005-2010年时间段;加入地区效应的研究发现：城市商业银行金融服务多样化对东部,西部城市人口集聚的促进作用明显,而且在西部的影响程度大于东部地区。     

Spatial changes in labour market inequality

We study spatial changes in labour market inequality for US states and MSAs using Census and American Community Survey data between 1980 and 2010. We report evidence of significant spatial variations in education employment shares and in the college wage premium for US states and MSAs, and show that the pattern of shifts through time has resulted in increased spatial inequality. Because relative supply of college versus high school educated workers has risen faster at the spatial level in places with higher initial supply levels, we also report a strong persistence and increased inequality of spatial relative demand. Bigger relative demand increases are observed in more technologically advanced states that have experienced faster increases in R&D and computer usage, and in states where union decline has been fastest. Finally, we show the increased concentration of more educated workers into particular spatial locations and rising spatial wage inequality are important features of labour market polarization, as they have resulted in faster employment growth in high skill occupations, but also in a higher demand for low wage workers in low skill occupations. Overall, our spatial analysis complements research findings from labour economics on wage inequality trends and from urban economics on agglomeration effects connected to education and technology.     

Wage–hours contracts,overtime working and premium pay

This paper offers a contract-based theory to explain the determination of standard hours, overtime hours and overtime premium pay. We expand on the wage contract literature that emphasises the role of firm-specific human capital and that explores problems of contract efficiency in the face of information asymmetries between the firm and the worker. We first explore a simple wage–hours contract without overtime and show that incorporating hours into the contract may itself produce efficiency gains. We then show how the introduction of overtime hours, remunerated at premium rates, can further improve contract efficiency. Our modelling outcomes in respect of the relationship between the overtime premium and the standard wage rate relate closely to earlier developments in hedonic wage theory. Throughout, we emphasise the intuitive reasoning behind the theory and we also supply relevant empirical evidence. Mathematical derivations are provided in an Appendix.     

Ownership,firm size and rent sharing in Bulgaria

Using a unique three-digit firm-level data set of all medium and large manufacturing enterprises in Bulgaria covering the years 1997–1998, we investigate how wages are affected by ownership status, firm size and rent sharing. Our pooled OLS, panel and first-difference TSLS estimates clearly point to ownership structure as an important determinant of both the wage level (for given productivity) and the degree of rent sharing. Rent sharing is very pronounced in state-owned firms but far less pronounced in private domestic and foreign firms. The results strongly confirm the existence of a multinational wage premium. In addition, we find weak evidence of a positive firm size-wage effect and a positive effect of firm size on the degree of rent sharing. If these effects exist, they are often more pronounced in private domestic firms.     

Urban effects on participation and wages: Are there gender differences?

This paper estimates participation and wage equations using panel data from the United Kingdom to explore gender differences in urban wage and participation premiums. The results suggest a small but economically significant urban participation premium for women but none for men. Results from the wage estimations suggest that after controlling for sample selectivity, observed and unobserved heterogeneity, the urban premium is larger for women. This wage premium is also larger for married or cohabiting women relative to others. There is also evidence of higher urban returns to experience for men and lower urban wage depreciation for both men and women.     

Does citizenship matter? The economic impact of naturalizations in Germany

This paper analyses whether citizenship acquisition affects the labour market performance of immigrants in Germany. The study uses actual micro data from the employment sample of the Institute for Employment Research, which covers more than 80% of the entire labour force in Germany. The econometric analysis has been carried out using panel data techniques, which allow to disentangle the effects of self-selection and legal impact of citizenship acquisition. Estimates from a pooled OLS specification suggest the existence of a wage premium for naturalized immigrants of both genders. Fixed effects estimates for males show an increased wage growth in the years following naturalization, consistent with the argument that naturalization increases the labour market opportunities of immigrants. Results for female employees indicate that the wage premium of naturalized women is solely the result of a positive self-selection process.     

Urban effects on participation and wages: Are there gender differences?

This paper estimates participation and wage equations using panel data from the United Kingdom to explore gender differences in urban wage and participation premiums. The results suggest a small but economically significant urban participation premium for women but none for men. Results from the wage estimations suggest that after controlling for sample selectivity, observed and unobserved heterogeneity, the urban premium is larger for women. This wage premium is also larger for married or cohabiting women relative to others. There is also evidence of higher urban returns to experience for men and lower urban wage depreciation for both men and women.     

Non-Parametric Regression Models of Deviations from Othogonality in the Expectations Theory of the Term Structure

Regression tests of the expectations theory of the term structure typically reject the null hypothesis of orthogonality between implied forecast errors and the yield spreads. In the statistical literature on the term structure, these rejections are sometimes attributed to time-varying liquidity premia, and Engle et al . (1987) suggest that the ARCH-M model of time-variation in the liquidity premium may be sufficient to account for rejections of the expectations theory. We use non-parametric (kernel) regression to explore the regression test results on a number of data sets, and find some evidence of a persistent deviation from orthogonality for large absolute values of the spread. Incorporating ARCH-in-mean into models of the term premium indicates that this specification does explain significant time variation in liquidity premia, but the effect does not apepar to be sufficient to account for all of the deviations from orthogonality of forecast errors and spreads.     

Urban agglomeration effects and employment and wage gradients

When employment occurs at both central and non-central points, but firms have a preference to be near the center, the rent gradient will decline, and a wage gradient is necessary to compensate workers for more centrally located employment. Wage gradients and rent gradients are jointly determined. The relationship between wage offer functions and the equilibrium wage gradient is derived, the latter dependent on utility functions and commuting costs. This is illustrated with a two sector model incorporating agglomeration economies in the export sector. Numerical solution reveals how agglomeration economies affect wages, employment, and city size.     

Estimating distributions of potential outcomes using local instrumental variables with an application to changes in college enrollment and wage inequality

This paper extends the method of local instrumental variables developed by Heckman and Vytlacil [Heckman, J., Vytlacil E., 2005. Structural equations, treatment, effects and econometric policy evaluation. Econometrica 73(3), 669–738] to the estimation of not only means, but also distributions of potential outcomes. The newly developed method is illustrated by applying it to changes in college enrollment and wage inequality using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth of 1979. Increases in college enrollment cause changes in the distribution of ability among college and high school graduates. This paper estimates a semiparametric selection model of schooling and wages to show that, for fixed skill prices, a 14% increase in college participation (analogous to the increase observed in the 1980s), reduces the college premium by 12% and increases the 90–10 percentile ratio among college graduates by 2%.