Farm work, off-farm work, and hired farm labour: estimating a discrete-choice model of French farm couples' labour decisions

We model jointly several types of discrete-choice labour decisionsof farm couples: farm work, off-farm work and hired farm labour.Rather than estimating a set of reduced-form participation equationsthat is subject to an internal inconsistency problem, we estimatea 16-choice multinomial model. We find that farm labour of operatorsand of spouses are substitutes. Hired farm labour increaseswith the farmer's qualifications, perhaps substituting for thecouple's labour inputs. Other adults in the household substitutefor the farm labour input of the farm couple and hired workers.We find that the organisation of work by French farm householdshas changed over time, in the direction of a more equal sharingof tasks and responsibilities between members of the farm family.     

Mathematical College Majors and the Gender Gap in Wages

College graduates with mathematical college majors earn more than other college graduates. Women are less likely than men to pursue mathematical college majors. This does not, however, explain the entire gender wage differential. In a representative cross section of recent college graduates, women earn 9 percent less than men with equally mathematical college majors. The gender wage disadvantage faced by women with technical college majors is no larger than that faced by women with nontechnical college majors.     

Publikationen deutschsprachiger Forscher in?Top-Journals (3. Quartal 2010)

Aktuelle Publikationen

Publikationen deutschsprachiger Forscher in Top-Journals (3. Quartal 2010)     

Monetary Policy Rules for Managing Aid Surges in Africa

This paper examines the properties of alternative monetary policy rules in response to large aid surges in low-income countries characterized by incomplete capital market integration and currency substitution. Using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model, it is shown that simple monetary rules that stabilize the path of expected future seigniorage for a given aid flow have attractive properties relative to a range of conventional alternatives, including those involving heavy reliance on bond sterilization or a commitment to a pure exchange rate float. These simple rules, which are shown to be robust across a range of fiscal responses to aid inflows, appear to be consistent with actual responses to recent aid surges in a range of post-stabilization countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.     

PRODUCTIVITY, WORKPLACE PERFORMANCE AND ICT: INDUSTRY AND FIRM-LEVEL EVIDENCE FOR EUROPE AND THE US

This paper considers the contribution of information and communications technology (ICT), to international productivity performance. It first uses an international industry data set and a growth accounting framework, to show that ICT has typically had a lower impact on productivity in Europe than in the US, although there is considerable variation within Europe. The paper also analyses the European situation in greater depth by examining micro‐economic data from Germany, Italy and the UK. While direct comparisons between the national findings are difficult, the results suggest that the UK experience with ICT has been closer to the US than other European countries.     

Assessing the Benefits of Trade Facilitation: A Global Perspective

This paper estimates the relationship between trade facilitation and trade flows using a panel of disaggregated manufactured goods for the 2000–2001 period for 75 countries. Four categories of trade facilitation are defined, measured and assessed for their impact on bilateral trade flows using a gravity model. The four measures of trade facilitation are: port infrastructure (air and maritime), customs environment, regulatory environments and e‐business infrastructure. The results suggest that raising global capacity halfway to the world average in the four areas would increase trade by $377 billion. Most regions of the world increase exports more than imports. In large part, this result stems from increased exports to OECD markets that is obtained through a country's own effort to improve ports, customs, regulations and services infrastructures. In addition, the results suggest that reform and capacity building in trade facilitation in areas related to GATT Articles V, VIII and X that are under discussion at the World Trade Organisation could expand trade and exports significantly. Many of the reform measures necessary to achieve this goal need not necessarily require large‐scale investment projects, but rather action in legal and administrative reform to facilitate trade.