Low Skill but High Volatility?
Claudia M. Buch
CESifo Working Paper No. 2665,
2009
Abstract
Globalization may impose a double-burden on low-skilled workers. On the one hand, the relative supply of low-skilled labor increases. This suppresses wages of low-skilled workers and/or increases their unemployment rates. On the other hand, low-skilled workers typically face more limited access to financial markets than high-skilled workers. This limits their ability to smooth shocks to income intertemporally and to share risks across borders. Using cross-country, industry-level data for the years 1970 - 2004, we document how the volatility of hours worked and of wages of workers at different skill levels has changed over time. We develop a stylized theoretical model that is consistent with the empirical evidence, and we test the predictions of the model. Our results show that greater financial globalization and development increases the volatility of employment, and this effect is strongest for low-skilled workers. A higher share of low-skilled employment has a dampening impact.
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Working time arrangement in the EU from the viewpoint of the employees: Results from the ad hoc labour market surveys
Cornelia Lang
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 4,
2006
Abstract
Despite the general improvement in the EU’s labour market performance, there are still large differences between individual countries. And there are differences in some fields between the pre-enlargement EU Member States and the recently acceded Member States. One explanation for these differences may be the predominance of former socialist countries with centrally planned economies among new member states. The article deals with the results of the ad hoc labour market survey of the European Commission. One of its subjects is the flexible use of labour. The main findings are: A working week of between 35 and 40 hours, distributed more or less evenly over the five working days, is the rule for the majority of employees. Part-time work is still dominated by women. Overtime is relatively common for most of the full-time employed. When asked if they would be prepared to accept more flexible working time, the interviewees do not favour all possible types of flexibility to the same extent. The most favoured model is either lengthening or shortening the regular working day. In the former socialist countries people work longer hours and they are more flexible with respect to how far they have to travel and the hours they have to work in order to keep their job.
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Flexible utilization of labor strengthens industrial enterprises´ ability to adapt to fluctuations in business - an empirical east-west comparison based on the IAB company panel
Brigitte Loose, Udo Ludwig
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 12,
2004
Abstract
Based on an individual data set, this article investigates the question of which conventional methods and new instruments companies use to adapt to fluctuations in business and what distinguishes these companies from other ones which have not implemented such instruments. In particular, the role of the technical equipment as well as the personnel policy and tariff policy are analyzed. An empirical comparison between the East and West German manufacturing industries demonstrates whether East German firms have competitive advantages. While the technological conditions for firms´ flexibility are somewhat less pronounced in East German, the proportion of “standardized“ and flexible employment is nearly the same in the East-West comparison. Differences exist among small, middle-sized and large firms as well as among types of yield. The weak orientation with respect to agreed wages and hours worked as well as the mainly gratuitous reduction of unpaid overtime which can be implemented over the whole year, prove to be an advantage. The investigation is based on a data set from the IAB company panel of manufacturing industries in 2003.
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Significant differences in annual working hours among the Länder
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 5,
2004
Abstract
The article is concerned with differences in the series of yearly working time of employees in the different German Bundesländer. Some reasons of these differences and the consequences for the level of labour unit costs are discussed.
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Vierteljährliche Entstehungsrechnung des Bruttoinlandsprodukts für Ostdeutschland: Sektorale Bruttowertschöpfung
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch, Udo Ludwig
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 164,
2002
Abstract
Data regarding the development of macroeconomic production and employment are essential for the political decision process. Especially timely available information is a critical issue. Reliable short run data are not reported for East Germany yet. Because of data limitations for the past quarterly sectoral series of production and employment are derived from annual national accounts data using a set of indicators by branches. Indicators have been tested and cover working hours and sales, among others. For the period from 1992 to 2001 quarterly series for sectoral GDP are derived. A flash estimator for the overall macroeconomic performance is obtained through aggregation.
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The Effect of a Reduction in Working Hours on Employment: Empirical Evidence for West-Germany
Christian Dreger, Olaf Fuchs, Jürgen Kolb
Journal of Economics (MVEA),
2001
Abstract
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Low-paid employment relationships: high numbers, low volume
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 6,
2001
Abstract
The labour market situation can be judged using figures of persons engaged and/or of the total number of man-hours worked. Concerning marginal part-time jobs the number of person engaged ist less informative: Although in 2000 more than ten per cent of persons had a marginal part-time job, the total number of man-hours worked representing the marginal part-time jobs amounts to 2,6 % of the volume of work in the economy on the whole. Nevertheless in some branches of economic activity marginal part-time jobs are of great importance.
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Across-the-board reduction of weekly working hours ousts unskilled workers
Christian Dreger, Jürgen Kolb
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 12,
1999
Abstract
Bei einer Verkürzung der tariflichen Wochenarbeitszeit sind strukturelle Effekte zu erwarten, die sich unter anderem in der Arbeitsnachfrage nach spezifischen Qualifikationen zeigen. Eine generelle Verkürzung der tariflichen Wochenarbeitszeit löst Anpassungen der Arbeitsnachfrage aus, die vor allem zu Lasten ungelernter Arbeit gehen. Damit ergeben sich Be-schäftigungsverluste im Bereich unterer Qualifikationen.
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Determining factors for overtime in West German industry
Christian Dreger, Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 3,
1999
Abstract
Die Überstundennachfrage in den Branchen der westdeutschen Industrie wird auf der Basis panelökonometrischer Methoden durch die konjunkturelle Situation, die Kosten des Faktors Arbeit und die tarifliche Arbeitszeit erklärt. Eine Reduktion der tariflichen Arbeitszeit führt zu einem Überstundenaufbau, der sich unter anderem mit Beschränkungen im verfügbaren Hu-mankapital begründen läßt. Überstunden können aus Sicht der einzelnen Unternehmen durch-aus kostengünstiger als Normalarbeitszeit sein.
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