Human capital and intergenerational occupational mobility: Some evidence for Spain

Intergenerational occupational mobility is a topic that has attracted considerable interest in the economic literature for developed countries. Particularly, one of the central issues in political debate is the role of education on the intergenerational social mobility. The modern capitalist economies are characterised by continual technological changes which lead to the need of a highly skilled workforce. In this potentially meritocratic society, the equality of opportunities, the efficient allocation of talent and the education can be instruments that encourage the social mobility and decrease the effect of the parent’s economic status on the career of their children. However, nowadays, there are still some factors that can hinder the achievement of a more equal society. Some of these elements are discrimination, failures of the education system or capital market imperfections. This paper takes into account these facts and sheds empirical evidence for Spain about the relationships between social origin, educational attainment and occupational destination. The methodology applied consists of the specification and estimation of discrete choice models, and the empirical analysis is based on data provided by the Living Condition Survey (LCS) conducted for the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE)Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

International mobility and doctorate holders' career: Some evidence from Spain

The completion of the PhD program is understood as a transmission channel to provide high specialization and skills to students pursuing to be employed as highly-qualified workers or researchers. The Bologna Process and the EU Horizon 2020 has enhanced the role of the PhD program as an instrument to achieve the objectives of innovation proposed by the “Europe of Knowledge”. Focusing in the Spanish case, PhD programs exert a positive influence on doctorate holders careers since they have a privileged situation in the labour market. For example in 2015, the unemployment and employment rates of the Spanish population were 21% and 58%, respectively; whereas, for the doctorate holders, these percentages were 5% and 80%. Moreover, these workers earn wages that are 60% higher than those received by workers with only primary education. This paper analyzes the influence of having made a stay abroad to complete the doctoral studies on aspects associated with the doctorate holders’ careers such as their wages and how their current employment is related to the education acquired. To the best of our knowledge, these topic are unprecedented in literature discussing Spain and are related to interesting issues for students and policymakers that can help knowing the transition between the doctoral studies and the labour market. To reach the objectives proposed, the methodology applied consists in developing a wage econometric model and a probit model showing the mismatch between the training acquired in the doctoral studies and the needs of the current job. In both cases, the dependent variables are explained by a set of variables collecting personal and labour characteristics, and a dummy endogenous regressor showing whether the doctorate holder has had a stay in another country. Data used come from the 2009 Survey on Human Resources in Science and Technology (INE, 2010).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Social participation and employment status in Spain: a human capital approach

The economic literature has found hard evidence on the great significance of general and specific human capital to participate in the labour market, get an employment and have a career success characterised by higher wages and more options of getting an upward labour mobility through promotions or better jobs in other firms. Recently, additional factors integrated in the concept of social participation have emerged as key determinants on the labour market success. These factors consider the components that create benefit from the interactions and cooperation within and among the different groups composing a community. Thus, individuals will invest in social capital whether its benefit overcomes its cost, similar to the investments decisions made with other productive factors such as human capital. This article contributes to the increasing literature about social capital and its economic effects in Spain by analysing some aspects related to the labour market from a micro-econometric approach, which overcomes some drawbacks associated with the analysis of social capital from an aggregated perspective. In particular, this paper analyses to what extent the social participation (considered as a relational good), and other aspects of the social capital, increase the probability of participating in the labour market, taking into account different employment status. To the extent possible, this analysis will be focused from a human capital approach since the social participation’s effect will be examined grouping individuals according to their educational level. Data used corresponds to the Living Condition Survey (INE), and the methodological approach consists in performing discrete choice models to explain the labour market status, including as regressors different measures of social participation.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Time allocation and assimilation of foreign workers: Evidence from Spain

The assimilation of immigrant workers to the Spanish labour market is a topic widely addressed by the economic literature. However, a little explored issue is the time allocation of immigrants and its effects on their integration and convergence to Spanish workers. This paper aims to study the time use of immigrants among different activities, and the influence of personal and family characteristics on the participation and the amount of time spent in each activity. The results will be compared to those obtained for the native workers, in order to detect possible similarities and differences between both groups (immigrants versus natives). The data used come from the Time Use Survey for the periods 2002-2003 and 2009-2010 (INE, 2004, 2011), which allows analysing the evolution of the time use’s patterns of the immigrant and native workers at the beginning of the 21first century. Censored regression models are applied because the time spent in different activities is a left-truncated variable. The traditional approximation to the left-truncation is a Tobit model, but it assumes that the underlying process determining the participation and the time spent in each activity are similar, which is quite restrictive. To solve this restriction a double hurdle model is applied.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Fixed-term Contracts, Transitions and Wage Growth: Evidence from Spain

Employment instability is considered one of the main problems of the Spanish labour market. Thus, the proportion of temporary workers in Spain is around 30 per cent that is the highest rate of the European Union countries. The persistence of this situation could increase the risk of labour market segmentation. This paper presents new evidence of the factors affecting workers' transition from temporary work to permanent one and analyses whether this transition has a positive effect on wage growth. The former objective is obtained by estimating discrete choice models and the latter by estimating a wage growth equation correcting for selectivity bias through the two-step method developed by Trost and Lee (1984). The data are obtained from the second and third waves of the Spanish Household Panel Survey (INE 1996) conducted over the period 1995–1996. The main results are, on the one hand, that personal and job characteristics have a significant influence on the probability of becoming a permanent worker and, on the other hand, that this transition has an important positive effect on wage growth.labour force transitions, temporary and permanent workers, wage growth

Le régime primaire dans le nouveau Code civil du Québec : quelques remarques critiques

The author points out, in the introduction, that the reform introduced by Bill 89 is limited to one of the nine Books that the new Civil Code of Québec will have, and that even in this Second Book only 151 articles are in force. He then studies the contribution of the spouses to the needs of the family as regulated by the new provisions: the mutual obligation to contribute is now imposed by law. The autor regrets that the new Code restricts the concept of contribution in the form of work to household work. He underlines that the solidarité aimed at by the new provisions may be jeopardized by the continued application of rules from the present Civil Code of Lower Canada. As for the protection of the family residence, the author indicates how this protection is in some cases very limited and questions the efficiency of the formalities required. He also regrets that the new provisions concerning the fate of the family residence at the end of the cohabitation have not been put in force yet. Finally, he criticizes the provisions concerning judicial intervention in family matters