The Impact of Participation in Sports on Educational Attainment: New Evidence from Germany

We analyze the impact of exercising sports during childhood and adolescence on educational attainment. The theoretical framework is based on models of allocation of time and educational productivity. Using the rich information from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), we apply generalized ordered probit models to estimate the effect of participation in sport activities on secondary school degrees and professional degrees. Even after controlling for important variables and selection into sport, we find strong evidence that the effect of sport on educational attainment is statistically significant and positive.allocation of time, education, human capital, sport

Standard errors of marginal effects in the heteroskedastic probit model

In non-linear regression models, such as the heteroskedastic probit model, coefficients cannot be interpreted as marginal effects. Marginal effects can be computed as a non-linear combination of the regression coefficients. Standard errors of the marginal effects needed for inference and hypothesis testing have to be derived by approximation using methods such as the delta method. This paper applies the delta method to derive analytically the standard errors of marginal effects in a heteroskedastic probit model. The computation is implemented as a Stata ado-file called mehetprob which can be downloaded from the internet. This allows to compute marginal effects at means and their standard errors in a heteroskedastic probit model faster than by numerical calculation which is implemented in the mfx routine currently available in Stata for that purposes

Job characteristics as determinants of job satisfaction and labour mobility

This paper investigates the effects of detailed job characteristics on job satisfaction, job search and quits using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) in a fixed effects framework. Using a factor analysis, seventeen job characteristics are reduced to seven factors that describe different aspects of a job, which are qualified as status, physical strain, autonomy, advancement opportunities, social relations at the work place, work time and job security. The effects of these factors on job satisfaction, job search and quits differ. For example, job insecurity reduces job satisfaction, increases the subjective probability of job search but it decreases quits. In circumstances of higher job insecurity it seems to be hard to find a job to quit into. Regressing job satisfaction, job search and quits on the detailed job characteristics shows that, when judging from the number of statistically significant coefficients, the job characteristics explain satisfaction best, while it is harder to explain job search and quits by these characteristics. Job satisfaction, however, is confirmed as a strong predictor of job search and quits after controling for both, individual fixed effects and a set of detailed job characteristics

Marginal effects in the probit model with a triple dummy variable interaction term

In non-linear regression models, such as the probit model, coefficients cannot be interpreted as marginal effects. The marginal effects are usually non-linear combinations of all regressors and regression coefficients of the model. This paper derives the marginal effects in a probit model with a triple dummy variable interaction term. A frequent application of this model is the regression-based difference-in-difference-in-differences estimator with a binary outcome variable. The formulae derived here are implemented in a Stata program called inteff3 which applies the delta method in order to compute also the standard errors of the marginal effects

The impact of participation in sports on educational attainment: new evidence from Germany

We analyze the impact of exercising sports during childhood and adolescence on educational attainment. The theoretical framework is based on models of allocation of time and educational productivity. Using the rich information from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), we apply generalized ordered probit models to estimate the effect of participation in sport activities on secondary school degrees and professional degrees. Even after controlling for important variables and selection into sport, we find strong evidence that the effect of sport on educational attainment is statistically significant and positive

Downward Wage Rigidity and Job Mobility

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) we study whether being individually affected by downward wage rigidity has an effect on layoffs, quits and intra-firm mobility. Within a structural empirical model we estimate the individual extent of wage rigidity. This is expressed by the wage sweep-up, which measures by how much individual wage growth increases through the effect of downward wage rigidity when compared to a counterfactual labour market with flexible wage setting. We find robust negative effects of wage sweep-up on quits and layoffs and some evidence for a positive association of wage sweep-up and promotion opportunities. This is consistent with a core-periphery view of the labour force, where a core work force is protected from layoffs and wage cuts and at the same time enjoys good promotion opportunities. On the other side a peripheral work force provides a buffer for adjustment and suffers from both flexible wages, more insecure jobs and less internal promotion opportunities

Performance Pay, Risk Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

We present a sorting model in which workers with greater ability and greater risk tolerance move into performance pay jobs and contrast it with the classic agency model of performance pay. Estimates from the German Socio-Economic Panel confirm testable implications drawn from our sorting model. First, prior to controlling for earnings, workers in performance pay jobs have higher job satisfaction, a proxy for on-the-job utility. Second, after controlling for the higher earnings associated with performance pay, the job satisfaction of those in performance pay jobs is the same as those not in such jobs. Third, those workers in performance pay jobs who have greater risk tolerance routinely report greater job satisfaction. While these findings support the sorting model, they would not be suggested by the classic agency model.Performance Pay, Worker Heterogeneity, Ability, Risk Preferences, Sorting

Downward wage rigidity and labour mobility

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) effects of being individually affected by downward wage rigidity on layoffs, quits and intra-firm mobility are investigated. We measure the individual extent of wage rigidity within a structural empirical model that allows us to estimate the notional wage growth which is about 1.4 % on average over the whole period. Wage growth is swept up by 3.3 % through wage rigidity and 62 % of the work force are in the real rigid regime. We find negative effects of wage sweep-up on quits, layoffs and promotions. This is consistent with a core-periphery view of the labour force, where a core work force is at the same time protected from layoffs and from wage cuts, whereas a peripheral work force provides a buffer for adjustment and suffers from both flexible wages and more insecure jobs. Reducing promotions for high wage sweep-up workers seems to be strategy of employers to circumvent wage rigidity. This suggests that it is not a pay policy chosen by the employer, but that it is imposed upon the employer through bargaining power. However, decreased promotion opportunities do not seem to fully outweigh the benefit of generous wage growth

Cyclical effects on job-to-job mobility: an aggregated analysis on microeconomic data

This paper analyses cyclical effects on job-to-job mobility using German data. The focus lies on the influence of the regional unemployment rate and the regional growth of the GDP. Job-to- job transitions are fragmented into external and internal movements. The innovation is to describe mobility using background information why the moves occur because the available empirical labour market literature is in deficit with analyzing the motive why these transitions occur with respect to the business cycle. External movements can be introduced by quits or forced by layoffs, the end of the contract, or other reasons such as bankruptcy of a firm. Internal transitions are classified as promotions and transfers. Our estimates show that job-to-job mobility is strongly affected by the business cycle. External movements are more likely in times of growing GDP and less probable when the unemployment rate increases. For internal transitions our results suggest that Eastern and Western Germanys workers differ in their mobility properties along the business cycle

Job mobility, wages and job satisfaction

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