Self-employment in Denmark and Spain: Institution, Economic Conditions and Gender differences

Among the OECD countries, Spain faces one of the highest rates of self-employment and Denmark one of the lowest, being the difference specially relevant among women. These two countries present important differences in their institutional environment and labour market conditions: the level of labour market flexibility and the importance of parttime employment, the generosity of the unemployment benefit systems, and the role of the child care policies, among others. In this paper we compare the Danish and Spanish labour markets and analyze to what extent the different evolution of female and male self-employment rates are influenced by country-specific employment conditions. This study is carried out for men and women separately using a strictly comparable panel data set for the two countries. The results indicate that in Spain self-employment seems to offer individuals who normally are considered as marginalized in the labour market a beneficial alternative to wage employment, while this pattern is not so clear in Denmark. Our analysis suggests that an important factor in explaining the difference in Danish and Spanish self-employment rates is the different employment environment that both countries face.self-employment; transitions; gender differences

Comparing Fixed Effects and Covariance Structure Estimators

In this paper we compare the traditional econometric fixed effect/first difference estimator with the maximum likelihood estimator implied by covariance structure models for panel data. Our findings are that the maximum likelihood estimator is remarkable robust to mis-specifications, however in general the fixed estimator is preferable in small samples. Furthermore, we argue that we can use the Hausman test as a test of consistency of the maximum likelihood estimator. Finally we show that the covariance structure models is not identified in the case of time-invariant independent variables.

Wage Dips and Drops around First Birth

We use a rich longitudinal data set for West Germany to disentangle the wage effects for female workers around first birth. Data on daily real wages reveal a dip in women’s real wages shortly before giving birth and a drop of 10 to 20 percent after finishing maternity leave and returning to the labour market. To pinpoint what drives the movement in wages around the first birth, we analyse the wages of women, taking into account the potential correlation of the duration of individual interruptions due to parental leave with other unobserved individually specific factors and non random sample selection. In order to identify the causes of the movements in wages we exploit the panel structure of the data, regional variations in access to child care and female unemployment rates, as well as policy changes, which increased the maximum duration of parental leave from 6 months to 3 years.female wages panel data; instrumental variable estimation

Entrepreneurial Moral Hazard in Income Insurance: Empirical Evidence from a Large Administrative Sample

We study risk behavior of Danish self-employed entrepreneurs, whose income risk may be driven by both exogenous factors and effort choice (moral hazard). Partial insurance is available through voluntary unemployment insurance (UI). Additional incentives to sign insurance contracts stem from a UI-embedded, government-subsidized early retirement (ER) program, giving benefits that are unrelated to business risk. Indeed, we argue that the self-employeds’ incentives to insure themselves stem from the ER plan rather than from the UI cover. We show how to use a policy reform to identify moral hazard in observed transitions to unemployment when insurance is a choice variable. We use administrative (register) panel data covering 10% of the Danish population. We find that the insured are indeed more likely to transit into unemployment than the uninsured, once we properly instrument for the insurance choice.entrepreneurs; self-employment; early retirement; unemployment insurance; moral hazard; Denmark; panel data

Work and Wage Dynamics around Childbirth

This study investigates how the first childbirth affects the wage processes of highly attached women. We estimate a flexible fixed effects wage regression model extended with post-birth fixed effects by the control function approach. Register data on West Germany are used and we exploit the expansionary family policy during the late 1980s and 1990s for identification. On the return to work after the birth, mothers' wages drop by 3 to 5.7 per cent per year of leave. We find negative selection back to full-time work after birth. We discuss policy implications regarding statistical discrimination and results on family gap.wages, parental leave, human capital, return to work, non-random selection

Work and Wage Dynamics around Childbirth

This study investigates how the first childbirth affects the wage processes of highly attached women. We estimate a flexible fixed effects wage regression model extended with post-birth fixed effects by the control function approach. Register data on West Germany are used and we exploit the expansionary family policy during the late 1980s and 1990s for identification. On the return to work after the birth, mothers’ wages drop by 3 to 5.7 per cent per year of leave. We find negative selection back to full-time work after birth. We discuss policy implications regarding statistical discrimination and results on family gap.wages, parental leave, human capital, return to work, non-random selection

The Nature and Costs of Dis-Equilibrium Trade: The Case of Transatlantic Grain Exports in the 19th Century

The essential issue addressed in this paper is whether inefficient spatial arbitrage has significant welfare effects. The paper looks at the gains from improved market efficiency in transatlantic grain trade in the period 1855-1895. It shows that there is a law of one price equilibrium but that markets display spells of demand- or supply- constrained trade. Over time adjustments back to equilibrium as measured by the half-life of a shock become faster, and adjustment parameters are much larger than routinely reported in the PPP-literature. There are also significant gains from improved market efficiency but most of that improvement takes place in one step after the information ‘regime’ shifts from pre-telegraphic communication to a regime with swift transmission of information in an era with a sophisticated commercial press and telegraphic communication. Improved market efficiency probably stimulated trade more than falling transport costs.market integration; error correction; law of one price

Birth Order and the Intrahousehold Allocation of Time and Education

A potential determinant of intrahousehold distribution is the birth order of children. While a number of studies have analysed birth order effects in developed countries there are still only a few dealing with developing countries. This paper develops a model of intrahousehold allocation with endogenous fertility, which captures the relation between birth order and investment in children and shows that a birth order effect in intrahousehold allocation can arise even without assumptions about parental preferences for specific birth order children or genetic endowments varying by birth order. The important contribution is that fertility is treated as endogenous, something which other models of intrahousehold allocation have ignored despite the large literature on determinants of fertility. The implications of the model are that children with higher birth orders have an advantage over siblings with lower birth orders and that parents who are inequality averse will not have more than one child. The model furthermore shows that not taking account of the endogeneity of fertility when analysing intrahousehold allocation may seriously bias the results. The effects of a child’s birth order on its human capital accumulation are analysed using a longitudinal data set from the Philippines. Contrary to most longitudinal data sets this data set covers a very long period. We are, therefore, able to examine the effects of birth order on both number of hours in school during education and completed education. The results for both are consistent with the predictions of the model.

The Gains from Improved Market Efficiency: Trade Before and After the Transatlantic Telegraph

This paper looks at the gains from improved market efficiency in long-distance grain trade in the second half of the 19th century when violations of the law of one price were reduced due to improved information transmission. Two markets, a major export centre, Chicago, and a major importer, Liverpool, are analyzed. We show that there was a law of one price equilibrium throughout the period but that markets displayed spells of demand- or supply-constrained trade when the law of one price was violated. Over time adjustments back to equilibrium, as measured by the half-life of a shock, become faster, violations of the law of one price become smaller and hence less persistent. There were also significant gains from improved market efficiency but that improvement took place after the information ‘regime’ shifted from pre-telegraphic communication to a regime with swift transmission of information in an era which developed a sophisticated commercial press and telegraphic communication. Improved market efficiency probably stimulated trade more than falling transport costs.market integration; error correction; law of one price

Marriage and Consumption

We examine theoretically and empirically consumption over the early part of the life-cycle. The main focus is on the transition from being single to living with someone else. Our theoretical model allows for publicness in consumption; uncertainty concerning marriage; differences between lifetime incomes for prospective partners and a marriage premium. We develop a two period model to bring out the main features of the impact of marriage on consumption and saving. We then develop a multi-period model that can be taken to the data on expenditures by singles and couples aged between 18 and 30. Our empirical work is based on individual based quasi-panels from UK expenditure survey data from 1978 to 2005. The model fits the data relatively well. We find that expenditure by couples leads to 20-40 % more consumption than the same expenditure split between two comparable singles.marriage; consumption; saving; family economics; economies of scale