An empirical assessment of assortative matching in the labor market

In labor markets with worker and firm heterogeneity, the matching between firms and workers may be assortative, meaning that the most productive workers and firms team up. We investigate this with longitudinal population-wide matched employer-emplyee data from Portugal. Using dynamic panel data methods, we quantify a firm-specific productivity term for each firm, and we relate this to the skill distribution of workers in the firm. We find that there is positive assortative matching, in particular among long-lived firms. Using skill-specific estimates of an index of search frictions, we find that the results can only to a small extent be explained by heterogeneity of search frictions across worker skill groups.Positive assortative matching; matched employer-employee data; productivity; skill; unobserved heterogeneity; sorting; fixed effects

Persistencies in the Labour Market

Using longitudinal income-tax registers, we study how past labour market outcomes affect current labour market transition rates. We focus on hysteresis effects of the durations and incidence of previous spells out of work. We estimate flexible multi-state Mixed Proportional Hazard specifications for transition rates between employment, unemployment, and welfare/non-participation. Our main finding is that after longer periods of employment with high income, individuals' transition rates from unemployment to employment increase. Longer periods of non-employment generally decrease future transition rates to work, and sometimes also from work. The quantitative magnitude of persistency and hysteresis effects on inequality is modest.duration analysis, hysteresis, inequality, wages, unemployment, hazard rates, employment, income, work

The Role of Early-Life Conditions in the Cognitive Decline due to Adverse Events Later in Life

Cognitive functioning of elderly individuals may be affected by events such as the loss of a (grand)child or partner or the onset of a serious chronic condition, and by negative economic shocks such as job loss or the reduction of pension benefits. It is conceivable that the impact of such events is stronger if conditions early in life were adverse. In this paper we address this using a Dutch longitudinal database that follows elderly individuals for more than 15 years and contains information on demographics, socio-economic conditions, life events, health, and cognitive functioning. We exploit exogenous variation in early-life conditions as generated by the business cycle. We also examine to what extent the cumulative effect of consecutive shocks later in life exceeds the sum of the separate effects, and whether economic and health shocks later in life reinforce each other in their effect on cognitive functioning.cognitive functioning, business cycle, bereavement, developmental origins, retirement, health, long-run effects, dementia

The effects of intelligence and education on the development of dementia

A number of recent epidemiological studies have shown that the prevalence and incidence of dementia are increased in population strata with low compared to high levels of education. This has been explained as a consequence of a greater 'brain reserve capacity' in people with a high level of education. Theoretically, however, brain reserve capacity is better reflected by intelligence than by level of education. Thus, the emergence of dementia will be better predicted by low pre-morbid intelligence than by low education. This prediction was tested in a population based sample of elderly subjects (N = 2063; age range 65-84; Amsterdam Study of the Elderly) who were followed over 4 years. Dementia was diagnosed using the Geriatric Mental State examination (GMS). Pre-morbid intelligence was measured using the Dutch Adult Reading Test (DART), a short reading test which gives a good estimate of verbal intelligence, and is relatively insensitive to brain dysfunction. The effects of age, gender, occupational level, number of diseases affecting the central nervous system and family history of dementia or extreme forgetfulness were also examined. Logistic regression analysis showed that low DART-IQ predicted incident dementia better than low level of education. A high occupational level (having been in charge of subordinates) had a protective effect. This result supports the brain reserve theory. It also indicates that low pre-morbid intelligence is an important risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia. Use of reading ability tests is to be preferred over years of education as estimator of pre-morbid cognitive level in (epidemiological) dementia researc

Survey Non-response and Unemployment Duration

Social surveys are often used to estimate unemployment duration distributions. Survey non-response may then cause a bias. We study this using a unique dataset thatcombines survey information of individual workers with administrative records ofthe same workers. The latter provide information on unemployment durations andpersonal characteristics of all survey respondents and non-respondents. We developa method to empirically distinguish between two explanations for a bias in resultsbased on only survey data: (1) selectivity due to related unobserved determinantsof unemployment durations and non-response, and (2) a causal effect of a job exiton non-response. The latter may occur even in fully homogeneous populations. Themethodology exploits variation in the timing of the duration outcome relative tothe survey moment. The results show evidence for both explanations. We discussimplications for standard methods to deal with non-response bias

Сравнительная морфофункциональная оценка различных способов диссекции печеночной паренхимы

Проведена оценка морфофункционального состояния печени до и после резекции с применением различных методов диссекции печеночной паренхимы. Показано, что при выполнении обширных резекций печени целесообразно применение методик ультразвуковой, струйной диссекции или методики "clamp crushing".Проведено оцінку морфофункціонального стану печінки до і після резекції із застосуванням різних методів дисекції печінкової паренхіми. Показано, що під час виконання обширних резекцій печінки доцільним є використання методики ультразвукової, струменевої дисекції або методики "clamp crushing".The morphofunctional state of the liver before and after resection using different methods of dissection of liver parenchyma are assessed. It is shown that at large resections of the liver it is reasonable to use the methods of ultrasound, stream dissection or "clamp crushing" technique