Worker Sorting, Compensating Differentials and Health Insurance: Evidence from Displaced Workers

This article introduces an empirical strategy to the compensating differentials literature that i) allows both individual observed and unobserved characteristics to be rewarded differently in firms based on health insurance provision, and ii) selection to jobs that provide benefits to operate on both sides of the labor market. Estimates of this model are used to directly test empirical assumptions that are made with popular econometric strategies in the health economics literature. Our estimates reject the assumptions underlying numerous cross sectional and longitudinal estimators. We find that the provision of health insurance has influenced wage inequality. Finally, our results suggest there have been substantial changes in how displaced workers sort to firms that offer health insurance benefits over the past two decades. We discuss the implications of our findings for the compensating differentials literature.

Worker Sorting, Health Insurance and Wages: Further Evidence from Displaced Workers in the United States

The United States has the distinction of being the only industrialized nation without universal health insurance. Health insurance may have impacts on the US labor market. We use data on displaced workers over a 25 year period to document how the role of health insurance on wages and worker sorting has evolved. We find that the provision of health insurance increasingly influences wage inequality. Our results indicate that the portion of the unadjusted wage gap due only to selection bias from unobserved (to the analyst) characteristics, such as ability or innate health status has grown rapidly since 2000. Further, while there have been substantial changes in how displaced workers sort to firms that offer health insurance benefits over the last 25 years, many of the patterns have reversed directions over the past six years. Finally, we discuss the policy implications of our results.Health insurance; Worker sorting; Displacement; Comparative advantage; Non-linear instrumental variables

The importance of target audiences in the design of training actions

This paper describes the process of definition, conceptualization and implementation of a business course addressed for logistic and industrial managers. This course was designed using a blended methodology, with training in classroom, visits to enterprises and self- study, supported by an eLearning platform. The aim of this work is to create an opportunity to reflect about the decisions and strategies implemented and point future developments