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Bulletin N°176

6 avril 2009 - April 6, 2009

Accueil - Home

PAUVRETE - POVERTY 

. The costs of raising children and the effectiveness of policies to support parenthood in European countries : a literature review, M-T. Letablier and alii, Ined, Paris, Document de travail, n° 158, février, 162 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Europe

. The distributional effects of tax-benefit policies under New Labour : A Shapley decomposition, O. Bargain, ISER, Microsimulation Unit, Colchester, Euromod working paper, n° EM2/09, March, 22 p., (2009).

Résumé - Summary : Using counterfactual microsimulations, Shapley decompositions of time change in inequality and poverty indices make it possible to disentangle and quantify the relative effect of tax-benefit policy changes, compared to all other effects including shifts in the distribution of market income. Using this approach also helps to clarify the different issues underlying the distributional evaluation of policy reforms. An application to the UK (1998-2001) confirms previous findings that inequality and depth of poverty would have increased under the first New Labour government, had important reforms like the extensions of income support and tax credits not been implemented. These reforms have also contributed to substantially reduce poverty among families with children and pensioners.
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Royaume-Uni / United Kingdom

. Mesurer la pauvreté et la ségrégation en Ile-de-France : une approche capabiliste, E. Tovar, Centre d'études de l'Emploi, Noisy-le-Grand, Document de travail, n° 116, mars, 31 p., (2009).

Résumé :
Dans ce document de travail, on cherche à apporter des éléments empiriques permettant d’apprécier la réalité de la ségrégation urbaine dans la région Île-de-France. Pour ce faire, on définit une base d’information d’un bien-être capabiliste « spatialisé » qui permet de rendre compte du rôle joué par la localisation résidentielle sur les opportunités de bien-être. Après avoir proposé une spécification originale de ce bien-être, on utilise un indicateur de pauvreté récemment proposé dans la littérature, dont on propose une calibration normative pour mesurer la pauvreté multidimensionnelle à l’échelle de chaque commune francilienne et à l’échelle de la région tout entière pour l’année 1999. À l’aide d’indicateurs multidimensionnels d’autocorrélation spatiale et globale, on conclut à l’existence de zones ségrégées dans l’espace francilien.

Summary : In this working paper, I provide empirical evidence on socio-spatial segregation in the Parisian region. To do so, I discuss the definition and the specification of a spatialized and capabilist welfare that accounts for the key role played by residential localization on the individual’s opportunities. Then, I use the FGT multidimensional poverty indicator to assess the poverty levels of the Parisian municipalities and of the whole Parisian region in 1999. Finally, global and local spatial autocorrelation indicators are implemented and show that some Parisian municipalities are indeed segregated.
Zone géographique / Geographical area : France

. A new minimum benefit for low lifetime earners, M. M. Favreault, The Urban Institute, Washington, Retirement policy program, March, 33 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Etats-Unis / United States

EMPLOI - EMPLOYMENT

Contribution of collective bargaining to continuing vocational training,
M. Giaccone, EIROline, Dublin, Compartive study, February, 41 p.,  (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Europe

. Curare la precarietà : proposte per un dibattito, F. Berton, M. Richiardi e S. Sacchi, Laboratorio R. Revelli, Moncalieri, Working paper, Aprile, n° 91, 26 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Italie / Italy

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Disparités territoriales : effets et causes des comportements des agents, Insee, Paris, Economie et statistique, n° 415-416, mars, (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : France

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The effects of population structure on employment and productivity
,
H. Boulhol, OECD, Paris, Economics department working papers, n° 684, 35 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Pays de l'OCDE / OECD countries

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Les effets de l’accompagnement sur le retour à l’emploi, D. Fougère, T. Kamionka et A. Prieto, Crest, Paris, Document de travail, n° 32, janvier, 31 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : France

. Do German welfare-to-work programmes reduce welfare and increase work ?,
M. Huber and alii, Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, IZA discussion paper, n° 4090, March, 42 p., (2009).

Résumé - Summary : Many Western economies have reformed their welfare systems with the aim of activating welfare recipients by increasing welfare-to-work programmes and job search enforcement. We evaluate the three most important German welfare-to-work programmes implemented after a major reform in January 2005 ("Hartz IV"). Our analysis is based on a unique combination of large scale survey and administrative data that is unusually rich with respect to individual, household, agency level, and regional information. We use this richness to allow for a selection-on-observables approach when doing the econometric evaluation. We find that short-term training programmes on average increase their participants' employment perspectives and that all programmes induce further programme participation. We also show that there is considerable effect heterogeneity across different subgroups of participants that could be exploited to improve the allocation of welfare recipients to the specific programmes and thus increase overall programme effectiveness.
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Allemagne / Germany

. Flexicurity and atypical employment in Denmark,
T. Bredgaard and alii, Centre for Labour Market Research, Aalborg, Carma research paper, n° 2009:01, 28 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Danemark / Denmark

. Labor contracts and flexibility : Evidence from a labor market reform in Spain,
V. Aguirregabiria and C. Alonso-Borrego, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economia, Madrid, Working paper, n° 09-18, February, 53 p., (2009).

Résumé - Summary : This paper evaluates the effects of a labor market reform in Spain that removed restrictions on fixed-term or temporary contracts. Our empirical results are based on longitudinal firm-level data that covers observations before and after the reform. We posit and estimate a dynamic labor demand model with indefinite and fixed-term labor contracts, and a general structure of labor adjustment costs. Experiments using the estimated model show important positive effects of the reform on total employment (i.e., a 3.5% increase) and job turnover. There is a strong substitution of permanent by temporary workers (i.e., a 10% decline in permanent employment). The effects on labor productivity and the value of firms are very small. In contrast, a counterfactual reform that halved all firing costs would produce the same employment increase as the actual reform, but much larger improvements in productivity and in the value of firms.
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Espagne / Spain

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Quartiers défavorisés : relégation pour certains jeunes, insertion sociale et professionnelle pour d'autres, T. Couppié et C. Gasquet, Céreq, Marseille, Bref, n° 261, février, 4 p., (2009).

Résumé - Summary : Les quartiers défavorisés sont souvent assimilés à des espaces de relégation, abritant des populations en proie à de grandes difficultés d'insertion. Certes, les individus qui y résident ont des trajectoires professionnelles et sociales moins favorables que ceux qui n'y ont jamais vécu ou qui en sont partis. Néanmoins, s'installer dans ces quartiers constitue aussi pour certains jeunes un moyen, parfois le seul, d'accéder à l'autonomie résidentielle. Pour ces nouveaux occupants, vivre dans un quartier défavorisé, même transitoirement, peut constituer un vecteur de construction familiale, sans forcément les exclure du marché du travail.
Zone géographique / Geographical area : France

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Unemployment insurance versus individual unemployment accounts and transitions to formal versus informal sector jobs, D. N. Margolis, Crest, Paris, Working paper, n° 38, December, 31 p., (2008).

Résumé :
Dans cet article, l'auteur considère l’impact du système d’aide aux chômeurs sur la vitesse de retour en emploi dans 6 zones urbaines majeures du Brésil. Il distingue les transitions vers les emplois du secteur formel de celles vers les emplois du secteur informel en tenant compte de l’hétérogénéité inobservée. Un emploi dans le secteur formel ouvre droit à l’assurance chômage et aux comptes privés du chômage (FGTS). On trouve que le passage par un emploi dans du secteur formel augmente le taux de transition vers des emplois du secteur formel et réduit le taux de transition vers les emplois du secteur informel. Le revenu supplémentaire fourni par l’assurance chômage n’affecte pas la vitesse de retour en emploi du secteur formel mais diminue cette vitesse pour les transitions vers le secteur informel. Les résultats suggèrent que l’aide aux chômeurs affecte les transitions en réduisant l’intensité de la recherche pour des emplois du secteur informel. Des phénomènes qui affectent la demande de travail pourraient être à l’origine des effets observés pour les transitions vers le secteur formel.


Summary :
This paper analyzes the impact of the unemployment safety net on the speed of returning to employment in 6 major urban areas of Brazil. Distinguishing between formal and informal sector jobs as destinations and controlling for unobserved characteristics that affect transitions, we find that previous formal sector work (which opens eligibility to unemployment insurance (UI) and individual unemployment accounts (FGTS)) accelerates the rate of transition to formal sector jobs and reduces the rate of transition to informal sector jobs. Additional unemployment benefits provided through the UI system do not directly affect transitions to formal sector jobs, although they do slow transitions to informal sector jobs. The results suggest that the unemployment safety net may affect outcomes by reducing search intensity for informal sector jobs, while demand side phenomena may be driving the results for transitions to the formal sector.  
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Brésil / Brazil

REVENU - INCOME

. Earnings of men and women in firms with a female dominated workforce : What drives the impact of sex segregation on wages ?, A. Heinze, Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, ZEW discussion paper, n° 09-012, March, 58 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Allemagne / Germany

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L’écart salarial entre les femmes et les hommes en Belgique - Rapport 2009, Direction générale statistique et Information économique, Bruxelles, 92 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Belgique / Belgium

AUTRES DONNEES SOCIALES - OTHER SOCIAL ISSUES

. L'Allemagne face à la crise financière : Entre logiques nationales et solidarité européenne,
H. Dieter, IFRI, Paris, Note du Cerfa, n° 61, février, 19 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Allemagne / Germany

. Child well-being and sole-parent family structure in the OECD : An analysis,
S. Chapple, OECD, Paris, OECD social, employment and migration working papers, n° 83, March, 74 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Pays de l'OCDE / OECD countries

. Second European quality of life survey : overview,
R. Anderson and alii, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, Report, March, 108 p., (2009).
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Europe

. Social capital and subjective well-being trends : Evidence from 11 European countries,
F. Sarracino, Universita degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento di Economia Politica, Siena,Working paper, n° 558, March,  58 p., (2009).

Résumé - Summary : Discovering whether social capital endowments in modern societies have been subjected or not to a process of gradual erosion is one of the most debated topics in recent economic literature. This new stream of research has been inaugurated by Putnam’s pioneering studies about social capital trends in the United-States. Recently, a considerable work by Stevenson andWolfers (2008) put a new emphasis on this topic contending Easterlin’s assessment. Present work is aimed at analyzing the relationship between changes in social capital and subjective well-being in Europe considering 11 different countries. In particular, we would like to answer questions such as: 1) is social capital in Europe declining? Is such erosion a general trend of modern societies or is it a characteristic feature of only some of them? 2) social capital trend can help to explain subjective well-being trend? In so doing, our research considers three different set of proxies of social capital controlling for time and socio-demographic aspects in eleven different European countries using WVS data between 1980 and 2000.Our results are encouraging, showing evidence of a probable relationship between social capital and happiness. Furthermore, our results show that during last twenty years European citizens have persistently lost confidence in the judicial system, in the church, in armed forces and the police. Finally, considering single countries, we discover that United Kingdom is the only European country with a clear and negative pattern for social capital: quite every proxy of social capital in UK declined over the considered period
Zone géographique / Geographical area : Europe