Documents Institute for Social and Economic Research, Colchester 68 results

"Following theories of social and economic identity, we use representative data containing measures of personal identity to investigate the interplay of work identity and hours of work in determining subjective wellbeing (job satisfaction, job-related anxiety and depression, and life satisfaction). We find that for a given level of hours, having a stronger work identity is associated with higher wellbeing on most measures. Working long hours is associated with lower wellbeing and working part-time is associated with higher wellbeing, but for men hours mainly affect their job-related anxiety and depression rather than reported satisfaction. The relationships between hours and wellbeing are generally strengthened when controlling for identity implying that individuals sort into jobs with work hours that match their identities. Work identity partially mitigates the adverse effects of long hours working on job satisfaction and anxiety (for women) and on life satisfaction (for men). The effects of both work hours and identity are substantial relative to benchmark effects of health on wellbeing."

"There is considerable debate on whether the employment and earnings prospects are better for those on low pay or for the unemployed. We use Understanding Society data for England and estimate dynamic random effects panel models which show robust evidence that the future unemployment risk is lower for those who are currently on low pay compared to those who are currently unemployed and the low-paid also have a higher chance than the unemployed of becoming higher-paid. These findings are most marked in neighbourhoods with high unemployment which is attributable to the much poorer prospects of the unemployed in these neighbourhoods."

"This article assesses two secondary data compilations about income inequality – the World Income Inequality Database (WIIDv2c), and the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIIDv4.0) which is based on WIID but with all observations multiply-imputed. WIID and SWIID are convenient and accessible sources for researchers seeking cross- national data with global coverage for relatively long time periods. Against these benefits must be set costs arising from lack of data comparability and quality and also, in the case of SWIID, questions about its imputation model. WIID and SWIID users need to recognize this benefit-cost trade-off and ensure their substantive conclusions are robust to potential data problems. I provide detailed description of the nature and contents of both sources plus illustrative regression analysis. From a data issues perspective, I recommend WIID over SWIID, though my support for use of WIID is conditional."

"In 2002, the United Kingdom implemented the EU directive mandating equal treatment of fixed-term and permanent workers. This paper uses eleven years of data from the Labour Force Survey to assess whether the new legislation has led to a decrease in the average wage gap between fixed-term and permanent workers. For women, there is no evidence of that. For men, the wage gap appears to have closed after 2002. However, this gap was falling even before 2002 and some evidence of changes in the selection of workers after the implementation of the Directive cast doubts on the extent to which the closing of the gap can be ascribed to the new legislation."

"This paper demonstrates the relationship between migration motivations and intended durations of stay and subsequent early integration among recent east-west European migrants. We use a unique, four-country data source covering over 3,500 recently arrived (previous 18 months) Polish immigrants. First we use a data reduction technique to allocate the migrants to six migrant types according to their motivations, intended duration of stay, and previous migration history. Second, we link these migrant types to pre-migration characteristics such as gender, age, and region of origin. Third, we explore how the migrant types are associated with social, subjective, and economic measures of integration."

"Policy has long been based on the assumption that disabled people are either capable, or incapable, of work. This paper extends earlier analyses which show that the probability of employment is a variable, not an absolute. The disability employment penalty varies by number, type, severity and duration of impairments. Many impaired people's job prospects are scarcely affected, and they are probably not “disabled” at all. Others have very low chances of employment, and fit the concept of “incapacity”. In between is a group who face serious barriers, without work being ruled out altogether. This “50:50” group may be the primary focus of policy interest."

"This research focuses on re-entry for mothers after maternity leave. The empirical analysis focuses on the first twenty-two years of post-reunification Germany, using proportional hazards models. Results show that the re-entry into part-time employment is primarily affected by the mothers own resources and former career, the return to full-time work is more linked to the partners resources. This behaviour is especially prevalent in families where the mother has a higher earning potential than the father, a group having the highest re- entry chances for mothers, especially into full-time employment. The results concerning experiences of unemployment for the male partner show that mothers try to compensate uncertainties with increased labour force participation."

"This paper is prepared as a chapter for the Handbook of Income Distribution, Volume 2 (edited by A. B. Atkinson and F. Bourguignon, Elsevier-North Holland, forthcoming). Like the other chapters in the volume (and its predecessor), the aim is to provide comprehensive review of a particular area of research. We survey the literature on income mobility, aiming to provide an integrated discussion of mobility within- and between-generations. We review mobility concepts, descriptive devices, measurement methods, data sources, and recent empirical evidence."

"We examine how couples' labour supply behaviour in the UK responds to a job loss by one partner, using the Labour Force Survey to compare the period of growth of 1995-2007 to the Great Recession and its aftermath of 2008-11. In single earner couples during the recession, both men and women substantially increased their job search activity following a partner's job loss, while the increase in search during the boom was smaller (and non-existent for men). However, the increase in job search during recession did not appear to translate into more success in finding work for either men or women. Among dual earner couples, we find little evidence that individuals searched for alternative jobs or tried to increase their hours if their partner lost their job, except that women working part-time were more likely to start looking for another job. Both men and women were more likely to quit their job voluntarily if their partner lost their job, but the recession seems to have made people more cautious about voluntarily quitting their job. We find little evidence that people react in advance of job losses, suggesting that unemployment typically comes as a surprise."

"The poverty reduction potential of national social assistance programs in eight Central and Eastern European countries is examined using data from the EU-SILC. Results indicate that social assistance programs are a marginal component of the social protection system throughout the region. They serve small populations, spend relatively little compared to needs and the benefits they award are largely a top-up for their clients. However, the more extensive and liberal programs achieve higher effectiveness in reducing poverty. Unlike Western Europe, no trade-off between extensiveness and benefit generosity or between generosity and efficiency could be found. Decentralization and discretion are associated with inefficiency and arbitrariness in entitlement decisions rather than improved targeting."