Documents Sopraseuth, Thepthida 4 results

"The progressive diffusion of ICT explains the raise in the number of highly paid jobs but has difficulties in justifying that of low-paid jobs. Classifying occupations according to their median wage in 1993, we analyze their employment growth until 2010, which is highest both in the top and in the bottom of the distribution, and lowest in the middle. Low-paid personnel services arise as the main factor responsible for the increase in the proportion of employment at the bottom of the wage distribution. We argue that population aging can explain the increased demand for personal services and thus the rise of employment in low-paid positions. Our argument goes as follows: goods and personal services are complementary for seniors. The decrease in the relative price of goods, induced by the progressive replacement of labor input in routine tasks by machines, is then associated with an increased demand for personal services if the proportion of seniors is increasing. We thus complement the existing literature on employment polarization by showing that demographic trends also play first order role."

"En France, l'emploi des seniors est en panne, tandis que nos voisins européens ont mieux réussi dans ce domaine depuis le milieu des années 1990. Existe-t-il une spécificité, voire une fatalité française, ou nos réformes sont-elles inadaptées, donc inopérantes?
Cet opuscule propose d'aller beaucoup plus loin dans les politiques d'incitation à la prolongation d'activité, encore bien timides en France. Il faut casser la norme du départ précoce en mettant en place de fortes surcotes en capital et une liberté complète dans le cumul emploi-retraite. Une telle politique aura des conséquences positives sur l'emploi après 60 ans, mais également sur celui des quinquagénaires en repoussant les effets de bord créés par l'âge de la retraite, qui freinent fortement la demande et l'offre de travail des seniors."

"Using annual and quarterly labor market data from the US and France, we study the relationship between the extensive and intensive margins of labor adjustment, job polarization and non-standard work along the business cycle. We derive four stylized facts. First, changes in aggregate hours are mainly driven by fluctuations in per-capita employment rather than hours worked per worker. Second, recessionary drops observed in aggregate hours are, to a large extent, due to the disappearance of routine work. In the US, the fall in routine standard employment accounts for most of the decline in aggregate hours, whereas in France, routine jobs losses in both standard and non-standard work matter. Third, the dynamics of routine standard employment are driven by flows from and into unemployment in both countries. Fourth, the dynamics of routine non-standard work differ across countries. In the US, fluctuations in routine non-standard employment is driven by inflows from routine standard work, while, in France, changes in routine non-standard work are accounted for by ins and outs from unemployment. Our findings support the view that within-employment reallocation, through the use of non-standard work, is an alternative margin of adjustment in the US. This is not the case in France and flexibility is achieved by adjusting hiring and separations of standard and non-standard work. In bad times, reduced stepping stones contribute to the fall in routine standard employment."