Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Research Publications

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    Disadvantage across the Generations: What Do We Know about Social and Economic Mobility in Australia?*
    Cobb-Clark, D (WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC, 2010-09)
    This paper begins by considering the Australian evidence on intergenerational social and economic mobility in the context of the international literature. Recent evidence from the Youth in Focus project is used to highlight the effects of growing up in socio‐economic disadvantage on a range of outcomes for young Australians.
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    Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap in Private- and Public-Sector Employment: A Distributional Analysis*
    Baron, JD ; Cobb-Clark, DA (WILEY-BLACKWELL, 2010-06)
    We use the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia data from 2001 to 2006 to analyse the source of the gender wage gap across public‐ and private‐sector wage distributions in Australia. We are particularly interested in the role of gender segregation within sector‐specific occupations in explaining relative wages. We find that, irrespective of labour market sector, the gender wage gap among low‐paid, Australian workers is more than explained by differences in wage‐related characteristics. The gender wage gap among high‐wage workers, however, is largely unexplained in both sectors suggesting that glass ceilings (rather than sticky floors) may be prevalent. Gender differences in employment across occupations advantage (rather than disadvantage) all women except those in high‐paid jobs, whereas disparity in labour market experience plays a much more important role in explaining relative private‐sector wages. Finally, disparity in educational qualifications and demographic characteristics are generally unimportant in explaining the gender wage gap.
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    The Retirement Expectations of Middle‐aged Australians*
    COBB‐CLARK, DA ; STILLMAN, S (Wiley, 2009-06)
    We use HILDA data to examine the retirement plans of middle‐aged Australians. We find that approximately two‐thirds of men and more than half of women report a numeric expected retirement age which we refer to as having a standard retirement plan. Still, one in five individuals seem to have delayed their retirement planning and approximately 1 in 11 either does not know when he or she expects to retire or expects to never retire. Retirement plans are closely related to current labour market position, with workers in jobs with well‐defined superannuation benefits more likely to report numeric expected retirement ages.
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    The Asset Portfolios of Native-born and Foreign-born Australian Households
    Cobb-Clark, DA ; Hildebrand, VA (WILEY-BLACKWELL, 2009-03)
    This paper analyses the net worth and asset portfolios of native‐ and foreign‐born Australian families. Specifically, we estimate a system of asset equations with an adding‐up constraint imposed to control for diversity in household wealth. We find that the wealth of mixed and native‐born couples is not significantly different; however, immigrant‐only couples have approximately $162 000 less wealth than native‐born couples. Relative to equally wealthy native‐born couples, immigrant‐only couples hold substantially more wealth in their homes and less in the form of vehicles. Mixed couples and single individuals allocate their wealth across assets in the same way their native‐born counterparts.
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    Improving the Modelling of Couples' Labour Supply
    Breunig, R ; Cobb-Clark, D ; Gong, X ( 2008)
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    Improving the Modeling of Couples’ Labour Supply
    BREUNIG, R. ; COBB-CLARK, D. ; GONG, X. ( 2008)
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    A couples-based approach to the problem of workless families
    Cobb-Clark, D ; Ryan, C ; Breunig, R (WILEY, 2006-12)
    The objective of this paper is to evaluate a ‘couples‐based’ policy intervention designed to reduce the number of Australian families with dependent children in which no adult was in paid employment. Selected women on family benefits (who were partnered with men receiving unemployment benefits) were randomly invited to participate in an interview process designed to identify strategies for increasing economic and social participation. The overall effect of the interview process led to lower hours of work among family benefit recipients, but to greater participation in job search and in study or training for work‐related reasons. Whether women were interviewed with their partner or not had no effect on the level of economic activity of participants.
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