Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Research Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 63
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Demands for childcare and household labour supply in Australia
    DOIRON, DJ ; KALB, GR (Blackwell Publishing Inc., 2005)
    Demands for formal and informal child care are estimated using a bivariate Tobit model. Predicted costs of child care are incorporated in the households’ budget constraint and a discrete choice labour supply model is estimated. Separate models are estimated for couples and lone parents. Increases in the prices and costs of child care lead to reductions in labour supply for lone parents and partnered mothers. Results suggest the average elasticities in Australia are closer to those found in the UK and are smaller than the estimates for Canada and the US. Effects are stronger for single parents and mothers facing low wages.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Health status and labour force participation: evidence from Australia
    Cai, LX ; Kalb, G (JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD, 2006-03)
    This paper examines the effect of health on labour force participation using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The potential endogeneity of health, especially self-assessed health, in the labour force participation equation is addressed by estimating the health equation and the labour force participation equation simultaneously. Taking into account the correlation between the error terms in the two equations, the estimation is conducted separately for males aged 15-49, males aged 50-64, females aged 15-49 and females aged 50-60. The results indicate that better health increases the probability of labour force participation for all four groups. However, the effect is larger for the older groups and for women. As for the feedback effect, it is found that labour force participation has a significant positive impact on older females' health, and a significant negative effect on younger males' health. For younger females and older males, the impact of labour force participation on health is not significant. The null-hypothesis of exogeneity of health to labour force participation is rejected for all groups.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The Effect of Financial Incentives on Labour Supply: Evidence for Lone Parents from Microsimulation and Quasi-Experimental Evaluation
    CAI, L ; KALB, G ; TSENG, Y ; VU, THH (Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2008-06)
    The aim of this paper is to analyse the work incentive effects of a change in the Australian tax and transfer system on lone parents in July 2000. To evaluate the effect of the total change only, microsimulation can be used; but for a subgroup of lone parents, a few components of this policy change can be analysed through two alternative approaches - microsimulation and quasi-experimental evaluation. Both approaches examine the effects on the probability of employment and on average working hours. The results from microsimulation show that the combined changes introduced in July 2000 - involving reduced withdrawal rates, changed family payments and lower income tax rates - have increased labour supply for lone parents to a moderate extent. The estimated effect on average working hours when using microsimulation is very close to the effect estimated in a quasi-experimental approach using matching techniques to control for alternative influences.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The Social Multiplier and Labor Market Participation of Mothers
    Maurin, E ; MOSCHION, J (American Economic Association, 2009)
    In France, as in the US, a mother's labor market participation is influenced by the sex composition of her two eldest siblings. This paper shows that it is also affected by the sex composition of the eldest siblings of the other mothers living in the same close neighborhood. Using the sex composition of neighbors' eldest siblings as an instrumental variable, we identify a significant elasticity of own labor market participation to neighbors' participation. We present supportive evidence by comparing the estimates under two regimes for family benefits (pre-and post-1994 reform) and using quarter of birth as an alternative instrument.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    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.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    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.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Low-Paid Employment and Unemployment Dynamics in Australia
    Buddelmeyer, H ; Lee, W-S ; Wooden, M (WILEY, 2010-03)
    This article uses longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (or HILDA) Survey to examine the extent to which the relatively high rates of transition from low‐paid employment into unemployment are the result of disadvantageous personal characteristics or are instead a function of low‐paid work itself. Dynamic random effects probit models of the likelihood of unemployment are estimated. After controlling for unobserved heterogeneity and initial conditions, we find that, relative to high‐paid employment, low‐paid employment is associated with a higher risk of unemployment, but this effect is only significant among women. We also find only weak evidence that low‐paid employment is a conduit for repeat unemployment.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    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.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    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.
  • Item