Trends in U.S. Hours and the Labor Wedge Staff Working Paper 2010-28 Simona Cociuba, Alexander Ueberfeldt From 1980 until 2007, U.S. average hours worked increased by thirteen percent, due to a large increase in female hours. At the same time, the U.S. labor wedge, measured as the discrepancy between a representative household's marginal rate of substitution between consumption and leisure and the marginal product of labor, declined substantially. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Labour markets, Potential output JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, H, H2, H20, H3, H31, J, J2, J22
What Accounts for the U.S.-Canada Education-Premium Difference? Staff Working Paper 2009-4 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Alexander Ueberfeldt This paper analyzes the differences in wage ratios of university graduates to less than university graduates, the education premium, in Canada and the United States from 1980 to 2000. Both countries experienced a similar increase in the fraction of university graduates and a similar increase in skill biased technological change based on capital-embodied technological progress, but only the United States had a large increase in the education premium. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E25, J, J2, J24, J3, J31
Human Capital Risk and the Firmsize Wage Premium Staff Working Paper 2008-33 Danny Leung, Alexander Ueberfeldt Why do employed persons in large firms earn more than employed persons in small firms, even after controlling for observable characteristics? Complementary to previous results, this paper proposes a mechanism that gives an answer to this question. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): J, J2, J24, J3, J31
Unsecured Debt, Consumer Bankruptcy, and Small Business Staff Working Paper 2008-5 Césaire Meh, Yaz Terajima In this paper we develop a quantitative model of entrepreneurial activity (risk-taking) and consumer bankruptcy choices and use the model to study the effects of bankruptcy regulations on entrepreneurial activity, bankruptcy rate and welfare. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): D, D3, D31, E, E2, E21, J, J2, J23
Uncertainty and the Specificity of Human Capital Staff Working Paper 2007-57 Martin Gervais, Igor Livshits, Césaire Meh This paper studies the choice between general and specific human capital. A trade-off arises because general human capital, while less productive, can easily be reallocated across firms. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models JEL Code(s): D, D9, D92, J, J2, J24, J4, J41, J6, J62
Education and Self-Employment: Changes in Earnings and Wealth Inequality Staff Working Paper 2006-40 Yaz Terajima The author quantitatively studies the interaction between education and occupation choices and its implication for the relationship between the changes in earnings inequality and the changes in wealth inequality in the United States over the 1983–2001 period. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Labour markets JEL Code(s): D, D3, D31, I, I2, I21, J, J2, J23
Intertemporal Substitution in Macroeconomics: Evidence from a Two-Dimensional Labour Supply Model with Money Staff Working Paper 2005-30 Ali Dib, Louis Phaneuf The hypothesis of intertemporal substitution in labour supply has a history of empirical failure when confronted with aggregate time-series data. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods, Labour markets JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, E, E2, E24, E3, E32, J, J2, J22
Learning-by-Doing or Habit Formation? Staff Working Paper 2005-15 Hafedh Bouakez, Takashi Kano In a recent paper, Chang, Gomes, and Schorfheide (2002) extend the standard real business cycle (RBC) model to allow for a learning-by-doing (LBD) mechanism whereby current labour supply affects future productivity. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods, Economic models, Labour markets JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, E, E3, E32, J, J2, J22
Educational Spillovers: Does One Size Fit All? Staff Working Paper 2005-10 Robert Baumann, Raphael Solomon In a search model of production, where agents accumulate heterogeneous amounts of human capital, an individual worker's wage depends on average human capital in the searching population. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets JEL Code(s): I, I2, I29, J, J2, J24, J3, J31
Recent Developments in Self-Employment in Canada Staff Working Paper 2005-8 Nadja Kamhi, Danny Leung The authors document the recent evolution of the self-employment rate in Canada. Between 1987 and 1998, the self-employment rate rose 3.5 percentage points from 13.8 per cent to 17.3 per cent. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets JEL Code(s): J, J2, J23, J24