New IZA DPs -- Labor
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IZA Publications
Sep 1, 2025, 1:35:40 PMSep 1
to it...@umich.edu
Dear Italo Gutierrez,
These new IZA Discussion Papers are now available online.
DP 18033 - Pencavel:
Three Wages and Two Prices
DP 18035 - Doorley/Simon/Tuda:
From Joint to Individual: The Distributional and Labour Supply Effect of Tax Individualisation in Ireland
DP 18051 - Fanfani:
Contractual Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining: Italian Evidence from Forty Years of Data
DP 18056 - Nikolova:
Work Orientations and Economics
DP 18061 - Holzer:
Workforce Development in the US: Recent Trends and Evidence
DP 18065 - Derenoncourt/Gerard/Lagos/Montialoux:
What Do (Thousands of) Union Do? Union-Specific Pay Premia and Inequality
DP 18068 - Bagger/Fontaine/Galenianos/Trapeznikova:
Output Fluctuations and Firm Recruitment Effort
DP 18079 - Gregory-Smith/Bryson/Gomez:
Discrimination in Retention Decisions and Its Impact on Career Earnings. Evidence from the National Football League
Please find the abstracts and download links below.
You might also be interested in this World of Labor content:
Union wage effects
IZA DP No. 18033
John H. Pencavel:
Three Wages and Two Prices
Abstract:
Using annual observations on U.S. non-farm workers from the late 1940s to 2019, descriptions of the movements of nominal wages, real consumption wages, and real product wages are reported. The prices faced by consumer workers and the prices faced by owner-managers move differently. Variables associated with movements in these wages are presented and the roles of these wages in accounting for changes in employment, hours of work, and in Labor’s share are noted. Changes in real product wages have had a larger (negative) impact on the use of labor than changes in real consumption wages.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18033.pdf
IZA DP No. 18035
Karina Doorley, Agathe Simon, Dora Tuda:
From Joint to Individual: The Distributional and Labour Supply Effect of Tax Individualisation in Ireland
Abstract:
This paper evaluates the redistributive and labour supply effects of transitioning from a joint to a fully individualised income tax system in Ireland. The current Irish tax system, which remains partially joint since the early 2000’s, provides a financial advantage to married couples by allowing them to to share tax bands and credits. However, it also creates a financial disincentive for secondary earners (who are typically women) to work. Using the microsimulation model, SWITCH, we estimate the distributional effect of moving to a fully individualised tax system in Ireland. We find that this would result in income losses, which increase with the level of income. Linking SWITCH to a discrete choice labour supply model, we then estimate the behavioural response of married couples to a fully individualised tax regime. We find that a shift to individualised taxation would result in increased labour supply of married women, and a reduction in the hours worked by married men due to intra-household labour substitution effects. We explore the implications of this for a range of outcomes linked to womens’ financial independence.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18035.pdf
IZA DP No. 18051
Bernardo Fanfani:
Contractual Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining: Italian Evidence from Forty Years of Data
Abstract:
This study documents the evolution of minimum wages bargained in Italian private sector collective contracts over a forty-year period (1983-2023). Minimum wages have grown in real levels over the last three decades, particularly among high-skilled occupations, but this growth has been partially eroded by the 2022-2023 inflation crisis. Nominal minimum wage growth is strongly correlated with past inflation and very weakly correlated with sectoral productivity growth and unemployment dynamics, which is consistent with strong coordination across industries and real wage rigidity. Increasing differences between high- and low-skilled occupation minimum wages can explain around one-third of the overall growth in the inequality of full-time equivalent daily wages that has occurred in Italy during the 1990s.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18051.pdf
IZA DP No. 18056
Milena Nikolova:
Work Orientations and Economics
Abstract:
A growing body of research in economics shows that workers care about more than just pay, often seeking social status, career mobility, or meaningful work. This chapter introduces the work orientations framework—a concept from psychology—as a unifying lens for understanding these motivations. Work orientations capture individuals’ core beliefs about the role of work: earning a living (“paycheck”), achieving recognition and advancement (“career”), or finding fulfillment (“calling”). These orientations are not mutually exclusive, and many people hold a mix that shapes their workplace behavior. Economists have long examined financial incentives, alignment with an organization’s mission, and career ambitions, but these strands remain fragmented. Integrating them within the work orientations framework broadens standard economic models, offers a richer view of labor supply and effort, and suggests new priorities for data collection, measurement, and theory development. The chapter reviews current evidence and outlines avenues for future empirical and conceptual research.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18056.pdf
IZA DP No. 18061
Harry J. Holzer:
Workforce Development in the US: Recent Trends and Evidence
Abstract:
In this paper, I examine what we know and don’t know about both private and public workforce development in the US. I highlight three of the most important categories of programs and policy: a) Workforce development in accredited higher education institutions, particularly community colleges; b) Other publicly-funded or private training and services, including “sectoral training” that targets specific high-demand sectors of the economy; and c) On-the-job or work-based learning, including apprenticeships. I summarize the theoretical literature on workforce development and a broad landscape of the three key categories. I synthesize the empirical literature on workforce development, beginning with comparisons of different data sources, outcome measures and empirical methods used before reviewing the literature on estimated impacts in each of the three categories. I then consider the international evidence on workforce development, and how public efforts differ between the US and other industrial countries, before concluding.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18061.pdf
IZA DP No. 18065
Ellora Derenoncourt, Francois Gerard, Lorenzo Lagos, Claire Montialoux:
What Do (Thousands of) Union Do? Union-Specific Pay Premia and Inequality
Abstract:
We study the role of union heterogeneity in shaping wages and inequality among unionized workers. Using linked employer-employee data from Brazil and job moves across multi-firm unions, we estimate over 4,800 union-specific pay premia. Unions explain 3–4% of earnings variation. While unions raise wages on average, the standard deviation in union effects is large (6-7%). Validating our approach, wages fall in markets with higher vs. lower union premia following a nationwide right-to-work law. Linking premia to detailed data on union attributes, we find that unions with strike activity, collective bargaining agreements, internal competition, and skilled leaders secure higher wages. High-premium unions compress wage gaps by education while the average union exacerbates them. Post right-to-work, however, worker support for high-premium unions falls when between-group bargaining differentials are large. Our findings show that unions are not a monolith—their structure and actions s hape their wage effects and, consequently, worker support.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18065.pdf
IZA DP No. 18068
Jesper Bagger, Francois Fontaine, Manolis Galenianos, Ija Trapeznikova:
Output Fluctuations and Firm Recruitment Effort
Abstract:
This paper examines the relationship between output fluctuations and firms’ recruitment efforts using Danish data that link online job ads with high-frequency firm-level revenue and value-added. While overall output growth is weakly correlated with advertisement rates, decomposing output into permanent and transitory components reveals a strong link between persistent shocks and recruitment effort. A one standard deviation permanent shock raises advertisement rates by 10-16% of a standard deviation, whereas transitory shocks show no significant effect. These results highlight the importance of shock persistence in labor demand and offer empirical support for dynamic search-and-matching models of the labor market.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18068.pdf
IZA DP No. 18079
Ian Gregory-Smith, Alex Bryson, Rafael Gomez:
Discrimination in Retention Decisions and Its Impact on Career Earnings. Evidence from the National Football League
Abstract:
We examine the role that racial discrimination plays in the decision to retain or release an employee. Our empirical setting allows us to separate the retention decision from the wage decision. For the first four years of a player’s career, wages are mechanically determined and players are under a restricted ‘rookie’ contract, during which they can be released without cost. Players who survive in the league beyond four years receive a large uptick in their remuneration upon signing their first ‘free-agency’ contract. Consequently, marginal decisions over employment retention during the rookie contract have substantial implications for earnings realised over a player’s career. We find subtle but significant differences in retention rates between Black and White players (approximately 3 percentage points) that can’t be explained by a comprehensive set of individual characteristics including their productivity. We also show that traditional wage gap estimates, which appear to sh ow equal earnings between Black and White players conditional upon playing position and productivity, mask underlying disparities in career earnings that become apparent when adjusting for these unequal retention rates.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18079.pdf
Please click here to change your subscription status.
If you have trouble downloading the papers, or for any other questions regarding the IZA Discussion Paper Series, contact public...@iza.org.
These new IZA Discussion Papers are now available online.
DP 18033 - Pencavel:
Three Wages and Two Prices
DP 18035 - Doorley/Simon/Tuda:
From Joint to Individual: The Distributional and Labour Supply Effect of Tax Individualisation in Ireland
DP 18051 - Fanfani:
Contractual Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining: Italian Evidence from Forty Years of Data
DP 18056 - Nikolova:
Work Orientations and Economics
DP 18061 - Holzer:
Workforce Development in the US: Recent Trends and Evidence
DP 18065 - Derenoncourt/Gerard/Lagos/Montialoux:
What Do (Thousands of) Union Do? Union-Specific Pay Premia and Inequality
DP 18068 - Bagger/Fontaine/Galenianos/Trapeznikova:
Output Fluctuations and Firm Recruitment Effort
DP 18079 - Gregory-Smith/Bryson/Gomez:
Discrimination in Retention Decisions and Its Impact on Career Earnings. Evidence from the National Football League
Please find the abstracts and download links below.
You might also be interested in this World of Labor content:
Union wage effects
IZA DP No. 18033
John H. Pencavel:
Three Wages and Two Prices
Abstract:
Using annual observations on U.S. non-farm workers from the late 1940s to 2019, descriptions of the movements of nominal wages, real consumption wages, and real product wages are reported. The prices faced by consumer workers and the prices faced by owner-managers move differently. Variables associated with movements in these wages are presented and the roles of these wages in accounting for changes in employment, hours of work, and in Labor’s share are noted. Changes in real product wages have had a larger (negative) impact on the use of labor than changes in real consumption wages.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18033.pdf
IZA DP No. 18035
Karina Doorley, Agathe Simon, Dora Tuda:
From Joint to Individual: The Distributional and Labour Supply Effect of Tax Individualisation in Ireland
Abstract:
This paper evaluates the redistributive and labour supply effects of transitioning from a joint to a fully individualised income tax system in Ireland. The current Irish tax system, which remains partially joint since the early 2000’s, provides a financial advantage to married couples by allowing them to to share tax bands and credits. However, it also creates a financial disincentive for secondary earners (who are typically women) to work. Using the microsimulation model, SWITCH, we estimate the distributional effect of moving to a fully individualised tax system in Ireland. We find that this would result in income losses, which increase with the level of income. Linking SWITCH to a discrete choice labour supply model, we then estimate the behavioural response of married couples to a fully individualised tax regime. We find that a shift to individualised taxation would result in increased labour supply of married women, and a reduction in the hours worked by married men due to intra-household labour substitution effects. We explore the implications of this for a range of outcomes linked to womens’ financial independence.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18035.pdf
IZA DP No. 18051
Bernardo Fanfani:
Contractual Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining: Italian Evidence from Forty Years of Data
Abstract:
This study documents the evolution of minimum wages bargained in Italian private sector collective contracts over a forty-year period (1983-2023). Minimum wages have grown in real levels over the last three decades, particularly among high-skilled occupations, but this growth has been partially eroded by the 2022-2023 inflation crisis. Nominal minimum wage growth is strongly correlated with past inflation and very weakly correlated with sectoral productivity growth and unemployment dynamics, which is consistent with strong coordination across industries and real wage rigidity. Increasing differences between high- and low-skilled occupation minimum wages can explain around one-third of the overall growth in the inequality of full-time equivalent daily wages that has occurred in Italy during the 1990s.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18051.pdf
IZA DP No. 18056
Milena Nikolova:
Work Orientations and Economics
Abstract:
A growing body of research in economics shows that workers care about more than just pay, often seeking social status, career mobility, or meaningful work. This chapter introduces the work orientations framework—a concept from psychology—as a unifying lens for understanding these motivations. Work orientations capture individuals’ core beliefs about the role of work: earning a living (“paycheck”), achieving recognition and advancement (“career”), or finding fulfillment (“calling”). These orientations are not mutually exclusive, and many people hold a mix that shapes their workplace behavior. Economists have long examined financial incentives, alignment with an organization’s mission, and career ambitions, but these strands remain fragmented. Integrating them within the work orientations framework broadens standard economic models, offers a richer view of labor supply and effort, and suggests new priorities for data collection, measurement, and theory development. The chapter reviews current evidence and outlines avenues for future empirical and conceptual research.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18056.pdf
IZA DP No. 18061
Harry J. Holzer:
Workforce Development in the US: Recent Trends and Evidence
Abstract:
In this paper, I examine what we know and don’t know about both private and public workforce development in the US. I highlight three of the most important categories of programs and policy: a) Workforce development in accredited higher education institutions, particularly community colleges; b) Other publicly-funded or private training and services, including “sectoral training” that targets specific high-demand sectors of the economy; and c) On-the-job or work-based learning, including apprenticeships. I summarize the theoretical literature on workforce development and a broad landscape of the three key categories. I synthesize the empirical literature on workforce development, beginning with comparisons of different data sources, outcome measures and empirical methods used before reviewing the literature on estimated impacts in each of the three categories. I then consider the international evidence on workforce development, and how public efforts differ between the US and other industrial countries, before concluding.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18061.pdf
IZA DP No. 18065
Ellora Derenoncourt, Francois Gerard, Lorenzo Lagos, Claire Montialoux:
What Do (Thousands of) Union Do? Union-Specific Pay Premia and Inequality
Abstract:
We study the role of union heterogeneity in shaping wages and inequality among unionized workers. Using linked employer-employee data from Brazil and job moves across multi-firm unions, we estimate over 4,800 union-specific pay premia. Unions explain 3–4% of earnings variation. While unions raise wages on average, the standard deviation in union effects is large (6-7%). Validating our approach, wages fall in markets with higher vs. lower union premia following a nationwide right-to-work law. Linking premia to detailed data on union attributes, we find that unions with strike activity, collective bargaining agreements, internal competition, and skilled leaders secure higher wages. High-premium unions compress wage gaps by education while the average union exacerbates them. Post right-to-work, however, worker support for high-premium unions falls when between-group bargaining differentials are large. Our findings show that unions are not a monolith—their structure and actions s hape their wage effects and, consequently, worker support.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18065.pdf
IZA DP No. 18068
Jesper Bagger, Francois Fontaine, Manolis Galenianos, Ija Trapeznikova:
Output Fluctuations and Firm Recruitment Effort
Abstract:
This paper examines the relationship between output fluctuations and firms’ recruitment efforts using Danish data that link online job ads with high-frequency firm-level revenue and value-added. While overall output growth is weakly correlated with advertisement rates, decomposing output into permanent and transitory components reveals a strong link between persistent shocks and recruitment effort. A one standard deviation permanent shock raises advertisement rates by 10-16% of a standard deviation, whereas transitory shocks show no significant effect. These results highlight the importance of shock persistence in labor demand and offer empirical support for dynamic search-and-matching models of the labor market.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18068.pdf
IZA DP No. 18079
Ian Gregory-Smith, Alex Bryson, Rafael Gomez:
Discrimination in Retention Decisions and Its Impact on Career Earnings. Evidence from the National Football League
Abstract:
We examine the role that racial discrimination plays in the decision to retain or release an employee. Our empirical setting allows us to separate the retention decision from the wage decision. For the first four years of a player’s career, wages are mechanically determined and players are under a restricted ‘rookie’ contract, during which they can be released without cost. Players who survive in the league beyond four years receive a large uptick in their remuneration upon signing their first ‘free-agency’ contract. Consequently, marginal decisions over employment retention during the rookie contract have substantial implications for earnings realised over a player’s career. We find subtle but significant differences in retention rates between Black and White players (approximately 3 percentage points) that can’t be explained by a comprehensive set of individual characteristics including their productivity. We also show that traditional wage gap estimates, which appear to sh ow equal earnings between Black and White players conditional upon playing position and productivity, mask underlying disparities in career earnings that become apparent when adjusting for these unequal retention rates.
https://docs.iza.org/dp18079.pdf
Please click here to change your subscription status.
If you have trouble downloading the papers, or for any other questions regarding the IZA Discussion Paper Series, contact public...@iza.org.
IZA Publications
Sep 1, 2025, 1:37:43 PMSep 1
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