IZA World of Labor - Commentary

Commentary

Watch exclusive video from conferences, debates and other events on labor market economics as well as reading the latest opinion pieces from IZA World of Labor authors.

October 02, 2023

Pawel M. Krolikowski, Steven J. Davis

How Many Layoffs Could Be Avoided by Pay Cuts?

A new survey of unemployment insurance recipients reveals the role of wage inflexibility in the face of job loss.
September 19, 2023

David G. Blanchflower, Alex Bryson

Were COVID and the Great Recession Well-being Reducing?

When people experience a large negative shock – such as the Great Recession of 2008, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, or the Russian invasion of Ukraine – you might expect the experience to be reflected in how they say they feel. This might be picked up in trends in happiness, life satisfaction, and aspects of negative affect like anxiety or stress. But is it?
September 12, 2023

Jakob Alfitian , Marvin Deversi, Dirk Sliwka

Closing the Gender Pay Gap: A Fresh Approach

In the global workplace, women often find their paychecks lighter than their male counterparts, even when qualifications and job roles match perfectly. The quest for gender pay equity isn't just a moral issue; it's a pressing economic one. Yet, the journey to bridge this gap seems endless.
August 25, 2023

Joni Hersch

Is Your Office Safe? Unpacking the #MeToo Numbers

The #MeToo wave unveiled an avalanche of serial sexual harassers, painting a bleak picture of corner offices across the globe. But just how rampant is workplace sexual harassment? Delving into the statistics presents a maze of ambiguity.

IZA World of Labor discussion on the economics of sport

IZA World of Labor discussion on the economics of sport with Mike Leeds from Temple University, Lawrence Kahn from Cornell University and Kerry Papps from University of Bradford

The questions in the discussion include:
- Could you generalize about the size of discriminatory outcomes in sports? If not, how about some examples, including from the world’s most important sport—football—which we Americans call soccer?
- Make or buy is a standard question for managers generally? What about in sports—train your own, or poach from other sports franchises?
- How can we measure individual productivity in sports, when, except for golf or tennis or skiing, for examples, the outcome results from team efforts?
- Why should someone with no interest in sports per se care about this? And if they should, what are some additional examples that are readily generalizable?
- Babe Ruth made $100K in his peak year, around double the U.S. President then. (He justified the salary by saying he was more productive than Calvin Coolidge!) Today’s stars in are earning 100 times what the U.S. president is paid. Is The Babe’s explanation still valid, or is there more to the astronomical salaries?

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IZA World of Labor discussion on the economics of education

IZA World of Labor discussion on the economics of education with Shqiponja Telhaj from the University of Sussex, Eric Taylor from Harvard University and John Friedman from Brown University

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IZA World of Labor discussion on the economics of crime

IZA World of Labor discussion on the economics of crime with Nadia Campaniello from the University of Torino and Kevin Schnepel from Simon Fraser University

The questions discussed include:

- How does education affect the kind of crimes one might engage in?
- What crime might one be more likely to commit as a college graduate?
- How can we reduce crime through diversion?
- What kind of crimes do women commit that are different to men?
- If there is a crime that both men and women commit – is there a difference in the amount of jail time served? Are women treated with more leniency?
- The opioid epidemic – if we entirely eliminated opioid addiction, how much would property crime be reduced?
- What makes repeat crime more likely?

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IZA World of Labor discussion on higher education

IZA World of Labor discussion on higher education with Susanna Loeb from Stanford University, Doug Webber from the Consumer and Community Research Section of the Federal Reserve Board and John Winters from Iowa State University

Question for all participants: One of the real staples of labor economics is measuring the rate of return to higher education. Is it a result of marketable skills that people have gained at university?
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