IZA World of Labor - Search Result For

August 2025

Article

The labor market in Italy, 2000–2024 Updated

Italy's labor market has stabilized since the crises of the 2000s, but persistent challenges remain, amid stagnant productivity and structural imbalances

Francesca Marino

In 2024, Italy's labor market has reached record-high levels of employment and permanent contracts, marking a significant recovery from past downturns. Yet, persistent challenges remain. Youth unemployment and labor market duality remain high, and wages and productivity have stagnated for over two decades. Although several major labor market reforms have aimed to increase flexibility and reduce segmentation, many of their effects remain contested. Female participation has risen and long-term unemployment has declined, yet regional disparities remain deep and persistent, with the south lagging behind. Self-employment is widespread but often low income and non-entrepreneurial, while undeclared work continues to weigh on labor standards and fiscal capacity. Targeted reforms are needed to improve labor market inclusion, reduce fragmentation, and support sustainable growth.

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July 2023

Article

Instruction time and educational outcomes

The quality of instruction and the activities it replaces determine the success of increased instruction time

Andrés Barrios Fernández

Increasing instruction time might seem a simple way to improve students' outcomes. However, there is substantial variation in its effects reported in the literature. When focusing on school day extensions, some studies find no effects, while others find that an additional hour of daily instruction significantly improves test scores. A similar pattern arises when examining the effect of additional days of class. These mixed findings likely reflect differences in the quality of instruction or in the activities that are being replaced by additional instruction. Hence these elements need to be considered when designing policies that increase instruction time.

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May 2023

Article

Maternity leave versus early childcare—What are the long-term consequences for children? Updated

Despite increasingly generous parental leave schemes their advantages over subsidized childcare remain unclear

Nabanita Datta Gupta Jonas Jessen

There is growing agreement among parents in high-income countries that having a working mother does not harm a preschool child. Yet, research is ongoing on what the long-term effects on children are of being looked after at home (primarily by their mothers) or in childcare. Most studies find positive effects of childcare on child outcomes for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and moderate effects for children from more advantaged backgrounds. Policymakers need to improve compensation and the working environment for the sector if a high quality level is to be achieved and if the beneficial effects are to be maintained.

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February 2023

Article

Hours vs employment in response to demand shocks Updated

Evaluating the labor market effects of temporary aggregate demand shocks requires analyzing both employment and hours of work

Robert A. Hart

The responses of working hours and employment levels to temporary negative demand shocks like those caused by the Great Recession in 2007–2008 and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020–2022 have shown that consideration of both is important. Workers’ desired rises in working hours in times of recession also serve to modify the standard measure of unemployment. During Covid-19, both jobs and earnings were temporarily protected among workers forced into short-time work schemes, providing a useful comparison with the provision of improved unemployment insurance to unemployed workers at that time.

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January 2023

Article

Covid-19 and the youth-to-adult unemployment gap

Is the youth labor market bearing the brunt of the pandemic?

Francesco Pastore

The Covid-19 pandemic has produced unprecedented negative effects on the global economy, affecting both the demand and supply side. Its consequences in terms of job losses have been important in many European countries. A large number of firms have been forced to dismiss at least part of their workforce or to close down all together. Considering that young people are usually penalized more than their adult counterparts during economic crises due to the so-called “last-in-first-out” principle, it is worthwhile to evaluate if the youth will also end up paying the highest price during this pandemic-induced recession.

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January 2023

Article

Fertility postponement and labor market outcomes Updated

Postponed childbearing improves women’s labor market outcomes but may reduce overall fertility

Massimiliano Bratti

The rise in the average age of women bearing their first child is a well-established demographic trend in recent decades. Postponed childbearing can have important consequences for the mothers and, at a macro level, for the country in which they live. Research has primarily focused on the effect postponing fertility has on mothers’ labor market outcomes and on the total number of children a woman has in her lifetime. Most research finds that postponing the first birth raises a mother's labor force participation and wages but may have negative effects on overall fertility, especially in the absence of supportive family-friendly policies.

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November 2022

Article

The labor market in Canada, 2000–2021 Updated

Covid-19 ended 20 years of stability and good labor market performance, aided in part by a strong resource boom

W. Craig Riddell

From 2000 to 2019, Canada's economy and labor market performed well. Important in this success was a strong resource boom from the late 1990s to 2014. After the boom the economy and labor market adjusted relatively smoothly, with labor and other resources exiting resource-rich regions and moving elsewhere. Strong growth in major export markets (Asia and the US) aided the adjustment. The Covid-19 downturn resulted in an unprecedented decline in employment, and a steep rise in unemployment and non-participation. Despite the severity of the Covid-19 shock, by December 2021 most key measures of labor market activity had returned to pre-pandemic levels.

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July 2022

Article

The gender gap in time allocation

Gender inequalities in daily time allocation may have detrimental effects on earnings and well-being

Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal Jose Alberto Molina

Many countries experience gender differences, of various magnitudes, in the time devoted to paid work (e.g. market work time) and unpaid work (e.g. housework and childcare). Since household responsibilities influence the participation of women, especially mothers, in the labor market, the unequal sharing of unpaid work, with women bearing the brunt of housework and childcare, is one of the main drivers of gender inequality in the labor market. Understanding the factors behind these gender inequalities is crucial for constructing policies aimed at promoting gender equality and combating gender-based discrimination.

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March 2022

Article

Does emigration increase the wages of non-emigrants in sending countries Updated

Emigration can increase the wages of non-emigrants, but may eventually lead to lower productivity and wage losses

Benjamin Elsner

How migration affects labor markets in receiving countries is well understood, but less is known about how migration affects labor markets in sending countries, particularly the wages of workers who do not emigrate. Most studies find that emigration increases wages in the sending country but only for non-emigrants with substitutable skills similar to those of emigrants; non-emigrants with different (complementary) skills lose. These wage reactions are short-term effects, however. If a country loses many highly educated workers, the economy can become less productive altogether, leading to lower wages for everyone in the long term.

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March 2022

Article

Ethnic enclaves and immigrant economic integration Updated

High-quality enclave networks encourage labor market success for newly arriving immigrants

Simone Schüller Tanika Chakraborty

Immigrants tend to live in clusters within host countries. Does clustering in ethnic enclaves explain the persistent differences in skill, employment rates, and earnings between immigrants and the native population? Empirical studies consistently find that residing in an enclave can increase earnings. While it is ambiguous whether employment probabilities are also affected or whether earnings benefits accrue to all immigrants, irrespective of their skill levels, it is clear that effects are driven by enclave “quality” (in terms of income, education, and employment) rather than enclave size.

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December 2021

Article

Should divorce be easier or harder? Updated

The evidence, though weak, favors legal, easy, unilateral divorce

Libertad Gonzalez Alicia de Quinto

Many countries have enacted legislation over the past few decades making divorce easier. Some countries have legalized divorce where it had previously been banned, and many have eased the conditions required for a divorce, such as allowing unilateral divorce (both spouses do not have to agree on the divorce). Divorce laws can regulate the grounds for divorce, division of property, child custody, and child support or maintenance payments. Reforms can have a range of social effects beyond increasing the divorce rate. They can influence female labor supply, marriage and fertility rates, child well-being, household saving, and even domestic violence and crime.

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May 2021

Article

Income inequality and social origins Updated

Promoting intergenerational mobility makes societies more egalitarian

Lorenzo Cappellari

Income inequality has been on the rise in many countries. Is this bad? One way to decide is to look at the degree of change in incomes across generations (intergenerational mobility) and, more generally, at the extent to which income differences among individuals are traceable to their social origins. Inequalities that reflect factors largely out of an individual’s control—such as parents’ education, local schools, and communities—require attention in order to reduce income inequality. Evidence shows a negative association between income inequality and intergenerational mobility, and a positive relationship between mobility and economic performance.

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April 2021

Article

Immigrants in the classroom and effects on native children Updated

Having immigrant children in the classroom may sometimes, but not always, harm educational outcomes of native children

Peter Jensen

Many countries are experiencing increasing inflows of immigrant students. This raises concerns that having a large share of students for whom the host country language is not their first language may have detrimental effects on the educational outcomes of native children. However, the evidence is mixed, with some studies finding negative effects, and others finding no effects. Whether higher concentrations of immigrant students have an effect on native students differs across countries according to factors such as organization of the school system and the type of immigrants.

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January 2021

Article

Individual and family labor market impacts of chronic diseases

Chronic diseases worsen labor market outcomes, but firms’ hiring and retention policies can reduce them

Amanda Gaulke

Chronic health conditions are a global concern and can impact labor market outcomes of those diagnosed and their caregivers. Since the global prevalence of many chronic health conditions is on the rise, it is important to know what firms can do to retain and hire workers who are impacted. Firms can improve hiring by addressing biases against potential employees with chronic health conditions. Furthermore, firms can retain impacted workers by offering workplace flexibility such as partial sick leave, work hour flexibility, and part-time work options.

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December 2020

Article

Health effects of job insecurity Updated

Job insecurity adversely affects health, but employability policies and otherwise better job quality can mitigate the effects

Francis Green

The fear of unemployment has increased around the world in the wake of Covid-19. Research has shown that job insecurity affects both mental and physical health, though the effects are lower when employees are easily re-employable. The detrimental effects of job insecurity could be partly mitigated if employers improved other aspects of job quality that support better health. But as job insecurity is felt by many more people than just the unemployed, the negative health effects during recessions are multiplied and extend through the majority of the population. This reinforces the need for effective, stabilising macroeconomic policies, most especially at this time of pandemic.

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September 2020

Article

European asylum policy before and after the migration crisis

The European migration crisis of 2015–2016 exposed weaknesses in the asylum system that have been only partly addressed

Tim Hatton

The migration crisis of 2015–2016 threw the European asylum system into disarray. The arrival of more than two million unauthorized migrants stretched the system to its breaking point and created a public opinion backlash. The existing system is one in which migrants risk life and limb to gain (often unauthorized) entry to the EU in order to lodge claims for asylum, more than half of which are rejected. Reforms introduced during the crisis only partially address the system's glaring weaknesses. In particular, they shift the balance only slightly away from a regime of spontaneous asylum-seeking to one of refugee resettlement.

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May 2020

Article

The determinants of housework time Updated

Boosting the efficiency of household production could have large economic effects

Leslie S. Stratton

The time household members in industrialized countries spend on housework and shopping is substantial, amounting to about half as much as is spent on paid employment. Women bear the brunt of this burden, driven in part by the gender wage differential. Efforts to reduce the gender wage gap and alter gendered norms of behavior should reduce the gender bias in household production time and reduce inefficiency in home production. Policymakers should also note the impact of tax policy on housework time and its market substitutes, and consider ways to reduce the distortions caused by sales and income taxes.

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April 2020

Article

Naturalization and citizenship: Who benefits? Updated

Liberalizing access to citizenship improves the economic and social integration of immigrants

Christina Gathmann Ole Monscheuer

The perceived lack of economic or social integration by immigrants in their host countries is a key concern in the public debate. Research shows that the option to naturalize has considerable economic and social benefits for eligible immigrants, even in countries with a tradition of restrictive policies. First-generation immigrants who naturalize have higher earnings and more stable jobs. Gains are particularly large for immigrants from poorer countries. Moreover, citizenship encourages additional investment in skills and enables immigrants to postpone marriage and fertility. A key question is: does naturalization promote successful integration or do only those immigrants most willing to integrate actually apply?

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January 2020

Article

The labor market in Ireland, 2000–2018 Updated

A remarkable turnaround in the labor market went hand in hand with economic recovery

Adele Bergin Elish Kelly Paul Redmond

Ireland was hit particularly hard by the global financial crisis, with severe impacts on the labor market. Between 2007 and 2013, the unemployment rate increased dramatically, from 5% to 15.5%, and the labor force participation rate declined by almost five percentage points between 2007 and 2012. Outward migration re-emerged as a safety valve for the Irish economy, helping to moderate impacts on unemployment via a reduction in overall labor supply. As the crisis deepened, long-term unemployment escalated. However, since 2013, there is clear evidence of a recovery in the labor market with unemployment, both overall and long-term, dropping rapidly.

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December 2019

Article

The labor market in Germany, 2000–2018 Updated

The transformation of a notoriously rigid labor market into a role model of its own style is essentially complete

Hilmar Schneider Ulf Rinne

The EU's largest economy, Germany, has managed to find an effective and unique combination of flexibility and rigidity in its labor market. Institutions that typically characterize rigid labor markets are effectively balanced by flexibility instruments. Important developments since 2000 include steadily decreasing unemployment rates (since 2005), increasing participation rates, and (since 2011) moderately increasing labor compensation. The German labor market was remarkably robust to the impacts of the Great Recession, thus providing a useful case study for other developed countries.

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November 2019

Article

Enforcement and illegal migration Updated

Enforcement deters immigration but with unintended consequences

Pia Orrenius

Border enforcement of immigration laws raises the costs of illegal immigration, while interior enforcement also lowers its benefits. Used together, border and interior enforcement therefore reduce the net benefits of illegal immigration and should lower the probability that an individual will decide to illegally migrate. While empirical studies find that border and interior enforcement serve as deterrents to illegal immigration, immigration enforcement is costly and carries unintended consequences, such as a decrease in circular migration, an increase in smuggling, and higher prevalence of off-the-books employment and use of fraudulent and falsified documents.

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November 2019

Article

Effect of international activity on firm performance Updated

Trade liberalization benefits better performing firms and contributes to economic growth

Joachim Wagner

There is evidence that better performing firms tend to enter international markets. Internationally active firms are larger, more productive, and pay higher wages than other firms in the same industry. Positive performance effects of engaging in international activity are found especially in firms from less advanced economies that interact with partners from more advanced economies. Lowering barriers to the international division of labor should therefore be part of any pro-growth policy.

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September 2019

Article

Designing labor market regulations in developing countries Updated

Labor market regulation should aim to improve the functioning of the labor market while protecting workers

Gordon Betcherman

Governments regulate employment to protect workers and improve labor market efficiency. But, regulations, such as minimum wages and job security rules, can be controversial. Thus, decisions on setting employment regulations should be based on empirical evidence of their likely impacts. Research suggests that most countries set regulations in the appropriate range. But this is not always the case and it can be costly when countries over- or underregulate their labor markets. In developing countries, effective regulation also depends on enforcement and education policies that will increase compliance.

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July 2019

Article

Women in crime Updated

Over the last 50 years women have been increasing their participation in the labor market and in the crime market

Nadia Campaniello

In recent decades, women's participation in the labor market has increased considerably in most countries and is converging toward the participation rate of men. Though on a lesser scale, a similar movement toward gender convergence seems to be occurring in the criminal world, though many more men than women still engage in criminal activity. Technological progress and social norms have freed women from the home, increasing their participation in both the labor and the crime market. With crime no longer just men's business, it is important to investigate female criminal behavior to determine whether the policy prescriptions to reduce crime should differ for women.

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May 2019

Article

University study abroad and graduates’ employability Updated

There is a positive association between study abroad and graduates’ job prospects, though it is unclear if the link is causal

Giorgio Di Pietro

In recent decades, the number of university students worldwide who have received some part of their education abroad has been rising rapidly. Despite the popularity of international student exchange programs, however, debate continues over what students actually gain from this experience. A major advantage claimed for study abroad programs is that they can enhance employability by providing graduates with the skills and experience employers look for. These programs are also expected to increase the probability that graduates will work abroad, and so may especially benefit students willing to pursue an international career. However, most of the evidence is qualitative and based on small samples.

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The labor market in Italy, 2000–2024 Updated

Italy's labor market has stabilized since the crises of the 2000s, but persistent challenges remain, amid stagnant productivity and structural imbalances

Instruction time and educational outcomes

The quality of instruction and the activities it replaces determine the success of increased instruction time

Maternity leave versus early childcare—What are the long-term consequences for children? Updated

Despite increasingly generous parental leave schemes their advantages over subsidized childcare remain unclear

Hours vs employment in response to demand shocks Updated

Evaluating the labor market effects of temporary aggregate demand shocks requires analyzing both employment and hours of work

Covid-19 and the youth-to-adult unemployment gap

Is the youth labor market bearing the brunt of the pandemic?

Fertility postponement and labor market outcomes Updated

Postponed childbearing improves women’s labor market outcomes but may reduce overall fertility

The labor market in Canada, 2000–2021 Updated

Covid-19 ended 20 years of stability and good labor market performance, aided in part by a strong resource boom

The gender gap in time allocation

Gender inequalities in daily time allocation may have detrimental effects on earnings and well-being

Does emigration increase the wages of non-emigrants in sending countries Updated

Emigration can increase the wages of non-emigrants, but may eventually lead to lower productivity and wage losses

Ethnic enclaves and immigrant economic integration Updated

High-quality enclave networks encourage labor market success for newly arriving immigrants

Should divorce be easier or harder? Updated

The evidence, though weak, favors legal, easy, unilateral divorce

Income inequality and social origins Updated

Promoting intergenerational mobility makes societies more egalitarian

Immigrants in the classroom and effects on native children Updated

Having immigrant children in the classroom may sometimes, but not always, harm educational outcomes of native children

Individual and family labor market impacts of chronic diseases

Chronic diseases worsen labor market outcomes, but firms’ hiring and retention policies can reduce them

Health effects of job insecurity Updated

Job insecurity adversely affects health, but employability policies and otherwise better job quality can mitigate the effects

European asylum policy before and after the migration crisis

The European migration crisis of 2015–2016 exposed weaknesses in the asylum system that have been only partly addressed

The determinants of housework time Updated

Boosting the efficiency of household production could have large economic effects

Naturalization and citizenship: Who benefits? Updated

Liberalizing access to citizenship improves the economic and social integration of immigrants

The labor market in Ireland, 2000–2018 Updated

A remarkable turnaround in the labor market went hand in hand with economic recovery

The labor market in Germany, 2000–2018 Updated

The transformation of a notoriously rigid labor market into a role model of its own style is essentially complete

Enforcement and illegal migration Updated

Enforcement deters immigration but with unintended consequences

Effect of international activity on firm performance Updated

Trade liberalization benefits better performing firms and contributes to economic growth

Designing labor market regulations in developing countries Updated

Labor market regulation should aim to improve the functioning of the labor market while protecting workers

Women in crime Updated

Over the last 50 years women have been increasing their participation in the labor market and in the crime market

University study abroad and graduates’ employability Updated

There is a positive association between study abroad and graduates’ job prospects, though it is unclear if the link is causal