http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2030 Sat, 18 May 2013 22:09:19 GMT 2013-05-18T22:09:19Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/bitstream/id/34825/ http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/2030 http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/211297 Social capital and cognitive attainment Rodríguez Menés, Jorge; Donato, Luisa We review the different meanings that researchers have given to the concept of social capital, differentiate four types – bridging, bonding, linking, and overheads –, and discuss their different functions as public, club, and common goods. For each form of social capital we distinguish its productivity (a collective characteristic) from the factors that account for individual’s differential access to its returns, and propose alternative ways for measuring each. We show the utility of our theoretical and measuring approach by analyzing the impact of the each form of social capital on 15 year-old students’ cognitive attainment across OECD countries, using 2006 PISA data. The results show that students’ cognitive attainments are a direct function of the richness or productivity of each form of social capital and of students’ degree of access to each. Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/211297 2013-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/208017 Decisiones de empleo y cuidado en parejas de dos ingresos en España Abril, Paco ¿Hasta qué punto se preparan las parejas jóvenes en España para una parentalidad corresponsable? Los estudios muestran que gran parte de las desigualdades de género en las sociedades occidentales emergen y se recrudecen durante la primera maternidad/paternidad. En España existe un gran vacío en estudios que analicen la toma de decisiones y las justificaciones de los miembros de la pareja en sus decisiones sobre el cuidado de su primogénito. Esta investigación viene a suplir esta laguna en la literatura mediante un estudio cualitativo basado en entrevistas en profundidad realizadas a 136 hombres y mujeres activos (ocupados y desempleados) que esperaban su primer hijo en el año 2011. La investigación indaga sobre las justificaciones repecto a quién y cuánto tiempo disfrutará de licencias parentales o reducciones de jornada laboral, los ideales de cuidado, los planes de implicación del padre y la madre y el significado de una "buena" maternidad y paternidad. El estudio muestra que gran parte de las parejas aspiran a mantener el empleo de ambos miembros tras el parto y que, por tanto, el modelo de familia basado en dos sustentadores está ampliamente arraigado en el imaginario cultural de estas parejas. Sin embargo, en el caso de prever dificultades en la conciliación del empleo y el cuidado - situación bastante frecuente en el contexto español - las mujeres continúan mostrando una mayor predisposición a adaptar su empleo a las necesidades de la maternidad, mientras que solo una pequeña parte de los hombres entrevistados parecen dispuestos a asumir ajustes laborales importantes para atender a sus hijos y acercarse al ideal de la paternidad corresponsable. Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/208017 2013-03-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202693 What lies behind the devaluation of educational credentials? Ortiz Gervasi, Luis Applying fixed-effects models to EULFS data on Spain from 1998 to 2006, the paper explores the effects of educational expansion on the occupational returns to education across different levels of education. We build an indicator of the positional value of education, based on the idea that the value of a given educational credential partly depends on the percentage of labour market entrants who have reached that level at the time when individuals enter the labour market -- it is higher when fewer individuals have reached it, lower otherwise. Our analysis for the Spanish case shows that the decrease in the occupational returns to education goes in parallel with the decrease in the positional value of education, but this devaluation of credentials has been stronger in general education (e.g., in humanities or social sciences university degrees, or in upper secondary general education) than in specialized education (e.g., in technical fields in the university, or in upper vocational training). We argue that the reason for this is most likely that general education provides a more diffuse signal of candidates’ skills than specialized education. We also find that this devaluation of credentials has been stronger in fields accessed by women in larger numbers in last decades. Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/202693 2012-09-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196886 Do women in female-dominated occupations exit the labour market more? Evidence from Italy, Spain, Denmark and the UK Guinea Martín, Daniel Literature on sex occupational segregation has typically focused on the micro and macro determinants of it, on mobility patterns over the life course, on implications of segregation and mobility for gender inequalities. Rarely the link between sex-type occupations and women’s risk of labour market interruptions over family formation has been explored. In this piece of work we shall analyse whether women who are working in the female-dominated, male-dominated or integrated occupations have more or less chances to remain attached to the labour market, controlling for qualifications, class, sector and contract positions. By drawing from ECHP, and comparing Italy, Spain, Denmark and the UK, we shall in particular see whether such connection varies across countries with different institutional and cultural configurations. We find that, ceteris paribus, only in the UK the sex-composition of an occupation matters: women in female occupations are more likely to move to inactivity than women in mixed or male occupations. In the other countries considered the main cleavages lie elsewhere. In Italy what matters most is the sector of employment (public vs. private). In Spain the sector is relevant too, but also social class and the type of contract held (permanent vs. temporary). In Denmark women’s transitions to inactivity are largely independent of human capital and job characteristics. Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/196886 2012-06-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/187391 Paternal involvement and children's developmental stages in Spain Gracia Molina, Pablo How does fathering change across children’s developmental stages and how do these changes vary by educational levels and women’s employment? To investigate this, I use the „2003 Spanish Time Use Survey‟ (N = 2,941) for a sample of heterosexual couples with children of different ages. I differentiate between physical (i.e. feeding, supervising, putting children to bed) and interactive child care activities (i.e. speaking to, playing with, teaching the child). Fathers‟ education strongly influences how much fathers participate in physical care in families with preschoolers, a stage in which these activities are particularly important for children’s physical, social, and emotional development. For interactive care, a significant education gradient emerges when the youngest child is aged 3 to 5, when the acquisition of complex linguistic, conceptual, and social skills is critical for later school success. Mother’s employment significantly influences father’s physical child care with preschoolers. This suggests that empowering Spanish women to participate in the labor market promotes gender equity in the household division of child care. Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/187391 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/184105 Asymmetries in the opportunity structure. Intergenerational mobility trends in Europe Esping-Andersen, Gøsta, 1947- It remains unclear whether social mobility is increasing in the advanced nations. The answer may depend on mobility patterns within very recent birth cohorts. We use the inter-generational module in the 2005 EUSILC which allows us to include more recent cohorts. Comparing across two Nordic and three Continental European countries, we estimate inter-generational mobility trends for sons both indirectly, via social origin effects on educational attainment, and directly in terms of adult income attainment. In line with other studies we find substantially more mobility in Scandinavia, but also that traditionally less mobile societies, like Spain, are moving towards greater equality. We focus particularly on non-linear relations. Most interestingly, we reveal evident asymmetries in the process of equalizing life chances, in Denmark. The disadvantages associated with low social class origins have largely disappeared, but the advantages related to privileged origins persist. Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/184105 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/180162 A reassessment of family reunification in Europe. The case of Senegalese couples Baizán, Pau Contemporary policy makers in most European destination countries express a great concern about reunification of migrants’ families. New restrictions multiply in almost all countries, on the grounds that migrants would take advantage of a too lax system and that it would foster an influx of non-desirable migrants. So far, quantitative evidence is scarce on migrants’ practices in matter of family reunification. Taking advantage of a unique longitudinal dataset that includes Senegalese individuals surveyed both at origin (in Senegal) and in Europe (France, Italy and Spain), we perform event-history analyses to show three things. First, couple separation is very often a long lasting situation. Second, when separated because of international migration, wives and husbands do not only reunify in Europe but quite commonly in Senegal. And third, those who reunify in Europe are those who are the most adapted or adaptable to the European culture and economy. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/180162 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/169988 Effects of prison work programmes on the employability of ex-prisioners Alós, Ramon; Esteban, Fernando Osvaldo; Jódar, Pere; Miguélez, Fausto This paper presents the main results of a study that relates information from the prison system with information for the Spanish Social Security in order to study the employability of the former inmates of prisons in Catalonia, Spain who obtained final release from 1/1/2004 to 31/12/2007. The results show that 43.6% of the ex-prisoners find a job after serving their sentences, but their integration in the labour market tends to be fragile, confirming that it is a very vulnerable group. It was also found that prison work has a favourable effect on employability and that vocational training could be useful for those who have not previously worked and have no education or job skills. Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/169988 2011-07-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/152114 Political mobilisation and models of trade unionism : Southern Europe in comparative perspective Cebolla Boado, Héctor; Ortiz Gervasi, Luis The relationship between union membership and political mobilization has been studied under many perspectives, but quantitative cross-national analyses have been hampered by the absence of international comparable survey data until the first round of the European Social Survey (ESS-2002) was made available. Using different national samples from this survey in four moments of time (2002, 2004 and 2006), our paper provides evidence of cross-country divergence in the empirical association between political mobilisation and trade union membership. Cross-national differences in union members’ political mobilization, we argue, can be explained by the existence of models of unionism that in turn differ with respect to two decisive factors: the institutionalisation of trade union activity and the opportunities left-wing parties have available for gaining access to executive power. Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/152114 2011-06-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/152113 Parental care time in four European countries: comparing types and contexts Gracia Molina, Pablo; Ghysels, Joris; Vercammen, Kim The intensity of parental investments in child care time is expected to vary across families with different norms and time-constraints. Additionally, it should also differ across countries, since the abilities of parents to harmonize family and work vary by national context. In our opinion, however, this question remains inconclusive for two main reasons: 1) only some countries have been studied from a comparative approach; 2) previous studies have not paid enough attention to the analysis of how the conditional effects of education and employment affect parental investments. In this paper we used nationally representative time-use data from Denmark, Flanders, Spain and the United Kingdom (N=4,031) to explore how employment and education predict variations in child care time. IN Britain and Spain employment has a strong negative effect on fathers’ child care, but a weaker one in Flanders and particularly in Denmark. In contrast, maternal employment has a strong negative impact in all four countries. Education increases child care time significantly only among Spanish mothers and fathers, as well as British mothers. Nonetheless, we find that college-educated mothers under similar time-constraints increase substantially their expected child care time in Britain, Flanders and Spain; for fathers we find a more mixed picture. Routine child care activities are more sensitive to both maternal and paternal employment than interactive child care activities. Finally, we observe that working a public sector job generally increases a total time allocated to parental care, controlling for several demographic and socioeconomic variables. Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/152113 2011-06-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/152112 Deferred effects of nursery school on adolescents' school performance in Spain Sarasa Urdiola, Sebastià This research analysis the long-term effects of nursery school attendance before the age of three in Spain. The effects are measured when the individuals are adolescents and attend secondary school. The article deals with the controversy over the long-term effects of nursery school attendance and its potential effect on reducing inequalities and social exclusion. The results estimate a significant long-term effect of nursery school attendance on improving educational performance, although the beneficial effects are lower among adolescents residing in the lower status households. Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/152112 2011-06-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97263 Explaining parental dedication to child care in Spain Baizán, Pau; Domínguez Folgueras, Marta; González, María José The quality of the time dedicated to child care has potential positive effects on children’s life chances. However, the determinants of parental time allocation to child care remain largely unexplored, particularly in context undergoing rapid family change such as Spain. We assess two alternative explanations for differences between parents in the amount of time spent with children. The first, based in the relative resources hypothesis, links variation in time spent with children to the relative attributes (occupation, education or income) of one partner to the other. The second, derived from the social status hypothesis, suggests that variation in time spent with children is attributable to the relative social position of the pair (i.e. higher status couples spend more time with children regardless of within-couple difference). To investigate theses questions, we use a sample of adults (18-50) from the Spanish Time Use Survey (STUS) 2002-2003 (n=7,438). Limiting the analysis to adults who are married or in consensual unions, the STUS allows to assess both the quantity and quality of parental time spent with children. We find little support for the “relative resources hypothesis”. Instead, consistent with the “social status hypothesis”, we find that time spent on child care is attributable to the social position of the couple, regardless of between-parent differences in income of education. Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/97263 2010-12-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/93886 Why do workers leave unions? - group differences in a Spanish Union Federation Jódar Martínez, Pere; Alós, Ramon; Vidal, Sergi This study analyses the characteristics of members leaving a Spanish union federation – Catalonia branch of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO-Catalonia), together with their reasons for leaving using a variety of data sources. Our findings indicate that higher union attrition among members in instable employment (i.e. casual employment and low seniority). In general, union leavers confirm that their job situation is an important reason for leaving the union. We therefore conclude that efforts made by the union to retain members in vulnerable labor market positions are important in reducing high rates of union attrition in Spain. Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/93886 2010-11-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/86913 Claves para el trabajo con la muestra continua de vidas laborales Lapuerta, Irene Desde el año 2005 la comunidad científica cuenta con una nueva fuente de información anual para el estudio de las dinámicas del mercado de trabajo y del sistema de previsión social de carácter contributivo en España. Sus microdatos, que reciben el nombre de Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales (MCVL), proceden de tres registros administrativos: la Seguridad Social, el Padrón Continuo Municipal y la Agencia Tributaria. En este trabajo se exponen sus características fundamentales, al tiempo que se plantean algunas pautas básicas para afrontar las dificultades en el manejo de sus datos. Entre ellas destacan las peculiaridades de su estructura panel; el tratamiento del pluriempleo y las situaciones simultáneas; el modo en que se computa una relación laboral; y los problemas para la identificación de la estructura familiar. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/86913 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/51323 The Role of social institutions in inter-generational mobility Nolan, Brian, 1953-; Esping-Andersen, Gøsta; Whelan, Christopher T. In this study we examine the role of institutions in shaping inter-generational mobility behavior. Research has traditionally emphasized the role of educational systems but cummulative evidence suggests that variations in their design offer only a very limited explanation for observed mobility differences. We examine the impact of welfare states and, in particular, how early childhood and family policies may influence the impact of economic and cultural characteristics of origin families on child outcomes. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/51323 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/51308 The Sociology of educational mismatch Kucel, Aleksander This paper studies the theoretical relationships between core research lines of sociology such as intergenerational mobility, class structure, cultural capital and educational mismatches. By educational mismatch we mean two things. Firstly an individual can be horizontally mismatched whereby their field of study is inadequate for the job. Another direction of educational mismatch is the so called vertical mismatch where worker possesses more/less education than the job requires resulting in over-/under-education. While analyzing the educational mismatches I keep present the conclusions of Rational Action Theory on individuals’ rational choices in their educational careers. I arrive to conclusions where the influences between educational mismatches and social classes are bidirectional and one can establish fairly clear theoretical links between class of origins and likelihood of being educationally mismatched. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/51308 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/51307 Is there a wage penalty for horizontal and vertical mismatch? Kucel, Aleksander; Vilalta-Bufí, Montserrat This paper studies how the horizontal and vertical mismatches in the labor market affect wage. We do so by taking into account that by choosing a job, wage and mismatches are simultaneously determined. The Seemingly Unrelated Equations model also allows us to control for any omitted variable that could cause biased estimators. We use REFLEX data for Spain. Results reveal that in most cases being horizontally matched has a wage premium and being over-educated does not affect wage. Results suggest that the modeling strategy successfully accounts for some omitted variable that affects simultaneously the probability of being horizontally matched and the wage. This could explain the existence of a wage penalty for over-educated workers when the omitted variable issue is not dealt with. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/51307 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43768 Overeducation among European university graduates : a comparative analysis ot its incidence and the importance of higher education differentiation Barone, Carlo; Ortíz Gervasi, Luis The incidence of over-education is here assessed by applying some standard subjective and objective indicators and a new skill-based indicator of over-education to the national samples of eight European countries in the REFLEX survey. With the exception of Spain, the results reveal that over-education is a minor risk amongst European tertiary graduates. Yet, the contrast between the standard indicators and the skill-based indicator reveals the existence of an over-education of a moderate kind in countries with high tertiary attainment rates (Norway, Finland and Netherlands). Such a type of over-education does not come to the surface when applying the standard indicators. Our results also reveal the importance of higher education differentiation (i.e. field of study and branch of higher education) for understanding the risk of over-education. Graduates from humanistic fields, bachelor courses and vocational colleges are more exposed to over-education, though their disadvantage varies across-nationally to a significant extent. Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/43768 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41843 Upgrading or polarization? occupational change in Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, 1990-2008 Oesch, Daniel; Rodríguez Menes, Jorge This paper analyzes the pattern of occupational change in four Western European countries over the last two decades: what kind of jobs have been expanding -- high-paid jobs, low-paid jobs or both? By addressing this issue, we also examine what theoretical account is consistent with the observed pattern of change: skill-biased technical change, skill supply evolution or wage-setting institutions? Our empirical findings show a picture of massive occupational upgrading that closely matches educational expansion. In all four countries, by far the strongest employment growth occurred at the top of the occupational hierarchy, among managers and professionals. Yet in parallel, in Britain and Switzerland, as well as in Germany and Spain after 1996 and 2002 respectively, relative employment declined more strongly in the middling occupations (among clerks and production workers) than at the bottom (among interpersonal service workers). This slightly polarized pattern of occupational upgrading is consistent with the "routinization" hypothesis that technology is a better substitute for average-paid jobs in production and the office that for low-paid jobs in interpersonal services. However, we find large cross-country differences in the employment evolution at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy, among low-paid services workers: sizeable growth in Britain and Spain, but stagnation in Germany and Switzerland. This results points towards the possibility that wage-setting institutions filter the pattern of occupational change. Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41843 2009-06-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41842 Regional child care availability and fertility decisions in Spain Baizán, Pau In this paper I explore two hypotheses: (1) Formal child care availability for children under three has a positive effect across contexts, according to the degree of adaptation of social institutions to changes in gender roles. Event history models with regional fixed effects are applied to data from the European Community Household Panel (1994-2001). The results show a significant and positive effect of regional day care availability on both, first and higher order births, while results are consistent with the second hypothesis only for second or higher order births. Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41842 2009-05-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41841 What made him change? an individual and national analysis of men's participation in housework in 26 countries González, María José; Jurado Guerrero, Teresa; Naldini, Manuela We offer new evidence on multi-level determinants of the gender division of housework. Using data from the 2004 European Social Survey (ESS) for 26 European, we study the micro and macro-level factors which increase the likelihood of men doing an equal or greater share of housework than their female partners. A sample of 11,915 young men and women is analysed with a multi-level logistic regression in order to test at individual level the classic relative-income, time-availability and gender-role values, and a new couple conflict hypothesis. At individual level we find significant relationships between relative resources, values, couple's disagreement, and the division of housework which support more economic dependency than "doing gender" perspectives. At the macro-level, we find important composition effects and also support for gender empowerment, family model and social stratification explanations of cross-country differences. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41841 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41822 Productivities, preferences, and parental child care Bonke, Jens; Esping-Andersen, Gøsta We study the interplay of preferences and market productivities on parenting, and show the preferences, when identified, provide a better explanation of caring decisions than has, so far, been demonstrated in the literature. We qualify the standard finding the parental education in a key determinant of care by showing important interaction effects with marital homogamy. We find that homogamy has opposite effects on child care and couple specialization for high and low educated parents. Identification has been made possible by a unique couple-based time diary study for Denmark Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/41822 2008-11-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12476 Union activism in an inclusive model of industrial relations : evidence from an Spanish case Jódar Martínez, Pere; Vidal, Sergi; Alós, Ramon In this article we analyze the reasons, within the context of Spanish industrial relations, for trade union members’ active participation in their regional union. The case of Spain is particularly interesting as the unions’ main activity, collective bargaining, is a public good. The text, based on research involving a representative survey of members of a regional branch of the “Workers” Commissions” (Comisiones Obreras) trade union, provides empirical evidence that the union presence in the workplace has a significant influence on members’ propensity for activism. By contrast, the alternative hypothesis based on instrumental reasons appears of little relevance in the Spanish industrial relations context. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/12476 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10685 Personal and household care giving for adult children to parents and social stratification Sarasa Urdiola, Sebastià; Billingsley, Sunnee Using SHARE database the paper explores the factors conditioning personal care giving from adult children to their parents. Frequency and intensity of personal care is contrasted with the reciprocal expectations that children have about wealth inheritance from their parents and with the opportunity costs of helping, as well as with the capacity of parents of getting help from other sources of personal care. The results may help to understand how inequalities in accessing to formal services relate with intergenerational solidarity. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10685 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10684 Who benefits from parental leave in Spain? : a life course analysis Lapuerta, Irene; González, María José; Baizán, Pau This paper analyses the extent to which individual and workplace characteristics and regional policies influence the use and duration of parental leave in Spain. The research is based on a sample of 125,165 people, and 6,959 parental leaves stemming from the ‘Sample of Working Life Histories’ (SWLH), 2006. The SWLH consists of administrative register data which include information from three different sources: Social Security, Municipality and Income Tax Registers. We adopt a simultaneous equations approach to analyse the use (logistic regression) and duration (event history analysis) of parental leave, which allows us to control for endogeneity and censored observations. We argue that the Spanish parental leave scheme increases gender and social inequalities insofar as reinforces gender role specialization, and only encourages the reconciling of work and family life among workers with a good position in the labour market (educated employees with high and stable working status). Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10684 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10683 The Risk of divorce and household saving behavior González, Libertad; Ozcan, Berkay We address the impact of an increase in the risk of divorce on the saving behavior of married couples. From a theoretical perspective, the expected sign of the effect is ambiguous. We take advantage of the legalization of divorce in Ireland in 1996 as an exogenous increase in the likelihood of divorce. We analyze the saving behavior over time of couples who were married before the law was passed. We propose a difference-in-differences approach where we use as control groups either married couples in other European countries (not affected by the law change) , or Irish families who did not experience a significant increase in the expected risk of divorce (such as very religious families). Our results suggest that the increase in the risk of divorce brought about by the law was followed by an increase in the propensity to save of married couples, consistent with a rise in precautionary savings interpretation. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10683 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10681 The Generational contract in the family : explaining regime differences in financial transfers from parents to children in Europe Kohli, Martin; Albertini, Marco The exchange of social and economic support between the generations is one of the main pillars of both family life and welfare systems. The debate on how to reform the generational contract is still truncated, however, by focusing on its public dimension only, especially on pensions and health care provisions. For a full account, the transfer of resources between adult generations in the family needs to be included as well. In our previous research we have shown that intergenerational exchange is more likely to take place but less intense in the Nordic welfare regime than in the Continental and Southern ones. In the present paper we analyze the social mechanisms that create and explain this nexus between patterns of intergenerational transfers and welfare regimes. The notion that Southern European family support networks are stronger and more effective than those of Continental and Northern European countries is only partially confirmed. In Southern (and partly in Continental) countries, children are mostly supported by means of co-residence with their parents till their complete economic independence. However, once they have left the parental home there are fewer transfers; support tends to be restricted to children who have special needs (such as for the formation of their own family), and depends more on their parents’ resources. In the Nordic countries, in contrast, transfers are less driven by children’s needs and parental resources. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10681 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10410 Occupational sex-composition and earnings : individual and social effects Polavieja, Javier G. This paper investigates the micro and macro-level factors affecting the empirical association between occupational sex-composition and individual earnings. This is done in two analytical steps using data from the second round of the European Social Survey. In a first step, country-fixed-effects regressions are used to test the extent to which job-specialization, gender attitudes and the relative supply of domestic work can account for the impact of occupational sex-composition on earnings. In accordance with previous research, it is found that all these micro-level variables have a significant effect on the analyzed association, yet only job-specialization can explain it away by itself. In a second analytical step, macro-level interactions are tested under the hypothesis that defamilialization policies reduce the pay-offs of sphere specialization by sex, generating incentives for all types of women to invest in the labor market. Empirical results suggest that gender attitudes and the relative supply of housework are much more loosely associated to earning in social-democratic and former communist societies than in conservative or liberal regimes. This finding is interpreted as consistent with the defamilialization hypothesis. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10410 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10409 Not the right job but a secure one : over-education and temporary employment in France, Italy and Spain Ortiz Gervasi, Luis Resorting to four waves of the European Community Household Panel, this research explores the association between temporary employment and the likelihood of being over-educated. Such an association has been largely ignored by the literature explaining over-education, more inclined to attribute such a mismatch to the system of education. Selecting three similarly standarised and stratified systems of education (France, Italy and Spain) and controlling for many other variables likely to affect over-education, like gender, age, tenure, job change, firm size or sector, the paper demonstrates that such an association between temporary employment and over-education exists. Being a stepping stone towards a more stable and adjusted position in the labour market, holding a temporary employment may be associated to a higher likelihood of being over-educated. Such an association is more likely in Italy and France. Yet, the opposite sign prevails where permanent employment becomes such a valuable asset as to make individuals trade human capital by employment security. This is the case of Spain. Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/10409 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/4279 Immigrants in Denmark: an analysis of access to employment, class attainment and earnings in a high-skilled economy Brodmann, Stefanie; Polavieja, Javier G. Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.recercat.cat:80/handle/2072/4279 2007-07-01T00:00:00Z