Rigidities in firms’ payroll structures are likely to increase the transmission of shocks to firms’ cash flows and profitability. By using Italian administrative data on workers careers and firms’ balance sheets, we study how the use of permanent and fixed-term labor contracts affects this...

It is often argued that informal labor markets in developing countries promote growth by reducing the impact of regulation. On the other hand informality may reduce the amount of social protection offered to workers. We extend the wage-posting framework of Burdett and Mortensen (1998) to allow...

Self employment comprises around thirty percent of the workforce in Latin America. Most self employed evade payroll taxes, have low education, and run small businesses requiring low skills. I develop and estimate a life cycle search model where workers can be wage earners in the formal or...

Las islas del Rosario son reconocidas como uno de los mejores atractivos turísticos del mundo, sin embargo, su desarrollo en el turismo no se ha visto reflejado en una mejor calidad de vida para sus residentes, quienes mantienen altos niveles de pobreza y miseria. El presente artículo muestra...

We study the labor market returns to a State guaranteed loan used to finance university degrees in Chile. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that marginally eligible students forego vocational education in favor of universities but reduce their probability of graduation. Despite...

In the last two decades, the social and economic benefits of formal education in Sub-Saharan Africa have been debated. Anecdotal evidence points to low returns to education in Africa. Unfortunately, there is limited econometric evidence to support these claims at the micro level. In this study,...

In this paper, we review what we know about the effects of over- and undereducation on earnings outcomes. We then discuss the role of training in modifying these outcomes. Finally, we draw some lessons for public policy from our findings

What is it about schooling that the labor market rewards? The long time answer has essentially been noncognitive skills (i.e., behavioral and personality traits). Allowing cognitive skills (i.e., the capacity to process information and apply knowledge to working tasks) to be acquired both inside...