a column by David Bloom, Paige Kirby, JP Sevilla and Andrew Stawasz for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Worldwide ageing trends are steering global demographics into uncharted territory, transforming populations and societies around the globe. Japan is leading the way in this growth wave as the world’s oldest population and is now grappling with the substantial socioeconomic burdens an ageing population places on society.
This column discusses the coming challenges associated with population ageing alongside plausible solutions. While there is no magic bullet for these challenges, there is scope to devise a multi-pronged solutions portfolio of complementary initiatives that includes a number of measures to promote and protect elderly health.
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Showing posts with label demographic_change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label demographic_change. Show all posts
Friday, 7 December 2018
Sunday, 8 July 2018
Demographics and long-run growth
a column by Thomas Cooley and Espen Henriksen for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Demographic change represents an important contributing factor to the slowdown of long-run growth.
This column explores some of the channels through which this occurs and how the effects of demographic change can be mitigated. Policies that target consumption-saving choices, labour-leisure choices, and human capital accumulation over the lifecycle are likely to be most effective.
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Demographic change represents an important contributing factor to the slowdown of long-run growth.
This column explores some of the channels through which this occurs and how the effects of demographic change can be mitigated. Policies that target consumption-saving choices, labour-leisure choices, and human capital accumulation over the lifecycle are likely to be most effective.
Continue reading
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Younger supervisors, older subordinates: An organizational-level study of age differences, emotions, and performance
an article by Florian Kunze (University of Konstanz, Germany) and Jochen I. Menges (WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Düsseldorf, Germany)
published in Journal of Organizational Behavior
Volume 38 Issue 4 (May 2017)
Summary
Younger employees are often promoted into supervisory positions in which they then manage older subordinates. Do companies benefit or suffer when supervisors and subordinates have inverse age differences? In this study, we examine how average age differences between younger supervisors and older subordinates are linked to the emotions that prevail in the workforce, and to company performance.
We propose that the average age differences determine how frequently older subordinates and their coworkers experience negative emotions, and that these emotion frequency levels in turn relate to company performance. The indirect relationship between age differences and performance occurs only if subordinates express their feelings toward their supervisor, but the association is neutralized if emotions are suppressed.
We find consistent evidence for this theoretical model in a study of 61 companies with multiple respondents.
Summary
Younger employees are often promoted into supervisory positions in which they then manage older subordinates. Do companies benefit or suffer when supervisors and subordinates have inverse age differences? In this study, we examine how average age differences between younger supervisors and older subordinates are linked to the emotions that prevail in the workforce, and to company performance.
We propose that the average age differences determine how frequently older subordinates and their coworkers experience negative emotions, and that these emotion frequency levels in turn relate to company performance. The indirect relationship between age differences and performance occurs only if subordinates express their feelings toward their supervisor, but the association is neutralized if emotions are suppressed.
We find consistent evidence for this theoretical model in a study of 61 companies with multiple respondents.
Wednesday, 5 April 2017
The Economic Consequences of Family Policies: Lessons from a Century of Legislation in High-Income Countries
an article by Claudia Olivetti (Boston College, Massachusetts and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Barbara Petrongolo (Queen Mary University London; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); and London School of Economics, all in London, UK) published in Journal of Economic Perspectives Volume 31 Number 1 (Winter 2017)
Opening paragraph
Among the most remarkable changes in the labor markets of high-income nations during the past century have been the rise in the female workforce and the narrowing of gender gaps in schooling and earnings. At the same time, government mandates and firm policies regarding families expanded. In some instances, legislation was preceded by great economic change, as when the spread of industrialization in the 19th century led to calls for restrictions on female work. Other legislation resulted from social and political change, as occurred during the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Demographic change also played a role as nations have sought to address declining fertility or when dictatorships desired to increase population. By the early 21st century, most high-income countries have put into effect a host of generous and virtually gender-neutral parental leave policies and family benefits, with the multiple goals of gender equity, higher fertility, and child development.
Conclusions
What can we learn from the evolution of family policies across high-income economies? It is a complex tale in which changing economic, cultural, and political economy considerations appear to shape (and be shaped by) these policies. No obvious consensus on the labor market impact of parental leave rights and benefits emerges from the empirical literature. Although there are some exceptions, it seems a fair summary that cross-country studies tend to find more positive effects on female employment than micro-level studies for relatively short leave durations, and more negative effects for longer entitlements. Employment and earnings impacts tend to be more beneficial for the less skilled, possibly with a detrimental impact on the earnings of high-skill women. In a nutshell, there is little compelling evidence that extended parental leave rights have an overall positive effect on female outcomes.
The policies with the strongest evidence for reducing gender disparities seem to be early childhood spending (in both cross-country and microdata) and in-work benefits (in the microdata). A potential common theme here is that making it easier to be a working mother may matter more than the length of leave or the payments that new parents receive while out of the labor force.
The United States has been an outlier in the adoption of family policies across high-income countries since the turn of the twentieth century. As Goldin and Mitchell argue in this symposium, the female labor force participation in the US has evolved into a pattern with very high rates of employment early in the life cycle, which then sharply decline with motherhood, which is being progressively delayed. The cross-country and micro-level evidence has not found an overall strong connection between maternity leave and female labor force participation. But the relatively short leave entitlements available to mothers in the United States may possibly contribute to this life-cycle pattern of delaying motherhood, with persistently low rates of labor force participation for women in their 30s and 40s.
Full text (PDF 26pp)
Opening paragraph
Among the most remarkable changes in the labor markets of high-income nations during the past century have been the rise in the female workforce and the narrowing of gender gaps in schooling and earnings. At the same time, government mandates and firm policies regarding families expanded. In some instances, legislation was preceded by great economic change, as when the spread of industrialization in the 19th century led to calls for restrictions on female work. Other legislation resulted from social and political change, as occurred during the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Demographic change also played a role as nations have sought to address declining fertility or when dictatorships desired to increase population. By the early 21st century, most high-income countries have put into effect a host of generous and virtually gender-neutral parental leave policies and family benefits, with the multiple goals of gender equity, higher fertility, and child development.
Conclusions
What can we learn from the evolution of family policies across high-income economies? It is a complex tale in which changing economic, cultural, and political economy considerations appear to shape (and be shaped by) these policies. No obvious consensus on the labor market impact of parental leave rights and benefits emerges from the empirical literature. Although there are some exceptions, it seems a fair summary that cross-country studies tend to find more positive effects on female employment than micro-level studies for relatively short leave durations, and more negative effects for longer entitlements. Employment and earnings impacts tend to be more beneficial for the less skilled, possibly with a detrimental impact on the earnings of high-skill women. In a nutshell, there is little compelling evidence that extended parental leave rights have an overall positive effect on female outcomes.
The policies with the strongest evidence for reducing gender disparities seem to be early childhood spending (in both cross-country and microdata) and in-work benefits (in the microdata). A potential common theme here is that making it easier to be a working mother may matter more than the length of leave or the payments that new parents receive while out of the labor force.
The United States has been an outlier in the adoption of family policies across high-income countries since the turn of the twentieth century. As Goldin and Mitchell argue in this symposium, the female labor force participation in the US has evolved into a pattern with very high rates of employment early in the life cycle, which then sharply decline with motherhood, which is being progressively delayed. The cross-country and micro-level evidence has not found an overall strong connection between maternity leave and female labor force participation. But the relatively short leave entitlements available to mothers in the United States may possibly contribute to this life-cycle pattern of delaying motherhood, with persistently low rates of labor force participation for women in their 30s and 40s.
Full text (PDF 26pp)
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Postretirement Career Planning: Testing a Model Based on Social Cognitive Career Theory
an article by Anne M. Wöhrmann (Institute for Strategic HR Management Research and Development (SMARD), Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany), Jürgen Deller (Institute for Strategic HR Management Research and Development (SMARD), Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany and Silver Workers Research Institute, Berlin, Germany) and Mo Wang (Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 41 Number 5 (October 2014)
Abstract
Many countries are exposed to challenges due to demographic change. Keeping employees in the workforce beyond retirement age could help counter these challenges. Thus, extending the knowledge on the process of post-retirement career planning is important.
Therefore, drawing on social cognitive career theory, we develop and test a model for post-retirement career planning in this study.
An online survey including measures of occupational self-efficacy, interest in occupation-related activities as well as post-retirement career outcome expectations, intention, and planning activity was completed by 124 individuals working in different occupations in Germany.
Participants were aged 49–65 years and 54% were male.
Findings suggest that self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interest are important factors in post-retirement career planning. Altogether the predictors accounted for 37% of variance in post-retirement career intention and 9% of variance in planning activity.
Based on our findings, we discuss options to foster post-retirement career planning.
Abstract
Many countries are exposed to challenges due to demographic change. Keeping employees in the workforce beyond retirement age could help counter these challenges. Thus, extending the knowledge on the process of post-retirement career planning is important.
Therefore, drawing on social cognitive career theory, we develop and test a model for post-retirement career planning in this study.
An online survey including measures of occupational self-efficacy, interest in occupation-related activities as well as post-retirement career outcome expectations, intention, and planning activity was completed by 124 individuals working in different occupations in Germany.
Participants were aged 49–65 years and 54% were male.
Findings suggest that self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interest are important factors in post-retirement career planning. Altogether the predictors accounted for 37% of variance in post-retirement career intention and 9% of variance in planning activity.
Based on our findings, we discuss options to foster post-retirement career planning.
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
The impacts of demographic change: Young workers, older workers and the consequences for education, skills and employment
an article by John Goodwin and Henrietta O’Connor (Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester) published in Education + Training volume 54 Issue 7 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the key themes in the area of the impact of demographic change on young workers and older workers in relation to education, skills and employment, as discussed in the papers included in this section. The authors have also drawn upon data from their project “From Young Workers to Older Workers” as a context for the papers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws out the main themes from the papers contained within this section and presents original data from interviews with 97 older workers who were interviewed at two points in time – labour market entry and labour market exit.
Findings
The selection of papers in this section is outlined, as well as offering some findings from the authors’ research on older workers.
Originality/value
The papers in this section, including this paper, offer an overview of some of the key debates in relation to the impact of demographic change on both young workers and older workers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the key themes in the area of the impact of demographic change on young workers and older workers in relation to education, skills and employment, as discussed in the papers included in this section. The authors have also drawn upon data from their project “From Young Workers to Older Workers” as a context for the papers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws out the main themes from the papers contained within this section and presents original data from interviews with 97 older workers who were interviewed at two points in time – labour market entry and labour market exit.
Findings
The selection of papers in this section is outlined, as well as offering some findings from the authors’ research on older workers.
Originality/value
The papers in this section, including this paper, offer an overview of some of the key debates in relation to the impact of demographic change on both young workers and older workers.
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