Search results

An interest in social transmission as a source of welfare and income inequality in a society has re-emerged recently with new vigour in leading economic research (see Piketty, 2014). This paper presents a mixed Bourdieu-Mincer (B-M) type micro-economic model which provides a testable mechanism for culturally biased socio-economic inter-generational transmission. In particular, the operationalisation of this mixed B-M type model seeks to find evidence for individual and local cultural capital effects on the economic achievements, in addition to the human capital effect, for both migrants and locals in the Netherlands. The purpose of this paper is to examine two sources of wage differential in the local labour market, namely: individual cultural capital (approximated by immigrant background), which affects schooling results; and the local cultural capital (approximated with the cultural milieu), which directly biases the selection of employees.

The study utilises the 2007-2009 data set for higher professional education (in Dutch termed HBO) graduates registered in the Maastricht database. The Mincer-type equation is augmented with a control variable for the local cultural milieu. The authors cope with this model empirically by means of 2SLS and 3SLS methods.

The authors find convincing evidence for the existence of both an individual cultural capital and a local cultural capital effect on schooling and wage differentials. This can be interpreted as a migrant background effect leading to a disadvantaged position on the labour market due to less frequently attending high-quality secondary schools.

More importantly, the authors find evidence for a classical Myrdalian effect of self-fulfilling prophecy, in which graduates with second-generation migrant background have a disadvantaged position due to access only to poorer quality of schooling.

Theoretical and empirical research on the impact of immigrants for local development is rather inconclusive regarding the direction of said impact. The purpose of this paper is to identify relationships between human capital and cultural capital, in the context of local labour market productivity.

As the key constituents of human capital, identified in the literature, are both the locally generated through investment in education and the inflowing through immigration human capital, the paper examines those jointly in a close-to-reality-model. To this end, the paper operationalizes and infers data on the “melting pot” of EU15, NUTS2 level. The sources of the data are the Eurostat Regional Database and the World Value Survey, which have served to construct both a cross-section for the year 2001. These data sets allows us to examine the different groups of migrating and local human capital, their interaction and joint impact on local productivity through three stage least square estimations of the simultaneous equations CBD model.

The evidence suggests that benefits from immigrants differ, not only due to their human capital, but also due to their culturally biased different bargaining power on the labour market.

The main advantage of the suggested model of productivity is that, in addition to accounting for the filigree composition of human capital, it also takes into consideration the cultural capital present in a locality. In this manner, the authors are able to examine the interaction between the quality of the incoming human capital and the cultural encounter context (generating the cultural “milieu” effect) of the modern diverse city.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief introduction to the topic of cultural research approaches that are applicable for investigating the interdependence of culture and labour. The “Introduction” notes two main constraints and four main research approaches that refer to this field of scientific exploration. The authors then outline and summarize the ten studies included in the International Journal of Manpower Special Issue, as well as acknowledge the main value added provided by each of them.

The Special Issue used a double-blind review process, employing one external referee and one cross-referee for each of the ten selected papers. The papers themselves represent a wide variety of designs, methodologies, and analytical strategies used to study culture and labour.

The findings of the studies included in this Special Issue touch on culture and diversity and cultural impact on migration, as well as on culture in the workplace and willingness to work.

Each article also draws attention to practical implications with regard to cultural impact for the particular country and/or regions examined in the study.

Together, the papers in this Special Issue help to make a clear distinction in macro- and micro-cultural economic research by shedding innovative light on the study of culture and labour from an international and interdisciplinary perspective.

The existing theoretical and empirical research on cultural impact is rather inconsistent. The purpose of this paper is to deal with the reasons for this inconsistency by debating the adequate inclusion of the cultural factor in the growth model and the way to properly measure cultural capital (CC) for this purpose.

The paper starts with analyzing the limitations of growth theory (in particular Paul Romer ' s endogenous growth model) when CC is not taken into consideration. The amelioration is suggested through involvement of the Weberian mechanism of cultural impact. The difference between Weber ' s mechanism and using religion as a measurement proxy for cultural attitudes is enlightened. The improvement of Weber ' s measurement of CC by elevating Pierre Bourdieu ' s approach to CC from individual to aggregate regional level is suggested. Real data from five EU countries on NUTS II level is addressed for illustrating the above reasoning.

The evidence shows that the suggested by the paper measurement strategy for CC allows for treating culture indeed as a single factor both in theoretical and econometrical sense of the term factor, but without loss of information, which is otherwise inevitable if the author try to approximate culture with a single mono-dimensional variable such as religion.

Through discussion on Rome ' s endogenous growth model and Weber ' s cultural mechanisms of impact, the amelioration of growth theory by inclusion of CC is explained, operationalized and applied on a real data example.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an in-depth exploratory test of the innovative culture-based development (CBD) concept and to evaluate its potential for empirical research.

The authors use the partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) method to look closely at the latently present factor culture and investigate its various possible relationships with the rest of the sub-components of socio-economic development. The authors estimate two alternative specifications of the CBD model, with regional data for Germany in 2006.

The main finding is that according to the PLS-PM quality criteria, the CBD model is a suitable approach for measuring the cultural impact on regional level. The expected sign of the cultural effect suggested by the CBD concept is also confirmed by the results.

The authors identify interesting potential bottlenecks in applying the CBD concept incorrectly and demonstrate the PLS-PM potential to control for them.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between redistribution, convergence and local cultural capital (as defined by culture-based development concept).

The paper infers the basic mechanism of the cultural dependence of convergence and inequality – through an empirical test for the case of the “German job miracle” during the current crisis. Two empirical questions are asked: first, is local income inequality associated with local cultural capital and second, is the negative convergence between East and West Germany during the crisis related to culturally sensitive employers’ preference for job preservation vs job loss. An OLS enquiry and two deeper estimation methods (a logit model and a 3SLS simultaneous equations model) are alternatively applied in order to triangulate the empirical results.

The findings support the existence of cultural effect on local income inequality and cultural path dependence of employers’ preferences for job preservation vs job loss in a condition of economic shock.

The paper provides both theoretical reasoning and empirical illustration of the significance of the cultural effect on human preferences which may or may not allow for redistribution and convergence between localities.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive concept for the role of culture in economic growth.

The paper overviews the culture based development (CBD) concept and its precise definition of culture as an encompassing socio‐economic factor. The outlined CBD mechanism of impact is expressed in a testable empirical model. Alternative approaches for operationalizing the CBD definition of cultural capital are suggested and a real data application on intra‐regional level (for German Kreise) is presented.

The findings illustrate the ability of the CBD model to capture the statistical significance of culture.

The paper demonstrates the two innovative elements of the CBD approach to culture: first, measuring culture with a factor variable as a better alternative to the mono‐dimensional variables inferred by the state of the art; and second, thus capturing the overall economic meaning of the cultural factor (not just one aspect of it) for local socio‐economic development.

Migration waves have a significant impact on cultural diversity. But in various sections of the economy the authors observe large numbers of unregistered workers. The purpose of this paper is to map out the socio-economic situation of unregistered migrant workers and aims to identify the drivers of their labour market position in terms of job opportunities and salary. The specific focus of this study will be on undocumented immigrant workers involved in the domestic work (or household) sector in the Netherlands.

This paper offers empirical evidence on two levels: the individual level (migrant domestic workers), and the household level (from an employer perspective).

The paper finds that years of work experience and social network participation – in particular, family relationships and a combination of friends with employer relationships – increases the chances of finding a higher paid irregular job. From a household perspective, there appears to be a positive relationship between both the age of the employer and the size of the household on the one hand and the hours of domestic work needed per week on the other hand. Clearly, demographic change towards an ageing population will increase the demand for undocumented domestic workers.

Reliable data on undocumented immigrants living and working in developed economies are rare. This also holds true for the Netherlands. For labour unions, this is a neglected category of workers and hence it is important to investigate their job conditions.

The Netherlands is becoming an ageing society and this is a factor that increases the demand for irregular domestic work. This paper explores the role of ageing and labour market participation on household demand for irregular domestic work. Furthermore, the paper analyses the impact of social capital dimensions on access to a better-paid illegal job for undocumented migrant domestic workers in the Netherlands.

The purpose of this paper is to give structure to the argument that “culture matters.” Further, the aim is to show how cultural differences shape the use of incentives within firms and point toward culturally affected degrees of efficiency.

The paper incorporates differences in the evaluation of the stimuli money, order, and monitoring into a simple efficiency wage model. Profit maximizing firms are assumed.

It is found that the use of incentives should respect the cultural surrounding. Data from a real-world analysis can partly be explained with this model, which was not done before.

The major limitation lies in the abstract nature in which economic models deal with incentives.

The theoretical predictions are tested against the findings of Bloom and van Reenen (2007). Although the model may apparently contribute to the explanation of differences in the relative use of monitoring and pay, it fails in do so for directives. The reason for this shortcoming is identified in the impossibility to clearly compare the empirical notion of directives as found in Bloom and van Reenen (2007) to the theoretical notion of directives applied in the model.

The paper is one of the few approaches dealing with cultural differences on an individualistic basis. Most findings on the importance of intercultural variation offer econometric analysis, leaving open how exactly culture affects individual behavior such that the observed differences can be explained. The model presented offers exactly such a link.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse to what extent religious beliefs, understood as part of an individual ' s cultural background, can explain an individual ' s willingness to work. In particular the paper links individuals’ willingness to increase their working time with their religious denomination and their religious commitment. This relationship is studied in six European countries that have different religious structures: two countries with two significant religious groups (Germany and France), two Catholic countries (Ireland and Poland) and finally, two Lutheran states (Norway and Sweden).

Using data provided by the International Social Survey Programme 2007 – “Leisure Time and Sports” module [ISSP-2007], the paper estimates ordered probit models for each country separately.

The paper finds that there is not a unique link between religious beliefs and habits and the self-declared inclination to devote more time to paid work. First, the paper finds a positive association between religious involvement and an individual ' s self-declared willingness to work in Catholic-dominated countries. Second, this relationship is less pronounced in Protestant countries, where non-religious people are less inclined towards paid work than Protestants. Third, in France, Catholics are the most inclined towards paid work, especially those with high levels of religious involvement. Finally, the paper does not find any significant difference between Catholics and Protestants in Germany.

The role of religion has been largely ignored in economics for decades. This paper adds to the growing literature on the effects of religious beliefs and behaviour on economic outcomes.