The effect of job flexibility on female labor market outcomes: Estimates from a search and bargaining model

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Econometrics
Year: 2012
Volume: 168
Issue: 1
Pages: 81-95

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

In this article, we develop a search model of the labor market in which jobs are characterized by work hours’ flexibility. Workers value flexibility, which is costly for employers to provide. We estimate the model on a sample of women extracted from the CPS. The model parameters are empirically identified because the accepted wage distributions of flexible and non-flexible jobs are directly related to the preference for flexibility parameters. Results show that more than one-third of women place a small, positive value on flexibility. Women with a college degree value flexibility more than women with only a high school degree. Counterfactual experiments show that flexibility has a substantial impact on the wage distribution but a negligible impact on the unemployment rate. These results suggest that wage and schooling differences between males and females may be importantly related to flexibility.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:econom:v:168:y:2012:i:1:p:81-95
Journal Field
Econometrics
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25