What is the impact of the minimum wage on the college wage premium? I show that job-ladder models imply that the effect should be small on impact--raising only the wages of workers bound by the minimum wage--and grow over time as workers slowly move up the job ladder. Guided by my theory, I present evidence that these dynamic effects are present…

Indonesia has prioritized upper secondary vocational education since 2006. This study examines the labour market outcomes of upper secondary vocational education in terms of decent work (DW), using Indonesian Family Life Survey data and a research framework that links DW into the broader labour economics of the school to work transition. We…

Evidence on gender inequality in the labor market is extensive. However, little is known about the potential role of overeducation and horizontal mismatch in explaining women's labor-market disadvantages. We draw on recent data from the Eurograduate pilot survey to investigate the role of overeducation, field-of-study mismatch and field-specific…

As we approach this Labor Day, the Pennsylvania economy is growing steadily. Working families are sharing in prosperity in a more sustained way than at any point since 1980--although many families still struggle to make ends meet and, in our polarized nation, a big partisan divide exists in perceptions of whether the economy is better than four…

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented economic and policy challenges to the United States and other countries. Navigating out of the pandemic slowdown is another novel experience, which makes it more difficult to answer the question addressed each year in the "State of Working Pennsylvania": How is the Pennsylvania economy…

This dissertation focuses on the structures and impacts of digital skills in the rapidly transforming labor market. It is rooted in the premise that understanding the value of digital skills requires a relational perspective, acknowledging that these competencies are not isolated, but form complex structures across different occupations. The…

In light of growing difficulties for schools to attract teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and the continued discussions surrounding the unionization of education, this paper examines the effect of collective bargaining (CB) laws on the salary of teachers with a STEM degree. To isolate the effect of…

The United States and Pennsylvania economies are at a pivot point: Will we build forward better or will we build back the same? Will we make things even worse? This report revisits the policy choices that lie ahead. Most of this annual checkup on the Pennsylvania economy, the 26th "State of Working Pennsylvania," presents labor market…

This paper analyses the prevalence of educational mismatch and its effects on wages in Brazil using a large employer-employee dataset. I find that half of the Brazilian labour market is mismatched, with similar proportions of over- and undereducated. Overeducated (undereducated) workers earn significantly lower (higher) than their co-workers who…

Part-time workers' earnings are much lower than those of their full-time counterparts, a difference often referred to as the part-time wage penalty. The mean hourly wage of part-time workers is only two-thirds that of full-time workers. Despite this wage penalty, there were no significant differences between part- and full-time workers in literacy…

Tom Wilson, the chair of the executive committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce published an op-ed titled "Save Capitalism by Paying People More." Wilson acknowledges in blunt terms that ordinary working Americans are not flourishing economically. This year's annual "The State of Working Pennsylvania" documents the accuracy of…

Background: Productivity-based wage systems are intended to enhance the labour market participation of people with disabilities. Limited scholarship exists regarding the impact of such policies in practice. This qualitative study explored stakeholder perspectives on the Australian Supported Wage System (SWS), including perceptions of fairness and…

We study how human capital diversification, in the form of double majoring, affects the response of earnings to labor market shocks. Double majors experience substantial protection against earnings shocks, of 56%. This finding holds across different model specifications and data sets. Furthermore, the protection double majors experience is more…

Researchers have posited various theories to explain supposed declines in teaching quality: the expansion of labor market opportunities for women, low relative wages, compressed compensation structures, and substituting quantity for quality. We synthesize these previous theories and expand on the current literature by incorporating a useful…

All of our choices and all that sets us apart are governed by what we can do, what we want to do, and what we know. This dissertation aims to quantify two of these channels to better understand why we differ. The first two chapters focus on what we know and how it shapes societal gaps. The first chapter attacks the question of how much of the gap…