Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/36764 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4829
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper develops and estimates a search model of the labor market where jobs are characterized by wages and work-hours flexibility. Flexibility is valued by workers, and is costly to provide for employers. The model generates observed wage distributions directly related to the preference for flexibility parameters: the higher the preference for flexibility, the wider is the support of the wage distribution at flexible jobs and the larger is the discontinuity between the wage distribution at flexible and non-flexible jobs. Estimation results show that more than one third of women place positive value to flexibility, with women with a college degree valuing flexibility more than women with a high school degree. Counterfactual experiments show that flexibility has a substantial impact on the wage distribution but not on the unemployment rate. We comment on the implications of our approach for gender differentials in wages and schooling.
Subjects: 
Search model
work-hours flexibility
structural estimation
JEL: 
J30
C5
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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