Gendered Experiences of Appearance-related Perks and Penalties in Finnish Labor Markets

Physical appearance is generally associated with considerable labor-market sanctions, and appearances are thought to be of particular importance in the feminine service sector. However, little is known about workers’ experiences of appearance-based perks and penalties in Nordic labor markets. Drawing on literature on aesthetic capital and labor, this study aims to fill this research gap. The study uses a nationally representative survey (N = 1600) fielded in Finland and multinomial regression to determine whether subjective experiences of appearance-related perks and penalties are gendered, dependent on the field of work or daily work on appearances. Our main finding is that while both men and women experience looks-based perks and penalties, men are more likely to have experienced appearance having a say in salary negotiations. Our results shed light on the gendered logics of aesthetic capital and labor, and question economic understandings of beauty work as a pathway to labor market success for women

Immigrant Men’s Economic Adaptation in Changing Labor Markets: Why Gaps between Turkish and German Men Expanded, 1976–2015

How important were manufacturing and heavy industries to the economic integration of twentieth-century immigrants in Western societies? This article examines how macro-social change in Germany since the height of manufacturing has affected the socio-economic integration of male immigrants. We develop an analytical framework to assess how educational expansion among natives, deindustrialization, and the increasing importance of formal qualifications shape male immigrant-native gaps in labor-market outcomes over time. Empirically, we focus on first-generation male Turkish immigrants in Germany and use micro-census data spanning almost 40 years. Through a novel empirical quantification of key theoretical arguments concerning immigrant economic integration, we find growing inter-group differences between the late 1970s and mid-2000s (employment) and mid-2010s (incomes), respectively. The growth of differences between the immigrant and native income distributions was most pronounced in their respective bottom halves. Our analysis shows that these trends are linked to the increased importance of formal educational qualifications for individual labor-market success, to educational expansion in Germany, and to deindustrialization. Employment in Germany shifted away from middling positions in manufacturing, but while natives tended to move into better-paying positions, Turkish immigrants mainly shifted into disadvantaged service jobs. These results provide novel evidence for claims that the economic assimilation of less-skilled immigrants may become structurally harder in increasingly post-industrial societies. We conclude that structural change in host countries is an important, yet often overlooked, driver of immigrant socio-economic integration trajectories.

Prosociality predicts labor market success around the world

A large literature points to the importance of prosociality for the well-being of societies and individuals. However, most of this work is based on observations from western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies, questioning the generalizability of these findings. Here we present a global investigation of the relation between prosociality and labor market success. Our analysis uses experimentally validated measures of prosociality and is based on about 80,000 individuals in 76 representative country samples. We show a sizable and robust positive relation between prosociality and labor market success around the world that does not systematically differ across continents or by countries’ economic development. These findings generalize the positive relation between prosociality and labor market success to a wide geographical context.

Competencies and success measured by net income among Hungarian HE graduates

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show the effects of the six competence areas of Garcia-Aracil and Van der Velden (2007) on new graduates' labor market success measured by salary.Design/methodology/approachThe paper starts with a literature review about the role of competencies in higher education. Then the Graduate Career Tracking System (GCTS) carried out at the University of Pécs (UP) in Hungary provides a good basis to understand the competence assessment methodology better. Furthermore, GCTS is suitable for carrying out an exploratory, a confirmatory factor analysis and an OLS regression to discover the connection between competencies and level of income.FindingsThe analyzed results, using a representative online survey based on 6,190 respondents, show that the six competence sets do exist, but that not all of them have a significant effect on salaries. With the control variables involved, 24.3% (EFA) and 23.0% (CFA) of the global competencies account for variance in salaries. The impact of methodological and the socioemotional set on salaries can be clearly seen among those with new degrees, and based on the results and the literature review, the HEIs can improve them.Research limitations/implicationsIn the absence of nationwide general competence assessment, the results are limited only for the UP graduates of Hungary, even if this HEI is one of the biggest ones.Practical implicationsBased on the results, more soft-competence development courses and opportunities should be offered by the HEIs.Originality/valueThe findings of the study help us to understand the role of the institutions in tertiary education, the extra service to be provided to assist students in being successful in life. Based on the literature review, there is a need to understand better the connection between competencies and labor market success. This paper contributes to this and also presents an opportunity for further comparative research. The sample is robust to allow other researchers to use this conceptual model and apply it to other countries.

African Immigrants to Australia: Barriers and Challenges to Labor Market Success

The purpose of this paper is to examine the employment experiences of immigrants of African background in the Australian labor market. Drawing on the findings from a qualitative study conducted in South East Queensland, the paper identifies several barriers and challenges faced by Africans to meaningful employment and labor market success. The paper indicates the need to develop targeted policies to eliminate employment discrimination, reduce barriers to meaningful employment for good settlement and successful integration of African immigrants to Australia.

Skills Mismatch, Earnings and Job Satisfaction among Older Workers

Skills are viewed as a major ingredient of knowledge-based economies. Individual level skills can support labor market success and can influence earnings and job satisfaction. But skills must be used in an efficient way to generate these positive labour market outcomes. Despite the fact that a lot of research on skill mismatch was done in recent years, little is known about the relation between age and skill mismatch. Therefore we explore the differences in skills and skills mismatch between younger (25 – 49) and older workers (50 – 65) on the basis of the PIAAC dataset for five countries (Austria, Germany, Spain, Belgium and the UK). We find that older workers have in general lower skills than younger workers but overutilize their skills more. Skill overutilization leads in general to a wage premium compared to well matched workers. Zusammenfassung: Arbeitsplatzanforderungen, Einkommen und Arbeitszufriedenheit älterer Arbeiter Kompetenzen stellen einen wichtigen Bestandteil wissensbasierter Gesellschaften dar. Individuelle Kompetenzen können den Erfolg am Arbeitsmarkt unterstützen und das Einkommen und die Arbeitszufriedenheit beeinflussen. Sie müssen jedoch auf effiziente Weise eingesetzt werden, um diese positiven Arbeitsmarktergebnisse zu erzielen. Trotz der Tatsache, dass in den letzten Jahren viele Forschungsarbeiten zum Verhältnis der individuell vorhandenen Kompetenzen und den Arbeitsplatzanforderungen (Skill Mismatch) durchgeführt wurden, ist wenig über den Zusammenhang zwischen Alter und Skill Missmatch bekannt. Daher untersuchen wir die Unterschiede zwischen jüngeren (25 – 49) und älteren Arbeitnehmern (50 – 65) anhand des PIAAC-Datensatzes für fünf Länder (Österreich, Deutschland, Spanien, Belgien und Vereinigtes Königreich). Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ältere Arbeitnehmer im Allgemeinen über niedrigere Kompetenzen verfügen als jüngere Arbeitnehmer, jedoch diese stärker nutzen. Diese stärkere Nutzung (overutilization) führt im Allgemeinen zu einem Lohnvorteil.

Are Immigrants Favorably Self-Selected? An Economic Analysis

One of the standard propositions in the migration literature is that migrants tend to be favorably “self-selected” for labor market success. That is, economic migrants are described as tending on average to be more able, ambitious, aggressive, entrepreneurial, or otherwise more favorably selected than similar individuals who choose to remain in their place of origin. Economic migrants are those who move from one place of work and residence to another, either within a country or across international boundaries, primarily because of their own economic opportunities. The favorable selectivity for labor market success of migrants would be less intense among those for whom other motives are important, such as tied-movers, refugees, and ideological migrants. In recent years there have been challenges to the general proposition of the favorable selectivity of migrants. This chapter considers alternative specifications of the migration model that are relevant for the issue of migrant selectivity.