Anna Giraldo

Assessing the 'Choosiness' of Job Seekers. An Exploratory Approach and Evidence for Italy

We use data about job search and work preferences, typically collected in a Labour Force Survey, in order to construct an indicator of .choosiness. of the supply of job-seekers. The method for obtaining the indicator, first at individual level and then at aggregate levels, is based on results from multiple correspondence analysis. We investigate the informational value of the indicator by examining its stability over time and its predictive power on labour force transitions. Empirical analyses of cross-section and panel samples of job-seekers from the Italian quarterly Labour Force Survey clarify the potentials (and limitations) of the approach.

A multilevel competing risks model for analysis of university students’ careers in Italy

This paper examines individual and institutional characteristics which may influence the outcomes of university students’ careers. Withdrawals, course changes, delays and graduations of students enrolled in first-cycle degree courses in a large public university in Italy are examined. Individual longitudinal data from administrative archives were used, taking into account both the temporal dimension and the organisational and structural characteristics of the degree courses. Results indicate that the profile of a successful student is defined by both socio-demographic factors and pre-university educational experience. At course level, restricted access to courses, study fields and course size were important for students’ university careers.

Why has the growth of female employment in Italy been so slow

In this paper, we analyse the growth in employment of Italian women, from 1971 to 2009, focusing our attention on younger women, in the 20–34-year age group, using Census and Labour Force Survey data. Womens employment in Italy increased in the first three decades but stopped growing in the last, although in most European countries it has continued to grow. In spite of the rise in education of women and of the important socio-demographic changes that have expanded womens propensity to work, social policies aimed to support the conciliation of work and the family have been very limited compared with other European countries. Cross-country comparisons show that a slower growth in female employment has characterized areas where social policies have been more limited.

Childcare and participation at work in North-East Italy. Why do Italian and foreign mothers behave differently?

This paper examines two of the decision-making processes following the birth of a child: whether a working mother should continue with her job, and whether the couple should provide the child with formal childcare. Focusing on Padova and its district (North-East Italy), differences in the strategies of Italian and foreign mothers are discussed, controlling for socio-economic status, opinions on womens roles, and family structure, according to the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. Six to thirty-six months after the birth of a child, the proportion of foreign mothers who are not employed is more than double that of Italian mothers (51% vs. 21%). In addition, 25% of Italian women entrust their children to the care of their parents and in-laws, vs. only 13% of foreign women. Although there are differences in the effects of individual characteristics on participation at work across the two groups, what matters most is the different composition of the Italian and foreign womens groups, especially as regards education, partners’ characteristics and attitudes towards the job market and motherhood. As regards the maximum price a couple is willing to pay for formal childcare, intended to represent parents’ preferences for formal childcare, differences between the two groups are also mainly explained by differences in composition.

A Nonparametric Testing Procedure for Missing Data

This paper deals with treatment of missing data in some multidimensional testing problems. Cases in which missing data are not missing at random are studied. In this context, to obtain valid parametric inferences, the process that causes missing data must be specified. Through a nonparametric approach some problems of missing data not missing at random are discussed and characterized. The proposed solution is based on a nonparametric combination of dependent permutation tests, not requiring any specification of non-response model.