Gareth Leeves

Sharing Norm Pressures and Community Remittances: Evidence from a Natural Disaster in the Pacific Islands

Abstract Migrants are often subject to social pressures to remit beyond their own households, to share the benefits of migration with the wider community in their home country; these are ‘community remittances’. We hypothesise that community sharing norm pressures are stronger in locations with more extensive home community networks. We also postulate that the responsiveness of remittances to sharing pressures is subject to diminishing returns, attributable to a donor fatigue effect. Using customised survey data from three Polynesian migrant groups in metropolitan and regional Australia, we estimate double-hurdle regression models of community remittances. To identify the effects of sharing norm pressures we exploit an exogenous (cyclone) shock to home country incomes affecting one sub-group. We find strong evidence in support of the postulated responsiveness of community remittances to location-related differences in sharing norm pressures, and the presence of a donor fatigue effect. The policy implications are discussed.

Migration Plans and Received Remittances : Evidence from Fiji and Tonga

This paper investigates the relationship between remittances and migration intentions in the source country using data from households in the Pacific island countries of Tonga and Fiji. Unlike previous research it accounts for potential endogeneity in the relationship between remittances and intentions and also includes households that receive remittances but do not have current migrants. We find a positive impact of remittances on intentions. The impact of remittances on intentions is stronger in a country with a longer history of migration and stronger in households with current migrants than those without migrants. These results provide new evidence on the role of remittances in the development of migration chains.

Comparative effects of migrants' remittances on composition of recipient household income in two small, island economies

We use unique household survey data from Fiji and Tonga to estimate and compare the combined impact of migration and remittances on the composition of household income. A two-step methodology is followed employing a migration prediction model followed by the estimation of a Three Stage Least Squares (3SLS) remittances and income equation system. We find that remittances contribute to growth in productive capital and entrepreneurial activity in the longer-established migrant economy, but have yet to impact on business activity in the more recently remittances-oriented economy, despite it having a more developed, market economy. In the latter case, remittances seem more linked to supporting consumption through supplementing low wage income. These findings suggest that the duration and intensity of remittance-driven migration, and the structure of economic activity within a community are important in understanding the influences of migration and remittances on household resource allocation and production decisions.

The Incidence and Consequence of Worker Displacement in Australia

This paper analyses displacement risk and its consequences for re-employment in Australia using data from the Survey of Employment and Unemployment Patterns (SEUP). We confirm overseas evidence that older workers and those from lower skill occupations are, in general, at a greater risk of displacement. By contrast, unlike US studies, no systematic link between tenure in job and displacement risk was found. Consistent with previous Australian research (Borland and McDonald, 2001) we find that males face a higher incidence of displacement than females. Decomposition of the gender difference revealed that industry effects are an important source of disparity in displacement rates. Analysis of re-employment hazards indicated that workers displaced from manufacturing faced increased periods of non-employment. Hence, it appears that there is a role for provisions to help workers in industries where the effects of structural reform have been concentrated (Kletzer, 1998).

Duration-specific unemployment outflow rates and labour market programs

A matching function approach is used to investigate the macroeconomic effects of labour market program LMP, commencements on unemployment outflows in Australia using unpublished data that classify commencements and outflows by duration of unemployment. The results indicate that LMPs have had significant effects on outflows from long-term unemployment. However, the net impact of programs on these outflows suggests that the substitution and displacement effects associated with programs are high. These results are consistent with recent microeconomic research into the effects of LMP participation on individual transitions out of unemployment.

The role of pecuniary and non-pecuniary factors in teacher turnover and mobility decisions

We investigate the determinants of teacher exits from and mobility within the Queensland state school system. In common with previous research we find that non-pecuniary factors, such as class size and location, affect movement decisions but our results suggest a significant role for pecuniary factors. In particular, higher wages reduce exits from the public sector, especially in the case of more experienced female teachers. Locality allowances paid to teachers in rural and remote schools, where non-pecuniary factors are less attractive, appear to have some success in attracting and retaining staff in these locations.

Labour Market Policies and Long-term Unemployment in a Flow Model of the Australian Labour Market

This paper develops a general equilibrium job matching model, which is used to assess the impact of active labour market policies, reductions in unemployment benefits and reductions in worker bargaining power on long-term unemployment and other key macro variables. The model is calibrated using Australian data. Simulation experiments are conducted through impulse response analysis. The simulations suggest that active labour market programs (ALMPs) targeted at the long-term unemployed have a small net impact and produce adverse spillover effects on short-term unemployment. Reducing the level of unemployment benefits relative to wages and worker bargaining power have more substantial effects on total and long-term unemployment and none of the spillover effects of ALMPs.

Countercyclical Unemployment Outflows and Labour Reallocation

The distinction between job and excess worker reallocation in a model proposed by Burda and Wyplosz (1994) offers a possible explanation for the observed empirical regularity of countercyclical gross flows of workers from unemployment to employment. Previous descriptions of gross flow cyclical adjustment have not adequately accounted for the role of excess worker reallocation in labour market adjustment. This paper investigates the characteristics of Australian gross flow relationships between unemployment and employment, using a structural VAR methodology, for evidence of patterns consistent with the dynamic behaviour of labour reallocation proposed by the Burda and Wyplosz model. The results provide support for a description of labour market adjustment in the last Australian recession as a combination of job and excess worker reallocation effects, as implied by the model, and highlight the role played by excess worker reallocation in generating countercyclical UE flows. The paper also considers the interrelationship between labour reallocation and long-term unemployment and the flow adjustment patterns of males and females. Copyright 1999 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd/University of Adelaide and Flinders University of South Australia

Increasing Returns to Education and the Impact on Social Capital.

The returns to education have been increasing. It is suggested that high-skilled workers’ social capital investment has been adversely affected by the increasing incentives to devote human capital to career development. Lower social capital is linked to reduced economic growth and innovation and higher transaction costs and is detrimental to individual well-being. We find evidence to suggest there is an increasing opportunity cost associated with greater levels of social capital investment for high-skilled workers, especially those with more demands on their time. These results provide support for increased availability of work flexibility policies that can improve the work–life balance.

Research output: evidence from economics departments in the Asia-Pacific region

ABSTRACT This study examines the research output of Asia-Pacific institutions in leading economics journals between 2000 and 2010. Growth has occurred and has been aided by links with institutions in the West. Top performing departments are more highly ranked by peers and located within institutions ranked higher in worldwide institutional rankings. Earlier research suggested that output distribution can be approximated by Zipfs law. We find that the top institutions produce more than predicted. This is suggested to be related to scale economies, as greater numbers of top performing staff generate significant externalities in output. This has implications for research funding in emerging countries in the region.