Niels Westergård-Nielsen

A Search Model Applied to the Transition from Education to Work

This paper presents the specification and estimation of a search model applied to the transition from education to work. The theoretical search model includes the possibility of variable search intensity. The empirical model with a reservation wage relation is estimated using maximum likelihood methods. A data set containing information on new law graduates is used for the estimation. Finally, the model is estimated for two separate subperiods to investigate the effects of market changes.

Returns to Schooling in Less Developed Countries: New Evidence from Zambia

This article provides new evidence on returns to education in a developing country by estimating human capital models for Zambia. The full model allows for endogenous participation and sector choice removing some bias on the estimated coefficients in the income equation. The general finding is that the return to primary schooling is higher in rural than in urban areas. The return is higher in the informal sector than in the formal sector and in rural areas it is higher in employment than in self-employment. Moreover selectivity mechanism guides the allocation of workers across sectors. Among females from urban areas those with the best unobserved characteristics are employed in the formal sector. Among the males from urban areas the most able are informally employed.

Long-run international trends in aggregate unionization

Abstract The major trends in aggregate unionization in the OECD-countries are analyzed for the whole period for which data are available. The analysis of the big country differences in both the level and the trend of unionization are related to cyclical as well as structural factors in the labour market and to the political and institutional developments. Three different national experiences can be clearly identified in the post-war years, i.e., a group of countries with decreasing unionization, a group with constant, and a group with increasing unionization. The difference between decreasing/constant and increasing unionization seems to be related to the institutional organization of unemployment insurance.

Conceptualizing and Measuring Transformational and Transactional Leadership

Existing conceptualizations and measures of transformational and transactional leadership have unclear theoretical bases, confound leadership and its effects, and are not necessarily suitable for public organizations. Overcoming these problems is necessary to test how leadership affects performance. Many public administration scholars apply the concepts, emphasizing the need to ensure that the concepts are applicable in both public and private organizations. The article reconceptualizes transformational and transactional leadership and develops and tests revised measures that can be employed on employees and leaders, are robust in terms of repeated use by the same respondents, and are applicable to public and private organizations alike.

Unemployment insurance, wage dynamics and inequality over the life cycle

We investigate the relationship between life cycle wages and individual membership of unemployment insurance schemes in Denmark. We separate permanent from transitory wages and characterise them using membership of unemployment insurance funds. We find that unemployment insurance is associated with lower wage growth heterogeneity over the life cycle and greater wage instability, changing the nature of wage inequality from permanent to transitory. While we are in general unable to formally test for moral hazard against adverse selection into unemployment insurance, robustness checks suggest that moral hazard is the relevant interpretation.

Returns to Schooling in LDCs: New Evidence from Zambia

We analyse the returns to schooling in Zambia in a human capital model where participation and sector choice are assumed endogenous. In urban areas, we find that the return to primary schooling is almost nil, whereas in rural areas, the return to primary education is positive. In both cases, the returns to secondary education are significant. Regarding the allocation of workers across sectors, the most able females in rural areas become self-employed, whereas males are allocated according to their comparative advantages. Females in urban areas are allocated according to their comparative advantages, whereas males are negatively self-selected into the formal sector.