Source: OECD Family Database – OECD.
Scandinavian girls are better than boys at maths: gender differences in PISA scores in maths across the OECD, 2012
05 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply Tags: PISA, reversing gender gap
#TPPANoWay sovereignty objections apply equally to @ILO conventions
04 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, economics of regulation, international economic law, international economics, International law, labour economics, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, unions Tags: employment law, employment protection, employment regulation, ILO, labour market regulation, social clauses, TPPA
New Zealand has signed and ratified dozens of International Labour Organisation Conventions dating back to 1921. They all fetter the sovereignty of New Zealand. As a member of the ILO, New Zealand is required to report on its application of ILO Conventions.
That limitation on the sovereignty of New Zealand is no more and no less than in an international trade agreement. New Zealand can renounce an international trade agreement and has renounced nine International Labour Organisation conventions.
Jane Kelsey makes the following points about the legal implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement:
The 30 chapter Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) constrains domestic law and policy at central government level, and in places by local government and SOEs, in diverse areas beyond traditional aspects of international trade.
…The TPP provides cumulative opportunities for foreign states and corporations to influence domestic decisions which may be burdensome and intrusive.
The exact same objections apply to the ILO conventions. The union movement does not hesitate to argue that the democratic process in New Zealand should be overridden because the proposal at hand purportedly conflicts with an ILO convention.
For example, when the government was choosing to deregulate collective bargaining, the sovereignty of Parliament was questioned because of an ILO convention. Helen Kelly, CTU President said:
in Parliament on 4 June, the Minister was asked if he agreed with advice from officials that the ability for employers to opt out of multi-employer bargaining may breach our obligations under ILO Convention 98 on the right to organise and collective bargaining.
…There is no point attending such an important UN ILO conference at the time your Government is being advised it is breaching its undertakings to that very organisation…
The CTU President also referred to the regulatory impact statement prepared for that collective bargaining legislation:
The paper also points out that these changes open NZ up to international examination by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for non-compliance with Convention 98 – on the Right to Organise and Collectively Bargain, which New Zealand has signed up to.
Helen Kelly says “at least four of the proposals are deemed to be inconsistent with our international obligations, and two of them are classified as uncertain. Why the Government wants law changes that damage our international obligations is unclear.”
Council of Trade Unions submissions to minimum wage reviews have at least a dozen references to ILO conventions and the requirement to honour their provisions.
Posner and Goldsmith rightly argue that international law is a product of states pursuing their interests on the international stage. It does not induce states to comply contrary to their interests. The possibilities for what it can achieve are limited.
Government sign-up to various international agreements depending on their political priorities. You cannot complain that governments that you did not vote do what government you voted for also did, which was sign up to international agreements that suited their political agendas. The solution is to work harder to win the next general election.
As for opposing trade agreements on sovereignty grounds, it is rank hypocrisy for the union movement to do so given the number of times it cites international labour agreements when it suits them and seeks their inclusion in trade agreements to raise labour costs in developing countries.
Gender commuting gap for workers who travel to and from home to work
04 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: commuting times, reverse gender gap
I lived in Japan so that 60% extra time the Japanese men spend travelling to and from work in those cramped trains is not to be underrated.
Source: OECD Family Database – OECD.
No asymmetric marriage premium in commuting: the family commuting gap for mothers and fathers travelling to and from work by school age of child in the UK, Germany, France and Italy
04 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of love and marriage, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: asymmetric marriage premium, commuting times, gender wage gap, reversing gender gap
Few labour market statistics have any meaning unless broken down by gender. The compensating differentials that explain much of the family pay gap extend strongly to commuting times.
Source: OECD Family Database – OECD, Table LMF2.6.A.
Mothers commute a good 15 to 20 minutes less than fathers in the UK, Italy, Germany and France. Single women commute 5 to 10 minutes further than mothers. Single men and fathers commute much the same distance.
Change in teenage boys’ PISA reading score since 2000 across the OECD area
04 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, gender, human capital, labour economics Tags: PISA, reversing gender gap
Happy birthday – you’re fired! #livingwage and youth job losses
04 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply, minimum wage, unemployment Tags: living wage, rational irrationality, teenage unemployment, The fatal conceit
The Dutch minimum wage increases with every birthday until the age of 23. Not surprisingly, there is a surge in job losses and a recession in hiring around birthdays. What is even worse is employment opportunities are redistributed from a group with a high rate of unemployment, teenagers and young people, towards prime age adults who have a much lower rate of unemployment.
Ethnicity of people receiving Sole Parent Support in NZ
01 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in labour economics, labour supply, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, welfare reform Tags: Maori economic development, single mothers, single parents, welfare state
The reverse gender gap in commuting times across the OECD @JulieAnneGenter
31 Jan 2016 2 Comments
in discrimination, gender, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, transport economics, urban economics Tags: commuting times, compensating differentials, gender wage gap, reversing gender gap
Commuting times need to be incorporated into calculations of the gender wage gap because they do represent a serious fixed cost of working that is higher for men than for women.
Source: OECD Family Database.
Not only is the commuting time for female workers less, there is much less variation across the OECD member countries than for men.
The figures for New Zealand are so low that they are suspicious.
Greater maternity leave will increase the gender wage gap
31 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality Tags: asymmetric marriage premium, gender wage gap, high-powered jobs, offsetting behaviour, Parental leave, paternity leave, unintended consequences
Unions are not the cause of our 40 hour workweek
31 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, labour economics, labour supply, unions Tags: 40 hour week, hours worked, living standards, union power, union wage premium, working hours, working week
% of American children living with a single parent
31 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics, economics of love and marriage, gender, labour economics, labour supply, population economics
Gender pay justice must start in the White House
30 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, labour economics, politics - USA Tags: gender wage gap
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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