Papers by Stefanie Brodmann
The black-white divide has long haunted the United States as a driving force behind social inequa... more The black-white divide has long haunted the United States as a driving force behind social inequality. Yet, the civil rights movement, the increase in immigration, and the restructuring of the economy in favor of the rich over the last several decades have begun to alter the contours of inequality. Spheres of Influence, co-authored by noted social scientists Douglas S. Massey and Stefanie Brodmann, presents a rigorous new study of the intersections of racial and class disparities today. Massey and Brodmann argue that despite the persistence of potent racial inequality, class effects are drastically transforming social stratification in America. This data-intensive volume examines the differences in access to material, symbolic, and emotional resources across major racial groups. The authors find that the effects of racial inequality are exacerbated by the class differences within racial groups. For example, when measuring family incomes solely according to race, Massey and Brodmann ...
Introduction: Increased labor mobility bears large potential benefits for human development and p... more Introduction: Increased labor mobility bears large potential benefits for human development and poverty reduction through various channels including more competitive global labor markets and increased efficiency in the matching of skills supply and demand. 2 Bank support for enhanced and better managed migration can complement broader efforts to reduce poverty and promote human development, similarly to how Bank projects on trade liberalization have helped in reducing market distortions and raise welfare. With MENA countries becoming increasingly eager to adopt a proactive approach to improve migration outcomes, cross-sectoral Bank teams are well positioned to respond to increasing demand for migration management systems.. 3 The yearly gain from a 3 percent increase in the stock of migrants is an estimated $175 billion compared with a yearly gain from total trade liberalization of $155 billion represents the main form of global and regional integration for MENA countries. In the fut...
The new social insurance law introduced by the Jordanian government in 2010 was created in part t... more The new social insurance law introduced by the Jordanian government in 2010 was created in part to improve the likelihood of women’s employment through non- and gender specific changes. This study, which comprised individual interviews and focus groups with Jordanian women and men, employers and opinion leaders, was designed to elicit an understanding of their awareness and knowledge of the new law, designed to increase women’s employment - primarily the maternity insurance provision. Those affected by the law remained largely uninformed. Many employers communicated that they did not perceive it as cost neutral for their firms. Participants who were aware of the law, viewed the changes positively and believed with the right circumstances, the law could increase female employment.
In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, when thousands of young women and men fought for the opportu... more In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, when thousands of young women and men fought for the opportunity to realize their aspirations and potential, the question of jobs continues to be crucial in the Middle East and North Africa region. This report uses jobs as a lens to weave together the complex dynamics of employment creation, skills supply, and the institutional environment of labor markets. Consistent with the framework of the 2013 World Development Report on jobs, of which this report is the regional companion, this work goes beyond the traditional links between jobs, productivity, and living standards to include an understanding of how jobs matter for individual dignity and expectations—an aspect that was clearly central to the Arab Spring. Just as important, this report complements the economic perspective with an analysis of political economy equilibrium, with a view to identifying mechanisms that would trigger a reform process. As such, the report has three objectives: First...
In economies characterized by low labor demand and high rates of youth unemployment, entrepreneur... more In economies characterized by low labor demand and high rates of youth unemployment, entrepreneurship training has the potential to enable youth to gain skills and create their own jobs. This paper presents experimental evidence on a new entrepreneurship track that provides business training and personalized coaching to university students in Tunisia. Undergraduates in the final year of licence appliquee were given the opportunity to graduate with a business plan instead of following the standard curriculum. This paper relies on randomized assignment of the entrepreneurship track to identify impacts on labor market outcomes one year after graduation. The analysis finds that the entrepreneurship track was effective in increasing self-employment among applicants, but that the effects are small in absolute terms. In addition, the employment rate among participants remains unchanged, pointing to a partial substitution from wage employment to self-employment. The evidence shows that the ...
Four income inequality measures (Gini-coefficient, 90/10-decile ratio, and two generalized entrop... more Four income inequality measures (Gini-coefficient, 90/10-decile ratio, and two generalized entropy indices) are applied to analyse immigrants' income position relative to natives in a comparative perspective. Administrative data is used for Denmark, while survey data is used for Germany. We find higher inequality among immigrants than natives in Denmark, but vice versa for Germany. Over the period 1984-2003, this inequality
International Migration, 2011
This study examines employment access, class attainment, and earnings among native-born and first... more This study examines employment access, class attainment, and earnings among native-born and first-generation immigrants in Denmark using Danish administrative data from 2002. Results suggest large gaps in employment access between native-born Danes and immigrants, as well as among immigrant groups by country of origin and time of arrival. Non-Western immigrants and those arriving after 1984 are at a particular disadvantage compared to other immigrants, a finding not explained by education differences. Immigrants are more likely to be employed in unskilled manual jobs and less likely to be employed in professional and intermediate-level positions than native-born Danes, although the likelihood of obtaining higher-level positions increases as immigrants' time in Denmark lengthens. Class attainment and accumulated work experience explain a significant portion of native-immigrant gaps in earnings, but work experience reduces native-immigrant gaps in class attainment for lower-level positions only. The Danish "flexicurity" model and its implications for immigrants living in Denmark are discussed.
European Sociological Review, 2007
We examine the degree to which women's fertility decisions depend on greater gender symmetry in c... more We examine the degree to which women's fertility decisions depend on greater gender symmetry in child care. We analyse second births and focus particularly on the importance of fatherly care for women with a strong career orientation. Exploiting the European Community Household Panel, we use event-history techniques and compare Denmark and Spain, two countries that represent the European extremes in terms of both fertility and public support for working mothers. Compared to the Spanish case, Danish women are more likely to have a second child, in general because welfare state support makes reconciliation of motherhood and careers easier. We show that Danish career women are additionally able to reduce the opportunity cost of motherhood via enhanced fatherly child care due to bargaining between the spouses.
DemoSoc Working Papers, 2005
We analyze second birth decisions within the theoretical framework of joint household decision ma... more We analyze second birth decisions within the theoretical framework of joint household decision making, comparing two countries that represent the international extremes in terms of women's career behaviour, Denmark and Spain. Using all 8 ECHP panels we apply discrete time estimations of the likelihood of a second birth and show that in Spain, fertility behaviour continues to conform to the classic 'Becker model' while in Denmark we identify a radically new behavioral pattern according to which career-women's fertility is conditional on their partners' contribution to care for the children.
Social Protection …, 2010
The World Bank
This study examines employment access, class attainment, and earnings among native-born and first... more This study examines employment access, class attainment, and earnings among native-born and first-generation immigrants in Denmark using Danish administrative data from 2002. Results suggest large gaps in employment access between native-born Danes and immigrants, as well as among immigrant groups by country of origin and time of arrival. Non-Western immigrants and those arriving after 1984 are at a particular disadvantage compared to other immigrants, a finding not explained by education differences. Immigrants are more likely to be employed in unskilled manual jobs and less likely to be employed in professional and intermediate-level positions than native-born Danes, although the likelihood of obtaining higher-level positions increases as immigrants' time in Denmark lengthens. Class attainment and accumulated work experience explain a significant portion of native-immigrant gaps in earnings, but work experience reduces native-immigrant gaps in class attainment for lower-level positions only. The Danish "flexicurity" model and its implications for immigrants living in Denmark are discussed.
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Papers by Stefanie Brodmann