The current study assesses the impact of health and education on labour force participation in Botswana using time series data from 1982-2007. To achieve this, stationary test; Johansson Co integration test and multi-collinearity test were conducted before using a dynamic ordinary feast square estimation. There are three labour force participation estimates each ·with four different models. These include: male, female and total labour force participation rate. The .findings were as follows: firstly, an increase of primary school enrolment reduces female participation in the labour force but increases the male participation rate. This increase in male participation rate could be as a result of size of male participants in the labour force or because of their role in the family, especially in the African settings. Secondly, an increase in contemporaneous education expenditure increases both female labour force participation and the total labour force participation rate but reduces their participation in the short-run. Thirdly, the study also shows that an increase in contemporaneous health expenditure increases male participation rate and reduces male participation rate in the long-run while overall labour force participation rate increases in the long-run. Finally. given the importance of health and education on labour force participation rate in Botswana, the study asserts that it is of paramount importance for government to incorporate strategies that encourage citizens to recognise the need to maintain good health and education. In absence of such interventions, Botswana might find it difficult to achieve most of her vision 2016 and MDG 's goals. / Thesis (M.Com.(Economics) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

Master of Arts / Department of Economics / James F. Ragan Jr / This report reviews the effects of fertility on female labor supply, primarily female labor force participation and work hours. Although estimates of the causal relationship between fertility and female labor supply are mixed, this report tries to review why and by how much an additional child in a family affects work decisions and work hours of mothers on average. Statistical analysis shows a decreasing trend in fertility and an increasing trend in female labor force participation throughout the world over the last four decades. Using different specifications and estimation techniques, empirical studies suggest that fertility has negative effects on maternal labor supply because childbearing falls on women and women have lower wage rates than men on average. The negative relationship between fertility and female labor supply is explained by social, economic, and technical forces that affect fertility and female labor supply, including an increase in the value of women’s time due to an increase in education levels of women, expensive childcare, and substitutes for children; emphasis on quality instead of quantity of children; an increase in employment opportunities for women; changes in social norms towards supporting women working outside their home; and technical progress in birth control.

The ageing of the Swedish population entails an increase of public and pension expenditure. A solution to keep the compensation level constant is to make individuals retire later from the labor force. In order to understand what actions need to be implemented, there is a need of more knowledge about the characteristics of individuals who chose to remain in the labor force after the normal age of retirement. This essay investigates how senior workers’ that are above the normal retirement age responds to an increase of non-labor income and how it affects labor supply. The results show that around 66 % of individuals will continue to work to the same extent, around 15 % will choose to reduce hours of work, and near 19 % will chose to retire. Also the results show that a person that will not change anything in hours of work after an increase in non-labor income will most likely be a male that is self-employed, who really likes his job and has a postgraduate degree. One conclusion in this essay is that to only focus on compensation levels in different social insurance systems to increase senior workers’ labor force participation will not be as effective as if also focus would be on social norms and cultural beliefs to increase engagement towards work.

This thesis examines the labor force participation decisions of married couples, and special attention is paid to a spouse’s health conditions affecting their own and the spouse’s labor force participation decision. I used the Health and Retirement Study survey data and estimated a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model. A number of variables besides health condition were added: age, education level, and family unearned income. The results of this research paper support the findings from the relevant literature that the labor supply decisions of the husband and wife are related. The oldest age group is least likely to work. The younger the husband, the more likely it is that the husband will work. At the ages between 40 and 49, wives have the biggest probability to work. The higher the education level, the more likely it is that a spouse is going to work. The more total family unearned income, the less probable the spouse will go to work. Poor health has a negative effect on labor force participation and a positive effect for the spouse’s labor force participation.

This thesis consists of five papers, summarized as follows.  "Disability Insurance, Population Health, and Employment in Sweden" This paper describes the development of population health and disability insurance utilization for older workers in Sweden and analyzes the relation between the two. We also study the effects of changes in eligibility criteria for older workers.  "Does Privatization of Vocational Rehabilitation Improve Labor Market Opportunities? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Sweden" This paper analyzes if privatization of vocational rehabilitation improves labor market opportunities for long-term sick, using a field experiment. We find no differences in employment rates following rehabilitation between individuals who received rehabilitation by private and public providers.  "Screening Stringency in the Disability Insurance Program" This paper proposes a strategy for assessing how the inflow to the disability insurance program has been governed over time. We analyze the ex-ante health of new beneficiaries by using ex-post mortality. We find large variation in the relative health of new beneficiaries compared to non-beneficiaries in Sweden over time.  "The Effect of Age-Targeted Tax Credits on Retirement Behavior" This paper analyzes the effect of two tax credits for workers above age 65 implemented in Sweden in 2007: an earned income tax credit and a payroll tax credit. I find that the age-targeted tax credits increased employment in the year following the 65th birthday, but the increase was not large enough to offset the implied decrease in tax revenues.  "Wage Dynamics and Firm-Level Shocks" This paper proposes a framework for introducing the firm into empirical models of the dynamic income process. The model allows for studying the extent to which firm-level productivity shocks are transmitted to wages. Selection into employment and between jobs is explicitly modeled. We also present a strategy for estimation and identification of the model

Over the last twenty years we have seen an increasing use of in-work tax subsidies to encourage labor supply among low-income groups. In Sweden, a non-targeted earned income tax credit was introduced in 2007, and was reinforced in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The stated motive of the reform was to boost employment; in particular to provide incentives for individuals to go from unemployment to, at least, part-time work. In this paper we try to analyze the extensive margin labor supply effects of the Swedish earned income tax credit reform up to 2008. For identification we exploit the fact that the size of the tax credit, as well as the resulting average tax rate, is a function of the municipality of residence and income if working. However, throughout the analysis we find placebo effects that are similar in size to the estimated reform effects. In addition, the results are sensitive with respect to how we define employment, which is especially true when we analyze different subgroups such as men and women, married and singles. Our conclusion is that the identifying variation is too small and potentially endogenous and that it is therefore not possible to use this variation to perform a quasi-experimental evaluation of the Swedish EITC-reform.

This thesis examines the labor force participation decisions of married couples, and special attention is paid to a spouse’s health conditions affecting their own and the spouse’s labor force participation decision. I used the Health and Retirement Study survey data and estimated a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model. A number of variables besides health condition were added: age, education level, and family unearned income. The results of this research paper support the findings from the relevant literature that the labor supply decisions of the husband and wife are related. The oldest age group is least likely to work. The younger the husband, the more likely it is that the husband will work. At the ages between 40 and 49, wives have the biggest probability to work. The higher the education level, the more likely it is that a spouse is going to work. The more total family unearned income, the less probable the spouse will go to work. Poor health has a negative effect on labor force participation and a positive effect for the spouse’s labor force participation.

Thesis (M.B.A)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Bill Gates, Bill Hatch. "MBA professional report"--Cover. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65). Also available online.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universitetet i Lund, 1985. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-221).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Yale University, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-212).