This study is the first to provide a causal estimate of the cross-spouse subjective well-being consequences of unemployment. Using German panel data on married and cohabiting partners for 1991-2015 and information on exogenous unemployment entry due to workplace closure, we show that one spouse's unemployment experience reduces the life satisfaction of the other partner. The estimated spillover is at least one quarter of the effect of own unemployment and is equally pronounced among female and male partners. In addition, while wives' life satisfaction does not recover even two years after their partners becoming unemployed, husbands only react to their wives' joblessness during the first year of unemployment. Our results are insensitive to income controls and the couple's position in the income distribution, thus reflecting the non-pecuniary costs of unemployment. Although the income loss hardly explains the negative spillover effects of unemployment on spousal life satisfaction, we document large declines in spousal satisfaction with household income and living standards. This finding supports the argument that the costs of unemployment borne by indirectly affected spouses extend beyond the loss of consumption opportunities and might be rather related to social values attached to market work. Being robust to a battery of sensitivity checks, our findings imply that public policy programs aimed at mitigating unemployment's negative consequences need to target not only those directly affected but also cohabiting spouses. J Popul Econ

This paper examines the role of non-wage cost rigidities in slowing down employment creation by assessing the effect of a policy aimed at fostering employment for women and young men introduced in Turkey in 2008. Exploiting a difference-indifference in differences strategy, I assess the employment effect of the reduction in the employer contribution share of the social security premiums. The results, net of the recent crisis effect, suggest a positive effect of the reduction in non-wage costs on employment creation for the targeted group (women) shortly after the announcement of the policy.

This paper provides evidence on the impacts of non-cognitive skills and attitudes towards risk on the decision to migrate from rural to urban areas. Our Model of personality structure, and using it in the evaluation of non-cognitive skills, our results suggest that such personality traits as openness to new experience and the willingness to take risks increase the probability of migration. On the other hand, the non-cognitive skills conscientiousness and extraversion are found to be negatively associated with the propensity to migrate. The eects are statistically and quantitatively signicant, and mainly driven by movements from rural areas into cities. Our results are robust to several sensitivity checks, including tests for reverse causality.JEL classications: J61, D03, D81, R23.

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