|
on Heterodox Microeconomics |
| By: | Melendez-Plumed, Vicenc |
| Abstract: | We support labour contents as an absolute and reliable measurement unit and as an accounting procedure that expresses the real costs and profits of the economic system. As far as the labour capacity of expressing real social costs and profits is concerned, we highlight the inaccuracy in the basic economic data derived from the deviation of the rate of profit in terms of prices with regard to that which is calculated for labour values and we also demonstrate that the price system far from being independent of these values, is supported by them. Thus, there is no redundancy between price and value systems. These results are obtained in a simple model under the following assumptions: simple – not joint - production is considered where only circulating capital exists. Every good or service considered, is a basic commodity; there is only one quality labour. |
| Keywords: | labour values; sraffian prices; discrepancies; rate of profit |
| JEL: | B51 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33635&r=hme |
| By: | Mateos de Cabo, Ruth; Gimeno, Ricardo; Martínez, Miryam; López, Luis |
| Abstract: | In the present research we investigate possible predictors of the presence of women in Spanish online newspapers using an automatic content analysis over a three-month period. Results of the analysis reveal that Spanish online newspapers continue depicting women in a stereotyped manner. Women are still linked to traditionally ‘female’ sections, and they appear more frequently in news considered less important in terms of extension and publication day. The gender of the reporter also matters since female journalists tend to include more women in the news they report than their male peers. |
| Keywords: | newspapers; gender representation; stereotypes; Internet; content analysis |
| JEL: | L82 L86 J16 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33557&r=hme |
| By: | Kohlin, Gunnar; Sills, Erin O.; Pattanayak, Subhrendu K.; Wilfong, Christopher |
| Abstract: | This report reviews the literature on the links between energy access, welfare, and gender in order to provide evidence on where gender considerations in the energy sector matter and how they might be addressed. Prepared as a background document for the 2012 World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development, and part of the Social Development Department's ongoing work on gender and infrastructure, the report describes and evaluates the evidence on the links between gender and energy focusing on: increased access to woodfuel through planting of trees and forest management; improved cooking technologies; and access to electricity and motive energy. The report's main finding is that energy interventions can have significant gender benefits, which can be realized via careful design and targeting of interventions based on a context-specific understanding of energy scarcity and household decision-making, in particular how women's preferences, opportunity cost of time, and welfare are reflected in household energy decisions. The report focuses on the academic peer-reviewed literature and, although it applies fairly inclusive screening criteria when selecting the evidence to consider, finds that the evidence on many of the energy-gender linkages is often limited. There is thus a clear need for studies to evaluate interventions and identify key design elements for gender-sensitive project design. |
| Date: | 2011–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5800&r=hme |
| By: | Ioana Lupu (ioan) (LIRSA-CRC - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Sciences de l'Action - Centre de recherche en comptabilité - CNAM) |
| Abstract: | Despite decades of gender-balanced recruitment and clear-cut criteria for promotion based on meritocracy, women in public accounting firms remain proportionally fewer in number in the highest levels of the hierarchy than men. This paper aims to explore the mechanisms fostering women's rarity in top positions within French accounting firms in terms of organizationally constructed approved paths. Drawing on 21 semi-structured interviews with both male and female accountants, the specificities of these approved paths, alongside the construction of alternative, feminised routes, lacking the legitimacy of the former and often implying a derailment of women's careers from a very early stage, will be explored. It is suggested that more than a matter of only lifestyle preferences or practical constraints, this rarity is constructed by the interplay between the two, often resulting in "unintended and unwanted consequences, which retroactively may become unacknowledged conditions of future actions" (Giddens, 1984: 76). The focus of this study is to understand how the discursive and practical components of daily routines contribute to the reproduction of Big Four's gendered culture. Furthermore, this paper invites to question the concept of the glass ceiling and consider the construction of women's rarity in the accounting profession in terms of a labyrinth. |
| Keywords: | gender, Big Four, career path, lifestyles, constraints, glass ceiling, France |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00626044&r=hme |
| By: | Shaikh, Salman Ahmed |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the ethical void in Capitalism which does not look prominent in welfare societies and states. But, its effects become more eminent in tough economic conditions. Unbridled pursuit of self interest, moral relativism, incentive-led economic choices and apathy to communal responsibilities would lead to a society where economic interests become the sole basis of maintaining and sustaining relationships. This inner void of identity and purpose at individual level and social void in the form of a stratified society bound together only for economic interests can be better filled with incorporating religion. Humans are much more than utility driven species, they are capable of using both instrumental and critical reasons to differentiate right from wrong and need reinforcement to adopt virtues influenced by an inner urge other than material interests as in Capitalism. This inner urge can be rekindled by looking beyond utility maximization to re-acknowledge the fundamental identity that humans are moral being than just an instrument for material advancement. Other sections of the paper provide an outline and salient features of Islamic Economics on different economic themes and perspectives for a comparative study. These provide a unique introduction to Islamic Economics in a mainstream framework. |
| Keywords: | Islamic Microeconomics; Institutional Economics; Islamic Economics; Islamic Ethics; Islamic Morality; Secular Ethics; Moral Relativism; Ethical Relativism |
| JEL: | Z12 A13 A14 |
| Date: | 2011–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:20289&r=hme |
| By: | Olczyk, Magdalena |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the structure of Polish economy using three input-output tables for years 1995, 2000 and 2004. Applying the traditional methods proposed by Rasmussen the sector’s backward and forward linkages are identified. Industries with large backward and forward linkages are named “key sectors” and play an important role in the development strategy of a country, so the outcome of the paper may be used for the development strategy of Polish economy. At the beginning of the article the idea of input-output table and Rasmussen’s methodology of identifying the key sectors are discussed in detail. Then, based on three input-output tables, the key sectors in the Polish economy are selected and the role of these sectors over the years 1995-2004 is examined. |
| Keywords: | structural changes; input-output; poland; transition economy |
| JEL: | L16 O33 R11 L1 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33659&r=hme |
| By: | Anna Matysiak; Daniele Vignoli (Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we compare Italy and Poland, two countries where the country-specific obstacles to work and family reconciliation are similarly strong, but which differ in terms of the history of women’s labour force participation and of household living standards. We adopt a life course perspective, and trace women’s employment choices around the first and the second birth. On the one hand, our findings suggest the presence of a strong conflict between women’s paid work and childbearing in both countries. On the other, our results show that women’s employment clearly inhibits childbearing in Italy, while in Poland women tend to combine the two activities. Overall, we find that countries characterised by similarly strong institutionally or culturally driven tensions between work and family may differ in how women’s fertility and employment behaviours are interrelated. |
| Keywords: | work and family reconciliation, fertility, women’s employment, Poland, Italy |
| JEL: | J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isd:wpaper:41&r=hme |
| By: | Peter J. Kuhn; Kailing Shen |
| Abstract: | We study firms' advertised gender preferences in a population of ads on a Chinese internet job board, and interpret these patterns using a simple employer search model. The model allows us to distinguish firms' underlying gender preferences from firms' propensities to restrict their search to their preferred gender. The model also predicts that higher job skill requirements should reduce the tendency to gender-target a job ad; this is strongly confirmed in our data, and suggests that rising skill demands may be a potent deterrent to explicit discrimination of the type we document here. We also find that firms' underlying gender preferences are highly job-specific, with many firms requesting men for some jobs and women for others, and with one third of the variation in gender preferences within firm*occupation cells. |
| JEL: | J16 J63 J71 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17453&r=hme |
| By: | Laura Junka-Aikio |
| Abstract: | Despite the abundance of research on Palestine, studies of Palestinian political subjectivity and agency tend to adhere to the dominant analytical frames of Nationalism and/or Islamism. This has led to the neglect of a variety of socio-economic and political developments that do not fit these frameworks. Working against the dominant trend, the present paper hopes to theorize Palestinian politics in relationship to the recent globalisation of neoliberalism by exploring a variety of discourses and struggles that have developed since the late 1990s around the topic of mobile telephony in Palestine. While mobile telephony epitomises a diversity of social processes and ideas that are associated with the globalisation of neo-liberal subjectivity and desire, a study of discursive and concrete developments within this field builds up an image of a Palestinian political subject that is increasingly individualised, hybridised, and irrepresentable within the dominant discourses of nationalism and/or Islamism. |
| Date: | 2011–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:euirsc:p0277&r=hme |
| By: | Magdalena, Olczyk; Marzena , Starnawska; Izabela, Richter |
| Abstract: | In the article the authors present the factors that foster cooperation among SMEs and other market actors. Also, an attempt was made to present how these market actors work together. In addition, analysis of the impact of cooperation on innovation in business has been done |
| Keywords: | innovation; SME; cooperation |
| JEL: | O31 D01 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33654&r=hme |
| By: | Gopi Shah Goda; John B. Shoven; Sita Nataraj Slavov |
| Abstract: | Despite the presence of Medicare, out-of-pocket medical spending is a large expenditure risk facing the elderly. While women live longer than men, elderly women incur higher out-of-pocket medical spending than men at each age. In this paper, we examine whether differences in marital status and living arrangements can explain this difference. We find that out-of-pocket medical spending is approximately 29 percent higher when an individual becomes widowed, a large portion of which is spending on nursing homes. Our results suggest a substantial role of living arrangements in out-of-pocket medical spending; however, our estimates combined with differences in rates of widowhood across gender suggest that marital status can explain only one third of the gender difference in total out-of-pocket medical spending, leaving a large portion unexplained. On the other hand, gender differences in widowhood more than explain the observed gender difference in out-of-pocket spending on nursing homes. |
| JEL: | I11 J12 J14 J16 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17440&r=hme |
| By: | S. Mustafa Durakoglu |
| Abstract: | Turkey has been going through a liberalization process in its electricity market over the last decade. So far, the regulatory content of the market reforms has been in the center of attention in the literature, to the negligence of regulatory governance. However, recent studies, which applied the theoretical insights of new institutional economics to utilities regulation, have demonstrated that political endowments of the country draw the boundaries to which extent such regulatory content can be effectively implemented. In line with these studies, this paper adopts an institutional approach and attempts to identify the political endowments of Turkey in order to further analyze whether the market reforms succeeded in bringing about sufficient checks to cure the institutional problems. In other words, the paper takes a picture of the overall regulatory arena. The results show that the current regulatory structure, especially government-regulator relations, fails to meet good regulatory governance criteria. The paper also provides some policy suggestions. |
| Keywords: | electricity regulation; regulatory governance; institutions |
| Date: | 2011–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2011/08&r=hme |
| By: | Emel Memis; S. A. Kaya Bahce |
| Abstract: | This paper provides estimates of the impact of the recent economic crisis on paid and unpaid work time in Turkey. The data used in this study come from the first and only time-use survey available at the national level. Infrequency of collection of time-use data in Turkey does not allow us to make a direct comparison of pre- versus postcrisis time-use patterns. We introduce a tractable way for estimating these possible effects by measuring the impact of an increase in unemployment risk on time-use patterns of women and men living in couple households. The method developed here can be applied to other developing-country cases where there is a lack of longitudinal data availability. Our findings support the argument that economic crises reinforce the preexisting gender inequalities in work time. |
| Keywords: | Economic Crisis; Gender Inequality; Time Use; Unemployment Risk; Unpaid Work; Turkey |
| JEL: | B54 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_686&r=hme |
| By: | Nakajima, Kentaro; Saito, Yukiko Umeno; Uesugi, Iichiro |
| Abstract: | This paper examines location patterns of Japan’s manufacturing industries using a unique firm-level dataset on the geographic location of firms. Following the point-pattern approach proposed by Duranton and Overman (2005), we find the following. First, about half of Japan’s manufacturing industries can be classified as localized and the number of localized industries is largest for a distance level of 40 km or less. Second, several industries in the textile mill products sector are among the most localized, which is similar to findings for the UK, suggesting that there exist common factors across countries determining the concentration of industrial activities. Third, the distribution of distances between entrant (exiting) firms and remaining firms is, in most industries, not significantly different from a random distribution. These results suggest that most industries in Japan neither become more localized nor more dispersed over time and are in line with similar findings by Duranton and Overman (2008) for the UK. Fourth, a comparison with the service sector indicates that the share of localized industries is higher in manufacturing than in services, although the extent of localization among the most localized manufacturing industries is smaller than that among the most localized service industries, including financial service industries |
| Keywords: | Micro-geographic data, Economic geography |
| JEL: | R11 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:cinwps:10&r=hme |
| By: | Beck, Thorsten; Demirguc-Kunt, Asli; Singer, Dorothe |
| Abstract: | Combining two unique data sets, this paper explores the relationship between the relative importance of different financial institutions and their average size and firms'access to financial services. Specifically, the authors explore the relationship between the share in total financial assets and average asset size of banks, low-end financial institutions, and specialized lenders, on the one hand, and firms'access to and use of deposit and lending services, on the other hand. Two findings stand out. First, the dominance of banks in most developing and emerging markets is associated with lower use of financial services by firms of all sizes. Low-end financial institutions and specialized lenders seem particularly suited to ease access to finance in low-income countries. Second, there is no evidence that smaller institutions are better in providing access to finance. To the contrary, larger specialized lenders and larger banks might actually ease small firms'financing constraints, but only at low levels of gross domestic product per capita. |
| Keywords: | Access to Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Debt Markets,Microfinance,Non Bank Financial Institutions |
| Date: | 2011–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5806&r=hme |
| By: | Raurich, Xavier (CREB, Barcelona); Sala, Hector (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Sorolla, Valeri (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | In a Walrasian labor market, the labor income share is constant under the assumptions of a Cobb-Douglas production function and perfect competition. Given the observed decline of the labor share in recent decades, this paper relaxes these assumptions, proposes a time-series calculation of the aggregate price mark-up reflecting the degree of imperfect competition in the product market, and provides estimates of the elasticity of substitution under such product market imperfections. We focus on Spain and the U.S. and show that the elasticity of substitution is above one in Spain and below one in the U.S. We also show that the price markup drives the elasticity of substitution away from one, upwards in Spain, downwards in the U.S. These results are used to explain the declining path of the labor income share, common to both economies, and their contrasted patterns in terms of capital deepening. |
| Keywords: | elasticity of substitution, price markup, factor shares, capital deepening |
| JEL: | E22 E24 E25 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5992&r=hme |
| By: | Friedrich Kunz; Christian von Hirschhausen; Dominik Möst; Hannes Weigt |
| Abstract: | This paper, which examines the impacts of phasing out nuclear power in Germany, is the first to include an analysis of energy supply security and critical line flows in both the German and Central European electricity networks. The technical-economic model of the European electricity market, ELMOD, is used to simulate alternative power plant dispatch, imports, exports, and network use for a representative winter day. The results suggest that the shutdown of Germany’s nuclear plants will result in higher net imports, especially from the Netherlands, Austria, and Poland, and that electricity generation from fossil fuels will increase slightly in Germany and in Central Europe. We find that no additional imports will come from nuclear plants since they are already fully utilized in the merit order, and that electricity prices will rise on average by a few Euros per MWh. We conclude that closing the seven nuclear power plants within the government’s moratorium will cause no significant supply security issues or network constraints and an eventual full phase-out seem to be possible due to the completion of several new conventional power plants now under construction. Finally, we suggest that a nuclear phase-out in Germany within the next 3-7 years will not undermine security of supply and network stability in Germany and Central Europe. |
| Keywords: | electricity; Germany |
| Date: | 2011–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2011/32&r=hme |
| By: | Pimenta, António M. S. (University of the Azores); Silva, Francisco J. F. (University of the Azores); Vieira, José A. Cabral (University of the Azores) |
| Abstract: | This paper includes a survival analysis which attempts to explain the duration, as in the number of years a worker remains in a low wage situation. Explanatory variables take into account the characteristics of the employee, such as education, age, tenure with the company, gender and nationality, and the characteristics of the job and the company such as industry affiliation, number of employees, age of the company and location. |
| Keywords: | low wage, survival, Portugal |
| JEL: | J31 J42 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5972&r=hme |
| By: | Fiorillo, Damiano |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the determinants of household recycling in Italy with particular emphasis on social behaviour. The econometric analysis is based on two waves - 1998 and 2000 - of the Multipurpose Household Survey conducted annually by the Italian Central Statistics Office. In Italy household recycling was substantially voluntary in the years from 1998 to 2000 with no monetary incentives or pecuniary sanctions. Five different materials are investigated: paper, glass, plastic, aluminium and food waste. The results of the probit regressions suggest that membership in organizations, church attendance, the habit of talking politics and reading newspapers are significantly correlated with household recycling behaviour, while gender, age and household income playing the biggest role. Our findings also show that the presence of recycling bins for waste improves household recycling behaviour for all materials whereas difficulty to reach recycling bins adversely affects household recycling outcomes. Household judgments on waste disposal charges have no effect on the recycling effort. As expected, residency in Southern Italy is associated with the lowest probability of recycling all materials. |
| Keywords: | Household recycling; social behaviour; social capital; recycling bins; flat fee |
| JEL: | Q53 C35 Z13 |
| Date: | 2011–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33631&r=hme |
| By: | Dean Baker; David Rosnick |
| Abstract: | During the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, President Obama proposed cutting the annual cost of living adjustment for Social Security by switching to an index that would show a lower measured rate of inflation. This alternative index, the chained consumer price index (CCPI-U), shows an annual rate of inflation that averages approximately 0.3 percentage points less than the consumer price index (CPI-W) that is currently used to index benefits. While this change would lead to $122 billion in savings to the government over the next decade, it also means that beneficiaries would receive lower benefits. Since the vast majority of retirees rely on Social Security for the bulk of their retirement income, this cut in the cost of living adjustment would imply a substantial reduction in the standard of living of retirees, unless they offset it by saving more during their working years or retiring later in life. While we cannot know for sure how workers in future years will adjust their behavior, this paper assesses their past response to changes in the cost of living adjustment. It finds that they were not able to raise their non-Social Security income in response to cuts in Social Security benefits. |
| Keywords: | social security, retirement, COLA, CPI |
| JEL: | H H5 H55 J J1 J14 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epo:papers:2011-20&r=hme |
| By: | Ulrich Brautzsch; Udo Ludwig |
| Abstract: | The import penetration of exports has become a topic of public debate, particularly in the context of Germany’s position as one of the world’s leading exporters. The growth in the volume of intermediate products purchased from abroad for subsequent processing into export goods in Germany seems to be undermining the importance of exports as a driver of domestic production and employment. The gains that arise from an increase in exports seem to have been offset by the losses caused by the crowding out of local production by imports. Empirical evidence on the impact of this international integration of the goods market on the German labour market is ambiguous. Short-term negative effects on employment are claimed to be offset by the long-term benefit that the jobs lost in the short run will eventually be replaced by higher-skilled jobs with better perspectives. Against this background, the following hypothesis is tested empirically: Germany is poor in natural resources, but rich in skilled labour. In line with the Heckscher- Ohlin theory, Germany should therefore specialize in the production of export goods and services that are relatively intensive in these factors and should import those goods and services that are relatively intensive in unskilled labour. The empirical part of the paper deals with the extent of the German export penetration by imports. At first, it analyses by what ways imports are affecting the exports directly and indirectly and shows the consequences of import penetration of exports for the national output and employment. Secondly consequences for employment are split in different skill types of labour. These issues are discussed with the standard open static inputoutput- model. The data base is a time series of official input-output tables. The employment effects for Germany divided by skill types of labour are investigated using skill matrices generated by the authors. |
| Keywords: | international trade, labour and skills market interactions, input-output models |
| JEL: | C67 F14 F16 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwh:dispap:14-11&r=hme |
| By: | Sarker, Debnarayan |
| Abstract: | Based on household level’ field survey in West Bengal State in Indian context, this study suggests that poverty and lower level of human capital provide the basic initiatives for both rural –urban migration and risky occupational choice for household’s income, and thus contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Also, the HIV/AIDS epidemic of those economically and socially disadvantaged households leads to the consequence of absolute economic and social poverty within a short period after its detection. Despite such a consequence of absolute economic and social poverty, the benefit of actions by government or non-government organizations is insignificant for them |
| Keywords: | Socio-economic reasons; Socio-economic implications; Benefit of actions; Rural-Urban Migration; Economically ; Socially disadvantaged households |
| JEL: | H51 I18 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33648&r=hme |
| By: | Carretta, Alessandro; Farina, Vincenzo; Gon, Abhishek; Parisi, Antonio |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of political presence in the boards of directors of cooperative banks. We refer our analysis to all politicians (almost 160.000) belonging to a political body in Italy. Overall, our dataset contains 1.858 board members referring to 127 cooperative banks. Results show that politically connected banks, in which politicians have executive roles in the board of directors, display higher net interest revenues, lower quality of the loans portfolio and lower efficiency relative to a control group of non-connected counterparts. Therefore, in the current debate on the reform of the statutes of the Italian cooperative banks, we argue that the problem is not for politicians to be in the boards but for them to hold executive positions. |
| Keywords: | Cooperative Banks; Politics; Corporate Governance |
| JEL: | G34 G21 |
| Date: | 2011–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33549&r=hme |
| By: | Ahmed, Khalil |
| Abstract: | Recent innovations in Islamic finance have changed the dynamics of the Islamic finance industry especially, in the area of sukuk or Islamic securities. Sukuk have become increasingly popular in the last few years, both as a means of raising government finance through sovereign issues, and as a way for companies to obtain funding through offering corporate sukuk. In this paper an attempt is made is to define sukuk and show the structure of sukuk. Furthermore, the paper shades some light on some accounting risk issues of sukuk. Finally, the paper presents benefits of sukuk for shareholders. However, this paper is a humble attempt to explain certain issues of sukuk. Certainly, for further information about sukuk, there are many publications that may assist the reader to derive the knowledge about sukuk. |
| Keywords: | Sukuk; structure; recognition; measurement and risk |
| JEL: | G3 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33675&r=hme |
| By: | Andriopoulou, Eirini (Athens University of Economics and Business); Tsakloglou, Panos (Athens University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyzes the effects of individual and household characteristics on current poverty status, while controlling for initial conditions, past poverty status and unobserved heterogeneity in 14 European Countries for the period 1994-2000, using the European Community Household Panel. The distinction between true state dependence and individual heterogeneity has very important policy implications, since if the former is the main cause of poverty it is of paramount importance to break the "vicious circle" of poverty using income-supporting social policies, whereas if it is the latter anti-poverty policies should focus primarily on education, training, development of personal skills and other labour market oriented policies. The empirical results are similar in qualitative but rather different in quantitative terms across EU countries. State dependence remains significant in all specifications, even after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity or when removing possible endogeneity bias. |
| Keywords: | poverty dynamics, EU, ECHP |
| JEL: | I32 I38 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5971&r=hme |
| By: | Gianfranco Di Vaio; Daniel Waldenström; Jacob Weisdorf |
| Abstract: | This study examines the determinants of citation success among authors who have recently published their work in economic history journals. Besides offering clues about how to improve one’s scientific impact, our citation analysis also sheds light on the state of the field of economic history. Consistent with our expectations, we find that full professors, authors appointed at economics and history departments, and authors working in Anglo-Saxon and German countries are more likely to receive citations than other scholars. Long and coauthored articles are also a factor for citation success. We find similar patterns when assessing the same authors’ citation success in economics journals. As a novel feature, we demonstrate that the diffusion of research – publication of working papers, as well as conference and workshop presentations – has a first-order positive impact on the citation rate. |
| Keywords: | Citation Analysis, Scientific Impact, Bibliometrics, Research Diffusion, Poisson Regression |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucg:wpaper:0017&r=hme |
| By: | Ayyagari, Meghana; Demirguc-Kunt, Asli; Maksimovic, Vojislav |
| Abstract: | This paper provides empirical evidence on firm recoveries from financial system collapses in developing countries (systemic sudden stops episodes), and compares them with the experience in the United States in the 2008 financial crisis. Prior research found that economies recover from systemic sudden stop episodes before the financial sector. These recoveries are called Phoenix miracles, and the research questioned the role of the financial system in recovery. Although an average of the macro data across a sample of systemic sudden stop episodes over the 1990s appears consistent with the notion of Phoenix recoveries, closer inspection reveals heterogeneity of responses across the countries, with only a few countries fitting the pattern. Micro data show that across countries, only a small fraction (less than 31 percent) of firms follow a pattern of recovery in sales without a recovery in external credit, and even these firms have access to external sources of cash. The experience of firms in the United States during the 2008 financial crisis also suggests no evidence of credit-less recoveries. An examination of the dynamics of firms'financing, investment and payout policies during recovery periods shows that far from being constrained, the firms in the sample are able to access long-term financing, issue equity, and significantly expand their cash holdings. |
| Keywords: | Debt Markets,Access to Finance,Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress,Emerging Markets,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2011–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5799&r=hme |
| By: | Awojobi, Omotola; Bein, Murad |
| Abstract: | The main focus of this research is to juxtapose the features of microfinancing and the institutional forbearance of economic development in Nigeria. Based on empirical study, it has been observed that poverty is multifaceted and its persistence is due to lack of productive resources. The Nigerian case reveals that the major constraint to improving the standard of living of the poor is capital (finance). This has restricted their extensive participation in economic activities which could improve their lives. For this study, our theoretical a priori expectation is that provision of microfinance services such as savings and microloans have direct impact on GDP. A causal relationship will be established and evaluated with the ‘t-test’ statistic, while the relevance of the independent variables in explaining the subject will be justified based on the F-statistic test and R2 coefficient of multi-determination. Also, using a lin-log regression model, economic growth shall be regressed on poverty level in Nigeria. This will create an assertion whether Nigeria needs a systematic reinforcement of the microfinance mechanism to propagate a soothing trend for poverty reduction and economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Microfinance; Poverty; Economic Development; Economic Growth; Financial Services; Gross Domestic Product |
| JEL: | O17 I38 G21 |
| Date: | 2010–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33530&r=hme |
| By: | James Costain (Banco de España); Anton Nakov (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes two models in which price stickiness arises endogenously even though fi rms are free to change their prices at zero physical cost. Firms are subject to idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks, and they also face a risk of making errors when they set their prices. In our fi rst specifi cation, fi rms are assumed to play a dynamic logit equilibrium, which implies that big mistakes are less likely than small ones. The second specifi cation derives logit behavior from an assumption that precision is costly. The empirical implications of the two versions of our model are very similar. Since fi rms making suffi ciently large errors choose to adjust, both versions generate a strong “selection effect” in response to a nominal shock that eliminates most of the monetary nonneutrality found in the Calvo model. Thus the model implies that money shocks have little impact on the real economy, as in Golosov and Lucas (2007), but fi ts microdata better than their specifi cation. |
| Keywords: | Nominal rigidity, logit equilibrium, state-dependent pricing, (S,s) adjustment, near-rational behavior |
| JEL: | E31 D81 C72 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:1122&r=hme |
| By: | Bayo-Moriones, Alberto (University of Navarra); Galdón-Sánchez, José Enrique (Universidad Pública de Navarra); Martinez-de-Morentin, Sara (Universidad Pública de Navarra) |
| Abstract: | This article presents a study of the influences on the factors that shape wage adjustments. The cost of living, comparability with other firms' wages, the fulfilment of collective agreements at sector level, the need to recruit and retain employees, the performance of the organisation, and the climate of industrial relations are included as factors of interest. The analysis was carried out using a sample of Spanish manufacturing plants. Our results show that the structural characteristics of the establishment such as its size or foreign ownership, as well as the wage setting arrangements and trade unions, play a role in explaining the importance of the factors mentioned in shaping wage adjustments. The human resource management policies adopted by the employer seem to be less relevant, although the qualification of workers and the use of pay for performance have a significant impact on the process of wage adjustment. |
| Keywords: | pay settlements, collective bargaining, wage negotiation |
| JEL: | J30 J40 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5998&r=hme |
| By: | Luis Fernando Gamboa; Blanca Zuluaga |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to provide an estimation and decomposition of the motherhood wage penalty in Colombia. Our empirical strategy is based on the matching procedure designed by Ñopo (2008) for the case of gender wage gaps. This is an alternative procedure to the well-known Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method. The cross-section data of the Colombian Living Standard Survey allows us to decompose the wage gap in four components, according to the characteristics of mothers and non-mothers. We found that mothers earn, in average, 1:73% less than their counterparts without children and that this gap slightly decreases as the group includes older women. Taking into account that this procedure is sensitive to the set of variables included in the matching, several specifica- tions are tested. The main result of the paper is obtained when considering schooling as a matching variable. Once schooling is included, the unex-plained part of the gap considerably decreases and turns non significant.Thus, we do not find evidence of wage discrimination against mothers in the Colombian labor market. |
| Date: | 2011–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:008980&r=hme |
| By: | Addison, John T. (Department of Economics, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA and Institute for Advances Studies, Vienna); Blackburn, McKinley L. (Department of Economics, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA); Cotti, Chad D. (Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, USA) |
| Abstract: | Do apparently large minimum wage increases in an environment of straightened economic circumstances produce clearer evidence of disemployment effects than is typically reported in the new economics of the minimum wage? The present paper augments the sparse literature covering the very latest increases in the U.S. minimum wage, using three different data sets and the principal estimation strategies for handling geographically-disparate trends. Despite the seemingly more favorable milieu for identifying displacement effects, and although our treatment calls into question one well-received estimation strategy, our preferred specification generally fails to support a finding of negative employment effects. That is to say, minimum-wage workers are apparently concentrated in sectors of the economy for which the labor demand response to statutory wage hikes is minimal. Popular concern with a “recessionary multiplier” thus seems overdone. |
| Keywords: | Minimum wages, Disemployment, Earnings, Low-wage sectors, Geographically-disparate employment trends, Recession |
| JEL: | J2 J3 J4 J8 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ihs:ihsesp:273&r=hme |
| By: | Olivier Pintelon (Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp); Bea Cantillon (Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp); Karel Van den Bosch (Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp); Christopher T. Whelan (School of Sociology & Geary Institute, University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Welfare states are said to have evolved over the course of the past twenty years towards a ‘social investment’ model of welfare, characterised by a focus on equality of opportunity and upward social mobility combined with greater emphasis on individual responsibility. More or less concurrently, under the mantra of ‘individualisation’, scepticism has grown with regard to the relevance of traditional stratification schemes. This paper sets out to ascertain whether social class, i.e. intergenerational background, (still) affects the occurrence of ‘social risks’. Using SILC 2005 data, it considers the impact of social class (of origin) on a relevant selection of social risks: unemployment, ill-health, living in a jobless household, single parenthood, temporary employment, and low-paid employment. The results provide clear evidence of a continuing influence of social class. On this basis, we argue that a one-sided focus on individual responsibility could open the door to new forms of marginalisation. |
| Keywords: | Ireland, Austerity, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy |
| JEL: | E00 E30 E62 E63 |
| Date: | 2011–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201123&r=hme |
| By: | Sónia Araújo |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role played by deregulation on firms’ investment decisions in infrastructure sectors. The analysis covers the period 1980-2006, which was characterised by increased liberalisation and privatisation across OECD countries. We assess the relationship of different dimensions of the regulatory framework, such as the degree of barriers to entry, public ownership, vertical unbundling and the existence of an independent regulator with firm level investment behaviour. We find that the impact of regulation on investment is both sector and firm specific. A reduction in the degree of legal barriers to entry spurs investment in the electricity sector, but only for large firms. In telecommunications, the converse is true with barriers to entry having a negative effect on smaller firms’ investment rates. The existence of an independent regulatory authority spurs investment by telecommunication companies but this effect seems to be driven by large firms alone while it is associated with a reduction in investment levels by smaller companies in the gas sector. In Europe, the degree of vertical integration is positively associated with investment rates in the electricity sector.<P>La déréglementation favorise-t-elle les investissements en infrastructure? : Analyse basée sur les entreprises des pays de l'OCDE<BR>Ce papier vise à étudier l’effet des politiques de déréglementation sur les investissements des entreprises des secteurs des infrastructures. L’analyse s’étend sur la période 1980-2006, qui a été caractérisée par la libéralisation et la privatisation des secteurs des infrastructures dans les pays de l’OCDE. Nous évaluons le rapport de plusieurs dimensions du cadre réglementaire, comme le niveau des barrières à l’entrée, détention publique, intégration verticale et l’existence d’un régulateur sectoriel indépendant avec le niveau d’investissement des entreprises. L’analyse montre que l’impact du cadre réglementaire sur l’investissement varie selon le secteur et le type d’entreprise. Une réduction des barrières à l’entrée encourage l’investissement dans le secteur de l’électricité, mais seulement pour les grandes entreprises. Dans le secteur des télécommunications, l’effet est l’inverse, avec un effet négatif des barrières à l’entrée sur l’investissement des entreprises les plus petites. L’existence d’un régulateur sectoriel indépendant favorise l’investissement dans le secteur des télécommunications, mais cet effet semble être produit uniquement par les grandes entreprises du secteur, tandis que pour les entreprises les plus petites du secteur du gaz un régulateur indépendant défavorise l’investissement. En Europe, le degré d’intégration verticale est positivement associé au taux d’investissement dans le secteur de l’électricité. |
| Keywords: | investment, regulation, infrastructure, firm level data, investissement, réglementation, infrastructure, données de firmes |
| JEL: | K2 L5 L92 L94 L95 L96 |
| Date: | 2011–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:892-en&r=hme |
| By: | Alan L. Gustman; Thomas L. Steinmeier; Nahid Tabatabai |
| Abstract: | Studies using data from the early 1990s suggested that while the progressive Social Security benefit formula succeeded in redistributing benefits from individuals with high earnings to individuals with low earnings, it was much less successful in redistributing benefits from households with high earnings to households with low earnings. Wives often earned much less than their husbands. As a result, much of the redistribution at the individual level was effectively from high earning husbands to their own lower earning wives. In addition, spouse and survivor benefits accrue disproportionately to women from high income households. Both factors mitigate redistribution at the household level. This paper compares outcomes for the earlier cohort with those of a cohort born twelve years later. The aim of the study is to see whether, after the recent growth in two earner households, and the growth in women's labor market activity and earnings, the Social Security system now fosters somewhat more redistribution from high to low earning households. The analysis is based on data from the Health and Retirement Study and includes members of households with at least one person age 51 to 56 in either 1992 or in 2004. As expected, women enjoyed a more rapid growth of labor force participation, hours of work and covered earnings than men. This increased the redistribution of Social Security benefits among households. Nevertheless, a considerable gap remains between the labor market activities and earnings of women versus men. As a result, the Social Security system remains much less successful in redistributing benefits from households with high covered earnings to those with lower covered earnings than in redistributing benefits from individuals with high covered earnings to those with lower covered earnings. |
| JEL: | D31 H55 J11 J14 J16 J18 J26 J38 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17439&r=hme |
| By: | Tausch, Arno |
| Abstract: | In this contribution, we look again at the trajectory and the efficiency of the ‘European social model’ (EMS). We re-apply an econometric methodology, which was already used in the study Herrmann, Heshmati et al., 2008, 2009. In that study, the authors said that apart from Finland and the Netherlands, some new EU-27 member countries, especially the Czech Republic and Slovenia, provided some answers to the question about the efficiency of state expenditures in reducing poverty rates, while countries like the Federal Republic of Germany achieved only a mediocre ranking. Considering the fact that social expenditures often amount to ¼ or even 1/3 of the GDP in advanced Western democracies, this question has acquired new and additional importance during the current international debt crisis, affecting several European countries such as Greece. Put in simple terms: aren’t the Germans, French … also throwing a lot of money out of the window, while the world is now fixed on the Greeks? The most influential social science journal article on the subject, mentioning the ESM in the title, was written by Scharpf, 2002 and maintains that efforts to adopt European social policies are politically impeded by the diversity of national welfare states, differing not only in levels of economic development and hence in their ability to pay for social transfers and services but, even more significantly, in their normative aspirations and institutional structures. Hyman, 2005, even says that there is simply no agreement what 'social Europe' means in the first place, let alone how it should be defended against the challenges inherent in the neoliberal approach to economic integration. Jepsen and Pascual, 2005 were equally sceptical about the subject. They even maintain that the very use of the concept under scrutiny here – the EMS - in the academic and political debate is simply a rhetorical resource intended to legitimize the politically constructed and identity-building project of the EU institutions. In our re-analysis of the underlying issues, we first come to the conclusion that the USA not only had lower unemployment and higher economic growth rates than the EU-15. Globalization inflows were smaller than in the EU-15, and – most importantly – the tendency towards sectoral inequality as a proxy for overall inequality was less pronounced than in the EU-15. The average, unweighted performance of the other Western democracies rather resembles the European performance. So the dire fact number one, established in this essay, is that during globalization, the ‘European social model’ is not better avoiding the ills of inequality than the USA or other Western democracies. Following the methodology, developed in Herrmann et al., 2008, 2009, and based on the latest Eurostat data, we then come to the conclusion that currently European social policy only lifts 6.80% of the total European population, i.e. 29.44% of the poor population, out of poverty. A very huge amount of money is required for this. Social transfers amount to ¼ of the European GDP in 2006. To lift just 1% of the population out of poverty, a staggering 3.66% of the GDP is now needed on the level of the EU-27. We also show that Sweden, Luxembourg, Finland, Spain, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and France currently spend 5% or more of their GDP to lift just 1% of the population out of poverty. In most EU-27 member countries, only 1/3 or less of the poor population are lifted out of poverty by social transfers. I.e. 2/3 or more of the population are practically not reached by this gigantic machinery EMS, which consumes ¼ of European GDP. In accordance with Herrmann et al. 2008, 2009, we also analyze the OECD figures on how much it costs to lift 1% of the population out of poverty. Our analysis reveals that there are only many different single experiences and models of social policy, and these experiences do not confirm stereotypes, typologies or other generalized approaches. Our conclusions from the data for 2003 suggest that very efficient models, like the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic, but also Luxembourg, Hungary and Poland, have to be contrasted by the laggards and high-cost models, like Spain and Mexico, but also Finland, Switzerland, New Zealand, and South Korea. The comparison of the aggregate efficiency parameters would even suggest that there was a convergence of efficiency trends from the mid-1980s onwards across the Atlantic. Again applying the politometric methods, developed in the study Hermann et. al. 2008, 2009, we document the fact that the PIIGS – i.e. Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, which currently are at the centre of the financial storm, affecting Europe (Baglioni and Cherubini, 2010; Andrade and Chhaochharia, 2010; and Zemanek, 2010), do not perform well on our refined social protection expenditure effectiveness indicator. The five leading countries according to our analysis with the latest Eurostat 2008 data are Hungary; Slovakia; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; and Poland, which are all new member states of the Union. The least efficient social sectors are to be found in Latvia, Estonia, the UK and Greece. We also present data from a re-analysis of the UNICEF report (2007) on child poverty in advanced countries. Based on a standard SPSS XVIII principal component analysis of the UNICEF variables, and weighting the five resulting factors according to their contribution in explaining the total variance of the model we arrive at the conclusion that there is no evidence which would suggest that there is a single European social model, to be distinguished from the rest of other Western countries. Not surprisingly, the Scandinavians and North-west Europeans lead the way: Finland; Sweden; Netherlands; Switzerland and Denmark. The most lamentable situation of young people was to be encountered in the Baltic Republics, the USA and Japan. Confronted with the dire fact that neither the European political class, nor the academic community have come up with convincing evidence on the European social model (EMS), we arrive at the final conclusion that the ESM hardly exists. |
| Keywords: | social spending; European Commission; index numbers and aggregation; cross-sectional models; spatial models; economic integration; regional economic activity; international factor movements; international political economy |
| JEL: | F15 C43 F5 F2 C21 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33516&r=hme |
| By: | Pierre-André Mangolte (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord - Université Paris-Nord - Paris XIII - CNRS : UMR7234) |
| Abstract: | Ce texte fait partie d'une étude (première partie) sur le phénomène des free softwares. Il y a ici une remise en cause du principe du droit exclusif d'un auteur (individu ou firme) sur son œuvre (le logiciel) et les usages directs ou dérivés de celui-ci. En effet, les licences de logiciels libres (licences BSD, GPL, etc.) donnent des droits d'usage particulièrement étendus aux utilisateurs; reposant sur l'idée que les programmes ont vocation a être utilisés, ré-utilisés, transformés et développés par leurs utilisateurs, lesquels doivent donc pouvoir, en droit et en pratique, accèder librement au code-source. Ces licences sont créatrices d'une sorte de commun (à vocation universelle), analogue au domaine public où finissent par tomber - de plus en plus tard à notre époque - toutes les oeuvres sous droit d'auteur. Le papier analyse l'émergence historique de ce commun et en dresse une cartographie, avec en particulier le rôle de la clause copyleft présente dans certaines licences, qui sécurise ce commun, en interdisant toute reprivatisation ultérieure du code source. |
| Keywords: | communs; logiciel libre; logiciel open source; copyleft |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cepnwp:hal-00624455&r=hme |
| By: | Mussa, Richard |
| Abstract: | The allocation of resources within households may not be equal, and this may lead to different outcomes including health outcomes for household members. This paper investigates whether child nutrition inequalities are attributable to differences between households or differences within households in Malawi. Using a linear model with random effects, we derive a method to estimate the between and within contributions of both the explained and unexplained variances of child nutrition. Child nutrition is measured using height-for-age z-scores, and weight-for-height z-scores. The empirical analysis uses the 2006 multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS) data. We find evidence of within household nutritional bias along gender, age, and birth order lines in Malawi. The results for rural and urban areas, as well as ethnic and religious groups show that nutrition inequalities largely stem from differences within households. Intrahousehold nutrition inequalities are however less explained by observables, while interhousehold inequalities are more explained by observables. |
| Keywords: | Inequality; nutrition; Malawi |
| JEL: | D13 I12 |
| Date: | 2011–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:33498&r=hme |
| By: | Thomas Bossuroy |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the individual determinants of ethnic identication using large sample surveys (about 30,000 respondents) representative of seven capitals of West-African countries. A small model that relates ethnic identication to an investment in ethnic capital suggests that individuals initially deprived of social or human capital resort to ethnicity to get socially inserted, and do even more so if their ethnic group itself is well inserted. Empirical results are consistent with this simple theory. First, education lowers ethnic salience. Second, ethnic identication is higher for uneducated unemployed or informal workers who seek a new or better job, and is further raised by the share of the individual's ethnic group integrated on the job market. Third, ethnic identication is higher among migrants, and raised by the share of the migrant's ethnic group that is employed. Group solidarity makes ethnic identity more salient for individuals deprived of other means for upward mobility. |
| Keywords: | Ethnicity, Identity, Social capital, Networks, Africa |
| JEL: | A13 A14 D74 O17 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:242&r=hme |
| By: | Madina Rival (GREG - CRC - Groupe de recherche en économie et en gestion – Centre de recherche en comptabilité - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM)) |
| Abstract: | Il existe pour une entreprise plusieurs manières d'influencer une décision publique que nous appelleront stratégies politiques (à l'américaine) ou lobbying (à l'européenne). Le lobbying est un élément central et peu étudié (surtout en Europe) des " non market strategies " (Responsabilité Sociale de l'Entreprise et stratégies politiques) qui, avec les stratégies " orientées produit " forment l'ensemble de la stratégie. Les lobbyistes sont de plus en plus nombreux, y compris en France (traditionnellement peu favorable à la représentation des intérêts privés). C'est pourquoi, les chercheurs en stratégie comme les praticiens du lobbying (responsables en entreprise ou cabinets spécialisés) sont intéressés par une description plus claire des pratiques. La question centrale de cet article est donc la suivante : en 2010, période troublée économiquement et socialement, les grandes entreprises françaises ont-elles interagi officiellement avec la décision publique et si oui comment ? Une enquête a été conduite auprès des 120 plus grandes entreprises françaises et filiales d'entreprises étrangères (critère du chiffre d'affaires et des ressources humaines) sous la forme d'un questionnaire qui a été élaboré par des professionnels des affaires publiques afin de pouvoir comparer les réponses et en retirer des prescriptions opérationnelles. Au final, cette enquête met en évidence l'existence de différents types d'entreprises au regard de la place donnée au lobbying : dans la moitié des cas étudiés, le lobbying est une stratégie interne forte, pour 25% il s'agit d'une fonction essentiellement externalisée alors que 18% des entreprises interrogées la traitent comme de la communication et 7% disent ne pas faire de lobbying ! |
| Keywords: | Lobbying, stratégies politiques d'entreprises, enquête |
| Date: | 2011–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00623937&r=hme |
| By: | Susumu Imai (Queen`s University, Department of Economics); Derek Stacey (Queen`s University, Department of Economics); Casey Warman (Queen`s University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We examine the ability of male immigrants to transfer their occupational human capital using information from the O*NET and a unique dataset that includes both the last source country occupation and the first four years of occupations in Canada. We first augment a model of occupational choice and skill accumulation to derive predictions about the cross-border transferability of occupational human capital. We then test the empirical implications using the skill requirements of pre- and post-immigration occupations. We find that male immigrants to Canada were employed in source country occupations that required high levels of cognitive skills, but relied less intently on manual skills. Following immigration, they find initial employment in occupations that require the opposite. Regression analysis uncovers large returns to the quantitative skill requirements of Canadian occupations, but no returns to source country skill requirements. Finally, our empirical findings suggests that occupational skill gaps are detrimental to immigrants` earnings. |
| Keywords: | occupational mobility, skills, human capital, immigration |
| JEL: | J24 J31 J61 J71 J80 J62 D83 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1275&r=hme |
| By: | Alison Stegman |
| Abstract: | The concept of convergence, defined either narrowly, through productivity or income per capita, or broadly, across a range of economic variables, has become fundamental to the way we assess, analyse and project economic growth in developing economies. To the extent that economic growth projections are designed to reflect empirical behaviour, there is a need to identify relationships between and within key projection variables. To date the empirical analysis of convergence has been controversial. There is a strong argument that economic growth should be projection at a detailed sectoral level (see McKibbin et al (2009)). In practice, data limitations mean that industry level relationships are difficult to uncover and macroeconomic aggregate behaviours are often imposed on disaggregated data. The analysis in this paper attempts to uncover the key cross country trends in sectoral level productivity data. Whilst productivity convergence is evident in some sectors, generally service sectors, it is not evident in others. In part, aggregate convergence trends across developed economies appear to be driven by structural change. We generalise this result and argue that a combination of convergence and structural development assumptions could improve the empirical relevance of economic growth projection models. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:camaaa:2011-32&r=hme |