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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Bernhard Boockmann; Jan Fries; Christian Göbel |
| Abstract: | We analyse the effects of specific measures for older employees (SMOE) on employment duration of workers aged 40 and above. Using longitudinal employer-employee data for German establishments, we account for worker and establishment heterogeneity and correct for stock-sampling. We find a positive effect of mixed-aged team work on employment duration and a negative effect of a part-time scheme addressed at older workers. Employment duration does not appear to be related to other SMOE, such as training and specific equipment of workplaces. |
| Keywords: | older workers, human resources policies, SMOE, employment duration,linked employer-employee data, age, tenure. |
| JEL: | J14 J21 J26 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaw:iawdip:89&r=hrm |
| By: | J. Michelle Brock (EBRD); Andreas Lange (University of Hamburg); Kenneth L. Leonard (University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: | We examine the correlation between the generosity of clinicians – as measured in a laboratory experiment – and the quality of care in their normal practices under three different intrinsic incentive schemes. Specifically, we observe clinicians in their normal work environment, when a peer observes them and six weeks after an encouragement visit from a peer. Clinicians who give at least half of their endowment to a stranger in the laboratory (generous) provide 10 per cent better quality care than those who do not. In addition, the average clinician provides about 4 per cent better quality when observed by a peer and 10 per cent higher quality care after the encouragement visit. Importantly, we find that generous clinicians react to peer scrutiny and encouragement in the same way as non-generous clinicians. Many clinicians are intrinsically motivated to provide higher quality care. However, most clinicians respond to increased intrinsic incentives in the form of scrutiny and encouragement from peers. |
| Keywords: | intrinsic incentives, health care quality, altruism, professionalism, Tanzania, experimental economics, Hawthorne effect, Encouragement effect, Study effect |
| JEL: | I15 O19 C91 C93 J2 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebd:wpaper:147&r=hrm |
| By: | Patricia L. Costa; Ana Passos; Arnold B. Bakker |
| Abstract: | Although teams are an important structure of organizations, most studies on work engagement focus almost exclusively the individual-level. The main goals of this paper are to argue that the construct of work engagement can be conceptualized at the team level and to discuss theoretically some of its possible emergence processes. A conceptual model that explains under which conditions team work engagement is more likely to emerge is developed. This model is developed based on the literature on work engagement, social identity theory, emotional contagion, and group theories and we developed propositions for future research. We propose that team work engagement is rooted on team members’ shared perception of their team’s level of engagement and that it emerges within a team through member’s emotional interactions. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of work engagement in teams allows managers to actively promote high levels of engagement, therefore enhancing teams’ performance levels. Studying a higher level construct is not just a methodological or data analysis question, but is essentially a theoretical one. Collective constructs that are driven from individual-level ones often lack a solid theoretical base that supports their existence. This paper fills that gap, introducing a clear definition of team work engagement, reflecting on the differences between levels and suggesting concrete factors for its emergence. |
| Keywords: | Work Engagement; Collective Constructs; Work Teams |
| Date: | 2012–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isc:iscwp2:bruwp1206&r=hrm |
| By: | Carlsson, Magnus (Linnaeus University); Dahl, Gordon B. (University of California, San Diego); Rooth, Dan-Olof (Linnaeus University) |
| Abstract: | How schooling affects cognitive skills is a fundamental question for studies of human capital and labor markets. While scores on cognitive ability tests are positively associated with schooling, it has proven difficult to ascertain whether this relationship is causal. Moreover, the effect of schooling is difficult to separate from the confounding factors of age at test date, relative age within a classroom, season of birth, and cohort effects. In this paper, we exploit conditionally random variation in the assigned test date for a battery of cognitive tests which almost all 18 year-old males were required to take in preparation for military service in Sweden. Both age at test date and number of days spent in school vary randomly across individuals after flexibly controlling for date of birth, parish, and expected graduation date (the three variables the military conditioned on when assigning test date). We find an extra 10 days of school instruction raises cognitive scores on crystallized intelligence tests (synonym and technical comprehension tests) by approximately one percent of a standard deviation, whereas extra nonschool days have almost no effect. The benefit of additional school days is homogeneous, with similar effect sizes based on past grades in school, parental education, and father's earnings. In contrast, test scores on fluid intelligence tests (spatial and logic tests) do not increase with additional days of schooling, but do increase modestly with age. These findings have important implications for questions about the malleability of cognitive skills in young adults, schooling models of signaling versus human capital, the interpretation of test scores in wage regressions, and policies related to the length of the school year. |
| Keywords: | cognitive skill formation, human capital |
| JEL: | J24 I20 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6913&r=hrm |
| By: | Pekkarinen, Tuomas (Aalto University); Uusitalo, Roope (HECER) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effects of aging on productivity using piece-rate earnings as a proxy for worker output. Our data contain the population of Finnish blue collar workers in 61 different industries during 1990-2002. A unique feature of the data is that we can observe the exact hours worked on piece rates and on fixed time rates as well as earnings under both performance schemes. We account for the selection into piece rates by using firm-level changes in pay systems as instruments for the probability of working on piece rates. A subset of workers also receive both piece rates and time rates within the same quarter. For these workers, we can directly compare the age profile of hourly earnings under piece rates and fixed rates. The results indicate that productivity increases with age until age 40 after which it stays roughly constant. Wage growth is faster than productivity growth for young workers but after age 40 both wages and productivity grow approximately at the same rate. |
| Keywords: | piece rates, productivity, aging |
| JEL: | J1 J24 J33 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6909&r=hrm |
| By: | Pencavel, John (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | A worker co-operative is a firm that is owned and managed by those who work in it. This paper provides a selective review of research in economics on worker cooperatives. It concentrates on the volatility of earnings and employment in the co-ops compared with conventional capitalist firms; on the long-term viability of co-ops; on the relative productive efficiency of co-ops; and on problems of democratic governance within co-ops. Using modern empirical methods applied to large numbers of observations, recent research has substantially enhanced our understanding of worker co-ops. |
| Keywords: | worker cooperatives, comparative efficiency, viability |
| JEL: | J54 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6932&r=hrm |
| By: | Bundaleska, Elena |
| Abstract: | The success of a good entrepreneur does not depend only on his/her innova-tiveness, education, specialized knowledge, talent, boldness, similar, but very much so on his/her abilities to manage people. The aim of this article is to suggest practical rec-ommendations for entrepreneurs on how to develop or improve their people management skills. The recommendations are not all-inclusive. They are just a starting point. Each en-trepreneur should develop from there, based on personal experience. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneur; management skills; motivation; delegating; instructing |
| JEL: | L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:41972&r=hrm |
| By: | Alberto Bayo-Moriones (Departamento de Gestión de Empresas-UPNA); Jose Enrique Galdon-Sanchez (Departamento de Economía-UPNA); Sara Martinez-de-Morentin (Departamento de Economía-UPNA) |
| Abstract: | The determinants of the dimensions that shape a formal system of performance appraisal are studied in relation to a sample of Spanish manufacturing establishments. In particular, the factors that influence the measures used to evaluate performance, the person who carries out such appraisal and its frequency are analysed. Our results show that the characteristics of the establishment exert a significant influence on the configuration of performance appraisal. Specifically, we find that the use of practices complementary to performance evaluation and the structural factors of the establishment are found to correlate closely with the dimensions of formal performance appraisal. |
| Keywords: | performance appraisal, monitoring, establishment characteristics, dimensions of appraisal |
| JEL: | M12 M5 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nav:ecupna:1207&r=hrm |
| By: | Deborah Ann Blackman; Fiona Buick; Michael O'Donnell; Janine L. O'Flynn; Damian West |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a new conceptualisation of high performance government for the public sector. Despite the concerted focus on performance management in both the public and private sectors, the performance puzzle remains. In part, we argue, this is because of a failure to recognise the complex interactions across the micro, meso, and macro levels of performance management that characterise such systems in the public sector. We consider the current attention on system-wide 'high performance government', review the existing literature on high performance organisations, and high performance individuals and groups, and then posit a further, and to date missing, level of analysis - high performance governance. The report is part of a multi-year collaborative research project between the Australian National University, the University of Canberra, the University of New South Wales and the Australian Public Service Commission as part of the Ahead of the Game blueprint for reform in the Australian public service. |
| Keywords: | Public Sector, performance management, high performance organization, high performance government, reform |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:crwfrp:1209&r=hrm |