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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Bryan Engelhardt (University of Iowa); Guillaume Rocheteau (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland); Peter Rupert (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: | This paper extends the Pissarides (2000) model of the labor market to include crime and punishment à la Becker (1968). All workers, irrespective of their labor force status can commit crimes and the employment contract is determined optimally. The model is used to study, analytically and quantitatively, the effects of various labor market and crime policies. For instance, a more generous unemployment insurance system reduces the crime rate of the unemployed but its effect on the crime rate of the employed depends on job duration and jail sentences. When the model is calibrated to U.S. data, the overall effect on crime is positive but quantitatively small. Wage subsidies reduce unemployment and crime rates of employed and unemployed workers, and improve society's welfare. Hiring subsidies reduce unemployment but they can raise the crime rate of employed workers. Crime policies (police technology and jail sentences) affect crime rates significantly but have only negligible effects on the labor market. |
| Keywords: | crime, unemployment, search, matching, |
| Date: | 2007–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucsbec:06-07&r=lab |
| By: | João Cerejeira Silva (Universidade do Minho - NIPE) |
| Abstract: | Empirically very little is known about the impact of an increase in the minimum wage of young workers on the job-skill composition. This is an important question because small (or zero) effects on teenage employment may mask a substitution of more for less-skilled teenagers. Therefore, the estimation of the elasticity of substitution between skilled and unskilled workers is required. This paper will consider the increase in the minimum wage of young workers that took place in Portugal on the 1st January, 1987. This change is of particular interest, not only because it was so large (33% in real terms) and affected a significant share of workers under 20 years old (about 20%), but also because it motivated a decrease in the wage premium earned by young skilled workers from 1.24 to 1.20. The results are consistent with the view that the minimum wage increase had some negative impact on employment of unskilled workers, the most affected group: an increase of 1% in wage induced by the increase in minimum wage reduces employment of this group of workers between 0.42% to 0.47%. Nevertheless, this negative impact was partially compensated by the substitution of more for less-skilled teenagers, because there is some evidence that the elasticity of substitution between young workers with different skills is different from zero. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:04/2008&r=lab |
| By: | Ludsteck, Johannes (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Using unique large data sets from the German employment and unemployment register 1985-2001, we investigate cyclicality of wages at the district level for medium skilled establishment stayers and movers. The large size of the data set enables us to differentiate wage responses further with respect to relative wage positions (quantiles) of workers. Our results show that responses of wages to variations in regional unemployment are much more pronounced for low wage workers and new hires, implying that cyclical adjustment of wages is driven mainly by these groups. Our results can be explained by theories of specific human capital or simultaneous adjustment of wage offers and hiring standards put forward in seminal contributions by Reder (1955) and Mortensen (1970)." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | J31 J41 C24 |
| Date: | 2008–02–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200811&r=lab |
| By: | Dekker, Ronald |
| Abstract: | In the last 25 years the number of flexible jobs has been expanding in most European countries. For example, in the Netherlands in 1995, about 11 per cent of workers was working in a fixed-term temporary job and about 37 per cent of workers was working in a part-time job. Seven years later, in 2002 these percentages had increased to 14 per cent and 44 per cent. It should be noted however, that the increase in temporary jobs already reached 13 per cent in 1998 and is fairly stable since, whereas the percentage of part-time jobs is still increasing in 2002. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will be on several forms of contractual flexibilisation: temporary contracts , small part-time contracts , on-call and replacement contracts, casual and seasonal work and work with temporary work agencies. These jobs are all defined as non-standard employment.The labour market in the Netherlands is characterised by quite some mobility between the various labour market states. The high mobility rates between non-standard and standard jobs, except for the small jobs and on-call contracts as part of non-standard employment, provide arguments for defending the hypothesis that the Dutch labour market is not characterised by a clear-cut segmentation of non-standard and standard jobs. An important finding is that there is a high degree of path dependence in labour market transitions. Earlier experience in standard employment increases the transition probabilities into standard employment, both for the nonemployed and for non-standard workers. Earlier experience in either non-standard or non-standard employment also reduces the probability of ‘falling back’ into nonemployment. Previous unemployment does not reduce the chances of finding a job for the nonemployed but does reduce the chances of finding a standard job for non-standard workers. |
| Keywords: | job mobility; non-standard employment; panel data; Netherlands |
| JEL: | J62 C23 C15 |
| Date: | 2007–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7385&r=lab |
| By: | Ronald Bachmann; Sebastian Braun |
| Abstract: | Using an administrative data set containing daily information on individual workers' employment histories, we investigate how workers' labour market transitions are affected by international out- sourcing. In order to do so, we estimate hazard rate models for match separations, as well as for worker flows from employment to another job, to unemployment, and to out of the labour force. Outsourcing is found to have no significant impact on job stability in the manufacturing sector, but it is associated with increased job stability in the service sector. Furthermore, especially in the service sector the effect of outsourcing varies across skill levels. An analysis of the different labour market flows shows that labour market transitions are not affected symmetrically by in- ternational outsourcing. |
| Keywords: | Job stability, labour market transitions, worker flows, outsourcing, duration analysis |
| JEL: | F16 J63 J23 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2008-020&r=lab |
| By: | Tito Boeri; Michael C. Burda |
| Abstract: | Standard models of equilibrium unemployment assume exogenous labour market institutions and flexible wage determination. This paper models wage rigidity and collective bargaining endogenously, when workers differ by observable skill and may adopt either individualised or collective wage bargaining. In the calibrated model, a substantial fraction of workers and firms as well as the median voter prefer collective bargaining to the decentralised regime. A fundamental distortion of the separation decision represented by employment protection (a firing tax) is necessary for such preferences to emerge. Endogenizing collective bargaining can significantly modify comparative statics effects of policy arising in a single-regime setting. |
| Keywords: | Wage rigidity, employment protection, equilibrium unemployment |
| JEL: | J5 J6 D7 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2008-021&r=lab |
| By: | Massimiliano Vatiero |
| Abstract: | In accordance with the concept of transaction as introduced by John R. Commons we willinvestigate the contractual and market remedies which labour law may implement to make ‘order’ in theemployer-employee relationship.In this view, one of the most important contractual remedies is the minimum wage. It demarks an inalienabledefault point under which wage bargaining can not drop. Unlike, employability represents the mostimportant concept in order to take into explicit account market dynamics. In this respect, employmentcompensation and public employment offices, involving parties’ outside options, are widely treated.Lastly, we will prove that these two kinds of legal intervention (contract and market regarding) are derivedfrom Commons distinction between liberty and freedom. |
| Keywords: | John R. Commons, employability, labour law and economics |
| JEL: | B25 B52 J38 J65 K31 |
| Date: | 2007–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:521&r=lab |
| By: | Eriksson, Rickard (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Using interview data on preferences for changes in own and spouse’s labor supply, I find that men put a higher value on women’s non-market time than vice versa. This is the opposite of what the unitary model of the household predicts when both spouses participate in labor market work. |
| Keywords: | Household models; Labor supply; Stated preferences |
| JEL: | D12 H31 J12 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2008_002&r=lab |
| By: | Alain Jousten; Mathieu Lefebvre; Sergio Perelman; Pierre Pestieau |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we describe the changes of (early) retirement programs over time and study the link between trends in elderly labor force participation and youth unemployment. From a theoretical point of view, there is no convincing argument that the idea of a lump-of-labor should hold. Our empirical results comfort this finding, and indicate a very weak link, if any, between elderly retirement and activity among the young and the prime-age populations. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment , Belgium , Labor supply , Pensions , |
| Date: | 2008–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:08/30&r=lab |
| By: | Ravi Balakrishnan |
| Abstract: | To understand better Canada's smooth reallocation of labor in response to the recent commodity price boom, but seemingly poor productivity performance, this paper examines job and firm dynamics in Canada relative to the United States. Overall, it finds that while Canada's labor market efficiency seems comparable to that of the United States, product market rigidities appear to be reducing Canada's capacity for creative destruction, hence undermining productivity growth. |
| Keywords: | Productivity , Canada , Labor markets , Employment , Commodity prices , |
| Date: | 2008–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:08/31&r=lab |
| By: | Anthony Harris (Centre for Health Economics, Monash University) |
| Abstract: | Reducing chronic disease has been identified as a priority for both health and labour force productivity improvement. The study estimated the influence of clinically diagnosed diabetes and cardiovascular disease on labour supply in men and women aged over 25 taking account of the observed and unobserved factors that influence both the risk of these chronic diseases and labour force participation. The results show that diabetes and cardiovascular disease together have a strong impact on labour market outcomes particularly for males, and that obesity, insufficient exercise, hypertension, lipid abnormality, smoking and parental diabetes all have a significant indirect effect on labour force participation. . |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mhe:cherps:2008-25&r=lab |
| By: | Laszlo Goerke; Markus Pannenberg |
| Abstract: | In an open-shop model of trade union membership with heterogeneity in risk attitudes, a worker's relative risk aversion can affect the decision to join a trade union. Furthermore, a shift in risk attitudes can alter collective bargaining outcomes. Using German panel data (GSOEP) and three novel direct measures of individual risk aversion, we find evidence of a significantly positive relationship between risk aversion and the likelihood of union membership. Additionally, we observe a negative correlation between bargained wages in aggregate and average risk preferences of union members. Our results suggest that an overall increase in risk aversion contributes to wage moderation and promotes employment. |
| Keywords: | Employment, membership, risk aversion, trade union |
| JEL: | J |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp770&r=lab |
| By: | Schnabel, Claus; Kohaut, Susanne (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Brixy, Udo (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Using a linked employer-employee dataset and taking the perspective of individuals rather than firms, this paper analyzes some effects of joining start-ups. We show that entrants in new firms differ from those joining incumbent firms, and we use a matching approach to compare a group of employees joining new firms in 1995/96 with a control group entering incumbent firms. Our results indicate that individuals' employment stability was higher in incumbent than in newly founded firms while their risk of becoming unemployed was lower. In particular in eastern Germany, joining firms that were older than six years was the best strategy." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2008–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200809&r=lab |
| By: | Robinson, Jonathan; Yeh, Ethan |
| Abstract: | Formal and informal commercial sex work is a way of life for many poor women in developing countries. Though sex workers have long been identified as crucial in affecting the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the nature of sex-for-money transactions remains poorly understood. Using a unique panel dataset constructed from 192 self-reported sex worker diaries which include detailed information on sexual behavior, labor supply, and income shocks, we find that sex workers adjust their supply of risky, better compensated sex to cope with unexpected income shocks, exposing themselves to increased risk of HIV infection. In particular, women are 3.2% more likely to see a client, 21.7% more likely to have anal sex, and 20.6% more likely to have unprotected sex on days in which a household member falls ill. Women also increase their supply of risky sex on days after missing work due to STI symptoms. Given that HIV prevalence has been estimated at 9.8% in this part of Kenya, these behavioral responses entail significant health risks for sex workers and their partners, and suggests that sex workers are unable to cope with income risk through other formal or informal consumption smoothing mechanisms. |
| JEL: | O12 |
| Date: | 2008–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7350&r=lab |
| By: | Chris van Klaveren (University of Amsterdam); Bernard M.S. van Praag (Universiteit van Amsterdam); Henriette Maassen van den Brink (Universiteit van Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we consider an empirical collective household model of time allocation for two- earner households. The novelty of this paper is that we estimate a version of the collective household model, where the internally produced goods and the externally purchased goods are assumed to be public. The empirical results suggest that: (1) Preferences of men and women differ; (2) Although there are significant individual variations, on average the utility functions of men and women are equally weighted in the household utility function; (3) Differences in the ratio of the partners’ hourly wages are explanatory for how individual utilities are weighted in the household utility function. (4) The female’s preference for household production is influenced by family size, but this does not hold for the male; (5) Both the male and the female have a backward-bending labor supply curve; (6) Labor-supply curves are forward-bending with respect to the partner’s wage rate; (7) Our model rejects the unitary <I>Slutsky</I> symmetry condition. |
| Keywords: | collective household models; household behavior; labor supply; intra-household; time allocation |
| JEL: | D12 D13 J22 |
| Date: | 2008–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20080018&r=lab |
| By: | Akiko Maruyama (Postgraduate, Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | This paper is an examination of the influence of an individual’s self-confidence (over- confidence or underconfidence) on others in the marriage market. We consider a model in which there are three types of men and women according to marital charm, and some men/women overestimate/underestimate their own types. The result obtained is that the self-confidence of some single individuals affects not only themselves but also the marital behavior of other rational singles in the market. Furthermore, self-confidence improves the welfare of the economy if there are enough underconfident men/women or if there are sufficiently few overconfident men/women in the marriage market. |
| Keywords: | marriage, search, overconfidence, underconfidence |
| JEL: | D82 D83 J12 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:36&r=lab |
| By: | Giles, John; de Brauw, Alan |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how reductions of barriers to migration affect the decision of middle school graduates to attend high school in rural China. Change in the cost of migration is identified using exogenous variation across counties in the timing of national identity card distribution, which made it easier for rural migrants to register as temporary residents in urban destinations. The analysis first shows that timing of identification card distribution is unrelated to local rainfall shocks affecting migration decisions, and that timing is not related to proxies reflecting time-varying changes in village policy or administrative capacity. The findings show a robust negative relationship between migrant opportunity and high school enrollment. The mechanisms behind the negative relationship are suggested by observed increases in subsequent local and migrant non-agricultural employment of high school age young adults as the size of the current village migr ant network increases. |
| Keywords: | Access to Finance,Population Policies,Education For All,Tertiary Education,Secondary Education |
| Date: | 2008–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4526&r=lab |
| By: | Fang Yao |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to study the quantitative significance of lumpy labor adjustment as a propagation mechanism for business cycles. In the baseline model, I introduce lumpy job turnover in the spirit of Taylor (1980) and Calvo (1983) in a DSGE framework and find that it performs as same as the quadratic-adjustment-cost model at the aggregate level, but different at firm’s level. In particular, It can capture lumpy labor adjustment at plant’s level through the ’front-loading effect’. Then I implement the Weibull distribution in the same framework to incorporate the increasing hazards of the labor adjustment process, which is supported by the evidence from micro data. This extension represents a substantial improvement over benchmark models. It can replicate high volatility of employment, low volatile labor productivity and persistent dynamics in output. Based on these results, I conclude that intratemporal substitution between the two production factors and the aggregation mechanism play an important role in the propagation mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Business cycles, Lumpy labor adjustment, Weibull distribution, Increasing hazard function |
| JEL: | E32 E24 E22 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2008-022&r=lab |
| By: | Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA, DIW Berlin, Bonn University); Martin Kahanec (IZA); Amelie Constant (IZA, DIW DC, Georgetown University); Don DeVoretz (IZA, Simon Fraser University); Liliya Gataullina (IZA, DIW Berlin); Anzelika Zaiceva (IZA, University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | Report for the High Level Advisory Group on Social and Labour Market Integration of Ethnic Minorities and the European Commission |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izarrs:16&r=lab |
| By: | Konle-Seidl, Regina (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Institutional changes in the governance of employment services were the starting point of comprehensive labour market and social policy reforms - the so-called Hartz-reforms (2003-2005) - in Germany. Particularly with the Hartz IV reform in 2005 Germany's status- and occupation-oriented social protection regime has been relinquished for a larger share of dependent population. At the interface of labour market and social policy high shares of meanstested income support recipients are going to be activated now. In line with similar developments in other countries the challenge for Germany's public employment and social services is the jointly managing of activation measures and income support policies in order to increase employment and to avoid exclusion. To deal with this challenge several European countries have set up 'single gateways' and 'one-stop shops' by merging the administration of different income support schemes (unemployment, work disability, social assistance) with employment and welfare services. The changes in the realm of employment services in Germany, however, follow a different path. Instead of implementing a single gateway for all unemployed and inactive working age people a two-tier or even three-tier system was created: Public Employment Service (PES) offices for short-term unemployed and joint agencies combining former local PES and municipal social assistance (ARGEn) for recipients of the basic income support. This new structure of administrative bodies, a result of protracted federal negotiations, created governance problems and hampers an effective activation strategy for potential long-term unemployed. The paper aims at a preliminary assessment of the effects of changing governance in employment services and sets out probable paths of future adaptation to arrive at more coherent activation strategies for all employable persons on income support." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | D78 J78 |
| Date: | 2008–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200810&r=lab |
| By: | Susaeta, Lourdes (IESE Business School); Pin, Jose R. (IESE Business School) |
| Abstract: | The tension that multinational companies (MNCs) suffer in the transfer of their HR policies and practices leads us to take an in-depth look at the factors that affect this transfer. We divide the transfer process into five phases, ranging from the configuration of HR policies and practices in the parent company to their internalization by the subsidiaries' employees, and we analyze this process from six theoretical approaches, presenting the corresponding work hypotheses which will bring about the model of analysis. |
| Keywords: | multinational companies; subsidiaries; employees; transfer HR policies and practices; |
| Date: | 2008–01–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:iesewp:d-0724&r=lab |
| By: | Peter Dawson (Department of Economics and International Development, University of Bath); Bruce Morley (Department of Economics and International Development, University of Bath); David Paton (Nottingham University Business School, Jubilee Campus); Dennis Thomas (School of Management and Business, University of Wales Aberystwyth) |
| Abstract: | The tradition of tossing a coin to decide who bats first in a cricket match introduces a randomly-assigned advantage to one team that is unique in sporting contests. In this paper we develop previous work on this issue by examining the impact of the toss on outcomes of day-night one day international games explicitly allowing for relative team quality. We estimate conditional logit models of outcomes using data from day-night internationals played between 1979 and 2005. Other things equal, we find that winning the toss and batting increases the probability of winning by 31%. In contrast, winning the toss does not appear to confer any advantage if the team choose to bowl first. |
| Keywords: | cricket, contest rules, match results, competitive balance, outcome uncertainty |
| JEL: | L83 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:wpaper:0801&r=lab |
| By: | Katsuya Takii (Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP)) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we construct a dynamic assignment model that can provide a unified explanation of persistent differences in productivity, wages, skill mixes and profits between firms in a changing and uncertain environment. Large expected organization capital (firm-specific knowledge) attracts skilled workers, who help to accumulate organization capital. Accumulated large organization capital, in turn, confirms high expectations. This positive feedback brings about persistent differences in these variables in an uncertain environment. We estimate parameters and simulate the model. Our results show that a positive assignment mechanism accounts for a large part of the observed persistence; the difficulty of estimating organization capital plays only an auxiliary role. |
| Keywords: | Organization Capital, Assignment, Persistence |
| JEL: | J24 L25 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osp:wpaper:08e003&r=lab |
| By: | Lelkes, Orsolya |
| Abstract: | Existing evidence suggests a U-shaped relationship between age and life satisfaction, when controlling for income and education and other personal characteristics. On the other hand, there is no clear pattern between old age and happiness without the use of controls. Thus, it is not ageing as such, which results declining happiness, but rather the circumstances which are associated with ageing. Which of these circumstances could be averted? Are the preferences of the elderly are similar to others? The paper aims to explore these issues, using the European Social Survey. The results imply that the varying level of life satisfaction during the life cycle may be explained partly by changing preferences (by the decreasing importance of work, the increasing importance of religion, and the declining disutility of being single), and partly by changing circumstances. While changing preferences seem to increase well-being, changing circumstances seem to decrease it. Exceptions are the few positive changes in circumstances, which are likely to contribute to higher well-being, include increasing religiosity and relatively low pensioners’ poverty across the 21 European countries examined here. Old days thus are happy above all due to changing priorities in life. |
| Keywords: | Life Satisfaction; Age; Preferences |
| JEL: | J14 I31 Z10 |
| Date: | 2008–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7302&r=lab |
| By: | Küpper, Hans-Ulrich; Sandner, Kai |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of heterogeneous (social) preferences on the weighing and the combination of performance measures as well as on firm profitability. We consider rivalry, egoism and altruism as extreme forms within the continuum of possible preferences and show, that the principal normally can exploit both altruistic as well as rivalistic behavior of his agents. Firm profits reach their maximum value, if the agents differentiate as much as possible in their individual characteristics. We provide further insights that in order to realize these gains in profitability, reallocations of participations in performance measures are necessary, where competitive agents have to be privileged compared to altruistic agents. In this context, stochastic interdependencies are of importance since they yield overlapping functions of the share parameters causing additional adaptions in the optimal design of the wage compensation system. |
| Keywords: | Social Preferences; Rivalry; Altruism; Egoism; Team Composition; Performance Measurement |
| JEL: | D23 D82 D86 M41 M52 |
| Date: | 2008–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:2122&r=lab |
| By: | Chen, Li-Ju (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the influence of women's participation in politics on decision making. I take educational expenditure as the target. The results suggest that an increase by one percentage point in the share of female legislators increases by 0.034 percentage points the ratio of educational expenditure to GDP. Moreover, one percentage point increases in the fraction of female legislators would lead to an estimated 0.54% rise in total educational expenditure per capita. The positive effect of female legislators on educational policies is strengthened by forms of government. This study also supports the hypothesis that the identity of legislators matter for policy. |
| Keywords: | Education; female legislator; political economy |
| JEL: | H52 J16 P48 |
| Date: | 2008–02–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2008_0001&r=lab |
| By: | Hugh Gravelle (National Primary Care Research & Development Centre, Centre for Health Economics, University of York); Matt Sutton (Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen); Ada Ma (Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen) |
| Abstract: | Since 2003, 25% of UK general practitioners’ income has been determined by the quality of their care. The 65 clinical quality indicators in this scheme (the Quality and Outcomes Framework) are in the form of ratios, with financial reward increasing linearly with the ratio between a lower and upper threshold. The numerator is the number of patients for whom an indicator is achieved and the denominator is the number of patients the practices declare are suitable for the indicator. The number declared suitable is the number of patients with the relevant condition less the number exception reported by the practice for a specified range of reasons. Exception reporting is designed to avoid harmful treatment resulting from the application of quality targets to patients for whom they were not intended. However, exception reporting also gives GPs the opportunity to exclude patients who should in fact be treated in order to achieve higher financial rewards. This is inappropriate use of exception reporting or ‘gaming’. Practices can also increase income if they are below the upper threshold by reducing the number of patients declared with a condition (prevalence), or by increasing reported prevalence if they were above the upper threshold. This study examines the factors affecting delivered quality (the proportion of prevalent patients for indicators were achieved) and tests for gaming of exceptions and for prevalence reporting being responsive to financial incentives. |
| Keywords: | Quality. Incentives. Gaming. Pay for performance. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chy:respap:34cherp&r=lab |
| By: | Kaiserfeld, Thomas (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The work of the Education Commission from 1745 is one of the more thoroughly studied investigations in Swedish administrative history in general, and the most studied in the Swedish history of education in particular. The aim here is therefore not to provide new empirical results. My hope instead is to be able to provide a different and broader interpretation of its activities than has thus far characterised historical writings on the work of the Commission. As our educational institutions – possibly with the exception of the family in all its various forms – are the most important agents for the vertical or inter-generational transfer of information in Western culture, reforms within this area are extremely valuable for understanding processes of change in our society. Changes to curricula are even more important than the appropriation of new knowledge through the transfer or production of knowledge, for example through research. Changes in education namely create dynamics in one of our most conservative cultural institutions, and are therefore decisive for the development of society in the longer term. For this reason, the battle for the content of education is important, not only for those who conduct it and those affected by it, but also for everyone who has an interest in historical change in general. |
| Keywords: | education; institutions; institutional change |
| JEL: | B15 |
| Date: | 2008–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0113&r=lab |
| By: | Acosta Reveles, Irma Lorena |
| Abstract: | This article proposes a joint reading of the structural changes that are common in the Latin-American agriculture, and that operate in opposition to the labour equitable incorporation of the women in the rural zones. To observe better the process we refer to empirical information about Mexican agro. A conclusion is that nowadays the women of the rural way have more work charge. But the remuneration isn't sufficient to improve substantially their standard of living. El artículo pretende una lectura conjunta de los cambios estructurales que son comunes en la agricultura latinoamericana, y que operan en contra de la inclusión laboral equitativa de las mujeres en las zonas rurales. Para observarlo mejor recurrimos a referentes empíricos en el agro mexicano. Del análisis se desprende que hoy en día las mujeres que residen del medio rural hacen enormes esfuerzos por atender quehaceres que atañen tanto a la reproducción doméstica como a la reproducción social —en virtud de una participación más activa al mercado de trabajo—. Pero la retribución que obtienen de sus múltiples ocupaciones no resulta suficiente para que ellas y sus familias puedan mejorar sustancialmente su nivel de vida. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture; labour; woman; rural area |
| JEL: | Q1 O18 J3 O13 J16 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7366&r=lab |
| By: | Ernesto Savaglio |
| Abstract: | We compare alternative populations of individuals, who differ for many characteristics besides income, in terms of inequality. In order to achieve our aim, we extend the notion of Generalized Lorenz Preorder to a context of multivariate distributions with different marginals. Finally, we show, by using convex analysis, that some conditions, relevant in the analysis of multidimensional inequality, are equivalent to the ordering we introduced |
| Keywords: | Multidimensional Inequality, Generalized Lorenz Preordering, Price-majorization |
| JEL: | D31 D63 |
| Date: | 2007–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:522&r=lab |
| By: | Jean-François Maystadt (Université Catholique de Louvain) |
| Abstract: | Since Collier and Hoeffler (1998, 2004), it has been supported that inequality, measured at national level, does not affect the risk of conflict. Such a result has been much debated in the literature. Based on a revisited theoretical framework, the purpose of the paper is to explore the role of inequality in localized conflicts. We argue that previous findings might be biased by the myopic nature of cross-country analysis. Consistently with the model, Probit estimations indicate that income inequality measured at municipal level was significant in motivating people to support the rebellion in South Mexico. At this geographical level, we also find an increase in income per capita could exacerbate the risk of conflict in a situation where the rebel leader would have greater incentives to loot the local production compared to the opportunity cost associated with fighting for the worker. |
| Keywords: | Rebellion, Inequality, Income, Mexico |
| JEL: | O18 O54 C35 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:41&r=lab |