Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Minimum Wage Policy : Lessons with a Focus on the ASEAN Region

This report consists of seven chapters and is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on the minimum wage policy, its historical evolution, and the current institutional context across ASEAN countries. Part two delves into the socio? economic impacts of the minimum wage policy on workers, households, firms, the economy, and the ASEAN region. Part III links the findings from each country to the ASEAN regional context and brings all the analysis together into a policy and operational discussion. Specifically, part one of the report includes this chapter (chapter one) and chapter two. The rest of chapter one summarizes the findings from all chapters in the report and presents an overview of lessons detailed in the final chapter. To provide some background and context for the remainder of the report, chapter two briefly describes the history of minimum wage policy around the world and the theoretical principles behind wage setting and its effects. Part two consists of four chapters. Chapter three, which describes how the minimum wage policy is structured and managed in each ASEAN country, includes details on the objectives that countries have set out for the policy and how the policy is enforced in each country. Chapter four summarizes results from primary and secondary empirical research on the impacts of minimum wage changes on employment, wages, and informal work in the four focus ASEAN countries. The discussion in this chapter takes into account the existence of complementary worker protection programs in each country. Chapter five discusses empirical results on whether changes in the minimum wage policy affect poverty and inequality. Since each country has distinct poverty programs, the discussion takes into account the presence of various social programs that potentially complement income earned from wage labor. Chapter six focuses on how wage and labor costs affect firms, especially in terms of investment decisions and productivity. Due to the limited availability of evidence on the impact of minimum wages on firm performance and private sector activity in ASEAN countries, a large part of the discussion in this chapter includes evidence from non-ASEAN countries. Lastly, this chapter reviews the status of the main labor market institutions legislated in the region and provides some evidence on how other labor institutions might interact with the minimum wage policy to shape its effect. Part three comprises chapter seven, which reflects on the material presented in previous chapters and provides policy? oriented insights. It discusses the political economy of the minimum wage policy and draws out the implications of having such diverse wage policies and institutional arrangements for wage management in an increasingly interlinked regional bloc such as ASEAN. The chapter also synthesizes the lessons learned throughout the report and frames the main labor policy issues to provide guidance for, and elicit action from, policymakers going forward.
Governance by numbers: what have we learned over the past 30 years?

The performance of public sector organizations, even when they are doing well, is the subject of critical commentary. No matter what they do, some group will argue that they could do better and do things differently. Criticism of public service organizations is a very public affair. That is the nature of the public sector. The management of private sector organizations are seldom placed in the public gaze unless they are involved in some major environmental catastrophe or a governance scandal.
The Effect of Business Support on Employment in Manufacturing: Evidence from the European Union Structural Funds in Germany, Italy and Spain

Abstract This study investigates employment growth in the business activities supported by the European Cohesion Policy. We examine cross-industry, cross-regional variations in a sample of fourteen manufacturing industries and seventy European regions (in Germany, Italy and Spain) and take advantage of detailed European Union Structural Funds data at the regional level for the period 2000–2006. We show that business support is positively associated with higher employment growth in industries that are initially smaller and in those with higher growth opportunities. The results suggest that direct support to businesses by the European Cohesion Policy contributes to the growth process of employment in different industries. Because previous estimated effects at the aggregate level may in fact conceal large differences across industries, we conclude that our empirical analysis contributes to the understanding of how Structural Funds can affect industrial and regional development as well as adjustment paths.
Hierarchical LSTM with Adjusted Temporal Attention for Video Captioning

Recent progress has been made in using attention based encoder-decoder framework for video captioning. However, most existing decoders apply the attention mechanism to every generated word including both visual words (e.g., "gun" and "shooting") and non-visual words (e.g. "the", "a"). However, these non-visual words can be easily predicted using natural language model without considering visual signals or attention. Imposing attention mechanism on non-visual words could mislead and decrease the overall performance of video captioning. To address this issue, we propose a hierarchical LSTM with adjusted temporal attention (hLSTMat) approach for video captioning. Specifically, the proposed framework utilizes the temporal attention for selecting specific frames to predict the related words, while the adjusted temporal attention is for deciding whether to depend on the visual information or the language context information. Also, a hierarchical LSTMs is designed to simultaneously consider both low-level visual information and high-level language context information to support the video caption generation. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed framework, we test our method on two prevalent datasets: MSVD and MSR-VTT, and experimental results show that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art methods on both two datasets.
Set regulation in asexual and sexual Plasmodium parasites reveals a novel mechanism of stage‐specific expression

Transmission of the malaria parasite depends on specialized gamete precursors (gametocytes) that develop in the bloodstream of a vertebrate host. Gametocyte/gamete differentiation requires controlled patterns of gene expression and regulation not only of stage and gender‐specific genes but also of genes associated with DNA replication and mitosis. Once taken up by mosquito, male gametocytes undergo three mitotic cycles within few minutes to produce eight motile gametes. Here we analysed, in two Plasmodium species, the expression of SET, a conserved nuclear protein involved in chromatin dynamics. SET is expressed in both asexual and sexual blood stages but strongly accumulates in male gametocytes. We demonstrated functionally the presence of two distinct promoters upstream of the set open reading frame, the one active in all blood stage parasites while the other active only in gametocytes and in a fraction of schizonts possibly committed to sexual differentiation. In ookinetes both promoters exhibit a basal activity, while in the oocysts the gametocyte‐specific promoter is silent and the reporter gene is only transcribed from the constitutive promoter. This transcriptional control, described for the first time in Plasmodium, provides a mechanism by which single‐copy genes can be differently modulated during parasite development. In male gametocytes an overexpression of SET might contribute to a prompt entry and execution of S/M phases within mosquito vector.
Breast feeding and obesity: cross sectional study

Abstract Objective: To assess the impact of breast feeding on the risk of obesity and risk of being overweight in children at the time of entry to school. Design: Cross sectional survey Setting: Bavaria, southern Germany. Methods: Routine data were collected on the height and weight of 134 577 children participating in the obligatory health examination at the time of school entry in Bavaria. In a subsample of 13 345 children, early feeding, diet, and lifestyle factors were assessed using responses to a questionnaire completed by parents. Subjects: 9357 children aged 5 and 6 who had German nationality. Main outcome measures: Being overweight was defined as having a body mass index above the 90th centile and obesity was defined as body mass index above the 97th centile of all enrolled German children. Exclusive breast feeding was defined as the child being fed no food other than breast milk. Results: The prevalence of obesity in children who had never been breast fed was 4.5% as compared with 2.8% in breastfed children. A clear dose-response effect was identified for the duration of breast feeding on the prevalence of obesity: the prevalence was 3.8% for 2 months of exclusive breast feeding, 2.3% for 3-5 months, 1.7% for 6-12 months, and 0.8% for more than 12 months. Similar relations were found with the prevalence of being overweight. The protective effect of breast feeding was not attributable to differences in social class or lifestyle. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, breast feeding remained a significant protective factor against the development of obesity (odds ratio 0.75, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.98) and being overweight (0.79, 0.68 to 0.93) Conclusions: In industrialised countries promoting prolonged breast feeding may help decrease the prevalence of obesity in childhood. Since obese children have a high risk of becoming obese adults, such preventive measures may eventually result in a reduction in the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and other diseases related to obesity. Key messages Obesity is the most frequent nutritional disorder in children, and is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adulthood Preventing obesity in children should be a useful strategy in preventing later heart disease because weight loss interventions in obese children are costly and rarely successful Data from a cross sectional study in Bavaria suggest that the risk of obesity in children at the time of school entry can be reduced by breast feeding: a 35% reduction occurs if children are breastfed for 3 to 5 months Preventing obesity and its consequences may be an important argument in the drive to encourage breast feeding in industrialised countries
Customer satisfaction and qualities in public service: an intermediary customer perspective

From an intermediary customer perspective, this study empirically investigates the causal relationships between service quality, relationship quality, design quality, and customer satisfaction in the public service value chain. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from social work, childcare, and healthcare services and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. It is found that all the quality dimensions are antecedents to customer satisfaction and relations between quality dimensions show distinctive patterns. The results show that relationship quality does not directly affect customer satisfaction, but can indirectly influence satisfaction through the mediation of both service and design qualities. The effect of the relationship and design qualities on customer satisfaction is stronger than that of service quality.
Haptic display with an interface device capable of continuous-time impedance display within a sampling period

Stability of a haptic interface is an important issue in virtual reality because an operator directly touches haptic interface devices. Stability is influenced by the sampling period and the discrete-time property of the control system. For decreasing the sampling system influence, this paper proposes a haptic device with an analog circuit which is placed between the computer and the haptic device. The circuit functions as springs and dampers. The control system can specify stiffness, damping coefficients, and their equilibrium. Since the impedance generated by the electric spring and damper can work continuously within the sampling period, it is effective for making the system more stable. We also develop a control method for displaying a static virtual object with the proposed device. Further, we discuss the effects of the proposed approach analytically, using passivity analysis for a 1-degree-of-freedom display system. Finally, some experimental results in a two-dimensional virtual environment are presented.
The Origins of Scintillator Non-Proportionality

Recent years have seen significant advances in both theoretically understanding and mathematically modeling the underlying causes of scintillator non-proportionality. The core cause is that the interaction of radiation with matter invariably leads to a non-uniform ionization density in the scintillator, coupled with the fact that the light yield depends on the ionization density. The mechanisms that lead to the luminescence dependence on ionization density are incompletely understood, but several important features have been identified, notably Auger-like processes (where two carriers of excitation interact with each other, causing one to de-excite non-radiatively), the inability of excitation carriers to recombine (caused either by trapping or physical separation), and the carrier mobility. This paper reviews the present understanding of the fundamental origins of scintillator non-proportionality, specifically the various theories that have been used to explain non-proportionality.
The effect of TQM on employee loyalty in transition economy, Serbia

The concept of total quality management (TQM) emphasises continuous improvement which requires the participation of every individual in the company. Although much has already been said about people being the primary resource in an organisation practicing TQM, this area has been neglected by companies implementing TQM. The aim of this study was to determine critical factors of TQM practice that would positively impact employee satisfaction. Data for this study were obtained from three manufacturing companies, which have accepted TQM philosophy. Using structural equation modeling, the relationships between structural determinants of job satisfaction and employee loyalty were investigated. The results suggest that five, out of six, determinants are positively related to job satisfaction.
Characterizing Exchange Rate Regimes in Post-Crisis East Asia

This paper examines the behavior of the exchange rates of selected emerging market East Asian economies in the aftermath of the Asian crisis. The results suggest that movements in the Asia-5 currencies (Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand) were significantly influenced by the U.S. dollar's day-to-day movements before the crisis, and have indeed continued to do so post-crisis. However, comparisons with a range of other currencies suggest that this is a fairly common trait across various regimes. Moreover, results from the post-crisis data do not support the view that the Asia-5 currencies presently have the same characteristics as they did before the crisis.
Trade Structure, FTAs, and Economic Growth

What is the relationship between trade and economic growth? Does trade positively affect economic growth? Owing to the ambiguity of this relationship, the empirical relationship has remained open (Rodriguez and Rodrik, 2001; Baldwin, 2003). This paper introduces “trade structure” variables, borrowed from the paper of Lederman and Maloney (2003), and applies them to the relationship. A dynamic panel estimation for the data of 66 countries during 1991–2004 is used to verify the validity and robustness of the relationship. Trade structure variables show strong evidence of positive effects on growth. Free-trade agreements/areas (FTAs) also enhance economic growth. East Asia shows a different relationship between trade and growth than the world and reflects a weaker role of FTAs in its growth.
SHOULD MILITARY UNIFORMS CARRY THE UNION LABEL?

It is widely believed that the unionization of military labor leads to reduced discipline and lower combat capability. Case studies of the performance of existing military unions, however, generally suggest that unionization has a benign impact on the performance of the armed forces. In this paper, we offer a theoretical economic analysis of the likely impact of military unionization on volunteer militaries. Our analysis suggests that military unionization will unambiguously lead to larger, but less disciplined, armed forces, leaving the overall impact of unionization on defense capability ambiguous. Military unionization, however, will clearly enhance social welfare.
Can Imperfect Competition Explain the Difference between Primal and Dual Productivity Measures? Estimates for U.S. Manufacturing

It is well known that under the assumptions of constant returns to scale, perfect competition, and the absence of factor hoarding, primal and dual productivity measures should be highly correlated. The apparent lack of correlation is usually attributed to fixed factors of production. In this paper I propose an alternative explanation by relaxing the assumption of perfect competition. By controlling for the presence of a markup component, I demonstrate that both productivity measures are in fact highly correlated for U.S. manufacturing. The analysis also provides an alternative method of estimating a markup of prices over marginal cost that avoids certain difficulties inherent in some existing methods of estimation.
Health, Longevity, and Optimal Retirement

We develop a life-cycle model of optimal retirement and savings behavior under complete markets. Our model explains the long-run decline in the age of retirement as an income level effect, with higher wage growth and lower interest rates tending to increase the retirement age. We show that improvements in health and longevity tend to increase the desired retirement age, but less than proportionately, while, contrary to conventional views, reducing savings rates. These results suggest that social security systems should respond to population aging by raising the retirement age and not by increasing people's contributions or reducing their benefit rates.
A cautionary note on the detection of multifractal scaling in finance and economics

The scaling properties of the multifractional Brownian motion (mBm), a generally not multifractal process is investigated, and it is argued that, when calibrated on actual financial time series, its partition function as well as its spectrum behave as those of genuine multifractal processes. The examples here provided, based on the analysis of two major stock indexes, are intended to solicit a prudent evaluation of the recent findings about the multifractal behaviour in finance and economics.
Ethnic Heterogeneity and Public Support for Welfare: Is the American Experience Replicated in Britain, Sweden and Denmark?

The link between ethnic heterogeneity and public support for welfare policy is debated. The thesis of a negative relationship is supported by much American research. Historically the race issue has blocked a number of American welfare schemes; across the United States ethnically heterogeneous states have less generous benefits, and citizens having negative attitudes towards blacks often oppose welfare. The research question is: To what extent will increased ethnic heterogeneity in European countries establish the same mechanisms? Three theoretical positions are discussed: the position that the American experience is unique; the position that it is generalisable; and a middle position of it being contingent on institutional settings. The latter position predicts that the American experience can be avoided, especially in social democratic welfare regimes where the ethnicity issue has not been politicised. Empirically the article is based on survey data from the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark, in which a number of American items were directly replicated. Despite indications of American uniqueness and welfare-regime effects, the findings support the position that the in-group/out-group mechanisms found in the United States are being replicated in Europe.
A flexible nonlinear inference to Okun's relationship

The study implements the flexible nonlinear inference approach of Hamilton (2001) to assess the validity of Okun's law. Using US quarterly data from 1948:1 to 2004:2, overwhelming evidence is found of nonlinearity between cyclical components of unemployment and output. However, the relationship is still negative and provides strong support of (nonlinear) Okun's law.
Migration and Determinants of Remittances to Southern Mediterranean Countries: when history matters! Insights of two new surveys

In this paper we analyze the main determinants of migrant’s remittances by measuring directly the role of non observable variables related to subjective motivations and historical context of the emigration process. Subjective variables, such as attachment feeling and intent to return to the country of origin can also play a role in explaining the final uses of remittances. These subjective variables can counteract the impact of the observable variables as the education level, the income level, the household size, the duration of stay in the host country or the age of the migrant. We have used two surveys in order to understand the types of behaviour linked to remittances from France to Southern Mediterranean countries and to Sub-Saharan Africa. The first survey used in this paper is a new DREES survey on the track and the profile of migrants and the second one is the 2MO survey which we have conducted in French post offices. Our first result shows that, after controlling for all the variables linked to income, education, age or nationality, subjective variables such as attachment to the home country, history and the institutional context of emigration play a determinant role in explaining remittance behaviour. Our second result shows that migrants, who are in France for a long time and who have low education levels, also send remittances in order to invest (including investments other than housing) in their home country. These findings contradict the theoretical hypothesis of an alteration of the migrant’s links with the home country as the duration of the stay in the host country increases. This can be explained by the fact that the duration of stay does not make any sense unless it is contextualized in the history of emigration, the conditions of arrival in the host country and the conditions of departure from the home country. The degree of the migrant’s attachment to his home country thus appears as a discriminating subjective variable according to these historical conditions. By contrast, the migrants from Sub-Saharan African countries send money for current expenditures rather than for investment. The obligation feeling seems to be the important subjective variable for remitting money.
A new system of skip-lot sampling plans having a provision for reducing normal inspection

The skip-lot sampling program can be used for reducing the amount of inspection on a product that has excellent quality history. Thus skip-lot sampling plans are designed to reduce inspection costs. Moreover, the skip-lot concept is sound and useful and is economically advantageous to use in the design of sampling plans. Hence, a new system of skip-lot sampling plans designated as the SkSP-V plan is developed in this paper. The proposed plan requires a return to normal inspection whenever a lot is rejected during sampling inspection, but has a provision for a reduced normal inspection upon demonstration of superior product quality. A Markov chain formulation and derivation of performance measures for this new plan are presented. The properties of SkSP-V plan are studied with single sampling plan as the reference plan. Advantages of this new plan are also discussed. Finally, certain cost models are given for the economic design of the SkSP-V plan. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.