bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
More Jobs Through Less Employment Protection? Evidence for West Germany
Authors: Buechtemann Christoph F. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACT: In reaction to growing criticism of the allegedly negative employment effects of job protection regulations (lay‐off and dismissal restraints), the West German government in 1985 introduced new legislation facilitating the conclusion of temporary (i.e. fixed‐term) work contracts in order to stimulate employment growth (‘Employment Promotion Act 1985‘AZPA).The research unit ‘Labour Market and Employment‘ at the WZB has evaluated the employment and labour market impact of the new legislation for the period 1985‐1988, and apart from providing a detailed analysis of the socio‐economic and institutional diversity of job arrangements covered by the category of temporary (i.e. fixed‐term) employment, the project‘s focus has been on the impact of minor changes in the institutional frame‐ work as effected by the EPA on firms‘ employment policies, as well as on the overall level of employment.Results show that like in most other European countries the temporary work force in Germany has considerably grown over the past years in both absolute and relative terms, this increase, however, being largely due to cyclical factors as well as medium‐term structural changes on the supply and demand side of the labour market rather than to changes in the regulatory framework as effected by the EPA.The impact of the new regulations on firms‘ hiring decisions and on the overall number of hirings in the total economy have to be regarded as rather modest, in fact amounting to not more than an estimated 25,000 additional hires per year or roughly 0.5|X% of all employment contracts concluded in the private sector. This marginal positive impact on firms‘ employment decisions, however, is counterbalanced by unintended substitution effects and an increase in involuntary quits arising from them when labour demand declines. Even under the overall positive employment development given in the period under investigation the net employment effects of the EPA temporary work legislation thus are shown to be at best marginal. In case of a deterioration of the overall economic situation, however, the increase in temporary job arrangements supported by the new legislation is likely to lead to accelerated workforce adjustments by firms and thus over time to result in a depression of the overall level of employment. From a theoretical point of view, the findings suggest that measures aiming at de‐regulating labour relations such as the EPA largely fail to modify essential behavioral parameters of economic actors in economic environments which for decades have adjusted to a relatively high level of welfare state regulation, as has been the case in Western Germany.
Productivity in the Italian Administration. Methods, Comparisons and Results
Authors: Pennella Giuseppe 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACT: The systems of remuneration for the public administration sector and its relation to productivity are something of a mystery. In this paper the author stresses the need for a new theoretical and methodological approach to this problem.The author illustrates individual cases of incentivation covering various aspects of Public Administration, reporting the techniques adopted, the main ideological approach, the problems focused on and the would‐be success achieved. Finally, the paper presents a methodological model of application for the public sector and makes some general evaluations of how these techniques could be successfully applied.
Employment and Productivity
Authors:   OECD
Published: June 2007

Abstract. The paper examines the (potential) effects of new technologies on productivity and job growth.In particular the nature and causes of the “productivity paradox” are firstly dealt with. Even though the leading edge sectors show higher than average productivity growth, since the early 1970s aggregate productivity measures have declined.This paper examines several possible explanations of this phenomenon, concluding that new technologies and the related issue of organisational, institutional and social change provide the most significant explanation.“Replacing a steam engine with one or more electric motors, leaving the power distribution system unchanged, appears to have been the usual juxtaposition of a new technology upon the framework of an old one…Shaft and belt power distribution systems were in place and manufacturers were familiar with their problems. Turning line shafts with motors was an improvement that required modifying only the front end of the system… As long as the electric motors were simply used in place of steam engines to turn long line shafts, the shortcomings of mechanical power distribution systems remained.”
Statistics and the Single Market
Authors: Siesto Vincenzo 
Published: June 2007

Abstract. At the end of 1992customs barriers will fall and the European Internal Market will be realized, as envisaged by the Single European Act signed in 1986 by the EEC's member countries. Statistical Offices are preparing to meet the new information requirements from all the economic and social forces of the new Europe. EUROSTAT planned a politically endorsed statistical programme and established the European Statistical Planning Committee, enlarging the tasks of the Conference of the Heads of National Statistical Institutes. Each National Statistical Institute is urgently required to improve the comparability of statistics and implement the harmonised projects of the European Statistical Programme.Official statistics will conform to the new requirements in order to supply the business world, national governments, the EEC authorities and public opinion with up‐to‐date information to face a wider, more open and competitive market. The business world will focus its attention on information on the flows by sectors and very small areas. Statistics on intra‐community foreign trades will shift from customs bills to new tools more directly assigned to national statistical bodies. National governments and EEC countries will need more information on population behaviour as to employment, consumptions, use of leisure time, fruition of public facilities, and social security, as well as more precise estimates of GDP, now the basic contribution to EEC budget. Citizens and public opinion will ask for timely information on migrations, social mobility, income distribution. Demographic projections show the European population is progressively ageing, unemployment is bound to decrease and women are going to be more present within society and the labour market. Information on the home care of elderly people. health, environment, crime prevention and the status of women in general will have to be supplied.Presently Statistics Offices have greater experience in two essential domains: conceptual frameworks and the techniques for conceptual statistical representation of the investigated events. Moreover, the improving of computer technology will provide substantial help to survey methodologies and data processing.
An Analysis of Firms' Compliance to Minimum Wage Legislation
Authors: Fluckiger Yves , Persson Inga 
Published: June 2007

AbstructThe growth of long‐term unemployment is the main reason behind the persistence of high rates of unemployment in Western Europe. The paper presents the two main theories, duration dependency and sorting, that have been used to account for emergent and persistent long‐term unemployment. Both theories are hysteresis theories in the sense that they explain how the actual level of unemployment can be a function of past unemployment. Against this background the paper examines the evolution of long‐term unemployment in Sweden and its demographic composition. The focus is on what has happened to long‐term unemployment during the economic recovery experienced by Sweden and on the role of labour market policy measures targeted towards the long‐term unemployed in overcoming unemployment persistence. It is shown that there was a significant time‐lag before the recovery made inroads into the ratio of long‐term unemployment. There was a frunsifory, but also a permanent hysteresis effect. The reaction to the recovery varied between age groups, long‐term unemployment among older workers showing most persistence. There was an interaction effect in that the policy measures helped the long‐term unemployed take advantage of the recovery. The authors then introduce the concept of a nuturul rule of long‐ferm unemployment (NAIRLU) and make empirical estimates of this rate for Sweden. The character and composition of the Swedish natural rate of longterm unemployment is then examined.
An Analysis of Firms' Compliance to Minimum Wage Legislation
Authors: Fluckiger Yves 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIn this paper the author investigates firms' behaviour under minimum wage legislation and analyses the effect on employment and wages of different penalisation systems that may be used to enforce compliance with the law. In particular. he shows that additional fines imposed on repeated violations increase the degree of compliance among firms with no previous violations. Moreover, higher detection probability associated with more serious violations does not lead to full compliance but does result in higher wages. Thus, if the inspection efforts increase rapidly with the seriousness of the violation, then noncompliance may be reduced significantly.
The Effects of Technical Change on Skill Requirements: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Russo Margherita 
Published: June 2007

Abstract. This essay offers an empirical analysis of the effects of technical change on skill. Firstly, with the increasing diffusion of more and more mechanization and, in this decade, with the advent of microelectronics, this theme has been widely debated both in theory and in empirical analyses. These latter are usually based on a measurement of skill in terms of the parameters adopted in the job evaluation. My critique to that approach is both on the job evaluation criteria adopted, and on the unclear distinction between quantitative and qualitative effects of technical change on labour requirements. The following analysis will show the importance of that distinction in interpreting data.The case study is the production of ceramic tiles in Italy. The analysis is articulated in three parts. The first discusses an indicator of technical level of ceramic tile production. This indicator refers to the ‘scale of mechanization’ proposed by Bright in 1958. The oldest and the most up‐to‐date techniques in use in the early 1980's are compared with regard both to the level of mechanization and to the number of workers required at each task at factory level. This analysis is the premiss for the distinction between quantitative and qualitative effects of technical change. This—together with the discussion of a measurement of skill based on job content—is examined in the second part. The conclusion of the case study and a critical analysis of the main contributions on this topic are in the third part.
Dynamic Updating of Labour Force Estimates: JARES
Authors: Bellacicco Antonio , Russo Aldo 
Published: June 2007

Abstract. In this paper a new algorithm is proposed in order to produce an automatic dynamic compound estimator of the labour force based on an interactive scheme. The proposed algorithm, JARES, is based on the probability estimator of Jaynes based on the notion of maximum entropy of a given probability distribution with a constraint on the average of an external information.The iterative scheme is based on the solution of a set of linear equations which represent the algebraic relationships between the weights and the estimates.
Raising Children: Private Expenditure and Foregone Earnings*
Authors: Buchegger Reiner , Zweimuller Josef 
Published: June 2007

Abstract. From the point of view of an individual household there are two major types of private cost of children, viz. direct household expenditure for the offspring plus (usually) mothers' foregone earnings. Both aspects have been studied theoretically and empirically, but thus far only separately. The joint empirical analysis of these main costs of children are the subject of this paper. Employing the Austrian Consumer Survey of 1984/85 and 1983's Microcensus, household expenditure on one, two and three children and mothers' foregone earnings are estimated for a comparable sample of households.In order to estimate household expenditure on children a modified Prais‐Houthakker model has been employed. Labour force participation functions as well as human‐capital wage equations were estimated using a multinomial logit model and allowing for both the impact of career interruptions and part‐time work. Through simulation on the basis of these estimates we arrive at comparable life‐time earnings of women with no, one, two or three children. We then add the relevant differences to the expenditure on children to obtain the “total” private cost of children.Being aware of the limitations of our analysis–not all monetary private outlays and no public expenditure are included, no consideration of children's benefits to parents, etc. ‐ we can nevertheless draw some tentative conclusions: there are decreasing marginal costs for the second child and rather constant costs for the third child, except for the case of “low attachment“ to the labour force, where marginal cost also declines for the third child. Assuming utility maximizing households, one could arrive at a policy prescription for raising birth rates: find a means to reduce foregone earnings which appear to be a major deterrent to having more than one child.
Public Day Care Centres, Company Day Care Centres, and Segregation Between Men and Women in the Labour Market: the Case of the Netherlands*
Authors: Schippers Joop J. , Siegers Jacques J. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract. What is needed to diminish segregation between men and women in the labour market is a program of affirmative action for the Netherlands as a whole. Specific measures aimed at the removal of barriers between occupations cannot be successful unless they are imbedded in such an overall program. A necessary part of such a plan are facilities that enable women and men to combine unpaid parental tasks and paid labour. In contrast with public day care centres, company day care centres do not fit into such a plan, because they even enlarge existing segregation.Company day care centres and other measures to facilitate parental care and paid labour are more often found in industries with a larger share of female workers. This relationship is found for both the Netherlands and the United States.It is concluded that it is in the interest of employers as well as women's emancipation to increase the number of public day care centres instead of the number of company day care centres.
Employers' Reactions to the Productivity Drive: the Search for Labour Consensus*
Authors: Regini Marino 
Published: June 2007

Abstract. European employers' different policies of personnel management and of industrial relations depend to some extent on the technological and organisational choices they make, but cultural ‐ and especially institutional ‐ factors play an even greater role, in a period in which previous models for action clearly appear inadequate and in which, as a consequence, uncertainty grows.This article illustrates a conceptual and analytical framework which helps understand the scope and the meaning of the recent managerial search for a greater labour consensus noted by many observers. Then it shows how this framework can be used, by applying it to the analysis of the Italian case. Finally, it tries to transform some of the propositions discussed into questions and hypotheses which should guide comparative research.
Long‐Term Effects of a Plant Closure: a Multistate Duration Analysis of Event History Data in a Ten‐Year Follow‐Up Study
Authors: Rönsen Marit , Westin Steinar , Goldstein Harald , Ström Steinar 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper discusses the possible effects on future prospects in the labour market of those who suffer a plant closure. A multistate duration model is estimated on monthly event data comprising 172 individuals over ten years, with the occurrence of the plant closure among the regressors. An individual can escape to one of several destinations when exiting one of three origin states (unemployed, sick leave, outside the labour force).Our prime concern has been transitions leading to a new job or to destination states outside the labour force (disability pension and at home, without any social security benefit). We find indications of severe negative long‐term effects on employment from a plant closure: long durations in unemployment when searching for new jobs, higher incidence of leaving the labour force, longer periods of sick leave and higher incidence of disability pension. Thus, an adverse shock reducing employment may have negative long‐term effects on the labour market through long spells of unemployment and a shrinking labour force. Our findings thus support the hypothesis of hysteresis dynamics in the labour market.
Unemployment Components in the G7 Countries
Authors: Fiorito Riccardo , Padrini Flavio 
Published: June 2007

AbsrractThe increase in unemployment rates in the G7 countries is broken down into both labour supply and labour demand components. In no case is there a dominant source. Real GDP generally ranks first but does not account for more than a third of the overall changes. This finding shows that unemployment cannot be equated to negative employment since the labour force is generally increasing and volatile, mostly because of rising participation rates. Another reason why unemployment is not a reliable indicator of macroeconomic performance is that labour hoarding reduces employment response to output changes; this is especially true for Japan and Europe.
The Baumol Gap Revisited. An econometric analysis of the productivity differential between U.K. manufacturing and service firms, 1982–1989
Authors: Pellegrini Guido 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe gap in productivity growth between manufacturing and service sectors is analyzed at company level using a panel of 328 British companies. This paper evaluates differences in the rate of growth of technological progresss (“Baumol gap”) in manufacturing and service companies, taking full account of the impact of changes in market competition, union recognition and financial position of firms. The empirical results suggest: (i) the gap in total factor productivity is significant and negative for distribution, lodging and catering sectors, positive but less significant for transport and communication sectors; (ii) the technological gap is higher than the gap in labour productivity; (iii) the gap can be attributed to technological factors, and it is invariant to the use of firm–level variables that capture effects on workers and managers effort; (iv) the estimate of total factor productivity growth in manufacturing and services is slightly influenced by these variables.
Unemployment and Search for Work: Exploratory Analyses of Labour Market Attachment and its Dynamics
Authors: Rettore Enrico , Torelli Nicola , Trivellato Ugo 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper deals with measuring unemployment and labour market attachment in Italy, on the basis of Labour Force Survey data. Based on the answers to a set of questions on search for work, a cluster analysis is performed, which yields four groups, clearly characterized as regards their labour market conditions and attachment. Analyses are then carried out on the gross flows between these groups, estimated over a quarterly interval. Results of the dynamic analysis confirm the relevance of the classification established through exploratory techniques. The various groups exhibit a different dynamic behaviour, thus documenting that the exploratory classification has predictive power.
An Evaluation of Child Support Reforms
Authors: Boca Daniela Del 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACT: Among the policy changes proposed in the United States for determining equitable child support orders there is the proportionate order, which consists in setting orders as a percentage of the non‐custodial parent's income and wage withholding which involves the improvement of the procedure of collection of child support payments with the use of automatic withholding.In this paper we use US data to compare proportionate and fixed child support awards and the interaction of these order types with wage withholding. We conduct an empirical investigation of the effects of these systems on divorced fathers’child support transfer. Our empirical results show that wage withholding tends to alleviate the problem of non‐compliance, while proportionate orders do not.
Noninvasive models to predict liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B
Authors: Kim Beom Kyung , Kim Sung Ae , Park Young Nyun , Cheong Jae Youn , Kim Hwa Sook , Park Jun Yong , Cho Sung Won , Han Kwang‐Hyub , Chon Chae Yoon , Moon Young Myoung , Ahn Sang Hoon 
Published: June 2007

AbstractObjectives: Few noninvasive models of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) to predict liver cirrhosis have been studied. The aim of the current study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of two simple novel models of spleen–platelet ratio index (SPRI) and age–spleen–platelet ratio index (ASPRI) in patients with CHB.Patients and methods: A total of 346 consecutive treatment‐naïve patients with CHB were retrospectively studied. The aspartate to alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), age–platelet index (API), aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), SPRI, and ASPRI were compared with liver histology.Results: AAR, APRI, SPRI, API, and ASPRI correlated significantly to fibrosis stage (all P<0.001). The diagnostic accuracy of ASPRI was the highest among five tests for prediction of cirrhosis (area under receiver operating characteristic curve, AUROC=0.893). Using a cutoff score of ASPRI>12, the presence of cirrhosis could be correctly identified with a high accuracy (96.3% positive predictive value) in 35 (10.1%) of 346 patients. Similarly, using a cutoff of <5, the presence of cirrhosis could be totally excluded with 100% of negative predictive value in 120 (34.7%) of 346 patients.Conclusion: ASPRI was accurate in predicting cirrhosis and screening with ASPRI has the potential to reduce the number of liver biopsies in CHB patients.
Ethosuximide: From Bench to Bedside
Authors: Gören M. Zafer , Onat Filiz 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTEthosuximide, 2‐ethyl‐2‐methylsuccinimide, has been used extensively for “petit mal” seizures and it is a valuable agent in studies of absence epilepsy. In the treatment of epilepsy, ethosuximide has a narrow therapeutic profile. It is the drug of choice in the monotherapy or combination therapy of children with generalized absence (petit mal) epilepsy. Commonly observed side effects of ethosuximide are dose dependent and involve the gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system. Ethosuximide has been associated with a wide variety of idiosyncratic reactions and with hematopoietic adverse effects. Typical absence seizures are generated as a result of complex interactions between the thalamus and the cerebral cortex. This thalamocortical circuitry is under the control of several specific inhibitory and excitatory systems arising from the forebrain and brainstem. Corticothalamic rhythms are believed to be involved in the generation of spike‐and‐wave discharges that are the characteristic electroencephalographic signs of absence seizures. The spontaneous pacemaker oscillatory activity of thalamocortical circuitry involves low threshold T‐type Ca2+currents in the thalamus, and ethosuximide is presumed to reduce these low threshold T‐type Ca2+currents in thalamic neurons. Ethosuximide also decreases the persistent Na+and Ca2+‐activated K+currents in thalamic and layer V cortical pyramidal neurons. In addition, there is evidence that in a genetic absence epilepsy rat model ethosuximide reduces cortical γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels. Also, elevated glutamate levels in the primary motor cortex of rats with absence epilepsy (but not in normal animals) are reduced by ethosuximide.