Thesis (Ph. D.)--McMaster University, 2003. / Advisor: Charlotte A.B. Yates. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 272-299). Also available via World Wide Web.

We examine the dynamics of Canadian labour markets using data from the Survey of Employment, Payroll, and Hours and the Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada from 1961-2014. Using univariate, and multivariate Vector Autoregressive methodology, we estimate Impulse Response Functions and perform Granger non-causal tests to explore the relationships between wages, employment, and unemployment. We demonstrate the difference in analysis gained from regional definitions and assumptions regarding the heterogeneity of provinces within the Canadian regional context. Transitory labour supply shocks propagate different directions and magnitudes in wage growth in Quebec and unemployment growth in Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia when estimating Impulse Response Functions in the provincial trivariate VAR framework. We also find that there are statistically significant differences in the estimated parameters of regional multivariate VAR model specifications and corresponding restricted models, though these tests are not exhaustive. / Graduate

Labour market integration is an important subject. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between tourism-specialization and labour market integration and the influence from regional differences. This paper is the first to especially focus on the factor tourism-specializations relationship with labour market integration. The study is primarily based on theories regarding unemployment and tourism and the method that will be used is cross-sectional ordinary least squares. The findings show there are regional differences and that tourism-specialization has a positive relationship with labour market integration in urban division and not in the rural and semi-rural divisions. These findings can be used by policymakers in their decisions regarding future investments in labour market integration.

This paper investigates the role of foreign competition and regional unemployment in influencing privatization policy for domestic firms. With a general model specifying the existence of foreign competition and regional unemployment, we find a negative relationship between presence of foreign competition and state ownership of the domestic firm within the same sector. We also find a positive relationship between unemployment rate in a region and state ownership of the domestic firm in the same region. Econometric analysis for China supports the theoretical findings.

O objetivo desta dissertação, primeiramente, é analisar empiricamente se a adoção do regime de metas de inflação (RMI) tem se mostrado eficaz ao longo dos anos no controle e manutenção dos índices de preços. Posteriormente é analisado o grau de impacto da condução da política monetária, imposta pelo RMI, sobre a taxa de desemprego e crescimento real do produto. Para alcançar estes objetivos, é feita uma análise comparativa dos períodos que compreendem o antes e o depois da adoção (até o ano de 2014) deste regime monetário, em especial o caso brasileiro. Outros objetivos incluem, com o intuito de melhor compreender a operacionalização do RMI, discutir as principais teorias de inflação e de regimes monetários, enfatizando o RMI por ser objeto central deste estudo. Desta forma, são discutidos os fundamentos teóricos, seus formatos estruturais, bem como as vantagens e desvantagens apontadas pelos críticos deste regime. Por fim, é apresentada a conclusão acerca da eficácia, ou não, deste regime na manutenção de baixos índices de inflação, e se o mesmo sacrificou em algum grau os níveis de emprego e produto, em especial no Brasil. / The first aim of this dissertation is to examine empirically whether the adoption of inflation targeting regime (IT) has proven effective over the years for the control and maintenance of low and stable inflation rates. Next, it is analyzed the impact of monetary policy based on the IT on the unemployment rate and real GDP growth. To achieve these goals, a comparative analysis is carried out, following the “before and after” methodology (until the year 2014), focusing especially on the Brazilian case. Other objectives include achieving a better understanding about the operation of the IT, discussing the main theories of inflation and monetary regimes, emphasizing the IT. Thus, the theoretical foundations of the IT are presented, its many structural formats, as well as the advantages and disadvantages cited by critics of this regime. Finally, the work presents the conclusion about the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of this regime in maintaining low inflation rates, and if it has sacrificed employment levels and product, especially in Brazil.

The thesis examines African urbanisation in Dar es Salaam in the British colonial period and the official response to this phenomenon. It is divided into three parts. In Part One colonial urban policy is discussed. British officials initially showed a marked antipathy towards African urbanisation. The true home of the African was considered to be in the rural areas where his tribal society not only catered for his social and economic needs but also provided a medium through which he could conveniently be administered. Beginning in the 1940s there was a revision of colonial policy. The inevitable growth of permanent African urban communities was acknowledged. An attempt was made to nurture a 'respectable' class of urban African. At the same time, however, antipathy towards urbanisation persisted. Officials continued to display concern about the deleterious effects of the urban environment on the 'upcountry native', and in particular the growing problem of unemployment. Part Two is concerned with crime in Dar es Salaam. The most immediate aspect which informed official antipathy to African urbanisation was its role in the spread of criminality. Anxiety over the presence of growing numbers of Africans in the capital, many of whom had no regular formal employment, was closely associated with the problem of urban lawlessness, which grew ever more serious as the years passed. This lawlessness was in part a product of strict colonial legislation which criminalised both customary and informal economic activities. In the final part of the thesis, attempts to control urban growth are examined. Throughout the colonial period Tanganyikan officials argued for the introduction of a pass system to stem the rural-urban flow. Political considerations ruled it out, however. Faced with a burgeoning urban population and limited resources with which to administer it, colonial officials increasingly resorted to the expulsion of Africans from the town back to their rural 'homes'.

The purpose of the thesis is to analyse the function fulfilled by the Youth Opportunities Programme (1978-1983) in its wider political, economic and historical context. There are three main sections to the work. The first establishes the context from which the Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP) emerged. This includes: an analysis of the origins and early development of the Manpower Services Commission (MSC); an historical account of government policy and special measures for the relief of unemployment; and a description of the circumstances and manner in which these elements came together in the development of the MSC's special measures policy, leading to the launch of YOP in April 1978. It is concluded that the initial role of the programme was essentially that of a palliative in the context of the Labour Government's social contract relationship with the trade union movement rather than being a positive element in the MSC's development of a comprehensive manpower policy. The second section is concerned with the actual development and performance of the programme in relation to its original objectives. This includes national level analyses in terms of both quantitative and qualitative objectives, and the conclusions of a case study conducted in the Portsmouth Travel-to-Work Area. The third section examines the significance of the divergences revealed between objectives and results, both in the context of contemporary political and economic developments, and also in a wider historical context which includes the initial progress made by YOP's successor, the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). It is concluded that, although YOP continued to act as a palliative, it developed beyond this towards a new form of active manpower policy consistent with a monetarist macro-economic context. On the basis of this analysis, alternative scenarios for the future are briefly considered.

O objetivo desta dissertação, primeiramente, é analisar empiricamente se a adoção do regime de metas de inflação (RMI) tem se mostrado eficaz ao longo dos anos no controle e manutenção dos índices de preços. Posteriormente é analisado o grau de impacto da condução da política monetária, imposta pelo RMI, sobre a taxa de desemprego e crescimento real do produto. Para alcançar estes objetivos, é feita uma análise comparativa dos períodos que compreendem o antes e o depois da adoção (até o ano de 2014) deste regime monetário, em especial o caso brasileiro. Outros objetivos incluem, com o intuito de melhor compreender a operacionalização do RMI, discutir as principais teorias de inflação e de regimes monetários, enfatizando o RMI por ser objeto central deste estudo. Desta forma, são discutidos os fundamentos teóricos, seus formatos estruturais, bem como as vantagens e desvantagens apontadas pelos críticos deste regime. Por fim, é apresentada a conclusão acerca da eficácia, ou não, deste regime na manutenção de baixos índices de inflação, e se o mesmo sacrificou em algum grau os níveis de emprego e produto, em especial no Brasil. / The first aim of this dissertation is to examine empirically whether the adoption of inflation targeting regime (IT) has proven effective over the years for the control and maintenance of low and stable inflation rates. Next, it is analyzed the impact of monetary policy based on the IT on the unemployment rate and real GDP growth. To achieve these goals, a comparative analysis is carried out, following the “before and after” methodology (until the year 2014), focusing especially on the Brazilian case. Other objectives include achieving a better understanding about the operation of the IT, discussing the main theories of inflation and monetary regimes, emphasizing the IT. Thus, the theoretical foundations of the IT are presented, its many structural formats, as well as the advantages and disadvantages cited by critics of this regime. Finally, the work presents the conclusion about the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of this regime in maintaining low inflation rates, and if it has sacrificed employment levels and product, especially in Brazil.

O objetivo desta dissertação, primeiramente, é analisar empiricamente se a adoção do regime de metas de inflação (RMI) tem se mostrado eficaz ao longo dos anos no controle e manutenção dos índices de preços. Posteriormente é analisado o grau de impacto da condução da política monetária, imposta pelo RMI, sobre a taxa de desemprego e crescimento real do produto. Para alcançar estes objetivos, é feita uma análise comparativa dos períodos que compreendem o antes e o depois da adoção (até o ano de 2014) deste regime monetário, em especial o caso brasileiro. Outros objetivos incluem, com o intuito de melhor compreender a operacionalização do RMI, discutir as principais teorias de inflação e de regimes monetários, enfatizando o RMI por ser objeto central deste estudo. Desta forma, são discutidos os fundamentos teóricos, seus formatos estruturais, bem como as vantagens e desvantagens apontadas pelos críticos deste regime. Por fim, é apresentada a conclusão acerca da eficácia, ou não, deste regime na manutenção de baixos índices de inflação, e se o mesmo sacrificou em algum grau os níveis de emprego e produto, em especial no Brasil. / The first aim of this dissertation is to examine empirically whether the adoption of inflation targeting regime (IT) has proven effective over the years for the control and maintenance of low and stable inflation rates. Next, it is analyzed the impact of monetary policy based on the IT on the unemployment rate and real GDP growth. To achieve these goals, a comparative analysis is carried out, following the “before and after” methodology (until the year 2014), focusing especially on the Brazilian case. Other objectives include achieving a better understanding about the operation of the IT, discussing the main theories of inflation and monetary regimes, emphasizing the IT. Thus, the theoretical foundations of the IT are presented, its many structural formats, as well as the advantages and disadvantages cited by critics of this regime. Finally, the work presents the conclusion about the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of this regime in maintaining low inflation rates, and if it has sacrificed employment levels and product, especially in Brazil.

Background: The World Health Organization has identified obesity as one of the most visible and neglected public health problems worldwide. Meta-analytic studies suggest that insufficient sleep increases the risk of developing obesity and related serious medical conditions. Unfortunately, the nationwide average sleep duration has steadily declined over the last two decades with 25% of U.S. adults reporting insufficient sleep. Stress is also an important indirect factor in obesity, and chronic stress and laboratory-induced stress negatively impact sleep. Despite what we know from basic sciences about (a) stress and sleep and (b) sleep and obesity, we know very little about how these factors actually manifest in a natural environment. The Assessing Daily Activity Patterns Through Occupational Transitions (ADAPT) study tests whether sleep disruption plays a key role in the development of obesity for individuals exposed to involuntary job loss, a life event that is often stressful and disrupting to an individual's daily routine. Methods: This is an 18-month closed, cohort research design examining social rhythms, sleep, dietary intake, energy expenditure, waist circumference, and weight gain over 18 months in individuals who have sustained involuntary job loss. Approximately 332 participants who lost their job within the last 3 months are recruited from flyers within the Arizona Department of Economic Security (AZDES) Unemployment Insurance Administration application packets and other related postings. Multivariate growth curve modeling will be used to investigate the temporal precedence of changes in social rhythms, sleep, and weight gain. Discussion: It is hypothesized that: (1) unemployed individuals with less consistent social rhythms and worse sleep will have steeper weight gain trajectories over 18 months than unemployed individuals with stable social rhythms and better sleep; (2) disrupted sleep will mediate the relationship between social rhythm disruption and weight gain; and (3) reemployment will be associated with a reversal in the negative trajectories outlined above. Positive findings will provide support for the development of obesity prevention campaigns targeting sleep and social rhythms in an accessible subgroup of vulnerable individuals.