A idéia de que a formação de laços de cooperação e a organização em associações podem contribuir para a melhoria da qualidade de vida de populações pobres tem adquirido força entre teóricos e atores políticos. Parte deles argumenta que o Estado tem historicamente agido contra a possibilidade de organizações autônomas emergirem em comunidades de baixa renda, mas exemplos recentes mostram que atores estatais também podem incentivar e apoiar estas comunidades para que se auto-organizem, o que pode ser decisivo para que elas se desenvolvam em termos sociais e econômicos. A presente dissertação pretende estabelecer o quadro teórico e histórico no qual se insere um exemplo significativo de como o Estado pode, em parceria com setores organizados da sociedade civil, estimular a organização coletiva das parcelas mais pobres e menos organizadas da população, a fim de promover seu desenvolvimento. Este exemplo vem do programa Incubadora de Cooperativas, da Prefeitura Municipal de Santo André, município da região do Grande ABC, São Paulo. Os limites e possibilidades de uma política pública de fomento ao cooperativismo como estratégia de desenvolvimento são considerados com base em duas abordagens principais: de um lado, os debates sobre o papel de governos para o estímulo à participação dos cidadãos e sua organização em associações dentro de um quadro de redefinição das relações Estado-sociedade civil; de outro lado, o contexto de construção do que vem sendo chamado economia solidária, que aqui caracterizamos como uma diversidade de experiências coletivas de organização econômica, onde as pessoas se associam para produzir e reproduzir meios de vida segundo relações de reciprocidade, igualdade e democracia. Com base nos avanços, dificuldades e desafios do caso da Incubadora de Cooperativas de Santo André, procuramos refletir sobre o potencial apoio do Estado em relação às formas de economia solidária. / The idea that building cooperation ties and organising in associations may contribute to improve the quality of life of the poor has been growing among social scientists and political agents. Part of them argue that the state has historically worked against the possibility of autonomous organisation rise among poor communities, but recent cases have proved that state actors may also work in ways of fostering and helping organisation in these communities, what may be decisive to their development both in social and economic terms. This dissertation attempts to build the theoretical and historical frame for an interesting example of how state, along with organised groups of civil society, can foster collective organisation of poor and non-organised people in order to promote development: the Cooperatives Incubator, of the Municipality of Santo André, São Paulo, Brasil. Limits and possibilities of such a public policy as development strategy are considered according to two main approaches: the debates on the role of governments to promote civic participation and organisation, what is related to the redefinition of state-society relations; and, on the other hand, the building of what has been called solidarity economics, featured as a diversity of collective experiences of economic organisation, where people get together to produce and reproduce means of life according to relations of reciprocity, equality and democracy. Based on the progress, difficulties and challenges of the Cooperatives Incubator of Santo André, we try to point out reflections on the potential role of the state to support forms of solidarity economics.

Irrespective of professional experience and educational background, gender pay disparity is a problem in the federal government. Women have to overcome salary barriers, such as agency segregation, position segregation, and invisible barriers known as the glass ceiling and the glass wall. Recent studies have indicated that human capital variables, people skills, discrimination, and policies all contribute to gender pay disparity in America's workforce. However, there are limited studies that focus on the indirect factors that also contribute to gender pay inequality. The purpose of this quantitative research was to investigate the relationship between wages and job responsibility (as defined by an employee's job series) for all federal employees within the GS14 pay grade working in the state of Virginia. The data source for this retrospective study came from the December 2014 archived federal employee records that were retrieved from the Office of Personnel Management website. Ordinary least square regression modeling was used to analyze the data collected from the Office of Personnel Management central personnel data file. The results from the data analysis demonstrated a significant relationship between job responsibility and wages. The results from the data analysis demonstrated that men earned higher wages than did their female counterparts and were given more authority in the technical and professional job series. This study promotes positive social change because it confirms and extends understanding of the gender wage gap in the federal workforce. The findings from this research encourage policy makers to revisit existing policies and implement new policies aimed at ensuring women receive pay equal to their male counterparts.

Low wage workers are faced with unique challenges such as shift work, scheduling conflicts, and increased job demands, all of which have the capacity to prevent work and family balance. Recently, supportive supervisors and flexible work arrangements have been suggested as essential to mitigating negative work family outcomes. Due to the underrepresentation of low wage workers in the literature, however, the nature of these relationships in the context of low wage work remains unclear. The present study examined the relationship between family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and work family conflict and enrichment as mediated by flexibility characteristics. The sample consisted of 104 supervisor-subordinate pairs working in various retail and fast food industries. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the hypothesized relationships, and although flexibility characteristics were not found to mediate the relationship between FSSB and work family outcomes, the overall model was supported. Results suggest that flexibility characteristics have a significant impact on work family conflict for low wage workers. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

全民健康保險實施後，政府保險費的補貼對勞動市場產生的影響，以及該影響所產生之勞工流動的現象，皆為本研究所探討之主題。 　　研究結果發現，在各種不同之勞動供給及勞動需求彈性下，政府保險費補貼對工資率的影響即有所不同。一般而言，政府對被保險人的補貼會使勞動市場之均衡工資率下降，但當勞動供給無彈性及勞動需求彈性無限大時，此影響即不存在，意即市場均衡工資率將不因該補貼政策而有所變動；至於政府對雇主保險費之補貼方面，除勞動需求完全無彈性的情況外，此種補貼的施行通常會使工資率上升，而就我國情況來看，由於各產業的勞動需求有彈性，而台北市大、小家庭已婚男性的勞動市場之勞動供給曲線已達後彎階段，故政府保險費補貼會使工資率上升，而在其他勞動市場的情況下，由於勞動供給曲線為正斜率，故政府對被保險人的補貼會促使工資率下降。 　　在實施全民健康保險後，若勞動市場之勞動需求彈性無限大，則其工資率將會因此而降低，但當該市場之勞動供給曲線為正斜率且勞動需求完全無彈性時，全民健康保險的施行反而會使其工資率上升，然多數的情況是：全民健康保險實施後，工資率的變動會呈現不明確的狀態，其將隨當時條件的不同而有不同的變動方向。 　　由於實施全民健康保險將促使勞動市場之工資率產生改變，但由於政府對各類被保險人補貼比例上的不同，造成各產業及各類被保險人工資變化上的差異，進而產生勞工流動的現象。在同一產業不同類被保險人的流動上，由於經實際工資計算的結果得知：就同一產業而言，以「自營作業」之身份投保者將獲得最低之實際工資，「公民營事業、機構有一定雇主之受雇者」次之，而「職業工人」最高，因此推論勞動者將較喜愛受雇於人的就業型態，同時有一定雇主之勞動者亦會傾向加入職業工會，設法以「職業工人」的身份投保。如此即造成各類被保險人相互流動的現象。 　　而政府實行該補貼政策時，在無法縮減其他公共支出的前提下，必會以課徵其他租稅的方法來籌措財源，若此財源來自於綜合所得稅，除勞動供給無彈性、勞動需求彈性無限大，及勞動供給曲線為負斜率且勞動需求有彈性的情況下，一般而言，此租稅的課徵會使工資率進一步上升。而我國之勞動市場多數屬於勞動供給為正斜率，而勞動需求為負斜率的型態，故若財源來自於綜合所得稅，則將會使工資進一步上升。至於以其他租稅做為補貼財源時，就一般分析而言，某些租稅的課徵會造成工資率的上升，但有些租稅反而會進一步降低工資率。然就實務上而言，由於我國加值營業稅有稅基廣、稅收穩定及課徵阻力小等優點，故本文認為，若我國一定要施行此保險費之補貼政策時，其最適之財源籌措方式應以課徵加值營業稅為宜。 　　然本研究發現，政府保險費之補貼將造成工資率的改變，進而扭曲被保險人就業型態及投保單位的選擇，並且產生勞工流動的現象，如此將造成社會的福利損失，再者，若該補貼之財源來自於各種扭曲性租稅的課徵，則政府保險受的補貼將更進一步產生社會成本。

The thesis investigates the role of structural rigidities in recent labour market performances in Europe through various and complementary angles in five essays. By structural rigidities, we mean a lasting feature caused by a set of institutions, which prevents a market from operating efficiently. The approach is essentially empirical and macro-economic, while the scope of the analysis is definitely European, which is technically reflected in the use of either euro area aggregates or panels and cross-sections of European countries.

Research questions/Empirical data. This thesis includes four papers that study selected aspects of the labor market transformation during the transition in Russia. In particular, the studies address the issues of non-wage employee compensation in Russian firms, location choices and labor market outcomes for the Russian migrants to Russia, the health effects of occupational change during the transition. The empirical data used come from the surveys of firms and individuals in Russia. The research results. In these studies author finds that Russian firms used in-kind benefits to bargain for the government support and to attach employees in the tight labor markets; Russian migrants to Russia sorted themselves across locations according to the demand for their skills; occupational changes during the transition lead to the declining health and increasing levels of alcohol consumption and smoking. A short description of the author. Olga Lazareva has received her B.Sc. in Economics from Novosibirsk State University in Russia and her M.A. in Economics from Central European University in Hungary. Currently she is a Ph.D. candidate at the Economics Department of the Stockholm School of Economics and a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Economic and Financial Research in Russia. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009

過往清史研究關於清代官制多探討其制度成因、演變，鮮少觸及到俸祿、功名與官制彼此間的關聯性或影響程度，而從勞動經濟學的角度來看，官員的功名、官秩應反應出其人力資本投資與職場經驗的累積程度。有鑑於此，本研究利用清代各期間編纂地方方志中的樣本資料來探討及評估清代臺灣地方官吏人力資本投資、職場經驗及其他特徵變數對於薪資(俸祿)報酬的影響為何。 本論文第一個主題探討人力資本對康熙、雍正、乾隆時期薪俸的影響，實證結果顯示，進行人力資本投資(考取功名)可提升俸祿4.5%；官秩升遷可提升俸祿29.9%。若以職官屬性分類，本研究發現文官在人力資本投資與工作經驗的報酬率均優於武官，我們認為主要原因可能因文、武職官升遷模式有所差異。文官晉陞過程與其工作經驗有關，而武官晉陞過程可能與是否有戰功的關係較高，因此受到人力資本與工作經驗的影響較小。 本研究第二部份以傳統迴歸及Heckman兩階段估計法估計Mincerian所得函數，探討清治時期212年間臺灣鳳山縣職官文職與武職構成與其功名、官秩對工資(俸祿)影響。研究結果顯示：(1)以傳統迴歸分析實證結果估計會存有樣本選擇偏誤的問題；(2)俸祿考慮養廉下官員任期是否秩滿、是否因丁憂退出勞動市場、是否具八旗背景對文官薪資有顯著影響；官秩大小對武官薪俸則有正向影響。(3)俸祿不考慮養廉下，官秩對文、武職官薪俸帶有提升效果。 最後，本文探討養廉銀政策的施行對文職職官薪俸的影響。以DID估計發現：政策的實施使職官薪俸提升了0.5倍至數十倍不等；且職官個人功名與官秩顯著影響可獲取的薪俸額度。 / Previous researches in the history of Qing dynasty mainly study the cause of bureaucracy or the evolution in the bureaucratic system, however, there are fewer studies which explain the relationship of wage, official rank and the fame of scholarly honor. In the side of labor economic, the scholarly honor, official rank reply the accumulation of human capital and the experience in the job market. According it, this dissertation tries to evaluate the return of human capital investment, job experience and other characteristic variables on the wage on samples during the periods of Qing dynasty. The first topic tries to analyze the impacts of human capital on wage during the period Kangxi, Yongzeng and Qianlong era. The empirical results indicate that the human capital investment (scholarly honor) rises 4.5% in the wage rate; the return rate of official rank arise 29.9% wage rate. We also find that the civilian officials have better return rate in both factors than military ones. The main reason may due to the promotion process between civilian and military officials are not the same. The promotion in the civilian official base on the experience, the promotion process in military officials may relate to the performance in the war. Therefore the human capital and experience have smaller influence in the military officials’ wage. Using the traditional regression and Heckman two step methodology, the second part of this study estimates the Mincerian earnings function which try to explain the structure of the civilian officer and military bureaucracy sectors, and the return of official rank, the fame of scholarly honor on wage in Fenshan during the occupation period in Qing era. The empirical results indicate: (1) there has a sample selection bias if we estimate with traditional regression. (2) the term of official finished, in mourning for parent's death or the background in Eight banners system has significant effect when we consider the silver honesty system in wage. (3) official rank increases the wage rate of return in civilian and military official if the component of wage does not consider the silver honesty system. Finally, the dissertation investigates the influence of silver honesty system (SHS) in the wage of civilian officer. The empirical estimation finds that the implantation of policy increases the wage between 0.5 to dozens of times through difference and differences methodology (DID). The estimation also indicates that the FAME and RANK affect the available amount of salaries significantly.

This thesis consists of three papers studying the economic situation of immigrants in Sweden in terms of wage earnings, labor participation and family internal migration. Paper [I] (http://www.econ.umu.se/ues/ues622.html) studies the determinants of the wage earnings for immigrants from different countries, and secondly whether their wage earnings converge to those of comparable native-born Swedes. The study is based on a longitudinal dataset, and the data refers to 1991 and 1995, respectively. The empirical results indicate that immigrants in Sweden are heterogeneous, and different income determinants, such as education, cohortspecific factors and time of residence, affect different groups of immigrants in different ways. Even after 20 years of residence, almost none of the groups appear to reach the same level of earnings as natives. In particular, the earnings of immigrants from typical refugee-sending countries tend to be much lower. Paper [II] (http://www.econ.umu.se/ues/ues623.html) examines whether the transition probability from employment to non-employment among married immigrant women is consistent with the Family Investment Hypothesis (FIH). A dynamic random effects model is used and the estimations are based on a longitudinal database covering the period 1990-1996. The results indicate that the relationship between the transition probability from employment to nonemployment and the family’s time of residence in Sweden, considered here as an indication of the husband’s need for host country-specific human capital, does not seem to be consistent with the interpretation of the FIH. Further, when immigrant women married to native-born Swedes are used as a comparison group, the corresponding relationship is similar despite the fact that this group should not need to apply family investment strategy. Paper [III] (http://www.econ.umu.se/ues/ues624.html) uses a longitudinal dataset from the years 1995 and 2000, respectively, this study examines whether migration within the host country of Sweden generates higher total annual income for (two-earner) immigrant families. The empirical findings indicate that internal migration generates a positive outcome in terms of higher family income for newly arrived refugee-immigrant families. Further, with the length of residence in the host country, the monetary gain accruing from internal migration decreases. On the other hand, I could not find similar results for immigrant families from the Nordic countries, Europe and Asia.

This thesis tries to determine some of the driving force behind Swedish foreign direct in-vestments into the Baltic counties. The analysis is performed in three steps, first we analyze global FDI into transitional economies, and afterwards we look at Swedish FDI and com-pare it with German FDI. The determinants examined are index of economic freedom, R&D intensity, trade balance, wage level and proximity. The analyzed period is form 1995 to 2005. The analysis use data on the following transition countries Latvia, Lithuania, Esto-nia, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. The results show that the determinants vary across the countries. The motives of Swedish and German investors differ. Thus, for Swedish investors R&D, economical free-dom and trade balance are the influencing factors, but for Germany only trade balance and wage level are important. The conclusion is that different determinants triggers foreign di-rect investment in transitional economies in different ways.

The research in this thesis will look at the lives of a very specific group of Chinese immigrant workers in the restaurant industry, particularly those in the metropolitan city of Los Angeles. While unskilled Chinese workers are popular in the Chinese restaurant business because of the lack of skills required, they are quite mobile between the manufacturing and construction sectors as well. Working conditions are less than ideal for these immigrants, who find that life in America may not be what they expected prior to arrival. Though there are many organizations that seek to improve the lives of immigrants already residing in the United States, better efforts towards coordination could be put forth to ensure the availability and knowledge of these resources. Though Asian immigrants and their children have a reputation as a high-achieving model minority, there still remains a class of people who struggle with the same issues of relocation and assimilation as other immigrants. This research hopes to analyze the patterns of immigration for workers like these, to evaluate whether it is still feasible to achieve the American dream, and, if necessary, re-think U.S. immigration policy by looking to our Northern neighbors Canada and providing some policy recommendations.