No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Much of the recent work in the area of implicit contract theory hypothesizes that firms and workers differ in their attitudes towards risk. The optimal wage and employment contract calls for shifting some of the risk associated with a randomly fluctuating marginal product of labor from the more risk averse party to the less risk averse party. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the empirical implications of this risk shifting hypothesis. In particular, the following question is addressed: "How can we empirically identify whether risk shifting is occurring in the labor market?” Chapter 2 explores this question in the context of an implicit contract model with nominal variables and a randomly fluctuating price level. Under the usual assumption of risk neutral firms and risk averse workers the implications of the model are refuted by the industry level nominal wage stylized facts. Under the assumption that risk neutral workers insure risk averse firms the model is capable of explaining the stylized facts about the co-movements in nominal wages and employment. Chapter 3 explores this question in the context of a long-term implicit contract model with bankruptcy constraints. It is shown that if risk neutral firms insure risk averse workers then the real wage will respond asymmetrically to permanent and temporary revenue function disturbances. In particular, the real wage will respond more to a given permanent shock than to a temporary shock of the same size. Chapter 4 empirically tests this asymmetric wage response implication. A frequency domain technique is developed for decomposing a measure of revenue function disturbances into its permanent and temporary components and the real wage is regressed on each component. A sample of 12 4-digit SIC code industries are tested. The industry wage responses are estimated separately and as a system of seemingly unrelated regressions. Estimated separately, the results support the asymmetric response implication for 7 of the 12 industries at the .10 level of significance and 6 of the 12 industries at the .05 level. Estimated as a system the joint asymmetric response hypothesis is supported at the .01 level of significance for the 12 industries. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

This research investigates three topics in child care quality, mother's labor supply, and early childhood development. In the first study, we evaluate how child care quality influences the potential impacts of mothers' labor supply on child development. Although, previous studies have acknowledged the importance of the quality of child care, none have integrated quality in analyzing the effects of maternal employment. We find that the negative effect often found in past studies is largely due to the use of low quality child care. The question we ask in the next study is, "What are the effects of child care quality on child development?" In this study we tried to separate out the contribution of initial child ability in child test scores of development from the effects of other inputs, particularly child care quality. We show that even after resolving endogeneity issues, we still find that child care quality has a significant positive effect on early cognitive development. The third study investigates the determinants of households' demand for child care, particularly, child care quality. We determine if households' choices regarding child care quality, as well as quantity, respond to economic factors. A family's condition is defined by the combination of family choices on mother's work status, mode and payment type of child care, and child's age. We group families by condition and estimate demand for child care quality and hours by group. The results indicate that higher income will lead to higher quality for non-working mothers but lower quality for some working mothers. Demand for quality by non-working mothers are more price sensitive than working mothers. Wage effects on quality are positive only for users of home-based care. Demand for quality is more sensitive to economic factors when the child is around 3 years old than at 6 months. These results suggest that the form, target and timing of financial assistance need to be considered for it to be effective in promoting the use of quality care. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 120).

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics, 1982 / Includes bibliographies. / by Charles Richard Bean. / Ph. D. / Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 1981 / Includes bibliographical references. / by Clinton Sebastian Stanovsky. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering

No description available.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / The government of South Africa aspires to achieve a six percent economic growth per annum. The scarcity of qualified and experienced people that are crucial in contributing to economic growth and creating job opportunities, poses a problem for the country. The current demand for skills that are out of reach for many workers and the prevailing unemployment that is caused by the mismatch between what an organisation seeks and what a potential candidate can provide, have been highlighted as a critical cause for the scarcity of skills. The aim of this research assignment was to examine the current crisis of the skills shortage in the South African economy, with the focus on the manufacturing sector within the FMCG industry. Semi-structured and open-ended interviews with human resource, training and development, as well as technical managers in manufacturing organisations in Cape Town, South Africa were conducted. Data was obtained from a sample of six managers. According to all respondents interviewed, it takes approximately two to six months to replace an employee who has the appropriate technical skills. All the respondents are concerned with the situation of the technical skills shortage in the country. Consequently, these respondents’ companies engage in a talent war in order to recruit the best talent. It is therefore obvious that the market dynamics of supply and demand are out of equilibrium with regard to technically skilled employees in the manufacturing segment of the South African FMCG industry. The interviews that were conducted identified some companies that train new employees in technical skills. However, the majority of the companies are not doing much to improve the situation. In addition, the companies in this sector also compete with the other industries in the South African and the global economy regarding technical skills.