A persistent theme over the past year in public discussion has been the state of skills in the South African economy and society (DoL, 2003:1). The DoL (2005:55) further states that the issue of "scarce skills" has become a key government priority. It is now generally accepted that skills shortages in key occupational areas are hindering future economic growth (DoL, 2005:55). Within the civil engineering industry in South Africa recent studies have found that there has been a slow decline in the number of civil engineering professionals since the seventies and early eighties; all sectors in the industry have reported staff shortages, particularly of experienced midcareer professionals; staff utilisation rates are over 90% on average and in excess of 100% in many firms and there is a critical shortage of experienced civil professionals responsible for production work (Lawless, 2005 and SAACE, 2005). Some of the reasons cited for the skills shortages and skills gaps include poor quality of both secondary and tertiary education, inadequate training provided by employers, the overall unattractiveness of civil engineering due to relatively lower salaries being paid as compared to other professions and working conditions and emigration (for various reasons). The primary aim of the study was to investigate the impact skills shortages have had on client satisfaction within Stewart Scott International (SSI), a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firm, in KwaZulu-Natal. Thereafter, from the findings of the research, identify specific areas of dissatisfaction ( from SSI's clients' perspective) and develop short to medium term strategies to better manage the situation, it being noted that addressing the root causes of skills shortages and skills gaps requires long term interventions. The research also sought to assess from SSI's clients' whether they believed any decline in their satisfaction levels was as a result of skills shortages in the industry. The data collection instrument used in the study was a structured questionnaire. Questionnaires were sent to clients with whom SSI had been doing business with for at least five years. The study found three areas of concern in SSI's quality of service (which clients' believed were as a result of skills shortages), viz SSI's approach to work, SSI's creativity in proposed solutions and SSI's approach in dealing with problems in relationships with clients. The findings of the research are similar to the findings of the NACI ( 2003) in SA and Mills and Treagust (2003) in Australia. The study further found empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that the levels of skills and levels of client satisfaction are related. The research found that: • There has been a decline in SSI's approach to work • There has been a decline in SSI's creativity in proposed solutions • There has been a decline in the manner and time frames SSI deals with problems in relationships The following are recommended: • More efficient use of resources (short-term) • Coaching and training initiatives be reviewed and formalised (short-term) • Develop a new skills management specification (medium-term) in / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This dissertation includes three papers that address various aspects of the economics of labour and the family. The dissertation integrates the discussion on the following issues: (1) the allocation of housework and childcare in Canadian two-earner households (2) the effect of family policy reform on time allocation and labour supply in two-parent families (3) effect of anticipated divorce and divorce duration on male and female labour supply. The first paper Time Allocation Gender Gap in Native-born and Foreign-born Families in Canada focuses on the difference between the housework and childcare share produced by foreign-born husbands compared to Canadian-born husbands. This empirical analysis employs the data from the Canadian General Social Survey. The results show that foreign-born husbands have a lower share of housework and childcare compared to their Canadian-born counterparts. The second paper The effect of Quebec childcare policy change on the labour market outcomes and time distribution in the family analyzes the effect of the childcare policy change that took place in Quebec in 1997-2000. The results show that the introduction of “$5 per day” daycare subsidized by the Quebec government increased the labour supply of married mothers and also affected the allocation of time husbands and wives spend on housework and childcare. The data from this project were drawn from 1996 and 2001 Canadian Census. The third paper Labour supply of Australian men and women before and after divorce studies the changes in the labour supply of men and women before and after divorce. The data for empirical analysis employs 12 waves of Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA). The outcome suggests that men and women do not change labour participation and weekly working hours in anticipation of divorce. Women increase labour force participation and weekly hours worked as a result of divorce. Men’s labour supply does not change in response to divorce.

This thesis contains empirical studies of portfolio choice and asset prices. The first two chapters deal with incorporating labor supply into models traditionally only focusing on consumption. Can the risk premium on stocks be better understood when taking labor supply into account? This is the topic of the first chapter. Do possibilities of varying labor supply, and thus hedging stock market risk, help explain the stock ownership patterns of households? This question is what the second chapter tries to answer. If labor income moves with the stock market, an attempt should be made to hedge this with a lower share of stocks in the portfolio and, but do households act according to this rule? This is what the third chapter investigates. Chapter one, Labor Supply Flexibility and Portfolio Choice: Evidence from the PSID, examines the relationship between labor supply flexibility and portfolio choice. Theoretical articles have shown that, ceteris paribus, the optimal portfolio share of risky assets (stocks) increases with labor supply flexibility, due to increased possibilities of hedging financial risk by adjusting the labor supply. Using PSID household data, this hypothesis is tested using a direct measure of labor supply flexibility from survey questions. The results indicate that the total portfolio share is increased by labor supply flexibility. When separated, most of this effect seems to come from the increased probability of stock ownership due to flexible labor, rather than an increased portfolio share among stockholders. Chapter two, Can Leisure Explain the Equity Premium Puzzle? An Empirical Investigation, investigates the asset pricing properties of non-separable utility functions with consumption and leisure. The parameter restrictions needed to match the historical equity premium are explored using US data on consumption, hours and returns. Empirically, it is shown that to match the equity premium with a low level of risk aversion, consumption and leisure need to be strong complements, i.e. have a very low substitution elasticity. Chapter three, Income Risk and Stockholdings: Evidence from Swedish Microdata, examines the relationship between income risk and portfolio choice. It empirically investigates whether the stock market risk (the covariation with the stock market) in labor income is reflected by an offsetting lower share of stocks in financial portfolios, an effect that has been shown to exist in theoretical articles. Swedish microdata from HINK on households’ income and wealth are used for this purpose. In repeated cross-sections, households are divided into "portfolio cohorts" corresponding to percentiles of the share of stocks in financial assets. Income risk, i.e. the regression beta of (log) income growth on aggregate stock returns, is compared for the different groups. As predicted by theory, the results provide some support for a negative relationship between income risk and the share of stocks. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2004

This Thesis applies one of the most popular household models to the allocation of resources within poor rural households. Based on Browning and Goertz (2007) seminal Collective Household Model, the first Chapter conducts a literature review and derives conditions for identifying and testing the model. The next Chapter amends this model to evaluate efficiency of the intra-household allocation of male and female labour inputs in the domestic production of multiple crops. Using survey data from Uganda it is found that the division of labour between food and cash crops is made according to comparative advantage, but that Pareto improvements could be achieved by reallocating labour between male- and female-controlled plots. The final Chapter analyses the distribution of private consumption and leisure within rural couples in Tanzania. The findings provide limited support for the Collective Model, but are consistent with non-unitary household behaviour.

In this study I investigate how changes in marginal taxation on labour income affect labour supply in Sweden in the time period 1991-2006. Unlike previous research which has used data on the individual level, this study uses aggregated data on the municipality level and another methodological approach. The results indicate that labour supply is reduced as marginal taxation is increased, but the reduction is modest and varies between those in the public and the private sector. The reduction in labour supply is in line with conclusions from previous research, but in contrast to previous studies it is found that labour income increases as marginal taxation increases.

Den här uppsatsen undersöker om studieprestationen hos studenter med olika socioekonomisk bakgrund påverkas olika av förändringar i nivån på studiemedlet. Vi gör detta genom att använda oss av en serie reformer av det svenska studiemedelssystemet som ändrade incitamenten för studenter att spendera sin tid på arbete eller studier. Aggregerad socioekonomisk bakgrund på lärosätesnivå används för att uppskatta skillnaderna mellan de socioekonomiska grupperna, där lärosäten med en högre andel studenter med stark socioekonomisk bakgrund antas vara mindre beroende av arbetsinkomster och därmed mindre känsliga för förändringar i studiemedlet. Utvecklingen i prestationsgrad för de socioekonomiska grupperna jämförs före och efter reformerna med hjälp av en difference-in-difference regression. Sammantaget ger resultaten stöd för att de socioekonomiska grupperna inte skiljer sig åt i hur deras prestationer i högskolan påverkades av reformerna. / This thesis explores if the academic achievements of students with different socioeconomic backgrounds are affected differently when the level of student aid is changed. We do this by using a series of reforms in the Swedish student aid system that changed incentives for students to spend time working or studying. Aggregate socioeconomic background for universities was used to estimate the differences between socioeconomic groups, where universities with a higher share of students with a strong socioeconomic background are assumed to be less dependent on work-related sources of income and thus less sensitive to changes in the level of student aid. The development of achievement rates in the socioeconomic groups were compared before and after the reforms took place by using a difference-in-differences regression. Overall, the results indicate that the socioeconomic groups do not differ in terms of how their achievements in higher education were affected by the reforms

The purpose of the study was to investigate skills development within the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector. The study investigates the reasons associated with the shortage of skills and the factors influencing the rate of skills development within this sector. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This thesis covers two areas of the labour market not commonly studied in the context of discrimination: potential bias of job seekers against employers based on ethnicity and gender, and discrimination against employment seekers in the context of the unemployment insurance system. Utilizing survey experiments, both studies yield robust null results. Overall, these studies contribute to the understanding of discrimination dynamics in the labour market and welfare systems. Paper I shows that job seekers may not be motivated by discriminatory practices when seeking employment. However, more research is needed, and future work should be focused on natural experiments to prevent limitations similar to those in our study. Paper II highlights the importance of strict legal frameworks and of maintaining rigorous standards in public service delivery to mitigate discriminatory practices. / <p><strong>Funding:</strong> Swedish Unemployment Insurance Inspectorate</p>

This thesis consists of five essays on the economic outcomes of immigrants and homosexuals on the labour and housing market. Essay I evaluates the effect of an in-work benefit on the labour supply of single immigrant women by means of simulation. Although, on average, there is no significant effect, we find that the in-work benefit increases the working hours of single women with low incomes and slightly decreases the working hours of those with high incomes. The increase in working hours is primarily a result of increased participation. As expected, the positive effect is largest for the immigrant groups with the lowest participation rates and lowest labour incomes. Essay II studies intergenerational transmissions in self-employment. The results show that immigrants transfer general human capital over three generations in the sense that individuals whose fathers and grandfathers are self-employed have a higher self-employment propensity. For natives, only the father’s self-employment affects the son’s probability of becoming self-employed. Furthermore, the results show that natives transfer specific human capital from father to son, which increases the probability of sons becoming self-employed in the industry in which their fathers are self-employed. Essay III explores the effect of self-employment experience on subsequent earnings and the employment of male and female immigrant wage earners. We find that, relative to continued wage employment, self-employment is associated with lower earnings and difficulties in returning to paid employment for both immigrant men and women. The effect is less severe for natives. Among immigrant groups, the results give little support that self-employment experience improves earnings and employment prospects compared to experience from wage employment.  Essay IV applies a field experiment to investigate how increasing the information about applicants affects discrimination against male Arab/Muslim applicants on the rental housing market. The Arab/Muslim applicants received fewer responses from the landlords than did the Swedish applicants. All of the applicants gained by providing more information about themselves, but the magnitude of discrimination against the Arab/Muslim applicants remained unchanged, indicating that increasing the amount of applicant information will not reduce discrimination. Essay V studies possible discrimination against lesbians in the rental housing market using a field experiment. We let two fictitious couples, one heterosexual and one homosexual, apply for vacant apartments on the Internet. We then explored if there were differences in callbacks, invitations to further contact and/or showings. The results show no indication of differential treatment of lesbians by landlords.

The thesis deals with the estimation of labour supply responses to the personal income tax reform in the Czech Republic adopted in 2008 by applying quasi experimental design known as "difference-in-differences". By exploiting the different change in the effective tax rates for various population subgroups as a natural experiment and using microdata from European Labour Force Sur- vey we constructed the treatment and control groups according to the highest attained level of education serving as a proxy for an income range that assigns an individual to the particular tax bracket before and after policy change. Analysing one-person households we found significant negative effect on the labour force participation and significant positive effect on the hours work of the treated by comparing these outcomes for the treatment and control groups in the baseline and follow up periods before and after the reform. JEL Classification C21, D04, H24, H31, I38, J22 Keywords tax reform, labour supply, natural experiment, difference-in-differences Author's e-mail janxtomo@gmail.com Supervisor's e-mail gebicka@fsv.cuni.cz