The objective of this thesis is to examine the evidence of and responses to shortages of skilled blue collar workers in the machining trades--tool and die makers and machinists--in the Montreal metropolitan region. The period studied is 1974 to 1981 and the study focuses on employer behaviour. / It was found that data available from government sources documenting the supply and demand for thee occupations are generally inadequate. The research underlines that one of the fundamental difficulties in compiling net supply and demand figures for these occupations is the pinning down of skill levels involved. Employers' definitions of skill are therefore analyzed. / This research indicates that organizational factors appear to influence the recruitment process as well as the choice of adjustment measures. It was found that employers dispose of and use many measures to respond to shortages. Specifically it was found that the adjustment process does not take place only through changes in wage rates. Rather employers will tend to favour adjustment measures that maintain existing arrangements within firms and preserve management discretion.

There are many potential determinants of women?s labour supply including wages, unearned income, human capital endowments, demographic characteristics and family traits. Fertility behaviour, including the number of children and age of children, is also an important factor in women’s labour supply decisions. Many factors which affect women’s decisions on participating in the labour market and hours of work are also key influences on their decisions on starting a family and having a desired number of children. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the determinants of labour supply and fertility behaviour of Australian women. Using cross-sectional data, labour supply models corrected for sample selection bias, and fertility models examining different aspects of family size, the thesis finds that women’s labour supply decisions are largely influenced by their wages and fertility behaviour. Their decisions on completed fertility, starting a family and having additional children are largely influenced by their actual or potential wages.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [212]-293).

Aujourd’hui, une entreprise ne peut, à elle seule, satisfaire les exigences de ses clients. Elle a besoin de s'appuyer sur les acteurs de sa Supply Chain : ses fournisseurs, les fournisseurs de ses fournisseurs et les distributeurs. Dans ce cadre, la littérature met en évidence la prédisposition des acteurs à aligner leurs comportements et à opter pour un comportement global intégrant les caractéristiques physiques, informationnelles, managériales, etc. L’objet de cette recherche est de comprendre par quels dispositifs de coordination ce postulat se réalise. Parallèlement, ces dispositifs de coordination (le contrat, la confiance, le pouvoir ou encore l’opportunisme), qui trouvent généralement leur substance dans les relations interpersonnelles, alimentent une littérature qui a tendance à laisser penser que l’idée d’un alignement de comportement n’est pas soutenable dans les relations inter-firmes. Pour comprendre la relation inter-firmes et les dispositifs mis en place au sein de la Supply Chain Automobile, nous avons exploré une revue de littérature sur la firme, la relation inter-firmes, les différents regards portés sur la coordination inter-firmes et la place accordée à chaque dispositif de coordination. Nous avons également exposé la spécificité du concept SCM et plus largement le concept Supply Chain. Par la suite, une étude de cas, inscrite dans une démarche compréhensive au sens du Dumez (2014), a constitué la phase empirique de notre recherche. La confrontation du matériau théorique au matériau empirique a fait émerger trois idéaux-types de relations (Collaboration, Coordination et Transaction) dont des dispositifs changent d’un type à l’autre et selon que l’on se place en amont ou en aval. Ainsi, peut-on trouver dans le même idéaltype, et chez les mêmes acteurs, des dispositifs ascendants (envers les clients) et descendants (envers les fournisseurs). Cette recherche a appuyé les travaux sur le rôle décisif du leadership, d’une part dans la construction de la relation de collaboration avec ses fournisseurs, et d’autre part sur l’impact qu’il exerce sur la définition des dispositifs de relation. Elle a également montré que la place de la culture dans les relations inter-firmes n’est pas uniforme, mais change en fonction de la solidité du système organisationnel de l’entreprise. Enfin, cette recherche montre la corrélation entre la construction du système organisationnel des entreprises au sein de chaque idéaltype et les cinq principaux facteurs, à savoir, la spécificité de l’actif, la technicité du produit, le temps, la qualité et le prix. / Nowadays, a firm cannot meet its customers' requirements alone. It needs to rely on its Supply Chain : its providers, the providers of its providers, and the distributors.In this framework, the literature highlights the actors’ proneness to align their behaviors and to opt for a global behavior that integrates physical, informational and managerial characteristics. The purpose of this research is to understand by which coordination instruments does this postulate is carried out? On the other hand, these coordination instruments (contract, trust, power or opportunism), which often find their substance in the interpersonal relationships, feed a literature that tends to let one think that the idea of a behavioral alignment is not bearable in the interfirm relationships.To understand the interfirm relationships and its instruments in the automotive supply chain, we have explored a literature review on the firm, the interfirm relationships and the place granted to each coordination instrument. We also showed the specificity of the SCM concept, and more widely the Supply Chain concept. Then, a case study registered in a comprehensive approach, in Dumez sense (2014), constituted the empirical phases of our research. The confrontation of the theoretical material with the empirical material brought three ideal types of relationships to the foreground (Collaboration, Coordination and Transactional), whose instruments change from one to another, and differ if we are upstream or downstream. Within the same idealtype, and the same actors, there are ascendants (towards the customers) or descendants (towards the providers) instruments. This research has rested on the works on the leadership decisive role, on one hand in the building of a collaborative relationship with the providers and, on the other hand, its impact on the definition of the relationship measure. It also demonstrated that the place of the culture in the interfirm relationships is not always the same, but changes depending on the organizational system of the firm. Finally, this research shows the correlation between the organizational system building of the firms within each idealtype, and the five following main factors : the asset specificity, the product technicality, the time, the quality and the price.

Diversos estudos têm relacionado melhores condições de saneamento básico ao incremento nos índices de saúde da população. Investimentos em saneamento básico tendem a promover um benefício econômico, já que o custo para as intervenções necessárias é inferior à despesa com tratamento das enfermidades causadas pela falta de saneamento. Esta pesquisa visou caracterizar a problemática do abastecimento de água em pequenas comunidades urbanas e rurais no estado do Rio Grande do Sul, avaliando-se a vulnerabilidade dos sistemas de abastecimento e da população atingida por meio de critérios próprios voltados à situação de interesse. Definiu-se uma amostra com locais escolhidos por método estatístico e um índice de vulnerabilidade composto por quatro dimensões de análise, dez indicadores e cinco níveis de vulnerabilidade cada. Com isso, caracterizou-se a problemática com base nos dez indicadores propostos, analisaram-se estatisticamente os resultados do índice de vulnerabilidade com o cálculo do índice médio para o Estado e em termos de subpopulações, e estimou-se a proporção da população abastecida e sistemas considerados vulneráveis. Apresentaram-se, portanto, conclusões quanto ao método empregado e resultados encontrados, além de recomendações que podem ser aplicadas para mitigar as vulnerabilidades encontradas e no desenvolvimento de trabalhos futuros. Os resultados demonstraram que o nível de tratamento se mostrou um importante critério de análise de vulnerabilidade, havendo diferenças significativas nos resultados do índice para os sistemas sem tratamento e aqueles com tratamento considerado adequado. / According to several studies, there is an association between progresses in drinking water and sanitation to improvements in health indices. Investments in safe drinking water and sanitation may yield in an economic benefit, as the health-effect costs outweigh the costs of undertaking the required interventions. The objective of this research was to evaluate small community water supply systems in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, assessing the vulnerability of the systems and population that depends on them. The survey followed statistical sampling techniques to design the sample size and a water vulnerability index tool that included four dimensions, ten indicators and five vulnerability ratings was constructed. The condition was characterized by the ten proposed indicators, while statistical analysis of the vulnerability index was performed with mean estimates for the State and subpopulations. It was also estimated the proportion of the target population and water supply systems considered vulnerable. Conclusions were presented with respect to the method applied and the main results found in the survey. Recommendations were proposed in order to mitigate the vulnerabilities of the systems and protect public health. The results demonstrate that the level of treatment is a major vulnerability criteria, as significant differences in the index were related to systems that distribute water without treatment and those with an appropriate treatment technology.

Diversos estudos têm relacionado melhores condições de saneamento básico ao incremento nos índices de saúde da população. Investimentos em saneamento básico tendem a promover um benefício econômico, já que o custo para as intervenções necessárias é inferior à despesa com tratamento das enfermidades causadas pela falta de saneamento. Esta pesquisa visou caracterizar a problemática do abastecimento de água em pequenas comunidades urbanas e rurais no estado do Rio Grande do Sul, avaliando-se a vulnerabilidade dos sistemas de abastecimento e da população atingida por meio de critérios próprios voltados à situação de interesse. Definiu-se uma amostra com locais escolhidos por método estatístico e um índice de vulnerabilidade composto por quatro dimensões de análise, dez indicadores e cinco níveis de vulnerabilidade cada. Com isso, caracterizou-se a problemática com base nos dez indicadores propostos, analisaram-se estatisticamente os resultados do índice de vulnerabilidade com o cálculo do índice médio para o Estado e em termos de subpopulações, e estimou-se a proporção da população abastecida e sistemas considerados vulneráveis. Apresentaram-se, portanto, conclusões quanto ao método empregado e resultados encontrados, além de recomendações que podem ser aplicadas para mitigar as vulnerabilidades encontradas e no desenvolvimento de trabalhos futuros. Os resultados demonstraram que o nível de tratamento se mostrou um importante critério de análise de vulnerabilidade, havendo diferenças significativas nos resultados do índice para os sistemas sem tratamento e aqueles com tratamento considerado adequado. / According to several studies, there is an association between progresses in drinking water and sanitation to improvements in health indices. Investments in safe drinking water and sanitation may yield in an economic benefit, as the health-effect costs outweigh the costs of undertaking the required interventions. The objective of this research was to evaluate small community water supply systems in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, assessing the vulnerability of the systems and population that depends on them. The survey followed statistical sampling techniques to design the sample size and a water vulnerability index tool that included four dimensions, ten indicators and five vulnerability ratings was constructed. The condition was characterized by the ten proposed indicators, while statistical analysis of the vulnerability index was performed with mean estimates for the State and subpopulations. It was also estimated the proportion of the target population and water supply systems considered vulnerable. Conclusions were presented with respect to the method applied and the main results found in the survey. Recommendations were proposed in order to mitigate the vulnerabilities of the systems and protect public health. The results demonstrate that the level of treatment is a major vulnerability criteria, as significant differences in the index were related to systems that distribute water without treatment and those with an appropriate treatment technology.

Background and problematisation In a constantly changing industry like the fashion industry, it is more important than ever to have a well-functioning value chain and efficient sourcing. Companies have outsourced their production during a long period of time, which has proven to be very effective in many cases. But some researchers now mean that it starts to appear a reverse trend, as companies instead start moving back production to generate benefits. This is a term called reshoring. The research mentions benefits with reshoring as a more efficient value chain, reduced risks and value creating for both consumers and the firm. A recurrent question is then if there only are benefits with reshoring or if there are negative aspects of the decision as well. Research suggests that reshoring will be the next big thing within sourcing but this is not something we have noticed has happened, yet. Purpose and method The purpose of this study is to investigate how Swedish fashion companies through sourcing can improve and make their value chain more efficient. We will also investigate if companies are open for the option to bring back production to Europe, known as reshoring. Since several researchers now believe that there will be a balance on how much of the production that moves away and moves home, we want to find out if this is something that lays within the interest of Swedish fashion companies. To find out, we conducted semi structured interviews with a number of companies that fit the purpose. The empiricism that was collected was then linked with the theoretical framework to be able to be analysed and answer our research question. Result and conclusion After an analysis was compiled we found that the interviewed companies did not share the researcher's positive image about reshoring. While the researchers talked about risks and increased wages in the Asian countries, the companies instead meant that they had secured the production in Asia for several years, using production offices and long-term relationships with their suppliers. To leave this for a move to Europe then felt unnecessary for the companies. In addition, companies claimed that Europe did not need to be safer than Asia. Our conclusion is therefore that the research on reshoring is very interesting and could be something in a possible future, but the fashion companies is not there yet and may not ever be there.The thesis is written in Swedish. / Bakgrund och problematisering I en konstant föränderlig bransch som modebranschen är det viktigare än någonsin att ha en väl fungerande värdekedja och ett bra sourcingarbete. Företag har länge outsourcat sin produktion vilket har visat sig vara väldigt effektivt i många fall, men nu menar vissa forskare att det börjar synas en motsatt trend, då företag istället börjar flytta hem produktionen för att generera fördelar. Detta kallas för reshoring. Forskningen nämner att det kan bli fördelaktigt med reshoring då det kan ge en effektivare värdekedja, minskade risker samt skapa värde för både konsument och företag. En fråga blir då om det bara finns fördelar med reshoring eller vad det är som går emot beslutet. Forskningen tyder på att reshoring kommer slå igenom men detta är ingenting som vi märkt ännu. Syfte och metod Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka hur svenska modeföretag med hjälp av sourcing kan förbättra och effektivisera sin värdekedja. Vi kommer även att ta reda på om företag är öppna för möjligheten att ta tillbaka produktion till Europa, så kallad reshoring. Då flera forskare menar att det snart kommer uppstå en balans mellan hur mycket som flyttas ut och som flyttas hem vill vi ta reda på om det är något som ligger i företagens intresse. För att få reda på detta genomförde vi semistrukturerade intervjuer med en rad företag som passade in på syftet. Empirin som samlades in kopplades sedan samman med den teoretiska referensramen för att kunna analyseras och besvara vår forskningsfråga. Resultat och slutsats Efter att en analys hade sammanställs så kom vi fram till att de intervjuade företagen inte delade den positiva bilden av reshoring som forskarna hade. Medan forskarna pratade om risker och ökade löner i de asiatiska länderna så menade företagen istället att de under flera år skapat sig en trygghet i Asien med hjälp av produktionskontor och långvariga relationer med sina leverantörer. Att då bryta detta för att dra sig tillbaka till Europa, kändes för företagen således onödigt. Dessutom tog företagen upp att Europa inte alls behövde vara tryggare än Asien. Vår slutsats är att forskningen kring reshoring är väldigt intressant och eventuellt kan bli något i framtiden, men modeföretagen har inte kommit dit än och kanske inte heller någonsin kommer att göra det.

This is an in-depth case study of urban water services to poor households and their interactions with local state power in the community of Eastwood, Pietermaritzburg, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, for the period 2005-2007. It draws especially on the experiences of poor women, exploring the conceptions and implications of the movement of municipal services into the realm of welfare-based urban service concessions. It interrogates what value municipal services, framed in the language and form of welfare but within a commodification milieu and in the context of shifting citizen-state relations offer the state apparatus and how such free basic service offerings are experienced by poor households at the level of domestic, social and economic functioning. The study adopts a fluid mixed-methodological approach to optimise exploration and interpretation. It argues that the interface of state service delivery and citizens is fraught with contradictions: core to this is the nature of state ' help.' Free basic water encompassed in the social wage did not improve the lives of poor households; instead it eroded original water access. Free basic water stole women's time spent on domestic activities; compromised appropriate water requirements, exacerbated service affordability problems and negatively affected household functioning. Poor households experienced the government's policy of free basic services as containment and punishment for being poor. The Indigent Policy activated the state's surveillance, disciplinary and control apparatus. In the absence of effective national regulation over municipalities and with financial shortfalls, street-level bureaucrats manipulated social policies to further municipal cost recovery goals and subjugate poor households. Social control and cheap governance were in symmetry. Citizens, desperate for relief, approached the state. Poor households were pushed into downgraded service packages or mercilessly pursued by municipally outsourced private debt collectors and disconnection companies. Municipalities competing for investments brought about by favourable credit ratings abandoned the humanity of their citizens. Such re-prioritisation of values had profound implications for governance and public trust. Citizens were jettisoned to the outskirts of municipal governance, resulting in a distinct confusion and anger towards the local state - and with it, major uncertainties regarding future stability, redistribution and equity.

Access to adequate water and sanitation services in South Africa still remain a pipe dream for the millions who are trapped at the bottom of the class structures in the country. The poverty stricken communities living in Townships such as Motherwell, everyday long for water services infrastructure to be built in their places of residence. The costs of accessing water services also becomes a setback for many consumers in the area, this is after the infrastructure has been installed in their areas. The high unemployment rate plays an enormous role in many consumers not affording water services. Bureaucracy between the government department of Housing and the NMMBM also impedes delivery of water services for without formal housing, water and sanitation is impossible to be accessed within the households. The study revealed from the semi-structured interviews which were held with Mayoral Council official and Ward Councillors as well as with members of the communities NU 12 and 29 that access to adequate water services was not successful and satisfactory. The findings of the research demonstrate that the Municipality has a problem with retaining staff members in the portfolio of Infrastructure, Engineering, Electricity and Energy, which is the responsible department for providing water and sanitation services to the local inhabitants. This study was conducted from April 2009 to November 2009 and it was aimed at finding the Barriers to accessing water services in the Motherwell Township.

Some business leaders in the manufacturing industry lack strategies to optimize green supply chain management strategies that increase profitability while reducing the carbon footprint. The lack of green supply chain strategies sub optimizes the use of resources business leaders use to meet their financial goals. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful green supply chain strategies leaders used to increase profitability while reducing the carbon footprint. The participants were 7 business leaders in one manufacturing organization headquartered in Massachusetts who have sophisticated green supply chain strategies in place. The natural resource-based view theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and organizational documents. Through thematic analysis, 3 key themes emerged: environmental management strategies, profit-increasing strategies, and governance strategies. The findings of this study might be of value to business leaders to reduce costs and create sustainable, competitive supply chains using responsible methods. The implications for social change include the potential for leaders to preserve finite natural resources for future generations and reduce the carbon footprint of manufacturing organizations.