In the debate on the economic effects of labor market regulation much work has focused on minimum wages. A legal minimum wage remains one of the most controversial policy issues. The controversy arises for two main reasons: first, there is no consensus over the economic impacts of the minimum wage mandate, especially its effect on employment, and, second, there is a disagreement over the empirical methods used to identify the minimum wage effects. Although the standard competitive model predicts that wage floors should have a negative impact on employment, empirical work shows mixed results. This dissertation explores a number of adjustment channels that can explain the paradox of the small and insignificant employment effects uncovered in the MW literature. Specifically, the economic impact of the most recent 2007-2009 Federal minimum wage increase (from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour) is analyzed using a sample of quick-service restaurants in Georgia and Alabama. In contrast to prior studies, store-level bi-weekly payroll records for individual employees are used, allowing greater precision in measuring the relative cost-impact of the MW on establishments. Despite significant variation in the cost-impact of the three-stage MW increase across establishments, regression analysis finds lack of a negative effect on employment and hours following each MW increase. Additional channels of adjustment are explored using unique data from manager surveys. Evidence suggests that higher product prices, lower profit margins, wage compression, reduced turnover and higher performance standards largely account for insignificant employment effects. These results are consistent with a number of alternative theoretical models of labor markets. An expanded version of the perfectly competitive model that incorporates additional margins of adjustment is also compatible with the reported findings.

This paper attempts to explain welfare and labor market participation differentials between Saskatchewan and Alberta, with greater emphasis placed on welfare participation. Generous benefit levels encourage welfare participation but discourage labor market participation. We are interested in explaining if generous welfare policy has contributed to an increase in welfare participation and discouraged labor market participation. We employ a probit model to analyze the decision to participate in the welfare or the labor market among lone parents and singles (unattached individuals) in the two provinces. The results are then decomposed into the explained and unexplained parts, and these results are used to illustrate which variables contribute to welfare differentials. We find that benefit levels have a significant positive effect on welfare participation and a significant negative effect on labor market participation. We also find that welfare participation differentials exist between Saskatchewan and Alberta; other factors in addition to benefit levels play a role in explaining that gap. We conclude that welfare differentials between Saskatchewan may be a reflection of program administration differences.

This paper attempts to explain welfare and labor market participation differentials between Saskatchewan and Alberta, with greater emphasis placed on welfare participation. Generous benefit levels encourage welfare participation but discourage labor market participation. We are interested in explaining if generous welfare policy has contributed to an increase in welfare participation and discouraged labor market participation. We employ a probit model to analyze the decision to participate in the welfare or the labor market among lone parents and singles (unattached individuals) in the two provinces. The results are then decomposed into the explained and unexplained parts, and these results are used to illustrate which variables contribute to welfare differentials. We find that benefit levels have a significant positive effect on welfare participation and a significant negative effect on labor market participation. We also find that welfare participation differentials exist between Saskatchewan and Alberta; other factors in addition to benefit levels play a role in explaining that gap. We conclude that welfare differentials between Saskatchewan may be a reflection of program administration differences.

Thesis (M.B.A)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Bill Gates, Bill Hatch. "MBA professional report"--Cover. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65). Also available online.

For decades, research has explored how family background shapes access to and success in postsecondary education. However, much less is known about the effect of family background on one’s educational and occupation success within specific fields. Given rapid advances in science and technology and a changing global economy, understanding these processes within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are particularly important to the broader understanding of stratification. Many recent studies in the U.S. stress the importance of increasing our STEM labor force to remain competitive in the global market, and demand for highly skilled workers is at an all-time high and increasing. While the demand for these jobs is high, many researchers argue that the supply of highly skilled workers is lagging behind. In order to meet these demands, many of these researchers point to increasing the talent pool by drawing from underrepresented groups. This study looks at how family socioeconomic background affects entry into STEM majors, persistence in STEM major, and early labor market outcomes among college graduates from STEM fields, and compares these patterns and processes to those in non-STEM fields. Results from this study show stronger SES differences in STEM fields than non-STEM fields at each point from college major choice to the labor market. Together, these results suggest that less socioeconomically advantaged students may be at a particular disadvantage in STEM fields. / text

This thesis explores the incidence, the determinants and the consequences of overeducation and overskilling on individuals and firm performance in Malaysia. Three datasets were utilised: the 2007 Productivity Investment Climate Survey (PICS-2), the 1988 Malaysia Family Life Survey (MFLS-2) and the 2007 Graduate Tracer Study (GTS-07). The PICS-2 focused on overeducation and overskilling in the manufacturing sector whilst the MFLS-2 and GTS-07 highlighted overeducation on married respondents and graduates, respectively. With respect to the incidence, overeducation ranges from 19 to 32% whilst overskilling stands at 29%: moderately overskilled (7%) and severely overskilled (22%). As regards the determinants, workplace characteristics such as firm size, ownership, workforce composition and types of hiring practice play a role on overeducation and overskilling decision. Furthermore, labour market size and greater spatial flexibility, such as access to cars and public transportation, along with the individuals' heterogeneity in ability and skills also influence the overeducation incidence. On top of that, being overeducated increases the probability of being overskilled. In terms of consequences, overeducation and overskilling lead to lower earnings. Ordinary least square (OLS) and the random effects (RE) estimate that the earnings loss due to overeducation range from 2 to 24%, with a range of 2 to 11% for overskilled workers. The degree of overeducation and overskilling matters with the overeducation penalty (GTS-07) being larger for the severely overeducated than for the moderately overeducated, whilst severely overskilled workers (PICS-2) face a greater earnings loss compared with the moderately overskilled. Using a quantile regression, some evidences indicate overeducation and overskilling penalty related to unobserved individual abilities, especially for the males' sample. What is more, the GTS-07 reveals that overeducation leads to a lower job satisfaction and increases the on-the-job search behaviour amongst the overeducated workers. Both negative effects are much higher for the workers who are severely rather than moderately overeducated. As regards firm performance, negative externalities from having mismatched workers at the workplace are observed, as these tend to reduce firm performance. However, these negative externalities are largely contributed by having a higher proportion of overeducated as compared to overskilled workers. Apart from quit rate, overeducation decreased the workplace average pay, labour productivity, output and sales per worker but increased in absenteeism. By contrast, hardly any impact is observed regarding overskilling on firm performance apart from the average workplace pay. This suggests that reducing the incidence of mismatch, particularly educational mismatch in the workplace, is essential in improving firm performance thus remaining competitive domestically and globally. This thesis contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the incidence and the consequences of overeducation and overskilling on individuals and firm performance in Malaysia. Similar study remains to be very scarce in the context of a developing country.

This thesis is concerned with various aspects of transitional labour reallocation either between different labour market states, or between less and more efficient enterprises, or between formal and informal sectors. The possibility of irregular employment opportunities receives special attention in this work. The substantive material is arranged in three independent essays. The first, empirical study portrays the most important trends in labour reallocation in Russia, and presents analyses of two types. First, transition probabilities are studied, and some determinants of worker flows are identified using a multinomial logit modelling. Second, a survival analysis of the non-employed is conducted to reveal possible causes of growing stagnancy of unemployment and inactivity. The findings are contrasted with the stylised theory of labour reallocation in transition (Aghion and Blanchard, 1994). The directions in which theoretical modifications should be attempted in future research are suggested. The second and the third essays draw upon some of these suggestions and are aimed at making a contribution on the theoretical front. The second essay puts forward a development of the seminal model of transition from planned to market economy by Aghion and Blanchard (1994). We introduce an informal sector to show that its presence can generate the dynamics qualitatively different from the types considered in the previous literature on the topic. It is argued that convergence to qualitatively different steady states can help explain varying transitional experiences of East European countries and the former Soviet Union republics. Attention is drawn to policy implications of the model, in particular to the creation of conditions favourable for the development of the new private sector as opposed to informal private initiative. Finally, the third essay takes the issue of coexistence of formal and informal sectors in transition further to see if such duality is possible in the long run, and to discuss the role of the government in creating preconditions for it. The study draws on the standard framework of Pissarides (2000) of search in the labour market. It demonstrates that a long-run equilibrium with both formal and informal economies is possible under very mild assumptions. It is also shown that labour market imperfections can create a situation when reduction in informality may be detrimental to economic welfare. Although the foci of the essays differ, the issues raised therein are closely knit so that many threads can be drawn together. In the concluding chapter we discuss the main areas to which this thesis contributes, summarise the main findings, and make some suggestions for future research.

In Singapore, employers lack a rational approach to decide whether a position should be externalized or internalized. Employers in Singapore put emphasis on short-term cost management and the minimization of overheads. However, maximizing organizational flexibility to the extreme may not be the best option for these firms in Singapore because they may lose control or even lose sight of core positions that are critical to a firm's success. To address the issue, a model can be developed, which will provide a rational approach to help a firm decide whether a position should be externalized or internalized. The rational approach will prevent firms from externalizing positions in an indiscriminate manner and hurting the firms' long term interests. Statistical analyses indicate that the majority of the hypotheses are supported. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2006.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Aug. 13, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in electronic format on the Internet.