Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / Retirement income policy in Australia has undergone significant changes over the last two decades, including the introduction of the Superannuation Guarantee [SG] with mandatory contributions in 1992 and the 2007 superannuation changes with the benefit tax abolition. Numerical implications of adopted pension reforms and reform proposals such as further increases in the SG contribution rate, changes to superannuation taxation and to means-testing of the age pension have been examined mainly by micro-simulation models. These models, often criticized for their lack of theoretical content, provide an incomplete picture of pension policy effects because of no or limited behavioural responses to underlying policy changes. In this thesis, models based on the life-cycle theory of saving pioneered by Modigliani and Brumberg (1954) are applied to simulate behavioural, welfare and macroeconomics effects of proposed changes to Australia’s pension policy. In particular, this thesis develops the following computable models: a life-cycle, single household model, a partial equilibrium, household model and a general equilibrium model with overlapping generations [OLG]. The single household model describes lifetime behaviour of the utility-maximising single household with uncertain lifespan. The model features perfect capital markets, endogenous labour supply and retirement decisions, and it incorporates main aspects of Australia’s pension and income tax policy settings. The simulated policy changes are (i) increase in the SG contribution rate, (ii) superannuation tax changes and (iii) abolition of the age pension means test. The results indicate higher retirement consumption and welfare gains from all the analysed pension policy changes. Partial equilibrium and general equilibrium models introduced in this thesis are built on lifetime behaviour of the single household. Both models distinguish many generations of households by age and, therefore, are capable of studying behavioural and welfare effects of policy changes for different generations. The partial equilibrium model examines behaviour of the household sector in the environment of the fixed factor prices. It is shown, for instance, that welfare gains from the investigated pension policy changes are not uniformly distributed across generations. The general equilibrium OLG model extends the partial equilibrium analyses by incorporating production, government and foreign sectors in addition to household and pension sectors. The model is a small open economy version of Auerbach and Kotlikoff’s (1987) OLG model. The simulation results are significantly different from those in the partial equilibrium framework, driven mainly by the changes in aggregate labour supply. For instance, the higher SG rate policy increases aggregate assets and saving. However, the saving increases are exported abroad rather than invested in the domestic capital stock. Hence, the implications of this policy change for the capital stock and output are minimal. Younger cohorts and future born generations experience consumption and welfare gains but older cohorts are negatively affected by a higher consumption tax rate resulting from this hypothetical policy change.

<p>In this paper I study how the repeal of the Swedish wealth tax (1 of January 2007) has affected people´s labour supply behaviour. This particular issue is relevant because it may help us understand some of the effects of the earnings tax changes that have taken place in Sweden. Accoring to standard economic theory a repealed wealth tax is similar to an income effect for the persons who previously paid the tax. That means that they theoretically will want to consume more leisure, that is decrease their labour supply. The method I am using to test this hypothesis is a difference-in-difference approach where the treatment group consists of persons who previously paid the tax and the control group of comparable persons who did not pay the tax. The data I am using is taken from a Swedish database called LINDA, compiled by the Swedish Central Agency for Statistics (SCB). My main result in this paper is that the repealed wealth tax does not seem to have had any influnece on the labour supply behavior of the persons who previously paid the tax.</p>

In this paper I study how the repeal of the Swedish wealth tax (1 of January 2007) has affected people´s labour supply behaviour. This particular issue is relevant because it may help us understand some of the effects of the earnings tax changes that have taken place in Sweden. Accoring to standard economic theory a repealed wealth tax is similar to an income effect for the persons who previously paid the tax. That means that they theoretically will want to consume more leisure, that is decrease their labour supply. The method I am using to test this hypothesis is a difference-in-difference approach where the treatment group consists of persons who previously paid the tax and the control group of comparable persons who did not pay the tax. The data I am using is taken from a Swedish database called LINDA, compiled by the Swedish Central Agency for Statistics (SCB). My main result in this paper is that the repealed wealth tax does not seem to have had any influnece on the labour supply behavior of the persons who previously paid the tax.

<p>This licentiate’s thesis consists of two essays on immigrant self-employment and labour supply.</p><p>The first essay (co-author Mats Hammarstedt), Intergenerational transmissions in immigrant self-employment: Evidence from three generations, reviews intergenerational transmissions in immigrant self-employment over three generations. More precisely, we study whether self-employment is transferred both from grandfather to grandson and from father to son, as well as if there are any differences between immigrant groups and differences between immigrants and natives. In addition, we investigate the importance of the intergenerational transfer of general and specific human capital for choice of business line. The results show that having a self-employed father and self-employed grandfather have a strong positive effect on self-employment propensities for male third-generation immigrants. On the other hand, natives were found to transfer self-employment from father to son, but not from grandfather to grandson. The results also indicate that immigrants inherit self-employment abilities from their self-employed fathers increasing the self-employment propensity, but not necessarily in the same business line. In contrast, native self-employed fathers transfer human capital to their sons making them more prone to become self-employed in the same business line as the father is in.</p><p>The second essay, Female immigrant labour supply: The effect of an in-work benefit, focuses on immigrant labour supply, and evaluates the effect of a recently introduced in-work benefit, the so called job deduction, on the labour supply of single immigrant women. In this study, we address the following questions: What is the effect of the in-work benefit on the labour supply of single immigrant women? Does the effect of the in-work benefit on working hours differ between immigrant groups? The results show that, on average, there is no major effect of the in-work benefit on the labour supply of single immigrant women. However, households with the lowest incomes increase their working hours quite strongly. Furthermore, on average, there appears to be no difference in the effect of the in-work benefit between immigrant groups. In the low-income households, though, immigrants from non-European countries and from Southern and Eastern European countries, increase their labour supply relatively more than immigrants from Nordic countries and Western Europe. Finally, the relatively large increase in working hours for single immigrant women with the lowest incomes appears, above all, to be a result of increased participation in the labour market. However, part of the effect is related to an increase in the number of working hours of already employed women.</p>

Magistro darbe išanalizuotas darbo pasiūlos ir paklausos suderinamumas darbo rinkoje statybos sektoriaus pavyzdžiu. Pirmoje dalyje analizuojama teoriniai darbo rinkos, darbo bei darbo jėgos sampratos aspektai. Pateikti darbo pasiūlos ir paklausos bei pusiausvyros modeliai, juos įtakojantys veiksniai. Kartu analizuojamos valstybinės darbo rinkos reguliavimo priemonės bei vykdomos politikos kryptys Lietuvoje. Antroje dalyje nagrinėjami rodikliai apibūdinantys dabartinę esamą padėtį darbo rinkoje. Sudaryti darbo pasiūlą ir paklausą (statybų sektoriuje) įtakojančių veiksnių modeliai, kurie leido objektyviai įvertinti darbo pasiūlą ir paklausą šiame sektoriuje. Trečioje dalyje sukonkretinama iki darbo pasiūlos ir paklausos pusiausvyros atitikimo arba suderinamumo numatymo galimybių statybų sektoriuje. Nagrinėjama ar suformuluota darbo autorių mokslinio tyrimo hipotezė pasitvirtina. / In the Master’s Paper we analyse labour demand and supply compatibility in the labour market based upon building sector’s example. In the first part we analyse theoretical aspects of labour market, labour and manpower concepts. We present labour supply and demand as well as equilibrium models and the factors, influencing them. Also we analyse the labour market regulation measures applied by the state as well as the directions of politics taken in Lithuania. In the second part we analyse the indices defining current situation in the labour market. We have made patterns of the factors influencing demand and supply in the building sector, which are used to assess objectively the labour supply and demand in the sector. In the third part we concretize down to prediction possibilities of labour supply and demand equilibrium conformity or compatibility in the building sector. We analyze whether the hypothesis formulated by the authors is verified.

Darbo rinka, sudedamoji rinkos ekonomikos dalis, be savo pagrindinės funkcijos – darbo jėgos paskirstymo tarp ekonominių veiklų, profesijų, teritorijų, įmonių – atlieka dar dvi socialines ekonomines funkcijas: paskirsto gyventojų pajamas darbo užmokesčio forma ir tokiu būdu skatina užimtumą, bei visiems formaliai sudaro vienodas galimybes pasinaudoti teise į darbą ir profesinį tobulėjimą. Teorinėje problemos analizėje nagrinėjami darbo rinkos bei pagrindinių jos elementų sąvokos, darbo rinkos teorijos, darbo rinką veikiantys veiksniai, bei lankstaus ir saugaus užimtumo įgyvendinimo principai šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje. Tyrimo dalyje analizuojami pagrindiniai Lietuvos darbo rinkos pokyčiai 2001 – 2007 metų laikotarpyje, išryškinant pagrindinius darbo rinkos lankstumą apibūdinančius rodiklius, bei palyginant juos su Europos Sąjungos šalimis. Taip pat vertinama, kokie ekonominiai, socialiniai, bei demografiniai pokyčiai labiausiai įtakoja Lietuvos darbo rinką, ir atlikus šių rodiklių prognozę, aptariama galima optimistinė, realistinė , bei pesimistinė darbo rinkos procesų raida Lietuvoje. / Labour market, as a component of market economy, without its main function- distribution of labour force among economic activities, professions, territories, enterprises- also performs two more socioeconomic functions: it distributes the income of people in a form of labour pay and in this way it promotes employment and formally makes equal possibilities for everyone to use the right to labour and professional perfection. Concepts of labour market and its main elements, labour market theories, factors affecting labour market and principles of implementation of flexible and secure employment in modern society will be examined in theoretical part of the thesis. Major changes in Lithuanian labour market in the period of 2001- 2007 are analysed in research, highlighting main indicators defining flexibility of labour market, and comparing them with European Union countries. It is also assessed, which economic, social and demographic changes affect Lithuanian labour market most. After the forecast of these indicators, possible optimistic, realistic and pessimistic development of market process in Lithuania is discussed.

Though the economic literature generally agrees on the positive labour supply effects of welfare reforms in the 1990s; there have been few studies that evaluate how these reforms might have affected employment outcomes of former and potential welfare recipients. This study fills this gap by using the 1993 Alberta welfare reform as a natural experiment. The 1993 and 1994 data from Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics show that welfare recipients and single mothers in Alberta were more likely to participate in the labour force and worked full-time for employers with multiple offices across Canada. Moreover, single mothers received lower wage rates if their employment started after the reform. After controlling for individual heterogeneity; however, single mothers were found to receive higher wage rates and less likely to work full-time. These findings suggest unobservable characteristics are also significant in determining employment outcomes of those affected by welfare reforms.

It has been widely documented that migrant labourers have made great contributions to the urban economy of China; as well, the explosive growth of rural-urban migrants has generated several "migration problems," such as growing social inequality in urban China. It is widely reported that a large number of migrants have returned to their places of origin, after several years of "urban life," and this trend has been accelerated after the global economic crisis after 2008. Consequently, the large number of return migrants have created many problems in the cities, such as labour shortage in the manufacturing industry, and also posed a huge challenge to the rural areas in the resettlement of these returnees. In sum, to understand both the migrants in destination cities and return migrants in their places of origin is of great importance for both urban and rural development in China. The research so far, on the understanding of migrants' behaviour and labour market outcomes in a multi-phased migration process, seems highly controversial and therefore, insufficient. This study, based on migrant survey data collected in Fujian Province, and return migrant interview data collected in Sichuan and Jiangxi Provinces, explores migrant labour market outcomes in the cities, as well as their geographical differentiation; migrant return intentions, and their gender differentiations; return behaviour and the resettlement situations of actual returnees. The results show that the multi-phased migration process of rural migrants in China is synthetically shaped by macro, meso, and micro factors, and by the interactions between these factors. To be more specific, findings of this study indicate that migrant labour markets in urban China are largely geographically differentiated according to several regional characteristics. The study also finds that a large proportion of rural-urban migrants intends to return to their places of origin. As well, their return intentions are significantly gender-differentiated. Finally, the resettlement situations of return migrants are closely connected to their migration experience. / ix, 160 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of Natal, Durban.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 1991.