This thesis presents three essays, each seeking to deepen our understanding of labour markets. The first essay studies the response of real wages and hours of new hires to the business cycle during the UK’s Great Recession. The second essay analysis in how far the assumption of rational expectations in the Mortensen-Pissarides model is required for the economy to converge to an equilibrium. In particular, it asks if it is possible for economic agents to use simple linear forecast rules and still ensure convergence to the rational expectations equilibrium. The final essay seeks to determine whether labour income shares at the sectoral level are constant across countries, as is usually assumed in the literature, and whether this assumption quantitatively matters. Therefore, it takes the input-output structures across countries into account, and conducts a development accounting exercise. Real wages and hours in the Great Recession: Evidence from firms and their entry-level jobs Using employer-employee panel data, I provide novel facts on how real wages and working hours within jobs responded to the UK’s Great Recession. In contrast to previous studies, my data enables me to address the cyclical composition of jobs. I show that firms were able to respond to the Great Recession with substantial real wage cuts and by recruiting more part-time workers. A one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate led to an average decline in real hourly wages of 2.8 per cent for new hires and 2.6 per cent for job stayers. Hours of new hires in entry-level jobs were also substantially procyclical, while job-stayer hours were nearly constant. My findings suggest that models assuming rigid labour costs of new hires are not helpful for understanding the behaviour of unemployment over the business cycle. Unemployment and econometric learning I apply well-known results of the econometric learning literature to the Mortensen-Pissarides real business cycle model. Agents can always learn the unique rational expectations equilibrium (REE), for all possible well-defined sets of parameter values, by using the minimum-state-variable solution to the model and decreasing gain learning. From this perspective, the assumption of rational expectations in the model could be seen as reasonable. But using a parametrisation with UK data, simulations show that the speed of convergence to the REE is slow. This type of learning dampens the cyclical response of unemployment to small structural shocks. Measuring sectoral income shares: Accounting for input-output structures across countries I use input-output tables to measure the labour income shares of the goods and the services sector for a large cross-section of mostly developed countries. I present two novel findings: sectoral labour income shares significantly increase with the level of development, and within-country differences between these income shares are uncorrelated with the level of development. These cross-country differences are not caused by variation in the input-output structure or final demand, but originate at the production-side of the economy. I measure sectoral total factor productivity using a development accounting framework to assess the quantitative importance of my findings. The goods sector of less developed countries is relatively less productive than the services sector; assuming that the values of the sectoral labour income shares across countries are identical to their corresponding U.S. values leads to an underestimation of productivity differences across countries. All findings are robust to different adjustments for the labour income of the self-employed.

Apesar das vantagens relacionadas ao uso de estruturas de contenção em solo reforçado, a maioria das obras em nosso país ainda é executada por soluções convencionais. A ausência de um conhecimento mais profundo sobre o real comportamento das estruturas em solo reforçado, principalmente em termos de deslocamentos, certamente impede uma utilização mais intensa desse tipo de obra no Brasil. Com isso, para contribuir para um melhor entendimento do desempenho de estruturas em solo reforçado, foram construídos oito protótipos de estrutura de contenção em solo reforçado com geotêxtil, com 4,0 m de altura cada. Todas as estruturas foram instrumentadas, principalmente visando os deslocamentos, para avaliar o comportamento de campo. Adicionalmente, foi realizada a análise, em longo prazo, de um talude íngreme com 15,3 m de altura, construído no estado americano de Idaho, em que foram realizadas leituras até cinco anos após o fim da construção. Esse trabalho apresenta os resultados de cada protótipo construído, juntamente com os resultados do talude íngreme em Idaho, tanto em curto, quanto em longo prazo. As análises desenvolvidas compreendem, além da avaliação dos resultados individuais de cada estrutura, uma análise paramétrica entre todos os protótipos, investigando entre outros fatores, o tipo de solo, tipo de geossintético e geometria interna das estruturas. Além disso, foi realizada uma abordagem especial sobre a análise em longo prazo do protótipo 7. Dentre as conclusões mais importantes obtidas nesta pesquisa, podem-se citar as grandes deformações de fluência registradas no protótipo 7, a tendência de formação de uma superfície potencial de ruptura linear para os protótipos construídos com solo granular e de espiral logarítmica para os protótipos construídos com solos coesivos, a importância da coesão no bom comportamento das estruturas e a redução das movimentações verticais das estruturas com o acréscimo do teor de areia na granulometria do solo / Despite the important advantages associated with the use of geotextiles as reinforcement, most retaining walls in Brazil still use more conventional. The lack of field monitoring data regarding the internal and face displacements of these structures has certainly prevented broader use of this reinforced soil technology. This study addresses several aspects related to the behavior of geotextile-reinforced soil structures, such as the deformability of reinforcement materials under the confinement of soil, and quantification of the actual failure mechanisms. To achieve these goals, eight 4.0 m high geotextile-reinforced soil retaining wall prototypes were built and instrumented in order to quantify their behavior under ambient atmospheric conditions. Granular and poorly draining backfills were used in this study. Innovative construction methods and instrumentation were developed specifically for this research program. A significant laboratory testing program was conducted to quantify the stress-strain properties of the soils and geosynthetics involved in the construction of the walls. As a reference, the behaviors of these prototype structures were compared with that of a long term analysis of a steep slope in Idaho, USA. This wall is 15.3 m high, with displacement measurements carried out until five years after the end of the construction. A parametric analysis was conducted for the prototypes, in order to investigate the effects of soil type, reinforcement type and internal geometry of the structures. Among the most important conclusions obtained in this research, it is the large creep strains observed in prototype 7, the tendency of a linear potential slip surface observed for the walls constructed with granular backfills, and a log spiral slip surface for the prototypes constructed with cohesive backfills, the importance of the apparent cohesion in the behavior of the structures, and the reduction of the vertical movements of the structures with the increase of the amount of sand in the grain size distribution of the soil

Un mur de soutènement en pierre sèche (MSPS) est un ouvrage vernaculaire construit par empilement de blocs rocheux sans liant. Ce type de mur a fortement sculpté les campagnes françaises mais a aussi été utilisé par le passé dans des ouvrages de soutènement que ce soit routier ou ferroviaire. Pourtant, l’utilisation de cette technologie a disparu au cours du 20e siècle au profit de solutions industrialisées comme le béton armé. Face à ce patrimoine vieillissant, il est très difficile de proposer des protocoles de réparation alors que la réglementation associée à ces ouvrages est inexistante. Pour les mêmes raisons, alors que cette technologie répond parfaitement aux questions soulevées par le développement durable, elle est rarement envisagée ou retenue par les prescripteurs. La rupture des MSPSs neufs peut apparaître à cause de : (1) une poussée excessive du remblai soutenu par le mur, (2) un effort concentré excessif présent sur la surface du remblai et proche de la tête du mur. Ces deux causes induisent deux types de rupture très différents, respectivement : (1) rupture en déformation plane, (2) rupture par apparition d’un ventre. Trois expériences récentes à l’échelle 1 des MSPSs chargés par : (1) une poussée hydrostatique, (2) un remblai, (3) un remblai avec une force concentrée sur la surface de ce dernier, ont permis d’identifier certains phénomènes mis en jeu dans ces ruptures. Ce travail de thèse contribuera alors au développement de nouveaux outils scientifiques mais aussi à valider des outils existants pour dimensionner les MSPSs. Les expériences réalisées à l’échelle 1 serviront alors de cadre à ce travail pour valider les outils développés. Nous avons choisi d’utiliser une approche aux éléments discrets (MED) où chaque bloc de pierre du mur est modélisé individuellement, respectant ainsi la nature-Même de l’ouvrage réel. Dans un premier temps, une rupture de type déformation plane est modélisée par une approche discrète pure et une approche discrète-Continue. Les atouts et inconvénients de chacune des méthodes sont mis en avant. Une validation quantitative des modèles numériques est faite en comparant la hauteur critique de chargement avec les expériences à l’échelle 1. Ensuite, on étudie la sensibilité de plusieurs paramètres géométriques et mécaniques sur la hauteur critique de chargement, tout comme l’influence de la cohésion du remblai. Enfin, une première modélisation 3D de type qualitative sur la rupture des MSPS par un chargement concentré en surface du remblai est présentée. Les problèmes de modélisation sont soulevés et l’influence de la forme des blocs dans le processus de rupture est étudiée. / A dry-Stone retaining wall (DSRW) is a vernacular structure constructed by stacking the stone blocks without using any binder. In the past, this wall has been extensively used, shaping the French countryside area, built either for road or railroad retaining wall. However, the use of this technology has disappeared during 20th century, due to the emergence of more industrialized materials such as reinforced concrete. Confronted by these ageing heritage structures, it is very difficult to propose a proper reparation procedure since the building codes associated with this structure are nonexistent. For the same reason, though this technology perfectly answers the questions raised by the concept of sustainable development, in practice this structure is rarely considered or used by the engineering advisors. The failure of the newly built DSRWs can be attributed to the following reasons: (1) an excessive pressure of backfill retained by the wall, (2) a presence of an excessive concentrated load on the backfill surface, close to the top part of the wall. These two types of loading lead to two very different types of failure, respectively: (1) plane strain failure, (2) bulging failure. Three recent experimental campaigns of DSRWs loaded with: (1) hydrostatic pressure, (2) backfill, (3) backfill with a concentrated on its surface, provided a better understanding of phenomena involved in these failures. The work presented in this PhD thesis contributes to the development of new scientific tools capable to help design the DSRWs, as well as validating existing tools. The recent full-Scale experimental campaign will serve as a basis to the validation of the developed numerical tools. We have chosen to use a discrete element method (DEM) where each stone block of the wall is modeled individually, complying with the nature of real DSRW. In the first place, the plane strain failure is modeled by a purely discrete approach and a discrete-Continuum approach. The advantage and inconvenient of each method will be presented in advance. A quantitative validation of numerical models is provided by comparing the critical height of loading with results derived from the full-Scale experimental campaign. Thereafter, a 3D qualitative model of DSRWs loaded with a concentrated load on the backfill surface is presented. The modeling problem is noted and the influence of the block form in regards of the related failure mechanism is studied.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-06-21T14:15:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcius Koehler.pdf: 733203 bytes, checksum: 9a6d64929fe7426744bc83e9d23505e5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-21T14:15:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcius Koehler.pdf: 733203 bytes, checksum: 9a6d64929fe7426744bc83e9d23505e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-30 / This work dealt with the topic networks in the basic context of Brazilian football. The study addressed small organizations involved in the Brazilian Base Football Movement - MFBB initiated by the Brazilian Football Confederation - CBF returned to discuss the problems of basic categories, mainly of harassment and "theft" of young talent and generate improvement proposals . This movement resulted in the formation of a network of grassroots clubs organized later by the Brazilian Football Association Executives - ABEX Football. The research was a multi-case study, qualitative, exploratory type, in order to explain how the network training contributed to the retention of talent in small clubs of Brazilian football. Processing of the data was collected mainly with semi-structured interviews and analyzed in tables (Word). We interviewed two representatives of ABEX, representatives of three clubs entered the network and three bookies entrepreneurs soccer athletes. It was based on intra-case analysis and inter-case performed to compare the data and obtain search results valid for the whole sample. As a result of research, it was found that the network interface of the base club has great influence on the retention of young athletes. They were identified and analyzed other elements that helped in the study for the research goal was reached. In addition, it was noticed that the relationship network, particularly for small clubs studied played an important role in young talent retention or receipt of compensation from its output. / Esta dissertação tratou do tema redes no contexto do futebol brasileiro de base. O estudo abordou pequenas organizações envolvidas no Movimento de Futebol de Base Brasileiro - MFBB iniciado pela própria Confederação Brasileira de Futebol – CBF voltado para discutir os problemas das categorias de base, principalmente os de assédio e “roubo” de jovens talentos e gerar propostas de melhorias. Este movimento resultou na formação de uma rede de clubes de base organizados mais tarde pela Associação Brasileira de Executivos do Futebol – ABEX Futebol. A pesquisa realizada foi um estudo multi-caso, de natureza qualitativa, do tipo exploratório, com o objetivo de explicitar como a formação em rede contribuiu para a retenção de talentos em pequenos clubes do futebol brasileiro. O tratamento dos dados foi coletado principalmente com entrevistas semi-estruturadas em profundidade e analisados em tabelas (Word). Foram entrevistados dois representantes da ABEX, representantes de três clubes inseridos na rede e três empresários agenciadores de atletas de futebol. Baseou-se em análises intra-caso e inter-caso realizadas para se comparar os dados e obter resultados de pesquisa válidos para o conjunto da amostra. Como resultado de pesquisa, constatou-se que a rede de relação dos clubes de base tem grande influencia na retenção de jovens atletas. Foram identificados e analisados outros elementos no estudo que auxiliaram para que o objetivo de pesquisa fosse atingido. Além disto, percebeu-se que a rede de relação, principalmente para os pequenos clubes estudados tiveram papel importante na retenção do jovem talento ou no recebimento da indenização proveniente da sua saída.

Syftet med studien är att ur ett arbetsgivarperspektiv undersöka sex organisationers strategiska förhållningssätt till kompetensutveckling och hur kompetensutveckling kan bidra till att organisationen får behålla sin personal. Följande frågeställningar besvaras: Hur beskriver organisationerna kompetensutveckling som en del av arbetet med kompetensförsörjning? Hur arbetar organisationerna strategiskt med kompetensutveckling av sin personal? Kan kompetensutveckling beskrivas som en bidragande faktor till att organisationerna får behålla personal över tid? För att besvara studiens syfte och frågeställningar användes en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex arbetsgivarrepresentanter som, i sina HR- eller chefsroller, arbetar med kompetensutveckling i sina respektive organisationer. Resultatet visar att organisationerna till stor del har ett liknande strategiskt förhållningssätt när det kommer till kompetensutveckling av sin personal. Vidare är samtliga intervjupersoner överens med den tidigare forskningen som hävdar att organisationer ökar sina chanser att behålla personal genom att erbjuda möjligheter till kompetensutveckling. / The purpose of the study is to investigate, from the employer’s perspective, six organizations’ strategic approaches to competence development and whether they consider it a contributing factor to the organization being able to retain employees. The study answers the following research questions: How do the organizations describe competence development as part of the competence-based management? How do the organizations work strategically with competence development of their employees? Is it possible to describe competence development as a contributing factor to the organization being able to retain employees? In order to answer the purpose of the study and the research questions, a qualitative method was used in the form of semi-structured interviews with six employer representatives who, in their HR or managerial roles, work with competence development in their organizations. The results show that the organizations have a similar strategic approach in terms of competence development of their employees. Furthermore, all respondents agree with the previous research, which claims that organizations increase their chances of retaining employees by offering opportunities for competence development.

The subject of my thesis is the exploration the landslide, landslide stabilization, design foundation and construct buildings in Brno Bystrc. Attention will be given to slopes safety factor and especially to design four-floor building construction.

I takt med att våra städer växer ställs det högre krav på exploateringen av nya områden. Befolkningen i våra städer ökar, detta medför att behovet av bostäder, infrastruktur, skolor och kollektivtrafik med mera ökar. För att tillgodose samhällets krav såväl som skapa attraktiva miljöer finns ett stort intresse i att omvandla tidigare obebodda områden till nya stadsdelar. För att tillgodose vår miljö och natur krävs att samtliga resurser och tillgångar värnas så att nästkommande generation ska kunna bedriva liv på vår planet. De områden som exploateras i dagsläget kan ha komplexa grundläggningsförutsättningar, exempelvis bestå av mark som är förorenad, något som ställer höga krav på grundläggningsarbetet.Denna rapport syftar till att undersöka ifall metoden förhöjd grundläggning är ett alternativ för kommande exploateringar. I rapporten jämförs en traditionell grundläggningsmetod med en förhöjd grundläggningsmetod. Områden som masshantering, grundvattenhantering, samordning samt behovet att stödkonstruktioner avhandlas här då de är centrala i jämförelsen. Ett referensområde söder om Stockholm studeras där komplexa grundläggningsförutsättningar råder som dessutom utgör en bra grund för att göra jämförelsen så verksam som möjligt. Rapporten avhandlar ungefärliga kostnader för grundläggning i de område som studeras ovan, även tillståndsprocesser för hantering av grundvatten samt frågan kring samordning utgör en central del kring de resultat och slutsatser rapporten påvisar.Resultaten visar att kostnadsbesparingar kan göras med metoden förhöjd grundläggning utifrån ett antal givna förutsättningar. De största besparingarna som kan göras är med mindre masshantering samt minskat behov av stödkonstruktioner. Resultatet påvisar en nyanserad bild av konsekvenserna där även negativa aspekter med förhöjd grundläggning lyfts fram. Samordning mellan inblandade aktörer blir än mer relevant då metoden vänder på den traditionella byggnadsordningen. Rapporten ger ett underlag till frågeställningen kring huruvida metoden är tillämpbar eller ej, där rapporten påvisar konkreta för- och nackdelar. / As our cities continue to grow, there is a high demand for exploitation of new areas. Population continue to shift to cities, which means that the need for housing, infrastructure, schools, public transportation, and more is increasing. To meet society's demands and create attractive environments, there is a great interest in transforming previously uninhabited areas into new neighborhoods. To ensure the protection of our environment and nature, all resources and assets must be preserved. The areas being exploited currently may have complex conditions for buildings and may include contaminated land. Which puts high demands on the foundation work.This report aims to investigate whether elevated foundations are an alternative for future developments. The report compares traditional foundation methods with elevated foundation. Areas such as mass management, groundwater management, coordination, and the need for retaining walls are discussed as they are central to the comparison. A reference area south of Stockholm is also discussed, where complex foundation conditions exist. This makes the comparison as effective as possible. The report covers costs as well as the licensing process for groundwater management and the issue of coordination, which are central to the results and conclusions the report presents.The results show that cost savings can be achieved with the elevated foundations under certain conditions. The area where the largest savings can be made is mass management and the reduced need for support structures. The results show a nuanced picture of the consequences, where negative aspects of Elevated Foundation are also highlighted. Coordination among actors involved becomes even more relevant as the method turns the traditional building order upside down. The report provides as advantages and disadvantages a basis for the question of whether the method is applicable or not.

No description available.

Although Talent Management is an area of research that has captured the attention of many as organizations around the world compete for talent, it is a relatively new area of research. Sweden is a country where the shortage of skilled workforce is significant and demand is high, especially in the knowledge-intensive industry. Hence, the aim of the thesis is to contribute to the understanding of how organizations in Sweden in the knowledge-intensive industries, attract and retain talents through talent management practices. This study is based on a qualitative methodology where the data collection was conducted through eight semi-structured interviews with ten respondents. The results show that talent can be defined both as something that all employees can become and develop into, and as personal qualities, but also depending on the context and situation. Talent attraction is achieved through employer branding and reputation building. A good reputation can be achieved through honesty and openness, through partnerships with other actors that are beneficial to the organization and through personal encounters both outside and inside the organization. In addition to the obvious benefits, an organization can develop methods to develop and enable career goals. Organizational culture can have an impact on the work of Talent Management and thus can set norms and influence perceptions of talent within an organization.

The aim of this work was to develop a production process for the enzyme xyloglucan endo-transglycosylase from Populus tremula x tremuloides (PttXET16-34). The natural transglycosylating activity of this enzyme has previously been employed in a XET-Technology. This chemo enzymatic method is useful for biomimetic modification of cellulose surfaces and holds great potential for industrial applications. Thus, it requires that the XET-enzyme can be produced in larger scale. This work also shows how the wildtype PttXET16-34 was modified into a glycosynthase. By mutation of the catalytic nucleophile into an alanine, glycine or serine residue, enzymes capable of synthesising defined xyloglucan fragments were obtained. These defined compounds are very valuable for further detailed studies of xyloglucan active-enzymes, but are also useful in molecular studies of the structurally important xyloglucan-cellulose interaction. A heterologous production system for PttXET16-34 was previously developed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. A methanol-limited fed-batch process was also previously established, but the yield of active XET was low due to proteolysis problems and low productivity. Therefore, two alternative fed-batch techniques were investigated for the production of PttXET16-34: a temperature-limited fed-batch (TLFB) and an oxygen-limited high-pressure fed-batch (OLHPFB). For the initial recovery of XET after the fermentation process, two different downstream processes were investigated: expanded bed adsorption (EBA) and cross-flow filtration (CFF). / <p>QC 20101108</p>