Sectoral shifts of labor demand can have significant effects on aggregate rate and duration of unemployment, and this is known as sectoral shifts hypothesis. To mea¬sure the sectoral shifts, past studies use David M. Lilien’s dispersion measure which represents the effect of the changes in the distribution of sectoral shocks on aggregate rates of layoffs. This dissertation proposes an improved measure of sectoral shifts and tests the sectoral shifts hypothesis. It shows that, when the distribution of sectoral shocks is asymmetric, dispersion alone is not sufficient to capture the effect of the changes in distribution and, the skewness of the distribution can have a significant role in the approximation of aggregate rates of layoffs. Empirical results show a sig¬nificant effect of the skewness measure on the aggregate rate of unemployment. The results also lend a strong support for the sectoral shifts hypothesis in Lilien type and Abraham-Katz type models, which contrasts with the rejection of the hypothesis in previous studies of the Abraham-Katz type models. One concern about these empirical results is that the classical measures of disper¬sion and skewness are very sensitive to the presence of outliers and consequently the test of the hypothesis can be distorted by this presence. Strong evidence exists for the presence of outliers in the distribution of estimated sectoral shocks. Various robust measures of dispersion and skewness are computed. The sectoral shifts hypothesis is still strongly supported when the robust measures are used. This reinforces the empirical findings under the classical measures. When the mobility of workers across sectors is limited because of frictions in the labor market, workers who become unemployed due to sectoral shifts of labor demand will experience a longer duration of unemployment because of the time associated with switching sectors. Therefore, for a given rate of unemployment, a higher proportion of these workers will increase the average duration of unemployment. Empirical results show that sectoral shifts have a statistically greater effect on the average duration of unemployment than cyclical fluctuations. Sectoral shifts help explain unusual upward trends in the duration of unemployment in the 1990s.

v anglickém jazyce Sectoral taxation in the legal system of the Czech Republic and selected EU countries The diploma thesis deals with the topic of the sectoral tax. The thesis analyses the use of this tax instrument in the Czech conditions. The aim of the thesis is to get acquainted with the elements of the sectoral taxation within the current legal order of the Czech Republic and with the possibilities of imposing the sectoral tax on certain sectors including the international comparison of sectoral taxation. The purpose of the thesis is to provide understanding of the context of sectoral taxation. The text is divided into five chapters. The initial chapter provides an economic basis for sectoral taxation through established economic theories and it also deals with the importance of taxation of legal entities for the economy as well in the international economic environment. The second chapter pursues the concept of sectoral taxation itself and its definition and characteristics as well as the systematic terminology which is used for each public sector revenue with a sectoral element. Furthermore, there is a broader context of sectoral taxes within the Czech tax system. Part of the chapter is dedicated to breakdown and description of individual public sector revenues with a sectoral element. The...

Background: This research aims to explore the recommendations of the 2013 Lancet Series on maternal and child nutrition in the case study of Yemen (2013-2014), by answering the question “What mix of public interventions works best in a given context to reduce child stunting prevalence?” Yemen was selected due to its Government commitment to use a multi-sectoral approach in its planning and financing cycle for nutrition. Method: The research applied a mixed method, starting with a literature review and a cross-country secondary-data analysis to produce evidence for composing a research framework for Yemen. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis, two types of regressions (Probit and Poisson) and an adapted ‘Delphi method’ for discussion with decision-makers from various sectors were carried out. Results: Based on the descriptive analysis, Yemen progressed in: maternal and child health care, drinking water supply and sanitation, girls’ education, delayed marriage and pregnancy. However, infant and young child feeding practices remained inadequate. Significant determinants of child stunting identified by the regressions included characteristics of: child (age, gender and diet diversity), mother (undernutrition, birth-spacing and head of family) and household (access to water and sanitation). Children of households that engaged in agriculture, livestock and fishing were the most likely to access diet diversity and animal-protein sources. Other significant determinants of child diet included maternal education, per capita expenditure, income-related shocks and ownership of a cooking stove and fridge. Results: from the adapted ‘Delphi-method’ discussion showed that decision-makers were ready to use multi-sectoral approaches to converge their existing interventions in the most vulnerable geographical areas. However, they were less keen to retarget beneficiaries based on age, gender or livelihoods. Conclusions The research demonstrates how the applied mixed method can provide a comprehensive way to examine child stunting as a multi-sectoral issue, rather than just considering it as a health problem.

<p>Violence against women, of which intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant part, is a widespread public health problem. There is a great need for effective programs that address this issue. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences expressed by the members of the Karla network whose purpose was to combat IPV. Due to the nature of the study, a qualitative approach was taken and data was gathered through interviews with professionals in the network. The function of collaboration and its impact on the individuals is highlighted by the core category: Striving for progress. The categories that resulted from the analysis were: 1) Achieving professional satisfaction, 2) Developing professional competence, and 3) Treading water. Working within the network was perceived as rewarding, as the network improved the quality of their work. Updated guidelines and routines were regarded as essential to improve the collaboration. To progress in the work against IPV, methods to recognize and attend to abused women should be refined and implemented. More focus needs to be put on preventive actions. There is reason to direct actions toward children and adolescents and thus the arenas that initially should be engaged are media, school, and youth clinics.</p>

Violence against women, of which intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant part, is a widespread public health problem. There is a great need for effective programs that address this issue. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences expressed by the members of the Karla network whose purpose was to combat IPV. Due to the nature of the study, a qualitative approach was taken and data was gathered through interviews with professionals in the network. The function of collaboration and its impact on the individuals is highlighted by the core category: Striving for progress. The categories that resulted from the analysis were: 1) Achieving professional satisfaction, 2) Developing professional competence, and 3) Treading water. Working within the network was perceived as rewarding, as the network improved the quality of their work. Updated guidelines and routines were regarded as essential to improve the collaboration. To progress in the work against IPV, methods to recognize and attend to abused women should be refined and implemented. More focus needs to be put on preventive actions. There is reason to direct actions toward children and adolescents and thus the arenas that initially should be engaged are media, school, and youth clinics.

Please read the summary in the section 00front of this document. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Economics / unrestricted

Este trabalho teve por finalidade estudar o comportamento da produtividade brasileira entre 2002-2015 e identificar a influência de alguns determinantes para o seu desempenho. Este enfoque é importante porque a produtividade é considerada elemento fundamental do crescimento econômico e neste trabalho, especificamente, seu desempenho foi estudado por meio das medidas de produtividade do trabalho e total dos fatores, desagregadas por grandes setores econômicos e regiões geográficas, de modo a constatar quais regiões e setores mais contribuíram para a produtividade agregada do país. Ademais, após analisado o desempenho da produtividade, foram realizadas as decomposições do crescimento para verificar como decorreu a contribuição da produtividade para o crescimento econômico, e também como se decompôs o crescimento da produtividade setorial e regional. Por fim, considerado o comportamento da produtividade do trabalho no período, foi analisado como alguns determinantes a influenciaram, categorizados em criação, transmissão e absorção de conhecimento; educação, saúde e dimensão social; infraestrutura física; eficiência no mercado (de produção, financeiro e de mercado de trabalho) e economias de aglomeração; e instituições e integração comercial. A análise foi realizada utilizando a metodologia de regressão quantílica com efeitos fixos para dados em painel para as 27 unidades federativas brasileiras. Dentre os principais resultados, verificou-se a estagnação da PTF agregada, apesar da contribuição positiva do setor agropecuário. As medidas de produtividade do trabalho apresentaram certa consonância com as estimativas de PTF, novamente com destaque para o setor agropecuário. As regiões que obtiveram melhor desempenho foram a Norte e Centro- Oeste. Os exercícios de decomposição de crescimento destacaram as contribuições positivas dos fatores capital, capital humano e PTF para o setor agropecuário, e a absorção de mão de obra para os setores industrial e de serviços. Também foi constatado que o desempenho da produtividade setorial no país decorreu principalmente de variações na produtividade intrassetorial, em razão das vantagens locacionais e competitivas regionais. Por fim, a respeito da análise dos determinantes, os resultados mostram que a produtividade é mais sensível às variáveis estruturais de crescimento econômico como desenvolvimento humano, educação e infraestrutura física. / This study aimed to study the behavior of Brazilian productivity between 2002-2015 and to identify the influence of some determinants on its performance. This approach is important because productivity is considered a key element of economic growth. Its performance was studied through measures of labor productivity and total factors productivity, disaggregated by economy sectors and geographic regions of the country. The study also aimed to verify which regions and sectors most contributed to the aggregate productivity performance. In addition, productivity performance was verified, growth decomposition was performed to verify how the contribution of productivity to economic growth occurred, as well as how the sectoral and regional productivity growth was broken down. Finally, considering the labor productivity evolution in the period, it was analyzed how some determinants influenced it, categorized in creation, transmission and absorption of knowledge; education, health and social dimension; physical infrastructure; market efficiency (production, financial and labor market) and agglomeration economies; and institutions and trade integration. The empirical analysis was performed using a quantile regression methodology with fixed effects for panel data for the 27 Brazilian federative units. Among the results, there was stagnation of the aggregated TFP, despite the positive contribution of the agricultural sector. Labor productivity measures were in accord with TFP estimates, with emphasis on the agricultural sector. The regions that obtained the best performance were the North and Midwest. The growth decomposition exercises highlighted the positive contributions of the capital, human capital and TFP factors to the agricultural sector and the absorption of labor by the industrial and services sectors. It was also verified that the performance of the sectoral productivity in the country was mainly due to variations in the intrassetorial productivity and due to the regional competitive and locational advantages. Finally, regarding the analysis of determinants, the results demonstrate that productivity is more sensitive to the structural variables of economic growth such as human development, education and physical infrastructure.

This thesis investigates the effect that variation in employment between industries has had on the depth of recession faced by Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States. This analysis is limited to the previous two national recessions. I use regression analysis to find that increases in variation in employment has a significant effect on the maximum increase in unemployment rate in MSAs after controlling for relevant MSA characteristics. In this framework I also find that increases in education could mitigate the negative effects of this variation. I include several other measures of depth of recession including the fall in economic conditions and length for real GDP to recover to its pre-recession levels. I find that the measure of variation is significant in explaining falls in the economic conditions, but not so in explaining the length it takes for each MSA to recover its real GDP.

This thesis investigates the relevance of currently used firm-level innovation concepts in a developing country context. I draw on the results of a comprehensive survey of manufacturing and service firms instrumented to assess the knowledge- capabilities of the economic sectors in Malaysia. The thesis presents a discussion of the extant literature on firm-level innovation and tests hypotheses regarding the impact of firms organizational structure, strategies, resources and environment as determinants of product, process and organizational innovations. These are examined from the classifying framework provided by Keith Pavitts model of technology trajectories to better understand the nature of innovation and its production determinants. I find that Malaysian firms -- across all sectors -- show a greater propensity to make process and organizational innovations as against product innovations. Soft factors like training, knowledge management practices and collaboration with market actors are used as significant inputs in their innovation process.

The focus of this professional report is sectoral workforce development programs. Sectoral programs represent a fairly recent innovation in workforce development. Rather than train a low-skilled worker for low-skill job with low pay, sectoral programs train workers for higher-skill jobs that offer career trajectory and living wages, while filling a demonstrated labor-market need within the local economy. These programs have numerous benefits, but face significant implementation challenges. Sectoral programs have the potential to become high-performing, value-creating organizations; however competition for scarce resources, poor employer coordination, and lack of long-term planning can hinder the success of these programs. This report discusses these challenges, lessons learned in the field, and proposed changes to the workforce development system that could encourage the success and expansion of sectoral programs. / text