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That the employment rate appears to respond to changes in trend growth is an enduring macroeconomic puzzle. This paper shows that, in the presence of a return to experience, a slowdown in productivity growth raises reservation wages, thereby lowering aggregate employment. The paper develops new evidence that shows this mechanism is important for explaining the growth-employment puzzle. The combined effects of changes in aggregate wage growth and returns to experience account for all the increase from 1968 to 2006 in nonemployment among low-skilled men and for approximately half the increase in nonemployment among all men. (JEL E24, J24, J31) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We begin with two uncontroversial hypotheses - firm productivity is expensive to measure and employment entails relationship-specific investments. These assumptions imply that firms would optimally choose fixed-wage contracts, and complement these with bonus pay when measuring employee performance is not too costly. These assumptions imply that under an optimal employment contract hours of work is less responsive, while total compensation is more responsive to shocks under bonus-pay contracts compared to fixed wage contracts. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) where shocks are proxied using the local unemployment rate, we find strong support for these two implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will discuss the importance of understanding the effect of motivation and compensation on employee's performance in organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of competitive compensation between a manager and a worker in the laboratory. To this end, we impose a simple agency relationship between two groups of subjects termed managers and workers. The manager chooses a compensation scheme for the worker from either a piece rate or a tournament payment scheme and is paid based on the workers performance in the task.The results indicate that when given information about worker ability, male managers choose the tournamentsignificantly less often for a female worker. On the other hand, when no information about worker ability is given to the manager, there is no difference in compensation choice for the worker, although male and female managers differ significantly in their own preferences for compensation scheme. We conjecture that these results are tied to the fact that there is a measurable stereotype that females are worse at the task relative to males,although further research is needed in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author describes the procedures of database indexing and how they differ from back-of-the-book indexing, including the use of controlled vocabularies, strict specifications, and the need to scan documents and index at a broad level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The introduction of performance-related pay by Japanese firms, a development known as seikashugi, stands out as the most important adjustment in their management of regular employees. This paper discusses this development and analyses its implications for the logic of Japanese employment practices. Previous analyses and developments in other countries suggest that it could imply a breakdown of the internal labour market, a key feature of Japanese employment practices. However, drawing on theories of institutional change and two studies among Japanese firms in 2002 and 2007, this paper argues that implications have been modest in spite of the appearance of convergence. Enabled by its flexibility and a continued support for the practice of lifetime employment, the Japanese internal labour market has assimilated performance-related pay and shaped its own transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apparently, in the future companies will have to pay more attention to the issue of keeping employees. How can you keep the best employees? What is that motivation factor, which helps to keep key employees despite of higher wages and other more favourable personal allowances offered? Is it really true that employees can the best motivated with higher wages and other wage type allowances? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of wage dispersion on firm productivity in different working environments. More precisely, it examines the interaction with: (i) the skills of the workforce, using a more appropriate indicator than the standard distinction between white- and blue-collar workers, and (ii) the uncertainty of the firm economic environment, which has, to our knowledge, never been explored on an empirical basis. Using detailed cross-sectional linked employer-employee data for Belgium, we find a hump-shaped relationship between (conditional) wage dispersion and firm productivity. This result suggests that up to (beyond) a certain level of wage dispersion, the incentive effects of 'tournaments' dominate (are dominated by) 'fairness' and/or 'sabotage' considerations. Findings also show that the intensity of the relationship is stronger for highly skilled workers and in more stable environments. This might be explained by the fact that monitoring costs and production-effort elasticity are greater for highly skilled workers, and that in the presence of high uncertainty, workers have less control over their effort-output relation, and associate higher uncertainty with more unfair environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article puts the relationship between wage dispersion and firm productivity to an updated test, taking advantage of access to detailed Belgian linked employer-employee panel data. Controlling for simultaneity issues, time-invariant workplace characteristics and dynamics in the adjustment process of productivity, empirical results reveal the existence of a positive impact from conditional intra-firm wage dispersion to firm productivity (measured by the average value added per hour worked), which however decreases for higher dispersion levels. Findings thus suggest that the incentive effect of wage dispersion, predicted for instance by the 'tournament' model, dominates 'fairness' and/or 'sabotage' considerations. Further results reveal that the influence of wage dispersion on firm productivity is stronger among firms with a larger proportion of highly skilled workers but does not depend on whether wages are collectively renegotiated at the firm level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We use data collected from employees in five transition economies to study whether locus of control and preference for challenge versus affiliation are positively related to worker performance. We find that earnings are positively related to the internal locus of control and preference for challenge among participants of the Armenian and Serbian surveys. In the Russian sample, earnings tend to be higher among workers with a more internal locus of control. Earnings are not systematically related to personality in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. For most countries, self-reported performance tends to be significantly higher among workers with preference for challenge. Generally, the size of the personality effect on performance is at least as great as the effect of experience or education. Although more research needs to be done before final conclusions about the causes of cross-country differences can be made, we argue that variation in personality effects across countries may be influenced by level of economic development, degree of market-orientation, and cultural diversity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article we present data on earnings and hours in 2010 and, using data over a longer time frame, show how the character of the Australian labour market has significantly changed in recent decades. Among other things, we demonstrate a continued shift towards part-time work and, across full-time and part-time labour markets, a change in the distribution of jobs towards more highly skilled occupations. We continue to argue that traditional indicators of labour-market activity, such as headline unemployment and earnings in full-time employment, are only able to partially explain the health of the labour market. There is an urgent need to better understand other dimensions such as underemployment, part-time employment and part-time earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Germany, more than 40 per cent of plants covered by collective agreements pay wages above the level stipulated in the agreement, giving rise to a wage cushion between actual and contractual wages. Cross-sectional and fixed-effects estimations indicate that the wage cushion mainly varies with the profit situation of the plant and with indicators of labour shortage and the business cycle. Whereas plants bound by multi-employer agreements seem to pay wage premiums in order to overcome the restrictions imposed by the rather centralized bargaining system in (western) Germany, plants that use single-employer agreements are significantly less likely to have wage cushions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a two equation model of wage setting and unemployment, which we estimate on annual time series for Australia since Federation. Our model links the real wage level to productivity and to a set of wage pressure variables, while the unemployment rate is linked to the gap between the real wage and productivity and to demand side variables. We evaluate the contribution of different variables to the equilibrium unemployment rate for 1903-1941, 1942-1973 and 1974-2007. We also examine the effects on unemployment of several key policy-related episodes in wage regulation spread over the past century of labour market history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is said that people today are less interested in collective solutions such as union representation, mainly as a result of the processes of individualization that dilute collectivist orientations. On the basis of survey data carried out in Sweden in 1997 and 2006, the article studies attitudes towards two ways of negotiating with the employer — through the union or individually. The results show a minor decrease concerning the union option, while the willingness to negotiate individually has somewhat increased. However, the perceived need for the union was still high in 2006 — six out of 10 employees agreed with the statement. Another main conclusion is that employees’ attitudes are clearly class-based, even though the class differences were somewhat smaller in 2006. Finally, young people are often seen as forerunners in adopting individualistic orientations. However, the results do not confirm that a collectivist attitude has been replaced by an individualistic leaning among younger employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key open question for theories of reference-dependent preferences is: what determines the reference point?? One candidate is expectations: what people expect could affect how they feel about what actually occurs. In a real-effort experiment, we manipulate the rational expectations of subjects and check whether this manipulation influences their effort provision. We find that effort provision is significantly different between treatments in the way predicted by models of expectation-based, reference-dependent preferences: if expectations are high, subjects work longer and earn more money than if expectations are low. (JEL D12, D84, J22) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of incentives on worker self-selection in a controlled laboratory experiment. Subjects face the choice between a fixed and a variable payment scheme. Depending on the treatment, the variable payment is a piece rate, a tournament, or a revenue-sharing scheme. We find that output is higher in the variable-payment schemes compared to the fixed-payment scheme. This difference is largely driven by productivity sorting. In addition, different incentive schemes systematically attract individuals with different attitudes, such as willingness to take risks and relative self-assessment as well as gender, which underlines the importance of multidimensional sorting. (JEL C91, D81, D82, J16, J31) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides the first experimental test of Edward Lazear's (1979) model of deferred compensation. We examine the relation ship between firms' wage offers and workers' effort supply in a multi-period environment. If firms can ex ante commit to a wage schedule with deferred compensation, workers should respond by supplying sufficient effort to avoid dismissal. We contrast this full-commitment case to controls with no commitment and computer-generated wages in order to examine the roles of monetary incentives, social preferences, and reciprocity. Finally, we examine a setup without formal commitment, but where firms can build a reputation for paying deferred wages. (JEL D86, J22, J31, J33, J41) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents several results concerning the impact of foreign direct investments on labour productivity in different countries. The focus is on the labour productivity differences that exist between the foreign and domestic companies and on the way these differences evolve in the host country. Results show that national companies generally increase their labour productivity due to the technological and managerial competences that they borrow from the foreign companies established in their country and also because: firstly they have to protect themselves from the new competition and secondly they must comply with the growing demand coming from the new investors. Due to their higher labour productivity, foreign firms offer higher wages to their employees. This also determines a growth in the salaries of national companies' skilled workers going to wage inequalities and skill differences. However, the overall effect of a growing productivity is most oftenly translated into job creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper points out that there may be a logical consistency issue in choosing the reference wage in efficiency wage models. We have shown that defining the outside option in the efficiency wage logic as the market-clearing wage solves this difficulty, and is justifiable in terms of the assumed behaviour of workers and employers. The model that we examine confirms earlier findings of reinforcing effects between union-firm bargaining and efficiency wages. However, if union preferences vary between wages and employment, Summers' reinforcing effect is no longer present for each value of the parameter describing these preferences. Above a certain threshold value of union preferences for employment, the two mechanisms do not reinforce each other anymore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on the relationship between city size and urban wages argues that productivity and wages are higher in larger cities. Indeed, a doubling of city size is associated with a 4—8 per cent increase in wages. The human capital externalities literature finds evidence of higher wages in cities with an abundant supply of human capital where knowledge spillovers are plentiful. Interestingly, cities with a large supply of human capital are not themselves large. They have a population of fewer than 1.5 million inhabitants. In view of this evidence, this paper questions whether city size has lost its importance as a determinant of high wages. In other words, is city size necessary to explain wage variations, after controlling for knowledge spillovers? Using a large sample from the 5 per cent PUMS of the 2000 US Census, this paper presents econometric evidence for city size and learning spillover effects on productivity. According to the estimates presented, every additional 100 000 inhabitants in the local labour market raises individual hourly wages by 0.12 per cent. Moreover, a doubling of the human capital density in a metropolitan area results in approximately a 2 per cent increase in average individual hourly wages. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Las autoras definen el trabajo de cuidado remunerado y explican por qué ha pasado a ser un campo importante para la investigación y la política. Basándose en análisis internacionales y nacionales de varias ocupaciones, ponen de relieve tres conclusiones. Primera, la situación laboral de estos trabajadores es, a menudo, un reflejo de las circunstancias y los problemas propios del mercado de trabajo del país. Segunda, la función del Estado en tanto que empleador del sector está cambiando porque cada vez se subcontratan más labores. Tercera, los regímenes de política social también conforman las oportunidades y las condiciones laborales del sector. Es de prever que los trabajadores y las personas que reciben la atención salgan beneficiados de una mejora de las mismas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The initial works council's wage claim, and the initial firm's (counter)offer, as well as the fraction of the disputed wages the works council is able to capture conditional on initial disagreement, are analyzed using Spanish data on wage settlements. After a given initial wage claim, the rules of the system force the firm either to accept it or to make a counteroffer prior to a fixed and short deadline. In this context, signaling models predict that the wage claim should try to screen the firm's level of profitability, while the (most likely forced) offer is expected to reveal little information. Both hypotheses are tested and neither one is rejected. The analysis of the fraction of the disputed wages the workers get after initial disagreement, as well as the length of the negotiation period, provide further evidence in favor of signaling models, since we find they are related to both observed and private information. Moreover, conditional on covariates, for a number of sectors, we cannot reject that the parties 'split the difference' between both initial offers. This solution coincides with Rubinstein's (Econometrica 50:97-109, 1982) wage, the solution for the complete information game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose - This paper aims to estimate empirically the effect on the voluntary turnover (quit) rate of employees when a large public corporation already judged as an outstanding employer is also ranked as being socially responsible by an external review organization. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employs a cross-section regression of the turnover rate of 84 of Fortune magazine's "100 Best Employers" against measures of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and several other control variables such as annual wages, ethnic and gender composition of the labor force that economic theory and prior studies have identified as explaining firm labor turnover. Findings - Adoption of business policies that cause the firm to be rated as socially responsible reduce the annual quit rate by 3 percent to 3.5 percent, which amounts to a 25-30 percent reduction, as compared to non-CSR public corporations or a larger comparison set including privately held and not-for-profit firms. Research limitations/implications - The wider universe of public corporations may not realize comparable turnover benefits from CSR as these "best employers" because these firms might be especially vulnerable or sensitive to corporate image when hiring workers. Practical implications - The model estimated permits calculation of the annual rise in average wages that would be required to reduce turnover by the same amount as CSR, a sum of approximately $3,700 per year or about 9 percent of the mean wage, with a lower bound estimate of about $1,000. This suggests that these firms can significantly reduce labor costs by investing in worker-friendly employment policies, which account for half of the entire measured CSR impact. Originality/value - This is believed to be the first effort to quantify rigorously the effect of CSR on the employment side of firm performance. Prior labor studies have looked at hypothetical employment scenarios involving students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Whereas the motivational aspects of pay are well-documented, the notion that high pay leads to high levels of satisfaction is not without debate. The current study used meta-analysis to estimate the population correlation between pay level and measures of pay and job satisfaction. Cumulating across 115 correlations from 92 independent samples, results suggested that pay level was correlated .15 with job satisfaction and .23 with pay satisfaction. Various moderators of the relationship were investigated. Despite the popular theorizing, results suggest that pay level is only marginally related to satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Los autores analizan los determinantes de la participación de los trabajadores en actividades formativas y los efectos de éstas sobre los salarios. A partir de datos de seis países del Panel de Hogares de la Unión Europea del período 1995-2001, construyen cuatro tipos de indicadores de formación. Sus estimaciones con mínimos cuadrados ordinarios indican que las actividades formativas generan unos rendimientos salariales notables en casi todos los países analizados. Sin embargo, los rendimientos no son estadísticamente distintos de cero cuando repiten las estimaciones con modelos de efectos fijos. Por tanto, las ganancias salariales debidas a la formación podrían estar siendo sobrestimadas al no tenerse en cuenta adecuadamente otros factores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their seminal contribution, Lazear and Rosen (1981) show that wages based upon rank induce the same efficient effort as incentive-based reward schemes. They also show that this equivalence result is not robust toward heterogeneity in worker ability, as long as ability is private information because it is not possible to structure contests to simultaneously satisfy self-selection constraints and first-best incentives. This paper demonstrates that efficiency can be achieved by a simple modification of the prize scheme in a mixed (heterogenous) contest where contestants learn their type after entry. If contestants know their type before entering the contest, rent extraction becomes an issue. Implications for optimal contest design are also explored. Finally, the relationship between effort maximizing contests and profit maximizing contests are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The movement of hours worked over the business cycle is an important input into the estimation of many key parameters in macroeconomics. Unfortunately, the available data on hours do not correspond precisely to the concept required for accurate inference. We study one source of mismeasurement—that the most commonly used source data measure hours paid instead of hours worked. In particular, we focus our attention on salaried workers, a group for whom the gap between hours paid and hours worked is likely to be large. We show that the measurement gap varies significantly and positively with changes in labor demand. As a result, we estimate that the standard deviations of the workweek and of total hours worked are 27 and 5 percent larger, respectively, than published measures of hours suggest. We also find that this measurement gap is unlikely to be the source of the acceleration in published measures of productivity in the early 2000s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working conditions and employment arrangements make a significant contribution to the burden of cardiovascular disease, in particular in modern societies where mental and emotional demands and threats are becoming widespread. Occupational research has identified health-adverse features of modern work with the help of theoretical models. One such model, effort-reward imbalance, has been developed by this author and his group and has been widely tested in epidemiological and experimental studies. The model claims that stressful experience at work is elicited by a lack of reciprocity between efforts spent at work and rewards received in return, where rewards include money, promotion prospects, job security, and esteem. Results demonstrate elevated risks of coronary heart disease among employees exposed to effort-reward imbalance. Moreover, in ambulatory and experimental investigations, elevated heart rate and blood pressure and altered secretion of stress hormones were observed under these conditions. Although additional scientific evidence is needed, available findings call for practical measures towards improving quality of work, most importantly at the level of single companies and organisations. This conclusion is supported by first results from intervention studies that are guided by this theoretical approach. In view of the burden of cardiovascular disease attributable to unfavourable working conditions, such efforts are well justified and need to be extended in order to promote healthy work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a general equilibrium model with a vertical production structure to examine the relationship between offshore outsourcing and international migration, especially emphasizing their effects on the wages of skilled and unskilled workers. Two-way outsourcing (simultaneous insourcing and outsourcing) in skilled-labor-intensive services arises because of product differentiation and scale economies, and outsourcing in unskilled-labor-intensive processing occurs because of factor endowment differences. The tractability of the model allows us to rank outsourcing and migration, according to the wages of both types of workers. Finally, we also analyze under what conditions outsourcing and international migration are complements or substitutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we address two bodies of sociological research: the effects of globalization and theories of pay. Most sociological writings on globalization emphasize its negative consequences. Most sociological writings on pay allow no role for productivity but, rather, assert the importance of power in the production of labour market outcomes. In this paper we examine the effects of three forms of globalization — exporting, foreign ownership, and outsourcing — and include in our analysis institutional features of organizations typically associated with worker power. Using the rich data available in the Workplace and Employee Survey we find: i) pay tends to be higher in workplaces that export and are foreign owned; ii) employees in more productive workplaces are paid more; iii) pay is higher where internal labour markets are present; and iv) treating productivity and power as alternative explanations for pay differentials is a mistake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the benefits of new unit-record datasets representing the link of employees and employers. It informs that these datasets offer important information on both employer and employee which help the researchers identify their effects when analyzing wage determination, profitability and productivity. It mentions that datasets are well established and used in several industrialized countries including Norway, Japan and the U.S.

Copyright of Journal of the Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences is the property of Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Data from the Irish Census of Industrial Production are used to illuminate changes in the distribution of earnings from 1937 to 1968, an important period in Irish economic history, relevant to debates about globalization and inequality. Between the late 1930s and mid-1950s there was a greater compression of earnings than in the US's ‘great compression’ of the same period. Sectoral data suggest that this occurred quite generally. The degree of integration with the British labour market is key, and the impact of out-migration, wage controls during the Second World War, and industrial protection all merit in-depth investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bargaining relationship between a firm and its incumbent worker who possesses firm-specific human capital is examined. It is shown that the worker's ability to withhold his/her skills strategically increases his/her bargaining power. Multiple efficient as well as inefficient equilibria involving delays in negotiation are characterized. When the firm has outside options, the range of both efficient and inefficient equilibria shrinks; moreover, delays are shortened in inefficient equilibria. The model predicts that wages are procyclical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Recherches Sociographiques is the property of Recherches Sociographiques and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Shimer (2005) pointed out that although we have a satisfactory theory of why some workers are unemployed at any given time, we don't know why the number of unemployed workers varies so much over time. The basic Mortensen–Pissarides model does not generate nearly enough volatility in unemployment for plausible parameter values. This paper extends the Mortensen–Pissarides model to allow for informational rents. Productivity is subject to publicly observed aggregate shocks, and to idiosyncratic shocks that are seen only by the employer. It is shown that there is a unique equilibrium, provided that the idiosyncratic shocks are not too large. The main result is that small fluctuations in productivity that are privately observed by employers can give rise to a kind of wage stickiness in equilibrium, and the informational rents associated with this stickiness are sufficient to generate relatively large unemployment fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates empirically how labor market institutions affect wage and inflation dynamics, particularly the volatility of real wage growth and inflation using a panel data for OECD economies. I also look at how the rate of unemployment is affected by the larger set of labor market variables that captures diverse aspects of the labor market. The main finding of the paper is that benefit replacement rate is the most significant variable in explaining the volatility of real wage growth and inflation. Besides that union density and bargaining coordination also play an important role in explaining the volatilities in these variables. These results for the benefit replacement rate and union density also support the findings of the theoretical models. It is also shown that the labor market institutions have a considerable influence on the level of unemployment as higher levels of benefit replacement rate, longer durations of unemployment benefits, and a higher union density are expected to lead to a higher level of unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper complements previous studies on the effects of health on wages by addressing the problems of unobserved heterogeneity, sample selection, and endogeneity in one comprehensive framework. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), we find the health variable to suffer from measurement error and a number of tests provide evidence that selection corrections are necessary. Good health leads to higher wages for men, while there appears to be no significant effect for women. Contingent on the method of estimation, healthy males earn between 1.3 percent and 7.8 percent more than those in poor health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an endogenous growth model with public capital, public debt and real wage rigidities due to labor market imperfections. Assuming that the primary surplus relative to gross domestic produce (GDP) is a positive function of the debt to GDP ratio, we study growth and employment effects of deficit-financed public investment using simulations as well as how fiscal policy affects stability of the economy. Further, we contrast the growth rate and the unemployment rate in the deficit scenario with that of the balanced budget scenario. Finally, we compare our results with those obtained in case of flexible wages and full employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we study the relationship between wages, unemployment and labor productivity in Mexico's manufacturing sector. We use the data of Monthly Industrial Survey, produced by the National Institute of Statistics (INEGI), to estimate a model with the generalized method of moments for dynamic panel data of Arellano and Bond (1991). This method exploits the cross time and cross section variability of the industrial sector data, and yields consistent and efficient estimators. Results suggest that unemployment slows down wage increases, while labor productivity accelerates them. In both cases, the effect is statistically significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Desarrollo Económico is the property of Instituto de Desarrollo Economico y Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Las investigaciones internacionales han puesto de manifiesto la importancia de las instituciones en la estructura salarial de una economía. Un estudio acerca de siete hospitales públicos del Reino Unido corrobora que un sistema de fijación de salarios centralizado beneficia a las auxiliares de enfermería y a las limpiadoras, sobre todo si las condiciones pactadas en el sector público se extienden a los trabajadores empleados por subcontratistas. La renovación salarial sienta las bases para que desaparezca el trabajo con salario bajo. Y, a fin de que los trabajadores tomen la senda del perfeccionamiento profesional, los establecimientos deben concebir unos puestos nuevos y más cualificados y facilitar las carreras individuales en su seno. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real estate agents have flexibility in choosing hours and employers. These responses are tested with a five-equation recursive model. Agents choose between full- and part-time work. The conditional wage measures productivity adjusted for self-selection to each status. Hours worked in each status depend on the fitted after-tax wage and household income, yielding flexible supply elasticities. Using a 2005 survey of 8,450 U.S. real estate agents, a year of experience raises the full-time hourly wage by 2.5%. Conditional hours worked decline by 0.6%, implying an earnings return of 1.9% per year of experience. The labor supply elasticity for full-time agents is 0.21; it is almost zero for part timers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examine wages and working conditions in meat processing and confectionery in France. Working there may not require much skill, or command good wages and working conditions, but this article reveals a more complex, positive situation than expected, thanks to the "French model's" national minimum wage and the extension of collective wage agreements to all workers in the sector. But pressures to lower labour costs are still felt, and the firms examined must meet pressures to increase productivity, flexibility and automation. Moreover, retail chains also seek to lower prices and impose just-in-time production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of the textile trades in Great Britain during the industrial revolution introduced great changes to the lives and work of a significant proportion of its population. The growth in production and trade brought wealth to the successful entrepreneurs, through the endeavours of their workforce; but paying the wages of this labour was no easy matter. Cash was in very short supply from the late eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century. This research note explores one strategy adopted by the new textile industrialists in response to the Royal Mint's inability to produce any quantity of silver coinage between 1751 and 1816. It focuses on the particular practice of countermarking foreign coinage. As yet few contemporary records of this practice have been identified; and it is hoped that further research will generate dialogue between textile historians and numismatic researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing use of incentive pay schemes in recent years has raised concerns about their potential detrimental effect on intrinsic job satisfaction (JS), job security and employee morale. This study explores the impact of pay incentives on the overall JS of workers in the United Kingdom and their satisfaction with various facets of jobs. Using data from eight waves (1998–2005) of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and a uniquely designed well-being dataset (EPICURUS), a significant positive impact on JS is only found for those receiving fixed-period bonuses. These conclusions are robust to unobserved heterogeneity, and are shown to depend on a number of job-quality characteristics that have not been controlled for in previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the development of an economic theory on the relations between wages and employment known as the "purchasing power theory of wages." Various perspectives on the effect of rising wages on employment are described. Further factors involved in the discussion include labor costs, outsource production, and supply and demand relationships. The article also comments on the lack of empirical research on the ways in which wages and employment growth influence each other.