|
on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Dennis Görlich; Andries de Grip |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the relation between human capital depreciation during family-related career interruptions and occupational choice of women in the (West) German labour market. In contrast to other studies that do not explicitly focus on family-related career interruptions, we find that short-term human capital depreciation during these career interruptions is significantly lower in female occupations than in male occupations. This holds for both high- and low-skilled occupations. Our findings support the self-selection hypothesis with respect to occupational sex segregation, i.e., women might deliberately choose female occupations because of lower short-term wage penalties for family-related career interruptions. Moreover, we find that particularly men employed in high-skilled male occupations face large short-run as well as long run wage penalties when they have a family related career break. |
| Keywords: | skills obsolescence, occupational segregation, GSOEP, parental leave |
| JEL: | J24 J13 D13 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1379&r=hrm |
| By: | Bianco, Dominique |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that the results of Bucci (2003) depend criti- cally on the assumption that there are no difference between the intermediate goods share in final output, the returns of specialization and the degree of market power of monopolistic competitors. In this paper, we disentangle the market power parameter from the intermediate goods share in final output and the returns to specialization. The main result of this paper is that the competition has no effect on growth contrary to Bucci (2003). This result is explained by the fact that economic growth rate depends on the parameters describing preference and the human capital accumulation technology but is completely independent of competition and R&D activity. |
| Keywords: | Endogenous growth; Horizontal di®erentiation; Technologi- cal change; Imperfect competition |
| JEL: | D43 O41 J26 O31 L16 |
| Date: | 2007–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:5243&r=hrm |
| By: | Mari Rege, Kjetil Telle and Mark Votruba (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | Using Norwegian register data we estimate how children’s school performance is affected by their parents’ exposure to plant closure. Fathers’ exposure leads to a substantial decline in children’s graduation-year grade point average, but only in municipalities with mediocre-performing job markets. The negative effect does not appear to be driven by a reduction in father’s income and employment, an increase in parental divorce, or the trauma of relocating. In contrast, mothers’ exposure leads to improved school performance. Our findings appear to be consistent with sociological “role theories,” with parents unable to fully shield their children from the stress caused by threats to the father’s traditional role as breadwinner, and mothers responding to job loss by allocating greater attention towards child rearing. |
| Keywords: | educational outcomes; downsizing; job loss; layoffs; plant closure |
| JEL: | I20 J63 J65 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:517&r=hrm |
| By: | Kelchtermans, Stijn; Verboven, Frank |
| Abstract: | Public systems of higher education have recently attempted to cut costs by providing financial incentives to institutions who reduce the diversity of their programs. We study the profit and welfare effects of reducing product diversity in higher education, against the background of a funding system reform in Flanders (Belgium). We find that dropping duplicated programs at individual institutions tends to be socially undesirable, due to the limited fixed cost and variable cost savings and the students' low willingness to travel to other institutions. Furthermore, we find that the financial incentives offered to drop programs may be very ineffective, leading to both undesirable reform and undesirable status quo. These findings emphasize the complexities in regulating product diversity in higher education, and serve as a word of caution towards the various decentralized financial incentive schemes that have recently been introduced. |
| Keywords: | higher education; product diversity |
| JEL: | C25 I2 I23 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6508&r=hrm |
| By: | Nathalie Havet (University of Lyon, Lyon, F-69003, France; CNRS, UMR 5824, GATE, Ecully, F-69130, France; ENS LSH, Lyon, F-69007, France ; Centre Leon Berard, Lyon, F-69003, France); Catherine Sofer (Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, and Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to explain the growing wage differentials between men and women during their working careers. We provide a dynamic model of statistical discrimination, which integrates specific human capital decisions: on-the-job training investment and wages are endogenously determined. We reveal a small wage differential at the beginning of women’s career, followed by a larger wage differential; this is partly due to a lower level of human capital investment by women and partly because firms smooth training costs between different periods. |
| Keywords: | gender gaps, gender wage gap, specific human capital, statistical discrimination |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J31 J62 J71 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:0722&r=hrm |
| By: | Servaas van der Berg (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University); Megan Louw (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | In regional context, South African students benefit from above average levels of public and private education resources. However, their performance on international tests – including SACMEQII (Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality, 2000) – is extremely weak. The first part of the paper positions South Africa within southern and eastern Africa on the basis of SACMEQII Grade 6 mathematics test scores. Hierarchical linear modelling techniques are then employed to model the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and schooling in this highly unequal country. Three important drivers of inequity in test scores emerge: principal concern with monitoring student progress, teacher absenteeism and teacher quality. These interact with SES to give richer students a strong advantage. |
| Keywords: | education quality, inequality, South Africa, Southern Africa, Hierarchical Linear Modelling |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers47&r=hrm |
| By: | Strawinski, Pawel |
| Abstract: | In the article private rate of return to higher education in the 1998-2004 period is considered. The model is based on comparative advantage theory and extended Mincerian wage equation. The extension is made to account for non-random decision to undertake studies at university level. The estimate of private rate of return in Poland is roughly 9.5%, and it is among the highest in Europe. In addition, the unexpected rise in rate of return is observed. This change has been linked to labour market transformation and Skill Bias Technological Change phenomenon. Also the influence of financing tertiary education is considered. The rate of return to higher education has risen and graduation has positively affected the obtained wages. |
| Keywords: | Return to education; private returns; skill biased technical change; sample selection |
| JEL: | I22 |
| Date: | 2007–08–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:5185&r=hrm |
| By: | Aliprantis, Dionissi |
| Abstract: | In their justification for using entrance cutoff dates and compulsory education laws as a natural experiment, the authors of Angrist and Krueger (1991) rightly give much attention to the effectiveness of compulsory attendance laws. However, the authors do not give proper attention to the decisions made by parents. If redshirting is commonplace and nonrandom, as it is in the ECLS-K data set, then the identifying assumption of monotonicity does not hold, and their identification scheme does not work. This problem is distinct from those discussed in Bound and Jaeger (2000). |
| JEL: | I20 I21 |
| Date: | 2007–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:5168&r=hrm |
| By: | Ariane Szafarz (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Business School, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, and DULBEA, Université Libre de Bruxelles.) |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a new representation of discrimination on the job market based on the most recent findings in the socio-psychological academic literature about human behaviour. Put it simply, it is assumed that the agents prefer working with people like themselves. This "affinity" principle is modelled through a distance between an individual (the candidate for a job) and the staff of the firm. Contrary to the classical view according to which discrimination results from asymmetric information, this new model provides a rationale for the presence of discriminative attitudes on the job market even when full information is available on the skill levels of all candidates for a working position. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, affinity, skill |
| JEL: | J71 J70 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:07-021&r=hrm |
| By: | Yuji Tamura (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether or not being an employer was an important determinant of individual preferences for immigration restriction in the EU member states in the eve of the 2004 enlargement. Our results do not confirm that employers were more pro-immigration than the rest by expecting a reduction in the cost of labor except in the following sector: sanitation-related activities such as refuse disposal and recreational, cultural and sports activities. On the contrary, we find that employers were more likely to be anti-immigration than the rest in sectors where foreign workers were highly present, such as household activities, construction, wholesale, hotels and restaurants. |
| Keywords: | individual attitudes toward immigration, employer, EU |
| JEL: | F22 J23 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep1107&r=hrm |
| By: | Silva, Maria José; Leitão, João |
| Abstract: | In the context of globalisation, innovation is considered as a key factor for enhancing the competitiveness of firms. Nowadays, it is widely accepted that Portuguese firms face an increasing competitive environment, which is characterised by internationalization and globalization. In this sense, it becomes important to analyse the determinant factors of innovation capability of firms. This paper aims to identify and analyse the degree of importance of the determinant factors of innovation capability of Portuguese industrial firms. The data obtained through the 2rd Community Innovation Survey (CIS II) conducted by EUROSTAT, is used in a linear regression model. The entrepreneurial innovative capability, measured as product innovation, is considered as the variable answer, in the estimation process of a Logit function. The paper presents an innovative contribution since it uses a set of five determinant factors of innovation capability of industrial firms, at a product innovation level. Technological capacity, dimension of the firm, activity sector, market orientation and location of the firm, are considered as determinants factors of innovation capability of the firms. The results of the joint analysis provide the identification of stimulating factors and restraining factors of the entrepreneurial innovative capability of a selected sample of Portuguese industrial firms. Under a Schumpeterian approach, the paper ratifies that large enterprises are more prone to innovate than small enterprises. The dimension plays a role, in terms of the strategic conduct implemented by small firms, which are not so prone to innovate, due to its small dimension. Benchmarking the Portuguese case is particularly important, because small industrial enterprises face restraining conditions imposed by outsourcing contracts that are established between small producers and leading international buyers. This restrains, broadly, the entrepreneurial innovative capability of small industrial enterprises. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; Entrepreneurial Innovative Capability. |
| JEL: | O32 O31 |
| Date: | 2007–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:5216&r=hrm |