解读斯密分工理论,构建社会和谐分工

劳动分工不是一个新的论题,我们的前人早已看到了分工的重要性,分工是社会发展的需要。政治经济学之父亚当·斯密在《国富论》中阐述了分工理论,现在读来其思想的闪光点依然为我们所见。本文引入斯密分工理论,结合现实,提出新时代的分工思想,对建立社会劳动和谐分工作一探讨。     

Participation in continuous,on-the-job training and the impact on job satisfaction: longitudinal evidence from the German labour market

A number of studies in the human resources literature acknowledge the importance of workplace training for inducing organizational commitment on the part of workers. However, small sample sizes and the absence of relevant panel data have raised concerns about the general validity of results and highlighted the need for further research to explicitly include on-the-job training as an important facet of job satisfaction. A similar empirical gap exists in the economics and industrial organization literature, where, despite the importance of both on-the-job training and job satisfaction to influence labour productivity, the relationship between the two has received surprisingly little attention. The aim of this paper is to bridge this gap in our knowledge and assess the impact of further training on job satisfaction in the western regions of Germany. We use data derived from the German Socio-economic Panel, which covers the period 1984 to 2002. Concentrating on full-time employed individuals, we focus in particular on the 1989, 1993 and 2000 interview waves, which include a number of questions on work-related training and offer detailed information on the type and duration of training received, and whether employers sponsored such training. The empirical results of the study provide information about the decision to participate in further training and the latter's impact on job satisfaction. Gender inequality issues in Germany's segmented labour market are explained by reference to discrepancy theory, equity theory, social exchange theory and the perception of a breach in the psychological contract between firms and female trainees.     

Injury-related absenteeism and job satisfaction: insights from Greek and UK data

Most of the literature on absenteeism suggest that absence from work is a complex issue influenced by multiple causes, both of personal and of organizational nature. Job satisfaction has also been identified as one of the factors affecting an employee's motivation to work attendance. There is no universal agreement concerning the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction. Some research have found no correlation between these two variables, whereas other studies indicate a weak relationship between these two variables. It has also been suggested that absence and job satisfaction might be more strongly related under some conditions, for instance in the case of blue-collar workers. There is a lack of attention in the literature, however, to injury-related absenteeism, which is a particular type of absenteeism. This paper attempts to fill this gap and examines the effect of job satisfaction on injury-related absenteeism by using Greek and UK data. The empirical results suggest that there is a negative relationship between injury-related absenteeism and job satisfaction. The paper also discusses possible policy measures towards reducing injury-related absenteeism.     

COPYRIGHT AND ARTISTS: A VIEW FROM CULTURAL ECONOMICS

Abstract.  Most of the standard economic literature on copyright ignores a number of aspects that have considerable significance for cultural production and for artists, the primary creators of copyright works, the supply of which copyright is supposed to stimulate. Specifically, there is little mention in that literature of moral rights, no distinction is made between copyright for authors and neighbouring rights for performers, the distributional effects of copyright are barely referred to, and the question of how much artists earn from copyright is ignored. In this article, I survey work that relates copyright and cultural economics showing that cultural economics offers another view to the 'standard' economics of copyright. Moreover, the case for government intervention in the arts and heritage made by cultural economists has resonance for the economic rationale of copyright.     

Internationalizing the Undergraduate Economics Curriculum

The internationalization of the economics curriculum has been limited by the absence of a modern amroach in specific courses, especially at the introductory and intermediate levels. This paper argues that in order to fully internationalize the undergraduate economics curriculum, microeconomics courses should be approached from a perspective based on the economics of organization and management and game theory. A conceptual framework for internationalizing the curriculum based on this approach is presented. This framework is employed to introduce opportunities to internationalize each course and discuss the role of each course in internationalizing the whole curriculum.     

WHAT'S TO KNOW ABOUT LABORATORY EXPERIMENTATION IN ECONOMICS?

Abstract Experimental economics has grown as a discipline from near non‐existence 50 years ago to a full‐fledged field within economics in the present. Much of experimental economics research involves experimental methods as a tool, applied to problems in other fields of economics. However, some of this research is inward looking, focusing on questions of the methodology of experimental economics. In this note, I briefly discuss two methodological issues in experimental economics that might benefit from meta‐analysis: the pool from which experimental participants are drawn (university undergraduate students versus other populations) and the scale of monetary incentives faced by participants (large, small or hypothetical).     

非期望效用理论的发展历程评述

期望效用理论一直被并被广泛应用于包含风险决策问题在内的各类经济学研究之中,为现代经济学领域决策理论的基石。然而随着该理论在应用过程中与实际行为相悖现象的发现,受到了越来越多的挑战与批评。文章对期望效用理论到非期望效用理论的发展历程进行了回顾与简单评述,以期利于更好的掌握非期望效用理论,为现代经济学研究提供一个正确导向。     

VARIETY OF METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH IN ECONOMICS

Abstract.  It has been argued by some that the distinction between orthodox economics and heterodox economics does not fit the growing variety in economic theory, unified by a common methodological approach. On the other hand, it remains a central characteristic of heterodox economics that it does not share this methodological approach, but rather represents a range of alternative methodological approaches. The paper explores the evidence, and arguments, for variety in economics at different levels, and a range of issues which arise. This requires in turn a discussion of the meaning of variety in economics at the different levels of reality, methodology, method and theory. It is concluded that there is scope for more, rather than less, variety in economic methodologies, as well as within methodologies. Further, if variety is not to take the form of 'anything goes', then critical discussion by economists of different approaches to economics, and of variety itself, is required.     

Experiments in Environmental Economics and Some Close Relatives

Abstract.  It is not only the great number of papers written on environment economics that make it worth dealing with this special branch of experimental research, but the environmental problem in all its facets seems to serve as a catalyst for identifying some methodological problems of the experimental method. For this reason, we will not only try to give an overview of recent experiments in environmental economics but also add some thoughts on the methodological implications of this work. We identify three direct connecting factors for the experimental method and environmental economics. First, social dilemmas are, in many cases, at the core of environmental problems. Experiments are able to test theoretical hypotheses for individual behavior in such social dilemma situations. The second connecting factor comes from the field of applied experimental work and can be characterized as the testbedding of institutional arrangements for the solution of environmental problems. The last direct application of experimental methods to environmental economics concerns the individual evaluation of environmental resources.     

我国私营企业劳资关系初探

目前我国私营企业工会职能弱化,集体谈判和集体合同制度没有得到普及,劳资冲突日益严重的现状所造成的负面影响已引起了各方面的关注。文章认为应从组建工会、强化工会职能、健全劳资关系立法、推行集体谈判和集体合同制度、运用现代激励理论建立员工激励机制等方面入手构建健康稳定和谐的劳资关系。     

Economic Sociology Reformulated

A bstract Previous theoretical and empirical research on economic sociology leaves much to be desired in terms of consistently defining the agenda and objectives of the discipline As a result, economic sociology often appears to lack a clearly defined mission and purpose This is epitomized by various failures to establish adequate epistemological relations of the proper realm of economic sociology with those of economics and sociology, and especially with the domain of rational choice theory This failure is compounded by a misplaced distinction between the subject matter of economic sociology and that of sociological economics, or socioeconomics And some recent works in the discipline (including the ambitious Handbook of Economic Sociology ) have not helped to remedy this situation In this paper, we try to address this situation by suggesting some reformulations of the subject matter of economic sociology in relation to those of related disciplines In addition, we attempt to redefine the field of the sociology of the market which is seen as the focal specialty of economic sociology     

NIGHT LIGHTS IN ECONOMICS: SOURCES AND USES1

Night lights, as detected by satellites, are increasingly used by economists, typically as a proxy for economic activity. The growing popularity of these data reflects either the absence, or the presumed inaccuracy, of more conventional economic statistics, like national or regional GDP. Further growth in use of night lights is likely, as they have been included in the AidData geoquery tool for providing subnational data, and in geographic data that the Demographic and Health Survey links to anonymized survey enumeration areas. Yet, this ease of obtaining night lights data may lead to inappropriate use, if users fail to recognize that most of the satellites providing these data were not designed to assist economists, and have features that may threaten validity of analyses based on these data, especially for temporal comparisons, and for small and rural areas. In this paper, we review sources of satellite data on night lights, discuss issues with these data, and survey some of their uses in economics.     

Research In Strategy,Economics, and Michael Porter*

This article links up with recent discussions of the strategy/economics nexus. In contrast to most of the proponents and opponents of economics in strategy thinking, a balanced pluralist perspective is adopted. According to this, a discipline should strike a balance between the generation of new theoretical alternatives and the selection among them. Applying this general idea, I argue that the strategy field is too pluralistic, and that the unfortunate consequences of excessive pluralism and eclecticism may be remedied by economics playing a larger role in the conversation of strategy researchers. This does not necessarily mean standard neoclassical economics or new industrial organization economics; evolutionary economics, for example, is a serious contender, too. the evolution of Michael Porter's thinking is used as a case for demonstrating some of the advantages and some of the dangers of economics in the strategy field, and for illustrating points about eclecticism and pluralism.     

Internal labour flexibility from a resource-based view approach: definition and proposal of a measurement scale

The dynamic nature of current competitive environments has motivated managers to identify sources of flexibility based on the organisation's human resources. In this regard, internal labour flexibility emerges as a valid strategy to counteract environmental changes, based on the adaptability of the organisation's current workforce to face non-routine circumstances and events that require creativity and initiative. However, despite recent interest in the notion of internal labour flexibility, there is no commonly accepted definition of this term. Currently, there are several competing definitions of the construct, along with a variety of operationalisations. Some integration of these approaches is needed to ensure that our knowledge of internal labour flexibility grows cumulatively. In this study, we have sought to address some of these limitations by theoretically conceptualising and empirically validating a scale to measure internal labour flexibility from the resource-based view (RBV). The application of structural equation modelling to a sample of 226 Spanish firms confirmed the suggested dimensionality of the internal labour flexibility scale, which distinguishes between employees' intrinsic flexibility, skill malleability, behavioural malleability and relational flexibility. Tests of reliability and validity confirmed the appropriateness of this measurement scale.     

Problem-based learning: merging of economics and mathematics

We present problem-based learning as a strategy to assist students to integrate both mathematics and economics knowledge as well as develop other skills. We present basic information about problem-based learning, provide an example of an economics problem that could be used in an early undergraduate mathematics course, and provide sources for additional economics problems and information about problem-based learning. While faculty will seldom have a class composed entirely of economics students, the examples that we provide do not require in-depth knowledge of economics but will help undergraduates develop some understanding of the economic world they live in.     

Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice

In regression discontinuity (RD) designs for evaluating causal effects of interventions, assignment to a treatment is determined at least partly by the value of an observed covariate lying on either side of a fixed threshold. These designs were first introduced in the evaluation literature by Thistlewaite and Campbell [1960. Regression-discontinuity analysis: an alternative to the ex-post Facto experiment. Journal of Educational Psychology 51, 309–317] With the exception of a few unpublished theoretical papers, these methods did not attract much attention in the economics literature until recently. Starting in the late 1990s, there has been a large number of studies in economics applying and extending RD methods. In this paper we review some of the practical and theoretical issues in implementation of RD methods.     

The price of labour and understanding the causes of poverty

This paper provides a review of how questions in labour economics link to the central concerns of development economics in understanding the mechanisms that both create, and perpetuate, poverty in some countries and not others and in some areas within countries. The paper frames this link by asking what determines first the price of labour, then the nature of employment open to labour and finally discusses the links from the price of labour to incomes through the assets owned by the poor. The advent of micro data in developing countries has transformed our knowledge of what needs to be explained. While the price of labour clearly depends on education the links between incomes and education are much weaker than is frequently supposed. The finding from micro data that conditioning on a wide range of observable characteristics of human capital still leaves most of the variation in earnings to be explained suggests the importance of understanding what these other factors might be and how they may interact with human capital. One possibility is that markets are segmented so that individuals with the same skills earn different amounts depending on the sector in which they work. Another possible explanation is that the unobserved characteristics of workers are more important than the observed and that processes of matching and search lead to the outcomes we observe in labour markets. It is argued that these explanations are not mutually exclusive and that different processes may operate across labour markets both within and across countries. The review concludes by outlining outstanding research issues in labour economics where new models and data may well provide insights into explaining the extraordinarily diverse range of outcomes we observe for the price of labour in poor countries.     

Economic Sociology in Retrospect and Prospect

A bstract Theory and research in the field of economic sociology have seen steady advancements in recent years. Economic sociology has become a legitimate branch of sociology as well as of economics. Nonetheless, the treatment of economic sociology in both modern economics and sociology leaves much to be desired. Various formal-terminological confusions and theoretical-substantive misconceptions are still present in the field. The present article advances some proposals for remedying this situation. In particular, it provides clarifications of and amendments to the current treatment of issues, such as the relationship between economics and sociology, the character of economic sociology, its links to economic theory, socio-economics, and rational choice theory, as well as the question of the old versus the new economic sociology. Special emphasis is placed on the relationships between economic sociology and rational choice theory, given the latter's claims to universality. It is hoped that the article will thereby redress certain inconsistencies found in some previous treatments of economic sociology as well as stimulate further refinements.     

The GNU/Linux platform and freedom respecting software for economists

The GNU/Linux operating system is rapidly gaining ground as an attractive alternative to the proprietary platforms particularly in academic institutions and government agencies. Here, we supply an assessment of this resource from the perspective of econometricians, discuss its benefits and disadvantages along with a basic overview of some of the popular free/libre and open source programs hosted by this platform for conducting research in economics. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CHAOTIC DYNAMICS IN ECONOMIC TIME-SERIES

Abstract. There has recently been considerable interest in chaotic dynamics in a variety of disciplines. This paper introduces and then surveys some of the associated literature and techniques. Applications to economic theory are discussed but the primary focus is on empirical applicability. In addition to surveying the literature we also provide an example of the use of these techniques in economics. We conclude by highlighting the importance of the techniques for empirical work as well as considering their context in econometric methodology.