An Integrated Modular Approach to Teaching Introductory Economics

The authors describe the design and administration of a large two-semester course in principles of economics that permits both students and faculty some choice of both subject matter and meeting times during the semester. Students complete a standardized nine-week core and are then allowed to select topical modules. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed.     

In Search of Commitment-Oriented Human Resource Management Practices and the Conditions that Sustain Them

Drawing on data from a survey of human resource management (HRM) in Irish organizations, the paper examines the incidence of coherent bundles of commitment-oriented HRM practices and deploys loglinear modelling to test a series of hypotheses concerning external and internal factors which sustain such practices. The paper identifies the low overall incidence of cohesive commitment-oriented HRM practices in organizations in Ireland. The analysis establishes that the strategic integration of HRM into corporate strategy strongly favours the adoption of such practices, as does the avoidance of union recognition. No link can be established empirically between sectoral turbulence or dynamism and either the adoption or non-adoption of coherent sets of commitment-oriented HRM practices. Nor does the modelling identify any core set of underlying features which, when observed concurrently, greatly increases the likelihood that commitment-oriented HRM practices will be adopted.     

Are Tax Effects Important in the Long-Run Fisher Relationship? Evidence from the Municipal Bond Market

Are nominal bonds appropriately discounted for taxes? Empirical estimates of the response of nominal interest rates to changes in inflation, the Fisher effect, have failed to produce a definitive answer. Four reasons have been put forward as possible explanations: (i) Tobin effects, (ii) fiscal illusion, (iii) peso problems, and (iv) different estimators. Utilizing data on taxable and tax-exempt bond interest rates and several different estimators, we find that the Fisher effect estimates are always larger for the taxable bond relative to the tax-exempt bond, suggesting that fiscal illusion and different estimators cannot account for the previous results.     

Multinationals and human resource practices in Ireland: a rejection of the 'new conformance thesis'

In a previous edition of this journal, Turner et al. (1997a) claim that the industrial relations and human resource management practices of multinational companies operating in Ireland bear a close resemblance to those of indigenous firms. The advancement of this (new) conformance thesis stands in stark contrast to much recent work on Irish industrial relations. In this paper we criticize Turner et al.'s argument for its failure to appreciate and acknowledge the weight of evidence both internationally and in Ireland which points to the predominance of 'country-of-origin effects' over 'hostcountry effects', especially in countries characterized by weak industrial relations systems. We are also critical of the empirical basis of the 'new conformance thesis'. In analysing data from a recently conducted national workplace survey our doubts as to the empirical validity and generalizability of Turner et al.'s results are confirmed. In brief, the 'new conformance thesis' is refuted and the employment relations practices of foreign- and particularly US-owned establishments are shown to be very different from those of Irish workplaces.     

The Changing Distribution of Pension Coverage The Changing Distributionof Pension Coverage

Data from the Current Population Surveys reveal that between 1979 and 1993 the gap in pension coverage between workers with less than 12 years of education and those with more than 16 years of education nearly tripled among men and more than quadrupled among women. The empirical analysis reveals that differences in labor market characteristics related to gender and education have grown over time and can account for virtually all the changing distribution of coverage. There is mixed evidence on the extent to which the growth of the 401(k) plan has contributed to the changing distribution of coverage.     

4. The population sub-system

The overall behaviour of the World 3 model is not highly sensitive to the behaviour of the population sub-system. This is divided into two parts, fertility and mortality, and each are examined here as being important in their own right, although the fact that many of the relationships could be subject to policy decisions is noted as a major problem in building the model.     

Comparative analysis of labor market dynamics using Markov processes: An application to informality

This paper discusses a set of statistics for examining labor market dynamics in developing countries and offers a simple search model that informs their interpretation. It then employs panel data from Argentina, Brazil and Mexico to generate a set of preliminary stylized facts about patterns of sectoral transition and duration. Finally, it nests two competing views of the informal sector within the model and uses variation in the statistics across age and the business cycle to help discriminate between them. The results suggest that a substantial part of the informal sector, particularly the self-employed, corresponds to voluntary entry, although informal salaried work may correspond more closely to the standard queuing view, especially for younger workers.