CHILD CARE PRICES AND MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT: A META‐ANALYSIS

The literature estimates for labor force participation elasticity with regard to child care prices are extensive and varying. While some estimates imply substantial gains from child care subsidies, others find insignificant effects. To determine the causes of the variance, this paper reviews and analyzes the elasticity sizes using estimates from 36 peer‐reviewed articles and working papers in the literature. We start by reviewing the theoretical and empirical aspects related to participation elasticity with regard to child care costs, paying special attention to sample characteristics, methodological aspects, and macro level factors. We conclude by providing a meta‐regression using control variables based on our review of the literature to explain some of the differences between the estimates. As research builds on and improves the methods and assumptions in prior works, elasticity estimates have become smaller over time. This decline might also be partially explained by changes in labor market characteristics. In countries with high rates of part‐time work and very high or very low rates of female labor force participation, we find elasticity rates to be smaller.     

Technological leadership and sectorial employment growth: A spatial econometric analysis for U.S. counties

This paper studies the determinants of technological catch‐up considering spatial and sectoral aggregation of industries. We investigate how geographical and technological proximity to the technology leader impact regional employment growth. We model technological progress by means of a hierarchical process of catch‐up to the technology leader. We also incorporate measures for knowledge spillover effects to test the roles of competition, specialisation, and diversity at the industry level. Empirical results using data at the county level for different economic sectors (2‐dig NAICS) for the United States indicate that human capital plays a crucial role in promoting sectoral employment growth. The association between technological/geographical distance to the technology leader and employment growth varies across sectors.     

基于主体功能定位的湖北省县域乡村性空间分异研究

[目的]确立与主体功能区定位相协调的乡村发展类型与乡村政策,是促进城乡融合、乡村振兴的重要措施。[方法]以湖北省县域为空间单元,构建乡村性评价指标体系,并基于三次产业的产值结构,划分县域的乡村发展类型。[结果](1)2016年湖北省县域乡村性指数相对较高,乡村性呈现出东低西高的空间分布格局。乡村发展类型可划分为农业主导型、工业主导型、商旅服务型和均衡发展型,分别占县域总数的25.29%、16.1%、10.71%和48.28%。(2)重点开发区的乡村类型以工业主导型和商旅服务型为主,乡村类型主要是城镇化和工业化带动,市场、资本推动力和农民的自主选择突出;农产品主产区和重点生态功能区的乡村类型均以农业主导型和均衡发展型为主,不同的是农产品主产区的农业自然和生产条件优越、农耕文化根植,农业政策扶植,乡村类型是由农业现代化和产业化推动;重点生态功能区乡村类型受资源环境约束、经济基础及行政干预的推动。[结论]三大主体功能区下的乡村类型及驱动机制存在差异,并提出不同乡村振兴发展的政策建议。     

参与产学研合作对科研人员国际和国内论文发表的影响——区域边界和院校层次的调节作用

当前文献对参与产学研互动是否会正向或负向影响科研人员的学术绩效尚未形成一致结论。本文搜集参加广东省企业科技特派员计划的共3 524名科研人员的相关数据,考察参与学企人员流动形式的产学研互动对其学术绩效的影响,包括对国际和国内论文发表的影响。研究发现,参与学企人员流动对学术绩效既有正向促进作用,也有负向削弱效应。结果表明,参与计划对特派员国际论文发表的促进作用大于国内论文。参与后,特派员国际论文发表的增长速率有显著增加,而国内论文发表的增长速率却明显减低。且高层次院校科研人员参与学企人员流动比一般院校人员获得更高的国际论文产出。本地科研人员参与学企人员流动能够比区域外人员获得更高的国际论文产出。研究结论对平衡科研人员学术研究和创新成果转化活动的政府产学研政策、学研机构行政机制和企业管理策略都具有重要参考价值。     

The impact of perceived benefits and risks on current and desired levels of outsourcing: Hotel managers’ perspective

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the interactions between perceived benefits and risks of outsourcing and outsourcing adoption from the hoteliers’ perspective. Data were collected from 123 hotels in Egypt using a list of 32 hotel activities. Results revealed that managers’ perceived benefits of outsourcing had a direct positive effect on the current level of outsourcing, while indirect effects on the desired level of outsourcing. Interestingly, results confirmed the mediating role of current outsourcing between managers’ perceived benefits and the desired outsourcing. However, the perceived risks of outsourcing had a nonsignificant moderating effect. The findings provide implications for both theory and practice.     

“新冠肺炎”疫情对我国外贸和就业的冲击及纾困举措

“新冠肺炎”疫情对我国外贸和就业产生何种冲击?本文认为,此次疫情已给我国外贸和就业以及全球产业链和供应链带来严重不利的冲击,需要保持中国出口增长,以支撑进口和就业增长,平稳产业链。此次疫情下我国的内外部经贸环境更加严峻,与2003年“非典”时有着很大的不同。稳就业是当务之急,而稳外贸、稳外资是稳就业的关键支撑力。此次疫情加剧了我国巨量高校毕业生叠加农村城镇化大量人口的就业压力。纾困举措:(1)稳定出口市场维护全球供应链,发挥市场机制的有效配置作用;(2)遏制住疫情,运用财政和货币政策对企业减税降费、增加市场流动性,降低成本和扩大消费;(3)帮助企业有序复工复产,提升营商环境,通过稳外贸和稳外资提升就业;(4)大力提升贸易投资便利化和公共产品服务来支持企业开拓市场;(5)教育部可根据高校实际招生能级,授权其适度增加研究生招生比重来缓解毕业生集中就业压力。     

The trade-offs between economic efficiency and job creation in olive grove smallholdings

Cooperation among farmers is an effective alternative to reduce production costs in smallholdings of traditional olive groves and increase their low profitability. However, an increase in efficiency reduces working hours and the labour required for the management of farms. This fact can lead to negative effects in rural areas, especially considering the importance of the social aspect of the crop. Therefore, to contribute to the global discussion on the transition towards more sustainable farming, it is important to know, ex ante, what level of employment is generated by olive groves and what could be lost under more competitive and efficient scenarios. The purpose of the work is to quantify the expected impact on employment by the implementation of cooperative management methods in order to generate true and accurate information that can be used in the design of future policies that aim to increase the economic profitability of small olive farms. The results make clear that this way of managing farms, by increasing the efficiency of agricultural work, has a significant negative impact on employment. However, this management formula does encourage the professionalisation of the sector by generating quality employment, in addition to contributing to the preservation of small farms and the socio-cultural and territorial benefits they generate.     

Fiscal and monetary interdependence

Where classical economics integrates the quantity theory of money with the concept of Ricardian equivalence, the tendency of recent macroeconomic presentations is to focus either upon money and inflation or upon taxation and debt. That neglect of classical monetary–fiscal integration is surprising, given an initiative by the International Monetary Fund that set credit, money, and fiscal policy within a single structure. This article places those ‘credit counterparts of broad money’ in the context of the Great Depression and the recent global financial crisis. The upshot is a set of conclusions: that, to counter the prospect of deflation, quantitative easing is a weak policy response; that fiscal deficits are better; and that cuts in taxation are preferable to increased government spending.     

Interlocking Lives: Employment Mobility and Family Fixity in Three Gentrifying Neighbourhoods of Montreal

This article explores the relationship between employment mobility, family fixity, and gentrification in the lives of 36 residents in and extended commuters to Montreal's southwest borough. Once described as the birthplace of industry in Canada, the neighbourhoods of Saint-Henri, Little Burgundy and Point Saint-Charles have undergone sweeping changes in recent decades. Inner-city areas are not necessarily where one expects to find mobile workers, but this is changing due to shifting gender roles, the rise of dual-income households and gentrification. Michael Savage's concept of ‘elective belonging’ proved particularly useful in understanding this connection. With its proximity to childcare, schools, stores and workplaces, the central city permits a more equitable division of labour within the household. Our place-based approach to mobile work enables us to capture a wide spectrum of experience, ranging from people with extended daily commutes to those whose work takes them away from home for days, weeks or months at a time. Our interviews reveal a connection between employment mobility and family gentrification, as upwardly mobile families find ways to localize other aspects of their lives. The simultaneity of mobility and immobility are often essential, especially in dual-income households. One parent's mobility often leads to the relative immobility of other family members.     

中国自贸区战略实施的现状、效果、趋势及未来策略

随着全球经贸规则的加速重构,我国自贸协定的谈判和签署步伐明显加快,且签署协定的开放水平不断提升,协定实施对双边贸易也产生了显著的促进效果。未来,中国的自贸协定谈判将呈现出覆盖范围更广、开放层次更高、协定对象向重点国家和地区突破的态势。为了实现"形成覆盖全球的高标准自贸区网络"的目标,我国应通过积极参与构建超大型自贸区、将自贸区网络建设与"一带一路"倡议相结合、深化自身改革提供制度支撑、综合考量宏观收益开展自贸谈判、设计兼具稳定性和灵活性的自贸协定"范式"等策略来推进自贸区建设。