The effect of discrimination and of industry segmentation on Japanese wage differentials in relation to education

The paper investigates Japanese wage differentials based on the concept of industrial division. The labor market is examined for two sectors separately, namely competitive sectors and non-competitive sectors. The effects of female-male difference, of human capital, and of occupation also are examined, and the cost of discrimination is estimated. By applying several quantitative methods, it was found that worker characteristics such as education, length of service and age were treated differently by sector, sex and occupation. Also, wage differentials by sex were mostly rooted in differential treatment of worker characteristics, while wage differentials by sector were explained largely by firm size component. The above general results, however, are greatly modified by workers' occupations and industrial divisions.     

Incentives for labour-augmenting innovations in vertical markets: The role of wage rate

This article analyses the link between the wage rate and the incentives to develop and adopt a labour-augmenting innovation in a vertical market. In a model where an upstream monopolist sells the innovation to several downstream manufacturers, I show that the wage rate affects the incentives to innovate in different ways depending on i) the initial level of wage and ii) the timing of the policy’s implementation. Moreover, if the policy is introduced when the size and the price of innovation are common knowledge, then the policy-maker can elicit her preferred equilibrium by nudging more firms to adopt the technology. Instead, if the policy is introduced before the investment stage, then the increase of the wage rate generates two opposite effects: a positive cost-reducing effect and a negative output-contraction effect. If and only if the wage level is below a critical threshold, the former dominates the latter. I argue that, under certain conditions, a policy that raises the price of labour may be beneficial for both the incentives to invest in labour-augmenting innovation and the industry outcomes.     

When the role fits: How firm status differentials affect corporate takeovers

This study explores the implications of interfirm status differentials for firm behaviors in corporate takeover transactions. We argue that the more the status differential between two firms is aligned with expectations of their roles embedded in the specific economic activity, the easier it is for them to agree on the appropriate means to reach consensus on the transaction. Using the empirical context of the U.S. corporate takeover market, we found that the greater the status differential between an acquirer and a target, the more positively the market reacts to both the acquirer and the target upon the announcement of the acquisition deal, the more likely it is for the deal to be completed, and the more likely the acquirer is to achieve better post‐acquisition performance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The productivity and wage effects of foreign acquisition in the United Kingdom

This paper provides a systematic empirical analysis of the impact of foreign ownership on productivity and wages in the United Kingdom. Using a specially constructed database for the period 1989–1994, it uses ownership change (acquisition) to control for unobserved differences between plants. It finds that foreign firms pay equivalent employees 3.4% more than domestic firms, though this is wholly attributable to their higher levels of productivity. Firms which are acquired by foreign companies exhibit an increase in labour productivity of 13%.     

A Swedish workplace of the future?: The Tomteboda mail centre

In 1983, the Swedish Post Office opened the most technically advanced mail centre in the world. Here the author describes how work is organised in this futuristically designed workplace.     

Diaspora and trade facilitation: The case of ethnic Chinese in Australia

Using a sample of 135 Australian firms with operations in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan), this paper seeks to examine whether members of an ethnic diaspora can facilitate trade between Australia and their countries of origin. Specifically, it found that companies that are owned by immigrants and/or hired immigrants in key decision making positions (immigrant effect or IE, in short) were (a) more likely to resort to a higher resource commitment when entering into the target market; and (b) used more extensively in target markets where there are greater variations in customer behavior. There was no significant difference (a) in the deployment of immigrants between Australian firms operating in Mainland China vis-à-vis those in Hong Kong/Taiwan; (b) where there were variations in product life cycle stages between the home and target markets; (c) based on the length of operations in the target market; and (d) in performance between firms with IE and those without in the target markets. The influence of firm size, overall international business experience, variations in political-legal, economic, and competitive environments between the home and target markets, and industry type were also examined. The findings of the study with implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

The role of the telephone in economic development

The author investigates the telephone's role as a contributory agent in economic development. Cross-sectional time series data for 60 nations over 13 years were used to determine how the telephone might make its contribution to economic development. Path analysis and cross-lagged correlation techniques indicate that the telephone does contribute to economic development. This contribution appears to come from the telephone's support of the organization of economic activity.     

在现代企业分配制度中实行经营者年薪制

现代企业如何制定一套行之有效的激励机制，使出资、经营、劳动三的利益得以最大程度的实现，同时又使经营的行为得到约束，激发经营努力搞好企业，是在市场经济条件下建立现代企业管理制度的关键问题。对经营实行年薪制和劳动实行岗位责任工资制巳经成为现代企业分配方式的主要特征和必然趋势，本重点论述了经营年薪制的必要性和年薪制的合理性问题，并提出实行经营浮动年薪制和合理周期为考核时段的激励与约束机制。     

The role of reputation in the recruitment of scientists

Drawing on the sociology of science literature, we argue that a 'reputation' for openness with scientific information may be an important asset for a company to possess with regard to its recruiting efforts. To test this argument, we conducted a survey of over 400 Ph.D. students to determine if a company's support for publication matters in their job search, and what their opinions were regarding a list of twelve US pharmaceutical companies. Our results were that publication support does matter, but not as much as quality of research staff, working conditions, and salary. However, a ranking by our respondents of their top three prospective employers mirrored a ranking of those companies' publication records suggesting that publication may indeed be a signaling device, thus providing a higher degree of visibility, that prospective employees consider.     

The burgeoning role of iBuyers in the housing market

We examine the iBuyers’ business model and their impact on housing markets. We find that iBuyers tend to enter neighborhoods that have more easily priced and homogeneous homes, as price discovery is simpler and more consistent with their pricing algorithm in those areas. iBuyers purchase homes at lower prices than individual owner-occupiers, and this acquisition discount reflects the benefits iBuyers offer to motivated sellers rather than distressed home purchases or unobserved lower-quality housing characteristics. Last, a greater presence of iBuyers results in a higher volume of local housing transactions and encourages more home sellers to sell without listing.     

关于少数民族地区教育体制改革的研究

少数民族地区教育水平落后,人口素质偏低．是我国教育亟待解决的问题。本文首先分析了我国少效民族地区教育存在的问题及原因,在此基础上,提出了改革教育相关的对策及建议,并进行了总结和概括。     

国有企业工资制度改革存在的问题及建议

本文以我国企业工资制度改革为主题,根据我国现代企业制度改革要求,提出了目前我国企业工资制度存在的主要问题,并对我国企业工资制度进一步改革提出了建议。     

The collective voice of unions and workplace training in Italy: New insights from mixed methods

Using a three-phase approach that combines quantitative (pooled OLS, fixed effects and IV) with qualitative (semi-structured interviews) analyses, we find that in Italy, workplace unions are more likely to enhance training when they sign a firm-level agreement and when they can get access to external funds for financing. We also identify three channels: what we call a ‘maturation effect’, double-track communication and watch-dog function. We argue that these results are consistent with the idea that the impact of workplace unions on training depends on the empowerment of its collective voice within an institutional framework that does not fit either of the standard models provided by collective and liberal market economies.     

The role of materially heterogeneous entities in the entrepreneurial network

Few researchers have examined empirically the dynamics of human–non-human networking and its importance for strategic outcomes, particularly in the field of entrepreneurship. In this paper, we use Actor-Network Theory to observe and investigate the role of materially heterogeneous entities in the entrepreneurial network. Building on the results of a four-year, multi-case study, this paper describes how an entrepreneurial network, beyond its social nature, is also a socio-material constellation. The symmetric treatment of human and non-human actors enables us to move away from the figure of the heroic entrepreneur. Our findings reveal various roles that the heterogeneity of actor-networks can play in the entrepreneurial process. We see on the one hand their power to attract and recruit new allies when they are aligned with the entrepreneur's vision, and on the other their ability to repel and block the new venture creation process when they fail to effectively translate what the entrepreneur has in mind.     

Automation,skill requirements and labour‐use strategies: high‐wage and low‐wage approaches to high‐tech manufacturing in the automotive industry

In light of debates about advanced manufacturing and concepts like Industrie 4.0, this article compares labour‐use strategies in highly automated automotive supplier plants in a high‐wage country (Germany) and a low‐wage region (Central Eastern Europe). It shows considerable differences regarding skill requirements on the shop floor and the use of precarious employment contracts and examines three potential factors that explain them: national institutional frameworks, the power of employee representatives and the role of the plant within the companies and value chains. The analysis shows that the labour‐use strategies depend less on process technologies per se, but rather on the institutional framework and the role of the factory in the rollout and ramp‐up of new products and new process technologies. Such a role requires close cooperation between employees in the manufacturing areas and in product development, which in turn requires particularly high skills. The role of employee representatives in influencing labour‐use strategies proves less important. The article uses quantitative data from a survey of employee representatives, as well as qualitative data from in‐depth company case studies.     

What is family friendly about the workplace in the home? The case of self‐employed parents and their children

This article draws upon the narratives of self-employed parents, their partners and children in order to examine the 'family friendliness' of making the home a site of paid work. While not fitting narrow definitions of 'teleworker' the subjects daily confronted the use of space in their homes, and access to technologies there.