Does economic globalization affect the level and volatility of labor demand by skill? New insights from the Tunisian manufacturing industries

The central aim of this paper is to assess the effects of economic globalization on the level and volatility of labor demand for different skill groups in Tunisia. Using a panel dataset covering six manufacturing industries between 1983 and 2009, three main findings are reported. First, exports and imports exert a positive impact only on the semi-skilled and skilled labor demand while foreign direct investment flows increase the demand for semi-skilled and unskilled workers. Second, the regional analysis suggests that exports to the European Union boost the demand for the semi-skilled and skilled labor. Imports from the rest of the world exert similar effects on the demand for these two categories of workers. It emerges also that imports from the European Union lead to a higher demand for skilled labor, which gives support to the validity of the skill-enhancing trade hypothesis in Tunisian industries. Finally, our findings suggest that both exports and imports rise the employment volatility associated with skilled workers. On the other hand, there is a weak evidence of increased employment volatility as a result of foreign direct investment flows.     

Do Casinos Cause Economic Growth?

A bstract .   Casino gambling is a popular form of entertainment and is purported to have positive effects on host economies. The industry surely affects local labor markets and tax revenues. However, there has been little evidence on the effects of casino gambling on state economic growth. This paper examines that relationship using Granger-causality analysis modified for use with panel data. Our results indicate that there is no Granger-causal relationship between real casino revenues and real per capita income at the state level. The results are based on annual data from 1991 to 2005. These findings contradict an earlier study that found that casino revenues Granger-cause economic growth, using quarterly data from 1991 to 1996. Possible explanations for the differences in short- and long-run effects are discussed.     

乡村振兴视角下乡村人才培育的思考

从乡村振兴的视角看,人才振兴将发挥重要的作用,农村劳动力转移与新型职业农民培训起到了稳定农民生活水平、支撑农业持续健康发展的重要贡献。在实践中,农村劳动力培育面临着以下困难:区域经济差异直接影响剩余劳动力转移成效,培训目标人群与参与人群存在着明显的差异,当地培训资源有限导致培训内容的针对性不足。为此提议:将农村劳动力培育作为一项长期任务开展规划设计,加大资源投入,促成培训内容的针对性和适用性,加大农村地区义务教育的投入,尽快缩短劳动力资源水平的城乡差异,为乡村振兴筑牢根基。     

The virtuous circle of human resource investments: A precrisis and postcrisis analysis

We propose a dynamic model of positive feedback between human resource (HR) investments and companies' economic performance. The model assumes that HR investment increases profitability through labor productivity and, in turn, profitability improves HR investment through organizational slack. Based on data from a sample of 2,497 industrial companies over a 7‐year period (2005–2011), longitudinal analysis corroborates the existence of a two‐way relationship between HR investment and profitability over time. However, the emergence of an economic crisis weakens this feedback, identifying the effect of organizational slack on HR investment as the weakest causal chain link. In a postcrisis period, HR investment is not such a high priority for managers.     

Contribution of female human capital in economic growth: an empirical analysis of Pakistan (1972–2012)

This study is to find out an impact of female human capital on economic growth of Pakistan. The study has therefore, used gender separate human capital as an explanatory variable along with other factors, labor force and physical capital. In this regard a composite human capital has been constructed by taking education and health as a proxy for human capital. The long run and short run dynamics among female human capital and economic growth are empirically tested on time series data spread from 1972–2012. Johanson’s co-integration approach has been applied for the long run and Vector Error Correction Model used for the short run relationship. The results show that the long run relationship between female human capital and economic growth is positive and significant. While the short run impact of female human capital on economic growth is positive but statistically insignificant.     

Quantifying entrepreneurship and its impact on local economic performance: A spatial assessment in rural Switzerland

Regional and rural development policies in Europe increasingly emphasize entrepreneurship to mobilize the endogenous economic potential of rural territories. This study develops a concept to quantify entrepreneurship as place-dependent local potential to examine its impact on the local economic performance of rural territories in Switzerland. The short-to-medium-term impact of entrepreneurship on the economic performance of 1706 rural municipalities in Switzerland is assessed by applying three spatial random effects models. Results suggest a generally positive relationship between entrepreneurship and local development: rural municipalities with higher entrepreneurial potential generally show higher business tax revenues per capita and a lower share of social welfare cases among the population, although the impact on local employment is less clear. The explanatory power of entrepreneurship in all three models, however, was only moderate. This finding suggests that political expectations of fostering entrepreneurship to boost endogenous rural development in the short-to-medium term should be damped.     

Employee share ownership,training, and early promotion policy as a bundle in enhancing labor productivity: A test of the three‐way interaction effect

The three‐way interaction effect of (broad‐based) employee share ownership (ESO), training, and early promotion policy on labor productivity was examined in a longitudinal sample of 614 organizations (1,605 organization‐year data points) in Korea. The ESO–productivity relationship was positive only when the investment in training was high and the opportunity for early promotion was present. However, we found no evidence for the two‐way interaction effects of ESO and training and ESO and early promotion policy on labor productivity. The results are in alignment with the emergent view that the productivity benefits of ESO can be better realized when ESO coexists with a bundle of complementary human resource management (HRM) practices. Thus, this study meaningfully extends the contingency perspective and related studies in the ESO literature, which tend to examine the productivity effect of ESO in isolation or in conjunction with a single HRM practice.     

湖北省土地经济密度的时空分异研究

以湖北省12个地级市为研究单元,采用ArcGIs空间叠加分析、泰尔指数、变差系数、空间自相关分析和面板数据模型,研究湖北省2000-2010年土地经济密度总体空间分布差异及演变特征,并探寻其分异的影响因素。结果表明：（1）2000-2010年湖北省各地级市土地经济密度呈现不断上涨趋势,在空间上呈现一定的集聚性,地区间差异也较明显,随着时间的发展差距正逐渐缩小。（2）湖北省各地级市土地经济密度呈现显著的正空间自相关特性,表现为土地经济密度较低的市趋向于同土地经济密度较低的市相邻,出现鄂西北与鄂东南的二元空间结构。（3）劳动力投入强度、建成区人口密度、产业结构和建成区面积增长率对湖北省土地经济密度产生负效应。空间自相关分析能较好地解释区域差异,对湖北省土地经济密度时空分异的研究,能够为其合理利用土地、实现区域平衡发展提供参考。     

An econometric study of the decisions of a town planning authority: complementary & substitute uses of industrial activities in Hong Kong

This is a contribution to the research on the interface between urban economics and urban planning at the micro level on the one hand and economic development at the macro level on the other hand by a study of the relationship between the performance of the development application mechanism and economic development. This study is conducted in the light that neither urban economics nor urban planning research has utilized useful development control information that can help better understand the spatial and linkage aspects of the industrial sector in economic development. A probit study of a relatively large population of statistics (with 1728 observations) concerning planning applications for uses in lands under industrial zoning in Hong Kong is conducted in terms of 5 refutable hypotheses about the role of the planning authority in respect of land uses that are neutral to, complementary to and substitutes of industrial uses in a local context where major structural changes are occurring in the economy. The hypotheses are derived from standard price theory. The test discovers that, consistent with the theory of substitute goods, that the probabilities of mixed industrial/office and pure office uses in industrial zones being approved were dependent on the rise and fall of the manufacturing sector (measured in terms of labor share). However, those for ancillary office use, a use that theoretically should be complementary to industrial activities, were independent of the state of the manufacturing sector. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Economic Structure and Local Growth: France, 1984–1993

For 52 industry sectors and 42 services sectors, this paper tests how the local economic structure (local sectoral specialization and diversity, competition, average size of plants, and total employment density) affects the 1984–1993 employment growth of 341 local areas. These areas entirely and continuously cover the French territory. The impact of the local economic structure differs in industry and services. In industrial sectors, local total employment density, competition, and plant size always reduce local growth. Sectoral specialization and diversity have a negative impact on growth, but also increase the growth of a few sectors. Service sectors always exhibit negative specialization effects and positive diversity effects. Competition and plant size have a negative impact and density a positive one, but exceptions are observed for some sectors.     

资本投入、技术进步与就业促进

经济转轨过程中我国将始终面临着持续上升的就业压力。缓解日益严重的就业压力,必然要求从战略高度审视就业问题,把就业作为经济社会发展的基本优先目标,保持劳动供给与劳动需求的均衡协调。本文通过构建基于劳动供需协调率sncr的AK模型,采用1952~2004年时间序列样本数据,运用协整检验(Cointegration Test)和格兰杰因果关系检验(Granger Causality Test),研究了资本投入、技术进步、实际工资与劳动供需协调率之间的关系。经验分析表明,资本投入与劳动供需协调之间存在稳定的正相关关系,技术进步则与劳动供需协调呈稳定的负相关关系,偏离比较优势的资本深化与技术进步弱化了就业促进功能并加速了劳动市场的分化。最后据此提出了简短的对策建议。     

The Financial Crisis and the Hegemony of Urban Neoliberalism: Lessons from Frankfurt am Main

In view of debates among critical urban scholars regarding the relationship between the current economic crisis and the stability of neoliberal hegemony on the urban scale, this article analyzes (1) the impact of the economic recession on the city of Frankfurt am Main, and (2) whether urban politics in the German financial center will witness a new phase of post‐neoliberalization. Statistical analyses of the local labor and property markets and of municipal budget trends reveal that the implications of the current crisis are relatively limited, especially when compared to the dot.com crisis in the early 2000s. Furthermore, a discourse analysis of the debates in the Frankfurt City Council between 2008 and 2010, supplemented by interviews with local political elites, shows that neoliberal hegemony remains stable and powerful regardless of the deep economic decline and a short period of uncertainty and intensive hegemonic struggles. In my analysis I focus on the power of neoliberal subjectivity and knowledge production in order to try and explain the deepening of the general consensus among local elites by demonstrating that a broad majority of actors from different political parties interprets the crisis within a neoliberal rationality.     

Broadband and local growth

I find a positive relationship between broadband expansion and local economic growth. This relationship is stronger in industries that rely more on information technology and in areas with lower population densities. Instrumenting for broadband expansion with slope of terrain leans in the direction of a causal relationship, though not definitively.The economic benefits of broadband expansion for local residents appear to be limited. Broadband expansion is associated with population growth as well as employment growth, and both the average wage and the employment rate—the share of working-age adults that is employed—are unaffected by broadband expansion. Furthermore, expanding broadband availability does not change the prevalence of telecommuting or other home-based work. Like other place-based policies, expanding broadband availability could raise property values and the local tax base, but without more direct benefits for residents in the form of higher wages or improved access to jobs.The analysis relies on the uneven diffusion of broadband throughout the United States, allowing comparisons between areas with greater and less growth in broadband availability. I combine broadband data from the Federal Communications Commission, employment data from the National Establishment Time-Series database, and other economic data from the US Census and BLS to examine broadband availability and economic activity in the US between 1999 and 2006.     

基于陕西区域经济发展的高职物流人才培养研究

陕西物流业发展迅速,引发对物流人才的需求日益增多,如何培养出符合区域经济发展的物流人才是陕西高职教育的发展重点。文中以西安铁路职业技术学院为例,结合陕西物流发展,分析当地物流人才培养的现状和问题,构建基于区域经济发展的高职物流人才培养新思路,以提高地方性高职物流人才培养的服务效能。     

劳动力成本、融资约束与研发投入

以2009—2016年中国A股上市公司的数据为研究样本,对不同类型企业的劳动力成本上升与研发投入的关系进行分析比较。研究发现,在不同类型的企业中,劳动力成本上升对企业研发投入的影响存在显著差异。进一步研究发现,融资约束抑制了劳动力成本上升对于企业研发费用投入的驱动作用,企业较多的现金持有量则在一定程度上促进了这种驱动作用。将经济理论与企业财务相联结,研究企业产业升级与企业现实财务状况的关系,从理论层面丰富了经济学领域生产要素相互替代的理论文献,从实践层面可以为处于转型期的中国不同类型的企业产业升级决策提供实证借鉴。     

Perceived training intensity and knowledge sharing: Sharing for intrinsic and prosocial reasons

This study investigated the relationship between perceived training intensity and knowledge sharing, including the moderating roles of intrinsic motivation and social and economic exchange perceptions. Data from 310 employees working in three organizations located in Norway revealed a positive relationship between perceived training intensity and knowledge sharing for employees with low levels of intrinsic motivation and economic exchange perception, and high levels of social exchange perception. These findings suggest that perceived training intensity increases knowledge sharing only under specific motivational influences. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc     

Nonlinear relationship between economic growth and nuances of globalisation with income stratification: Roles of financial development and governance

We study the effect of overall globalisation on economic growth in a neoclassical macroeconomic growth model. We further assess our model by considering the decomposed measures of globalisation including economic, political, and social globalisation components. To this end, we estimate panel data models by applying the cross-sectional dependency-autoregressive distributed lags (CS-ARDL) approach to a sample of 116 countries during the available period, 1980–2015. We classified our sample into upper middle-, lower middle-, and high-income groups to minimise country-specific heterogeneity. Our results affirm the presence of a quadratic (nonlinear) U-shaped relationship between the overall globalisation (including the economic, political, social components) and economic growth for the lower middle- and upper middle-income group. However, they provide evidence of a positive linear relationship between globalisation and economic growth for the high-income countries. Given the arguments that the impact of globalisation on growth is conditional on local financial development (FD) and quality of governance (QoG), we incorporate their role. We provide fresh evidence that the impacts of globalisation on economic growth are more profound in the countries with a higher QoG and a higher deepening of FD. We further check the robustness of our analysis applying the U test and dynamic generalised methods of moment approach. We also provide policy implications.     

Contingent workers' impact on standard employee withdrawal behaviors: Does what you use them for matter?

Previous research has suggested that workforce mixing—simultaneously using contingent workers and standard employees—can negatively affect standard employee attitudes and behaviors. In this study, we consider the impact of two reasons employers choose to use contingent workers (to enhance standard employee employment stability and to reduce labor costs) on standard employee withdrawal behaviors (absenteeism and turnover). We posit that when the aim of using contingent labor is to enhance standard employee employment stability (employment stability contingent labor strategy or ESCLS), the effects on standard employee withdrawal behaviors will differ from when the aim is to reduce labor costs (labor cost contingent labor strategy, or LCCLS). Using a sample of 90 firms that employ a mixed workforce, we examine the influence of ESCLS, LCCLS, and high investment HR systems (HIHRS) on standard employee withdrawal behaviors at the firm level. In addition to supporting the hypothesized direct (positive) effect of LCCLS on standard employee withdrawal behaviors, this study's results support the hypothesized moderating effects of HIHRS on the negative relationship between ESCLS and standard employee withdrawal behaviors and the positive relationship between LCCLS and standard employee withdrawal behaviors. Implications for research and practice and suggestions for further research are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Rent-seeking,promotion pressure and green economic efficiency: Evidence from China

Focusing on the quality and sustainability of urban economic development and using a panel dataset of 263 cities in China from 2004 to 2015, this paper regards each city as a production unit and uses the Epsilon-Based Measure approach to measure green economic efficiency by innovatively regarding labor, capital, land and energy as input factors, GDP as a desirable output, and environmental pollution emissions and land finance as undesirable outputs. Further, this paper examines the effect of rent-seeking on green economic efficiency with a fixed effects model and explores the role of promotion pressure in the relationship between rent-seeking and green economic efficiency with a panel threshold model. Our study finds that: (1) Rent-seeking exerts a significant negative impact on green economic efficiency. (2) Compared to areas of higher promotion pressure, the negative effect of rent-seeking on green economic efficiency is greater in areas facing lower promotion pressure. (3) The relationship among promotion pressure, rent-seeking and green economic efficiency differs in areas facing different “green” promotion pressure.     

Economic freedom at metropolitan statistical area borders

This paper applies a variation on differences-in-differences to the effects of economic freedom in matched bordering metropolitan statistical areas using the Metropolitan Economic Freedom Index. While a great deal of research has explored the relationship between economic freedom and economic performance, less has been done at the local level. We find that economic freedom has a positive effect on several measures of economic performance, but no effect on population.