A revisitation of the savings–growth nexus in Mexico

By employing tests for long-term causality, contrary to Sinha and Sinha (Economic Letters, 1998), in Mexico, savings is shown to precede growth. This paper further explores the complex dynamics of this inter-relationship to lend clarity to this nexus.     

Is there a wage bonus from drinking? Unobserved heterogeneity examined

While the result that drinkers earn more than abstainers has been remarkably persistent, only one paper in the literature on drinking and earnings has been written where individual fixed effects are included. This study improves the current literature by utilizing a much longer panel and focuses on the low end of drinking while controlling for unobserved heterogeneity with the inclusion of individual specific effects. It is found that while OLS specifications yield a positive significant coefficient on current drinking, even when a rich set of covariates is controlled for, including individual fixed effects renders the coefficient statistically insignificant.     

Employee contributions: a primer on their use, historical trends and overall fit within benefits strategy

This article focuses on the use of employee contributions as a strategic tool within employee health plans. While most employers require some form of employee contributions for health care, there is no clear "one-size-fits-all" solution. A myriad of strategies are in place, some active and some passive. This article reviews both common and emerging strategies and how they differ based on industry, employer size and region; discusses how employee contribution strategy fits within overall benefits strategy; and provides a strategic framework for approaching employee contributions in the future.     

Estimating dynamic R&D choice: an analysis of costs and long‐run benefits

This article estimates a dynamic structural model of discrete Research and Development (R&D) investment and quantifies its cost and long‐run benefit for German manufacturing firms. The model incorporates linkages between R&D choice, product and process innovations, and future productivity and profits. The long‐run payoff to R&D is the proportional difference in expected firm value generated by the investment. It increases firm value by 6.7% for the median firm in high‐tech industries but only 2.8% in low‐tech industries. Simulations show that reductions in maintenance costs of innovation significantly raise investment rates and productivity, whereas reductions in startup costs have little effect.     

Mental illness at work: An assessment of co-worker reactions

Guided by Colella, Paetzold, and Belliveau (2004), we surveyed 305 employees on their reactions towards co-workers with mental illness. Co-workers were less likely to view longer/more frequent work breaks as appropriate accommodations for the mentally ill relative to flexible hours, banking of overtime hours, and counselling. Moreover, employees who believed that co-workers with mental illness were being equitably (or fairly) treated at work were more likely to report that they would self-disclose—and seek assistance for—a mental illness. Finally, employees with workplace contact with the mentally ill were more likely to support hiring people with mental illness. Copyright © 2009 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

宁夏高新技术产业发展与对策分析

高新技术产业成为21世纪世界各国大力发展的战略制高点。加快宁夏高新技术产业发展的对策是：内外与开放结合,培养产业发展的新动力;突出核心区域布局,集成互动战略;开放视阈,培育特色技术产业集群;完善创新体系,提高高新技术产业竞争力;构建人才平台,提高核心竞争力。     

Modelling Asian incoming tourism: A shift‐share approach

This paper provides insights into the relative competitive advantage of Asian regions in tourism. The study employs the shift‐share technique which decomposes the growth in tourist arrivals to selected receiving regions from different generating regions of the world over a prescribed time period. Each receiving region's performance will be compared to the overall performance of the area (i.e., aggregated benchmark). As a result of this comparing decomposition, the relative competitive advantage of each receiving region in attracting tourists can be determined. The results could be helpful to Asian decision makers trusted with the development and implementation of tourism strategies.