Industrial robot technology

Industrial robots are currently being introduced in increasing numbers around the industrialized world. How intelligent are these devices and what threat or challenge do they pose? The evidence is that the current first generation of robot is a rather limited but welcome piece of factory automation. The next generations, likely to be introduced in the late 1980s and 1990s, might lead to a different response.     

The meta‐governance of risk and new technologies: GM crops and mobile telephones

The stylistic shift from government to governance in the regulation of risks associated with new technologies is often portrayed as an attempt to reach a deeper consensus over public controversies and to avoid future risk management failures. Stakeholder involvement in decision‐making through more inclusive and learning styles is seen as increasingly necessary in order to correct the steering deficit of the state, to rebuild trust in state institutions, and to obviate problems caused by uncertainty and different value perspectives in risk assessments. In this paper we scrutinise this model of risk and governance in the light of recent developments in the UK, focusing in particular on the regulation of genetically modified crops and mobile telecommunications technology. We conclude that the shift to governance is best understood in terms of the accommodative response of the state to a number of new challenges: primarily posed by the changing role of the private sector; by pressures on government to engender public trust in the face of shifting social values; and by the related difficulty in taking decisions with confidence and legitimacy. There is a perceived need within government for a more deliberative approach to regulation and standard‐setting, achieved by a creative combination of managed scientific order and the establishment of deliberative cooperative institutions. However the creation of deliberative mechanisms and institutions is not an easy passage, especially if it is accelerated by uncontrollable political events. Indeed, we caution against romantic interpretations of governance as indicating a uniform popular trend towards the democratisation of state decision‐making, despite the very real opportunities for reform that it affords. Rather, we suggest that a more plausible account is provided by seeing governance as a form of adaptive management necessitated by a series of interlocking economic and social changes, and responses to successive risk management crises.     

Simulation Monte Carlo methods in extended stochastic volatility models

A new technique for nonlinear state and parameter estimation of discrete time stochastic volatility models is developed. Algorithms of Gibbs sampler and simulation filters are used to construct a simulation tool that reflects both inherent model variability and parameter uncertainty. The proposed chain converges to equilibrium enabling the estimation of unobserved volatilities and unknown model parameter distributions. The estimation algorithm is illustrated using numerical examples. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Labor force participation and the discouraged worker effect

This article analyzes labor force participation with particular reference to the discouraged worker effect. Discouraged workers are those who will search for work when the labor market is tight but do not search for work when the labor market is slack because they consider their chances of finding a suitable job too low. The theoretical point of departure is a search model where the worker evaluates the expected utility of searching for work and decides to participate in the labor market if the expected utility of search exceeds the utility of not working. From this framework, we derive an empirical model for the probability that the worker will be out of the labor force, unemployed, or employed. The model is estimated on a sample of married and cohabitating women in Norway covering the period from 1988 to 2008. The results show that the discouraged worker effect is substantial. On average, about one-third of those who are out of the labor force are discouraged, according to our analysis.     

Modelling pharmaceutical price changes in Germany: a function of competition and regulation

In this article, price changes for pharmaceuticals in Germany are modelled as a function of regulation and competition. Changes in the regulatory environment, and in the competitive environment of a product, are taken into account. To follow the hierarchical structure, a four-level random intercept model was constructed. Price changes were allowed to vary randomly between drug classes, between different substances within a drug class, and between different manufacturers of a substance. This study provides evidence that two policy measures – reference pricing and temporary price freezes – succeeded in reducing prices in Germany between January 2004 and June 2006. For off-patent substances – depending on the competition faced by a drug – the effect of competition can be greater than the effect of regulation. The study, therefore, not only demonstrates the importance of competition between and within drug classes, it also provides evidence that generic entry has substantial effects on the prices of branded products.     

Concentration and Inefficiency in the Defense Sector: Policy Options

This article, which is a part of a larger comprehensive study of the effects of employee ownership and worker participation on productivity in the United States, focuses on and documents the lack of worker participation in employee-owned firms [Rooney 1987]. It is estimated that more than 7,000 U.S. firms covering some 10 million employees have some degree of employee ownership [Rosen, Klein and Young 1986, p. 15]. By employee ownership, we simply mean that most of the employees own some shares of stock in the company in which they work. While most employee-owned firms have less than a majority ownership stake, several hundred U.S. firms are majority emp10yeeowned, and are the target of this study.     

Stabilization Effects of Narrative-based Monetary Policy in Jamaica

The study constructs a monetary policy indicator (MPI) from monetary policy documents and the actions of the Bank of Jamaica and Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and uses it to estimate four variants of an analytical narrative-vector error correction model (AN-VECM) with cointegration as the identifying restriction. In AN-VECMs 1 and 2, the cointegration is estimated in level form with respective short-term interest rate and the MPI as regressands. The first difference forms of respective models are re-estimated in AN-VECMs 3 and 4. The results are mixed, with AN-VECM 1 yielding the least results. However, in all cases, the impulse response functions indicate that the MPI yields slightly superior results in both AN-VECMs 2 and 4. A positive shock in the MPI produces price and exchange rate results which are consistent with a priori expectations from economic theory, and mixed liquidity effect and real output results. Thus, the MPI provides an important policy tool alternative for policymakers in small open economies to consider in the implementation of monetary policy.     

Silence as a survival strategy: will the silent be worse off? A study of Chinese migrant workers in Guangdong

Abstract

Based on a comprehensive survey of 766 migrant workers in Guangdong province in 2014, this study empirically examines the factors determining why some Chinese migrant workers remain silent when their rights are violated and the consequences of them doing so. The results of the survey show that the migrant workers who are more vulnerable in demographic factors, family dependency, job insecurity and social networks are more likely to stay silent in such circumstances. The results further indicate that silence leads them to be worse off in relation to social security benefits and labour rights. These results challenge the traditional organisational behaviour perspective on silence. The results imply that silence can be a survival strategy for second-class workers and may be evident whereby the disadvantaged have no say and remain silent in exchange for work opportunity, but by doing so are more likely to suffer unfair treatment.     

Biting Back at Malaria: Assessing Health‐service Providers' Compliance with Treatment Guidelines

Non‐compliance with established medical treatment guidelines can have dire consequences for public health and economic well‐being. Based on the Demographic and Health Surveys, we examine malaria‐treatment practices of various health‐care providers in sub‐Saharan Africa, where more than 90% of malaria‐induced deaths occur. We estimate each provider's likelihood (i) to comply with guidelines to administer (effective) antimalarial drugs and (ii) to relieve children of fever—a symptom of malaria—after having had a fever episode within the previous two weeks. Our results indicate that, relative to self‐medication, seeking treatment at most providers is positively associated with taking an antimalarial drug and negatively associated with using only ineffective chloroquine. Non‐traditional healers are also associated with fever relief.