Bidding for Labor

We present a competing-auction theory of the labor market, where job candidates auction their labor services to employers. An equilibrium matching function emerges which has many of the features commonly assumed, including constant returns to scale in large economies. The auction mechanism also generates equilibrium wage dispersion among homogeneous workers and constrained-efficient entry of vacancies in large economies. In a dynamic version of the model, we generate implied numerical values for equilibrium unemployment and wage dispersion. The theory makes the novel prediction that wage dispersion is a decreasing function of the discount factor and labor market tightness. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E24, J31, J41, J64, D44.     

Consumer creations of product meaning in the context of African-style clothing

In this article, the author conducts a multisite ethnography to examine how US consumers construct product meanings and assign them to African clothing worn in different consumption settings. Contextual product meanings both emphasize the changing role of the consumption setting and reveal the consumer’s use of place. A model emerges from the data to show that consumers establish contextual product meanings through the use of interpretive frameworks, or meaning domains, and that the consumption setting influences this process by affecting consumers’ use of meaning domains and their selection of potential influences on that meaning.     

纺织工业竞争能力评价指标体系的构建

在对纺织工业竞争能力评价方面已有成果的研究基础上,针对存在的不足,依据迈克尔·波特提出的有关产业竞争力的国家钻石模型,结合纺织工业的特性,从生产要素、需求条件、产业结构和企业效果四方面构建了能较为全面系统评价纺织工业竞争能力的指标体系,并对各级指标做了较为详细的解释。     

农户资本禀赋对水稻生产生态效率的影响——以湖北省为例

[目的]农户资本禀赋约束对水稻生产生态效率会产生重要的影响。为更全面和准确地分析资本禀赋对水稻生产生态效率的影响。[方法]文章基于长江中游湖北省农户调研数据,利用生命周期评价方法、超效率SBM模型、熵值法、Tobit和OLS回归等多种模型和方法,在理论分析基础上从多个角度就资本禀赋对水稻生产生态效率的影响进行研究。[结果]（1）农户资本禀赋存在较大差异,各类别资本禀赋排序为人力资本（0.37）>社会资本（0.17）>金融资本（0.16）>物质资本（0.14）>自然资本（0.10）。强资本型的农户比例在综合资本禀赋和分类别资本禀赋上均少于弱资本型的农户比例。（2）单季水稻系统生命周期环境影响综合指数为2.10,水稻生产生态效率为0.64。（3）农户综合资本禀赋提升有利于提升水稻生产生态效率。综合资本禀赋对水稻生产生态效率的提升效应主要得益于物质资本、社会资本和金融资本的正向影响。[结论]从物质资本、社会资本、金融资本等方面加强农户资本禀赋积累,以促进水稻生产方式绿色转型。     

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Czech female managers and their wages

This paper examines gender gaps in employment and wages among top- and lower-level managerial employees in the Czech Republic at the time of its accession to the EU. Using both least-squares and matching-based decomposition techniques, we find the wage gap among comparable men and women to be sizeable, but quite similar across firm hierarchy levels. The key reason why the average relative wage position of female top managers is worse compared to lower-ranking female employees is that women tend not to be at the helm of the highest-paying companies. Overall, the representation of women at the top of Czech firms as well as the structure of the gender wage gap there appears quite similar to those in the US.     

WHY DO GOOD COPS DEFEND BAD COPS?*

Policemen are known to support colleagues who are the subject of criminal investigations. Although we might expect guilty officers to defend each other, why do (otherwise) law‐abiding policemen defend those who have broken the law? We investigate under what conditions it is in the interest of a group to defend its “bad” members.     

Ex post bidding and efficient coordination unemployment

Abstract.  We study the implementation of constrained‐efficient allocations in labour markets where a basic coordination problem leads to an equilibrium matching friction. We argue that these allocations can be achieved in a non‐cooperative equilibrium if wages are determined by ex post bidding. This holds true even in finite‐sized markets where the equilibrium‐matching process has decreasing returns to scale – where the 'Hosios rule' does not apply – both with and without heterogeneity. JEL classification: D83, J64     

Inadequate Life?Evidence of Consumer Attitudes to Product Obsolescence

Public interest in the durability of household appliances may be traced back 40 years to criticism of planned obsolescence raised by an emerging consumer movement. A recent revival of interest in product life spans has taken place in the context of increasing waste generation and debate prompted by proposed producer responsibility legislation, but data on the age of discarded products and consumer attitudes to product life spans have been lacking. This paper draws upon recent data from research into discarded household appliances in the UK to enhance a theoretical model of product obsolescence and explore some implications for marketing and public policy. A survey of over 800 households provided quantitative data on consumer attitudes and behaviour relating to appliance life spans and a subsequent series of focus groups enriched this data with personal narratives. Respondents were evenly divided on whether or not appliance life spans are adequate. Variations in behaviour demonstrated how users may influence appliance life spans. Overall, the results suggest that consumers have an important role in reversing the trend toward increased appliance waste but currently face economic disincentives and lack adequate product information.