Labour use efficiency in the Indian and Pakistani commercial banks

The Indian and Pakistani banking industry is said to have an excessive use of labour due to the significant market share of government owned banks. Both countries have undertaken a process of regulatory reform to bring about market discipline in the usage of inputs and to increase the labour use efficiency and productivity. The focus of this paper is the estimation of productivity and efficiency of labour use in the banking sectors of the Indian sub-continent. The results show that the efficiency of labour use across the Indian sub-continent is improving over time and that foreign banks are more efficient compared to domestically owned banks in their usage of labour.     

Changes in the Finnish Wage Structure: Will Demand and Supply Do?

This study addresses changes in the wage structure in Finland between 1977 and 1995, and provides a simple explanation based on the demand for and supply of skills. The single index model of Card and Lemieux (1996) is augmented by incorporating changes in the supply of skills. The augmented model adequately accounts for the changes in relative wages between groups of different education and experience, but does not capture the changes in the within-group distribution.
JEL classification : J 31     

试论刑罚的目的

刑罚的目的是国家建立刑罚制度的出发点和最终归宿,是刑法理论中的一个重要问题。因此,研究刑罚的目的并且科学地揭示刑罚目的的内涵,对于建立健全国家的刑罚制度,具有重要的现实意义。     

Wage drift and minimum contractual wage: Theoretical interrelationship and empirical evidence for Italy

A two-stage wage setting process whose outcomes are identified in the wage drift, at the local level, and in the tariff wage, at the central level, is analyzed. The impact of insider and outsider factors in each stage of the bargaining process is investigated both theoretically and empirically for Italy. In the light of its extreme policy relevance, particular attention is devoted to the analysis of the interrelationships between the wage drift and the tariff wage. Panel data estimation carried out on a sample of 105 Italian three-digit industries and 41 contract groups, reveals that: (1) Insider factors (productivity, inventories and the insider workers power) are important determinants of the wage drift while outsider factors (aggregate wage and unemployment) have a prominent role in determining the tariff wage. (2) Wage drift and tariff wage are closely interrelated.     

Human–capital investment and the wage gap

Summary. According to empirical studies, the wage differential by skills evolved non–monotonically in the past decades although the relative supply of skilled labor steadily increased. The present paper provides a theoretical explanation for this finding. In our setting, technological change intertemporally alters the human–capital investment incentives of heterogeneous individuals. As a consequence of changing incentives, the time path of the relative wage is U–shaped while there is a rise in the share of skilled workers. Received: November 28, 2000; revised version: January 30, 2001     

单位犯罪死刑立法探研

单位犯罪死刑立法是指单位犯罪中自然人的死刑立法。我国刑法中单位犯罪死刑立法涉及19个罪名，包含两种立法模式：同等原则与区别原则。文章认为应采取同等原则的立法模式，但不赞同单位犯罪中为自然人配置死刑。建议取消刑法中13个单位犯罪的死刑。     

一种基于遗传算法求解车间调度问题的优化方法

遗传算法是解决车间调度问题的有效方法之一。但在构造适应度函数时由于调度问题诸多的束条件使得直接求解十分困难。罚函数法将约束条件加到目标函数上，变有约束为无约束．能较易求解该类问题。     

我国建国后死刑政策分析及建议

死刑的制定、实施乃至存废都与死刑政策密切相关。新中国成立后,我国死刑政策的发展大致经历了三个阶段。当今世界各国死刑政策已经或者逐步向着死刑当废的方向发展,在这一背景下,我国未来的死刑政策宜作相应调整。     

Identifying terms of trade shocks in a developing country using a sign restrictions approach

Using annual data for Botswana from 1960 to 2012, we examine the responses of macroeconomic variables to four generalized positive terms of trade shocks – global demand, globalizing, sector-specific and global supply. A sign-restricted structural vector autoregression model with a penalty function is estimated to identify the four possible shocks. While positive global demand and globalization shocks are both expansionary, they have opposite effects on inflation. A positive commodity market specific shock dampens real GDP growth and is inflationary, suggesting a possible Dutch disease response. A negative global supply shock suppresses both output growth and inflation. All but the last shock leads to a significant declining interest rate. Monetary policy contraction is recommended for the first shock and expansion for the others.     

Search efficiency,wage dynamics and welfare

Advances in information technology have improved the job-search process in the labor market. We analyze the effects of this improvement by constructing a search-and-matching model with two sectors: a risky sector with firm-specific productivity shocks and a risk-free sector. The risky sector is characterized by a low level of commitment between employers and workers – either party can end the employment relationship. We show that a better job-search process generates more job matches in the risky sector, and this benefits workers by improving their outside options. The effect on employers is subtle: while it is easier to fill vacancies, workers become more expensive. At the same time, the ease of finding new workers makes it harder for employers to keep their wage promises to workers and increases wage volatility. Our paper contributes to the literature by offering a novel explanation for the observed rise in wage volatility.