Stuck in the Middle: Off-Farm Employment and Caregiving Among Middle-Aged Rural Chinese

ABSTRACT

Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2011–12 baseline data, this contribution explores to what extent taking care of grandchildren and frail parents influences rural middle-aged Chinese adults’ off-farm employment. The findings show that, conditional on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, taking care of grandchildren has a negative effect on rural middle-aged men's and women's off-farm job participation and hours worked. Caregiving for parents does not have the same negative effects on off-farm employment and hours worked. Furthermore, the study finds that annual earnings are also negatively affected by caregiving responsibilities, especially for women and men taking care of grandchildren.     

Fertility and the puzzle of female employment in the Middle East and North Africa

Female labour force participation rates across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have remained low for over four decades even though, in the same period, women's education rapidly increased and fertility rates substantially decreased. This study provides a better understanding of this surprising phenomenon by testing whether the number of children affects the mother's labour supply (using twins at first birth as an instrumental variable.) Despite a strong first stage, it does not find statistically significant effects in the second stage, even in the combined sample of over 100,000 observations. This non‐result, however, does not rule out that fertility affects women's employment in these countries. But it rejects impacts larger than 0.09. Similar twin‐studies in the United States found effects between 0.12 and 0.31. The paper discusses the implications of this result in understanding the puzzle of female participation in MENA and in designing policies to increase women's employment.     

我国农村劳动力＂反梯度＂流动的经济学分析——以新疆采棉工为例

农村劳动力“反梯度”流动是我国经济和社会转型期间出现的一种特殊现象。从流向看，它有悖于劳动力由乡一城、由落后地区一发达地区流动的规律。文章采用经济学分析方法，以新疆采棉工为研究对象，从理论和现实两个层面研究分析采棉工理性的流动决策行为以及基本特征和相关影响因素。     

How to estimate market concentration given grouped data

A novel method is proposed of estimating market concentration for the census case in which firms are grouped into size classes and all that is known about the firms in each category is their number and aggregate size. The formula arises as a way of applying an alternative expression for the concentration ratio based upon the original and first moment size distributions of firms. The semi-parametric technique, which includes a method of interval as well as point estimation, is derived, applied and validated using actual and simulated data. It is anticipated that the estimator will be of use in competition analysis as well as in academic research.     

运动休闲——运动导向转变的力量

运动休闲在个人、社区以及国家(社会)的生活中正逐渐被看作一种强有力的导向性因素,它可以提高社区文化的生活品味,改善人们的生活状况,还可以影响国家政策制定者的行动指向以及国家整体生活状况的幸福指数。     

为企之道 重在执行

文章围绕如何提高执行力，如何建立良好的执行力保障体系，如何把企业战略、规划转化成为成果、效益等问题，根据人力资源管理的相关理论和日常的工作实践，对执行力深意进行解析和探讨。     

浙江省各县市服务业吸收劳动力情况的实证研究

服务业是未来吸收劳动力的主要途径。文章主要通过聚类分析将浙江省各县市按照本地劳动力在服务业的分配分成几类,然后再分别对这几类的数据进行主成分分析,找出它们在服务业领域的比较优势,进而根据分析结果得出结论。浙江省的各个县市在服务业发展方面都具有各自的潜力与主要发展方向,未来浙江省的三大产业比重会调整到“三、二、一”的局面,服务业在吸收劳动力方面将发挥更加巨大的作用。     

基于UG的滑动式车门运动模型建立

滑动式车门的运动主要沿着车身侧围运动。因此,滑动式车门的运动相对铰链式车门的运动复杂,这就给设计带来了很大困难。由于三维设计软件的发展,可以在设计阶段通过建立虚拟的运动模型来指导设计。文章介绍通过运用UG NX5.0软件来建立某款车型的滑动车门运动模型,并对其应用进行分析。     

基于UG的滑动式车门运动模型建立

滑动式车门的运动主要沿着车身侧围运动。因此,滑动式车门的运动相对铰链式车门的运动复杂,这就给设计带来了很大困难。由于三维设计软件的发展,可以在设计阶段通过建立虚拟的运动模型来指导设计。文章介绍通过运用UG NX5.0软件来建立某款车型的滑动车门运动模型,并对其应用进行分析。