Happiness of economists

We study the importance of economists’ professional situation towards their life satisfaction based on a unique survey of mostly academic economists. On average, economists report to be highly happy with life. Satisfaction is positively related to spending more time on doing research. The lack of a tenured position decreases satisfaction. However, the extent to which the uncertainty created by the tenure system affects satisfaction varies with the contract terms. The effect is stronger if the contract expires in the near future or cannot be extended. Publication success has no effect if it is controlled for academic rank and the contract duration. The finding suggests that publications are rather a means to an end, for example, to acquire a tenured position. While the perceived level of external pressure also has no impact, the perceived change of pressure in recent years is positively related to economists’ life satisfaction. An explanation is that economists have accepted a high level of pressure when entering academia but are not willing to cope with the recent increase.     

Emerging Consensus on Labour Market Institutions and Implications for Developing Countries: From the Debates in India

Abstract

This paper makes a critical intervention to on-going theoretical and policy debates in the economic analysis of labour market institutions (LMIs) in the context of recent debates in India. It focuses on the internal inconsistency of mainstream economic analyses of LMIs, in particular those based on the new institutional economics (NIE) approach, and what appears to be an emerging policy consensus on LMIs within the World Bank and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The paper draws out the possible ideological parallels in these two developments, despite different intellectual origins and intentions of those engaged in these debates. A corresponding modification in policy debates in India is observed in the shifting perspectives from the Second National Commission on Labour (SNCL) to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS). The apparent emerging consensus in both the theoretical literature and policy debates reveals the tendency for researchers to focus on labour market outcomes and phenomenal forms of LMIs rather than the structures, processes, agencies and relations that underpin them. While this can be seen as an advancement from the traditional distortionist-institutionalist dichotomy, the tendency of this consensus to explain the persistence of seemingly inefficient institutions within the micro-level choice theoretic framework and its appeal to policy agendas on good governance, social capital, trust and civil society, render it vulnerable to appropriation by the mainstream. The paper argues that the emerging consensus on LMIs is an inadequate framework to inform effective policy propositions, and highlights the scope and opportunity for a political economy alternative.     

Wage and employment effects of a wage norm

Most transition countries used tax‐supported wage norms in the early 1990s, as a part of their market liberalization programmes. This article analyses how a firm‐level tax (or subsidy) on deviations from a pre‐set wage norm may promote employment by rotating the labour demand curve perceived by the workers’ union around the value of the norm. We derive the conditions under which it yields a positive employment effect. We test the effect of the norm on the wages on a sample of Polish firms in 1990 and 1991. The data support the role of the wage norm on the position of the perceived labour demand curve and the role of the tax rate on its slope.     

“商业劳动创造价值”的现代分析

商业劳动包括附带的生产性劳动、纯商业劳动以及管理性、开发性商业劳动,其中开发性商业劳动是最高级的商业劳动。商业劳动能否创造价值需要具体问题具体分析,对经营的单个商品来说,对商业企业的价值总量来说,有创造价值和不创造价值之分;从社会再生产全过程来讲,所有的商业劳动都是创造价值的。因此,"商业劳动创造价值"的命题且具有重大、深远的实践意义。     

结构转变与中国全要素生产率增长

本文基于对我国经济高速增长的源泉以及经济增长是否可持续的争论,通过构建TFP增长的分解方程,强调了结构转变通过资源在不同部门间的再配置对生产率的影响,重新测算了我国改革开放以来的TFP增长率。研究结果表明,我国的TFP增长率较高,资源从低生产率向高生产率部门,尤其是从传统农业向现代工业和服务业部门的再配置对TFP增长有显著作用,其贡献高达28%。因此,对于处于工业化中期的中国来说,经济增长仍具有巨大的潜力和可持续性。     

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ON THE URBAN–RURAL DISPARITY IN HUMAN CAPITAL IN CHINA

With China's economic development and capital accumulation in the industrial sectors, the human capital level of the labours moving from the rural areas could no longer meet the demand of the industrial sectors. Therefore, “structural shortage of technical labour” emerged in the labour market as a result of excess of demand for high‐skilled workers. Previous literature mostly focused on the relationship between rural human‐capital level and labour movement, income change and economic growth, but in this article, the authors focus on the study of the relative disparity of urban and rural human capital and labour movement, as well as the effect of the change of urban–rural human capital gap on industrial output, profit and social welfare. This article shows that bridging the urban–rural gap in respect of human capital level could not only improve the situation of the “structural shortage of technical labour,” but also have a positive effect on the general social welfare.     

试论构建非公企业和谐劳动关系

在公有制为主体的条件下发展非公有制经济,是社会主义初级阶段生产力发展的客观要求.但是,在现实劳动关系中,非公企业不法经营、欺压劳工相当普遍,克扣、拖欠工资并造成企业员工的合法权益受侵犯的问题在某些地方还相当严重.在激烈的市场竞争中,是否构建和谐劳动关系,直接关系非公企业核心竞争力以及自身的生存与发展.构建非公企业和谐劳动关系,对于非公企业实现法治管理,以及发挥行业自律作用都有推进作用.非公企业劳动关系和谐模式的构建,可以划分为精神层、制度层和物质层.应从以下方面把握:建设和谐文化,培育和谐精神;诚实守信,不为欺诈行为;符合利益相关者的利益,实行民主管理;管理者与被管理之间相互尊重,以人为本;依靠和谐理念,增强管理的非权力影响.     

知识经济与智力劳动者

知识经济社会的出现是智力劳动和智力劳动者产生的社会历史根源。智力劳动具有极强的资源性、创新性、独立性和全面性 ,它的产生机制是科学技术和社会的全面进步 ,特别是社会科学化、全民教育化发展的结果。随着知识经济的发展 ,智力劳动必然对传统的劳动创造价值理论提出新的问题。     

Flexibility in the gig economy: managing time on three online piecework platforms

Gig economy platforms seem to provide extreme temporal flexibility to workers, giving them full control over how to spend each hour and minute of the day. What constraints do workers face when attempting to exercise this flexibility? We use 30 worker interviews and other data to compare three online piecework platforms with different histories and worker demographics: Mechanical Turk, MobileWorks, and CloudFactory. We find that structural constraints (availability of work and degree of worker dependence on the work) as well as cultural‐cognitive constraints (procrastination and presenteeism) limit worker control over scheduling in practice. The severity of these constraints varies significantly between platforms, the formally freest platform presenting the greatest structural and cultural‐cognitive constraints. We also find that workers have developed informal practices, tools, and communities to address these constraints. We conclude that focusing on outcomes rather than on worker control is a more fruitful way to assess flexible working arrangements.     

基于普查数据的中国劳动适龄人口分析

基于 2 0 0 0年人口普查数据 ,对中国劳动适龄人口的基本态势作了分析和概括 ,主要涉及劳动适龄人口的数量、增长率、自然结构、受教育程度以及劳动适龄人口分布与投资分布相互匹配的关系。中国劳动适龄人口总量庞大 ,增长迅速 ,其性别比下降 ,中位年龄增大 ,受教育程度不高 ,且存在着悬殊的地区差异。如何化解劳动适龄人口的巨大压力 ,改善就业状况 ,将是中国在今后一段很长时期内的重大问题