Computer knowledge and earnings: evidence for Australia

This paper uses data on wage and salary workers in Australia in 1993 to examine the relation between computer knowledge and earnings. A unique feature of the data set that is used is detailed information on the types and levels of computer skills possessed by individual workers. The main objectives of the study are to contribute to understanding the magnitude and sources of the relation between computer knowledge and earnings. Similar to existing research it is found that there is a large and significant return to computer knowledge, but that the magnitude of the return is substantially reduced in regressions that include detailed occupation controls. Using the detailed information on workers’ computer skills the main finding is that earnings are significantly positively related to the number of types of skills and average level of skills possessed by a worker.     

GRADING JOURNALS IN ECONOMICS: THE ABCS OF THE ABDC

Many institutions and governments grade academic journals for the evaluation of research. In this paper, we implement a multi-bibliometric methodology for the evaluation of such a list of journal grades. We examine the grades assigned by the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) for over 750 journals in the fields of economics and statistics. Firstly, we generate up to 48 bibliometric-based grades for each journal based on the grade distribution implied by the ABDC. Secondly, we categorize the bibliometrics employing a cluster analysis of an interrater agreement statistic. Thirdly, we present a visualization of the consistency of the grading by journal. Finally, we list those journals where the majority of the matched bibliometrics indicate a higher or lower grade than their ABDC grade.     

Inferential methods for elasticity estimates

Elasticities are often estimated from the results of demand analysis. However, drawing inferences from them may involve assumptions that could influence the outcome. In this paper we investigate one of the most common forms of elasticity which is defined as a ratio of estimated relationships and demonstrate how the Fieller method for the construction of confidence intervals can be used to draw inferences.     

Can We Bootstrap DEA Scores?

This paper discusses the feasibility of bootstrapping DEA scores in the context of the earlier paper by Ferrier and Hirschberg (1997). A simple experiment is devised to demonstrate that in the one-input, one-output case the bootstrap of the non-modified DEA scores is not a failure of the bootstrap.     

Visualising Time: A Compendium of Time Series Plots

Graphs are important for highlighting relationships within a data series or across several series. Modern computer software has provided flexibility in the construction of graphic displays that would have been impossible with the tools that were available to researchers only a few decades ago. This article illustrates a variety of different graphical presentations for time ordered or time series data that can now be constructed. These include time series plots, bar charts, range plots, radar charts, scatter plots, heat maps and seasonality plots. For each graph type presented, we discuss the best practice for their construction.     

Elasticities of rate schedule parameters

The rate schedules for services provided by regulated industries are often not defined in terms of simple per-unit charges but as multipart tariffs. For example, in the case of block price rates, the rate parameters are the definition of the block limits and the per-unit charges in each block. The analysis of these rates is complicated by the fact that most econometric models provide only per-unit or marginal-cost-based elasticities. This paper presents a technique for determining the rate schedule elasticities from elasticities for functions of the rate schedule parameters such as per-unit price elasticities. Also presented are methods for determining elasticities for combinations of service characteristics and the price schedule parameter elasticities for an entire service market. Examples are given for block water rates and Hopkinson and time-of-day electricity rates.     

Bootstrapping Confidence Intervals for Linear Programming Efficiency Scores: With an Illustration Using Italian Banking Data

This article suggests a method for introducing a stochastic element into Farrell measures of technical efficiency as calculated via linear programming techniques. Specifically, a bootstrap of the original efficiency scores is performed to derive confidence intervals and a measure of bias for the scores. The bootstrap generates these measures of statistical precision for the nonstochastic efficiency measures by using computational power to derive empirical distributions for the efficiency measures.     

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND HUMAN CAPITAL: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract Grossman proposed an individual's health can be viewed as one aspect of their human capital. Following this line of thought a number of recent papers have reported a positive impact of alcohol consumption on earnings. The rationale for the existence of such a relationship is the positive impact of alcohol on physical and mental health. We conduct a meta‐analysis to determine whether such factors as: the estimation technique, the presence of ex‐drinkers in the sample, possible sample selection bias and publication bias may all contribute to these findings. An additional suggestion for the positive relationship between alcohol and wages is the presence of a common set of personality traits that determines drinking behaviour and also leads to higher earnings. We examine this relationship by reviewing the literature that investigates if the personality influencing aspects of alcohol consumption influences measures of human capital. We also survey the significant body of research that has examined how alcohol consumption has been found to influence educational outcomes and the work force participation of problem drinkers.     

Alcohol consumption,smoking and wages

The good health of an individual is a combination of uncontrollable factors that includes genetics and random events and controllable factors through the regulation of activities such as smoking and drinking. Since the work of Grossman in the 1970s, a significant relationship between health and earnings has been predicted. In this present paper the 1995 Australian National Health Survey is used to examine simultaneously the effects of drinking and smoking on wages. To model the interaction of smoking with alcohol consumption separate models are fitted for smokers and nonsmokers. These models account for potential selectivity bias resulting from the decision to smoke, and endogeneity arising from a potential causal relationship between earnings and alcohol consumption.