Decomposing hospital productivity changes, 1985–1988: A nonparametric Malmquist approach

Annual data on U.S. hospitals from 1985–1988 are evaluated by ownership type—profit, nonprofit, state and local government, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—for changes in hospital productivity over time. Distance functions are used to measure Malmquist indices of productivity change, which are then decomposed into indices of efficiency change and technology change. In contrast to previous studies using this approach, we allow for variable returns to scale and use both input and output orientations. We find that changes in technology dominate changes in inefficiency in determining changes in productivity.     

Using the social system of a supply chain to improve a focal organization’s operating performance

In this paper, we explore how a large organization, operating in a mature, asset-intensive industry, used the social system of a key supply chain to generate significant improvement in operating performance (e.g., inventory turnover ratio improved from 0.8 to 3.2 in 5?years). A case study approach was used to study a steel rail supply chain involving an Australian railway company as the focal company. This supply chain consisted of two other companies: a steel manufacturer and a bulk transporter. Multiple forms of data were collected and analyzed, including models and process maps of the supply chain, published and internal documents, Enterprise Resource Planning system reports, and in-depth interviews of 31 key personnel involved in the supply chain. We found that the organizations had invested heavily in formal systems, such as governance processes and information technology systems. However, it was the informal mechanisms across and within the social system which made the greatest contribution to the resulting improvements. This suggests that organizations may be able to achieve significant operating performance outcomes at far lower cost and in shorter time frames by working through the existing social systems instead of focusing excessively on formal governance and IT systems.     

Transient Jobs and Lifetime Jobs: Dualism in the British Labour Market

How long does a job last in Britain? We find that many workers have very short jobs and many have very long jobs. We estimate that in 1990, 40 percent of men were in jobs that will last 20 years or more. On the other hand, 24 percent were in jobs lasting less than five years. We conclude that the labour market is still capable of offering ‘lifetime jobs’ to many workers. Policy analysis of issues such as reform of the welfare state, pensions, and training should take note that reports of the death of ‘jobs for life’ appear to be exaggerated.     

Hotel accounts — do men get the best jobs?

Salary levels of women in hospitality financial management appear to be lower than those of men with similar job titles. However, further analysis of a limited sample suggests that salary levels are generally dependent on the level of work and place of employment – and that men tend to be employed in the jobs with higher responsibilities and hence status. There has been some progression by women into the higher status, higher-paying jobs but certain barriers still appears to exist which affect the rate of change.     

Maternity rights and mothers' return to work

This paper uses a cohort of 12,000 births to examine the effect of maternity rights on mothers' post-birth return to employment decisions. It uses a discrete hazard model to disentangle the effects of the terms of maternity rights entitlements from other factors that influence the timing of a mother's return to work. Mothers with rights have an underlying (but unobserved) stronger attachment to the labour market that prompts earlier return than on average. We take this into account by estimating a counterfactual distribution of return times using a sample of women who failed to qualify for maternity rights but who have similar levels of labour market attachment. Even when differential attachment is taken into account there remains a substantial impact of maternity rights on behaviour.