The trend in female labour force participation: what can be expected for the future?

This study investigates the increase in the labour force participation rate of women. We estimate a binary age–period–cohort model for a sample of Dutch women born between 1925 and 1986. The results indicate that the increasing level of education and the diminishing negative effect of children have played an important role. Moreover, we find important unobserved cohort effects for pre-1955 generations, which is in line with results of studies on social norms. It is shown that the growth in female participation is likely to slow down in the near future, as such cohort effects are not relevant for younger generations.     

Author Index Volume 24 2003

Authors Index

Author Index Volume 24 2003     

Non-financial Determinants of Retirement: A Literature Review

Retirement is often concentrated at specific ages—in particular the ‘normal retirement age’ and an ‘early retirement age’. Financial incentives cannot fully explain this. Moreover, the participation effect of a higher normal retirement age importantly exceeds the encompassing income effect. Based on a literature survey, we conclude that social norms, default options, and reference-dependent utility are likely explanations for the individual propensity to retire at specific retirement ages. Further empirical research on non-financial determinants of retirement is needed to fully understand individual retirement behavior.     

Soil Erosion: The Case for Market Intervention

The Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry held extensive hearings throughout Canada in I98I1 to assess soil degradation. They concluded that unless action is taken quickly, the country will lose a major portion of its agricultural capability.
The paper examined this conclusion a little more closely for a region in Southern Ontario. On the basis of past experience, the conclusion seems a little far fetched. Corn yields are still rising there and unit production costs declining. However, as indicated, this warning must be interpreted in light of the yield—soil depth relationship, which may reach a sharp inclination point in the near future on various soils. A big drawback is that empirical evidence on form and level of the curve for the various soils is unavailable.
The causes of excessive soil erosion are complex and deeply rooted in economic forces and in institutions. Several institutions, crucial to agriculture, exert a discouraging influence on farmers to conserve their soil. Unfortunately, necessary institutional adjustments are not a priority item on the political agenda. Research on ways to mitigate the negative effects of economic forces on soil management has been scant in Canada. Across-the-board subsidies and favorable tax provisions are often advocated. However, little is known about their effectiveness, efficiency and equity.     

Factors Influencing Productivity Enhancing and Environmental Husbandry on Rented Land

Logistic regression analysis is used to determine what impact tenant, contract and land characteristics have on farm practices enhancing productivity and the environment. The results of the study indicate that contract terms play an important role in environmental husbandry on rented land.
Des régressions avec variables dépendantes qualitatives sont utilisées pour analyser l'importance relative des caractéristiques des locataires, des contrats (de location), et des terres sur l'adoption de pratiques agricoles améliorant la productivité et la qualité de l'environnement. Les résultats indiquent que les clauses contractuelles jouent un rôle très important sur les aspects environnementaux liés à la gestion des terres louées.     

Enhancing female entrepreneurship by enabling access to skills

Literature reveals the need for entrepreneurship training programmes that focus on the skills required by female entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Women Entrepreneurship Programme (WEP) as an initiative to provide entrepreneurial and business skills to female entrepreneurs. An experimental group of 116 women attended this training intervention whereas 64 women formed the control group who did not attend the WEP. The findings highlight that through the WEP the experimental group gained new skills and knowledge relevant to running a business; increased their confidence in their entrepreneurial abilities; and used these skills to start new ventures.     

LAND VALUATION FOR TAX ASSESSMENT AND LAND USE PLANNING–THE SEARCH FOR AND USE OF APPROPRIATE MEASURES*

This article examines the conceptual problems of measuring agricultural land values for taxation purposes and for land use planning. It is shown that prevailing market prices are often deficient. One alternative method of measuring these values is by means of the soil productivity points currently used by the Ministry of Revenue in Ontario. It is shown that the foundations on which this method is based are weak, and that many problems arise in attributing a dollar value to these points. Finally, a shadow pricing technique is suggested. It has its weaknesses in land assessment for taxation, but it has great merit in evaluating land for land use planning.
Cet article étudie les problémes possibles qui se présentent dans l'évaluation des terres agricoles pour les fins de l'im pôt et de la planification de leur utilisation. L' article indique que les prix courant ne reflètent pas la valeur réelle de ces terres. Le Ministère tin Revenu de l'Ontario propose line autre méthode de valorisation: cette d' évaleur le terrain selon sa produclivilé. L' article démontre que les raisons sur lesquelles cette methode est fondée sont faibles et que de nombreux problèmes surgissent lors de l'attribution d'une valuer monétaire à ces points d'évaltialion. Enfin, on suggère tine technique utilisant les "shadow prices', qui a des faiblesses quand il s'agit ďévaleur les terrains pour raison d'impot mais qui a de grands mérites pour leur évaluation en rue de la planification de leur utilisation.     

Financial Incentives in Disability Insurance in the Netherlands

Summary In this article, we assess the impact of financial incentives on the inflow in the public Disability Insurance (DI) scheme in The Netherlands. For this matter, the variation in replacement rates over different sectors is exploited to estimate the probability of DI enrolment over a sample of employees from the Dutch Income Panel (1996–2000). On the basis of these administrative data, we find a point estimate of the elasticity of DI enrolment with respect to the DI wealth rate of 2.5. Simulations indicate that a 5%-point rise in replacement rates in the two first years of DI increases DI enrolment by 6%.