Testing the intertemporal labor supply model: are jobs important?

The neoclassical life-cycle labor supply model assumes that hours of work are determined by labor supply choices alone and does not include a role for employers or job distinctions. An alternative model in which employers have an interest in employee hours and changing jobs is costly may reconcile weak and conflicting evidence regarding the neoclassical model. An important implication of such an alternative is that individuals may face hours constraints on a job and thus can choose hours freely only between jobs. This paper tests several implications of the neoclassical model against this alternative model of hours determination. Using a unique panel of individuals and jobs constructed using data on women from the 1988–1992 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, I compare hours variances and labor supply elasticities measured within and between jobs. Results provide some evidence against the neoclassical model and suggest that ignoring the role of employers in determining hours of work can lead to downward bias in estimates of labor supply elasticities.     

Institutional Demand-Side Discrimination Against Women and the Human Capital Model

Human capital theorists claim that the gender wage gap is due in large part to supply-side factors. They base this claim on empirical evidence. This paper challenges the interpretation of that empirical evidence. It argues that that interpretation is based on an assumption of a simplified production system that rules out any consideration of institutionally-based demand-side discrimination. It argues that insiders have an incentive to choose production techniques that benefit themselves, and that their choices will bias measures of human capital in their favor. The paper then considers a specific case study - the undergraduate U.S. academic market - where such institutionally-based demand-side discrimination exists, and offers an institutional change which could work to offset it.     

系统科学视角下的乔布斯

创新型人才是建设创新型国家的关键。系统科学视角下的美国最富代表性的创新人物史蒂夫·乔布斯的成长过程具有耗散性、混沌性和协同性等系统特征。鼓励创新、宽容失败、尊重个人价值的系统环境以及创新教育、快速发展的风险投资业和不断交汇的人文与科技等系统要素是史蒂夫.乔布斯成长的关键。因此,我们应该采取加强创新创业教育、推广通识教育、鼓励风险投资业发展等措施,改善创新环境,这对于我们成功实现＂十二五＂规划和《国家中长期人才发展规划纲要》以及十七届六中全会的要求,具有重要的现实意义。     

Estimating the market value of Steve Jobs using an event study

Using an event study approach, we seek to estimate the value investors placed on Steve Jobs by investigating the stock market reactions to his death. In the three-day window surrounding his death, the estimated cumulative abnormal returns are ?5.76%. Given the market capitalization of Apple at the time, it can be inferred that investors valued Steve Jobs at 20 billion dollars. While tragic, the news about Jobs’ death is greeted favourably by Apple’s competitors. The competitors appear to be convinced that, without Steve Jobs, they can compete with Apple better.     

Jobs specialization versus unemployment: more on the productivity effect of unemployment benefits

We use the Marimon and Zilibotti (Econ J 109: 266–291, 1999) circle model and we endogenize the choice of the degree of specialization of jobs. We show that an increase in unemployment benefits not only reduces the mismatch of talents (as in Marimon and Zilibotti), but it also raises the degree of specialization of jobs. This reinforces the productivity enhancing effects of unemployment benefits.      

乔布斯给中国企业国际营销的启示

乔布斯使个人电脑、动画电影、音乐、移动电话、平板电脑以及数字出版业发生了颠覆性的变化,他的去世引发了世人更多的讨论和思考,面对国际营销的大环境,中国企业可以在以下方面受到启示:企业的使命感、创新与品牌塑造、商业模式、体验营销、直觉的作用。     

Dividend taxation and household dividend portfolio decisions: evidence from the U.S. Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003

This study examines the dividend clientele hypothesis by focusing on the preferential tax treatment of qualified dividends provided by the 2003 Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) in the United States. Using the Public Use Tax File data, the author finds that the ratios of dividends to long-term capital gains before the 2003 tax act significantly declined with household tax rate differentials between dividends and long-term capital gains, but such a negative tax effect on the ratios disappears afterwards. This seemingly tax-inefficient composition of dividends and long-term capital gains after the tax act arises from households’ ability to reduce their tax burdens on stocks by exploiting the new preferential tax treatments on qualified dividends under JGTRRA. That is, households in the upper tax bracket hold significantly greater shares of qualified dividends relative to ordinary dividends after the tax act.     

中国的绿色政策与就业:存在双重红利吗?

减排与就业的"双重红利假说"认为:在征收碳税的同时减少所得税,能够实现减少碳排放与增加就业的双重红利。现实中,很多欧洲国家通过改变税收扭曲,成功地获得了"双重红利效应"。同样,中国也面临着开征碳税以及减少个人所得税的现实问题。那么,通过税收结构调整,中国能否创造出类似于欧洲国家的就业"双重红利"是一个非常值得探讨的问题。本文在VAR模型的基础上,模拟了中国的就业双重红利问题。最终发现:征收10元/吨的碳税对两部门的产出和就业影响并不显著;如果采取征收碳税并减少所得税的"中性"绿色税收政策将会促进中国低碳部门的产出增长;但至少到目前为止,与发达国家的经验事实不同,中国还难以在短期内获得就业的"双重红利"。然而,在节能减排和经济结构调整的双重压力下,改革税收体系以促进中国低碳经济的发展也不失为一种次优的选择。     

Commuting efficiency in the Beijing metropolitan area: an exploration combining smartcard and travel survey data

Using Beijing as an example, this research demonstrates that smartcard data can be used to (a) assemble the required data for excess commuting studies, and (b) visualise related results. Based on both smartcard and household travel survey data, we find that the theoretical minimum commute is considerably lower for bus users than for car users in Beijing. This suggests that there is a greater inter-mixing of jobs–housing functions (i.e., a better jobs–housing balance) associated with users of that mode compared to the corresponding land-use arrangement for car users, who locate further from the central area (Tian’anmen) than bus users. The commuting range for car users is 9.4 km greater than for bus users. Excess commuting is slightly higher for bus users (69.5%) than for car users (68.8%). Commuting capacity values are slightly lower for car users than for bus users, implying that car users consume less of their available commuting resources overall than bus users, albeit only marginally.