The Persistence of Wives’ Income Advantage

Recent reports using cross‐sectional data indicate an increase in the percentage of wives who outearn their husbands, yet we know little about the persistence of wives’ income advantage. The present analyses utilize the 1990 – 1994 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (N= 3,481) to examine wives’ long‐term earnings advantage. Although a significant minority of women outearn their husbands in 1 year, considerably fewer do so for 5 consecutive years. The presence and persistence of wives’ income advantage vary by demographic characteristics, economic and human capital measures, and over the individual and marital life course. The findings suggest caution in interpreting women’s relative economic gains as signaling absolute progress toward eliminating gender inequality within marriages.     

农民工工资标准到底应是多少——以调查到的样本为例

"刘易斯拐点"提前在我国出现表明"工资不变的假定"只具有阶段性,为此探讨我国现阶段条件下农民工工资标准问题具有理论和实践的双重意义.在具备了初中文化程度的条件下,同一区域农民工工资的高低主要取决于从事的工种和农民工通过"干中学"所获得的技能.为此提出一些政策性建议:如要加大农村教育特别是职业培训教育的投入力度;政府要发挥其开发人力资源的公共性服务职能等.     

Do Reservation Wages Really Decline? Some International Evidence on the Determinants of Reservation Wages

Using cross-country data, we investigate the determinants of reservation wages and their course over the jobless spell. Higher unemployment benefits lead to higher reservation wages. Further, again consistent with the basic search model, repeated observations on the same individual provide scant evidence of declining reservation wages.

农民工工资的法律保障

当前拖欠农民工工资的问题比较严重,对这一问题应当从法律的角度来寻求解决的途径。应当明确,农民工也属于《劳动法》的保护范围。造成拖欠农民工工资问题的法律成因有立法、执法、司法等多个方面,应采取多种法律对策以解决拖欠农民工工资问题。     

Statistical Issues in Macroeconomic Modelling*

The paper describes the influx of mathematical statistics in economics. It focuses on an approach to macroeconometric modelling which is based on fundamental statistical concepts like the joint distribution function of all observable variables for the whole sample period. The methodology relies on valid conditioning and marginalization of this function in order to arrive at tractable subsystems, which can be analysed with statistical methods. Two case studies—the modelling of the household sector and of wages and prices in the Norges Bank RIMINI model—highlight this.     

Domestic Work and the Wage Penalty for Motherhood in West Germany

Previous research suggests that household tasks prohibit women from unfolding their full earning potential by depleting their work effort and limiting their time flexibility. The present study investigated whether this relationship can explain the wage gap between mothers and nonmothers in West Germany. The empirical analysis applied fixed‐effects models and used self‐reported information on time use and earnings as well as monthly family and work histories from the German Socio‐Economic Panel (1985–2007, N = 1,810; Wagner, Frick, & Schupp, 2007 ). The findings revealed that variation in reported time spent on child care and housework on a typical weekday explains part of the motherhood wage penalty, in particular for mothers of very young children. Furthermore, housework time incurred a significant wage penalty, but only for mothers. The authors concluded that policies designed to lighten women's domestic workload may aid mothers in following rewarding careers.     

最低工资对就业影响的理论研究

最低工资对就业的影响是其经济效应最主要的方面之一.文章总结了最低工资制度对就业影响的几个主要理论模型,从理论研究中得出的结论并不唯一,对就业的影响结果取决于各国劳动力市场的具体状况,在实践中则更会由于客观经济条件的复杂多样而变得难以确定.目前应该将研究的重点放在如何制定合理的最低工资标准、最低工资的执行及对其经济效果的评价上.     

The marriage boom and marriage bust in the United States: An age–period–cohort analysis

In the 1950s and 1960s there was an unprecedented marriage boom in the United States. This was followed in the 1970s by a marriage bust. Some argue that both phenomena are cohort effects, while others argue that they are period effects. The study reported here tested the major period and cohort theories of the marriage boom and bust, by estimating an age–period–cohort model of first marriage for the years 1925–79 using census microdata. The results of the analysis indicate that the marriage boom was mostly a period effect, although there were also cohort influences. More specifically, the hypothesis that the marriage boom was mostly a response to rising wages is shown to be consistent with the data. However, much of the marriage bust can be accounted for by unidentified cohort influences, at least until 1980.     

Gender, technology and jobs

Men have traditionally gained more than women from access to technologies at work which bring prestige, job security, more satisfying work and higher pay. Typically female jobs have centred on technologies, if they have at all, which tend towards routine and possibly deskilled work. Typing is a prime example. It is possible that this is changing through computerization, which is extensive but also equally distributed by gender. Does the wage premium, which use of a computer has been found to confer on users, benefit women sufficiently to suggest some sort of equalization through technology, or possibly even a female advantage? This is tested using data from four European countries. There is no across‐the‐board benefit from the use of computers. For both men and women it depends on the nature of their occupation. Some, more routine usages of computers are associated with a negative outcome. However, this occupational balance itself varies by gender.     

论职业经理人的报酬激励制度

分析了职业经理人的各种报酬制度的优缺点及对经理人激励作用的大小,进而分析了中国企业及政府对职业经理人的激励措施中存在偏重精神奖励而忽视物质奖励的问题,并提出将灵活多样的报酬制度和恰当的效率工资相结合的解决思路。