Croissance économique,flexibilité du travail et qualité de l'emploi en Colombie de 2002 à 2011

Entre 2002 et 2011, le marché du travail colombien a connu une nette amélioration des possibilités d'emploi, assortie d'une montée de l'emploi atypique. Les auteurs étudient l'incidence de ces phénomènes sur la qualité de l'emploi au moyen d'un indice synthétique dérivé d'une analyse des correspondances multiples. Ils observent une amélioration, légère mais générale, de cette qualité, associée à l'augmentation des revenus, à l'extension de la protection sociale et au recul du sous‐emploi. Les principales bénéficiaires sont les travailleuses indépendantes. Toutefois, un important déficit qualitatif perdure, qui appelle à consolider les institutions du marché du travail et à stimuler la productivité et l'investissement.     

Did the Decline in Social Connections Depress Americans’ Happiness?

During the last 30 years US citizens experienced, on average, a decline in reported happiness, social connections, and confidence in institutions. We show that a remarkable portion of the decrease in happiness is predicted by the decline in social connections and confidence in institutions. We carry out our investigation in three steps. First, we run a happiness regression that includes various indicators of social connections and confidence in institutions, alongside with own income, reference income, and the usual socio-demographic controls. We find that indicators of social connections and confidence in institutions are positively and significantly correlated with happiness. Second, we investigate the evolution of social connections and confidence in institutions over time, finding that they generally show a declining trend. Third, we calculate the variation in happiness over time as predicted by each of its statistically significant correlates, finding that the decrease in happiness is mainly predicted by the decline in social connections and by the growth in reference income. More precisely, the sum of the negative changes in happiness predicted by the reduction in social connections and the increase in reference income more than offsets the positive change predicted by the growth of household income. Also, the reduction in happiness predicted by the decline in confidence in institutions is non-negligible, although substantially smaller than the one predicted by either social connections or reference income.     

Diversity as width

It is argued that if a finite partially ordered population is given, and incomparability is taken as the relevant type of dissimilarity, then diversity comparisons between subpopulations may be conveniently based on widths namely on the maximum number of pairwise incomparable units they include. We introduce two width-based rankings. The first one is the plain width-ranking of subposets as induced by width computation. The second one is the undominated width-ranking of subposets namely the ranking induced by the sizes of undominated subposets. Simple axiomatic characterizations of the foregoing rankings are provided.     

After the End of History

Over the last century, the national approach has been the mainstream conception leading superpowers’ foreign policy, while the end of the Cold War brought about the worldwide multiplication of local conflicts. This differs from the past as this extensive international fragmentation urgently requires the adaptation of a new theoretical model to current international relations. This implies the re-consideration of some basic concepts such as national sovereignty, whose traditional fixed borders tend now to blur with a set of overlapping clusters of jurisdictional, economic, political, cultural interests.     

Purchasing performance management systems: an empirical investigation

This article aims at further developing the purchasing performance management systems (PPMSs) body of knowledge, assuming the wider perspective of the adoption process rather than key performance indicators (KPIs) only. In particular, the research questions are focused on understanding what are the most adopted indicators, what are the key elements characterising the implementation process and what are the differences among different organisational levels and different purchasing categories. The literature provides a framework for classifying purchasing KPIs, identifying the implementation process and the PPMS architecture, thus supporting the empirical research protocol. Nine case studies of large multinationals belonging to different industries are conducted. Empirical evidence shows that companies are still adopting mainly an external perspective, by focusing on performance measurement efforts on suppliers. Widely adopted indicators mainly measure cost, time and quality. However, the purchasing department has acquired an important role within the organisation and new performance indicators have been created; flexibility, innovation and sustainability are becoming increasingly important.     

The Insurance Industry in Jordan

This paper examines the structure and performance of the insurance industry in Jordan during the period of 2000–2005. The Jordanian insurance industry is free of state ownership in both primary insurance and reinsurance markets and has been spared the pervasive premium, product, investment, and reinsurance controls that have bedeviled the insurance markets of so many developing countries around the world. Despite these positive features, the insurance industry is not developed, which mainly reflects the underdevelopment of life insurance that has annual premiums of only 0.27 percent of GDP. In contrast, the level of general insurance is comparable to that of several other developing countries in the region. To overcome this situation a major modernization effort should be undertaken.      

DEBT,POLICY UNCERTAINTY,AND EXPECTATIONS STABILIZATION

This paper develops a model of policy regime uncertainty and its consequences for stabilizing expectations. Because of learning dynamics, uncertainty about monetary and fiscal policy is shown to restrict, relative to a rational expectations analysis, the set of policies consistent with macroeconomic stability. Anchoring expectations by communicating about monetary and fiscal policy enlarges the set of policies consistent with stability. However, absent anchored fiscal expectations, the advantages from anchoring monetary expectations are smaller the larger is the average level of indebtedness. Finally, even when expectations are stabilized in the long run, the higher are average debt levels the more persistent will be the effects of disturbances out of rational expectations equilibrium.