Imperfect goods and labor markets, and the union wage gap

Existing theoretical literature fails to explain satisfactorily the differences between the pay of workers who are covered by collective agreements and others who are not. This study aims at providing a model framework that is amenable to an analysis of this issue. Our general-equilibrium approach integrates a dual labor market and a two-sector product market. The results suggest that the so-called “union wage gap” is largely determined by the degree of centralization of the bargains and, to a somewhat lesser extent, by the expenditure share of the unionized sector's goods.

Determinants of social assistance caseloads for employable single adults without dependants in Canada

Government officials like the idea of just a small number of households in their respective jurisdiction receiving social assistance. A large number is seen as costly to the public treasury, and declining caseloads are generally viewed as a mark of success for both the economy and the government of the day. But what factors account for the size of a Canadian province's social assistance caseload? This article aims to shed light on this question, with a focus on single adults without dependants (and without serious disabilities) during the 1989–2017 period. One important finding is that when the value of social assistance benefit levels for this group increases by 1% in a province, the social assistance caseload for this demographic rises by 0.457%. Put differently, there is indeed an important behavior response associated with higher benefit levels. In response, we propose that provincial officials budget for higher take up levels when they increase benefit levels for this household group.     

Evaluating social investment in disability policy

Disability policy in European countries is displaying a shift towards social investment: increasing human capital and access to the labour market. The reasoning that underlies this transition is that disabled persons would benefit from mainstream employment, but are impeded in traditional policy by deficiencies in labour supply and demand. However, the shift towards more activating policies in many countries is accompanied by a decline in social protection. It is unclear whether social investment may effectively promote the employment chances of disabled persons within this context. The present research examines this question through a quantitative, cross-sectional, multilevel analysis on microdata from 22 EU countries. Our findings suggest greater activation to predict lower employment chances, while reducing passive support shows mixed effects. Conversely, measures for facilitation in daily life predict greater employment chances, as do measures for sheltered work. These findings raise questions over the value of social investment for disabled persons—and underline the need to overcome broader barriers in the labour market and in society.     

Employers' perspectives on benefit conditionality in the UK and Denmark

This article examines the under-explored demand-side of active labour market policies (ALMPs). Based on interview data from a comparative study of the UK and Denmark, the paper analyses employers' perspectives and experiences of ALMPs. In both countries, employers were favourably disposed towards employing unemployed jobseekers but held negative views on conditionality. First, benefit conditionality led to employers receiving large numbers of unsuitable and unfiltered job applications, with associated negative resource impacts. Second, employers perceived this as a product of ‘box ticking' and compliance targets. Finally, employers criticised policy and media rhetoric for focusing solely on the supply-side and for problematizing unemployed candidates. The paper argues that these crucial, but neglected, employer perspectives demonstrate that the current benefit conditionality regime in the UK risks irrevocably ‘tarnishing' candidates, which undermines, rather than enhances, their chances of securing employment through ALMPs. This unique dataset provides further evidence that the current direction of policy requires urgent and radical re-thinking.     

Does the Euro–Mediterranean Partnership contribute to regional integration?

The paper investigates whether Southern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern markets under the Euro–Mediterranean Partnership (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Malta, and Turkey) have become more financially integrated with the European stock market over time. The findings suggest that the Turkish equity market is moderately integrated with the European market, while the other economies exhibit weak financial integration with Europe, supporting the idea that the partnership appears to have no effect on enhancing inter-market linkages for these economies. Therefore, these markets would be good destinations for international investors seeking attractive investment opportunities to diversify their equity portfolios. Structural changes in the cross-market integration do exist, which may be considered as a guide for international equity portfolio diversification over different subperiods. In addition, there is evidence of an increasing trend in conditional correlations for Egypt and Turkey, to varying degrees, over time, notably during the post global financial crisis of 2007–2008, thus revealing herding behavior during this period. Overall, investors should be wary of the variation of equity market integration over time before engaging in an investment at the level of portfolio management and diversification. Policymakers must be aware of the remoteness of the current achievements of the Euro–Mediterranean Partnership from the targets set in terms of financial development and economic growth.     

Supplemental home care and topping‐up: A shift from service universalism towards a new and privatised public service model?

How does a public service model based on service universalism react to the introduction of market principles of topping up? In a recent so‐called Free Municipality Scheme (an experimental scheme that allowed for greater operational autonomy locally in an effort to reduce state bureaucracy), a number of Danish municipalities were for the first time ever allowed to compete with for‐profit providers of home care in selling supplemental home care services paid entirely by the user. The take‐home message from this experience is that the introduction of supplemental home care entails challenges and eventually wider implications for the public service model, on an economic, organisational and cultural level. Supplemental services represent a new and potentially powerful combination of market and state logics that eventually redirects away from the universalist welfare state and towards a new and increasingly privatised public service model – a model where the service level is determined by the user's capacity to purchase and pay for services. The introduction of such services therefore implies a change of the potential of the Nordic welfare state to ensure equal access regardless of class and income.     

明清以来的市镇:中国城镇化发展的历史因缘

本文致力于厘清关于市镇研究的理论传统,对明清以来市镇的演变在经济、社会和政治等多个层面进行考察。从经济层面看,市镇是连接地方性市场和世界体系的节点,并越来越具有超层级、跨区域和金融化的特点;从社会层面看,市镇是有层级、有组织的,并具有很强的包容性;从政治层面看,它是地方自治化和国家政权建设的着力点。在社会结构中的中间性质是市镇的本质特征。社会学对于市镇的研究必须将其看作一种总体性的社会事实,在对生命体验、生活智慧、伦理道德、乡风民俗等民情因素进行调查研究的前提下,考察其与具体制度和社会结构之间的关联。     

关系型贷款、市场结构与小额贷款公司使命漂移

我国小额贷款公司发展极为迅速,但小微企业融资难问题依然严峻,小额贷款公司存在着显著的使命漂移.对于微型金融机构的使命漂移问题,大量的研究主要以财务可持续性为视角.本文结合关系型贷款理论和市场结构理论并构建理论模型,以一个新的视角分析我国小额贷款公司的使命漂移问题,证明了开展关系型贷款和提升小额贷款市场的竞争程度均有利于小额贷款公司发放更多的小额贷款,增加小微企业等融资主体的信贷可得性,从而避免使命漂移.进一步的,通过对一个代表性城市小额贷款公司的相关数据分析,认为小额贷款公司使命漂移的内在原因是关系型贷款技术运用不足和小额贷款市场竞争程度较低.     

母国区域制度质量对民营企业海外市场进入模式的影响

  海外市场进入模式是跨国企业实现国际化战略目标的重要战略决策。虽然国内外学者已经意识到制度因素对新兴市场跨国企业海外市场进入模式的影响,但大多集中在对东道国制度环境影响的研究,很少考虑母国区域制度环境的复杂性,且缺乏相应的实证检验。         在此背景下,基于制度理论和社会资本理论,探讨母国区域制度质量对中国民营企业海外市场进入模式的影响机理。以规制差异和文化差异为调节变量,以社会资本为中介变量,构建母国区域制度质量与民营企业海外市场进入模式之间关系的概念模型,并以2015年进行海外市场投资的210家中国民营上市企业为研究对象进行实证研究。         研究结果表明,①母国区域制度质量与民营企业海外市场进入模式呈正相关关系,即所处的母国区域制度质量越好,民营企业更倾向于选择独资的海外市场进入模式;②母国与东道国间的规制差异和文化差异负向调节母国区域制度质量与民营企业海外市场进入模式的正向关系;③社会资本对母国区域制度质量与民营企业海外市场进入模式的关系起部分中介作用,即民营企业获得的社会资本越多,对市场信息等方面的把控能力越强,越倾向于采用独资的海外市场进入模式。         研究结果展现了中国市场分割情景下民营企业海外市场进入模式的独特性,拓展了国际商务领域对新兴国家制度环境的理解和认识,促进了制度理论和社会资本理论在国际商务领域的应用和发展。在管理实践中,民营企业在进行海外市场进入模式决策时,应充分考虑其所在的区域制度环境,同时也要善于构建不同类型的社会资本,以提高企业战略决策的可靠性和有效性。     

School–work systems in postindustrial societies: Evidence from Japan

The Japanese system of school–work has been widely admired for the strong communication and recruitment relationships that exist between high schools and employers. We develop a framework for understanding the macro-level conditions that fostered the effectiveness of the system up until the early 1990s. These conditions included a stratified secondary educational system, a large supply of high-quality high school graduates, and high demand for young workers to fill entry-level positions in the internal labor markets of large firms. We use original data from a sample of urban high schools to analyze how Japanese employers’ recruitment patterns changed in the 1990s and beyond. The results of that analysis and a counterfactual analysis suggest that recent changes, especially in Japanese employment institutions, have significantly weakened high school–employer relationships. We suggest implications of the Japanese case for school–work processes in other postindustrial societies.