Rent-sharing, hold-up, and manufacturing wages in Cote d'Ivoire

Labor costs in Francophone Africa are considered high by the standards of low-income countries, at least in the formal sector. Are they a brake on industrialization, or the result of successful enterprise development? Are they imposed on firms by powerful unions, or government regulations, or a by-product of good firm performance? The authors empirically analyze what determines manufacturing wages in Cote d'Ivoire, using an unbalanced panel of individual wages that allows them to control for observable firm-specific effects. They test the rent-sharing, and hold-up theories of wage determination, as well as some aspects of efficiency-wage theories. Their results lean in favor of both rent-sharing, and hold-up, suggesting that workers have some bargaining power, and that in Cote d'Ivoire workers can force renegotiation of labor contracts, in response to new investments.Economic Theory&Research,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Economics&Finance,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences

Do business administration studies offer better preparation for supervisory jobs than traditional economics studies?

The question whether graduates of business administration (BA) are better prepared for supervisory jobs and have a greater chance of acquiring supervisory jobs than non-BA economics graduates, forms the central theme of the paper. In addition, special attention is given to the question whether having a supervisory job pays off, particularly with an educational background in BA. In order to answer these questions, we have used a data set that relates to the labour market position of graduates from Dutch universities at the early stages of their careers.We have found that BA graduates, despite their multidisciplinary education and the fact that they have fewer deficiencies in their education with respect to the ability for teamwork than non-BA graduates, do not have a greater chance of acquiring supervisory jobs than graduates from non-BA economics courses. We have also found that having a supervisory job pays off, regardless of the education (BA versus non-BA). Lastly, we have found that most of the skills required for managerial leadership are acquired through work and not in education. This suggests that a combination of working and learning may be more effective for developing managerial skills than a purely educational setting.Key words: business administration and non-business administration graduates, supervisory jobs, required competences, job chances, earnings.JEL classification: J 24, J 31, J 44.labour market entry and occupational careers;

Transmitting shocks to the economy: The contribution of interest and exchange rates and the credit channel

Understanding the transmission channels of shocks is critical for successful policy response. This paper develops a dynamic general equilibrium model to assess the relative importance of the interest rate, the exchange rate and the credit channels in transmitting shocks in an open economy. The relative contribution of each channel is determined by comparing the impulse responses when the relevant channel is suppressed with the impulse responses when all three channels are operating. The results suggest that all three channels contribute to business cycle fluctuations and the transmission of shocks to the economy. But the magnitude of the impact of the interest rate channel crucially depends on the inflation process and the structure of the economy.Transmission channels, open economy, general equilibrium model

The flammability of electronic components in spacecraft environments Final report, 15 Mar. - 15 Oct. 1968

Mathematical model for combustion at zero gravity in spacecraft environment

An Outline of a Progressive Resolution to the Euro-area Sovereign Debt Overhang: How a Five year Suspension of the Debt Burden Could Overthrow Austerity

The present study puts forward a plan for solving the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area (EA) in line with the interests of the working classes and the social majority. Our main strategy is for the European Central Bank (ECB) to acquire a significant part of the outstanding sovereign debt (at market prices) of the countries in the EA and convert it to zero-coupon bonds. No transfers will take place between individual states; taxpayers in any EA country will not be involved in the debt restructuring of any foreign eurozone country. Debt will not be forgiven: individual states will agree to buy it back from the ECB in the future when the ratio of sovereign debt to GDP has fallen to 20 percent. The sterilization costs for the ECB are manageable. This model of an unconventional monetary intervention would give progressive governments in the EA the necessary basis for developing social and welfare policies to the benefit of the working classes. It would reverse present-day policy priorities and replace the neoliberal agenda with a program of social and economic reconstruction, with the elites paying for the crisis. The perspective taken here favors social justice and coherence, having as its priority the social needs and the interests of the working majority