Is the wage curve formal or informal? Evidence for Colombia

Using microdata from the 2002-2006 Colombian Continuous Household Survey, we find an elasticity of individual wages to local unemployment rates of -0.07. However, the elasticity for informal workers is significantly higher, a result which is consistent with efficiency wage theoretical models and relevant for regional labour markets analysis in developing countries.

Is the wage curve formal or informal? Evidence for Colombia

The objective of this paper is to analyse the existente or not of a wage curve in Colombia, paying special attention to the differences between formal and informal workers, an issue that has been systematically ignored in the wage curve literature. The obtained results using microdata from the Colombian Continuous Household Survey (CHS) between 2002 and 2006 show the existence of a wage curve with a negative slope for the Colombian economy. Using information on metropolitan areas, the estimates of the elasticity of individual wages to local unemployment rates was -0.07, a value that is very close to those obtained for other countries. However, the disaggregation of statistical information for formal and informal workers has shown significant differences among both groups of workers. In particular, for the less protected groups of the labour market, informal workers (both men and women), a high negatively sloped wage curve was found. This result is consistent with the conclusions from efficiency wage theoretical models and should be taken into account when analysing the functioning of regional labour markets in developing countries.

The impact of firing costs on turnover and unemployment: Evidence from the Colombian labour market reform

Reductions in firing costs are often advocated as a way of increasingthe dynamism of labour markets in both developed and less developed countries. Evidence from Europe and the U.S. on the impact of firing costs has, however, been mixed. Moreover, legislative changes both in Europe and the U.S. have been limited. This paper, instead, examines the impact of the Colombian Labour Market Reform of 1990, which substantially reduced dismissal costs. I estimate the incidence of a reduction in firing costs on worker turnover by exploiting the temporal change in the Colombian labour legislation as well as the variability in coverage between formal and informal sector workers. Using a grouping estimator to control for common aggregate shocks and selection, I find that the exit hazard rates into and out of unemployment increased after the reform by over 1% for formal workers (covered by the legislation) relative to informal workers (uncovered). The increase of the hazards implies a net decrease in unemployment of a third of a percentage point, which accounts for about one quarter of the fall in unemployment during the period of study.

Estudi sobre el perfil de persones grans amb dependència del servei d'ajuda a domicili del Consell Comarcal d'Osona i el tipus de suport formal i informal

The aim of this study is to determine the profile of dependent elderly people users of the home care services (SAD) of the regional council in Osona (Consell Comarcal d´Osona) , and the characteristics of formal and informal types of support they use. Methodology. An observational study of a transversal format has been carried out, with retrospective and descriptive purposes. The target population is 63 people (26 men and 37 women) included in the program of the regional SAD They have a recognized dependence grade approved by the law 39 /2006, December 14th , promoting the individual autonomy and care of elderly people in a dependent situation. The data were collected by social workers of basic social services, first with a home visit and followed by handed out questionnaires, specifically designed for this study, in order to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics, and the type of support formal and informal. The obtained results on the SAD users are women in a 58.7% and a 41.3 % are men. The 84% of the total sampling are 80 years old and more, being the average age of 85.2 years old. 45% of them are married, 41% are widows and widowers and 14% are single. 54% are rated with severe dependence (grade II), 42.8% with high dependence (grade III). 86% live accompanied. 100% have an informal caregiver and a 95% of the times, the caregiver is a relative who in 73% of the cases the dedication time is permanent. The coverage of the SAD has an average of 4.27 hours per week and per user. The formal services most used are the technical (62%), also the assessment of an occupational therapist at home (57%) and the telecare service in a (56%). Conclusions. The SAD is used primarily for women in an advanced age and severe dependence. The informal assistance structures have an informal caregiver, being a member of the family mostly, living with the dependent, and mainly in a permanent dedication basis. The SAD has a varied intensity in each case. The formal support services complementary to the SAD, are largely used in all cases.

Estudi sobre el perfil de persones grans amb dependència del servei d'ajuda a domicili del Consell Comarcal d'Osona i el tipus de suport formal i informal

The aim of this study is to determine the profile of dependent elderly people users of the home care services (SAD) of the regional council in Osona (Consell Comarcal d´Osona) , and the characteristics of formal and informal types of support they use. Methodology. An observational study of a transversal format has been carried out, with retrospective and descriptive purposes. The target population is 63 people (26 men and 37 women) included in the program of the regional SAD They have a recognized dependence grade approved by the law 39 /2006, December 14th , promoting the individual autonomy and care of elderly people in a dependent situation. The data were collected by social workers of basic social services, first with a home visit and followed by handed out questionnaires, specifically designed for this study, in order to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics, and the type of support formal and informal. The obtained results on the SAD users are women in a 58.7% and a 41.3 % are men. The 84% of the total sampling are 80 years old and more, being the average age of 85.2 years old. 45% of them are married, 41% are widows and widowers and 14% are single. 54% are rated with severe dependence (grade II), 42.8% with high dependence (grade III). 86% live accompanied. 100% have an informal caregiver and a 95% of the times, the caregiver is a relative who in 73% of the cases the dedication time is permanent. The coverage of the SAD has an average of 4.27 hours per week and per user. The formal services most used are the technical (62%), also the assessment of an occupational therapist at home (57%) and the telecare service in a (56%). Conclusions. The SAD is used primarily for women in an advanced age and severe dependence. The informal assistance structures have an informal caregiver, being a member of the family mostly, living with the dependent, and mainly in a permanent dedication basis. The SAD has a varied intensity in each case. The formal support services complementary to the SAD, are largely used in all cases.

What works best for getting the unemployed back to work: employment services or small-business assistance programs? evidence from Romania

Recent empirical evidence has found that employment services and small-business assistance programmes are often successful at getting the unemployed back to work. Â One important concern of policy makers is to decide which of these two programmes is more effective and for whom. Â Using unusually rich (for transition economies) survey data and matching methods, I evaluate the relative effectiveness of these two programmes in Romania. Â While I find that employment services (ES) are, on average, more successful than a small-business assistance programme (SBA), estimation of heterogeneity effects reveals that, compared to non-participation, ES are effective for workers with little access to informal search channels, and SBA works for less-qualified workers and those living in rural areas. Â When comparing ES to SBA, I find that ES tend to be more efficient than SBA for workers without a high-school degree, and that the opposite holds for the more educated workers.

Is the Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax incompatible with the free movement of workers and capital?: The reasoned opinion of the EU Commission IP/10/513

The aim of my speech is answering to the question if the Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax is incompatible with the free movement of workers and capital. We are going to pay special attention to the European Commission’s request to Spain to change its Inheritance and Gift Tax provisions for Non-Residents or Assets held abroad. In order to answer to the question mentioned above five points will be explained. At first place I am going to describe the infrengement procedure established in the Article 258 that the EU Commission can follow when a Member State doesn’t comply with Community Law. At second place, we are going to explain what is the content of the EU Commission delivered on 5th of may 2010 regarding the spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax. Then, we will analise what establishes the Community Law regarding the freedom of workers and capital and how they are understood by the EU Court of Justice in similar cases. Finally, we are going to provide possible amendments that Spain could undertake.

Workers cooperation within the firm: an analysis using small and medium size firms

We investigate the determinants of teamwork and workers cooperation within the firm. Up to now the literature has almost exclusively focused on workers incentives as the main determinants for workers cooperation. We take a broader look at the firm's organizational design and analyze the impact that different aspects of it might have on cooperation. In particular, we consider the way in which the degree of decentralization of decisions and the use of complementary HRM practices (what we call the .rm.s vertical organizational design) can affect workers'collaboration with each other. We test the model's predictions on a unique dataset on Spanish small and medium size firms containing a rich set of variables that allows us to use sensible proxies for workers cooperation. We find that the decentralization of labor decisions (and to a less extent that of task planning) has a positive impact on workers cooperation. Likewise, cooperation is positively correlated to many of the HRM practices that seem to favor workers'interaction the most. We also confirm the previous finding that collaborative efforts respond positively to pay incentives, and particularly, to group or company incentives.

Bridging Formal/Informal Learning

Recently many OER activities have been getting popular, and users who access those content for informal learning are increasing. Most popular OER must be OCW, which has been proposed and promoted by MIT since 2001. In Japan OCW has been penetrating gradually since 2005. However in terms of formal learning utilization ICT technology has not been so popular yet in Japanese higher education field. In this paper two case studies, one is formal e-Learning using OCW, and the other is portal site of open contents from universities are described

Operator algebras: an informal overview

This article is an informal introduction to some classical results of the theory of operator algebras. It aims to illustrate the richness and diversity of possible applications of this topic.

The relationships of stress, health and wellbeing among workers

The precise relationship between the positive psychological state of work (i.e. engagement ) and the negative psychological state (i.e. burnout) has recently received research attention. Some view these as opposite states on the same similar continuum, while others take the position that they represent different biobehavioral spheres. This study expands our knowledge of the phenomenta engagement and burnout by analyzing their separate and joint manifestations. Using a sample of 2094 nurses, respondents were analyzed to determine the configuration of antecedents leading to separate and joint states of engagement and burnout, the configuration of engagement and burnout leading to mental, physical and organizational outcomes, and the relationship between engagement, bornout, and risk of metabolic syndrome. The study found that while both work engagement and burnout are highly correlated to health and organizational outcomes, the relative statistical power of burnout has a greater direct effect on health. It is important for workers and managers to adress the sources of burnout before addressing the positive psychological aspects of worker engagement.

Informality and overeducation in the labor market of a developing country

In this paper, we explore the connection between labor market segmentation in two sectors, a modern protected formal sector and a traditional- unprotected-informal sector, and overeducation in a developing country. Informality is thought to have negative consequences, primarily through poorer working conditions, lack of social security, as well as low levels of productivity throughout the economy. This paper considers an aspect that has not been previously addressed, namely the fact that informality might also affect the way workers match their actual education with that required performing their job. We use micro-data from Colombia to test the relationship between overeducation and informality. Empirical results suggest that, once the endogeneity of employment choice has been accounted for, formal male workers are less likely to be overeducated. Interestingly, the propensity of being overeducated among women does not seem to be closely related to the employment choice.

MPWC : Manage projects, workers and contacts

El proyecto nace de la necesidad de implementar una herramienta de gestión a medida para la empresa Sonicon Systems S.L., dado que la herramienta actual no se adapta completamente a los requerimientos y, en algunos casos, es compleja o dispone de demasiada información.

Sickness presenteeism in Spanish-born and immigrant workers in Spain

Background: Previous studies have shown that immigrant workers face relatively worse working and employment conditions, as well as lower rates of sickness absence than native-born workers. This study aims to assess rates of sickness presenteeism in a sample of Spanish-born and foreign-born workers according to different characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst a convenience sample of workers (Spanish-born and foreign-born), living in four Spanish cities: Barcelona, Huelva, Madrid and Valencia (2008-2009). Sickness presenteeism information was collected through two items in the questionnaire ("Have you had health problems in the last year?" and "Have you ever had to miss work for any health problem?") and was defined as worker who had a health problem (answered yes, first item) and had not missed work (answered no, second item). For the analysis, the sample of 2,059 workers (1,617 foreign-born) who answered yes to health problems was included. After descriptives, logistic regressions were used to establish the association between origin country and sickness presenteeism (adjusted odds ratios aOR; 95% confidence interval 95%CI). Analyses were stratified per time spent in Spain among foreign-born workers. Results: All of the results refer to the comparison between foreign-born and Spanish-born workers as a whole, and in some categories relating to personal and occupational conditions. Foreign-born workers were more likely to report sickness presenteeism compared with their Spanish-born counterparts, especially those living in Spain for under 2 years [Prevalence: 42% in Spanish-born and 56.3% in Foreign-born; aOR 1.77 95%CI 1.24-2.53]. In case of foreign-born workers (with time in Spain < 2 years), men [aOR 2.31 95%CI 1.40-3.80], those with university studies [aOR 3.01 95%CI 1.04-8.69], temporary contracts [aOR 2.26 95%CI 1.29-3.98] and salaries between 751-1,200€ per month [aOR 1.74 95% CI 1.04-2.92] were more likely to report sickness presenteeism. Also, recent immigrants with good self-perceived health and good mental health were more likely to report presenteeism than Spanish-born workers with the same good health indicators. Conclusions: Immigrant workers report more sickness presenteeism than their Spanish-born counterparts. These results could be related to precarious work and employment conditions of immigrants. Immigrant workers should benefit from the same standards of social security, and of health and safety in the workplace that are enjoyed by Spanish workers.

The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES): psychometric properties of a new tool for epidemiological studies among waged and salaried workers

Background: Despite the fact that labour market flexibility has resulted in an expansion of precarious employment in industrialized countries, to date there is limited empirical evidence about its health consequences. The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) is a newly developed, theory-based, multidimensional questionnaire specifically devised for epidemiological studies among waged and salaried workers. Objective: To assess acceptability, reliability and construct validity of EPRES in a sample of waged and salaried workers in Spain. Methods: Cross-sectional study, using a sub-sample of 6.968 temporary and permanent workers from a population-based survey carried out in 2004-2005. The survey questionnaire was interviewer administered and included the six EPRES subscales, measures of the psychosocial work environment (COPSOQ ISTAS21), and perceived general and mental health (SF-36). Results: A high response rate to all EPRES items indicated good acceptability; Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, over 0.70 for all subscales and the global score, demonstrated good internal consistency reliability; exploratory factor analysis using principal axis analysis and varimax rotation confirmed the six-subscale structure and the theoretical allocation of all items. Patterns across known groups and correlation coefficients with psychosocial work environment measures and perceived health demonstrated the expected relations, providing evidence of construct validity. Conclusions: Our results provide evidence in support of the psychometric properties of EPRES, which appears to be a promising tool for the measurement of employment precariousness in public health research.