Work-to-family spillover: Gender differences in Hungary

It is crucial to understand the role that labor market positions might play in creating gender differences in work–life balance. One theoretical approach to understanding this relationship is the spillover theory. The spillover theory argues that an individual’s life domains are integrated; meaning that well-being can be transmitted between life domains. Based on data collected in Hungary in 2014, this paper shows that work-to-family spillover does not affect both genders the same way. The effect of work on family life tends to be more negative for women than for men. Two explanations have been formulated in order to understand this gender inequality. According to the findings of the analysis, gender is conditionally independent of spillover if financial status and flexibility of work are also incorporated into the analysis. This means that the relative disadvantage for women in terms of spillover can be attributed to their lower financial status and their relatively low access to flexible jobs. In other words, the gender inequalities in work-to-family spillover are deeply affected by individual labor market positions. The observation of the labor market’s effect on work–life balance is especially important in Hungary since Hungary has one of the least flexible labor arrangements in Europe. A marginal log-linear model, which is a method for categorical multivariate analysis, has been applied in this analysis.

The Ocean Economic Statistical System of China and Understanding of the Blue Economy

The ocean and its resources are increasingly seen as indispensable in addressing the multiple challenges the planet is facing in the decades to come. It has never been easy to quantify this particular sector of the economy, in any country, given the lack of a detailed, centralized data base with adequate specifics covering the necessary sectors, this article aims to compare the existing ocean economy statistical systems, especially Asia-Pacific, American and European countries, in order to overcome the deficiencies with regard to the diversity of definitions and statistical representations of ocean sectors, establish the standard statistical system and compile data for the global ocean economy.

WORKPLACE HAPPINESS: ORGANIZATIONAL ROLE AND THE RELIABILITY OF SELF-REPORTING

Happier employees are more productive. Organizations across industry, no doubt, try to improve their employees’ happiness with the objective to achieve higher profitability and company value. While this issue has drawn increasing attention in high tech and other industries, little is known about the happiness of project management professionals. More research is needed to explore the current situation of workplace happiness of project management professionals and the driving factors behind it. This thesis explores the workplace happiness (subjective well-being) of project management professionals based on the exploratory statistical analysis of a survey 225 professionals in the state of Maryland, conducted in October 2014. The thesis applies Structural Equation Modeling and multiple regression analysis to the dataset and shows no significant impact of gender, age, work experience, and some other demographic traits on workplace happiness, also named well-being. Statistically significant factors for workplace happiness include: creating pleasant work environment, promoting open organization and well-managed team, and good organization to work for. With respect to the reliability of self-reporting, the study finds that the comprehensive appraisal tool designed by Happiness Works and New Economics Foundation can give a more reliable happiness evaluation. Two key factors, i.e. career perspectives and free to be self, can help alleviate the overconfidence of workplace happiness.

ESSAYS IN ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

This dissertation studies technological change in the context of energy and environmental economics. Technology plays a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Chapter 1 estimates a structural model of the car industry that allows for endogenous product characteristics to investigate how gasoline taxes, R&D subsidies and competition affect fuel efficiency and vehicle prices in the medium-run, both through car-makers' decisions to adopt technologies and through their investments in knowledge capital. I use technology adoption and automotive patents data for 1986-2006 to estimate this model. I show that 92% of fuel efficiency improvements between 1986 and 2006 were driven by technology adoption, while the role of knowledge capital is largely to reduce the marginal production costs of fuel-efficient cars. A counterfactual predicts that an additional $1/gallon gasoline tax in 2006 would have increased the technology adoption rate, and raised average fuel efficiency by 0.47 miles/gallon, twice the annual fuel efficiency improvement in 2003-2006. An R&D subsidy that would reduce the marginal cost of knowledge capital by 25% in 2006 would have raised investment in knowledge capital. This subsidy would have raised fuel efficiency only by 0.06 miles/gallon in 2006, but would have increased variable profits by $2.3 billion over all firms that year. Passenger vehicle fuel economy standards in the United States will require substantial improvements in new vehicle fuel economy over the next decade. Economic theory suggests that vehicle manufacturers adopt greater fuel-saving technologies for vehicles with larger market size. Chapter 2 documents a strong connection between market size, measured by sales, and technology adoption. Using variation consumer demographics and purchasing pattern to account for the endogeneity of market size, we find that a 10 percent increase in market size raises vehicle fuel efficiency by 0.3 percent, as compared to a mean improvement of 1.4 percent per year over 1997-2013. Historically, fuel price and demographic-driven market size changes have had large effects on technology adoption. Furthermore, fuel taxes would induce firms to adopt fuel-saving technologies on their most efficient cars, thereby polarizing the fuel efficiency distribution of the new vehicle fleet.

Essays in Market Design

In this dissertation, I study three problems in market design: the allocation of resources to schools using deferred acceptance algorithms, the demand reduction of employees on centralized labor markets, and the alleviation of traffic congestion. I show how institutional and behavioral considerations specific to each problem can alleviate several practical limitations faced by current solutions. For the case of traffic congestion, I show experimentally that the proposed solution is effective. In Chapter 1, I investigate how school districts could assign resources to schools when it is desirable to provide stable assignments. An assignment is stable if there is no student currently assigned to a school that would prefer to be assigned to a different school that would admit him if it had the resources. Current assignment algorithms assume resources are fixed. I show how simple modifications to these algorithms produce stable allocations of resources and students to schools. In Chapter 2, I show how the negotiation of salaries within centralized labor markets using deferred acceptance algorithms eliminates the incentives of the hiring firms to strategically reduce their demand. It is well-known that it is impossible to eliminate these incentives for the hiring firms in markets without negotiation of salaries. Chapter 3 investigates how to achieve an efficient distribution of traffic congestion on a road network. Traffic congestion is the product of an externality: drivers do not consider the cost they impose on other drivers by entering a road. In theory, Pigouvian prices would solve the problem. In practice, however, these prices face two important limitations: i) the information required to calculate these prices is unavailable to policy makers and ii) these prices would effectively be new taxes that would transfer resources from the public to the government. I show how to construct congestion prices that retrieve the required information from the drivers and do not transfer resources to the government. I circumvent the limitations of Pigouvian prices by assuming that individuals make some mistakes when selecting routes and have a tendency towards truth-telling. Both assumptions are very robust observations in experimental economics.

The Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change in Coasts and Oceans: Literature Review, Policy Implications and Research Agenda

Sea level rise and other effects of climate change on oceans and coasts around the world are major reasons to halt the emissions of greenhouse gases to the maximum extent. But historical emissions and sea level rise have already begun so steps to adapt to a world where shorelines, coastal populations, and economies could be dramatically altered are now essential. This presents significant economic challenges in four areas. (1) Large expenditures for adaptation steps may be required but the extent of sea level rise and thus the expenditures are unknowable at this point. Traditional methods for comparing benefits and costs are severely limited, but decisions must still be made. (2) It is not clear where the funding for adaptation will come from, which is a barrier to even starting planning. (3) The extent of economic vulnerability has been illustrated with assessments of risks to current properties, but these likely significantly understate the risks that lie in the future. (4) Market-based solutions to reducing climate change are now generally accepted, but their role in adaptation is less clear. Reviewing the literature addressing each of these points, this paper suggests specific strategies for dealing with uncertainty in assessing the economics of adaptation options, reviews the wide range of options for funding coastal adaption, identifies a number of serious deficiencies in current economic vulnerability studies, and suggests how market based approaches might be used in shaping adaptation strategies. The paper concludes by identifying a research agenda for the economics of coastal adaptation that, if completed, could significantly increase the likelihood of economically efficient coastal adaptation.

Diferencias regionales en las estructuras de ingresos laborales en Colombia

Dada la persistencia de las diferencias en ingresos laborales por regiones en Colombia, el presente artículo propone cuantificar la magnitud de este diferencial que es atribuida a la diferencia en estructuras de mercado laboral, entendiendo esta última como la diferencia en los retornos a las características de la fuerza laboral. Para ello se propone el uso de un método de descomposición del tipo Oaxaca- Blinder y se compara a Bogotá –la ciudad con mayores ingresos laborales- con otras ciudades principales. Los resultados obtenidos al conducir el ejercicio de descomposición muestran que las diferencias en estructura están a favor de Bogotá y que estas explican más de la mitad de la diferencia total, indicando que si se quieren reducir las disparidades de ingresos laborales entre ciudades no es suficiente con calificar la fuerza laboral y que es necesario indagar por las causas que hacen que los retornos a las características difieran entre ciudades.

Choques al hogar, trabajo Infantil y acumulación de capital humano : evidencia para Colombia

En este trabajo se estima el efecto que tienen distintos choques a los hogares sobre el logro académico de los niños. Mediante un modelo de regresión lineal, se encuentra un efecto adverso de la presencia de choques sobre el puntaje de la prueba Saber 11. Además, los resultados sugieren que el trabajo infantil es un mecanismo por el cual los choques afectan negativamente la acumulación de capital humano. Al explorar efectos heterogéneos por sexo y edad, las estimaciones indican que el efecto de los choques es guiado por los hombres y los adolescentes mayores a 14 años.

Emprendimiento, instituciones y construcción de paz – Análisis de Influencia de Stakeholders en los departamentos de Nariño y Cauca

Nariño y Cauca son dos de los departamentos de Colombia más afectados por la violencia. La reciente firma de un acuerdo de un cese bilateral de hostilidades con las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) y los diálogos de La Habana son apenas el comienzo de la Construcción de Paz (CP) que implica el esfuerzo continuo de diferentes actores (gubernamentales, sector privado, sociedad civil y organismos multilaterales) para lograr no solo una paz negativa sino una paz positiva. El apoyo al emprendimiento es una estrategia implementada por el Gobierno y por los stakeholders que participan en el proceso del posconflicto, que tiene como finalidad respaldar el proceso de integración económica de las víctimas y desmovilizados. El presente documento es un estudio exploratorio elaborado por medio de una investigación cualitativa en la temática de emprendimiento, instituciones y CP en los departamentos de Nariño y Cauca. Se utilizó una estrategia metodológica denominada Matrices de Stakeholders para representar gráficamente la influencia institucional sobre la toma decisiones e implementación de los stakeholders sobre las reformas o políticas de emprendimiento y CP en estos dos departamentos. En esta investigación se encontró que i) en general, las instituciones del gobierno de los de Nariño y Cauca son extractivas y limitan la participación de la sociedad; ii) los stakeholders de la sociedad civil a pesar de tener cierta organización y voz no están en capacidad de generar influencia más que a nivel local o comunitario; iii) los vacíos dejados por las instituciones extractivas del gobierno tienden a ser llenados por instituciones inclusivas de stakeholders del sector privado y de organismos multilaterales.

Individuals in the Workplatform. Exploring Implications for Work Identity and Algorithmic Reputation Management

In the new world of work, workers not only change jobs more frequently, but also perform independent work on online labor markets. As they accomplish smaller and shorter jobs at the boundaries of organizations, employment relationships become unstable and career trajectories less linear. These new working conditions question the validity of existing management theories and call for more studies explaining gig workers’ behavior. Aim of this dissertation is contributing to this emerging body of knowledge by (I) exploring how gig workers shape their work identity on online platforms, and (II) investigating how algorithmic reputation changes dynamics of quality signaling and affects gig workers’ behavior. Chapter 1 introduces the debate on gig work, detailing why existing theories and definitions cannot be applied to this emergent workforce. Chapter 2 provides a systematic review of studies on individual work in online labor markets and identifies areas for future research. Chapter 3 describes the exploratory, qualitative methodology applied to collect and analyze data. Chapter 4 presents the first empirical paper investigating how the process of work identity construction unfolds for gig workers. It explores how digital platforms, intended both as providers of technological features and online environments, affect this process. Findings reveal the online environment constrains the action of workers who are pushed to take advantage of platform’s technological features to succeed. This interplay leads workers to develop an entrepreneurial orientation. Drawing on signaling theory, Chapter 5 understands how gig workers interpret algorithmic calculated reputation and with what consequences for their experience. Results show that, after complying to platform’s rules in the first period, freelancers respond to algorithmic management through different strategies – i.e. manipulation, nurturing relationships, and living with it. Although reputation scores standardize information on freelancers’ quality, and, apparently, freelancers’ work, this study shows instead responses to algorithmic control can be diverse.

Encephalization And Diversification Of The Cranial Base In Platyrrhine Primates.

The cranial base, composed of the midline and lateral basicranium, is a structurally important region of the skull associated with several key traits, which has been extensively studied in anthropology and primatology. In particular, most studies have focused on the association between midline cranial base flexion and relative brain size, or encephalization. However, variation in lateral basicranial morphology has been studied less thoroughly. Platyrrhines are a group of primates that experienced a major evolutionary radiation accompanied by extensive morphological diversification in Central and South America over a large temporal scale. Previous studies have also suggested that they underwent several evolutionarily independent processes of encephalization. Given these characteristics, platyrrhines present an excellent opportunity to study, on a large phylogenetic scale, the morphological correlates of primate diversification in brain size. In this study we explore the pattern of variation in basicranial morphology and its relationship with phylogenetic branching and with encephalization in platyrrhines. We quantify variation in the 3D shape of the midline and lateral basicranium and endocranial volumes in a large sample of platyrrhine species, employing high-resolution CT-scans and geometric morphometric techniques. We investigate the relationship between basicranial shape and encephalization using phylogenetic regression methods and calculate a measure of phylogenetic signal in the datasets. The results showed that phylogenetic structure is the most important dimension for understanding platyrrhine cranial base diversification; only Aotus species do not show concordance with our molecular phylogeny. Encephalization was only correlated with midline basicranial flexion, and species that exhibit convergence in their relative brain size do not display convergence in lateral basicranial shape. The evolution of basicranial variation in primates is probably more complex than previously believed, and understanding it will require further studies exploring the complex interactions between encephalization, brain shape, cranial base morphology, and ecological dimensions acting along the species divergence process.

Recent trends in maternal, newborn, and child health in Brazil: progress toward Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5

We analyzed Brazil's efforts in reducing child mortality, improving maternal and child health, and reducing socioeconomic and regional inequalities from 1990 through 2007. We compiled and reanalyzed data from several sources, including vital statistics and population-based surveys. We also explored the roles of broad socioeconomic and demographic changes and the introduction of health sector and other reform measures in explaining the improvements observed. Our findings provide compelling evidence that proactive measures to reduce health disparities accompanied by socioeconomic progress can result in measurable improvements in the health of children and mothers in a relatively short interval. Our analysis of Brazil's successes and remaining challenges to reach and surpass Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 can provide important lessons for other low- and middle-income countries

The relationship between cortisol concentrations in pregnancy and systemic vascular resistance in childhood

Objective. To assess the relationship between cortisol concentrations in the last trimester of pregnancy and systemic vascular resistance — SVR in childhood. Materials and methods. This study is part of a cohort involving 130 Brazilian pregnant women and their children, ages 5 to 7 years. Maternal cortisol was determined in saliva by an enzyme immunoassay utilizing the mean concentration of 9 samples of saliva (3 in each different day), collected at the same time, early in the morning. SVR was assessed by the HDI/PulseWave CR-2000 Cardiovascular Profiling System®. Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and life style factors were determined by a questionnaire. The nutritional status of the women and children was assessed by the body mass index — BMI. The association between maternal cortisol and SVR in childhood was calculated by multivariate linear regression analysis. Results.There were statistically significant associations between maternal cortisol and SVR (p = 0.043) and BMI-z score of the children (p = 0.027), controlling for maternal BMI, birth weight, age, and gender of the children. Conclusion. As far as we know this is the first study in the literature assessing the association between cortisol concentrations in pregnancy and SVR in childhood. Overall, the data suggest that exposure to excess glucocorticoid in the prenatal period is associated to vascular complications in childhood, predisposing to cardiovascular diseases in later life

No evidence for an association between the-36A > C phospholamban gene polymorphism and a worse prognosis in heart failure

Background: In Brazil, heart failure leads to approximately 25,000 deaths per year. Abnormal calcium handling is a hallmark of heart failure and changes in genes encoding for proteins involved in the re-uptake of calcium might harbor mutations leading to inherited cardiomyopathies. Phospholamban (PLN) plays a prime role in cardiac contractility and relaxation and mutations in the gene encoding PLN have been associated with dilated cardiomyopathy. In this study, our objective was to determine the presence of the -36A>C alteration in PLN gene in a Brazilian population of individuals with HF and to test whether this alteration is associated with heart failure or with a worse prognosis of patients with HF. Methods: We genotyped a cohort of 881 patients with HF and 1259 individuals from a cohort of individuals from the general population for the alteration -36A>C in the PLN gene. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared between groups (patients and control). In addition, frequencies or mean values of different phenotypes associated with cardiovascular disease were compared between genotypic groups. Finally, patients were prospectively followed-up for death incidence and genotypes for the -36A>C were compared regarding mortality incidence in HF patients. Results: No significant association was found between the study polymorphism and HF in our population. In addition, no association between PLN -36A>C polymorphism and demographic, clinical and functional characteristics and mortality incidence in this sample of HF patients was observed. Conclusion: Our data do not support a role for the PLN -36A>C alteration in modulating the heart failure phenotype, including its clinical course, in humans.

THE LOWER CENTRAL AND DERIVED SERIES OF THE BRAID GROUPS OF THE SPHERE

In this paper, we determine the lower central and derived series for the braid groups of the sphere. We are motivated in part by the study of Fadell-Neuwirth short exact sequences, but the problem is important in its own right. The braid groups of the 2-sphere S(2) were studied by Fadell, Van Buskirk and Gillette during the 1960s, and are of particular interest due to the fact that they have torsion elements (which were characterised by Murasugi). We first prove that for all n epsilon N, the lower central series of the n-string braid group B(n)(S(2)) is constant from the commutator subgroup onwards. We obtain a presentation of Gamma(2)(Bn(S(2))), from which we observe that Gamma(2)(B(4)(S(2))) is a semi-direct product of the quaternion group Q(8) of order 8 by a free group F(2) of rank 2. As for the derived series of Bn(S(2)), we show that for all n >= 5, it is constant from the derived subgroup onwards. The group Bn(S(2)) being finite and soluble for n <= 3, the critical case is n = 4 for which the derived subgroup is the above semi-direct product Q(8) (sic) F(2). By proving a general result concerning the structure of the derived subgroup of a semi-direct product, we are able to determine completely the derived series of B(4)(S(2)) which from (B(4)(S(2)))(4) onwards coincides with that of the free group of rank 2, as well as its successive derived series quotients.