Microeconometric Studies on Unemployment and Business Cycles

Väitöskirja koostuu neljästä esseestä, joissa tutkitaan empiirisen työntaloustieteen kysymyksiä. Ensimmäinen essee tarkastelee työttömyysturvan tason vaikutusta työllistymiseen Suomessa. Vuonna 2003 ansiosidonnaista työttömyysturvaa korotettiin työntekijöille, joilla on pitkä työhistoria. Korotus oli keskimäärin 15 % ja se koski ensimmäistä 150 työttömyyspäivää. Tutkimuksessa arvioidaan korotuksen vaikutus vertailemalla työllistymisen todennäköisyyksiä korotuksen saaneen ryhmän ja vertailuryhmän välillä ennen uudistusta ja sen jälkeen. Tuloksien perusteella työttömyysturvan korotus laski työllistymisen todennäköisyyttä merkittävästi, keskimäärin noin 16 %. Korotuksen vaikutus on suurin työttömyyden alussa ja se katoaa kun oikeus korotettuun ansiosidonnaiseen päättyy. Toinen essee tutkii työttömyyden pitkän aikavälin kustannuksia Suomessa keskittyen vuosien 1991 – 1993 syvään lamaan. Laman aikana toimipaikkojen sulkeminen lisääntyi paljon ja työttömyysaste nousi yli 13 prosenttiyksikköä. Tutkimuksessa verrataan laman aikana toimipaikan sulkemisen vuoksi työttömäksi jääneitä parhaassa työiässä olevia miehiä työllisinä pysyneisiin. Työttömyyden vaikutusta tarkastellaan kuuden vuoden seurantajaksolla. Vuonna 1999 työttömyyttä laman aikana kokeneen ryhmän vuosiansiot olivat keskimäärin 25 % alemmat kuin vertailuryhmässä. Tulojen menetys johtui sekä alhaisemmasta työllisyydestä että palkkatasosta. Kolmannessa esseessä tarkastellaan Suomen 1990-luvun alun laman aiheuttamaa työttömyysongelmaa tutkimalla työttömyyden kestoon vaikuttavia tekijöitä yksilötasolla. Kiinnostuksen kohteena on työttömyyden rakenteen ja työn kysynnän muutoksien vaikutus keskimääräiseen kestoon. Usein oletetaan, että laman seurauksena työttömäksi jää keskimääräistä huonommin työllistyviä henkilöitä, jolloin se itsessään pidentäisi keskimääräistä työttömyyden kestoa. Tuloksien perusteella makrotason kysyntävaikutus oli keskeinen työttömyyden keston kannalta ja rakenteen muutoksilla oli vain pieni kestoa lisäävä vaikutus laman aikana. Viimeisessä esseessä tutkitaan suhdannevaihtelun vaikutusta työpaikkaonnettomuuksien esiintymiseen. Tutkimuksessa käytetään ruotsalaista yksilötason sairaalahoitoaineistoa, joka on yhdistetty populaatiotietokantaan. Aineiston avulla voidaan tutkia vaihtoehtoisia selityksiä onnettomuuksien lisääntymiselle noususuhdanteessa, minkä on esitetty johtuvan esim. stressin tai kiireen vaikutuksesta. Tuloksien perusteella työpaikkaonnettomuudet ovat syklisiä, mutta vain tiettyjen ryhmien kohdalla. Työvoiman rakenteen vaihtelu saattaa selittää osan naisten onnettomuuksien syklisyydestä. Miesten kohdalla vain vähemmän vakavat onnettomuudet ovat syklisiä, mikä saattaa johtua strategisesta käyttäytymisestä.

A heterogeneous computing approach to simulation of the Heston Stochastic Volatility Model

Stochastic volatility models are of fundamental importance to the pricing of derivatives. One of the most commonly used models of stochastic volatility is the Heston Model in which the price and volatility of an asset evolve as a pair of coupled stochastic differential equations. The computation of asset prices and volatilities involves the simulation of many sample trajectories with conditioning. The problem is treated using the method of particle filtering. While the simulation of a shower of particles is computationally expensive, each particle behaves independently making such simulations ideal for massively parallel heterogeneous computing platforms. In this paper, we present our portable Opencl implementation of the Heston model and discuss its performance and efficiency characteristics on a range of architectures including Intel cpus, Nvidia gpus, and Intel Many-Integrated-Core (mic) accelerators.

Is corporate rescue a realistic ideal? Business as usual in Australia and the United Kingdom

This paper seeks to review the operation of Australian corporate law rescue regimes in the context of those originally contemplated by Sir Kenneth Cork and more latterly in Australia, primarily in the hands of Ron Harmer. In doing so, it draws upon some of the observations made by Professor Fletcher in the second wave of 20th century corporate rescue reform in the United Kingdom.

An open source service oriented Mobile Business Intelligence Tool (MBIT)

Corporate executives require relevant and intelligent business information in real-time to take strategic decisions. They require the freedom to access this information anywhere and anytime. There is a need to extend this functionality beyond the office and on the fingertips of the decision makers. Mobile Business Intelligence Tool (MBIT) aims to provide these features in a flexible and cost-efficient manner. This paper describes the detailed architecture of MBIT to overcome the limitations of existing mobile business intelligence tools. Further, a detailed implementation framework is presented to realize the design. This research highlights the benefits of using service oriented architecture to design flexible and platform independent mobile business applications. © 2009 IEEE.

Exploring the role of lean thinking in sustainable business practice

A large and growing body of literature has explored corporate environmental sustainability initiatives and their impacts locally, regionally and internationally. While the initiatives provide examples of environmental stewardship and cleaner production, a large proportion of the organisations considered in this literature have ‘sustainable practice’, ‘environmental stewardship’ or similar goals as add-ons to their core business strategy. Furthermore, there is limited evidence of organizations embracing and internalising sustainability principles throughout their activities, products or services. Many challenges and barriers impede outcomes as whole system design or holistic approach to address environmental issues, with some evidence to suggest that targeted initiatives could be useful in making progress. ‘Lean management’ and other lean thinking strategies are often put forward as part of such targeted approaches. Within this context, the authors have drawn on current literature to undertake a review of lean thinking practices and how these influence sustainable business practice, considering the balance of environmental and economic aspects of triple bottom line in sustainability. The review methodology comprised firstly identifying theoretical constructs to be studied, developing criteria for categorising the literature, evaluating the findings within each category and considering the implications of the findings for areas for future research. The evaluation revealed two main areas of consideration: - a) lean manufacturing tools and environmental performance, and; - b) integrated lean and green models and approaches. However the review highlighted the ad hoc use of lean thinking within corporate sustainability initiatives, and established a knowledge gap in the form of a system for being able to consider different categories of environmental impacts in different industries and choose best lean tools or models for a particular problem in a way to ensure holistic exploration. The findings included a specific typology of lean tools for different environmental impacts, drawing from multiple case studies. Within this research context, this paper presents the findings of the review; namely the emerging consensus on the relationships between lean thinking and sustainable business practice. The paper begins with an overview of the current literature regarding lean thinking and its documented role in sustainable business practice. The paper then includes an analysis of lean and green paradigms in different industries; and describes the typology of lean tools used to reduce specific environmental impacts and, integrated lean and green models and approaches. The paper intends to encourage industrial practitioners to consider the merits and potential risks with using specific lean tools to reduce context-specific environmental impacts. It also aims to highlight the potential for further investigation with regard to comparing different industries and conceptualising a generalizable system for ensuring lean thinking initiatives build towards sustainable business practice.

An eroding social justice agenda: The case of physical education and health edu-business in schools

In this paper we draw on current research to explore notions of a socially just Health and Physical Education (HPE), in light of claims that a neoliberal globalisation promotes markets over the states, and a new individualism that privileges self-interest over the collective good. We also invite readers to consider United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s ambition for PE in light of preliminary findings from an Australian led research project exploring national and international patterns of outsourcing HPE curricula. Data were sourced from this international research project through a mixed method approach. Each external provider engaged in four phases of research activity: (a) Web-audits, (b) Interviews with external providers, (c) Network diagrams, and (d) School partner interviews and observations. Results We use these data to pose what we believe to be three emerging lines of inquiry and challenge for a socially just school HPE within neoliberal times. In particular our data indicates that the marketization of school HPE is strengthening an emphasis on individual responsibility for personal health, elevating expectations that schools and teachers will “fill the welfare gap” and finally, influencing the nature and purchase of educative HPE programs in schools. The apparent proliferation of external providers of health work, HPE resources and services reflects the rise and pervasiveness of neoliberalism in education. We conclude that this global HPE landscape warrants attention to investigate the extent to which external providers’ resources are compatible with schooling’s educative and inclusive mandates.

A playful side to twelfth-century mathematics

As editors of the book Lilavati's Daughters: The Women Scientists of India, reviewed by Asha Gopinathan (Nature 460, 1082; 2009), we would like to elaborate on the background to its title. Lilavati was a mathematical treatise of the twelfth century, composed by the mathematician and astronomer Bhaskaracharya (1114–85) — also known as Bhaskara II — who was a teacher of repute and author of several other texts. The name Lilavati, which literally means 'playful', is a surprising title for an early scientific book. Some of the mathematical problems posed in the book are in verse form, and are addressed to a girl, the eponymous Lilavati. However, there is little real evidence concerning Lilavati's historicity. Tradition holds that she was Bhaskaracharya's daughter and that he wrote the treatise to console her after an accident that left her unable to marry. But this could be a later interpolation, as the idea was first mentioned in a Persian commentary. An alternative view has it that Lilavati was married at an inauspicious time and was widowed shortly afterwards. Other sources have implied that Lilavati was Bhaskaracharya's wife, or even one of his students — raising the possibility that women in parts of the Indian subcontinent could have participated in higher education as early as eight centuries ago. However, given that Bhaskara was a poet and pedagogue, it is also possible that he chose to address his mathematical problems to a doe-eyed girl simply as a whimsical and charming literary device.

A model eliciting framework for integrating mathematics and robotics learning

Robotics is taught in many Australian ICT classrooms, in both primary and secondary schools. Robotics activities, including those developed using the LEGO Mindstorms NXT technology, are mathematics-rich and provide a fertile round for learners to develop and extend their mathematical thinking. However, this context for learning mathematics is often under-exploited. In this paper a variant of the model construction sequence (Lesh, Cramer, Doerr, Post, & Zawojewski, 2003) is proposed, with the purpose of explicitly integrating robotics and mathematics teaching and learning. Lesh et al.’s model construction sequence and the model eliciting activities it embeds were initially researched in primary mathematics classrooms and more recently in university engineering courses. The model construction sequence involves learners working collaboratively upon product-focussed tasks, through which they develop and expose their conceptual understanding. The integrating model proposed in this paper has been used to design and analyse a sequence of activities in an Australian Year 4 classroom. In that sequence more traditional classroom learning was complemented by the programming of LEGO-based robots to ‘act out’ the addition and subtraction of simple fractions (tenths) on a number-line. The framework was found to be useful for planning the sequence of learning and, more importantly, provided the participating teacher with the ability to critically reflect upon robotics technology as a tool to scaffold the learning of mathematics.

Building teachers' pedagogy practices in reasoning, to improve students' dispositions towards mathematics

Drawing on participatory action research, this study identifies the pedagogies necessary to advance reasoning, which is one of the proficiencies from the Australian Curriculum Mathematics, and explores how reasoning leads to greater productive disposition. With the current emphasis on STEM in schools, this research is timely. This thesis makes an original and substantive contribution to the understanding of why and how teachers can most effectively advance student proficiency in reasoning through targeted instructional strategies and style of instruction. The study explores the ways in which teacher practices, when focused on reasoning, enhance the disposition of students towards greater mathematical proficiency.

Business busts and U.S. auditors' interest in fraud detection: Evidence from the 20th century

We find evidence that U.S. auditors increased their attention to fraud detection during or immediately after the economic contractions of the 20th century, based on a content analysis of the 12 volumes of the 20th-century auditing reference series Montgomery’s Auditing. Contractions, however, do not seem to have affected auditors’ attention to the formal goal of fraud detection. The study suggests that auditors’ aversion to the heightened risks of fraud during economic downturns leads them to focus more on fraud detection at those times regardless of the particular guidance in formal audit standards. This study is the first to find some evidence of a recession-influenced difference between fraud detection practices and formal fraud detection goals.

Exploring the economic business case for incorporating biophilic urbanism

Linking sustainability, ecology and economics, this dissertation explored the decision making process for incorporating biophilic urbanism. Biophilic urbanism refers to the use of natural elements, or biophilic elements, as functional design features in urban landscapes to address climate change issues in rapidly growing economies. Informed by five global case studies, this dissertation introduced a novel term, ‘biophilic services’ to describe various characteristics that link the impact of biophilic elements to value. A model is also presented outlining underlying decision making logic for incorporating biophilic urbanism. These findings have immediate and practical implications for integrating biophilic urbanism into the fabric of the built environment.

Cost Sharing Mechanisms for Business Clusters with Strategic Firms

A business cluster is a co-located group of micro, small, medium scale enterprises. Such firms can benefit significantly from their co-location through shared infrastructure and shared services. Cost sharing becomes an important issue in such sharing arrangements especially when the firms exhibit strategic behavior. There are many cost sharing methods and mechanisms proposed in the literature based on game theoretic foundations. These mechanisms satisfy a variety of efficiency and fairness properties such as allocative efficiency, budget balance, individual rationality, consumer sovereignty, strategyproofness, and group strategyproofness. In this paper, we motivate the problem of cost sharing in a business cluster with strategic firms and illustrate different cost sharing mechanisms through the example of a cluster of firms sharing a logistics service. Next we look into the problem of a business cluster sharing ICT (information and communication technologies) infrastructure and explore the use of cost sharing mechanisms.

The potential benefits of divergent thinking and metacognitive skills in STEAM learning: A discussion paper

In the wake of an almost decade long economic downturn and increasing competition from developing economies, a new agenda in the Australian Government for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and research has emerged as a national priority. However, to art and design educators, the pervasiveness and apparent exclusivity of STEM can be viewed as another instance of art and design education being relegated to the margins of curriculum (Greene, 1995). In the spirit of interdisciplinarity, there have been some recent calls to expand STEM education to include the arts and design, transforming STEM into STEAM in education (Maeda, 2013). As with STEM, STEAM education emphasises the connections between previously disparate disciplines, meaning that education has been conceptualised in different ways, such as focusing on the creative design thinking process that is fundamental to engineering and art (Bequette & Bequette, 2012). In this article, we discuss divergent creative design thinking process and metacognitive skills, how, and why they may enhance learning in STEM and STEAM.

Detecting drift from event streams of unpredictable business processes

Existing business process drift detection methods do not work with event streams. As such, they are designed to detect inter-trace drifts only, i.e. drifts that occur between complete process executions (traces), as recorded in event logs. However, process drift may also occur during the execution of a process, and may impact ongoing executions. Existing methods either do not detect such intra-trace drifts, or detect them with a long delay. Moreover, they do not perform well with unpredictable processes, i.e. processes whose logs exhibit a high number of distinct executions to the total number of executions. We address these two issues by proposing a fully automated and scalable method for online detection of process drift from event streams. We perform statistical tests over distributions of behavioral relations between events, as observed in two adjacent windows of adaptive size, sliding along with the stream. An extensive evaluation on synthetic and real-life logs shows that our method is fast and accurate in the detection of typical change patterns, and performs significantly better than the state of the art.