Optimal Fiscal Policy with Rationing in the Labor Market

Published as an article in: Topics in Macroeconomics, 2005, vol. 5, issue 1, article 17.

Honesty After a Labor Relationship

Al final de un experimento controlado, donde se contrataron asistentes de investigación para la codificación de noticias de los periódicos en línea durante un mes, el experimentador-empleador los invitó a lanzar un dado y reportar el resultado con el fin de pagar en efectivo una cantidad proporcional y lineal en el número reportado, de 1 a 6. Otro grupo (control) de estudiantes similares, fue invitado a realizar la misma tarea, pero sin tener relación laboral previa con el experimentador-empleador. Nuestro grupo de tratamiento mostró niveles promedio más altos de honestidad, ya que la distribución de los números reportados por estos fue menos sesgada a la derecha. Es decir, el grupo de relaciones de trabajo fue más propenso a reportar números que están más cerca de la distribución uniforme (honesta) que el grupo de control, y que otros estudios con este tipo de experimento. Se conjetura que la relación laboral del grupo de tratamiento indujo mayores niveles de honestidad entre los participantes. Una de las posibles razones es que la relación de trabajo creada para el grupo de estudiantes de tratamiento incluía una serie de choques que implicaba la posibilidad de desempleo involuntario, generando incentivos para que los estudiantes interpretaran la honestidad como un rasgo que podría ser valorado en el mercado de trabajo. Este artículo contribuye a la creciente literatura sobre la comprensión de los motivos de la honestidad y el engaño.

Informality in the City: a Theoretical Analysis

This thesis theoretically studies the relationship between the informal sector (both in the labor and the housing market) and the city structure.

Políticas de empregabilidade: o estado da arte na virada do século

O crescimento do desemprego involuntário condiciona preocupações recentes com políticas de empregabilidade. Estratégias na regulação do mercado de trabalho e a terceira geração na Teoria do Capital Humano buscam codificar e/ou equacionar essas políticas. O surgimento do conceito de Economia Plural oferece uma revisão para a dinâmica do setor informal, tradicional ou moderno, na geração de empregos atípicos. A noção de Economia Plural ressalta também o papel catalizador das empresas sociais e organizações não governamentais na reinserção dos excluídos sociais. As flexibilizações do tempo de trabalho em políticas de empregabilidade são desenvolvidas através de reflexões, impactos comportamentais na qualidade de vida e experiências negociadas nos setores metalúrgico, de distribuição e de prestação de serviços de saúde. Desafios se colocam para o poder público e entidades de classe na regulamentação e ou negociações da empregabilidades atípica.

Three applications of the marginal cost of public funds concept

This paper illustrates the use of the marginal cost of public funds concept in three contexts. First, we extend Parry’s (2003) analysis of the efficiency effects excise taxes in the U.K., primarily by incorporating the distortion caused by imperfect competition in the cigarette market and distinguishing between the MCFs for per unit and ad valorem taxes on cigarettes. Our computations show, contrary to the standard result in the literature, that the per unit tax on cigarettes has a slightly lower MCF than the ad valorem tax on cigarettes. Second, we calculate the MCF for a payroll tax in a labour market with involuntary unemployment, using the Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984) efficiency wage model as our framework. Our computations, based on Canadian labour market data, indicate that incorporating the distortion caused by involuntary unemployment raises the MCF by 25 to 50 percent. Third, we derive expressions for the distributionally-weighted MCFs for the exemption level and the marginal tax rate for a “flat tax”, such as the one that has been adopted by the province of Alberta. This allows us to develop a restricted, but tractable, version of the optimal income tax problem. Computations indicate that the optimal marginal tax rate may be quite high, even with relatively modest pro-poor distributional preferences.

O progama empregador de última instância: Sua relevância em tempos de crises financeiras e sua aplicabilidade ao Brasil.

This dissertation aims to continue the work developed previously concerning the properties of the employer of last resort program (ELR) that would be able to promote a complete elimination of the involuntary unemployment from the economy, so much of the unemployment generated by structural problems as for problems of the conjuncture, as the present world financial crisis. Besides, it intends to deepen the study concerning the applicability of that program to the Brazilian economy, estimating their potential target population in the country and the cost with the workers' remuneration. It was presented the ELR theoretical-conceptual structure and a debate concerning their economic viability; the program properties that turn it more efficient than the onetary and fiscal policies (PMFs) in the fight against involuntary unemployment in times of financial crises; a study on its applicability to the Brazilian socioeconomic specificities and an estimate of their potential target population and of the annual wage cost in the country, as a whole, and in the specific case of the Northeast region and of the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

A proposta do estado empregador de ultima instância e o experimentalismo democrático: uma reflexão teórica sobre a compatibilidade desses dois programas

This paper aims to make a theoretical reflection on the theoretical compatibility between the program State Employer of Last Resort (ELR) and the Democratic experimentalism (ED). The ED arises in political thought as an alternative to neo-liberal and social democratic programs in order to rescue the discussion about the institutional organization of society and the market economy. About the involuntary unemployment, it proposes tax changes incidents on payroll and proposes work fronts to the most vulnerable or poorly trained. The hypothesis of this paper is that this approach is compatible with the ELR program, the post- Keynesian line. The ELR is presented as transgression of the mainstream of economic thought by proposing that the State acts as guarantor of employment, working as a stabilizing anchor for the economy. On the edge, the ELR proposes eliminate completely involuntary unemployment. The implementation of the ELR, however, requires the construction of institutions that aim to remake the market economy, as well as deepen and energize politics and democracy, goals that are part of the ED program. Thus, the ED would, in theory, an environment conducive to innovative policies guarantors of training and occupation of the individual, essential for their emancipation institutional environment. In Brazil, which has serious infrastructure problems and qualification of manpower, such a program has enormous potential benefit. However when transposed to the Northeast of Brazil through the Plan for the region based on the principles of the ED and the hypothetical coupling to the ELR could not confirm or reject the hypothesis sub-compatibility of these two theoretical frameworks. The findings point to a partial convergence between these two programs

The effect of involuntary job loss on smoking intensity and relapse.

AIMS: To assess the impact of involuntary job loss due to plant closure or layoff on relapse to smoking and smoking intensity among older workers. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, SAMPLE: Data come from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of older Americans aged 51-61 in 1991 followed every 2 years beginning in 1992. The 3052 participants who were working at the initial wave and had any history of smoking comprise the main sample. METHODS: Primary outcomes are smoking relapse at wave 2 (1994) among baseline former smokers, and smoking quantity at wave 2 among baseline current smokers. As reported at the wave 2 follow-up, 6.8% of the sample experienced an involuntary job loss between waves 1 and 2. FINDINGS: Older workers have over two times greater odds of relapse subsequent to involuntary job loss than those who did not. Further, those who were current smokers prior to displacement that did not obtain new employment were found to be smoking more cigarettes, on average, post-job loss. CONCLUSIONS: The stress of job loss, along with other significant changes associated with leaving one's job, which would tend to increase cigarette consumption, must outweigh the financial hardship which would tend to reduce consumption. This highlights job loss as an important health risk factor for older smokers.

Obligatory dangerousness criteria in the involuntary commitment and treatment provisions of Australian mental health legislation

Abstract Objective Involuntary commitment and treatment (IC&T) of people affected by mental illness may have reference to considerations of dangerousness and/or need for care. While attempts have been made to classify mental health legislation according to whether IC&T has obligatory dangerousness criteria, there is no standardised procedure for making classification decisions. The aim of this study was to develop and trial a classification procedure and apply it to Australia's mental health legislation. Method We developed benchmarks for ‘need for care’ and ‘dangerousness’ and applied these benchmarks to classify the mental health legislation of Australia's 8 states and territories. Our focus was on civil commitment legislation rather than criminal commitment legislation. Results One state changed its legislation during the course of the study resulting in two classificatory exercises. In our initial classification, we were able to classify IC&T provisions in legislation from 6 of the 8 jurisdictions as being based on either ‘need for care’ or ‘dangerousness’. Two jurisdictions used a terminology that was outside the established benchmarks. In our second classification, we were also able to successfully classify IC&T provisions in 6 of the 8 jurisdictions. Of the 6 Acts that could be classified, all based IC&T on ‘need for care’ and none contained mandatory ‘dangerousness’ criteria. Conclusions The classification system developed for this study provided a transparent and probably reliable means of classifying 75% of Australia's mental health legislation. The inherent ambiguity of the terminology used in two jurisdictions means that further development of classification may not be possible until the meaning of the terms used has been addressed in case law. With respect to the 6 jurisdictions for which classification was possible, the findings suggest that Australia's mental health legislation relies on ‘need for care’ and not on ‘dangerousness’ as the guiding principle for IC&T. Keywords: Involuntary commitment; Mental health legislation; Dangerousness; Australia