Policy, Institutional Factors and Earnings Mobility

This paper uses ECHP and OECD data for 14 EU countries to explore the role of labour market factors in explaining cross-national differences in the dynamic structure of earnings: in permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility. Based on ECHP, minimum distance estimator is used to decompose earnings inequality into the permanent and transitory components and compute earnings mobility. The predicted components together with the institutional OECD data are used in a non-linear least squares setting to estimate the relationship between permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility, and labour market policy and institutional factors. The results revealed a highly complex framework, where institutions interact significantly not only with each other and with the overall institutional setting, but also with the macroeconomic shocks in shaping the pattern of the three labour market outcomes.Panel data, wage distribution, inequality, mobility, labour market institutions, labour market policies

Institutional Factors Affecting Agricultural Land Markets

This paper analyses the main institutional factors affecting the rental and sales markets for agricultural land. Particular attention is paid to the effects of the common agricultural policy on land markets, and more specifically the underlying mechanism through which agricultural subsidies are capitalised into land values and farmland rents. This paper also provides a broad overview of the empirical studies that estimate the impact of agricultural support policies on land rents and land prices. Various other fundamental factors that affect agricultural land markets are discussed, such as land market institutions and regulations, transaction costs, credit market constraints and levels of profitability, the legal means of contract enforcement and land use alternatives.

Policy, Institutional Factors and Earnings Mobility

This paper uses ECHP and OECD data for 14 EU countries to explore the role of labour market factors in explaining cross-national differences in the dynamic structure of earnings: in permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility. Based on ECHP, minimum distance estimator is used to decompose earnings inequality into the permanent and transitory components and compute earnings mobility. The predicted components together with the institutional OECD data are used in a non-linear least squares setting to estimate the relationship between permanent inequality, transitory inequality and earnings mobility, and labour market policy and institutional factors. The results revealed a highly complex framework, where institutions interact significantly not only with each other and with the overall institutional setting, but also with the macroeconomic shocks in shaping the pattern of the three labour market outcomes.panel data, wage distribution, inequality, mobility, labour market institutions, labour market policies

Political and institutional factors affecting systems engineering

External groups have a significant impact on NASA's programs. Ten groups affecting NASA are identified, and examples are given for some of the them. Methods of dealing with these external inputs are discussed, the most important being good and open two way communications and an objective attitude on the part of the NASA participants. The importance of planning ahead, of developing rapport with these groups, and of effective use of NASA contractors is covered. The need for an overall strategic plan for the U.S. space program is stressed

Shaping Earnings Mobility: Policy and Institutional Factors

This paper explores the role of labour market policy and institutional factors in explaining cross-national differences in earnings mobility across Europe in the 1990s using the European Community Household Panel and OECD data on institutional variables. More regulation in both labour and product markets emerge as sources of labour market rigidity, being positively associated with earnings immobility and exacerbating the adverse effects of macro-economic shocks on earnings mobility. Unionization is found to promote earnings mobility, effect, however, counteracted in periods with adverse macroeconomic shocks. Corporatism is found to promote mobility and to counteract the adverse effects of macroeconomic shocks on earnings mobility. The generosity of the unemployment benefit is found to limit the adverse effects of macroeconomic shocks on earnings mobility.Wage Distribution, Inequality, Earnings Mobility, Labour Market Institutions; Labour Market Policies

FEFC: review of geographical and institutional factors: staffing costs

"A wide range of factors determine the wages paid to employees in Further Education (FE) colleges throughout England. Such factors include the differences in skills and abilities of employees, local labour market pressures and the relative differences in attractiveness of areas, for example some areas have a higher cost of living than elsewhere. The main objective of this study is to provide a rigorous analytical and statistical analysis of the size and compass of such ‘regional’ wage differences." - Page 1

How transition paths differ: enterprise performance in Russia and China

We use enterprise data to analyse and contrast the determinants of enterprise performance in China and Russia. We find that in China, enterprise growth and efficiency is associated with rapid increases in factor inputs, but not correlated with ownership or institutional factors. However, in Russia, enterprise growth is not associated with increases in factor quantity (except for labor) or quality. The main determinants of company performance are instead demand and institutional factors at a regional level. We explore possible interpretations of these results, including the impact of institutional and managerial quality

Modelling leadership and institutional factors in endogenous regional development.

Theories and approaches to endogenous growth and regional development tend to neglect or at best underplay the role of leadership and the way institutional factors are considered is usually simplistic. This paper builds on work the authors have been developing over the last year or so to develop a model framework of regional economic development that explicitly incorporates leadership and institutional factors along with the consideration of resource endowments and market fit and of entrepreneurship. An approach to operationalizing the model is proposed.

FEFC: review of geographical and institutional factors: staffing costs, final report

In this report Maxwell Stamp has attempted to provide a comprehensive analysis and approach to calculating regional wage differentials for the FE sector. We have examined the conceptual and analytical issues involved in this area and have reviewed the work carried out by other institutions that take into account regional pay differences in their funding formulas. Finally, we have examined the FEFC data on pay and employee characteristics and used statistical techniques to estimate regional pay differences in the FE sector. The details of the ‘new’ FEFC weighting allowances are set in Section 4 and summarised in Table 4.1. They show high allowances for London, and that London can be split into three areas, an inner, middle and outer core. The allowances for the inner and middle cores are significantly above the current allowances used in the 1998/9 funding formula. Maxwell Stamp also find moderate allowances for most of the counties surrounding London. There is also some empirical support in the FEFC data for an allowance for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. However, the balance of the evidence from other studies does not indicate a high value for both areas. Therefore, our recommendations would support the case for new allowances based on the FEFC results set out in Table 4.1 for the London area and the surrounding counties. On balance, we believe the case for an allowance for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands is less robust

Are regional institutional factors determinants of the capital structure of SMEs?

This paper analyses the role that institutional factors play in explaining differences in the capital structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across regions belonging to a single country. Specifically, it studies the effect of the development of the financial sector and of the economic situation on leverage of firms. Furthermore, the standard firm-factor determinants of debt, such as firm size, asset structure, profitability, growth, business risk and age are also incorporated. For this empirical study, we use a sample of 638 SMEs representing every Spanish region for the period 1999-2007, and apply the panel data methodology. Our results suggest that the capital structure depends on the regional financial sector and the regional economic situation which implies that institutional factors at regional level help to better explain financing decisions of SMEs