An examination of the relationship between skills development and productivity in the construction industry

In recent years, the UK government skills policy has emphasised the role of workforce skills development as a key driver of economic success and improving productivity across all sectors of the economy. The importance of skills (as a vehicle for enhancing productivity performance) is highlighted within numerous government reports, such as Skills White Papers (2003 and 2005), in addition to the Leitch Review of Skills (2006) which coincided with the outset of this research. Thus, the aim of this research was to examine the relationship between skills development and productivity in the construction industry in order to assess the assumptions of government skills policy in the context of the sector. A multi-method approach was adopted in this research. This involved the analysis of: official construction statistics, levy/grant and financial accounts data of construction companies, in addition to a telephone survey. The main findings of the research are published in five peer reviewed academic papers, demonstrating the tenuous nature of the relationship between skills development and productivity performance, particularly when considering the heterogeneous nature of the construction industry. Government claims about the mono-causal relationship between skills and productivity should be treated with caution. A simple boost in qualification levels or participation rates of training is unlikely to lead to productivity improvements in the construction sector.However, skills development and training activities needs to be targeted and focused if the desired outcome of enhancing productivity performance is to be achieved. Construction companies needs to be proactive in addressing the skills and training needs of their business through drawing on the various support available through CITBConstructionSkills training grants or participating in appropriate skills/training initiatives, such as apprenticeship schemes. The provision of 'productivity-based' training grants should be considered by CITB-CS in order to prompt construction companies to consider training as a plausible means for enhancing their productivity performance. Finally, the recommendations presented in this thesis and areas for further research sets out the potential way forward in terms of advancing knowledge in this area

The Fair Labor Standards Act: Defining Professional for Overtime Pay Purposes Under Section 13(a)(1)

CRS_March_2004_FLSA_Defining_Professional_for_Overtime_Pay.pdf: 3739 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Personality Psychology and Economics

This paper explores the power of personality traits both as predictors and as causes of academic and economic success, health, and criminal activity. Measured personality is interpreted as a construct derived from an economic model of preferences, constraints, and information. Evidence is reviewed about the "situational specificity" of personality traits and preferences. An extreme version of the situationist view claims that there are no stable personality traits or preference parameters that persons carry across different situations. Those who hold this view claim that personality psychology has little relevance for economics. The biological and evolutionary origins of personality traits are explored. Personality measurement systems and relationships among the measures used by psychologists are examined. The predictive power of personality measures is compared with the predictive power of measures of cognition captured by IQ and achievement tests. For many outcomes, personality measures are just as predictive as cognitive measures, even after controlling for family background and cognition. Moreover, standard measures of cognition are heavily influenced by personality traits and incentives. Measured personality traits are positively correlated over the life cycle. However, they are not fixed and can be altered by experience and investment. Intervention studies, along with studies in biology and neuroscience, establish a causal basis for the observed effect of personality traits on economic and social outcomes. Personality traits are more malleable over the life cycle compared to cognition, which becomes highly rank stable around age 10. Interventions that change personality are promising avenues for addressing poverty and disadvantage.personality, behavioral economics, cognitive traits, wages, economic success, human development, person-situation debate

Applications in Macroeconometrics

The title of this work, Applications in Macroeconometrics, reflects the unifying theme of my essays: new, and original research in applied macroeconomics, and applied econometrics. This dissertation consists of three chapters specifically looking at producer price inflation pass-through, technical progress, and moral hazard in United States critical banking markets. My first chapter seeks to quantify the pass-through (PT) and causal direction of producer to consumer prices. We further disaggregate PPI down to commodity-specific indices to quantify disaggregated PPI PT coefficients. By estimating an augmented Phillips Curve, we find short-run PT of aggregate PPI to be around 7 percent. Using a VARX framework, we conduct Toda-Yamamoto tests that show evidence of bidirectional causality between CPI and PPI inflation. When disaggregating down to commodity-specific indices, we find several PPI series that exhibit unidirectional causality and express stronger pass-through coefficients than aggregate PPI. My second chapter (coauthored with Scott Schuh and Brad Humphreys) expands a niche literature that argues how technical progress and productivity growth--which are ordinarily arduous to measure--can be expressed in athletic outcomes. In particular, we formalize the link between race outcomes, and total factor productivity (TFP) using deterministic and stochastic trend econometric models. A bivariate error-correction model reveals evidence that race outcomes and TFP share a common trend, and that race outcomes adjust to TFP but not vice versa. These results suggest aggregate technological progress partially diffuses to firms and industries, and motivates further investigation of the underlying structural relationships. My third chapter contributes new evidence to the literatures on banking performance, and too-big-to-fail (TBTF) in US banking. We estimate a restricted translog semiparametric smooth coefficient seemingly unrelated regressions model (SPSC SUR), wherein model elasticities are functions of nonperforming assets, a proxy for moral hazard, to derive nonperformance-adjusted returns-to-scale estimates for critical market banks from 2001 through 2021. Over our full sample, the median critical market bank tends to operate under increasing returns-to-scale while half of all critical market banks exhibit slight decreasing returns-to-scale. Results taken over the past two decades suggest that most TBTF banks have exhausted their economies of scale concurrent with the shrinking competitive landscape

A manifesto for the creative economy

The UK\u27s creative economy is one of its great national strengths, historically deeply rooted and accounting for around one-tenth of the whole economy. It provides jobs for 2.5 million people – more than in financial services, advanced manufacturing or construction – and in recent years, this creative workforce has grown four times faster than the workforce as a whole. But behind this success lies much disruption and business uncertainty, associated with digital technologies. Previously profitable business models have been swept away, young companies from outside the UK have dominated new internet markets, and some UK creative businesses have struggled to compete. UK policymakers too have failed to keep pace with developments in North America and parts of Asia. But it is not too late to refresh tired policies. This manifesto sets out our 10-point plan to bolster one of the UK\u27s fastest growing sectors

The Winner's Choice: Sustainable Economic Strategies for Successful 21st Century Regions

Throughout the second half of the 20th Century, urbanization, new technologies, rapid labor-saving productivity growth in primary industries, and improved highways combined to create large-scale rural-urban functionally integrated regions. These forces have raised the stakes for regions in their pursuit of economic development and growth, making successful regional policy even more important. Changes to the governance structures consistent with the increased interdependence within broad rural-urban regions will improve the region's competitiveness; adopting fad-based approaches and policies aimed at “picking winners” will be less fruitful. Going forward, continuing globalization and environmental sustainability have the potential to fundamentally reshape relative regional attractiveness.Regional Policy, Rural Development

The Winners' Choice: Sustainable Economic Strategies for Successful 21st Century Regions

Throughout the second half of the 20th Century, urbanization, new technologies, rapid labor-saving productivity growth in primary industries, and improved highways combined to create large-scale rural-urban functionally integrated regions. These forces have raised the stakes for regions in their pursuit of economic development and growth, making successful regional policy even more important. Changes to the governance structures consistent with the increased interdependence within broad rural-urban regions will improve the region's competitiveness; adopting fad-based approaches and policies aimed at “picking winners†will be less fruitful. Going forward, continuing globalization and environmental sustainability have the potential to fundamentally reshape relative regional attractiveness.