Migration, Social Security, and Economic Growth

This paper studies the effect of population aging on economic performance in an overlapping-generations model with international migration. Fertility is endogenized so that immigrants and natives can have different fertility rates. Fertility is an important determinant to the tax burden of social security since it affects the quantity and quality of future tax payers. We find that introducing immigrants into the economy can reduce the tax burden of social security. If life expectancy (or the replacement ratio) is high enough, the growth rate of GDP per worker for an economy with international migration will be higher than for a closed economy. Regarding migration policies, our numerical results indicate that economic growth rate of GDP per worker will first decrease then increase as the flow of immigrants increases. Increasing the quality of immigrants will enhance economic growth.Economic growth; Fertility; Migration; Social security.

Key worker services for disabled children: what characteristics of services lead to better outcomes for children and families?

Background: Research has shown that families of disabled children who have a key worker benefit from this service and recent policy initiatives emphasize the importance of such services. However, research is lacking on which characteristics of key worker schemes for disabled children are related to better outcomes for families. Methods: A postal questionnaire was completed by 189 parents with disabled children who were receiving a service in seven key worker schemes in England and Wales. Path analysis was used to investigate associations between characteristics of the services and outcomes for families (satisfaction with the service, impact of key worker on quality of life, parent unmet need, child unmet need). Results: The four path models showed that key workers carrying out more aspects of the key worker role, appropriate amounts of contact with key workers, regular training, supervision and peer support for key workers, and having a dedicated service manager and a clear job description for key workers were associated with better outcomes for families. Characteristics of services had only a small impact on child unmet need, suggesting that other aspects of services were affecting child unmet need. Conclusions: Implications for policy and practice are discussed, including the need for regular training, supervision and peer support for key workers and negotiated time and resources for them to carry out the role. These influence the extent to which key workers carry out all aspects of the key worker's role and their amount of contact with families, which in turn impact on outcomes

Compensating Differentials in Emerging Labor and Housing Markets: Estimates of Quality of Life in Russian Cities

The existence of compensating differentials in Russian labor and housing markets is examined using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) augmented by city and regional-specific characteristics from other sources. While Russia is undergoing transition to a market economy, we find ample evidence that compensating differentials for location-specific amenities exist in the labor and housing markets. Our estimated wage and housing value equations suggest that workers are compensated for differences in climate, environmental conditions, ethnic conflicts, crime rates, and health conditions, after controlling for worker characteristics, occupation, industry, and economic conditions, and various housing characteristics. Moreover, we find evidence that these compensating differentials exist even after controlling for the regional pay differences (“regional coefficients”) used by the Russian government to compensate workers for living in regions that are designated as less desirable. We rank 953 Russian cities by quality of life as measured by a group of eleven amenities. Sizable variation in the estimated quality of life across cities exists. The highest ranked cities tend to be in relatively warm areas and areas in the western, European part of the country. In addition, our quality of life index is positively correlated with net migration into a region, suggesting workers are attracted to amenity-rich locations. Overall, we find that sufficient market equilibrium exists and a model of compensating differentials with controls for disequilibrium yields useful information about values of location-specific amenities and quality of life in this large transition economy.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40006/2/wp620.pd

The space station: Human factors and productivity

Human factor researchers and engineers are making inputs into the early stages of the design of the Space Station to improve both the quality of life and work on-orbit. Effective integration of the human factors information related to various Intravehicular Activity (IVA), Extravehicular Activity (EVA), and teletobotics systems during the Space Station design will result in increased productivity, increased flexibility of the Space Stations systems, lower cost of operations, improved reliability, and increased safety for the crew onboard the Space Station. The major features of productivity examined include the cognitive and physical effort involved in work, the accuracy of worker output and ability to maintain performance at a high level of accuracy, the speed and temporal efficiency with which a worker performs, crewmember satisfaction with their work environment, and the relation between performance and cost

Organizational Culture and Telecommuters\u27 Quality of Work Life and Professional Isolation

While much has been studied and written about the adjustments managers must make when supervising remote workers in virtual work arrangements, little has been written about the potential change in the organizational culture and the effect the culture has on the virtual worker\u27s quality of work life and professional isolation. Not only may culture affect the implementation and success of telecommuting arrangements, but the increased isolation and independence of a virtual worker may impact the culture surrounding remote workers and create an organizational subculture. This study examines the relationship between quality of work life, professional isolation, and an organization\u27s cultural values surrounding telecommuters and non-telecommuters

#BlackWorkersMatter

Asserting that Black lives matter also means that the quality of those lives matters, and economic opportunity is inextricably linked to quality of life. Decades after the Civil Rights Movement and the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, structural barriers still hold back African Americans in the workplace.The authors of this report provide some broader context on the black jobs crisis, including its origins and effects; the particular impact of the crisis on African American women; the declining state of black workers and their organizations, particularly within the labor movement; and the implications of the twin crises of joblessness and poverty-level wages for organizing. This report also features examples of how black worker organizations are combining strategic research, services, policy advocacy, and organizing to help black workers weather the economic storms and improve the quality of jobs that are open to African Americans over the long term

Job quality in Europe: the North-South divide

This paper examines the job quality in Europe. It is based on the results of the Fourth European Foundation Survey on working conditions covering different dimensions including work organisation, job content, autonomy at work, aspects of worker dignity, working time and work-life balance, working conditions and safety in the workplace. The results point to the existence of great diversity in the job quality across Europe and the north-south divide. The job quality differences are related to the variety of social and institutional contexts. The countries of Southern Europe, with their social and institutional contexts falling within the scope of the Mediterranean model, generally present indicators below the European average contrasting Nordic countries having the best job quality indicators.Job Quality, North and South European Countries, Social and Institutional Context

The Potential of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in Labor Adjustment Policy

[Excerpt] Through labor-management policy, the management is responsible for establishing mutually beneficial relations between workers and employers. Establishing proper relations from the perspective of the worker refers to protecting workers’ rights by guaranteeing their quality of life. Areas of labor-management policy set by management include those that appropriate wages and labor conditions; stipulate and settle collective relations between management and workers; and establish industrial safety and workers’ compensation. Management also sets employment policies related to labor welfare, vocational training, employment security, maintenance of employment agencies, and other policies that push forward human resource development. When setting these policies, management seeks to find a solution that is mutually beneficial for workers and employers. However, in the case of downsizing, there are not sufficient guidelines specific or objective enough for both workers and employers to agree on. Therefore, it is difficult to resolve differences when it comes to labor settlements. The following case study hypothetically illustrates ways in which the management could resolve labor settlements that are jointly accepted by workers and employers

Costa Rica, superstar? some reflections on the global drivers and bottlenecks of the happy planet index

For some years now, the Happy Planet Organization presents the so-called ‘Happy Planet Index’ (HPI), which is an index of measuring the trade-off between ecological footprint data and life quality (Happy Life Years, HLYE). Costa Rica emerges from these comparisons as the world’s ‘best practice nation’, using a minimum amount of natural resources to achieve a maximum of human happiness. So is Costa Rica the pathway for humanity? There are shortcomings in the formula, with which the index is calculated (Happy Life Years divided by Ecological Footprint per capita, and some constants added). Using a re-formulation, the global ranking with Costa Rica on top is indeed confirmed. We present some evidence on the cross-national drivers and bottlenecks of our re-formulated Happy Planet Index (HPI) performance on a global scale: a wide variety of standard globalization variables have little influence on HPI performance. Big countries with large population resources perform somewhat better, and low military expenditures per GDP are a constraint on HPI performance. Beneficial effects are also wielded by received worker remittances. Efficiency tends to increase and then to decrease with rising development levels.Ecological and environmental phenomena; ecological footprint; globalization; Happy Planet Index; inequality; migration; military expenditures

Bringing Primary Care Home: The Medical House Call Program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center

MedStar's program offers round-the-clock access to a care team comprising a geriatrician, nurse practitioner, and social worker. The house calls reveal and address problems that are missed when care is poorly coordinated, enabling team members to identify social supports for patients that can improve quality of life, reduce the burden on caregivers, and head off problems that can lead to high-cost institutional care.Based on the cost savings it achieved, the program became one of the models for the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation's Independence at Home Demonstration, which is testing whether providing primary care at home to frail elderly patients with multiple chronic conditions or advanced illnesses improves outcomes and lowers health care spending. MedStar participates in the demonstration as part of a consortium that includes Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Pennsylvania Health System, both of which are implementing an approach similar to MedStar's. The consortium is one of nine participating groups to earn a share of the savings they produced for Medicare