Twin peaks in regional unemployment and returns to scale in job-matching in the Czech Republic

The regional distribution of unemployment rates in the Czech Republic over the transition period is shown to be characterized by twin peaks, e.g. a high and a low unemployment equilibrium. The emer-gence of strong regional disparities at the beginning of the 1990s can, at least partially, be explained by regionally different degrees of competition between the emerging private sector and state-owned enterprises for skilled labor and the role of on-the-job transitions on the parameters of the matching function. This study presents a formalization of these effects and estimates empirical matching func-tions for a panel of labor market districts of the Czech Republic between January 1992 and July 1994. When time-series properties of unemployment to job exits are taken into account and dynamic panel estimators are applied, the Czech matching function is shown to exhibit increasing returns to scale, being consistent with multiple unemployment equilibria. Considering variables, which approximate the degree of job competition of employed workers in the search process, reveals strong heterogeneity of matching parameters with respect to the relative position of districts in the regional distribution of unemployment and vacancy rates, and the share of district employment in the private sector.

Externalities in the Matching of Workers and Firms in Britain

We provide empirical evidence on the nature of spatial externalities in a matching model for the UK. We use a monthly panel of outflows, unemployment and vacancy stocks data from the registers at Jobcentres in the UK; these are mapped on to travel-to-work areas. We find evidence of significant spill-over effects that are generally in line with the predictions of theory. For example, we find that conditional on local labour market conditions, high unemployment levels in neighbouring areas raise the number of local filled vacancies but lower the local outflow from unemployment.matching model, externalities, spatial dependence, unemployment outflows

Counseling and Referral Experiences of Southern Baptist Clergy

Pastors are often called upon to counsel people troubled by what may be a diagnosable and treatable condition. Current research suggests that pastoral counselors (PC) are reluctant to provide a referral to a mental health professional (MHP) citing that only 10% of help seekers are referred, leaving millions of Americans to suffer with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. The current literature indicates that PCs feel inadequately trained to counsel those with mental illnesses and the reluctance to refer is due to a distrust of MHPs. Currently, there is little qualitative research on pastors\u27 counseling and referral experiences. In this study, social constructionism and the theory of planned behavior were used to address 3 research questions by describing PCs\u27 experiences, describing PCs\u27 opinions of MHPs, and examining PCs\u27 referral decision criteria. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 9 Southern Baptist Convention PCs from the Atlanta Metropolitan area. Giorgi\u27s descriptive phenomenological method was used with a priori and emergent coding to analyze data collected from semistructured, face-to-face interviews. While feelings of inadequacy were confirmed by this research, it was discovered that PCs are motivated by a spiritual obligation to counsel and the reluctance to refer is not based on a distrust of MHPs, as cited by some research. Instead, PCs in this study prefer MHPs who offer Christian counseling. MHPs may want to consider incorporating spiritual sensitivity into their practice to increase PC collaboration. Increasing PC referrals may result in positive social change by decreasing the number of parishioners who suffer with undiagnosed and untreated mental illnesses

Dynamics of business politics : evidence from Chinese firm internationalisation to Brazil

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Centro de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação sobre as Américas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos Comparados sobre as Américas, 2019.Esta tese aborda o papel da política empresarial no contexto de multinacionais estatais chinesas, analisando o surgimento e a consolidação de uma estatal do setor energético e a sua internacionalização para o Brasil. O estudo de caso traça a evolução corporativa de seu surgimento inicial em 2002, como consequência das reformas do setor elétrico na China, até suas operações no Brasil em 2016. Os resultados se baseiam em mais de três anos de pesquisa de campo - incluindo entrevistas nos setores eletricos no Brasil e na China - além de extensa análise de documentos de arquivo e do governo. Usando uma abordagem institucionalista, a tese identifica que a política empresarial é uma ferramenta vital para ajudar a empresa a obter vantagens competitivas no contexto da internacionalização pela sua superposição dos níveis nacionais e internacionais. Na China, onde a embeddedness institucional da empresa era forte, a empresa desenvolveu a capacidade de perseguir sua agenda industrial e de internacionalização com relativa autonomia, embora confinada ao sistema estatal de negócios. No Brasil, onde sua embeddedness institucional era fraca, dependia de vantagem econômica comparativa, como por exemplo licitação de baixo custo, transferência de conhecimento tecnológico e apoio diplomático. Como resultado, o estudo mostra que a empresa é capaz de incrementar as suas capabilidades existentes e as capacidades industriais para participar do setor energético brasileiro, enquanto simultaneamente consolida sua posição doméstica na China. Além de contribuir para a literatura sobre a relação das empresas estatais com o Estado, o estudo colabora para debates mais amplos sobre as diferenças nas relações entre o Estado e os negócios, as origens políticas das decisões corporativas e a modernização industrial nas economias emergentes.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).This dissertation addresses the role of business politics in the context of Chinese state-owned multinationals by analyzing the emergence and consolidation of a state-owned energy company and its internationalisation to Brazil. The single case study traces the corporate evolution from its initial emergence in 2002 as a consequence of China's power sector reforms to its operations in Brazil in 2016. The findings build on more than three years of field research - including interviews in electricity supply sectors in Brazil and China - as well as extensive analysis of archival and government documents. Using an institutionalist approach, the dissertation identifies that business politics is an important resource to help the company gain competitive advantage. In China, where the company's institutional embeddedness was strong, the company developed the ability to pursue its industrial and internationalisation agenda with relative autonomy, albeit confined to the state-business relations. In Brazil, where its institutional embeddedness was weak, it depended on comparative economic advantage, such as low-cost bidding, technology knowledge transfer, and comparative political advantage, such as diplomatic support. As a result, the case study shows that the firm is able to incrementally build on existing strengths and industrial capabilities to participate in the Brazilian energy sector, while simultaneously consolidating its domestic position in China. In addition to contributing to the literature on the relationship between state-owned enterprises and the state, the study contributes to broader debates about the differences in state-business relations, the political origins of corporate decisions, and industrial upgrading in emerging economies

Student Perception of Digital Technology Usage in Higher Education Classrooms at Seattle Pacific University

Abstract Student Perception of Digital Technology Usage in Higher Education Classrooms at Seattle Pacific University By Jason Profit Chairperson of the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Nyaradzo Mvududu School of Education Since 2004, EDUCAUSE has been assessing the use of digital devices in higher education classrooms. Seattle Pacific University (SPU) had never participated in an ECAR Student Technology Survey until April, 2017. This study aimed to establish a baseline understanding of how SPU undergraduate students compare to other small, private, liberal arts institutions in regard to technology usage in the classroom. The broader purpose of this study was to add to the growing research involving the use of mobile digital devices within higher education classrooms. This study focused on the connectivism learning theory which seeks to explain the complex learning that takes place within all classrooms in a constantly and rapidly changing digital world. The author used the 2017 ECAR Student Technology Survey as the instrument to gather data. This research was a non-experimental, ex post facto study using a convenience sample in which participants provided survey data at one point in time regarding their perception of their instructors’ use of digital devices within a classroom, their perception of SPU’s learning management system and their preferred learning environment within a course. The researcher conducted a factor analysis to confirm the existence of factors before conducting a one-way MANOVA

Non-uniformity of job-matching in a transition economy- a nonparametric analysis for the czech republic

In this study, we explore the properties and development of the matching technology in the Czech Republic during the transition to a market economy. Nonparametric additive modelling allows us assess flexible functional forms, which comprise for instance CES and translog specifications. This enable us to evaluate the matching process locally for each combination of unemployment vacancies rather than being restricted to global coefficients. Special interest is devoted to analysis and economic determinants of regional variation in the returns to scale of the marching function. We find non-linearities in the partial adjustment process of unemployment outflows, and a negative coefficient on vacancies in some years. Moreover, we find locally increasing returns to scale in job-marching. Returns to scale are found to be negatively correlated to the share in employment in services and to outmigration, positively correlated to the employment share in industry, the unemployment rate and various measures of active labor market policies