"Wage growth must be offset by productivity growth" The determinants of real unit labour costs : a case of Singapore's manufacturing sector

Although unit labour costs (ULC) conventionally measures cost competitiveness, an estimation study that encompasses its determinants – real wages and the disaggregated drivers of labour productivity – remains an unexplored domain. Replicating Ordóñez et al.’s (2015) decomposition analysis of ULC into three determinants of real remuneration per worker growth, capital intensity growth, and total factor productivity growth, this report conducted Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation as an empirical analysis of competitiveness. Secondary data on Singapore’s manufacturing sector over the period of 1985 to 2014 was then utilized to study the three model variations of the overall manufacturing sector, two-digit industries, and the manufacturing sector as categorized by firm size. The main findings highlighted that increases in real wages are sustainable only if it is offset by proportionate increases in capital intensity and total factor productivity. Additionally, the results showed empirical evidence for the complementarity effect in large firms which allows them to be more cost-efficient. The results reaffirm the conclusions of Ordóñez et al.’s (2015) and Idson and Oi (1999), and are in agreement with Singapore’s choice to restructure the economy to be manpower-lean and more capital-intensive to be more cost-competitive.Bachelor of Art

How globalisation affects Singapore's unit labour costs in the manufacturing sector

Given the scale of how globalisation has transformed our industries, it was imperative for us to explore if success in interconnected markets rely solely on sustaining low unit labour costs (ULC). While low ULCs are conventionally equated with constrained wage growth for workers and high labour productivities, we conducted a novel estimation study that encompasses ULC's primary determinants - real remuneration growth, capital intensity growth and total factor productivity (TFP) growth - in assessing cost competitiveness. Our findings of Singapore's manufacturing sector up to the two-digit level revealed that cost competitiveness can be maintained if increases in real wages are offset by proportionate increases in capital intensity and TFP. The results reaffirm the conclusions of Ordóñez and his colleagues (2015) and provide empirical evidence for Singapore's on-going effort to restructure her economy. Hence, an economy primarily needs to be manpower-lean, more capital-intensive and foster high TFP growth to compete more effectively

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field