Testing Fair Wage Theory

Fairness considerations often are invoked to explain wage differences that appear unrelated to worker characteristics or job conditions, but non-experimental tests of fair wage models are rare and weak because of the limits of available market-generated data. In particular, such data rarely permit researchers to (a) identify suitable reference points that employees and employers might use in determining what is fair and (b) control for employees’ marginal output and its value. This study utilizes a unique dataset from the baseball labor market that solves both problems. We find no support for fair wage theory in this market. We also find that fairness premia can be illusory: Wages appear to be adjusted upward for reasons of fairness in regressions that control for variation in individuals’ physical output, but such premia evaporate when the value of that output (which can be market- or firm-specific) is held constant. This suggests that avoiding proxy measures of workers’ marginal revenue products in wage studies might reduce the number of labor market "anomalies" economists must resolve.fairness, efficiency wages, wage differentials

Quantum dynamics of the avian compass

The ability of migratory birds to orient relative to the Earth's magnetic field is believed to involve a coherent superposition of two spin states of a radical electron pair. However, the mechanism by which this coherence can be maintained in the face of strong interactions with the cellular environment has remained unclear. This Letter addresses the problem of decoherence between two electron spins due to hyperfine interaction with a bath of spin 1/2 nuclei. Dynamics of the radical pair density matrix are derived and shown to yield a simple mechanism for sensing magnetic field orientation. Rates of dephasing and decoherence are calculated ab initio and found to yield millisecond coherence times, consistent with behavioral experiments

Labor Cost and Technology Adoption: Least Squares Monte Carlo Method for the Case of Sugarcane Mechanization in Florida

The prospect of immigration reform has renewed farmers’ concerns of serious labor shortages and cost increases, which may urge highly labor-intensive specialty crop farmers to switch to less-labor-intensive technology. The large-scale mechanization of the Florida sugarcane harvest during the 1970s/80s serves as an historical example of how technologies evolved due to changes in local labor market conditions. We analyze the dynamic decision-making process of sugarcane farmers in the relevant period using net present value (NPV) approach and real options approach (ROA) with least squares Monte Carlo (LSMC).Crop Production/Industries, Labor and Human Capital, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

PROPOSED IMMIGRATION POLICY REFORM & FARM LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES

The issue of legalization for unauthorized farm workers is examined in this paper. The analytical framework uses a treatment effects approach which casts legalization as a treatment under the assumption of heterogeneity. The results show an overall positive impact of legalization on farm worker wage outcomes and with the expected positive sorting on the gains from legal status.International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital,

Labor Cost and Technology Adoption: Real Options Approach for the Case of Sugarcane Mechanization in Florida

Specialty crop farmers have expressed concern about labor shortages and cost increases which may arise with immigration reform. The large-scale mechanization of the Florida sugarcane harvest during the 1970s/80s serves as an historical example of how technologies evolved due to changes in local labor market conditions.Crop Production/Industries, Labor and Human Capital, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Factors affecting continued use of ceramic water purifiers distributed to Tsunami-affected Communities in Sri Lanka

Objectives  There is little information about continued use of point-of-use technologies after disaster relief efforts. After the 2004 tsunami, the Red Cross distributed ceramic water filters in Sri Lanka. This study determined factors associated with filter disuse and evaluate the quality of household drinking water. Methods  A cross-sectional survey of water sources and treatment, filter use and household characteristics was administered by in-person oral interview, and household water quality was tested. Multivariable logistic regression was used to model probability of filter non-use. Results  At the time of survey, 24% of households (107/452) did not use filters; the most common reason given was breakage (42%). The most common household water sources were taps and wells. Wells were used by 45% of filter users and 28% of non-users. Of households with taps, 75% had source water Escherichia coli in the lowest World Health Organisation risk category (<1/100 ml), vs. only 30% of households reporting wells did. Tap households were approximately four times more likely to discontinue filter use than well households. Conclusion  After 2 years, 24% of households were non-users. The main factors were breakage and household water source; households with taps were more likely to stop use than households with wells. Tap water users also had higher-quality source water, suggesting that disuse is not necessarily negative and monitoring of water quality can aid decision-making about continued use. To promote continued use, disaster recovery filter distribution efforts must be joined with capacity building for long-term water monitoring, supply chains and local production

Farm Employment Transitions: A Markov Chain Analysis with Self-Selectivity

A stationary, first-order Markov chain model with selection bias correction for legal status is estimated by maxixmum likelihood methods using the National Agricultural Worker Survey data for 1989-2004 to evaluate the likelihood of workers staying in U.S. agriculture by legal status. Although the conditional steady state probability in US agriculture is highest for uanauthorized workers, there is little difference between legal statuses. Simulations of the estimated model indicate that a legal status change for unauthorized workers would result in only small changes in the steady state probability of being in US agriculture, particularly after 2001.Labor and Human Capital,

Charter Schools and the Road to College Readiness: The Effects on College Preparation, Attendance and Choice

The analysis here focuses on Boston's charter high schools. For the purpose of this report, an analysis of high schools is both a necessity and a virtue. It is necessary to study high schools because most students applying to charters in earlier grades are not yet old enough to generate data on postsecondary outcomes. Charter high schools are also of substantial policy interest: a growing body of research argues that high school may be too late for cost-effective human capital interventions. Indeed, impact analyses of interventions for urban youth have mostly generated disappointing results.This report is interested in ascertaining whether charter schools, which in Massachusetts are largely budget-neutral, can have a substantial impact on the life course of affected students. The set of schools studied here comes from an earlier investigation of the effects of charter attendance in Boston on test scores.The high schools from the earlier study, which enroll the bulk of charter high school students in Boston, generate statistically and socially significant gains on state assessments in the 10th grade. This report questions whether these gains are sustained