Wage determination and wage inequality inside a Russian firm in late transition: Evidence from personnel data – 1997 to 2002.

personnel economics, Russia, transition;wage determination;

Wage Determination and Wage Inequality Inside a Russian Firm in Late Transition: Evidence from Personnel Data - 1997 to 2002

We use personnel data from a Russian firm for the years 1997 to 2002 to study thedeterminants of wages during transition. Our findings indicate that remuneration isnot predetermined by formal rules and a stable institutionalized structure of wages,but rather that local labor market conditions have a strong impact on wage setting atthe firm level. In particular, we document that real wages fall substantially during aperiod of high inflation and worsening local labor market conditions. Relative wagedecreases are most pronounced for employees who initially earned the highest rents.The process of rent extraction leads to a strong compression of real wages and realcompensation at the firm.

Wage Policies of a Russian Firm and the Financial Crisis of 1998: Evidence from Personnel Data - 1997 to 2002

We use a rich personnel data set from a Russian firm for the years 1997 to 2002 to analyze how the financial crisis in 1998 and the resulting change in external labor market conditions affect the wages and the welfare of workers inside a firm. We provide evidence that large shocks to external conditions affect the firm's personnel policies, and show that the burden of the shock is not evenly spread across the workforce. The firm takes advantage of a high-inflationary environment and of a fall in workers' outside options after the financial crisis and cuts real wages. Earnings are curbed most for those who earned the highest rents, resulting in a strong compression of real wages. The fact that real wages and real compensation levels never recovered to pre-crisis levels even though the firm's financial situation was better in 2002 than before the crisis and the differential treatment of employee groups within the firm can be taken as evidence that market forces strongly influence the wage policies of our firm.Internal labor markets, wage policies of a firm, personnel data, Russia

Wage Policies of a Russian Firm and the Financial Crisis of 1998: Evidence from Personnel Data - 1997 to 2002

We use a rich personnel data set from a Russian firm for the years 1997 to 2002 to analyze how the financial crisis in 1998 and the resulting change in external labor market conditions affect the wages and the welfare of workers inside a firm. We provide evidence that large shocks to external conditions affect the firm's personnel policies, and show that the burden of the shock is not evenly spread across the workforce. The firm takes advantage of a high-inflationary environment and of a fall in workers' outside options after the financial crisis and cuts real wages. Earnings are curbed most for those who earned the highest rents, resulting in a strong compression of real wages. The fact that real wages and real compensation levels never recovered to pre-crisis levels even though the firm's financial situation was better in 2002 than before the crisis and the differential treatment of employee groups within the firm can be taken as evidence that market forces strongly influence the wage policies of our firm.Internal labor markets, wage policies of a firm, personnel data, Russia

Modeling grain storage outflow contamination levels, based upon input time series

The main objective of this thesis was to use a modeling approach to simulate the concentration of grain contamination in an existing corn processing system. The majority of the plant input is GMO corn, which is processed into multiple end products. In addition to GMO corn, each year, the plant processes six 11-day runs of non-GMO corn. During these non-GMO runs, the overall GMO contamination of the products produced is required to be less than 0.9% per the 3rd party labeling organization Non-GMO Project standards. Each run takes in approximately 1,400 lots (1000 bu/lot), with a sub-sample from each lot being tested at entry into the plant for contamination. Lots are accepted or rejected based upon a contamination acceptance threshold set by the plant management. This thesis models the current system to assess its performance. After establishing the model for the existing system, this thesis explores the impact of operational changes that might reduce costs and increase confidence in the ability to meet 3rd party labeling requirements for non-GMO products. This thesis partially fulfills the Master of Science degree requirement in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. The first chapter provides context and establishes the scope and reasoning behind the work. It includes a literature review summarizing the history of GMO production and regulation in the United States and incorporates history on legislation concerning the creation, commercialization, and consumption of GMO products, as well as market trends on desirable foods. It discusses the challenges in separating GMO and non-GMO supply chains, the testing methods for detecting GMO contamination, and concludes with the blending methods currently used to reduce costs in grain facilities. The second chapter introduces a modeling approach for assessing the current system using a discrete time simulation. The program uses the time-series entry-point contamination levels provided by a cooperating entity grain processor to calculate the contamination in the storage system. The variability and periodicity of these data were explored, and the data were found to fit a beta distribution. Because of an assumption of perfect blending, the average contamination thereby computed within the storage system is also the contamination in the outflow from the storage system, which is subsequently sent to processing. We then used the model to examine how the acceptance threshold level impacts outflow contamination levels. This allowed us to explore the feasibility of accepting lower quality corn to be blended with higher quality corn, all while obtaining the required contamination percentages going into the processing system. Chapter three examines a critical operational question, namely whether segregating the incoming lots by contamination into bin sub groups would improve the confidence in outflow contamination levels. This chapter proposes a method to determine how many bin sub groups should be used, the percentage of each bin sub group to put into the final flow to the mill, and a decision tree analysis on what to do when a particular bin sub group runs out. To increase the range of contamination levels beyond those provided in the real data, we generated beta-distributed artificial data sets to run through the model. This allowed an examination of how various numbers of bin subgroups, and operational rules, impact outflow contamination levels. The thesis concludes with a summary of the findings and a discussion of potential future avenues of exploration

Wage determination and wage inequality inside a Russian firm in late transition: Evidence from personnel data - 1997 to 2002

We use personnel data from a Russian firm for the years 1997 to 2002 to study the determinants of wages during transition. Our findings indicate that remuneration is not predetermined by formal rules and a stable institutionalized structure of wages, but rather that local labor market conditions have a strong impact on wage setting at the firm level. In particular, we document that real wages fall substantially during a period of high inflation and worsening local labor market conditions. Relative wage decreases are most pronounced for employees who initially earned the highest rents. The process of rent extraction leads to a strong compression of real wages and real compensation at the firm

What Can Parents Do to Reduce Youth Obesity? An Initial Study With a Diverse Sample

The body mass index (BMI) of diverse, low-income fifth grade students (n = 36) was regressed on physical activity (Child Adolescent Activity Log), percentage dietary fat (Food Habits Questionnaire), and the Food/Activity Parenting Practices Questionnaire. The model explained 50% of the variance in student BMI, adjusted R2 = .50, F (4, 19) = 6.84, p = .001. Students accurately perceived their weight status. Students\u27 perception of parenting strategies, along with dietary fat, was significantly associated with their BMI. Parent\u27s (n = 14) BMI, not the child\u27s, was associated with the strategies they used. Three parents tested an online authoritative parenting program. Further research is needed