The Causes and Consequences of Long-Term Unemployment in Europe

One of the most striking features of European labour markets is the high incidence of long-term unemployment. In this paper we review the literature on its causes and consequences. Our main conclusions are that: the rise in the incidence of long-term unemployment has been 'caused' by a collapse of outflow rates at all durations of unemployment while the long-term unemployed do leave unemployment at a slower rate than the short-term unemployed, this has always been the case and their relative outflow rate has not fallen over time there is no evidence that, for a given level of unemployment, the incidence of long-term unemployment has been ratcheting up over time once one controls for heterogeneity of the unemployed, there is little evidence of outflow rates that decline over a spell of unemployment While these findings suggest that long-term unemployment is not a problem independent of unemployment itself, one should recognise that the experience of long-term unemployment is a horrid one for those unfortunate enough to experience it.

The Structure of Wages in What Should be a Competitive Labour Market

This paper examines the structure of wages in a very specific labour market, for care assistants in residential homes for the elderly on England's "sunshine coast". This sector corresponds closely to economists' notion of what should be a competitive labour market as: (i) there are a large number of small firms undertaking a very homogeneous activity in concentrated geographical areas; and (ii) the workers they employ are not unionized, nor are they covered by any minimum wage legislation so that there are effectively no external constraints on the wage-setting process. We find that the structure of wages does not, in important respects, resemble what we would expect in a competitive labour market. We find there is a small amount of wage dispersion within firms and a correspondingly large amount between firms. And, the wage dispersion that is present does not seem to be closely related to the productivity related characteristics of workers. We propose a test of the hypothesis that unobserved labour quality can explain our findings and reject it. The paper concludes with a discussion of other possible explanations of the patterns in our data.Wage Dispersion, Competitive Model

Estimating the Effect of Minimum Wages on Employment from the Distribution of Wages: A Critical View

In two papers, Meyer and Wise (1983a,b) present an ingenious method for estimating the effect of minimum wage rates on wages and employment using data based only on the observed cross-sectional distribution of wages. They, and others who have used this method, have generally found that the minimum wage causes substantial losses in employment. In this paper we evaluate the robustness of this technique. We argue that the estimates, at least for the UK, are very sensitive to the functional form assumed for the distribution of wages and to the assumption made about how far up the wage distribution the minimum wage has spillover effects.

Where Minimum Wage Bites Hard: The Introduction of the UK National Minimum Wage to a Low Wage Sector

Between 1993 and April 1999 there was no minimum wage in the UK (except in agriculture). In this paper we study the effects of the introduction of a National Minimum Wage (NMW) in April 1999 on one heavily affected sector, the residential care homes industry. This sector contains a large number of low paid workers and as such can be viewed as being very vulnerable to minimum wage legislation. We look at the impact on both wages and mployment. Our results suggest that the minimum wage raised the wages of a large number of care homes workers, causing a very big wage compression of the lower end of the wage distribution, thereby strongly reducing wage inequality. There is some evidence of employment and hours reductions after the minimum wage introduction, though the estimated effects are not that sizable given how heavily the wage structure was affected.

The Effects of Minimum Wages on Employment: Theory and Evidence from the US

Recent work on the economic effects of minimum wages has stressed that the standard economic model, where increases in minimum wages depress employment, is not supported by the empirical findings in some labour markets. In this paper we present a theoretical framework which is general enough to allow minimum wages to have the conventional negative impact on employment, but which also allows for the possibility of a neutral or a positive effect. The model structure is based on labour market frictions which give employers some degree of monopsony power. The formulated model has a number of empirical implications which we go on to test using data on industry-based minimum wages set by the UK Wages Councils between 1975 and 1990. Some strong results emerge: minimum wages significantly compress the distribution of earnings and, contrary to conventional economic wisdom but in line with several recent studies, do not have a negative impact on employment. If anything, the relationship between minimum wages and employment is estimated to be positive.

tert-Butyl N-hydr­oxy-N-[(1S*,2R*)-2-(1-naphth­yl)cyclo­pent-3-en-1-yl]carbamate

The relative stereochemistry of the title compound, C20H23NO3, was established by X-ray analysis. The asymmetric unit contains two independent mol­ecules. In the crystal structure, each type of mol­ecule forms a centrosymmetric dimer via pairs of inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, resulting in an R 2 2(10) loop in each case

Carers’ experiences of involuntary admission under mental health legislation:systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

Background Carers are key providers of care and support to mental health patients and mental health policies consistently mandate carer involvement. Understanding carers' experiences of and views about assessment for involuntary admission and subsequent detention is crucial to efforts to improve policy and practice. Aims We aimed to synthesise qualitative evidence of carers' experiences of the assessment and detention of their family and friends under mental health legislation. Method We searched five bibliographic databases, reference lists and citations. Studies were included if they collected data using qualitative methods and the patients were aged 18 or older; reported on carer experiences of assessment or detention under mental health legislation anywhere in the world; and were published in peer-reviewed journals. We used meta-synthesis. Results The review included 23 papers. Themes were consistent across time and setting and related to the emotional impact of detention; the availability of support for carers; the extent to which carers felt involved in decision-making; relationships with patients and staff during detention; and the quality of care provided to patients. Carers often described conflicting feelings of relief coupled with distress and anxiety about how the patient might cope and respond. Carers also spoke about the need for timely and accessible information, supportive and trusting relationships with mental health professionals, and of involvement as partners in care. Conclusions Research is needed to explore whether and how health service and other interventions can improve the involvement and support of carers prior to, during and after the detention of family members and friends

Feasibility of a mean platelet volume standard:an international council for standardization in hematology (ICSH) inter-laboratory study

We have evaluated a commercial-fixed porcine platelet preparation (with and without added fixed human red blood cells (RBC)) for the potential standardization of mean platelet volume (MPV) measurements. The standards (Biotechne) were distributed internationally to 19 laboratories including all major hematology instrument manufacturers and academic/pathology laboratories. Overall, the standards demonstrated excellent stability up to 1 month within both MPV values and platelet counts when stored at 4°C. The presence of RBC significantly increased the platelet count and MPV values compared to platelets alone. However, as expected, there were differences in MPV values between different instruments and manufacturers. MPV values were also significantly higher in the whole blood standard compared to the platelet standard in the majority of instruments except with some instruments, where MPV values were significantly higher in the platelet only preparation. To further investigate this phenomenon, two different Platelet MPV preparations (with low and high MPV) in combination with 3 different RBC MCV preparations (with low, normal or high MCVs) were tested to try and further elucidate how RBC populations may impact upon platelet analysis (count, MPV, and PDW) using a single impedance analyzer. Both MPV and MCV values showed good stability over the course of the study for up to 50 days. As expected, the RBC preparation with the lowest MCV had the greatest impact on the MPV. However, this was not observed with an increase in MCV of the RBC or by a larger MPV of the platelet population. To further understand how different gating strategies may also influence results, we investigated the effect of either fixed or floating gate strategies upon MPV raw data from patient samples in a single impedance analyzer. Overall, it was clear that floating and fixed gate strategies also significantly impact upon MPV values. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the potential of an MPV standard with good stability characteristics for calibrating and comparing full blood counters that use different analysis principles, gating and MPV calculations. This may facilitate future instrument calibration and harmonization of results between different technologies