The job satisfaction of English academics and their intentions to quit academe

This paper considers the job satisfaction of academics using a detailed dataset of over two thousand academics from ten English higher education institutions. The results of our analysis suggest that one would be wrong to consider one single measure of job-satisfaction. Academics appear to be considering three separate sets of elements of their jobs, namely the pecuniary factors (both the salary and the ability to earn money from additional work. We also consider the influence of these elements of job satisfaction on their intentions to leave the sector.Satisfaction, academics, turnover, comparison income

Covers for self-dual supercuspidal representations of the Siegel Levi subgroup of classical p-adic groups

We study components of the Bernstein category for a p-adic classical group (with p odd) with inertial support a self-dual positive level supercuspidal representation of a Siegel Levi subgroup. More precisely, we use the method of covers to construct a Bushnell-Kutzko type for such a component. A detailed knowledge of the Hecke algebra of the type should have number-theoretic implications.Comment: 22 page

The Need for Speed: Impacts of Internet Connectivity on Firm Productivity

Fast internet access is widely considered to be a productivity-enhancing factor. Internet access speeds vary regionally within countries and even within cities. Despite articulate pleas for network upgrades to accelerate internet access, there is little rigorous research quantifying benefits to individual firms that arise from upgraded internet connectivity. We use a large New Zealand micro-survey of firms linked to unit record firm financial data to determine the impact that differing types of internet access have on firm productivity. Propensity score matching is used to control for factors, including the firm’s (lagged) productivity, that determine firms’ internet access choices. Having matched firms, we examine the productivity impacts that arise when a firm adopts different types (speeds) of internet connectivity. Broadband adoption is found to boost productivity but we find no productivity differences across broadband type. The results provide the first firm-level estimates internationally of the degree of productivity gains sourced from upgraded internet access.Internet, broadband, productivity

The Intergenerational Effects of Worker Displacement

This paper uses variation induced by firm closures to explore the intergenerational effects of worker displacement. Using a Canadian panel of administrative data that follows almost 60,000 father-child pairs from 1978 to 1999 and includes detailed information about the firms at which the father worked, we construct narrow treatment and control groups whose fathers had the same level of permanent income prior to 1982 when some of the fathers were displaced. We demonstrate that job loss leads to large permanent reductions in family income and small increases in mobility and divorce. Comparing outcomes among individuals whose fathers experienced an employment shock to outcomes among individuals whose fathers did not, we find that children whose fathers were displaced have annual earnings about 9% lower than similar children whose fathers did not experience an employment shock. They are also more likely to receive unemployment insurance and social assistance. The estimates are driven by the experiences of children whose family income was at the bottom of the income distribution, and are robust to a number of specification checks. This work was completed while Oreopoulos was a Statistics Canada Research Fellow and member of the Family and Labour Studies Division of Statistics Canada. The financial support of the National Science Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. We also wish to thank Miles Corak, and seminar participants at Brown University, MIT, Princeton University, Stanford University, Yale University, the University of California Berkeley, UCLA, the University of Toronto and the NBER summer institute for their helpful comments.worker displacement

The Intergenerational Effect of Worker Displacement

This paper uses variation induced by firm closures to explore the intergenerational effects of worker displacement. Using a Canadian panel of administrative data that follows almost 60,000 father-child pairs from 1978 to 1999 and includes detailed information about the firms at which the father worked, we construct narrow treatment and control groups whose fathers had the same level of permanent income prior to 1982 when some of the fathers were displaced. We demonstrate that job loss leads to large permanent reductions in family income. Comparing outcomes among individuals whose fathers experienced an employment shock to outcomes among individuals whose fathers did not, we find that children whose fathers were displaced have annual earnings about 9% lower than similar children whose fathers did not experience an employment shock. They are also more likely to receive unemployment insurance and social assistance. The estimates are driven by the experiences of children whose family income was at the bottom of the income distribution, and are robust to a number of specification checks.

Wilfred Cantweil Smith's concept of faith: a critical study of his approach to Islam and Christianity

The aim of this study is to present and evaluate Wilfred Cantwell Smith's concept of faith, and to examine the way in which he uses it to approach and understand material from the traditions of Islam and Christianity. Chapter one consists a brief introduction and a biography of Wilfred Cantwell Smith. The second chapter analyses Smith's concept of faith, relating it to cumulative tradition, belief, truth and his vision of a world community. Chapter three examines Smith's treatment of various material from the Islamic tradition: the meaning of Islām, the shahādah, truth, the Qur'ān, and some studies of faith. Chapter four examines material from the Christian tradition: faith in the New Testament, faith in the baptismal rites of St Cyril of Jerusalem, and religious pluralism. These items illustrate his concept of faith and the way in which it is used in his approach and understanding of Islām and Christianity. Chapter five provides an evaluation of Smith's concept of faith and of his approach to Islam and Christianity. It is argued that although the concept of faith helps the student of religion in general and Islam and Christianity in particular to keep his eyes open to the personal existential aspects of human religious life. Smith's approach has some serious deficiencies. In particular faith itself is difficult to study other than in a selective, subjective way. His approach undervalues the corporate, institutionalized aspects of religious life, and the symbolic function played by the externals of religion. Furthermore, his understanding of faith is ill-equipped to handle the conflicting truth-claims found amongst the various traditions

Does Human Capital Transfer from Parent to Child? The Intergenerational Effects of Compulsory Schooling

The strong correlation between parents' economic status and that of their children has been well-documented, but little is known about the extent to which this is a causal phenomenon. This paper attempts to improve our understanding of the causal processes that contribute to intergenerational immobility by exploiting historical changes in compulsory schooling laws that affected the educational attainment of parents without affecting their innate abilities or endowments. We examine the influence of parental compulsory schooling on grade retention status for children aged 7 to 15 using the 1960, 1970 and 1980 U.S. Censuses. Our estimates indicate that a one-year increase in the education of either parent reduces the probability that a child repeats a grade by between two and seven percentage points. Among 15 to 16 year olds living at home, we also estimate that parental compulsory schooling significantly lowers the likelihood of dropping out. These findings suggest that education policies may be able to reduce part of the intergenerational transmission of inequality.