Who could thrive in late career? Answers for both employees and employers

The alarming statistics about the fast rates of population aging in the last 30 years and the possible negative economic and societal consequences of this process, have prompted many employers to consider their aging workforce more seriously. Yet, workers aged 55 years and over are not always utilized or valued as much as they could be in the workplace. Many of them realize the need to work for longer than anticipated, due to economic pressures and changes in official retirement ages. For some, this will require a change in perspective and strategies for managing self and career

Essays on information and mechanism design

textMy dissertation studies the optimal design of institutions and information structures for different objectives of a designer or a social planner. The questions addressed are interesting both from a theoretical point of view, and in terms of their real-life applications. The first chapter of the dissertation focuses on supermodular mechanism design in environments with arbitrary finite type spaces and interdependent valuations. In these environments, the designer may have to use Bayesian equilibrium as a solution concept, because ex post implementation may not be possible. We propose direct Bayesian mechanisms that are robust to certain forms of bounded rationality while controlling for equilibrium multiplicity. In quasi-linear environments with informational and allocative externalities, we show that any Bayesian mechanism that implements a social choice function can be converted into a supermodular mechanism that also implements the original decision rule. The proposed supermodular mechanism can be chosen in a way that minimizes the size of the equilibrium set, and we provide two sets of sufficient conditions to this effect: for general decision rules and for decision rules that satisfy a certain requirement. This is followed by conditions for supermodular implementation in unique equilibrium. The second chapter looks at the incentives of a revenue-maximizing seller (designer) who discloses information to a number of interacting bidders (agents). In particular, the designer chooses the level of precision with which agents can infer the quality of a common-value object from their privately observed signals. We restrict attention to the second-price sealed-bid auction format. If the seller has perfect commitment power and can choose the precision level before observing the quality of the object, in the presence of any small cost to precision it is ex ante optimal for her to choose completely uninformative signals. For the case when the seller chooses the precision level after observing the quality of the object, we characterize pooling, partial pooling, and separating equilibria. We show that in this setting the cost associated with precision can be viewed as a form of commitment device: if costs are too low, the best pooling equilibrium ceases to exist as the high type seller is too tempted to separate. Thus, the seller ends up with a lower ex ante expected payoff than in the case when cost parameters are above a certain threshold. The third chapter of this dissertation studies the optimal choice of information structure from the perspective of a designer maximizing a certain objective function. Generally speaking, there are two ways of creating incentives for interacting agents to behave in a desired way. One is by providing appropriate payoff incentives, which is the subject of mechanism design. The other is by choosing the information that agents observe, which we refer to as information design. We consider a model of symmetric information where a designer chooses and announces the information structure about a payoff relevant state. The interacting agents observe the signal realizations, update their beliefs, and take actions which affect the welfare of both the designer and the agents. We characterize the general finite approach to deriving the optimal information structure --- the one that maximizes the designer's ex ante expected utility subject to agents playing a Bayes Nash equilibrium. We then apply the general approach to a symmetric two state, two agent, and two actions environment in a parameterized underlying game and fully characterize the optimal information structure. It is never strictly optimal for the designer to use conditionally independent private signals. The optimal information structure may be a public signal, or may consist of correlated private signals. Finally, we examine how changes in the underlying game affect the designer's maximum payoff. This exercise provides a joint mechanism/information design perspective.Economic

The role of strategic human resource management in late career

The urgent need to manage an increasingly ageing workforce has prompted rigorous multi-disciplinary research across the world. A plethora of studies focuses on the best ways in which both organisations and employees can support employees’ well-being and high performance in late career. From this perspective, the key role of strategic Human Resource Management is a topic of strong interest. Recent findings suggest that, in contrast to traditional views, older workers (those aged 55 years and over) are interested and capable of development. Hence, management practices that allow and encourage development opportunities in late career may be highly beneficial for both employers and employees

What is psychological well-being and how it changes throughout the employment cycle?

Nowadays, there is much evidence about the importance of psychological well-being in the workplace. Research has demonstrated consistently that employee’s well-being is positively associated with physical health and is a strong predictor of high individual work performance as well as of some outcomes at organisational level (e.g. customer satisfaction, productivity, profitability and employee turnover). Overall, it is known that employees with high levels of psychological well-being perform better at work than those with lower levels of psychological well-being. However, researchers do not always agree on what exactly well-being means and how it can be measured

STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF ROAD RESISTANCE ON THE FUEL CONSUMPTION OF A PASSENGER CAR WITH AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

One of the directions in the modern automotive industry is related to optimizing processes of the working cycle of internal combustion engines, which is related on another hand to reducing fuel consumption. This article presents calculation results of fuel consumption of a passenger car Honda Accord with automatic gearbox which are based on experimentally obtained power characteristics by using a chassis dynamometer DYNO COSBER. The fuel consumption was determined at different speeds of the car on a road without a slope and with 2%, 4% and 6% slope by using the chassis dynamometer and diagnostic equipment. The results of calculations about the influence of road resistances on fuel consumption were compared and analyzed with those obtained from measurements

Project Proposals Development – Entrepreneurship and Reflection in Teaching Information Technology

This work presents a model for development of project proposals by students as an approach to teaching information technology while promoting entrepreneurship and reflection. In teams of 3 to 5 participants, students elaborate a project proposal on a topic they have negotiated with each other and with the teacher. The project domain is related to the practical application of state-of-theart information technology in areas of substantial public interest or of immediate interest to the participants. This gives them ample opportunities for reflection not only on technical but also on social, economic, environmental and other dimensions of information technology. This approach has long been used with students of different years and programs of study at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Plovdiv University “Paisiy Hilendarski”. It has been found to develop all eight key competences for lifelong learning set forth in the Reference Framework and procedural skills required in real life

SIDE SLIP OF WHEELS WITH LOW AND ULTRA-LOW PROFILE TIRES OF A PERSONAL CAR NEGOTIATING A TURN

This article studies the influence of the speed of a car with low and ultra-low profile tires, 14ʹʹ and 16ʹʹ, negotiating a turn through an interactive software system developed by us in the MATLAB environment. The changes of the normal and lateral loads of the wheels are obtained and the characteristics of the side slip angle (known as side slip) of the pneumatic tires are determined. Taking into account the side slip of the wheels, the software determines the center of the turn. The characteristics for the normal and lateral loads and of the side slip of the wheels for both types of tires are given. The influence of the tire profile on the handling characteristics is analysed. Recommendations are proposed for a personal car’s motion in a turn with both types of tires

Subjective Assessment as a Stimulating Factor in the Recovery Process

Soft tissue injuries of the knee are among the most common injuries and can significantly impair the function of the lower limb. In order to achieve a complete rehabilitation outcome, comprehensive diagnostics are essential. Within healthcare, subjective evaluation is gaining importance as it aims to motivate patients to actively participate in their own recovery. However, there is currently no universally recognized standard for subjective evaluation following traumatic knee joint injuries. The aim of the present study is to examine non-quantifiable factors that directly impact the patients' recovery process.Materials and methods. 70 patients with soft tissue injuries to the knee were the subjects of the study. A survey of 29 questions, divided into four parts, was developed for the study. The last part of the survey determines pain and the patient's own expectations for returning to previous motor capabilities.Results and discussion. The results of the survey establish an essential relationship between the pain levels and the patient's expectations for the outcome of his treatment. mong the respondents, About 20% described their pain as weak or non-existent, while 39% reported it as moderate. High levels of pain were recorded in 41%, reflecting their low expectations for recovery. These results support the notion that subjective assessment can serve as both an adjunctive factor in treatment and a demotivating element that affects active participation in rehabilitation interventions.Conclusion. In conclusion, subjective assessment plays a crucial role in motivating patients with soft tissue traumatic injuries of the knee joint. The intensity of pain and limitations in daily activities significantly influence the patient's expectations and attitude towards the outcome of the treatment