A Simple Test of the Shirking Model

Although popular in some circles, efficiency wage models of the labour market have proved surprisingly difficult to test and direct evidence for the central tenets of the theory is rare to non-existent. In this paper we propose a simple test of the Shapiro-Stiglitz shirking model which is based on the following idea. In the traditional search model the distribution of accepted wages should be truncated below by the reservation wage. But, if shirking is important then the employer will never want to employ a worker at their reservation wage and the distribution of accepted wages should be truncated below by the reservation wage plus something. That something is a measure of the importance of shirking. We test this prediction using data from the UK Survey of Incomes In and Out of Work. The results are not particularly supportive of the shirking model.

GWU Alumni Finds Success in the Film and Marketing Industries

Boiling Springs, North Carolina native and Gardner-Webb University Class of 2018 graduate Christian Jessup has always found special ways to channel his passions for music and film into various projects at different points in his life. As a double major in music composition and communications studies, Jessup received multiple national awards from Alpha Chi Honor Society during his time at GWU, participated in a summer internship with Hans Zimmer’s company Remote Control Productions in Santa Monica, California, and earned the 2018 Outstanding Male Graduate honor. Shortly after graduating, Jessup made his way to Raleigh as an employee with Vision Point Marketing. This connection to Vision Point stretches back to a moment with Alpha Chi during his undergraduate studies. The YouTube videos can be viewed at the links below ACCS Animated Ad The Dancin\u27 Bulldogs Farewell: A Kobe Bryant Documentaryhttps://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gwu-today/1620/thumbnail.jp

1971: The Year that Music Changed Everything: Interview with Editors Sam Blair and Brett Irwin

GWU student and film critic Thomas Manning had the opportunity to interview editors Sam Blair and Brett Irwin about their work on the Apple TV+ streaming documentary series “1971: The Year that Music Changed Everything.” Blair was recently nominated for the 72nd Annual American Cinema Editors Awards for his work on the finale episode of the season, titled “Starman,” in the category of Best Edited Documentary (Non-Theatrical). The video can be accessed by clicking here.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gwu-today/1635/thumbnail.jp

Nolan\u27s Tenet Inverts Time for a Must-Watch Action Thriller

Whenever Christopher Nolan takes on a project as a director, it is understood that the final product will be a true spectacle, destined for the largest theatrical screen possible. From his smaller indie roots with “Following” (1998), “Memento” (2000), and “Insomnia” (2002), to his game-changing “Dark Knight” trilogy (2005-2012), to his mind-bending sci-fi dramas like “Inception” (2010) and “Interstellar” (2014), to his historical war epic with “Dunkirk” (2017), Nolan is certainly one of the most influential filmmakers of the last quarter-century. Perhaps more than anything, Nolan’s fixation with the manipulation of time and non-linear storytelling is his most notable trademark. With his latest feature as both director and screenwriter, “Tenet“, Nolan somehow manages to outdo every complicated bit of temporal modification that has ever been introduced into his filmography, for better or for worse.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gwu-today/1597/thumbnail.jp

GWU Track and Field Works to Salvage Season

As the proliferation of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact daily life, college athletic teams such as Gardner-Webb University’s track and field program seek to adapt to the evolving landscape. With fall sports seasons shutting down across the country, Gardner-Webb Track and Field works to stay consistent and connected with daily, socially distanced workouts.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gwu-today/1593/thumbnail.jp

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a Stunning Addition to the Marvel Universe

At this point in 2021, it is not necessary to be a fan of comic books or even movies in general to have a surface level familiarity with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). With a total of 24 films across 13 years grossing nearly $23 billion at the worldwide box office, this franchise has become a staple in our modern pop culture lexicon. The 25th entry in the series is upon us with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, co-written by Dave Callaham, Cretton, and Andrew Lanham, and based on characters from the Marvel comics developed by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlinhttps://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gwu-today/1615/thumbnail.jp

Teaching Undergraduates at the Peer Review Level

Undergraduate science students have participated in a host of science activities, including designing, synthesizing and submitting cancer drugs to the National Cancer Institute, writing and submitting a patent, formed a company and won two SBIR grants, launching high altitude balloons and developing a new nomenclature system for nanostructures. This presentation will outline ten projects conducted by students as part of classes that have been published in peer reviewed journals and discuss the logistics surrounding them

Re-Enchanting Human Ecology: Identity and Difference, Process Metaphysics, and Emergence

Drawing from historical political thought and 20th century western philosophy, this dissertation advances a theory of secular enchantment of nature, humanity, and their relationship. Its underlying social and political goal is to inspire an ethic of ecological conservation and stewardship. Its philosophical goal is to lay a new ontological foundation for thinking and talking about the unique human place within the ecological world. Modern scientific inquiry and reasoned philosophical reflection can expose the facts and uncover the truths about the human relationship with nature. Such an endeavour is important, and forms the backbone of this dissertation. But it is not enough. The natural world is in crisis and the truth alone cannot save it. If it is to be deemed worth saving, nature must be restored as a fundamental site of meaning in human life. The great modernizing project has purged the supernatural from nature, and with it the grounds for meaning and ethical direction. Still, wielded properly, science and philosophy can reestablish the enchantment of nature. Using a wide variety of thinkers, this dissertation shows that rational inquiry can inspire a sense of wonder for ecological complexity, and for the special place humans occupy in the natural whole

Diversity and social capital within the workplace:evidence from Britain

This paper uses the British Workplace Employee Relations Survey to investigate the impact of gender and ethnic diversity on workers’ level of trust in managers and the extent of identity with the values and objectives of the firm – dimensions of what we might call social capital within the workplace. These are both factors that one might expect to make firms more co-operative and, hence, productive. In contrast to much of the existing literature we pay particular attention to the estimation of causal effects, using an instrumental variable strategy. We find evidence that both women and minorities have higher levels of workplace trust and identity as individuals. But we also find evidence that a higher female share in the plant is associated with higher trust and identity (stronger for trust than identity) and that a higher minority share is associated lower trust and identity (stronger for identity than trust). However, in line with much of the literature, these results are not always significantly different from zero and they are sensitive to specification