The Impact of Training on Productivity and Wages: Firm Level Evidence

This paper uses firm level panel data of firm provided training to estimate its impact on productivity and wages. To this end the strategy proposed by Ackerberg, Caves and Frazer (2006) for estimating production functions to control for the endogeneity of input factors and training is applied. The productivity premium for a trained worker is estimated at 23%, while the wage premium of training is estimated at 12%. Our results give support to recent theories that explain work related training by imperfect competition in the labor market.training, production functions, human capital

An inordinate fondness?: the number, distributions, and origins of diatom species

The number of extant species of diatoms is estimated here to be at least 30,000 and probably ca. 100,000, by extrapolation from an eclectic sample of genera and species complexes. Available data, although few, indicate that the pseudocryptic species being discovered in many genera are not functionally equivalent. Molecular sequence data show that some diatom species are ubiquitously dispersed. A good case can be made that at least some diatom species and even a few genera are endemics, but many such claims are still weak. The combination of very large species numbers and relatively rapid dispersal in diatoms is inconsistent with some versions of the ubiquity hypothesis of protist biogeography, and appears paradoxical. However, population genetic data indicate geographical structure in all the (few) marine and freshwater species that have been examined in detail, sometimes over distances of a few tens of kilometres. The mode of speciation may often be parapatric, in the context of a constantly shifting mosaic of temporarily isolated (meta) populations, but if our intermediate dispersal hypothesis is true (that long-distance dispersal is rare, but not extremely rare), allopatric speciation could also be maximized

Price and wage setting in an integrating Europe : firm level evidence..

Working; Research;

The effect of globalization on union bargaining and price-cost margins of firms.

In recent years, Europe has witnessed an accelerated process of economic integration. Trade barriers were removed, the euro was introduced and ten new member states have joined the European Union. This paper analyzes how this process of increased economic integration has affected labor and product markets. To this end, we use a panel of Belgian manufacturing firms to estimate price-cost margins and union bargaining power and show how various measures of globalization affect them. Our findings can be summarized as follows: On average, firms set prices about 30% above marginal costs, but there is substantial variation across sectors, with the lowest mark-up around 19% and the highest around 52%. In addition, we find evidence that unions bargain over both wages and employment. We estimate an index of bargaining power, which reflects the fraction of profits that is passed on to workers into higher wages. Depending on the sector, this fraction varies between 6% and 18% and it increases with the markups of firms. Finally, we find that globalization puts pressure on both markups and union bargaining power, especially when there is increased competition from the low wage countries. This suggests that increased globalization is associated with a moderation of wage claims in unionized countries, which should be associated with positive effects on employment.Mark-ups; Globalization; Trade Unions; International Trade;

Price and wage setting in an integrating Europe : firm level evidence

Europe has witnessed the last decade an accelerated process of economic integration. Trade barriers were removed, the euro was introduced and ten new member states entered the European Union. Economic integration is likely to have an impact on both labor and product markets. Unlike most other papers, that focus on product and labor markets separately, we look at the link between globalization and product and labor market imperfections simultaneously. To this end, we rely on a rich panel of manufacturing firms in Belgium, a small open economy. We find that union bargaining power is higher in sectors characterized by high price cost margins. Moreover, ignoring imperfections on the labor market, leads to an underestimation of product market power. Concerning the influence of globalization, our main findings are that both price cost margins and union bargaining power are typically lower in sectors that are subject higher international competition. This result is especially true for competition from low wage countriesMark-ups, Trade Unions, International Trade

Industrial organization and labour economics

This paper uses firm level panel data of firm provided training to estimate its impact on productivity and wages. To this end the strategy proposed by Ackerberg, Caves and Frazer (2006) for estimating production functions to control for the endogeneity of input factors and training is applied. The productivity premium for a trained worker is estimated at 23%, while the wage premium of training is estimated at 12%. Our results give support to recent theories that explain work related training by imperfect competition in the labor market

Maine Alumnus, Volume 63, Number 1, December 1981

Contents: Imagery and the Third Eye by Stephen King --- Bucking the Maine Inferiority Complex --- Alumni Writershttps://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/alumni_magazines/1322/thumbnail.jp

The impact of service and goods offshoring on employment: Firm-level evidence. National Bank of Belgium Working Paper No. 319

Advances in communication technology have led to a remarkable increase in the tradability of services, resulting in a substantial increase in offshoring of services over the last two decades. Research investigating how this surge in service offshoring affects employment, has been largely hampered by the paucity of suitable microdata. This paper tries to fill this gap by using a newly constructed database of Belgian firms that combines individual transaction-level data on international trade in goods and services with annual financial accounts. This unusually rich dataset allows us to produce fresh evidence on the impact of goods and service offshoring on total employment and employment by educational levels for both manufacturing industries and the service sectors. Our results show that: (i) goods offshoring has a positive impact on employment growth among workers with both low and high levels of education in the manufacturing industry but this effect disappears when controlling for scale effects; and (ii) service offshoring has a negative impact on employment growth among highly educated workers in the service sectors. This novel evidence suggests that globalization may threaten job security of higher educated workers too