Tenures that Shook the World: Worker Turnover in Russia, Poland and Britain

We study worker turnover in a transition economy to investigate to what extent the length of time a worker has been employed by a firm shapes the turnover process. Using data from the Polish Labour Force Survey and The Russian Longitudinal Monitor Survey we compare the pattern of turnover with a Western economy, Britain. We show tenure profiles are higher and flatter in Russia and steeper and lower in Poland than in Britain. The characteristics of workers hired in the state and private sectors do not look very different. State and private sector firms in Poland offer the same wages to new recruits, but new private sector jobs in Russia appear to offer wage premia relative to new state jobs. We argue that these observations are consistent with a framework where the value of seniority in jobs begun under the old order may be small and the value of a continued job match unsure, offset, in Poland at least, by insider resistance to layoffs.Job tenure, worker turnover, transition economics

Grime and Punishment: Job Insecurity and Wage Arrears in the Russian Federation

The initial years of transition in the Russian Federation have been characterised by relatively smaller falls in employment than in other reform-orientated countries of eastern Europe, despite the huge negative shock caused by the move from planned to market economy. Using information from two complementary household survey data sets, we show that for many Russian workers, the dominant form of labour market adjustment has instead been the delayed receipt of wages. Other forms of adjustment at the intensive margin have not been used much. Wage arrears are found across the private, state and budgetary sector in approximately equal proportions. There are large regional variations in the incidence of wage arrears. Workers in the metropolitan centre are significantly less affected by delayed and incomplete wage payments than workers in the provinces. There is less evidence that individual characteristics contribute much toward the incidence of wage arrears, though unobserved heterogeneity may have some role to play. As with the incidence of unemployment, however, there is evidence that the persistence of arrears is concentrated on a subset of the working population. We show that workers can only exercise the exit option of a job quit from a firm paying wages in arrears if the outside labour market is sufficiently dynamic.

Tetrahydrobiopterin analogues with NO-dependent pulmonary vasodilator properties

Reduced NO levels due to the deficiency of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) contribute to impaired vasodilation in pulmonary hypertension Due to the chemically unstable nature of BH4 it was hypothesised that oxidatively stable analogues of BR, would be able to support NO synthesis to improve Endothelial dysfunction in pulmonary hypertension Two analogues of BH4 namely 6-hydroxymethyl pterin (HMP) and 6-acetyl 7 7-dimethyl 7 8-dihydropterin (ADDP) were evaluated for vasodilator activity on precontracted rat pulmonary artery rings ADDP was administered to pulmonary hypertensive rats followed by measurement of pulmonary vascular resistance in perfused lungs and eNOS expression by immunohistochemistry ADDP and HMP caused significant relaxation in vitro in rat pulmonary arteries depleted of BH4 with a maximum relaxation at 0 3 mu M (both P<005) Vasodilator activity of ADDP and HMP was completely abolished following preincubation with the NO synthase inhibitor L-NAME ADDP and HMP did not alter relaxation induced by carbachol or spermine NONOate BH4 Itself did not produce relaxation In rats receiving ADDP 141 mg/kg/day pulmonary vasodilation induced by calcium ionophore A23187 was augmented and eNOS immunoreactivity was increased In conclusion ADDP and HMP are two analogues of BH4 which can act as oxidatively stable alternatives to BH4 in causing NO-mediated vasorelaxation Chronic treatment with ADDP resulted in Improvement of NO-mediated pulmonary artery dilation and enhanced expression of eNOS in the pulmonary vascular endothelium Chemically stable analogue, of BH4 may be able to limit endothelial dysfunction in the pulmonary vasculatur

Regulating the employment dynamics of domestic supply chains

This paper sheds light on the role that the regulation of primarily domestic, rather than global, supply chains could play in protecting and enhancing standards of workplace health and safety, as well as employment standards more generally. The analysis presented confirms the potential relevance of such regulation in these regards. However, it also reinforces existing evidence pointing to the fact that only very rarely will market-related considerations on their own prompt purchasers to seek to directly influence the employment practices of their suppliers. The paper ends therefore by highlighting a number of key issues relating to the design of regulatory initiatives aimed at protecting and enhancing employment conditions within supply chains

Protecting workers through supply chains: lessons from two construction case studies

Two case studies of the successful use of supply chains to support the effective management of health and safety on constructions sites are analysed to identify the factors supporting this success. The analysis reveals that a combination of external regulatory pressures and an industry structure facilitative of the establishment and implementation of ‘good practice’ played a crucial role in the outcomes achieved. It is concluded therefore that while the findings lend weight to policy initiatives to utilise the power dynamics in supply chains to protect working conditions, they also suggest that surrounding institutional and industrial contexts exert a potentially crucial influence over their effectiveness. Consequently, it is further argued that such initiatives need to be responsively shaped to them

Balkan Corruption Perception: Impediments To Competitive Activity In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, FYROM, Serbia/Montenegro, And Slovenia

Corruption exists around the world in various forms. This paper examines the extent of political corruption in the countries that were formerly known as Yugoslavia. Data from the World Bank Institute and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Business Environment and Economic Performance Study (BEEPS) was used to examine the extent of corruption in these five regions from 2002 to 2005. Results show less corruption in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia than in FYROM (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Serbia, and Montenegro. Overall all countries appear to have less corruption in 2005 than in 2002

Potentialités du radar SAR en halieutique : application à la pêche thonière de surface et à la pêche artisanale

... L'expérimentation HAREM (Halieutique et Radar : Expérimentation en Méditerranée), en prélude à un véritable programme, a évalué, pour la première fois, les potentialités, la qualité et l'originalité des données acquises en mer par ce type de radar en matière de biologie des pêches et d'environnement halieutique. HAREM a été menée en août 1989, avec le radar allemand E-SAR du DLR monté sur un avion Dornier 228. La difficulté principale a été d'estimer le créneau météorologique d'abord, puis halieutique, favorable sur quelques jours, de façon à disposer simultanément et en un même lieu des pêcheurs, des bancs de thons et des acquisitions radar. Dès les premiers vols, nous avons pu vérifier notre hypothèse : bancs de thons, cétacés, ainsi qu'engins de pêche, (bateaux, filets, pièges à poissons) sont détectables et identifiables avec un radar SAR (bande C, polarisation VV) par l'intermédiaire du signal généré par la déformation de la surface de l'eau. L'objectif de HAREM a été ainsi complètement atteint. A partir des données recueillies, des simulations de type ERS-1, par dégradation géométrique des données, ont été effectuées et semblent prometteuses en ce qui concerne la pêche thonièr