The Hidden Increase in Wage Inequality: Skill-biased and Ability-biased Technological Change

This study provides strong evidence for an increase in wage inequality induced by skillbiased technological change in the UK manufacturing industry between 1991 and 2006. Using individual level data from the BHPS and industry level data from the OECD, wage regressions are estimated which identify the eff ect of innovative activity on wages – the personal innovation wage premium – for university and less educated workers. Innovative activity is defi ned by R&D expenditure and patent applications to measure innovation input and innovation output, respectively. Using diff erent estimation methods for panel data, such as Fixed eff ects, Random eff ects, Mundlak and Hausman- Taylor models, additionally to pooled OLS allows controlling for both industry-specifi c and individual ability. Using R&D expenditure as a measure for innovative activity additionally provides evidence for ability-biased technological change while patent applications do not support this hypothesis.Wage inequality; skill-biased technological change; ability-biased technological change; United Kingdom

Migration Magnet: The Role of Work Experience in Rural-Urban Wage Diff erentials in Mexico

This study estimates separate selectivity bias corrected wage equations for formal and informal workers in rural and urban Mexico using data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS). We control for diff erent potential selection patterns using Probit and Multinominal logit models in the fi rst step in which health, personality traits and family characteristics serve as exclusion restrictions for working per se and working in the formal sector. Oaxaca-Blinder Decompositions show that rural-urban wage inequality in the formal and informal sector is determined by diff erences in observable human capital. In the informal sector, the wage diff erential is mainly explained by diff erences in returns to experience. Furthermore, we analyse rural-to-urban migrants‘ labour market performance. The fi ndings suggest that rural-to-urban migration will continue and the informal sector will further increase.Returns to experience; rural-urban wage diff erentials; informality; internal migration; Mexico

Authoritarian Practices in the Digital Age:Introduction

Academic debates on the role of digital technologies in authoritarian and democratic contexts rarely intersect. Research investigating the resilience of authoritarian regimes in the digital age generally runs parallel to inquiries about the “authoritarian qualities” of digital technologies in liberal democracies. Our Special Section breaks new ground by systematically examining authoritarian practices in relation to digital technologies in multilateral, transnational, and public–private settings. This introduction briefly explains the research agenda and aim of the collection, and then outlines its contributions

Brief communication:getting Greenland’s glaciers right – a new data set of all official Greenlandic glacier names

Place names in Greenland can be difficult to get right, as they are a mix of Greenlandic, Danish, and other foreign languages. In addition, orthographies have changed over time. With this new data set, we give the researcher working with Greenlandic glaciers the proper tool to find the correct name for glaciers and ice caps in Greenland and to locate glaciers described in the historic literature with the old Greenlandic orthography. The data set contains information on the names of 733 glaciers, 285 originating from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and 448 from local glaciers and ice caps (LGICs)

Evaluation of Striped Bass Stocks in Virginia: Monitoring and Tagging Studies, 2015-2019 : Progress Report 1 September 2015 - 31 August 2016

This report presents the results of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 September 2015 through 31 August 2016. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2016 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survival and fishing mortality based on annual spring tagging, and the results of the study that documents the prevalence of mycobacterial infections of striped bass in Chesapeake Bay. Also included is an investigation on the potential use of close-kin analyses to determine the size of the spawning stock in the Rappahannock River. The information contained in this report is required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is used to implement a coordinated management plan for striped bass in Virginia, and along the eastern seaboard