A Tale of Two Countries: Unions, Closures and Growth in Britain and Norway

Using linked private sector employer-employee panel data for Britain and Norway we explore the effects of unionization on workplace closure and employment growth over the period 1997-2004. Unions prolonged the life of low-wage workplaces in Britain, whereas Norwegian unions increased (reduced) closure hazards in high (low) waged workplaces. Contrary to earlier studies, unions had no effect on workplace growth in Britain. In Norway, union workplaces experienced 4 percent per annum lower growth. However, the estimation of a dynamic panel data model for Norway indicates positive long-term causal effects of union density on employment.Unions, closure, employment growth, comparative, system-GMM

Improving the accuracy of weed species detection for robotic weed control in complex real-time environments

Alex Olsen applied deep learning and machine vision to improve the accuracy of weed species detection in real time complex environments. His robotic weed control prototype, AutoWeed, presents a new efficient tool for weed management in crop and pasture and has launched a startup agricultural technology company

How Does Innovation Affect Worker Well-being?

We explore the effects of management innovations on worker well-being using private sector linked employer-employee data for Britain. We find management innovations are associated with lower worker well-being and lower job satisfaction, an effect which becomes more pronounced when we account for the endogeneity of innovation. This is the case for three different count measures of innovation - a global measure of innovation and measures for labour innovations and capital innovations. The effects are ameliorated when workers are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.innovation, well-being, job satisfaction, trade unions

Do Higher Wages Come at a Price?

Using linked employer-employee data for Britain we find job satisfaction and job anxiety are negatively correlated but higher wages are associated with higher job satisfaction and higher job anxiety. However, we observe a positive association between higher wages and non-pecuniary job satisfaction, which disappears with the inclusion of our effort measures. Thus high effort levels provide high levels of non-pecuniary job satisfaction and higher wages, in contrast to what compensating wage differentials predicts. On the other hand, the positive association between wages and pay satisfaction and the positive association between wages and job anxiety are both robust to the inclusion of our effort measures and rich job controls. Mean wages of co-workers are positively associated with pay satisfaction but there is no significant association with non-pecuniary job satisfaction or job anxiety. Thus there is a positive spill-over to workers from being in a high-wage workplace and there is no support for the proposition that within-workplace wage differentials are a source of job anxiety.worker wellbeing, job stress, job anxiety, job satisfaction, wages, compensating differentials

Organic farming and multicriteria decisions: An economic survey

Organic food production is a sphere where decision making is multi-facetted and complex. This applies to producers, political decision makers and consumers alike. This paper provides an overview of the economic methods that can aid such multi criteria decision making. We first provide an outline of the many different Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) techniques available and their relative advantages and disadvantages. In addition, theoretical and practical problems related to the use of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and MCA respectively are briefly discussed. We then review the MCA literature on case studies on organic farming. Based on this review we provide directional markers for future research where MCA may possibly be applied and adapted in order to provide useful knowledge and support for decision makers in the context of organic farming

Case Study - Denmark, Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo Project)

This Technical Note 'Case Study ¿ Denmark' is part of a series of case studies within the ¿Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation¿ (SoCo) project. Ten case studies were carried out in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom between spring and summer 2008. The selection of case study areas was designed to capture differences in soil degradation processes, soil types, climatic conditions, farm structures and farming practices, institutional settings and policy priorities. A harmonised methodological approach was pursued in order to gather insights from a range of contrasting conditions over a geographically diverse area. The case studies were carried out by local experts to reflect the specificities of the selected case studies.JRC.DDG.J.5-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Union effects on product and technological innovations

We present theoretical and empirical evidence challenging early studies that found unions were detrimental to workplace innovation. Under our theoretical model, unions prefer product innovation to labor-saving technological process innovation, thus making union wage bargaining regimes more conducive to product innovation than competitive pay setting. We test the theory with population-representative workplace data for Britain and Norway. We find strong support for the notion that local bargaining leads to product innovation, either alone or together with technological innovation.acceptedVersio

The Food Service Industry Environment: Market Volatility Analysis

In their dialogue entitled - The Food Service Industry Environment: Market Volatility Analysis - by Alex F. De Noble, Assistant Professor of Management, San Diego State University and Michael D. Olsen, Associate Professor and Director, Division of Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, De Noble and Olson preface the discussion by saying: “Hospitality executives, as a whole, do not believe they exist in a volatile environment and spend little time or effort in assessing how current and future activity in the environment will affect their success or failure. The authors highlight potential differences that may exist between executives\u27 perceptions and objective indicators of environmental volatility within the hospitality industry and suggest that executives change these perceptions by incorporating the assumption of a much more dynamic environment into their future strategic planning efforts. Objective, empirical evidence of the dynamic nature of the hospitality environment is presented and compared to several studies pertaining to environmental perceptions of the industry.” That weighty thesis statement presumes that hospitality executives/managers do not fully comprehend the environment in which they operate. The authors provide a contrast, which conventional wisdom would seem to support and satisfy. “Broadly speaking, the operating environment of an organization is represented by its task domain,” say the authors. “This task domain consists of such elements as a firm\u27s customers, suppliers, competitors, and regulatory groups.” These are dynamic actors and the underpinnings of change, say the authors by way of citation. “The most difficult aspect for management in this regard tends to be the development of a proper definition of the environment of their particular firm. Being able to precisely define who the customers, competitors, suppliers, and regulatory groups are within the environment of the firm is no easy task, yet is imperative if proper planning is to occur,” De Noble and Olson further contribute to support their thesis statement. The article is bloated, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, with tables both survey and empirically driven, to illustrate market volatility. One such table is the Bates and Eldredge outline; Table-6 in the article. “This comprehensive outline…should prove to be useful to most executives in expanding their perception of the environment of their firm,” say De Noble and Olson. “It is, however, only a suggested outline,” they advise. “…risk should be incorporated into every investment decision, especially in a volatile environment,” say the authors. De Noble and Olson close with an intriguing formula to gauge volatility in an environment

Et litteraturstudie over tilgange til evaluering af økologi med fokus på økonomisk værdisætning og multikriterieanalyser

De overordnede principper, som økologisk jordbrugsproduktion hviler på, og de helt konkrete standarder, som skal være opfyldt for at kunne markedsføre et produkt som økologisk samt opnå støtte til produktionen, illustrerer i høj grad, at der er behov for et værdisætnings- og beslutningsstøtteværktøj, som kan inddrage mange og forskellige aspekter af økologisk jordbrug. Samtidig er der formuleret klare standarder for opfyldelse af kravene til at få et produkt Ø-mærket. I det omfang reglerne har en betydning for produktionens effekt på miljø, dyrevelfærd, økonomi osv., er disse langt mere operationelle i forhold til at give et bud på værdien af økologisk produktion. Økologiske fødevarer og økologisk jordbrug er oplagt meget komplekse begreber, og multikriteriemetoder er derfor strengt nødvendige for at gennemføre relevante analyser af området. Selv om der stadig er mange uløste problemer tilbage, så har økonomisk teori mange metoder, der kan bruges til sådanne analyser. En kombination af økonomisk værdisætning/cost-benefit analyse og multikriterietilgangen rummer potentielt lovende muligheder. Multikriterie-analysen er interessant i denne sammenhæng, fordi den giver mulighed for at benytte fysiske vægte, der hvor kriterierne ikke måles i samme enhed (penge). Samtidig er der en læreproces indbygget i metoden, da den opfordrer beslutningstagerne til eksplicit at tage stilling til hvilke vægte, de tillægger forskellige hensyn. Det forventes derfor, at anvendelse af multikriterietilgangen vil være et godt bidrag til at øge forståelsen af økologiens komplekse struktur. Der ligger dog samtidig betydelige udfordringer i anvendelse af multikriterieanalyser som værktøj til vurdering af den samfundsøkonomiske værdi af økologisk produktion. Det gælder ikke mindst den udfordring, der ligger i at afgøre, hvilke beslutningstagere og eksperter der har adkomst til at fastsætte vægte på samfundets vegne, når det drejer sig om betydningen af fx miljøværdier. Multikriterieanalysernes anvendelse i forhold til landbrug og fødevarer spænder vidt – lige fra en marketingsanalyse af forbrugernes multidimensionelle opfattelse af en ny type olivenolie (hvor de involverede kriterier omfatter olivenoliens farve, smag, duft, indpakning, etiket og pris) til en sammenligning af konventionel, miljøvenlig og økologisk landbrugsproduktion i forhold til en række miljørelaterede kriterier (jorderosion, jordbundskvalitet, rationel brug af kunstig vanding, vandforurening, luftforurening og påvirkning af biodiversitet). Det må konkluderes, at selv om der er identificeret en række studier, så er der fremadrettet behov for analyser der specifikt fokuserer på at evaluere økologisk produktion og forbrug hvor helheden og de mange facetter inddrages i en fælles analyseramme

Three Perspectives on Motivation and Multi-Criteria Assessment of Organic Food Systems

The complexity of values related to organic food systems is normally difficult to ascertain, understand and act upon for both producers and consumers, as well as for other agents. In this paper we have suggested MCA as a method that may help in coping with this complexity. Furthermore, we have pointed to the importance of addressing the challenge of motivation when designing such an MCA tool. In doing so, we have applied three very different concepts of motivation – an economic, a psycho-social and a relational concept. While they represent fundamentally different perspectives, by incorporating all three within a multi-perspective approach, we have been able to explore ’a broader array of relevant aspects of motivation when designing a MCA tool to be used by consumers when dealing with organic food issues. From an economic perspective, motivation is closely related to the buying situation and consumers’ need to choose between products. This stresses the importance of gaining a quick overview and of support in assessing the options. From a psycho-social perspective, the key point is to design the tool in a way that makes it possible for the consumer to include his or her experiences and specific lifeworld strategies in the assessment process. This highlights the importance of an MCA tool which enables users to influence and change criteria and values in decision-making and reflexive processes. Finally, from a relational perspective, motivation is a matter of social interaction and the tool should therefore be designed so as to allow dialogue between the agents involved in the value chain of the organic food system. Applying the three perspectives on motivation to the issue has proven the value of a multi-perspective approach and provided input qualifying the development of a prototype MCA tool for agents participating in the organic food system