Temporary help agencies and occupational mobility

This paper focuses upon the effect of Temporary Help Agencies (THAs) on occupational mobility through a comparison of the job-to-job upgrading chances of THA and non-THA workers. A screening approach to the role of these labor "brokers" suggests that agency workers can expect greater upgrading chances between two different occupations. Results obtained from a sample of Spanish workers show that working through these intermediaries allows workers in intermediate occupational levels to avoid occupational demotions more easily than non-THA ones. Moreover, THAs improve the probability for high-skilled workers of achieving a permanent contract. The empirical analysis demonstrates that the existence of self-selection is an important explanation for increased occupational mobility among THA workers in Spain

The nineties in Spain: too much flexibility in the youth labour market?

This paper examines movements into and out of employment in the Spanish youth labour market throughout the nineties. We analyze how differences in personal and economic circumstances influence such movements. In addition, we consider the importance of duration dependence in determining them. Our main findings are that: (i) Very young workers, women and those with lower qualification levels are more likely to be affected by high labour turnover; (ii) The existence of unobserved heterogeneity has important consequences in the unemployment hazard rate; (iii) In the 90's, employment hazard rates were substantially affected by the extensive use of fixed-term contracts, although the 1997 labour market reform seems to have reduced this hazard rate; (iv) The intervention of temporary help agencies has a positive impact on the likelihood of leaving unemployment, although only for short-term unemployed individuals; at the same time, however, the employment hazard rate is substantially higher within these agencies

Are temporary help agencies changing mobility patterns in the Spanish labour market?

This paper examines to what extent Temporary Help Agency intermediation in the labour market affects workers' transitions into and out of employment in the Spanish youth labour market throughout the nineties. Results obtained show that this intermediation presents a positive impact on the likelihood of leaving unemployment, although only for short-term unemployed individuals; at the same time, however, the employment hazard rate is substantially higher for agency workers. We also find that employment hazard rates were substantially affected in the 90's by the extensive use of fixed-term contracts, although the 1997 labour market reform is found to reduce this hazard rate. Finally, very young workers, women and those with lower qualification levels are more likely to be affected by higher labour turnover

ARE TEMPORARY HELP AGENCIES CHANGING MOBILITY PATTERNS IN THE SPANISH LABOUR MARKET?

This paper examines to what extent Temporary Help Agency intermediation in the labour market affects workers' transitions into and out of employment in the Spanish youth labour market throughout the nineties. Results obtained show that this intermediation presents a positive impact on the likelihood of leaving unemployment, although only for short-term unemployed individuals; at the same time, however, the employment hazard rate is substantially higher for agency workers. We also find that employment hazard rates were substantially affected in the 90's by the extensive use of fixed-term contracts, although the 1997 labour market reform is found to reduce this hazard rate. Finally, very young workers, women and those with lower qualification levels are more likely to be affected by higher labour turnover.

Transitions into permanent employment in Spain : an empirical analysis for young workers

We analyze the Spanish temporary workers’ transitions into permanent employment and to what extent those who become unemployed are able to achieve a permanent job. Our focus is placed on the role of the individual’s sequence of temporary contracts on the probability of moving from temporary into permanent employment. We apply multiplespell duration techniques to a longitudinal dataset of temporary workers obtained from Social Security records for the period 1996-2003. We basically find that even though transitions into permanent employment increase with tenure, temporary jobs do not constitute stepping stones towards permanent employment, since the probability of obtaining a permanent job decreases with repeated temporary jobs. Results also show that individuals with high duration of unemployment flow into permanent work less frequently

Towards a data-driven treatment of epilepsy: computational methods to overcome low-data regimes in clinical settings

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder, affecting around 1 % of the population. One third of patients with epilepsy are drug-resistant. If the epileptogenic zone can be localized precisely, curative resective surgery may be performed. However, only 40 to 70 % of patients remain seizure-free after surgery. Presurgical evaluation, which in part aims to localize the epileptogenic zone (EZ), is a complex multimodal process that requires subjective clinical decisions, often relying on a multidisciplinary team’s experience. Thus, the clinical pathway could benefit from data-driven methods for clinical decision support. In the last decade, deep learning has seen great advancements due to the improvement of graphics processing units (GPUs), the development of new algorithms and the large amounts of generated data that become available for training. However, using deep learning in clinical settings is challenging as large datasets are rare due to privacy concerns and expensive annotation processes. Methods to overcome the lack of data are especially important in the context of presurgical evaluation of epilepsy, as only a small proportion of patients with epilepsy end up undergoing surgery, which limits the availability of data to learn from. This thesis introduces computational methods that pave the way towards integrating data-driven methods into the clinical pathway for the treatment of epilepsy, overcoming the challenge presented by the relatively small datasets available. We used transfer learning from general-domain human action recognition to characterize epileptic seizures from video–telemetry data. We developed a software framework to predict the location of the epileptogenic zone given seizure semiologies, based on retrospective information from the literature. We trained deep learning models using self-supervised and semi-supervised learning to perform quantitative analysis of resective surgery by segmenting resection cavities on brain magnetic resonance images (MRIs). Throughout our work, we shared datasets and software tools that will accelerate research in medical image computing, particularly in the field of epilepsy

Temporary help agencies and workers' occupational mobility

This paper focuses on the occupational mobility of temporary help agency workers by studying their job-to-job upgrading chances as opposed to those who have not been hired through these intermediaries. A screening approach to the role of those labor ‘brokers’ suggests that agency workers may expect greater chances of upgrading from one occupation to another. Results obtained with a sample of Spanish workers show that working through those intermediaries comparatively offers stronger prospects of occupational upgrading for workers of a medium qualification level. This basic result is reinforced when the existence of self-selection into this type of intermediated work is appropriately taken into account.Temporary help agencies, screening, self-selection, switching models

TEMPORARY HELP AGENCIES AND OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY

This paper focuses upon the effect of Temporary Help Agencies (THAs) on occupational mobility through a comparison of the job-to-job upgrading chances of THA and non-THA workers. A screening approach to the role of these labor “brokers” suggests that agency workers can expect greater upgrading chances between two different occupations. Results obtained from a sample of Spanish workers show that working through these intermediaries allows workers in intermediate occupational levels to avoid occupational demotions more easily than non-THA ones. Moreover, THAs improve the probability for high-skilled workers of achieving a permanent contract. The empirical analysis demonstrates that the existence of self-selection is an important explanation for increased occupational mobility among THA workers in Spain.

The wage gap between immigrant and native workers in Spain: an analysis using matched employer-employee data

The fact that Spain has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of immigrants over the past decade has generated considerable interest, particularly as regards wages earned by immigrants in host industries. We analyze whether controlling for both observable and unobservable characteristics of employers —in addition to individual variables and the economic context— makes any difference as regards the debate regarding the existence of wage differences between immigrant and native workers in Spain. As we show, doing this considerably reduces (or even eliminates) the inequalities found in previous research, thereby questioning the results attained by previous studies on this issue.Immigration, salaries, assimilation.

Parenting and adolescent adjustment: The mediational role of family self-esteem

The present study analyzes the relationship between parental socialization practices, acceptance/involvement, and strictness/ imposition, and different indicators of adolescent adjustment, taking into account the role of family self-esteem. A sample of 848 Spanish adolescents (54.70% females) ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old (M = 16.11, SD = 1.10) participated in the study. A series of structural equations models (SEMs) were tested to examine the mediational role of family self-esteem in the relationship between parenting practices and the outcome variables that capture adolescent adjustment: emotional instability, antisocial behavior, and academic achievement. The influence of parental practices on adolescent adjustment is expected to take place through family self-esteem. The results showed that the effect of acceptance/involvement and strictness/imposition practices on emotional instability, antisocial behavior, and academic achievement was mediated by family self-esteem. Family self-esteem eliminates the previous direct relationships between parental practices and all the adolescent adjustment variables, except the one between acceptance/involvement and emotional instability, which was reduced but not eliminated. Acceptance/involvement practices positively influence adolescents' adjustment via family selfesteem, whereas strictness/imposition practices negatively influence adolescents' adjustment via family self-esteem. This study contributes to clarifying the relationship between parental practices and adolescent adjustment, considering family self-esteem as a mediational variable rather than as an adolescent adjustment indicator. The present findings and their implications for parenting science are discussed