Regional evidence on the effect of the National Minimum Wage on the gender pay gap

We study the evidence of change in the gender wage gap across regions around the introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in Britain. As the proportion of low paid workers continued to vary across British regions, so did the relative share of men and women paid below the NMW before its introduction. This variation provides a "quasi" natural experiment with which to try and measure the effect of the introduction of the NMW. Using difference-in-differences type estimation, we conclude that there is variation in the narrowing of the overall gender pay gap across regions, consistent with regional differences in the incidence and magnitude of low pay.gender wage gap, difference-in-differences

Individuals' preference for multiple media use - underlying motives

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to uncover the underlying motives for individuals’ polychronicity, the preference to multitask with media. Design/methodology/approach For this exploratory study, a qualitative research design is chosen, using face-to-face in-depth interviews and triad groups. In total, 34 in-depth interviews are conducted in the UK, Germany and Australia, with four subsequent triads in the UK. Findings The underlying motives for individuals’ preference for multiple media use include eight dimensions: comfort with multitasking; multi-channel preference; effectiveness and efficiency; convenience; emotional gratification; information and knowledge; social benefits and assimilation. Research limitations/implications A non-probability sample of a specific sample group (Digital Natives) is used in this study and despite the reassurance provided by quality criteria and triangulation, generalisation from this study is problematic. Future research to validate the eight exposed dimensions would be valuable. Practical implications For marketing communications and media channel planners, endeavouring to optimise clients’ budgets, the unique knowledge provided by the depth of understanding offered by the eight dimensions of polychronicity and their associated facets enables the development of relevant communication campaigns. Originality/value This paper presents a unique insight into individuals’ preference for multiple media use, uncovering the underlying dimensions of this behavioural phenomenon. Accordingly, this study makes a valuable contribution to knowledge in this emerging research domain. </jats:sec

Use IT or Lose IT? The Impact of Computers on Earnings

The extent to which the impact of computer skills depends on how computers are used is investigated using British data from an establishment survey, cohort studies and the European E-Living survey. We examine the importance of activity and frequency of use in these various data sources. We find that the impact on earnings depends on which cohort of workers is examined and that there are differences over time. The regression results show that the use of computers for internet access and for email is positively significant across all of our datasets, although there are differences in the size of the effects between men and women.ICT

Invisible villages: changing residential patterns and relationships in a rural village

This study centres on the village of Greyton, near Caledon in the Western Cape. It investigates the contemporary and historic changes in its population, residence patterns, relationships and economic activity. It focusses particularly on the effects of the implementation of the Group Areas Act in the village in 1969 and the change from an apparently integrated agricultural settlement to a highly differentiated holiday and retirement resort. This thesis questions the validity of the term "community" within the constraints and contradictions imposed by the establishment of Group Areas. It examines the idea of visible and invisible villagers in the context of separate development and, in the light of the changes which have taken place, it considers the relative importance of a progressive attitude in social and economic planning as opposed to a policy of preservation of the original character of a rural village

An Agent-based approach to modelling integrated product teams undertaking a design activity.

The interactions between individual designers, within integrated product teams, and the nature of design tasks, all have a significant impact upon how well a design task can be performed, and hence the quality of the resultant product and the time in which it can be delivered. In this paper we describe an ongoing research project which aims to model integrated product teams through the use of multi-agent systems. We first describe the background and rationale for our work, and then present our initial computational model and results from the simulation of an integrated product team. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the model will evolve to improve the accuracy of the simulation

Beyond the city limits : people and property at Wynberg 1795-1927

Bibliography: pages 575-599.This study of peri-urban development in the Western Cape examines the acquisition and exploitation of property as an important feature in attaining economic power and high social status by upwardly-mobile people in a colonial setting. The choice of Wynberg in the southern Cape Peninsula as a focal point in this process is predicated upon its rapid growth during the nineteenth century in response to the need for a service centre in this comparatively undeveloped area, and the vigorous marketing which followed its recognition as a desirable and convenient place of residence. Its establishment owed much to the presence and requirements of the British military camp at Wynberg, but its continued growth and expansion can be attributed to the activities of the property developers, the efforts of a lively commercial sector and the construction of the Wynberg Railway. This process of residential and economic development is the main theme of the first five chapters of this thesis and is based, inter alia, on intensive primary research in the Cape Town Deeds Office. By 1880 Wynberg had become the centre of a new surge of growth beyond the city limits of Cape Town, eventually achieving smalltown status with its own independent municipality. There were substantial demographic changes in the area and this thesis contends that the multi-faceted development at Wynberg was facilitated both by particular individuals and interest groups. The inequalities in its evolving social formation which included not only landed proprietors but also many landless people, was not unique and was informed by the pervasive colonial belief in the dominance of European organising principles and capitalist market forces in relation to the exploitation of land. Historically, Wynberg resisted incorporation into the metropolitan area because it had achieved a high level of self-sufficiency by the end of the century. The institution of its municipal council and the defence of its independence prior to and after 1913 when the other Peninsula municipalities were amalgamated with Cape Town, forms the second major theme which is examined in Chapters 6 to 9 of this thesis. Its determined struggle to retain its autonomy ended in 1127 when it yielded to financial and other pressures, whereupon it was formally incorporated within the city limits of Cape Town

Characteristics of early school leavers in South Portland high school, South Portland, Maine

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

In Whose Hands: The Pregnancy Test in American Life

Forty years ago, when an American woman wanted to know if she was pregnant, she made an appointment with a medical professional who would conduct a pregnancy test and tell her the result. Propelled by the medical establishment’s control, surveillance, and neglect of women’s health, the women’s health movement of the 1970s sought to put women’s health “into their own hands.” Encouraged in part by the rhetoric of the women’s health movement, pregnancy tests became available for purchase over-the-counter, without a prescription, and outside of the control of the medical establishment. This dissertation examines this passage of the pregnancy test from the hands of medical professionals to the hands of lay people and asks, has the pregnancy test really delivered on its promise to give women information, choice, and control? We think of women’s reproductive health tools in the hands of doctors as oppressive and in the hands of women as liberating; the central argument of this dissertation is that this view is naïve. Putting the informational power about women’s bodies into a mobile diagnostic technology did not change the nature of the beast. Through this examination of the pregnancy test in American life, we can trace the flow of reproductive power through various people, places, and things to better understand the character of women’s subordination

A comparison of two alternative methods for determining loss of future earnings following personal injuryí

The law provides that any person injured through the fault of another can claim monetary compensation in the form of damages. Restitutio in integrum defines the objective and measure of damages. Damages in respect of loss of future earnings comprise the product of an estimated annual loss and an estimated number of years purchase. Estimates are made by means of intuition and precedent with little reference to labour economics. Damages calculated under an alternative methodology incorporating age-earnings profiles and conditional employment rates are compared with damages awarded in 100 adjudicated cases to reveal systematic and substantial under-compensation under the court method.