Are Occupations Paid What They Are Worth? An Econometric Study of Occupational Wage Inequality and Productivity

Labour economists typically assume that pay differences between occupations can be explained with variations in productivity. The empirical evidence on the validity of this assumption is surprisingly thin and subject to various potential biases. The authors use matched employer-employee panel data from Belgium for the years 1999-2006 to examine occupational productivity-wage gaps. They find that occupations play distinct roles for remuneration and productivity: while the estimations indicate a significant upward-sloping occupational wage-profile, the hypothesis of a flat productivity-profile cannot be rejected. The corresponding pattern of over- and underpayment stands up to a series of robustness tests.labour productivity, wages, occupations, production function, matched employer-employee data

Does Institutional Diversity Account for Pay Rules in Germany and Belgium?

This paper examines the relationship between institutions and the remuneration of different jobs by comparing the German and Belgian labour markets with respect to a typology of institutions (social representations, norms, conventions, legislation, and organisations). The observed institutional differences between the two countries lead to the hypotheses of (I) higher overall pay inequality in Germany; (II) higher pay inequalities between employees and workers in Belgium; and (III) higher (lower) impact of educational credentials (work-post tenure) on earnings in Germany. We provide survey-based empirical evidence supporting hypotheses I and III, but find no evidence for hypothesis II. These results underline the importance of institutional details: although Germany and Belgium belong to the same "variety of capitalism", we provide evidence that small institutional disparities within Continental-European capitalism account for distinct structures of pay.labour market institutions, wage inequality, rules, collective bargaining

Task-Biased Changes of Employment and Remuneration: The Case of Occupations

Different empirical studies suggest that the structure of employment in the U.S. and Great Britain tends to polarise into "good" and "bad" jobs. We provide updated evidence that polarisation also occurred in Germany since the mid-1980s until 2008. Using representative panel data, we show that this trend corresponds to a task bias in employment changes: routine jobs have lost relative employment, especially in predominantly manual occupations. We further provide the first direct test for whether task-biased technological change affects employment and remuneration in the same direction and conclude that there is no consistent task bias in the evolution of pay rules. By contrast, compositional changes like the proportion of union members are clearly associated with long-term changes in the remuneration of occupations.polarisation, technological change, pay rules, occupations, inequality, tasks

Task-Biased Changes of Employment and Remuneration: The Case of Occupations

Different empirical studies suggest that the structure of employment in the U.S. and Great Britain tends to polarise into "good" and "bad" jobs. We provide updated evidence that polarisation also occurred in Germany since the mid-1980s until 2008. Using representative panel data, we show that this trend corresponds to a task bias in employment changes: routine jobs have lost relative employment, especially in predominantly manual occupations. We further provide the first direct test for whether task-biased technological change affects employment and remuneration in the same direction and conclude that there is no consistent task bias in the evolution of pay rules. By contrast, compositional changes like the proportion of union members are clearly associated with long-term changes in the remuneration of occupations.Polarisation, technological change, pay rules, occupations, inequality, tasks

Does It Pay to Be Productive? The Case of Age Groups

Using longitudinal matched employer-employee data for the period 1999-2006, we investigate the relationship between age, wage and productivity in the Belgian private sector. More precisely, we examine how changes in the proportions of young (16-29 years), middle-aged (30-49 years) and older (more than 49 years) workers affect the productivity of firms and test for the presence of productivity-wage gaps. Results (robust to various potential econometric issues, including unobserved firm heterogeneity, endogeneity and state dependence) suggest that workers older than 49 are significantly less productive than prime age and young workers. In contrast, the productivity of middle-age workers is not found to be significantly different compared to young workers. Findings further indicate that average hourly wages within firms increase significantly and monotonically with age. Overall, this leads to the conclusion that young workers are paid below their marginal productivity while older workers appear to be "overpaid" and lends empirical support to theories of deferred compensation over the life-cycle (Lazear, 1979).aging, matched panel data, wages, productivity

Stuck in the middle with you: The role of bridging organisations in urban regeneration

The literature on the governance of social-ecological systems increasingly recognizes a key role of bridging organisations (BOs) in transition processes towards sustainability. BOs can be defined as facilitators who allow for interorganisational collaboration. Our paper provides a more nuanced understanding of specific BO activities and their contributions towards urban sustainability. Our analysis is based on applying three complementary methodological angles (drawing on geolocalised data, interviews and action research) to 20 years of urban renovation investments in the city-region of Brussels. We distinguish between multi-scale, multi-actor and multi-dimensional tensions in urban renovation programmes and link these tensions to bridging challenges for BOs. Results suggest that the corresponding three types of bridging roles form a trilemma rather than a trilogy: the BOs in study have mediated one tension by de facto exacerbating another. Lessons from action research suggest that a wider use of temporality and shared language to communicate about urban renovation projects could attenuate the bridging trilemma

Urban transformation with TURAS open innovations; opportunities for transitioning through transdisciplinarity

Transitioning is a unidirectional process of mainstreaming sustainability within normative societal behaviour, which communities hope will build resilience, reduce our dependence on distant resources and lead to the transformation towards more sustainable living as an end product. Throughout Europe there are numerous examples and pilot or demonstration projects that illustrate tools, practices, mechanisms, pathways and policies for how transitioning can be guided and a transformation can be achieved. This paper draws on the experience of the TURAS project by illustrating some of the diverse open innovation opportunities that have been derived using novel transdisciplinary approaches. The paper concludes with identifying possible ways forward by utilising the TURAS innovations to enable the transformation of urban communities

Circular economy in a territorial context: the case of biowaste management in Brussels

Circular economy currently receives great attention and appears as a promising departure from linear flows that begin with the extraction of resources and end with the creation of waste. Building on the theory of social-ecological systems, this chapter underlines the existence of alternative paths towards the circularisation of the economy – and that these alternatives are not neutral with respect to their economic, social and environmental consequences. A case study on the flows of organic matter in the Brussels metropolis sheds light on two potential development paths: the first is a “third industrial revolution” which perpetuates the logic of economic growth based on the accumulation of capital and quantitative expansion; the second is a “post-growth” scenario characterised by a new polycentric organisation of work and a qualitative development that is less capital intensive.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

MESURER L’ECONOMIE CIRCULAIRE A L’ECHELLE TERRITORIALE :UNE ANALYSE SYSTEMIQUE DE LA GESTION DES MATIERES ORGANIQUES A BRUXELLES

L’économie circulaire connait un engouement réel et apparaît comme une approche prometteuse pour rompre avec les flux linéaires qui commencent par l’extraction d’une ressource et finissent par la création d’un déchet. Mobilisant la théorie des systèmes socio-écologiques et différents indicateurs d’impact, cet article souligne l’existence de trajectoires alternatives vers la circularisation de l’économie – et que ces alternatives ne sont pas neutres quant à leurs conséquences économiques, sociales et environnementales. La mesure de ces conséquences pour le cas des flux des matières organiques dans la métropole bruxelloise permet de faire ressortir deux trajectoires potentielles :celle d’une « troisième révolution industrielle », avec une prolongation de la logique de croissance économique basée sur l’accumulation de capital et une expansion quantitative, et celle d’une « post-croissance » créatrice d’une nouvelle organisation polycentrique du travail et d’un développement qualitatif moins intensif en capital.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe