Multiskilling and Firm Performance

In this study, we examined uncertainty factors and human resource management practices that foster multiskilling of the workforce and the effect of multiskilling on labor productivity growth of the firm. An empirical analysis of 206 Korean manufacturing firms in 22 three-digit KSIC's showed the following results. First two uncertainty factors, the product demand variability in the industry and the occurrence of abnormal situations at the workplace, were positively associated with multiskill formation in the sample firms. Second, Human resource management practices such as mutual learning among coworkers, delegation of authority, and interworkshop mobility were positively associated with multiskill formation. Third, the degree of multiskill formation was positively associated with the firm's labor productivity growth from 1988 to 1993. Fourth, uncertainty had an indirect impact on labor productivity growth only through multiskill formation. When both uncertainty and multiskilling were included in the regression models, uncertainty had no impact on labor productivity growth. Fifth, we found growth effect of multiskilling but no level effect after controlling other factors

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN KOREA

The wage rate, labour productivity, and labour share are examined as they relate to changing industrial relations over the last four decades in the Korea. The results imply that the labour share is greater than that of Korea's competitive equilibrium in the 1990s. We analyse the effect of industrial relations on economic growth through a theoretical model comparing the growth rate of the competitive equilibrium with that of the bargaining equilibrium. The bargaining growth rate is lower than that of the competitive equilibrium. Among bargaining equilibria, the growth rate decreases as the labour share increases. Copyright 2007 The Author Journal compilation 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

A Model of On-the-job Learning

I specify a model in which younger workers learn from more experienced workers. In particular, the ratio of the effective number of experienced workers to the effective number of newer workers determines how much newer workers learn. Workers pay for their learning by reduced wages, and they receive the benefits from their learning by a growth in their wages with experience. In an industry with a higher employment growth rate, experienced workers as teachers are scarce relative to younger workers as students, and consequently younger workers learn less from experienced workers. Therefore I have an important theoretical implication: an industry with a higher employment growth rate has a flatter experience-wage profile. This hypothesis is supported by an empirical evidence using the 1984 and 1986 Korean Occupational Wage Surveys for workers with 15 (or 20) years or less of experience. I also show that a new-born industry's productivity should increase at a decreasing rate over time under a certain stability condition

(Table 1) Strontium isotopes and estimated ages for ichthyoliths of sediment core KODOS_02_01_02

Eolian components of a 328-cm-long piston core collected from the northeast equatorial Pacific at 16°12'N and 125°59'W were investigated for mineral and geochemical compositions in order to constrain the sources of dust and determine the latitudinal position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) recorded in the core. The eolian components below 250 cm are characterized by smectite- and phillipsite-rich mineral composition, depleted rare earth elements (REEs), and high Eu/Sm ratios, indicative of volcanic-rich composition. These characteristics are found in equatorial and south Pacific surface sediments, of which eolian particles are supplied from Central and South America. In contrast, eolian components above 250 cm are characterized by quartz- and illite-rich mineralogy, and more shale-like REE and trace element compositions, which are common in surface sediments of the central Pacific north of the ITCZ, where eolian particles are sourced from the Asia and North America. The observed changes are attributed to the shifting of its eolian sources from the Central and South America to the China and North America across the hemispheric dust barrier of the ITCZ. This result suggests that smectite-illite transition, a phenomenon that smectite amount increases over illite at a depth, can be used as a tracking tool for the paleolocation of the ITCZ in the northeast and central Pacific. Backtrack path construction of Pacific plate indicates paleolocation of the ITCZ north of 12°N (±2°) prior to late Miocene

Potential Short-Term Effects of Mine Tailings on Phytoplankton Assemblages in the Open Ocean

The disposal of mine tailings into the marine environment is considered an essential option to secure the economic efficiency of deep-sea mining, but it might adversely affects the ecosystem. To examine the potential impacts of tailing disposal from polymetallic nodules and polymetallic sulfide mines on phytoplankton communities, addition experiments of crushed fine particles into surface seawater were conducted in the open Indian Ocean and changes in chlorophyll a fluorescence and community composition were analyzed. The addition of tailings had serious adverse effects on phytoplankton fluorescence and photosynthetic activity, regardless of mine type. The adverse effects seemed to mainly be due to the physical properties of the mine tailings. These also showed discriminatory effects on phytoplankton, resulting in great changes in community composition. The results suggest that mine tailings could have significant adverse impacts on phytoplankton assemblages, but the degree of impact greatly varies depending on the phytoplankton groups. The discriminatory impacts would cause changes in biomass, community structure, and thus ecological function

Potential Short-Term Effects of Mine Tailings on Phytoplankton Assemblages in the Open Ocean

The disposal of mine tailings into the marine environment is considered an essential option to secure the economic efficiency of deep-sea mining, but it might adversely affects the ecosystem. To examine the potential impacts of tailing disposal from polymetallic nodules and polymetallic sulfide mines on phytoplankton communities, addition experiments of crushed fine particles into surface seawater were conducted in the open Indian Ocean and changes in chlorophyll a fluorescence and community composition were analyzed. The addition of tailings had serious adverse effects on phytoplankton fluorescence and photosynthetic activity, regardless of mine type. The adverse effects seemed to mainly be due to the physical properties of the mine tailings. These also showed discriminatory effects on phytoplankton, resulting in great changes in community composition. The results suggest that mine tailings could have significant adverse impacts on phytoplankton assemblages, but the degree of impact greatly varies depending on the phytoplankton groups. The discriminatory impacts would cause changes in biomass, community structure, and thus ecological function