Skill and Australia's productivity surge

Skill and Australia’s Productivity Surge examines the changing demand for skills and the effect of increased skill on productivity growth. It finds that Australia’s productivity surge post 1993-94 was mainly due to factors other than the increase in the skill of the workforce.skill - productivity - labour - MFP - employment

Productivity and the structure of employment

The paper examines the structure of employment defined by industry, skill, age, part-time and casual employment status and the distribution of earnings. Employment patterns, and changes in employment profiles, are examined for differences between high productivity growth industry sectors and low productivity growth industry sectors.productivity - employment - labour - workforce - education - occupation - unemployment - skills

Distribution of the Economic Gains of the 1990s

„h Australia¡¦s surge in productivity growth in the 1990s fuelled an acceleration in growth in total income and average income (income per person in Australia). ¡V Annual average income growth accelerated from 1.4 per cent in the 1970s and 1980s to 2.5 per cent in the 1990s. ¡V Faster productivity growth accounted for over 90 per cent of the acceleration. „h The income growth of the 1990s was distributed evenly between labour (wages and salaries) and capital (profits). The labour and capital shares in economywide income were stable throughout the 1990s. Concerns that productivity-enhancing factors have adversely affected the income-earning potential of labour appear to be unfounded at the aggregate level.economic gains - distribution - living standards - income - productivity - employment - wealth - consumption - education - health - housing - environment - working hours

Productivity in manufacturing: measurement and interpretation

This paper examines recent productivity performance in Manufacturing, with particular focus on the causes of its decline. In particular, this paper: analyses Multifactor productivity (MFP) change and its proximate causes (value added, labour and capital inputs) for Manufacturing as a whole estimates MFP change and its components at the subsector level within Manufacturing examines factors influencing the productivity performance of Manufacturing and three of its largest constituent subsectors (as they have contributed most to recent trends in aggregate performance). Authored by Paula Barnes, Leo Soames, Cindy Li and Marcelo Munoz. Key points: Multifactor productivity (MFP) growth in Manufacturing was negative over the most recent complete productivity cycle (2003-04 to 2007-08), in contrast to the positive growth in the previous cycle. This large decline was atypical for Manufacturing, and since then MFP has continued to decline (although more slowly). Manufacturing\u27s MFP decline was a major contributor to flat market sector MFP. There is no overarching systemic reason for the large decline. Rather, various subsector-specific factors, such as lags between investment and output; unmeasured increases in quality; and lower capacity utilisation all contributed. Some factors reflect temporary responses to changing competitive conditions. Faster rates of input growth (capital and hours worked) and slower output (value added) growth were the \u27proximate causes\u27 of this Manufacturing MFP decline. Petroleum, coal, chemical and rubber products (PCCR), Food, beverage and tobacco products (FBT), and Metal products (MP) collectively accounted for two-thirds of the decline between cycles. Influences on each subsector were diverse. PCCR output declined in absolute terms over the most recent cycle (after growing over the previous cycle), and yet there was a large increase in capital investment. Petroleum refineries invested to meet new environmental standards, but the improved fuel quality is not fully reflected in the output measure, and thus in MFP. Value added per unit of output also declined, as greater volumes of feedstock and refined fuel were imported in response to reduced output from domestic oilfields. For plastic products, increased production by overseas firms with lower input costs and the appreciation of the Australian dollar led to strong import competition. Domestic production declined, leading to underutilised capacity. Higher demand for fertilisers and explosives led to very large investments to expand chemical production, but there was a lag before output increased. Food and beverages output growth slowed, yet hours worked increased significantly. Slower output growth was associated with a decline in exports and a loss of domestic market share for some products — reflecting input cost pressures, appreciation of the Australian dollar, and, in cases such as wine, drought. Consumer preferences also drove changes in the composition of output that increased the input intensity of production — for example, there was growth in smaller scale, more labour intensive, non-factory bakeries. But the decline in MFP in FBT may have been overstated due to challenges in measuring improved output quality and reductions in the capital stock. Metal products was different, with faster output growth and even faster input growth. Fabricated metals output grew strongly to meet increased demand from the Construction and Mining sectors. Metal products was responsible for most of the capital growth in Manufacturing, largely to expand alumina refining capacity. However, the inevitable lag between investment and ensuing output led to lower measured productivity. The MFP decline in Manufacturing has slowed in the current incomplete cycle. MFP growth in PCCR and FBT remains negative and it is marginally positive in MP

Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Inhabiting Stands of Reed Canary Grass Phalaris Arundinacea on Islands in the Lower Chippewa River, Wisconsin

We used pitfall traps to assess ground beetle diversity (Coleoptera:Carabidae) on two islands in the lower Chippewa River, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, with rapidly expanding populations of reed canary grass, Phalaris arundinaceae. We collected 233 individuals belonging to 17 species over four, 3-9 day sampling periods, May-August 1994. All species have been documented in Wisconsin and most are considered habitat generalists. Agonum fidele, A. extensicolle, Anisodactylus harrisii and Bembidion quadrimaculatum oppositum comprised 70% of all species collected. Seven species were common to both islands, with 13 species collected on Canarygrass Island and 11 species on Ski Jump Island. Carabid species diversity (Shannon’s H=2.01) was greatest on Canarygrass Island

New Voices on the Harlem Renaissance: Essays on Race, Gender,and Literary Discourse

Emily J. Orlando is a contributing author, “‘Feminine Calibans’ and ‘Dark Madonnas of the Grave’: The Imaging of Black Women in the New Negro Renaissance.” This volume of essays, privileging mostly new scholars in the field of Harlem Renaissance studies, is a representative sampling of the kind of literary scholarship and continuing study needed for this period, also often referred to as the New Negro Renaissance. As a body, the collection recognizes the evolving literary discourse that reflects interdisciplinarity and fluidity among boundaries of race, class, gender, sexuality, and pedagogy. Aimed at scholars, college teachers, upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and those with special affection and interest in the era, these essays are divided into three sections: exploring the modernist project through Harlem Renaissance writers\u27 views of art, using empire and gender as focal points; critiquing the politics of color and race, sexuality and hybridity; and examining the pedagogical and technical aspects of poetry, fiction, and other art forms. The essays on empire and gender are very different, showing the dialogic quality of the era itself. However, both feature Alain Locke and The New Negro, first published in 1925. The first argues that Locke engages in the rhetoric of empire as he advances notions that, as the superior race, African Americans can enhance African art while using it to improve their status in America. The second compares visual images of women in Locke\u27s book to illustrations by Gwendolyn Bennett and Lois Mailou Jones, to explore women\u27s and men\u27s depictions of each other during the era. Taken together, the second section of essays, on Dorothy West, Jessie Fauset, Langston Hughes, Wallace Thurman,and Countee Cullen, treat multiple migrations, from social, economic, and racial passing to sexual and homoerotic identification. The third section includes essays about Langston Hughes and teaching the Harlem Renaissance through literature and the arts. While one essay views Hughes as a source through which to teach composition, the other uses a technological and jazz lens to examine Hughes\u27s poem, The Weary Blues . The final essay advocates a more integrative approach, teaching the era as an interdisciplinary, collaborative movement involving literature and the arts, and thereby emphasizing the ways the artists themselves saw, lived, and contributed to the cultural life of their time. --Publisher descriptionhttps://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/english-books/1004/thumbnail.jp

Employability: Skills for Work, Skills for Life

At Gateway Community & Technical College, the 10 Essential Skills are embedded in a strategic, multi-faceted manner: in the curriculum, Work-Based Learning Experiences, and Student Events. Since Gateway has designed intentional instruction related to employability skills in multiple environments, students obtain well-rounded support on their journey toward gainful employment

COMMUTE: Cubesat Swarm Orbital Maneuvers for a Mission to Study Uranus’ aTmospheric Environment

Following recommendations from the 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, new mission concepts are being developed with the focus of launching Uranus’ exploration missions in the early 2030s. To minimize both fuel consumption and cruise time on our way to Uranus, we propose a Jupiter-Uranus gravity assist trajectory using a Falcon Heavy Expendable Launcher to deliver a 3000 kg spacecraft to Uranus orbit in under seven years. The spacecraft will be composed of a mothership of 2000 kg wet mass and a swarm of CubeSats with a combined wet mass of 1000 kg. Using the ephemerides data of Earth, Jupiter and Uranus, and numerical solutions to the Lambert’s problem for a Jupiter flyby, we found that, with an initial launch window around April 15th, 2032, we reach Jupiter’s sphere of influence and perform a gravitational slingshot maneuver on December 31st, 2034, allowing the spacecraft to reach Uranus on December 31st, 2038. This proposed mission trajectory reaches Uranus with a relatively short cruise period of seven years, compared to the 13-year transfer period of the mission plan detailed in the decadal survey. This shorter transfer time could allow for significant extensions of the scientific mission nominal operations period and, potentially, reduce the cost of the overall mission. The swarm of 16 CubeSats of approximately 62 kg each will be divided into 4 groups of 4 identical spacecraft. Each group will be equipped with specialized instrumentation, exploring Uranus more extensively and performing planned plunges into its atmosphere while using the mothership as a communications relay with the Earth. This research demonstrates that a CubeSat swarm mission to Uranus can be not only viable, but also a fuel and cruise time optimization opportunity, delivering 16 exploration spacecraft to Uranus in under seven years