scholarly journals Robots, labor markets, and universal basic income

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Cabrales ◽  
Penélope Hernández ◽  
Angel Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Labor Markets ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Effort Level ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
Socioeconomic Issues ◽  
Replacement Decisions ◽  
Part Time ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractAutomation is a big concern in modern societies in view of its widespread impact on many socioeconomic issues including income, jobs, and productivity. While previous studies have concentrated on determining the effects on jobs and salaries, our aim is to understand how automation affects productivity, and how some policies, such as taxes on robots or universal basic income, moderate or aggravate those effects. To this end, we have designed an experiment where workers make productive effort decisions, and managers can choose between workers and robots to do these tasks. In our baseline treatment, we measure the effort made by workers who may be replaced by robots, and also elicit firm replacement decisions. Subsequently, we carry out treatments in which workers have a universal basic income of about a fifth of the workers’ median wages, or where there is a tax levy on firms who replace workers by robots. We complete the picture of the impact of automation by looking into the coexistence of workers and robots with part-time jobs. We find that the threat of a robot substitution does not affect the amount of effort exerted by workers. Also, neither universal basic income nor a tax on robots decrease workers’ effort. We observe that the robot substitution tax reduces the probability of worker substitution. Finally, workers that benefit from managerial decisions to not substitute them by more productive robots do not increase their effort level. Our conclusions shed light on the interplay of policy and workers behavior under pervasive automation.

It Is More Than Language

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-98
Author(s):  
Dianne Toe ◽  
Louise Paatsch ◽  
Amy Szarkowski
Keyword(s):  
Specific Area ◽  
Cooperative Interaction ◽  
Social And Emotional Development ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pragmatic Skills ◽  
Social Use ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Shed Light

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children who use spoken language face unique challenges when communicating with others who have typical hearing, particularly their peers. In such contexts, the social use of language has been recognized as an area of vulnerability among individuals in this population and has become a focus for research and intervention. The development of pragmatic skills intersects with many aspects of child development, including emotional intelligence and executive function, as well as social and emotional development. While all these areas are important, they are beyond the scope of this chapter, which highlights the impact of pragmatics on the specific area of cognition. Cognitive pragmatics is broadly defined as the study of the mental processes involved in the understanding of meaning in the context of a cooperative interaction. This chapter explores how DHH children and young people construe meaning in the context of conversations and expository interactions with their peers. The chapter aims to examine the role played by the cognitive processes of making inferences and comprehending implicature, within the overall display of pragmatic skills. Further, the authors use this lens in the analysis of interactions between DHH children and their peers in order to shed light on the development of pragmatic skills in children who are DHH.

scholarly journals Home Production and Leisure during the COVID-19 Recession

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana Leukhina ◽  
Zhixiu Yu
Keyword(s):  
Labor Markets ◽  
Time Allocation ◽  
Home Production ◽  
Market Work ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Production Activity ◽  
Married Individuals ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Between the months of February and April of 2020, average weekly market hours in the U.S. dropped by 6.25, meanwhile 36% of workers reported switching to remote work arrangements. In this paper, we examine implications of these changes for the time allocation of different households, and on aggregate. We estimate that home production activity increased by 2.65 h a week, or 42.4% of lost market hours, due to the drop in market work and rise in remote work. The monthly value of home production increased by $39.65 billion – that is 13.55% of the concurrent $292.61 billion drop in monthly GDP. Although market hours declined the most for single, less educated individuals, the lost market hours were absorbed into home production the most by married individuals with children. Adding on the impact of school closures, our estimate of weekly home production hours increases by as much as 4.92 h. The increase in the value of monthly home production between February and April updates to $73.57 billion. We also report the estimated impact of labor markets and telecommuting on home production for each month in 2020.

Effects of full-time v. part-time grazing on seasonal changes in milk coagulation properties and fatty acid composition

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Franziska S. Akert ◽  
Michael Kreuzer ◽  
Carmen Kunz ◽  
Beat Reidy ◽  
Joel Berard
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Seasonal Variations ◽  
Milk Fat ◽  
Seasonal Effects ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Fa Composition ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Milk Coagulation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Feeding Systems

Abstract For this research communication our objective was to investigate to what extent milk coagulation properties and milk fatty acid (FA) composition were affected by different feeding systems, season and their interaction. Eighteen cows in total were subjected to one of three different feeding system treatments: full-time grazing or part-time grazing combined with indoor feeding of fresh grass with low or high concentrate supplementation. Milk was sampled in spring, summer and autumn. Milk coagulation time was 15.0, 19.0 and 17.7 min, coagulation dynamics 1.67, 3.41 and 1.79 min, and curd firmness 52.7, 32.4 and 47.0 mm in spring, summer and autumn, respectively. Thus, milk coagulation properties of the milk were lower during summer. There were strong seasonal effects on milk FA proportions, but there were not always changes with progressing season, or changes were different with respect to the impact of the feeding systems (system × season interaction). The milk fat was favourably rich in oleic acid, conjugated linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid and had a low n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio in all systems. Factors like seasonal variations in grass composition and the energy balance of the cows were considered relevant for the milk FA composition. Overall, seasonal variations in milk quality were less pronounced with part-time grazing with fresh grass indoors as compared to full-time grazing without concentrate.

scholarly journals The Impact of Employment Quality and Housing Quality on Human Development in the European Union

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 969
Author(s):  
Marina Checa-Olivas ◽  
Bladimir de la Hoz-Rosales ◽  
Rafael Cano-Guervos
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Housing Quality ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Human Capabilities ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Employment Quality ◽  
The Impact

This study aims to contribute new information on how and through which factors employment quality and housing quality can be improved from a human development approach so that people can live the life they want. Using the human capabilities approach as a theoretical reference framework, the article analyses the effect of involuntary part-time employment and overcrowded housing on the Human Development Index (HDI). The empirical analysis is based on the panel data technique, which is applied to data from the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the 28 member countries of the European Union. The results shed new evidence on how involuntary part-time work and overcrowded housing limit or hinder people from living the lives they want, at least in the dimensions measured by the HDI.

The Role of UBI in Mitigating the Effects of Psychosocial Stressors: A Review and Proposal

2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110051
Author(s):  
Rashmi Gupta ◽  
Jemima Jacob ◽  
Gaurav Bansal
Keyword(s):  
Role Stress ◽  
Psychosocial Stressors ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
The Past ◽  
Individual Outcomes ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Impact

Psychosocial stressors and social disadvantages contribute to inequalities in opportunities and outcomes. In the current paper, we use an epidemiological perspective and highlight the role stress plays on individuals by reviewing the outcomes of major stressors such as poverty and unemployment. We further analyzed the psychological and physical cost of these stressors and their long-term impact. We examined the role of universal basic income and closely looked at income experiments that were implemented in the past, in terms of their effectiveness in enhancing the community as well as individual outcomes and propose the UBI as a tool for alleviating the impact of these stressors. At a time when a major pandemic (e.g., COVID-19) threatens economic stability and health globally, we believe the UBI is relevant now, more than ever.

The effect of Medicare Part D on prescription drug composition and demand

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zimmer
Keyword(s):  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Medicare Part D ◽  
Medicare Part ◽  
Part D ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
Upper Respiratory ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Shed Light

Purpose – The US Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 introduced optional prescription drug coverage, beginning in 2006, widely known as Medicare Part D. This paper uses up-to-date nationally representative survey data to investigate the impact of Part D not only on drug spending and consumption, but also on the composition of drug consumption. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Specifically, the paper investigates whether Part D impacted the number of therapeutic classes for which drugs were prescribed, and also whether Part D lead to increased usage of drugs for specific medical conditions that typically receive drug-intensive therapies. Findings – In addition to confirming findings from previous studies, this paper shows that Part D increased the number of therapeutic classes to which seniors receive drugs by approximately four classes. Part D also lead to increased usage of drugs used to treat upper respiratory disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Originality/value – While mostly concurring with previous studies on the spending impacts of Part D, this paper is the first to shed light on other impacts of Part D, specifically with respect to its impact on therapeutic classes for which drugs are prescribed.

Publishing Productivity in Sport Psychology 1970–2000: An Exploratory Examination of the Lotka-Price Law

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Baker ◽  
Jennifer Robertson-Wilson ◽  
Whitney Sedgwick
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Scientific Productivity ◽  
Eminent Scientist ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Limited Support ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Published Research ◽  
Shed Light

The current study examined whether the distribution of published research papers in the field of sport psychology followed the Lotka-Price Law of scientific productivity. All authors who had published articles in five sport psychology journals from 1970 to 2000 were considered. The impact of those authors was determined by the total number of published papers in all journals. Results provided limited support for the Lotka-Price Law; however, it appeared that the field of sport psychology was less elitist than other fields. Although these findings suggest that productivity in this field is similar to that in other fields of science, more research is needed to shed light on the role of the eminent scientist and the average researcher in the advancement of knowledge in sport psychology.

Caught in the Net: The Impact of Changes to Canadian Employment Insurance Legislation on Part-time Workers

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norene Pupo ◽  
Ann Duffy
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Social Safety Net ◽  
Employment Insurance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
Insurance Programme ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Industrialised Countries ◽  
The Impact

Throughout Western highly industrialised countries, there has been a marked shift toward more conservative social policies signalling a dismantling of the welfare state as part of the process of globalisation. This paper examines the aetiology of the (un)employment insurance programme in the Canadian context. Recently, legislators have tightened eligibility rules, lowered earnings replacement rates and altered coverage requirements. While these changes signal a shredding of the social safety net, they differentially impact on certain segments of the population. Despite official pronouncements of fairness, employment insurance changes intensify the subordination women experience in the paid labour force.

scholarly journals Benznidazole Treatment following Acute Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Triggers CD8+ T-Cell Expansion and Promotes Resistance to Reinfection

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 3790-3796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Perdigão Olivieri ◽  
Vinícius Cotta-de-Almeida ◽  
Tania Araújo-Jorge
Keyword(s):  
T Lymphocytes ◽  
Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽  
Immune Regulation ◽  
Immune Dysregulation ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Parasite Replication ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Cruzi Infection

ABSTRACT Many studies have shed light on the mechanisms underlying both immunoprotection and immune dysregulation arising after Trypanosoma cruzi infection. However, little is known about the impact of benznidazole (N-benzyl-2-nitroimidazole acetamide), the drug available for clinical treatment of the infection, on the immune system in the infected host. In the present study we investigated the effect of benznidazole therapy on the lymphoid compartment during the course of experimental T. cruzi infection. Although amelioration of a variety of clinical and parasitological signs was observed in treated mice, amelioration of splenocyte expansion was not detected. Interestingly, this sustained splenomegaly observed in benznidazole-treated mice showed a preferential expansion of CD8+ T lymphocytes. Moreover, although benznidazole treatment blocked the expansion of recently activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells seen in infected hosts, benznidazole treatment led to a selective expansion of effector and memory CD8+ T lymphocytes in association with a lower rate of apoptosis. In addition, the surviving treated animals were protected from reinfection. Together, these data suggest that, in addition to its well-known direct role in blocking parasite replication in vivo, benznidazole appears to directly affect immune regulation in T. cruzi-infected hosts.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document