DETERMINANTS OF EMPLOYEES' MOVEMENT BETWEEN LABOUR MARKET SEGMENTS

The paper studies upgrading patterns between secondary and primary segments in Polish labour market, with reference to the Segmented Labour Market theory. The type of contact (permanent vs. fixed-term) and wage distribution were used within one framework to define these labour segments. The parameters of binary choice model, based on Labour Force Survey microdata, were estimated to calculate the probabilities of shift from secondary to primary segment, and to identify supply and demand-side determinants of this upgrading. The results are, in general, in line with the trap hypothesis, pointing out to limited chances of upward shift from secondary to primary labour segment. However, this upward mobility has increased in recent years, being a result of changes in real (measured by lowering unemployment rate) and institutional sphere of the Polish labour market. Individual’s age, education attainment, propensity to invest in human capital, as well as the size of an enterprise appeared to be the most important divers of inter-segments upgrading. Moreover, regional as well as sectoral differences in probability of upgrading were identified – this probability was higher in the case of workers living in regions with large agglomerations and close proximity to the German labour market.

Funding Sources in Russian-authored Papers in Leading International Journals: the Case of Medicine

We present results of a pioneering survey of funding sources in papers with Russian affiliations published in highly cited international journals in 2010-2020 in the area of medicine and health sciences. We identify major funders both from Russia and abroad, from government, for-profit and non-profit sectors, and conflate them with advanced bibliometric indicators and techniques including author-level fractional counting. We also uncover sectoral differences regarding funding sources for universities and non-teaching institutions. Amongst other findings it is shown that Russian state sources, which were lagging behind foreign, are gaining the lead since 2015, but the Russian-funded papers still tend to have less citations, and lessinternational co-authors. Such results are important for science studies and science policy.

Introduction

In conceiving the Oxford Handbook of China Innovation, the editors were motivated by the belief that it should provide comprehensive and authoritative views of the role of innovation in China’s rise. Accordingly, the Handbook consists of chapters written by some sixty experts from universities and research institutions, who provide an exposition of the state of the art in their fields, with criticism and suggestions for further research. These ideas cover a review of China’s development policies, the place of innovation within national priorities, the specific components of the national innovation system, and the resources required for effective innovation. It gives detailed attention to the many elements of the system that provide incentives and support and the factors contributing to a technologically sophisticated society. The issue of foreign influence is also addressed, along with open innovation, foreign direct investment, and sectoral differences. Several chapters include examples of the capabilities and strategies of Chinese corporations that have become world-class innovators. This introduction provides a short overview of each of the book’s seven sections and an outline of each chapter. The editors hope that readers will find that the volume enhances their understanding of China’s march toward technological and innovation leadership and provides a foundation for informed conjecture regarding the challenges ahead.

Meta-analysis of Collaboration and Performance: Moderating Tests of Sectoral Differences in Collaborative Performance

Over the past few decades, collaboration has flourished in the public administration and policy fields as a rational means to solve complex issues and improve public service performance. Through a meta-analysis of 26 studies with 251 effect sizes, this investigation provides novel perspectives for understanding the effects of different collaborative partnerships on performance. To test these mechanisms, we applied various social science theories, such as institutional theory, resource dependence theory, a resource-based view, and transaction cost theories. Our findings indicate that the overall effect of collaborative performance is positive and significant. Moreover, meta-regression results show that public–public collaboration results in better performance than public–nonprofit or public–business collaboration, while involving all three entity types in collaborative efforts yields similar outcomes to public–public collaboration. Several implications of these findings are outlined for researchers and practitioners.

Carbon Taxes

Economists argue that carbon taxation (and more generally carbon pricing) is the single most powerful way to combat climate change. Since this is so controversial, we need to explain it better, and to be precise, the efficiency gains are largest when the costs of abatement are strongly heterogeneous. This is often—but not always—the case. When it is not, standards can fill much the same role. To internalize the climate externality, economic efficiency calls for a global carbon tax (or price) that is equal to the global damage or the so-called social cost of carbon. However, equity considerations as well as existing geographical and sectoral differences in the effectiveness of carbon taxation at reducing emissions, suggest earlier implementation of relatively high taxation levels in some sectors or countries—for instance, among richer economies followed by a more gradual phase-in among low-income countries. The number of national and subnational carbon pricing policies that have been implemented around the world during the first years following the Paris Agreement of 2015 is significant. By 2020, these programs covered 22% of global emissions with an average carbon price (weighted by the share of emissions covered) of USD15/tCO2 and a maximum price of USD120/tCO2. The share of emissions covered by carbon pricing as well as carbon prices themselves are expected to consistently rise throughout the decade 2021–2030 and beyond. Many experts agree that the social cost of carbon is in the range USD40–100/tCO2. Anti-climate lobbying, public opposition, and lack of understanding of the instrument are among the key challenges faced by carbon taxation. Opportunities for further expansion of carbon taxation lie in increased climate awareness, the communicative resources governments have to help citizens understand the logic behind carbon taxation, and earmarking of carbon tax revenues to address issues that are important to the public such as fairness.

Diversifying a resource-dependent economy: private–public relationships in the Kuwaiti economy

The Kuwaiti economy is characterized by two major structural imbalances—heavy dependence on oil production and dominance of the public ownership. Kuwait has struggled over the years to implement a two-pronged development strategy —diversifying the country’s economic base away from the oil sector and promoting private sector development. This paper explores the economic impact of some policy reform options currently being considered. It employs a unique set of input–output tables, derived from supply–use tables, that distinguishes transactions made by private and public enterprises as well as providing a matrix of imports by industry. The public–private sector interdependence analysis revealed interesting results regarding sectoral differences in strengths of forward and backward linkages. For instance, the findings indicated that the strength of the publicly owned oil sectors lie in their forward linkages, supplying other sectors with their outputs, but their backward linkages is weak. On the other hand, the chemicals industry is identified as one of a few sectors with balanced and relatively strong forward and backward linkages in both public and private sector. The policy analyses conducted in this paper are highly relevant to the ongoing policy debate in Kuwait over the design of the economic reform programs. The public–private linkage analysis has revealed insights into policy synergies through which one instrument can affect more than one policy target.

Adaptations to first-tier suppliers’ relational anti-slavery capabilities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how first-tier suppliers in multi-tier supply chains adapt their vertical and horizontal relationships to reduce the risk of slavery-like practices. Design/methodology/approach Using Archer’s morphogenetic theory as an analytical lens, this paper presents case analyses adduced from primary and secondary data related to the development of relational anti-slavery supply capabilities in Brazilian–UK beef and timber supply chains. Findings Four distinct types of adaptation were found among first-tier suppliers: horizontal systemisation, vertical systemisation, horizontal transformation and vertical differentiation. Research limitations/implications This study draws attention to the socially situated nature of corporate action, moving beyond the rationalistic discourse that underpins existing research studies of multi-tier, socially sustainable, supply chain management. Cross-sector comparison highlights sub-country and intra-sectoral differences in both institutional setting and the approaches and outcomes of individual corporate actors’ initiatives. Sustainable supply chain management theorists would do well to seek out those institutional entrepreneurs who actively reshape the institutional conditions within which they find themselves situated. Practical implications Practitioners may benefit from adopting a structured approach to the analysis of the necessary or contingent complementarities between their, primarily economic, objectives and the social sustainability goals of other, potential, organizational partners. Social implications A range of interventions that may serve to reduce the risk of slavery-like practices in global commodity chains are presented. Originality/value This paper presents a novel analysis of qualitative empirical data and extends understanding of the agential role played by first-tier suppliers in global, multi-tier, commodity, supply chains.

Transportation Amenities and High-Tech Firm Location: An Empirical Study of High-Tech Clusters

Clustering and active transportation infrastructures have a significant impact on economic development strategies for attracting high-tech firms. High-tech firms cluster to create economies of scale. In theory, such clusters favor walkable and transit-accessible locations following the preferences of footloose workers of the creative class, an expectation that underpins pro-walkability and transit-accessible development strategies. Such approaches, however, fail to consider countervailing factors including changes in logistics, land values, the rise of the e-economy, and gig workers, which could result in a preference for auto-centric locations. This study addresses the knowledge gap by investigating differences in location behaviors of six high-tech sectoral categories with respect to transportation infrastructures. The analysis uses a firm-level micro dataset provided by Esri along with multiple logit regressions to explore the relationship between high-tech firm locations and transportation amenities in 627 high-tech clusters from the 52 largest U.S. regions. The results show that not all high-tech industries opt for walkable and transit-accessible locations. Compared with other high-tech specializations, professional services (i.e., data processing/computer or engineering and architectural services), which account for the largest share of high-tech employees, are drawn to walkable and transit rich areas near central business districts. On the other hand, auto-centric locations on the peripheries are home to aerospace and bio-pharmaceutical industries. In light of these findings, it is essential that economic development officials aiming to achieve balanced growth consider major local high-tech sector(s) and sectoral differences when making policy decisions.

Regimes reloaded! A reappraisal of Schumpeterian patterns of innovation, 1977–2011

One of the most significant results of the empirical literature on innovation studies of the 1980s and 1990s was that innovation patterns were characterized by important inter-sectoral differences. This finding prompted a lively research agenda that: i) provided empirical characterizations of sectoral patterns of innovation by means of taxonomic exercises; ii) sought to interpret sectoral patterns of innovation as emerging properties of underlying selection and learning processes reflecting the structural properties of technical change at sectoral level (“technological regimes”). In this paper, we reconsider one of the landmark works on technological regimes (e.g., Breschi et al. 2000), reassess its findings, and perform a quasi-replication of their its exercise. Our conclusion is that the proposed distinction between Schumpeterian patterns of innovation (Mark I vs. Mark II) and their interpretation in terms of technological regimes has still the promise of yielding important insights concerning on the connection between inventive activities and industrial dynamics.

Bacterial communities in the gastrointestinal tract segments of helminth-resistant and helminth-susceptible sheep

Background Helminth parasitism is a world-wide problem in livestock industries, with major impacts on health, welfare and productivity. It has been the subject of decades of research, but little attention has been paid to the role of the gut microbiota in the responses to infection. The present study characterized the microbiome along the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) of sheep and tested whether it had been affected by three decades of breeding for resistance to helminth infection. Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) for faecal egg count (FEC) were used to select the 10 most worm-susceptible (High-FEC) and 10 most worm-resistant (Low-FEC) animals. DNA was extracted and sequenced for 16S rRNA gene from faeces and from the lumen of the rumen, abomasum, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, caecum, and colon. Results The most frequent genera identified along the GIT were Eubacterium, Oscillibacter, and Ruminococcus. Intersectoral-specialization zones were identified along the GIT, with the duodenum revealing major differences between the High-FEC (helminth-susceptible) and Low-FEC (helminth-resistant) animals in values for Alpha and Beta diversity. The High-FEC and Low-FEC sheep differed significantly for three phyla (Firmicutes, Elusimicrobia, Chloroflexi) and 11 genera. At other GIT sites, Firmicutes was the most abundant phylum followed by Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria presenting no major differences between High-FEC and Low-FEC. Conclusions The gastro-intestinal microbial profile varies widely between helminth-resistant and helminth-susceptible sheep. Each GIT section appears to supports a particular bacterial composition leading to inter-sectoral differences among the various microbial communities. The animal’s duodenum creates the right environment which results in a more diverse and richness microbial population in the helminth-resistant sheep and suggests that this population favours bacterial genera that generally ferment carbohydrates. The energy metabolism of sheep is largely based on the production of volatile fatty acids (acetate, butyrate, propionate) in the rumen, raising the possibility that butyrate-producing bacteria in the duodenum of helminth-resistant sheep, modulate the host’s metabolism and assist in the regulation of the parasite burden.