Worker Productivity (worker + productivity)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The Effects of Race and Worker Productivity on Performance Evaluations

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 4 2001
Marta Elvira
Using personnel data from a large firm, we examine the role of race, supervisor's race, and worker productivity on performance ratings for a diverse employee population. Controlling for worker productivity and other demographic variables, black employees receive lower ratings than whites. These differences in performance evaluations are associated with the racial composition of the subordinate-supervisor pair. Racial differences between subordinate and supervisor lead to lower ratings for both black and white subordinates. [source]


IQ IN THE PRODUCTION FUNCTION: EVIDENCE FROM IMMIGRANT EARNINGS

ECONOMIC INQUIRY, Issue 3 2010
GARETT JONES
We show that a country's average IQ score is a useful predictor of the wages that immigrants from that country earn in the United States, whether or not one adjusts for immigrant education. Just as in numerous microeconomic studies, 1 IQ point predicts 1% higher wages, suggesting that IQ tests capture an important difference in cross-country worker productivity. In a cross-country development accounting exercise, about one-sixth of the global inequality in log income can be explained by the effect of large, persistent differences in national average IQ on the private marginal product of labor. This suggests that cognitive skills matter more for groups than for individuals. (JEL J24, J61, O47) [source]


Local Industry Agglomeration and New Business Activity

GROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2003
Todd Gabe
New businesses are highly involved in innovative activity, which enhances worker productivity and leads to increased economic output. This paper investigates the effects of industry concentration on the incidence of new business openings in the 5,504 Maine county-industries. Empirical findings indicate that new business activity increases with the number of incumbent establishments in a county-industry and its concentration level relative to the U.S. economy. Model simulations show that raising county-industries, with no initial industry presence, to concentration levels similar to that of the industry in the U.S. economy results in a 1.7 to 8.9 percent increase in the expected number of business openings over a three-year period. Empirical results also suggest that industry clusters comprised of young and small establishments are more conducive to new business formation than clusters made up of mature and large companies. [source]


The Effects of Race and Worker Productivity on Performance Evaluations

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 4 2001
Marta Elvira
Using personnel data from a large firm, we examine the role of race, supervisor's race, and worker productivity on performance ratings for a diverse employee population. Controlling for worker productivity and other demographic variables, black employees receive lower ratings than whites. These differences in performance evaluations are associated with the racial composition of the subordinate-supervisor pair. Racial differences between subordinate and supervisor lead to lower ratings for both black and white subordinates. [source]


Performance Impact of the Elimination of Direct Labor Variance Reporting: A Field Study

JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 4 2002
Rajiv D. Banker
Using a field study approach, we examine two competing perspectives on direct labor variance reporting: some argue that direct labor variance reporting is costly and cumbersome, and should be eliminated; whereas others contend that without direct labor variance information, managers will not be able to monitor workers effectively, causing workers to shirk and worker productivity to decline. Specifically, we investigate the productivity and quality impacts of eliminating direct labor variance reporting with panel data containing 36 months of data from seven experimental plants that eliminated direct labor variance reporting and 11 control plants that did not. The experimental plants experienced a significant decline in labor productivity compared to the control plants. Also, the experimental plants showed an improvement in product quality, indicating that workers reallocate their efforts to other tasks as a result of the change in the information set available to evaluate them. [source]


HISTORICAL TRADITIONS OF CIVICNESS AND LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,

JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2010
Guido De Blasio
ABSTRACT The paper investigates the importance of history for local economic performance in Italy by studying the role of social capital, which refers to trust, reciprocity and habits of co-operation that are shared among members of a local community. The paper presents a test based on worker productivity, entrepreneurship, and female labor market participation. Using as instruments regional differences in civic involvement in the late 19th century and local systems of government in the middle ages, it shows that social capital does have economic effects. [source]


Capital deepening and wage differentials: Germany versus US

ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 49 2007
Winfried Koeniger
SUMMARY Wage inequality, investment and skills In flexible labour markets, capital increases the productivity of skilled workers more than that of unskilled workers, and in the US faster investment is associated with wider wage inequality. But labour market institutions that keep unskilled workers' wages high also imply that firms may find it profitable to invest so as to boost those workers' productivity. Our empirical analysis based on industry-level data confirms that a higher capital intensity in Germany is associated with smaller wage differentials and with a larger share of unskilled workers in the labour costs. Changes in capital,labour ratios during the 1980s reduced wage differentials by 5,8% in German industries, while in the US capital deepening in such industries as machinery and retail was accompanied by an increase of wage differentials larger than 7%. , Winfried Koeniger and Marco Leonardi [source]


Employers' Benefits from Workers' Health Insurance

THE MILBANK QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2003
Ellen O'Brien
Most nonelderly americans receive their health insurance coverage through their workplace. Almost all large firms offer a health insurance plan, and even though they face greater barriers to providing coverage, so do the majority of very small firms. These employment-based plans cover two-thirds of nonelderly Americans and pay most of working families' expenses for health care and about one-quarter of national health spending. Despite employers' role in the health insurance market, however, very little attention has been paid to employers' motivations for providing health insurance to workers. Why do employers offer health insurance to workers? Is it because workers want it? Because their unions demand it? Or do employers offer health benefits to workers because their productivity and profitability depend on it? The standard economic theory of the availability of employer-provided health insurance focuses on worker demand (Cutler 1997; Pauly 1997; Summers 1989). Even though many employers believe that health insurance and health affect employees' productivity and firms' performance, health economists typically overlook and rarely measure firms' returns on health-related investments. Some research, however, suggests that firms may benefit economically by providing health insurance coverage for workers and their families. For example, health coverage may help employers recruit and retain high-quality workers. Health may contribute to productivity by reducing the costs of absenteeism and turnover and by increasing workers' productivity. This article reviews the evidence and proposes an agenda for future research. A better understanding of the benefits to employers of offering health coverage to workers may help clarify employers' behavior and help private employers and public officials make appropriate investments in health. [source]