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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Gächter, Simon (University of Nottingham); Huang, Lingbo (University of Nottingham); Sefton, Martin (University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | We introduce the "ball-catching task", a novel computerized real effort task, which combines “real” efforts with induced material cost of effort. The central feature of the ball-catching task is that it allows researchers to manipulate the cost of effort function as well as the production function, which permits quantitative predictions on effort provision. In an experiment with piece-rate incentives we find that the comparative static and the point predictions on effort provision are remarkably accurate. We also present experimental findings from three classic experiments, namely, team production, gift exchange and tournament, using the task. All of the results are closely in line with the stylized facts from experiments using purely induced values. We conclude that the ball-catching task combines the advantages of real effort with induced values, which is useful for theory-testing purposes as well as for applications. |
| Keywords: | experimental design, real effort task, induced values, incentives, piece-rate theory, team incentives, gift exchange, tournaments, online real effort experiments |
| JEL: | C91 C92 J41 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9041&r=hrm |
| By: | Stenberg, Anders (SOFI, Stockholm University); Westerlund, Olle (Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | Most OECD countries experience high unemployment rates and declining growth in higher educational attainment. An often suggested government policy is therefore to allocate resources towards formal schooling for adults. However, returns on such investments are uncertain and the foregone earnings are potentially large. We use Swedish population register data from 1982 to 2011 to estimate average long run earnings returns on higher education for 29- to 55-year-olds who enrolled 1992-1993. We find substantial positive estimates, but these only fully emerge after approximately ten years. Nevertheless, calculations indicate that the benefits for society exceed the costs also under fairly pessimistic assumptions. |
| Keywords: | adult education, human capital, earnings |
| JEL: | H30 H52 I20 J24 O30 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9047&r=hrm |
| By: | Collewet M.M.F.; Grip A. de; Koning J.d. (ROA) |
| Abstract: | This paper uncovers conspicuous work as a new form of status seeking that can explain social interactions in labour supply. We analyse how peer working time relates to both labour supply and happiness for Dutch male workers. Using a unique measure of peer weekly working time, we find that mens working time increases with that of their peers and that peer working time is negatively related to mens happiness. These findings are consistent with a conspicuous work model, in which individuals derive status from working time. |
| Keywords: | Externalities; General Welfare; Time Allocation and Labor Supply; |
| JEL: | J22 I31 D62 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umaror:2015006&r=hrm |
| By: | Joshua S. Graff Zivin; Solomon M. Hsiang; Matthew J. Neidell |
| Abstract: | We provide the first estimates of the potential impact of climate change on human capital, focusing on the impacts from both short-run weather and long-run climate. Exploiting the longitudinal structure of the NLSY79 and random fluctuations in weather across interviews, we identify the effect of temperature in models with child-specific fixed effects. We find that short-run changes in temperature lead to statistically significant decreases in cognitive performance on math (but not reading) beyond 26C (78.8F). In contrast, our long-run analysis, which relies upon long-difference and rich cross-sectional models, reveals no statistically significant relationship between climate and human capital. This finding is consistent with the notion that adaptation, particularly compensatory behavior, plays a significant role in limiting the long run impacts from short run weather shocks. |
| JEL: | H41 I0 Q5 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21157&r=hrm |
| By: | Michael Callen; Saad Gulzar; Ali Hasanain; Yasir Khan; Arman Rezaee |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence that the personality traits of policy actors matter for policy outcomes in the context of two large-scale experiments in Punjab, Pakistan. Three results support the relevance of personalities for policy outcomes. First, doctors with higher Big Five and Perry Public Sector Motivation scores attend work more and falsify inspection reports less. Second, health inspectors who score higher on these personality measures exhibit a larger treatment response to increased monitoring. Last, senior health officials with higher Big Five scores are more likely to respond to a report of an underperforming facility by compelling better subsequent staff attendance. |
| JEL: | C93 D02 D73 H11 O31 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21180&r=hrm |
| By: | Pradeep Dubey; John Geanakoplos |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nys:sunysb:14-02&r=hrm |
| By: | Veeranuch Leelalai (National Institute of Development Administration) |
| Abstract: | Wealth maximization is the main objective of a business firm. One of the instruments to achieve that goal is dividend policy. However, dividend policy is also considered to be timelessly complicated as managers have to alternate between new investment decisions and wealth distribution to shareholders. In addition, firms should have stable income level in order to payout the dividend. Subsequently, it is controversial about how much a firm, led by a group of professional managements, should pay the dividend. This paper approached the question by investigating the relationship between managerial talent and dividend decision. The hypothesis was that talented managers choose to pay more dividends, because manager with greater ability supposedly make better corporate decisions, which in turns, can improve company’s earning quality. Managerial ability measure (hereafter “MA-score”) used herein is motivated by the work of Demerjian et al. (2012), which gauged genuine managerial ability rather than firm efficiency. The results supported the earning quality hypothesis as dividend policy was positively associated with managerial ability. Specifically, managers with higher ability was associated with higher possibility to approve dividend payment to shareholder and tended to pay at a higher rate than less talented managers. Using industry mean MA-score as instrumental variable, this paper employed the two-stage least square method to address possible endogeneity and still obtained the consistent results. The implication was that managerial talent has substantial impact on critical corporate decisions such as dividend policy. More talented managers can improve corporate earning quality (or sustainability), which encourage to pay more dividend. |
| Keywords: | Dividend policy, Managerial ability, Managerial talent |
| JEL: | G35 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003573&r=hrm |
| By: | David Rietzke |
| Abstract: | In the funding of R&D, push mechanisms, such as research grants, subsidize research input, while pull mechanisms, such as innovation prizes, reward research output. By rewarding research output, pull mechanisms create strong incentives for researchers to devote non observable inputs to R&D. Push mechanisms, in contrast, may reward a researcher independently of her output. In the presence of moral hazard, it might seem that push mechanisms generate weak incentives for non observable inputs from the researcher and, absent risk-sharing considerations, would be inferior to pull mechanisms; it is the aim of this paper to critically assess this hypothesis. I analyze a principal-agent model in which a funder encourages R&D activity through a push incentive (a grant) and/or a pull incentive (a prize); R&D input consists of both an observable and non observable component. In contrast to the stated hypothesis, it is shown that a grant may emerge as an optimal means of funding as a result of the interaction between adverse selection and moral hazard. The model also helps to explain the use of matching grants, it is shown that such grants serve as an effective sorting device in the presence of adverse selection. |
| Keywords: | grants, prizes, moral hazard, adverse selection, innovation, principal-agent problem |
| JEL: | D82 D86 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:82851479&r=hrm |
| By: | Ma Kura (Czestochowa University of Technology); Piotr K (Czestochowa University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | For modern and innovative enterprises, the priority activity should be effective and skillful management of the possessed human resources since they are considered as one of the most valuable assets of the enterprise, which can provide the achievement of competitive advantage on the market. In the paper, there is discussed the problem of human resource management in the context of providing employees with opportunities for development.In the first part of the paper, there is presented the significance and specificity of human resources for modern enterprises and the selected definitions of human resource management. In the subsequent part of the paper, there is discussed the issue of the necessity to invest in staff development and the significance of improving staff competences for enterprises. The last part of the paper includes the analysis of dependencies between investing in staff development and the level of development of enterprises operating in Poland. The analysis has been conducted on the basis of the empirical data included in the report of the research Rozwijanie kompetencji przez doros |
| Keywords: | human resources, competences, competitiveness, enterprise |
| JEL: | O15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1004038&r=hrm |
| By: | Grönqvist, Erik (IFAU); Lindqvist, Erik (Stockholm School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We show that officer training during the Swedish military service has a strong positive effect on the probability to attain a managerial position later in life. The most intense type of officer training increases the probability of becoming a civilian manager by about 5 percentage points, or 75 percent. Officer training also increases educational attainment post-military service. We argue that the effect on civilian leadership could be due to acquisition of leadership specific skills during the military service, and present suggestive evidence related to alternative mechanisms, such as signalling, networks, and training unrelated to leadership. |
| Keywords: | Leadership; Management; CEOs; Non-cognitive skills; Regression discontinuity; Program evaluation; Conscription; Military service; Military officers; Military leadership |
| JEL: | I20 J24 J31 M51 |
| Date: | 2015–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1069&r=hrm |
| By: | Kaczmarczyk, Pawel (Warsaw University); Tyrowicz, Joanna (Warsaw University) |
| Abstract: | We test if migration leads to increased wages. We take the example of Polish migrants to the United Kingdom and focus on the mobility of well educated Poles. We offer insights into absolute and relative change in wages of the migrants, utilizing the data from the UK and Polish labor force surveys. We find that while overall the returns to migration are low, they are negligible or even insignificant for the highly skilled migrants from Poland to the UK. These results hold for both absolute and relative measures. |
| Keywords: | mobility of the highly educated, return to human capital, relative deprivation, Propensity Score Matching |
| JEL: | J24 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9057&r=hrm |