The U.S.Defense "Iron Triangle" in Policy-Making Process

Over the years the defense industry has become a de facto participant in the policy-making process. As in other areas dominated by big business interests, a policy sub-government of "iron triangle" has emerged. In the view of some American scholars, such an "iron triangle" as a political relationship that brings together .

SOME PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE CURRENT S&T POLICY-MAKING

Ⅰ. RELEVANT CONCEPTS TO BE CLARIFIED When we talk about S&T policies, there are two concepts involved in the policy-making: one is S&T expenditure and the other is R&D input. The implications of the two are quite different. The former refers to all funds spent on S&T activities and the latter means the total expense used for a given project of systematic innovation. According

Hourly Wage and the Likelihood of Stealing an Item

Researchers have extensively explored the impact of wages on individuals’ decisions to engage in property crimes. While most of these studies in the past have relied on macro-level data to investigate the relationship between crime rates and hourly wages, this paper takes a novel approach by utilizing micro-level data to examine the influence of hourly wages on the likelihood of stealing an item valued at least $50. The results obtained from the estimations reveal that an increase in hourly wage leads to a decrease in the probability of theft, all other factors being held constant. Further estimation by gender revealed that hourly wages given to both male and female have no bearing on the decision to steal. Additionally, the analysis of the differences in theft probabilities across gender and race demonstrates that males consistently exhibit a higher likelihood of engaging in theft when compared to females across various racial groups.

Probe into liquidated damages and dismissal wage in Labor Contract Law

《劳动合同法》在立法过程中引起了劳动者、用人单位的广泛关注。从最终的立法文本中我们看到了诸多的制度创新，分析这些制度创新对于充分理解和贯彻执行《劳动合同法》具有重要的意义。本文将结合劳动合同法的立法理念对新确立的合同违约金制度和劳动补偿金制度进行分析，并提出今后完善立法的几点建议。

Wage and Income Distribution in China:Review and Outlook

Under the planned economy,China’s distribution relations were relations among the state,state-run enterprises,employees and the collective economy;relations between heavy industry and light industry;and relations between cities and the countryside.After China’s transition to a market-oriented economy,the distribution relations among the state,state-run enterprises and employees evolved into distribution relations between the government,enterprises and households;the distribution relations between heavy industry and light industry evolved into distribution relations between the state sector and the private sector;and the distribution relations between cities and the countryside evolved into distribution relations between original urban dwellers and migrant populations.Wage system reform was carried out throughout the transition of these three types of distribution relations.Income distribution contradictions in China,which are a problem left over from history and intrinsic to the market-based economy,eased over the years.Some people and regions achieved prosperity,and urban-rural and interregional income gaps narrowed.However,widening household income gaps pose barriers to China’s economic sustainability and vision of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.Mechanisms to promote common prosperity are incomplete and inadequate.The disequilibrium of functional distribution is an important cause of these income inequalities.The overall wage level of ordinary workers is low.In the future,China'should give full play to the decisive role of the market in primary distribution to ensure proper return to all types of factors,and enhance redistribution to achieve common prosperity for all its people.

Post-industrial Economic Restructuring and Wage Inequality in Urban China, 2003-2015: A Sectoral Perspective

Income inequality in urban China has attracted growing attention from China’s urban researchers and policy makers. Whereas many studies have interrogated the pattern and process of the income gap in Chinese cities undergoing the institutional transformation from plan to market, relatively little is known about how such unequal distribution of income is related to China’s ongoing structural transformation toward a post-industrial economy. Drawing on a decomposition methodology based on the Theil index, this study aimed to address this lacuna through an empirical investigation of China’s urban wage inequality from a sectoral perspective. Our empirical study identified the low-wage manufacturing sector and the high-wage producer services sector as the two biggest contributors to urban wage inequality in China. Urban wage inequality within the producer services was found to be caused by the spatial concentration of a disproportionate number of high-paying jobs in a few developed, high-tier city-regions on the eastern coast. Our empirical findings have important implications for the formulation of policies to address the income inequality that plagues China’s continuing urbanization.

An Empirical Analysis of Employment Stability and the Wage Gap of Rural Migrants in China Based on Quantile Regression

Under the background of accelerated integrated urban-rural development, this paper offers an analysis on the short-term employment of rural migrants in China and resulting wage gap between long-term and short-term rural migrants. On the basis of correcting for sample selection problems arising from labor market participation and short-term employment, rural migrants＇ wage function is estimated using quantile regression method, and wage gap between long-term and short-term rural migrants is decomposed using MM method. Our empirical results suggest that those with a higher level of education, training experience and local employment recommended by family relations or in formal labor market are more likely to secure long-term labor contract,＂ region and education have significant contributions to the wage of rural migrants,＂ rural migrants of both long- and short-term contract types have great gaps at the bottom of salary distribution; and there exists a sticky floor effect in wage difference of rural migrants. These results have important policy implications in enhancing employment stability of rural migrants, improving income distribution equity, speeding up the process of urbanization, and balancing regional development.

Changes of Wage Structures in Chinese Public and Private Sectors： 1995-2007

Using CHIP （Chinese Household Income Project Survey） data and the sample selection bias corrected wage function model, this paper estimated changes in wage structure in China by ownership types （SOEs, COEs, FEs, and PEs） in 1995 and 2007. The major conclusions are as follows. First, effects of education on wage levels in SOEs and FEs become greater, while education effects decrease in SOEs and PEs under economic transition periods; firm-specific human capital becomes more important in the wage determination mechanism along with market-oriented reforms in SOEs, PEs, and FEs; age effect decreases in SOEs and COEs, but it becomes greater in PEs and FEs. Second, there exist wage structure differences between sectors by wage distributions. For example, in 2007, in SOEs, education return rates are higher for the low-wage and middle-wage groups, and the effect is the highest at the 40th percentile. However in COEs and FEs, education return rates are higher for the high-wage groups, and the effect is the highest at the 70th percentile in COEs and at the 70th percentile in FEs. Tenure effects are greater in the middle-wage groups （40th-80th） in SOEs, COEs, and FEs, and age effects are greater in the low-wage groups （5th-30th） in SOEs, FEs, and PEs.

Modelling of Wage and Income Distributions Using the Method of L-Moments

Commonly used statistical procedure to describe the observed statistical sets is to use their conventional moments or cumulants. When choosing an appropriate parametric distribution for the data set is typically that parameters of a parametric distribution are estimated using the moment method of creating a system of equations in which the sample conventional moments lay in the equality of the corresponding moments of the theoretical distribution. However, the moment method of parameter estimation is not always convenient, especially for small samples. An alternative approach is based on the use of other characteristics, which the author calls L-moments. L-moments are analogous to conventional moments, but they are based on linear combinations of order statistics, i.e., L-statistics. Using L-moments is theoretically preferable to the conventional moments and consists in the fact that L-moments characterize a wider range of distribution. When estimating from sample L-moments, L-moments are more robust to the presence of outliers in the data. Experience also shows that, compared to conventional moments, L-moments are less prone to bias of estimation. Parameter estimates obtained using L-moments are mainly in the case of small samples often even more accurate than estimates of parameters made by maximum likelihood method. Using the method of L-moments in the case of small data sets from the meteorology is primarily known in statistical literature. This paper deals with the use of L-moments in the case for large data sets of income distribution （individual data） and wage distribution （data are ordered to form of interval frequency distribution of extreme open intervals）. This paper also presents a comparison of the accuracy of the method of L-moments with an accuracy of other methods of point estimation of parameters of parametric probability distribution in the case of large data sets of individual data and data ordered to form of interval frequency distribution.

How Does Technological Progress Affect Employment and Wage Differences in China＇s Information Industry

Combining the development status of information industry in China and based on theoretical discussions on labor demand and supply as well as the comprehensive analysis on endogenous technological progress and exogenous educational quality, this paper concludes that the technological progress of information industry in China is skill- biased, i.e. technological progress of information industry increases the demand for skilled labor while decreases the demand for unskilled labor, and aggravates the wage difference between these two types of labor. Due to the effect of educational quality, the ratio of skilled labor employment to unskilled labor employment will reach a dynamic equilibrium and the wage difference between skilled labor and unskilled labor will not increase continuously. This paper then proves the foregoing conclusion with data of information industry in 26 provinces （autonomous region, municipality）. Focusing on typical skill-intensive information industry, this paper mainly studies the influence of educational quality, which not only complements the theoretical analysis on dual effects of technological progress on employment, but also provides feasible and practical basis to policies promoting the development of technological progress and full employment in China.

Monopoly Causes Inter-industry Wage Differentials

Inter-industry wage differentials in China, measured in terms of average employment earnings by industry, are significant and have been increasing since 1988. The coefficient of variables measuring inter-industry average earning differentials is apparently on the rise along with the subdivision of industry. A theoretical analysis of the labour market indicates that inter-industry wage differentials are mainly due to human capital variation among the employees of different industries and the likelihood of monopoly rent sharing. An empirical study finds that employee characteristics such as sex, age and education can only explain 60 percent of CVs in the period 2003 to 2005 and the rest may be due to the effect of monopoly rent sharing in certain industries. A residual analysis of wage equation proves that the monopoly industries of technology or knowledge share a small proportion of rents with employment, whereas non-competitive monopoly industries generally garner an abnormal share of rents, as much as half of their above-average earnings for their industries. Such abnormal rents and benefits are mainly the result of low cost natural resources, the use of state-owned assets, the misappropriation of consumer welfare and the seeking of fiscal or social subsidy for cost inflation. So, China should deal with the non-competitive monopoly industries by reforming their monopoly power and primary social distribution mechanism to structure a fair income distribution order.

Quantile Regression Analysis on Sex Wage Difference

Based on the investigation data of social position of national women in the third phase by National Women's Federation and National Bureau of Statistics in 2010,regression analysis on sex wage difference is conducted. It is divided into two parts. The first part is the impact on wage by sex,and it is divided into whole country,eastern,central and western regions. The second part is the impact on wage by different education backgrounds. It tries to explore sex wage difference situation at different positions of wage distribution,study if there exists " ceiling effect" or " floor effect" in population's wage distribution situation,sex wage difference situation in eastern,central and western regions and the education's impact on future income situations of men and women.

Estimating the Relative Level of Minimum Wage in China

It is generally believed in existing literature that China＇s minimum wage is too low and must be raised substantially. Such a view is highly misleading given the inconsistent statistical standards for minimum and average wages. In order to ensure comparability, this paper has adjusted the statistical scope for minimum and average wages respectively. If employees of urban private and self-employed businesses are included in calculating the average wage, the minimum-to-average wage ratio will increase by about 0.06; if the minimum wage standards of various localities include personal contributions to social insurance and the housing fund, the minimum-to-average wage ratio will increase by 0.008; if overtime pay is deducted from the average wage, the minimum-to-average wage ratio will further increase by around O. 06.In addition, if the median wage is used in place of the average wage, the minimum-to-average wage ratio will increase by at least 0.08. After these adjustments, China＇s minimum-to-average wage ratio for 2013 will increase from 0.28 to 0.49, which is within the range of between 0.40 and 0.60 that is recognized internationally as reasonable. Our analysis suggests that as far as the immediate interests of workers are concerned, it is more imperative to unify the statistical approaches for minimum and average wages in China than to raise the minimum wage standard. In order to achieve the expected effect, simply raising the minimum wage alone is not enough. What is also necessary is to enhance supervision and inspection on compliance by firms with the minimum wage policy, particularly the overtime pay regulations. An alternative is to replace monthly minimum wage with hourly minimum wage.

The Effects of Greenhouse Gases Regulation on Wages and Rents: Policy Issues and General Equilibrium Analysis

The stringency of environmental policy is likely to change the gains of economic agents. Using a general equilibrium model and an assumption that capital-intensive industries tend to be intensive emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG), we find that a stricter GHG emission scheme will reduce the rent for capital owners but increase the wage for workers. This effect could motivate capital owners or workers to oppose or support a stricter GHG policy. The paper also empirically assesses the model’s key assumption by using production input (capital stock and labor), output, and GHG emission data from U.S industrial sectors. The regression result supports a strong positive relationship between the capital-labor ratio and the pollution-output ratio. Therefore, the theoretical analysis is relevant to the actual economy.

Wages and Salaries of Czech Men and Women at the Beginning of the Third Millennium and the Impact of the Economical Recession on Their Development

This paper deals with the development of the wage distribution in the Czech Republic since 2003, according to gender. It is a development of descriptive characteristics of location, differentiation and shape of wage distribution, but also the development of concentration characteristic of wage distribution. Gross monthly wage of Czech employees represents the variable under research. Emphasis is placed on changes in the development of wage distribution since 2009 in connection with the onset of economic recession. The economic crisis has greatly influenced the development of the wage distribution in the Czech Republic, wage growth virtually stopped at this time. Differences in the development of wage distribution between men and women in the Czech Republic are also under this research. Development of wage distribution has been studied by modelling the distribution. Three-parametric lognormal curves are served as a theoretical probability distribution whose parameters were estimated using the L-moment method of point estimate of parameters. Dependence of gross monthly wage on gender has been the subject of research as well. This dependence was researched using one-way analysis of variance. Forecast of wage distribution of men and women in the Czech Republic for the years 2012 and 2013 is included in this research.

The role of intangible capital in wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers in China

Wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers has increased rapidly in China, right along with its major trading partner--the United States. Trade liberalization and technological improvement have been proposed as causes for the inequality, yet trade liberalization and technological improvement have set the stage for another, possibly more important, cause of the inequality： the movement of intangible capital to China. Intangible capital works synergistically with other inputs to make skilled-workers and tangible capital more valuable. Once the accumulated tangible capital reaches a certain level, its lower unit cost will attract the inflow of intangible capital, which will further expand the demand for skilled workers. As a result, wage inequality becomes larger in China. This paper takes the first step in an attempt to understand the role that the movement of intangible capital plays in the increasing wage inequality in China, and sets out several possible policy prescriptions for China to deal with this inequality.

Determinants of Wages and Labour Supply in the UK

We explore characteristics of the UK labour market with special emphasis on explanation of the existing wage inequalities, determinants of participation, and variation in the magnitude of hours of labour supplied among individuals. We explain up to 92 percent of variance in the wage rates from the supply side. Accuracy of the model is accounted by a variety of factors relevant to the labour market such as gender gaps, marital status, on and off the job training, fluency in English, and regional characteristics. The study is quite distinct, since it not only incorporates variables pertinent from the economic point of view, but also some quantified qualitative regressors relating to individuals’ opinions and political preferences. Interestingly, we find that the psychological profile of an individual has a very big influence over his decision on whether to participate, but once he joined the labour force his personal beliefs and opinions have no further impact on the probability of finding a job. The chance of being employed once participating depends mainly on the local labour market conditions. We also report unbiased and reliable estimate of labour supply elasticity based on British Household Panel Survey （BHPS） sample.

Impact of Prevailing Wages on the Cost among the Various Construction Trades

In 1997, the Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 102 which established the Ohio School Facilities Commission as a separate agency to oversee the rebuilding projects of the public schools in Ohio. The bill also exempted the construction contractors from paying prevailing wages on these projects on the hypothesis that this exemption would lower the construction cost. The purpose of this study is to investigate this hypothesis through the statistical analysis of 8,093 bids received from the years 2000 through 2007 for the schools＇ construction. Union contractors who paid their workers union wages and non-union contractors who did not pay prevailing wages bid these projects. The hypothesis, that prevailing wage laws increased the construction cost, was tested by comparing the bids/SF （square foot） from both groups （union and nonunion） for the different construction trades. The study indicated that there was statistical significant difference between the bids/square foot for union contractors and the bids/square foot for non-union contractors for only the following trades： earthwork, existing conditions, plumbing, electrical and HVAC （heating, ventilation and air conditioning）. The averages of bids/SF from the union contractors were higher than those from the non-union contractors for earthwork, existing conditions and plumbing works, and the opposite for electrical and HVAC works. There was no statistical significant difference in the bids from the communications, concrete, conveying equipment, electronic safety and security, equipment, finishes, fire suppression, furnishings, masonry, openings, structural steel, thermal and moisture protection, plastics and composites and wood works.

Analyzing the Impacts of Minimum Wage Standards on Reducing the Working Poor in China

During the past decades, the transformation of the labor market has significantly impacted on workers＇ wage structures and their employment in China. Along with the widening wage gaps and the growing income inequalities, the size of non-standard jobs expanded rapidly in China＇s urban labor market. As a result of this, the concept of working poor has become increasingly applicable to social and labor market realities in China, Based on the household survey data and by using quantitative analysis, this paper attempts to examine the interaction between the compulsory minimum wage standards and the working poor in the period of China＇s economic transition. The results show that for those whose monthly wages higher than the compulsory minimum wage standards were less likely to work poor and that workers with wages lower than the minimum wage floor were vulnerable to working poor, which supported the expectation that the implementation of compulsory minimum wages would help to reduce the risk of being a member among the working poor in China＇s urban labor market.

Real Interest Rates,Real Wages and Economic Restructuring—Analysis Based on Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium(DSGE)

On the basis of research conducted by Long and Plosser(1983),this paper carries out an in-depth analysis on the relationship between real interest rates,real wage,and macro-economy and economic structure by simulating a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium(DSGE) model and comes to the following conclusions:(1) Increasing the level of real interest rates will expand the share of consumption in GDP,improve the macroeconomic structure,and promote steady economic development;(2) Increasing the level of real wages will enhance economic growth but will not change the economic structure of consumption and investments;(3) Increasing wages will enhance economic growth and expand its share in national income;(4) Increasing wages will not lower output level but will be favorable to the improvement of economic structure.Therefore,this paper argues for interest rates liberalization to achieve long-term,steady economic development in China.