Claude Montmarquette

Managerial Momentum: A Simultaneous Model of the Career Progress of Male and Female Managers

Using a firm-level data base to estimate a simultaneous model of the interaction of performance, ambition, and rewards in the internal promotion process, the authors analyze differences between men and women in “managerial momentum”—sustained career progress within the firm. They find that in the Canadian firm studied, the tendency of women to rely more than men on formal bidding for promotion to secure offers of promotion deprives them of managerial momentum. Underlying the greater success of men in gaining promotion is their greater use of informal networks, a less meritocratic means than bidding of bringing ones desire for promotion to the attention of superiors, and indeed one that appears to enable men to offset performance evaluations that are on the average lower than those of women.

The Determinants of University Dropouts: A Bivariate Probability Model with Sample Selection.

Abstract In this paper, we study the determinants of university dropouts with a longitudinal data set on student enrolments at the Universite de Montreal. With a bivariate probit model with selectivity bias, the variables explaining persistence and dropouts are related to the information gathered on the student about his or her interests and abilities. An environmental variable associated with the number of students in first-year compulsory courses is also a determining factor. These results are consistent with human capital and experimental models developed by economists, and psychosocioligical models pioneered by Tinto to explain dropout behavior. However, the different models offer different policy approaches to the problem of student attrition.

The demand for military expenditures: An international comparison

Earlier studies have explained inter-country variations in the share of GNP devoted to military expenditures by international spillovers and by differences in the threat of attack related to relative incomes. In this paper, we use the theory of public choice to explain these differences. We attempt to measure the importance of both international spillovers and relative incomes, along with two other factors: the tax-price elasticity of demand and economies of scale in the consumption of security.We find that international spillovers are significant and positive, that the income elasticity of demand is greater than unity, that the tax-price elasticity of demand explains part of observed inter-country differences, and that there are considerable economies of scale in the consumption of military spending. Finally, between 1960 and 1975, there was apparently a substantial increase in the value which each country derived from a dollar of military spending by its allies. This phenomenon, which seems related to the increased importance of deterrent weapons, has tended to induce individual alliance members to reduce the share of their national income devoted to defense.

Dropout, School Performance, and Working while in School

We develop an econometric model where the determinants of working while in school, academic performance, and the decision to drop out are set in the context of two types of high school students: those who prefer schooling and those who are more likely to join the labor market. The likelihood function of this model with heterogeneous preferences for schooling is composed of 48 individual contributions of a standard quadrivariate normal function. Exploiting a unique Canadian microdata set of high school students and school dropouts, we show that being a female student, attending a private school, and living with educated parents are linked to having a strong preference for schooling over the labor market. We also find that working fewer than fifteen hours per week while in school is not necessarily detrimental to success in school. Our results indicate that the decision to drop out is affected by the legal age to access the labor market, high minimum wages, and low unemployment rates. Several policies that aim at reducing the number of high school dropouts are identified.

Debt Aversion and the Demand for Loans for Postsecondary Education

The authors report the results of an experiment designed to measure the impact of different forms of subsidies on the demand for postsecondary education financing among a sample of adults ages 18–55 in Canada. The experiment presents subjects with a series of choices involving trade-offs between cash payments and grants or loans earmarked for full or part-time education. In addition, the experiment includes experimental measures of time and risk preferences, and an extensive survey of experience and attitudes. This article focuses on the role of a persons attitudes toward debt (debt aversion) and experience with debt (debt use) in the decision to take up subsidized loans for postsecondary education. Using survey measures, the authors find no evidence that debt aversion is an important barrier to investment in postsecondary education. In addition, subjects with experience carrying and managing debt are more willing than others to take on additional debt to finance postsecondary education.

Reported Job Satisfaction: What Does It Mean?

The normal tendency of vinylidene chloride to polymerize on heating is repressed by the addition of hydrogen chloride to the system. Thus, for instance, vinylidene chloride can be separated from methylchloroform or other higher boiling compounds without undue polymerization by fractionally distilling the mixture at atmospheric or superatmospheric pressure and injecting hydrogen chloride into the distillation system.

Choice of fields of study of university Canadian graduates: the role of gender and their parents' education

This paper examines the determinants of the choice of field of study by university students using data from the Canadian National Graduate Survey. The sample of 18,708 graduates holding a Bachelor degree is interesting in itself, knowing that these students completed their study and thus represent a pool of high‐quality individuals. What impact do expected post‐graduation lifetime earnings have in choosing their field of study respectively to their non‐pecuniary preferences? Are these individuals less or more influenced by monetary incentives on their decision than was found in previous literature with samples of university students not all completing their studies successfully? Unlike existing studies, we account for the probability that students will be able to find employment related to their field of study when evaluating lifetime earnings after graduation. The parameters that drive students’ choices of fields of study are estimated using a mixed multinomial logit model applied to seven broadly defined fields. Results indicate that the weight put by a student on initial earnings and earnings’ rate of growth earnings depends upon the education level of the parent of the same gender. Surprisingly, lifetime earnings have no statistically significant impact when the parent of the same gender as the student has a university education. Results show that men are, in general, more sensitive than women to initial income variations, whilst women are more sensitive than men to the earnings’ rate of growth variations. Marital status, enrolment status and the vocation identified with each field of study are influential factors in students’ choices. Finally, substantial increases in lifetime earnings would be necessary to draw students into fields of study they are not inclined to choose initially.

Are Underground Workers More Likely To Be Underground Consumers

We investigate the impact of working in the underground sector on the demand for underground commodities. Using a tax evasion model with costly information, we show that the presence of a network effect encourages underground workers to purchase underground commodities. The model is estimated using a unique Canadian microdata set for 1993. An increase in underground hours of work has a strong positive effect on the probability of purchasing underground commodities and on the level of expenditures. This relationship has a sizable effect on the impact of tax and enforcement parameters on the level of the underground economy.

An Overlooked Explanation of the Declining Saving Rate

With a socioeconomic model of the determinants of savings that takes into account variables reflecting the abrupt changes in the divorce rate that occurred during the 1970s and the 1980s in the U.S., the increase in womens participation in the labour force, and their greater investrnent in education, we explain part of the measured decline in the saving rate. The uncertainty generated by the increased likelihood of divorces encourages households and women, in particular, to substitute human capital to financial or physical capital for precautionary savings.

Voluntary versus Enforced Team Effort

We present a model where each of two players chooses between remuneration based on either private or team effort. Although at least one of the players has the equilibrium strategy to choose private remuneration, we frequently observe both players to choose team remuneration in a series of laboratory experiments. This allows for high cooperation payoffs but also provides individual free-riding incentives. Due to significant cooperation, we observe that, in team remuneration, participants make higher profits than in private remuneration. We also observe that, when participants are not given the option of private remuneration, they cooperate significantly less.