Jeff Borland

A Microeconomic Mechanism for Economic Growth

This paper constructs a dynamic general equilibrium model in which economic growth is explained by the evolution of the division of labor. The relationships among the accumulation of human capital, the evolution of the division of labor, endogenous comparative advantage, trade dependence, the market structure, and economic growth are investigated.

Attendance at Australian Rules football: A panel study

The demand for Australian Rules football is examined using data on attendance at individual matches played between 1981 and 1986. An estimation methodology which is appropriate for a dynamic model with panel data is adopted and it is found that attendance at football is price inelastic and an inferior good. The effect of habit in consumption behaviour, stadium size, uncertainty of outcome and team success are also shown to be important determinants of attendance.

Does Crime Affect Employment Status? The Case of Indigenous Australians

A significant cost for individuals who have contact with the criminal justice system is the potential effect on employment status. In this study the effect of arrest on the employment status of indigenous Australians is examined using data from the 1994 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey. Having been arrested is found to reduce the probability of employment. The size of the effect is estimated to be between 10% and 20% for males, between 7% and 17% for females. The effect also varies according to the reason for a persons most recent arrest. Differences in arrest rates between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians may explain about 15% of the difference in employment-population rates between those groups. Copyright 2000 by The London School of Economics and Political Science

Chapter 53 Recent developments in public sector labor markets

Abstract This chapter reviews recent developments in research on public sector labor markets. Public sector labor markets have two important characteristics which account for the interest in their operation. First, public sector labor markets are large — in most developed countries the public sector workforce accounts for over 15% of total employment. Second, public sector labor markets are different from private sector labor markets. Most importantly, politicians or bureaucrats may have objectives which differ from those of the owners of private sector firms; and the political system can allow scope for achieving those objectives where a market system would not. The introductory sections of the chapter present a simple conceptual framework for thinking about the operation of public sector labor markets, and background information on a range of key characteristics of public sector labor markets such as union structure and the institutional environment for wage bargaining. The main sections summarize a variety of research relating to earnings and employment outcomes in public sector labor markets. First, studies which compare average earnings outcomes of public sector and private sector employees in a range of countries are reviewed. Second, studies of the determinants of earnings of local government employees in the United States are described. Third, various information on the earnings structure and distribution of earnings in the public sector and private sector is presented. Fourth, studies of the level and composition of public sector employment are summarized. A concluding section presents an overview of the main findings and themes from research on public sector labor markets, and suggests topics for future research.

2014 Consensus Statement from the first Economics of Physical Inactivity Consensus (EPIC) Conference (Vancouver)

This article describes major topics discussed from the ‘Economics of Physical Inactivity Consensus Workshop’ (EPIC), held in Vancouver, Canada, in April 2011. Specifically, we (1) detail existing evidence on effective physical inactivity prevention strategies; (2) introduce economic evaluation and its role in health policy decisions; (3) discuss key challenges in establishing and building health economic evaluation evidence (including accurate and reliable costs and clinical outcome measurement) and (4) provide insight into interpretation of economic evaluations in this critically important field. We found that most methodological challenges are related to (1) accurately and objectively valuing outcomes; (2) determining meaningful clinically important differences in objective measures of physical inactivity; (3) estimating investment and disinvestment costs and (4) addressing barriers to implementation. We propose that guidelines specific for economic evaluations of physical inactivity intervention studies are developed to ensure that related costs and effects are robustly, consistently and accurately measured. This will also facilitate comparisons among future economic evidence.

Does a Minimum Job Search Requirement Reduce Time on Unemployment Payments? Evidence from the Jobseeker Diary in Australia

This study examines the impact of the Jobseeker Diary (JSD), a program designed to increase the job search effort of unemployed persons in Australia. The JSD program is distinguished by combining a focus on work search verification with large scale implementation. Applying a quasi-experimental matching method to data on unemployment spells occurring in 1997–98, the authors find that JSD participation was associated with an increased rate of exit from unemployment payment recipiency and a shorter total time spent on payments. Payment receipt duration is estimated to have fallen for about one-half of JSD participants. The largest effects of the JSD occurred for payment recipients for whom labor demand conditions were the most favorable. Cost-benefit analysis suggests a fairly large net societal gain per program participant.

Matching and Mobility in the Market for Australian Rules Football Coaches

This study examines matching effects as a determinant of mobility in the market for Australian Rules football coaches between 1931 and 1994. Among other results, the authors find direct evidence of a coach-team match-specific effect on team performance. One implication is that two teams might both significantly improve their performance by switching coaches, depending on the specific team and coach characteristics.

Specialization, product development, evolution of the institution of the firm, and economic growth

This paper considers the effects of the division of labor on economic growth and welfare in a general equilibrium environment where changes in individual specialization and product development can proceed simultaneously. The nature of the dynamic equilibrium is shown to depend on the interaction of transaction efficiency, economies of specialization, and economies of complementarity. Where the dynamic equilibrium involves evolution in the division of labor, this will be associated with increased per capita real income and hence economic growth. It is also shown that the emergence of firms is an aspect of the evolution of division of labor if transaction efficiency for a producer good is lower than that for labor used to produce this good.

A randomized controlled trial of vocational intervention for young people with first-episode psychosis: method

Young people who are experiencing first‐episode psychosis (FEP) are at increased risk of being unemployed compared to either their same age peers in the general population, or those with other mental illnesses. Significant research has been conducted examining employment interventions for those with chronic psychotic illness. This has yielded strong results in favour of an intervention called individual placement and support (IPS). However, significantly less work has examined the benefit of this approach to those in FEP when the potential for vocational rehabilitation is perhaps greater. This study adds to the knowledge of vocational intervention in first‐episode psychotic illness. Additionally, it expands this work into the areas of cognition, social cognition, social inclusion and economics.

Computer knowledge and earnings: evidence for Australia

This paper uses data on wage and salary workers in Australia in 1993 to examine the relation between computer knowledge and earnings. A unique feature of the data set that is used is detailed information on the types and levels of computer skills possessed by individual workers. The main objectives of the study are to contribute to understanding the magnitude and sources of the relation between computer knowledge and earnings. Similar to existing research it is found that there is a large and significant return to computer knowledge, but that the magnitude of the return is substantially reduced in regressions that include detailed occupation controls. Using the detailed information on workers’ computer skills the main finding is that earnings are significantly positively related to the number of types of skills and average level of skills possessed by a worker.