Paul L. Latreille

Training, Job Satisfaction and Workplace Performance in Britain: Evidence from WERS 2004

This paper analyses the relationship between training, job satisfaction and workplace performance using the British 2004 Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS). Several measures of performance are analysed including absence, quits, financial performance, labour productivity and product quality. While there is clear evidence that training is positively associated with job satisfaction, and job satisfaction in turn is positively associated with most measures of performance, the relationship between training and performance is complex, depending on both the particular measures of training and of performance used in the analysis.

Discipline, Dismissals and Complaints to Employment Tribunals

Using the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, we investigate the rates of disciplinary sanctions and dismissals, and the incidence of unfair dismissal complaints to employment tribunals in the UK. Workplace rates of disciplinary sanctions and dismissals vary with age, gender, ethnic and occupational work-force composition and workplace size, and, notably, are lower where trade union density is higher. Workplace practices reflecting a high-commitment management style have limited impact on all three of our dependent variables, while the existence of formal discipline and dismissal procedures exerts no influence on whether any unfair dismissal claims are brought at the workplace. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics 2000.

Disability and self-employment: evidence for the UK

This article examines the self-employment decision for disabled and nondisabled workers in the UK. Using Labour Force Survey (LFS) data, it is found that self-employment may provide an important means by which those with work-limiting disabilities can accommodate their impairment.

Crossing the Tracks? Trends in the Training of Male and Female Workers in Great Britain

A small number of recent empirical studies report the intriguing finding that the ‘advantage’ in training incidence previously enjoyed by men has been reversed. The present article explores the sources of this gender differential using Labour Force Survey data, updating previous British studies and providing further insights into the above phenomenon. The results suggest that the greater part of the gender ‘gap’ derives from differences in characteristics, among the most important being occupation, industry and sector. However, the increased training incidence among females over time is not explained by changes in characteristics and suggests preferences for training may have changed.

Individual motives for choosing self-employment in the UK: does region matter?

Dawson C., Henley A. and Latreille P. Individual motives for choosing self-employment in the UK: does region matter?, Regional Studies. Regional entrepreneurship policy is often framed in terms of spatial shortcomings in entrepreneurial culture. However, differences in why individuals choose self-employment may reflect structure rather than culture. This paper investigates UK data for 1999–2001 on the reported motives for choosing self-employment. After controlling for individual characteristics and industrial structure, some regional differences persist. These are largely for men and are quantitatively small. Northern Ireland stands out, reflecting the different composition of its self-employed. Conclusions for the emphasis of regional policy and further research are discussed.

Is There a Public Sector Training Advantage? Evidence from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey

Using matched employer–employee data from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (2004), we find a significant training ‘advantage’ exists for public sector workers over private sector workers even after accounting for differences in the composition of the two workforces. This finding is robust to all but one change in specification, designed to account for worker sorting effects which can lead to unobserved workplace‐based effects being correlated with individual worker characteristics. Using the average characteristics of workers within an establishment as a control for these sorting effects all but eliminates the estimated public sector training advantage, which has otherwise been an empirical regularity of many individual‐based training models.

Are you experienced? SME use of and attitudes towards workplace mediation

Workplace mediation is high on the British policy agenda. To date, however, despite growing awareness, organisational experience in Britain remains limited and the evidence base accordingly underdeveloped. This paper contributes to the debate by undertaking secondary quantitative analysis of an Acas Omnibus Poll of 500 SMEs. Two substantive issues are explored: the characteristics associated with previous experience of mediation in resolving workplace conflict; and the extent to which prior knowledge and experience of mediation in this context impact on a range of attitudinal variables. In respect of the former we find firm size to be important, while for the latter the data suggest attitudes are typically more positive among experienced firms. This is most notably true in relation to the perceived cost of mediation and (subject to a qualification) to its suitability for smaller firms, both of which are crucial drivers of the uptake of mediation among smaller organisations.

Employment Tribunals and Acas: Evidence from a Survey of Representatives

We report findings from a survey of representatives in Employment Tribunal cases, focusing on their views regarding the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). As in the earlier, smaller survey of lawyers by White (1989), Acas officers are found to be influential and effective in promoting settlement, and high levels of satisfaction are reported.

Disability, Health and the Labour Market: Evidence from the Welsh Health Survey

This study uses data from the Welsh Health Survey to examine issues of disability/health measurement and its impact on labour market outcomes. The data suggest that self-reported disability, general health and summary composite measures of physical and mental health are broadly consistent both in measurement and predictions for labour market outcomes. This consistency in measurement is also demonstrated at the local level but the employment disadvantage associated with disability is found to vary considerably within Wales.

Using Excel to Illustrate Hannah and Kay’s Concentration Axioms

Most courses in industrial economics/industrial organisation cover the measurement of industry concentration. In a classic paper Hannah and Kay (1977) propose a set of desirable criteria against which any of the numerous concentration measures may be judged. We describe how these criteria can be illustrated for students for several of the most popular measures using an Excel spreadsheet and an exercise sheet developed by the authors and freely available from the HEA Economics Network website.