Zhongmin Wu

MULTIPLE JOB HOLDING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: EVIDENCE FROM THE BRITISH HOUSEHOLD PANEL SURVEY

This article examines the determinants of multiple job holding in the UK. We address these issues using data from the first 11 waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), which covered the period from 1991 to 2001. Evidence from the BHPS does not support the hypotheses of main job hours constrained and main job insecurity. We argue that the incentive for moonlighting in the UK is due to financial pressures and the desire for heterogeneous jobs. The empirical work is carried out separately for men and women.

Crime, Inequality and Unemployment in England and Wales

A model of crime is developed based on principles from the existing literature with some original insight. The implications of the model are that income inequality and unemployment are important explanatory variables for crimes motivated by economic gain, but do not offer much explanatory power for other types of crime. Panel data of UK regions over the years from 2002 to 2007 are then used to test these predictions. The empirical results strongly support the hypothesis that crime is an economic phenomenon.

Preference, Production and Performance in Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper attempts to provide a systematic approach to the DEA model building. To this end, we try to identify some essential aspects of DEA modelling. Three key building blocks in a DEA model are identified: they are preference order, production possibility set and performance measure. It is shown that the preferences and performance measurements used in the standard DEA models are only particular examples in this framework. It is also illustrated in this work that this methodology is useful in building new DEA models to handle nonstandard applications such as those involve non-Pareto preferences or undesirable inputs-outputs.

The persistence of regional unemployment: evidence from China

The purpose of this paper is to examine the persistence of regional unemployment and to explore the sources of this persistence. Evidence from China suggests three empirical findings. First, provincial relative unemployment is more persistent than aggregate unemployment. Second, youth unemployment is less persistent than total unemployment. Third, although the western region has the highest provincial unemployment rate, it has the lowest persistence of regional unemployment. To explore the sources of this unemployment persistence, a panel data method has been developed based on the Barro Approach and Edwards work. The higher the share of industry output by state sector and collective sector, the more the regional unemployment persistence. The private sector is the main employment destination for jobless now and has acted to reduce unemployment persistence.

Wage curve for urban China: a panel data approach

The panel data evidence in this article shows that the wage curve does not exist in China when utilizing the provincial unemployment rate. However, the wage curve exists when utilizing the provincial youth unemployment rate. Youth unemployment data are more reliable in China, as they are not distorted by the exclusion of significant numbers of adult laid off workers from the more familiar unemployment statistics. It is also found that the semi-log function is a good approximation for urban wage curve of China. The wage unemployment relationship becomes more negative when utilizing fixed effects and random effects models.

Where did all the remittances go? Understanding the impact of remittances on consumption patterns in rural China

We focus on the impact of migrants’ remittances on consumption patterns in China. Using a large homogenous sample of rural households surveyed in 2001 and 2004, we find that remittances are spent on nonhousing consumption expenditures at the margin, virtually dollar-for-dollar, when we instrument remittances and local employed earnings using proxies of social networks. Our findings are robust to intra-household division of labour and to fixed-effect for the county in which the respondents are registered. These results imply that rural households largely take remittances as permanent income and are consistent with the prevalence of circular and repeat migration in China.

Do Migrants Really Save More? Understanding the Impact of Remittances on Savings in Rural China

Abstract This article studies the impact of remittances on the savings behaviour of rural households in China, using a primary survey undertaken by the authors in 2006. Allowing for endogeneity and left-censoring of remittances, we find that the marginal propensity to save out of remittances is well below half of that out of other sources of incomes. Moreover, we find no evidence of any direct effect of remittances on either capital input or gross output of farm production. These findings are robust with respect to alternative definition of savings and are in line with recent studies which conclude that remittances are largely used for consumption purposes by rural Chinese households.

Dual Careers, Time‐Use and Satisfaction Levels: Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey

This article empirically examines time-use and its impact on satisfaction levels among dual career households in a post-industrial economy, the UK. Analysis explores the 1993–2009 British Household Panel Survey using panel probit regression. The evidence reveals distinctions in time-use relative to gender, occupations and employment sector. Long hours persist among managers and professionals. The uneven division of household labour, further, continues to burden women with extensive amounts of housework and care. Satisfaction with working hours and amount/use of leisure time are lower among women, especially the public sector professionals. Provision of care, occupation and partner employment characteristics represent important satisfaction determinants present among women, while income (including partners income) only has relevance among men. Housework does not itself generate dissatisfaction. It is the overload of household tasks, due to inequality in the household division of labour, which constrains many highly skilled working women reducing satisfaction with time-use and life overall.

Income Differential and Out-migration: the Impacts of Between-gap and Within-gap

In this paper, we use pooled cross-sectional data on 28 provinces to study out-migration in China. In particular, we estimate inter- and intra-province rural-to-urban migration in a simultaneous-equations model. Allowing for the joint determination of inter- and intra-migration, we find the effect of the within province rural–urban income gap on intra-province migration to be almost three times as strong as that of the between province urban wage gap on inter-province migration.

Investigating environmental management and quality management issues in the Libyan food industry

Aims: Investigates environmental and quality management issues in the Libyan food industry (LFI). In order to achieve a better level of environmental and quality management to develop modern managerial techniques. In particular, this investigation will help LFI to increase the success of environmental protection (i.e., the reduction in waste, pollution prevention, and the recycling of materials). Study Design: The questionnaire was conducted with 62 managers at three levels (top, middle, and low) and 518 employees from three companies in LFI. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in Libya, the fieldwork was conducted in 2013. Methodology: Adopting existing measures in environmental management systems and total quality management systems revealed in the literature and developing new ones specifically for this research. Also, a set of items was produced to explore issues relating to the cost of quality process, statistical process control, quality technique and information system. In order to satisfy the Original Research Article Saad et al.; BJEMT, 9(3): 1-16, 2015; Article no.BJEMT.19564 2 requirements of the statistical test, all questions were based on Likert 5-point scale (5 is the best, while 1 is the lowest). Results: The results revealed that the LFI do not make sufficient efforts to improve their environmental performance and quality. Further, it is found that LFI is still in a quite low level of achievement for EM. Low compliance with environmental and quality standards was also demonstrated. It is concluded that such results can be ascribed to that the majority of managers in the LFI have a remarkable lack of motivations to environmental and quality management approach. Conclusion: This study contributes to identifying the key issues of environmental and quality management implementation in the LFI. This paper serves as a point of departure for future research to establish a framework model for total quality environmental management (TQEM) implementation in the Libyan context.