Daily Earnings Research Articles

Are some piece rates better than others? Cross-sectional variation in piece rates at a US cotton factory

While piece rates were a common form of payment in manufacturing, historians have rarely tried to understand the cross-sectional structure of piece-rate prices. This paper examines piece rates paid to weavers at a US cotton factory and demonstrates that in most cases expected daily earnings were constant across different piece rates. While some rates did result in higher daily earnings, there is no evidence of gender discrimination in the assignment of such rates.

A Showcase for Resilient and Sustainable District Heating in Denmark

This presentation gives a description of the Danish district heating company, Hvide Sande District Heating, which has become independent of fossil fuels by using wind and solar energy. This has resulted in lower consumer heating prices in a time when other fossil fueled district heating plants are raising their heating prices due to higher fossil fuel prices.Besides participating in the Day-ahead market it also participates in the balancing markets.Hvide Sande is a small fishing town. The district heating plant provides heat to 1,700 consumers. From being a natural gas fired Combined Heat and Power plant, it has in recent years become more resilient by investing in a solar collector, wind turbines, a heat pump, an electrical boiler as well as more large thermal storages, and is now independent of natural gas.The two thermal storages of 2,000 m3 and 1,200 m3, respectively, can store around 200 MWh-heat, which allows flexible market-based productions of the different production units. The heat delivered to consumers can thus be produced many hours or days before delivery.Even in the Day-ahead market, the market-based productions are a challenge to plan. Because of the large thermal storages, the manager must look more days ahead as well as consider the heat amount in the thermal storages, when deciding the hourly bids for tomorrow. Biddings are based on forecasts more days ahead of wind velocity, solar radiation, ambient temperatures, and Day-ahead prices.Besides participating in the Day-ahead market it also participates in the balancing markets. However, to take advantage across more electricity markets of this flexibility, a vast digitalization of the plant using advanced bidding methods has been required. This presentation illustrates examples of the daily earnings the plant has had participating across more electricity markets. It is also important that the manager maintains a digital twin of the plant. The digital twin of the plant will in this presentation be used for simulating the resilience of the plant against large changes in electricity prices and fuel prices.

Research on the prediction method of first-day box office considering the holiday factor

The prediction of first-day box office has been a hot research topic. However, existing research on movie prediction models lacks analysis and exploration of the holiday factor. In order to uncover the holiday factor contributing to the fluctuation of movie box office, we propose a prediction method for the first-day box office considering the Holiday Factor. Initially, we present a SARIMABox-Cox model for time series analysis. The experimental results reveal significant differences in movie box office during weekends and weekdays, as well as during summer vacation and non-summer vacation periods. Consequently, we introduce two variables, weekend dummy variable and summer vacation dummy variable, as holiday factors. Subsequently, to further investigate the impact of the holiday factor on the accuracy of first-day box office prediction, we integrate the holiday factor with multiple linear regression (MLR), random forest (RF), support vector machine regression (SVR), deep neural network (DNN), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) to establish several first-day box office prediction models. Experimental results on the publicly available dataset Daily Earnings Data for 3400 Movies indicate a substantial improvement in the performance of models considering the holiday factor, with the highest enhancement reaching 16.42%.

Do perception factors affect adaptation behaviours against air pollution among vulnerable occupation groups? Evidence from Chittagong and Dehradun.

Abstract Air pollution is a key environmental issue affecting the urban population in the urban cities of Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) countries. It is particularly detrimental to marginalized occupation groups like street vendors, labourers and drivers who work outdoors for their livelihood. There are mitigation strategies to reduce the brunt of air pollution that work in the long run. However, these strategies will need time to implement and operationalize. Adaptation behaviours and measures, in this context, are urgently required and become vital to cope with the impacts of air pollution exposure especially for highly exposed informal workers who have very little means of avoiding it. Adaptation behaviour is very complex and depends on socioeconomic and psychological factors. In this paper, we assess the impact of psychological factors like perception and motivation on the adaptive behaviour of the informal workers using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Our findings from Dehradun show that concern behaviour towards air pollution was strongly affected by motivation and perception factors. Adaptive behaviour in the form of both concern behavior and the extent of use of additional protective measures is dependent on how the risks of air pollution and related adaptation measures are perceived by the workers. In addition to this, certain adaptation behaviours like changing or adjusting the daily normal behaviour to avoid air pollution exposure are not feasible as they have direct implications on daily wage earnings.

Deconstructing the nexus between the influx of Rohingya refugees and the economy (Labor) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Over the past decade, refugee crises have dominated the headlines of social media on a daily basis. Millions of individuals have left their homes in pursuit of safety and a promising future. Examples like the Syrian civil conflict and the Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh stand out, and the number of such instances is exponentially increasing around the world. The latest addition to this crisis is the Ukraine-Russia war (February 2022), which has already displaced 14 million Ukrainian people. Different countries have hosted a large number of refugees, but this often brings about a very negative impact on the host communities. Various socio-economic and political crises arise due to the influx of refugees. This study focuses on the Rohingya refugees who have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Given their influx to Bangladesh, a developing and overcrowded country, the host community faces innumerable problems. In addition, this study explores other aspects especially, the labor market. Rohingya refugees receive support from donor organizations. Therefore, there is a question to ask. How do the refugees influence the economy of the host country? This study aims to find answers to this unexplored question. After the arrival of the Rohingya, this labor market has shrunk for local Bangladeshi women in the study area. The majority of impoverished women work roughly 3/4 of an hour in a particular household. Their daily earnings are less than $1 while they work on domestic chores. Thousands of national and foreign staff live in those areas that have brought a dramatic change in housing patterns. The influx of refugees also led to a decrease in wages and employment prospects for another segment of the Bangladeshi population, identified as the economically disadvantaged group.

Unveiling the Gap: Exploring Gender Inequality in Economic Empowerment Across India

Gender inequality in economic empowerment remains a pervasive issue across the globe, manifesting in various forms such as unequal pay, limited access to economic resources, and disparities in employment opportunities and career advancement. This systemic imbalance stifles not only individual potential but also hampers overall economic growth and development. While this inequality exists universally, it is particularly pronounced in Indian society, rooted in deeply embedded cultural norms and historical gender roles. Traditionally, women's subordinate position has deprived them of asset ownership and participation in financial decision-making. Additionally, they have been denied employment opportunities and face discrimination in the labor market. These factors have led to a significant gender gap in economic participation at both household and societal levels. In this context, this study attempts to examine the gender inequality in economic empowerment in India through the lens of asset ownership, wage disparity, and labor force participation. This study is based on secondary data taken from the reports of the National Family Health Survey and the Periodic Labour Force Survey of the Government of India. The study found that, the female labour force participation rate was 46.2 per cent less than the male labour force participation rate and on an average, women earned Rs. 136.32 less than men in daily wage earnings. The study concludes that addressing gender inequality in economic empowerment requires a comprehensive approach at the policy, organizational, and societal level, including implementing and enforcing gender-sensitive labor laws, promoting equal pay for equal work, and providing affordable childcare and parental leave to level the playing field.

Daily Profit Analysis In Profit Management For Street Vendors In Pringapus Village, Pringapus District, Semarang District

This study aims to determine the daily profit management of street vendors in Pringapus Village, Pringapus District, Semarang Regency and to find out the obstacles faced in analyzing daily earnings in profit management for street vendors in Pringapus Village, Pringapus District, Semarang Regency.The research method used in this study is a qualitative research method by conducting interviews, observations and literature studies.The results obtained in this study are the average profit earned by street vendors in Pringapus village is 155 thousand. Then the street vendors in Pringapus village manage their profits by using them as daily necessities and most street vendors in Pringapus village have not mastered how to analyze profits properly and correctly due to education and age factors

Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Sit at Home Order: Its Socio-Economic Implications on Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Nigeria is rated as one of the poorest nations in the world as over 80 % of its citizens live below poverty level. This percentage of the citizens depend on their daily earnings to be able to take care of their family members in terms of feeding, health care services, payment of school fees among others. This daily earnings were shortened by the Indigenous People of Biafra with their mandatory sit at home order on Mondays and every other day that their leader would be appearing in court in the whole of five South East States. This followed the arrest and detention of the leader of IPOB; Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the federal government of Nigeria. The broad objective of this paper is to examine the socio- economic implications of this sit at home order on the poor citizens of South East States of Nigeria with focus on Ebonyi State; a state rated as the poorest among the five states of the South East. The theory that anchored the study is the optimal constraint theory while quantitative research design which made use of survey method was employed to accomplish the purpose of the study. The data for the study were collected through structured questionnaire items and focus group discussion. 400 respondents were purposively selected from the study area. Four points Likert type scale was employed in data collection and to measure the magnitude of the responses. Data collected were analyzed using percentages. The three formulated hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square. The findings show that the sit at home order has made the people of South East States especially Ebonyi State poorer with its chain effect on school drop-out, joblessness and increased insecurity. The paper recommends among other things that Governors of the five South East States should discuss with all the different groups and factions of IPOB to understand the implications of their order on the people they meant to protect and call off the order, while the governors should as well dialogue with the federal government for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.

Walking the line: Does crossing a high stakes exam threshold matter for labour market outcomes?

ObjectivesThis paper offers new insight into the link between success in high stakes exams and subsequent education and labour market outcomes. It is the first study to look holistically at the impact of crossing an important high stakes threshold on both academic and vocational education choices and ultimately labour market outcomes.
 MethodIt does so by comparing those either side of a formerly important threshold in the English education system at the end of compulsory schooling (achieving five general certificate of secondary education A* to C passes) which was commonly regarded as the minimum benchmark for continuing into post-compulsory education.
 ResultsI find that crossing this threshold led to an 6.3-6.7 percentage point increase in the proportion of men and women (respectively) going on to take academic qualifications, with little change in the proportion taking vocational qualifications, leading to a net increase in those staying on after compulsory schooling. Women's daily earnings in 2017-18 (11-13 years after leaving compulsory schooling) were 3.1 percentage points higher for those just crossing the threshold, but men's early labour market outcomes were unchanged.
 ConclusionThe results for men can be explained by low returns to academic qualifications for marginal learners. The findings for women do not disappear after accounting for subsequent education choices, suggesting that crossing the threshold may play a signalling role for employers as well as education institutions.

Senior Citizens’ Social Security Allowance: Purpose and Justification

Nepal Government’s social security plan has been implementing senior citizens’ Social Security Allowance (SSA) for citizens 68 years old and above. SSA leaves a huge space for the newly certified senior citizens (60 years old) and cutting them off eight years sooner from their daily economic earnings—additionally, the allocated amount of monthly NPR. 4,000 may not cover all their expenses. This research is a continuous search for knowledge about the senior citizens’ status on their social security and their opinion on their use of SSA. Jorpati Older People Association in Kathmandu was chosen as a study area, with the research question focusing on the justifiability of SSA and its purpose. 42.42% of the respondents said that SSA money only complements their social and financial needs. The monthly income from SSA and tenants’ fees goes into the domestic expenses (54.54% of the respondents receiving SSA), thus showing that although the elderly are rendered economically inactive from gaining income or being productive, they continue to be financially responsible for their house and family. The opinion on the requirement of high SSA is directly proportional to their poor economic standing and their participation in their domestic expenses in the family.

The impact of COVID 19 pandemic on marine fisheries sector: A case study from Andhra Pradesh, India

This study discusses the impact of first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic on marine fisheries sector of Andhra Pradesh, India, covering the aspects of active fishing days, perception on reduction or enhancement of demand for fish, trends in price realisation, challenges encountered in marketing the fish, perceptions on government interventions as well as changes in socio-behavioural issues. The study was conducted during the period from June to September 2021, among a sample of 152 stakeholders involved in fishing and allied activities from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and Krishna districts in Andhra Pradesh. Average number of active fishing days in a month was found to be 11.44 during the first wave and 15.10 during the second wave periods. Nearly three-fourth of the respondents (73.68%) perceived that there was reduction in demand for fish during the first wave of the pandemic, and it was to the tune of 40%. Reduction in the daily earnings was reported to the tune of 37.09%. The challenges encountered in marketing the fish were, getting export orders, access to market, availability of storage, transportation and logistics. Peer interaction, time spent with family members and time spent in social media were higher than usual during both waves of the pandemic. Changes or disruptions in usual marketing channels were reported during both the periods. Satisfied perception was expressed on government interventions such as ration, timely advisories, health care and sanitary measures. A few positive impacts on fisheries observed during the pandemic were product innovations, new distribution channels such as online marketing, e-commerce and home deliveries, shortening of supply chains including elimination of auction at fishing harbour, lowering of ocean pollution as well as government reforms. From the results of the study, we propose socio-economic interventions to be taken up by concerned governments for ensuring that the impact of the pandemic is mitigated and also that any future pandemic can have minimal impacts on the fishing community. Keywords: Export market, Livelihood, Lockdown, Nutritional security, Policy interventions, Socio-behavioural issues, Supply chains

The livelihood of Rickshaw Pullers in Dhaka City During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Social Review

Introduction: A rickshaw puller is a worker who makes a living by pulling rickshaws. A rickshaw puller's main task is to transport passengers and goods from one location to another. Their lives are fraught with difficulties. Because of the epidemic condition, the majority of Dhaka's rickshaw pullers are experiencing unemployment and joblessness. The majority of rickshaw pullers are the primary breadwinners in their families. They spend their lives based on their daily earnings; thus, they must pull their rickshaw. Aim of the study: The study aimed to observe the lifestyle of rickshaw pullers during the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on their livelihood. Methods: This cross-sectional quantitative analytical study was conducted targeting rickshaw pullers of dhaka city only. The study was conducted in a 1-year period, from february 2021 to january 2022, with a total of 200 rickshaw pullers from 3 places in dhaka city, badda, mirpur, and Bashundhara. Result: 55% of the participants were the sole earner in the family, 90% had been married, and only 12% had owned their rickshaws. 96% of participants lived in financial deficiency, 70% had been living in debt, and only 1% had savings. The average work day was 8-10 hours long for the majority (61%) of participants, 89% did not have a habit of wearing a facemask. Among the 178 participants who did not wear face masks, 91.01% cited difficulty in breathing during rickshaw pulling as the cause, while 7.87% said that masks were costly. 96% of participants had a significant decrease in their income. Conclusion: during the statewide shutdown induced by the covid-19 epidemic, the income of rickshaw pullers in the capital decreased. Rickshaw drivers live hand to mouth. They endure regular challenges at work due to limits on their operations such as harassment from passengers and traffic cops.

The gender productivity gap in the ride-hailing market

The gender productivity gap in the ride-hailing market has not been well studied due to the difficulty in obtaining driver demographics and trajectory data. To address this gap, we use six-day long trajectory data of around 20,000 ride-hailing drivers from China, infer their gender from their names, and estimate gender disparity in productivity (daily earnings or passenger-carrying distance per unit working time) using the panel fixed effect regression models. The results indicate that the gender gap in productivity of ride-hailing drivers does exist, but it disappears if we compare male and female drivers with the same driving behavior (i.e., same driving speed), average trip lengths, and vehicle fuel type. The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition shows that most productivity gap is driven by average driving speed and average trip length. These results suggest that although the productivity gap exists in the ride-hailing market, the reasons behind the gap are not worrisome for ride-hailing companies. Thus, these companies can encourage the participation of female drivers without compromising on operational performance, which could help sustain exclusive services like matching female riders with only female drivers and increase demand by making a female-centric safe brand.

Pandemic, Job loss, Food consumption, Child health: Impact of (COVID-19) on the livelihood of marginal income people in Bangladesh

The study is to understand the livelihood-related impact on the marginalized people due to the outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper also investigates the effects on child health of the vulnerable households who lost their work or job during these crisis moments. Following the fisher sampling method, 348 respondents are interviewed for quantitative and qualitative data. In this study, 20 districts from 7 divisions of Bangladesh are covered. Among the respondents, 90% said that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacts their livelihood due to income loss. This study also found that 50% of people (respondents) lost their jobs, and almost 90% of people revealed that their income level declined due to COVID-19. As a result, their dietary patterns changed significantly. Due to inadequate food consumption and marginal income, people face an acute health crisis, especially child health. They declined their food intake, ultimately maintaining their partial expenditure by borrowing from financial institutions and relatives. The empirical evidence shows that job loss and income reductions positively impact raising children's health vulnerability. Since the government did not support them properly, their survival will be threatened in the long run. So, the study shows that COVID-19 affects the daily income and consumption patterns of vulnerable households who live by daily earnings.

Women Taking Agency through Feminized Migration Patterns and Remittances: Socio-Economic Experiences of Migrant Street Vendors, Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal-South Africa

Background: This anthropological paper contributes empirical findings which reveal that feminized migration patterns have allowed women to migrate from different parts of Southern Africa to trade as illegal street vendors in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where they have earned remittances “their financial agency”. This economic/financial agency has shaped their resilience and has lowered their dependency on their husbands. Methodology: This study was guided by a qualitative phenomenological research design. Sampling: The study recruited twenty foreign women trading on the Pietermaritzburg through the purposive-snowballing sampling technique. Study Findings: This paper reveals that even though patriarchy and other structural issues have excluded African women, Pietermaritzburg streets have allowed foreign women to generate daily earnings which are between R1050 to R2500 per day through street vending amid many daily challenges. Earned remittances have changed their families’ socioeconomic statuses. Families have afforded basic survival needs such as food, school fees, medical care and clothing, which have been celebrated by their children and families. Through remittances, poverty no longer has the face of their families. Study Conclusion: This paper recognises that Pietermaritzburg streets as full of economic possibilities for foreign street vending women. Study Contribution: We contribute street vending a new context to the feminized migration literature which African women have entered into to generate remittances in South Africa to escape rife poverty. Study Recommendation: The paper further recommends that heads of state in Africa and internationally should forge policies that maximize the safety of street vending women worldwide.

Does the minimum wage improve the welfare of workers? Evidence from the 2013 minimum wage reform in Thailand

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the 2013 minimum wage reform in Thailand. The study employs a difference‐in‐difference (DID) estimation and utilises data drawn from comprehensive socioeconomic household surveys from 2009 to 2019. The findings suggest that the minimum wage reform significantly increased the average daily earnings, the number of paid days of employment, consumption expenditure per capita, and income per capita. However, the minimum wage reform had little impact on poor households. The results withstand different estimation techniques and a set of additional controls.

Fisher–shark interactions: A loss of support for the Maldives shark sanctuary from reef fishers whose livelihoods are affected by shark depredation

AbstractTargets for protecting predatory species often fail to consider the human costs of conservation. Human–wildlife interactions can increase following conservation action and present a major ecological and socioeconomic challenge. Using semistructured interviews (n = 103), participatory mapping (n = 57) and Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (50 h) we investigated fisher‐shark interactions in one of the world's principal shark sanctuaries. Seventy‐three percent of respondents reported an increase in shark depredation postsanctuary implementation. Fisher‐reported losses due to shark depredation varied significantly between fisheries and were disproportionately high for reef fishers (>21% of daily vessel earnings). This is attributed to extensive spatial overlap (55%–78%) between reef fishing activity and ecologically validated shark hotspots. We show significant correlations between perceptions of depredation and support for shark sanctuary regulations. Findings demonstrate the need to consider fisher–shark interactions in current and future conservation planning and suggest that management of depredation must be sensitive to diverging perceptions among fisher groups.

Gender Sensitive Trade Union Policy to Address Workers in Informal Economy

The informal economy is diversified set of economic activities, enterprises, jobs and workers that are not regulated or protected by the state. It does not have any written rules or agreements and functioning merely on verbal understanding. There is no fixed wages or fixed hours of work and mostly relies on daily earnings and the workers are failed to come together and address their problems through an association or a group. The people working as small farmers, street vendors, hawkers, small traders, micro entrepreneurs, home based workers, cobblers, rag pickers, porters, laborers, artisans etc represent the informal sectors. Formal employment sector is limited both in size and varieties. On the other hand, informal economy is overcrowded by both the older and new entrant workers. Informal economy functioning outside government control and regulation, creates more vulnerability, precariousness, injustice and inequality in part of the millions of workers and even drags them to bondage and serfdom.

Clusters of Bicycle Taxi Operators and their Main Service Operation Patterns: Case Study of Quelimane, Mozambique

Bicycle taxi is a vital means of informal public transport service in most Sub-Saharan African cities, and for this reason, understanding who operates this service, and how they operate could help define initiatives to promote this service. This study considered clusters of bicycle taxi operators and their main service operation patterns. A survey was conducted among 105 regular bicycle taxi operators in Quelimane, Mozambique. Twostep cluster analysis identified homogeneous groups of bicycle taxi operators based on six socio-economic factors (age, income, education, household composition, bicycle ownership, and residence location). A Mann-Whitney U test was employed to compare pairs of clusters of bicycle taxi operators regarding a set of taxi services operation variables, such as the number of passengers carried daily, daily revenues, and service hours. Four clusters of bicycle taxi operators were identified which are, less-educated operators from large households (C1), educated migrants (C2), less-educated bicycle renters (C3), and young cyclists from small households (C4). When comparing differences in service operation patterns per cluster of bicycle taxi operators, the study showed that people in C1 produced fewer bicycle taxi trips than those in C2 and C4. For daily earnings, people in C2 earn more than those in C1 and C3. For service hours, individuals in C2 cycle long service hours when compared to those in C1, which could be harmful to their health. The result of this study could reorient bicycle taxi service promotional policies to make the service more sustainable.

Features of calculating temporary disability benefit

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of calculating temporary disability benefit and analyzes the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 11.09.2021 N 1540 “On approving the Regulation on the peculiarities of the procedure for calculating temporary disability benefit, maternity, monthly allowance for the care of a child to citizens, subject to compulsory social insurance in the event of temporary disability and in connection with motherhood”, which takes into account the transition to direct benefit payments from Russia’s social security fund. The peculiarities of calculation of employee’s earnings for 2 calendar years preceding the year of temporary disability, his daily earnings are considered, practical examples of calculation of this allowance are given.