Employee Stock Research Articles

Labour Demand Elasticity and Manpower Requirement in Malaysian Service Sector

The first objective of this study is to analyse the elasticity of labour-output and labour-wage for professional and technical labours. The second objective is to project the requirements of these two occupational categories for year 2015 and 2020. The analysis is based on data of four selected services subsectors, namely, professional business, education, health and information and communication technology for the period 20002010. Data are obtained from the Service Industry Survey collected by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. The results show that the elasticity of labour-output is positive, while the elasticity of labour-wage can be positive or negative depending on the occupational category and sector. The manpower requirement for the professional and technical occupations depend on the output growth and the initial stock of employment, which are dominated by the education and information and communication technology sectors.

Understanding employee preferences for investing in employer stock: evidence from France

In this article, we broaden the focus of existing research on employee stock purchase plans by analysing employee preferences for investing in employer stock as a construct distinct from actual investment behaviour. In our analysis of original survey data in a sample of 900 employees in four French companies, we find that employee preferences are influenced by two common cognitive heuristics (representativeness and familiarity), organisational commitment, the perceived quality of corporate communications about these plans and perceived managerial commitment to employee ownership. We did not find, however, that risk aversion, turnover intentions or perceived employee involvement in decision making influenced preferences for investing in employer stock. Our findings have both theoretical and practical implications for understanding and operating these types of employee benefit plans, which are becoming more common across the globe.

Comparison of Outcomes Between Responders and Nonresponders to First-Line Paclitaxel/Carboplatin (P/C) Doublet Chemotherapy in Patients (Pts) with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (Nsclc)

ABSTRACT Aim: A randomized phase III trial showed that nab-P/C significantly improved the objective overall response rate (ORR) vs solvent-based P/C as first-line therapy in advanced NSCLC. This analysis aimed to understand the impact of achieving response, regardless of treatment, on survival and quality-of-life outcomes in the context of this clinical trial. Methods: Pts with and without at least an objective confirmed partial response were compared using the Q-TWiST (quality-adjusted time without symptoms or toxicity) method, which estimates the quality-adjusted survival by incorporating toxicity, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) into a single measurement. In this approach, OS was partitioned into time: with grade ≥ 3 toxicity (TOX), without symptoms of progression or toxicity (TWiST), and after progression (REL). Mean Q-TWiST was calculated by taking the sum of the product of the time spent in each state by its respective utility. In the base case, the utilities were: TWiST = 1, TOX = 0.5, REL = 0.5. In sensitivity analyses, TOX and REL utilities varied from 0 to 1. Results: In total, 1052 pts with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC were included in the analysis (median age 60 y). While responder status was not significantly associated with demographics, smoking status, or baseline performance status, responders (n = 302) were more likely than nonresponders (n = 750) to have squamous cell carcinoma (P = 0.043) or stage IIIB NSCLC at baseline (P = 0.006) and to receive more chemotherapy cycles/doses (P Conclusions: Tumor response is significantly associated with better outcomes, including quality-adjusted survival. Therefore, tumor response can be an important surrogate for assessment in treatment outcomes in NSCLC. Disclosure: V. Hirsh: Honoraria for Celgene Advisory Board; C. Langer: Research support and advisory boards with Celgene; F. Ju-Lin: I am an employee of Pharmerit International which received research funding from Celgene for this project; Y. Wan: Yin Wan is an employee of Pharmerit International who received research funding from Celgene for this project; S. Whiting: Employment or leadership position and stock ownership, Celgene Corporation; T.J. Ong: TJ Ong is an employee of Celgene and owns stock; M. Botteman: Shareholder and employee of Pharmerit International which received research funding from Celgene Corporation for this project. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Drug Cost Per Gained Month in Overall Survival (Os) and Progression-Free Survival (Pfs) of Selected Solid Tumour Therapies in Nordic Countries

ABSTRACT Aim: Regional and hospital payers increasingly require analyses assessing the cost-benefit profile of new drugs. This analysis evaluates the cost profile in Nordic countries of nano albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel [nab-P]) in pancreatic cancer vs other drugs per gained month in OS and PFS in high-unmet need solid tumour indications. Methods: Trial data on solid tumour therapies (comparator, treatment duration, PFS, OS) was retrieved from the European Medicine Agency (EMA) website. Total drug costs were calculated from ex-manufacturer prices without local discounts, using minimization of wastage and costs, and multiplying each drug cost by its maximum number of cycles or until disease progression, according to posology indications. Costs per month of OS and PFS achieved (dividing total drug costs by OS and PFS months, respectively) were evaluated for a selection of drugs: (1) trials for first-line metastatic cancer or noncurable treatment intention patients; (2) approved by EMA after 2000; (3) indicated in high-unmet need tumours (defined as OS for trial comparator ≤ 12 mo). Results: Results for the OS analysis are shown on the table: In all countries, a good correlation between costs per OS month and relative benefit vs trial comparator was observed. Similar correlation was found for the PFS analysis. Conclusions: The most recently approved drug, nab-P in pancreatic cancer, showed a similar cost per OS or PFS month ratio compared with other drugs for high-unmet need solid tumours. Drug Indication (year of EMA approval) Relative OS Gain vs Trial Comparator Total Drug Cost per OS Month (e) Norway Denmark Finland Sweden nab-P Pancreas (2014) 27% 1407 1697 2003 2280 Pemetrexed Mesothelioma (2004) 30% 1875 1886 1991 2064 Bevacizumab Lung (2007) 19% 1810 1531 1620 1722 Cetuximab Head and neck (2004) 36% 3036 2865 2828 2972 Trastuzumab Stomach (2009) 24% 1743 1008 1786 1945 Erlotinib Pancreas (2006) 7% 1119 870 1209 950 Tegafur/gimeracil/ oteracil (Teysuno S-1) Stomach (2011) 9% 264 236 185 249 Temsirolimus Kidney (2007) 49% 1736 1315 1411 1539 Vemurafenib Melanoma (2012) 40% 5864 4700 4814 4,919 Ipilimumab Melanoma (2011) 67% 8741 6725 6964 7248 Disclosure: P. Osterlund: No financial disclosures, panelist on the Metastatic pancreatic cancer webcast for Celgene in April 2014; P. Pfeiffer: No financial disclosures, chairman on the Metastatic pancreatic cancer webcast for Celgene in April 2014; R. Smaaland: Rune Smaaland has no financial disclosures. He has been in the scientific panel on the Metastatic pancreatic cancer webcast for Celgene in April 2014; F. Rodrigues: Employment or leadership position and stock ownership, Celgene; G. Furneri: No financial disclosures, panelist on the Metastatic pancreatic cancer webcast for Celgene in April 2014; Consulting fees from Celgene.

Informal Employment in Russia: Incidence, Determinants and Labor Market Segmentation

This paper takes stock of informal employment in Russia analyzing its incidence and determinants. Using the regular waves and an informality supplement of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) it develops several measures of informal employment and demonstrates that the incidence varies widely across the different definitions. We also show that the determinants of informal employment are roughly stable across the different measures: workers who are males, relatively young, unskilled and employed in construction and trade and related services have a higher likelihood to have an informal job. We also take a look at the issue of labor market segmentation along the informal-formal divide by estimating an informal-formal wage gap at the means and across the entire wage distributions. We find only weak evidence for labor market segmentation in Russia when estimating an informal-formal wage gap for salaried workers at the mean. The results of quantile regressions show a wage penalty in the lower half of the distribution and no gap in the upper half for informal employees. In contrast, informal self-employed and entrepreneurs have conditional mean wages that are higher than the mean wages for the formally employed. Across the entire wage distribution, however, we find a negative wage gap in the lowest quartile and a strongly positive wage gap in the highest quartile, pointing to a segmented informal sector with a lower free entry tier and an upper rationed tier.

Long-Run and Short-Run Relationships Between Education and Economic Growth: The Malaysian Experience

This paper investigates the long and short-run relationships between human capital, measured in terms of average years of schooling for people aged 15 years and older, and economic growth in Malaysia between 1970 and 2009. The data was collected from various sources, including the World Bank database, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and scholarly texts. The Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) test was utilized to examine the relationships between education and economic growth. The results of the co-integration test revealed that economic growth was absolutely exogenous and the remaining variables were endogenous in Malaysia. This fi nding suggests that the status of these variables depend on the level of economic growth, while the opposite is not true. The most interesting results were that the long-run forcing variables for human capital accumulation were capital stock, employment and economic growth. However, the causality test revealed that economic growth, employment and capital stock, not only aff ects human capital in the short-run, but in the long run as well. The causality tests performed detected two-way relationships between human capital and capital stock, and employment separately in the long run. Although economic growth is exogenous, Malaysia should still continue to invest in its human capital accumulation since it could att ract more investments and subsequently create employment opportunities within the economy. Keywords: Education levels, education development, income, economic growth.

The relationship between total factor productivity growth and employment: some evidence from a sample of European Regions

This paper provides a structural estimation of an equilibrium matching model with exogenous productivity growth on a sample of European Regions for the period 1976–2000. Using a three-stage least squares procedure, I estimate a simultaneous equation model for employment, wages and capital stock. The importance of the study of the relationship between growth and employment is due to the fact that the sign of this connection is not clear-cut. Theoretical models imply that the impact of productivity on employment is ambiguous. Furthermore, the empirical contributions are still not so many to reach a strong conclusion on the sign of the relationship above. This paper finds that the impact of productivity growth on employment is negative in the short-run and this effect remains negative even in the long-run. The implication of my results is that all new technology is embodied in new jobs and job creation plays no role in the employment dynamics of the sample I have considered.

Minimum Wage Shocks, Employment Flows, and Labor Market Frictions

We provide the first estimates of the effects of minimum wages on employment flows in the U.S. labor market, identifying the impact using policy discontinuities at state borders. We find that minimum wages have a sizable negative effect on employment flows but not stocks: separations and accessions fall among affected workers. We interpret our findings using a job-ladder model, in which minimum wage increases can reduce job-to-job transitions. We find that a standard calibration of the model generates predicted relative magnitudes of the employment stock and flow elasticities that are very close to our reduced-form estimates.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 and Diversification of Employer Stock in Defined Contribution Plans

This paper estimates the short-run impact of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA2006) on holdings of employer stock in defined contribution pension plans. PPA2006 allowed participants in plans with employer stock to diversify their holdings. However, stand-alone ESOPs, i.e., those that do not allow employee elective deferrals or after-tax contributions, were exempt from this provision. Using detailed Form 5500 financial data for stand-alone ESOPs and those that allow employee elective deferrals or after-tax contributions, so-called KSOPs, from 2003-5 (before) and 2007-9 (after) the PPA and a quasi-experimental empirical framework, two primary empirical findings emerge. First, the share of plan assets in company stock fell 7 percentage points for KSOPs, because of the diversification provisions in PPA2006, a substantial decline. There was no change in holdings for stand-alone ESOPs. Second, most of the decline occurred in plans that had between 25-50 percent of plan assets in employer stock. Nonetheless, in 2009 still two-thirds of KSOPs had more than 10 percent of assets in company stock, the statutory limit for defined benefit pension plans.

Memo on Binary Economics to Attorneys for Women and People of Color Re: What Else Can Public Corporations Do for Your Clients?

Memo on Binary Economics to Attorneys for Women and People of Color Re: What Else Can Public Corporations Do for Your Clients?

Investor Sophistication and the Home Bias, Diversification, and Employer Stock Puzzles

Using data from the April 2005 Survey of Consumers, we develop an index of investor sophistication from a set of 14 quiz-like questions. We correlate our measure of sophistication with holdings of international investments, measures of diversication, and holdings of an employer’s stock. We nd that each of these variables is correlated with sophistication, with more sophisticated investors consistently behaving the way that nancial economists would recommend. More sophisticated investors also appear more likely to participate in the stock market. We argue that since sophistication is correlated with each of these anomalous behaviors, the most likely explanation for each behavior is that unknowledgable investors simply make mistakes. We also regress sophistication on some simple measures of nancial education, nding evidence that nancial education is associated with greater sophistication.

Growth of Participant Direction in Defined Contribution Plans

Using data from IRS Form 5500, this study examines the causes and consequences of the shift toward participant direction of investments in defined contribution plans. The analysis reveals that collective bargaining and pension investments in employer stock reduce the chance of a switch to participant direction, whereas below average returns increases the chance. Also, a switch to participant direction increases employee contributions to the pension and reduces the share of assets invested in employer securities.

An International Comparison of Legal Strategies Used by Executive Employees Recovering Bonuses and Stock Options: Where is the Future of Employment Law?

An International Comparison of Legal Strategies Used by Executive Employees Recovering Bonuses and Stock Options: Where is the Future of Employment Law?

Is employee ownership so senseless

Résumé Depuis Enron et la ruine de milliers de ses employés, l’actionnariat salarié est critiqué. Investir son épargne en actions de son entreprise équivaudrait à parier sur un seul actif. De plus, l’efficacité contestée de l’actionnariat salarié ne justifierait pas que les entreprises distribuent des actions à leurs salariés. Pourtant, l’actionnariat salarié est adopté par des milliers d’entreprises et des millions de salariés à travers le monde. Cet article propose un modèle d’aléa moral où un entrepreneur neutre envers le risque utilise l’actionnariat salarié pour inciter son salarié averse au risque. Nous montrons l’existence d’un transfert optimal d’actionnariat salarié qui satisfait les préférences du salarié et s’accompagne d’un effet incitatif. Nous apportons ainsi un argument rationnel en faveur de l’actionnariat salarié.

Long-term unemployment in Poland in the years 1995-2007

This study analyses trends in the long-term unemployment in Poland, as well as its structure and macroeconomic importance for both equilibrium unemployment and the efficacy of anti-inflationary policy. It combines a theoretical part with discussion based on the statistics on the Polish economy for recent years. As shown by the theoretical analysis, long-term unemployment weakly eases wage pressure exerted by workers, so a larger percentage of the long-term unemployed lifts equilibrium unemployment to a higher level and makes anti-inflationary policy less effective. The empirical analyses of the Polish economy indicate that the duration of unemployment is a factor that significantly shapes the probability of finding a job. The hypothesis that the rates of worker flows from the stock of unemployment to the stock of employment are much lower in the case of the long-term unemployed persons than for the short-term unemployed has been corroborated. The statistical data on the Polish economy show that the country’s long-term unemployment is relatively large. To curb the negative macroeconomic impacts of this type of unemployment, its scale needs to be reduced. It is also necessary to increase the rate of long-term unemployed workers using the active labour market programmes.

401(k) plan asset allocation, account balances, and loan activity.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI) have been collaborating for the past two years to collect data on participants in 401(k) plans. This effort, known as the EBRI/ICI Participant-Directed Retirement Plan Data Collection Project, has obtained data for 401(k) plan participants from certain of EBRI and ICI sponsors and members serving as plan recordkeepers and administrators. The report includes 1996 information on 6.6 million active participants in 27,762 plans holding nearly $246 billion in assets. The data include demographic information, annual contributions, plan balances, asset allocation, and loans, and are currently the most comprehensive source of information on individual plan participants. In 1996, the first year for which data are ready for analysis, the EBRI/ICI database appears to be broadly representative of the universe of 401(k) plans. Key findings include: for all participants, 44.0 percent of the total plan balance is invested in equity funds, 19.1 percent in employer stock, 15.1 percent in guaranteed investment contracts (GICs), 7.8 percent in balanced funds, 6.8 percent in bond funds, 5.4 percent in money funds, 0.8 percent in other stable value funds, and 1.0 percent in other or unidentified investments. This allocation implies that over two-thirds of plan balances are invested directly or indirectly in equity securities. Asset allocation varies with age. For instance, on average, individuals in their twenties invested 76.8 percent of assets in equities and only 22.1 percent in fixed-income investments. By comparison, individuals in their sixties invested 53.2 percent of their assets in equities and 45.9 percent of assets in fixed-income investments. Investment options offered by 401(k) plans appear to influence asset allocation. For example, the addition of company stock substantially reduces the allocation to equity funds and the addition of GICs lowers allocations to bond and money funds. Employer contributions in the form of company stock affect participant allocation behavior. Participants in plans in which employer contributions are made in company stock appear to decrease allocations to equity funds and to increase the allocation of company stock in self-directed balances. The average account balance (net of plan loans) for all participants is $37,323. The balances, however, represent only amounts with current employers and do not include amounts remaining in the plans of prior employers. Nor do the balances indicate what savings would be in a "mature" 401(k) plan program. The average balances of older workers with long tenure at one employer indicate that a mature 401(k) plan program will produce substantial account balances. For example, individuals in their sixties with at least 30 years of tenure have average account balances in excess of $156,000; those in their fifties have balances in excess of $117,000.

On the Effects of Individual Labor-Flexibility on Rational Portfolio Allocation: Making a Case for Businessman Risk and Employer Stock Ownership

On the Effects of Individual Labor-Flexibility on Rational Portfolio Allocation: Making a Case for Businessman Risk and Employer Stock Ownership

The Growth of Participant Direction in Defined Contribution Plans

Since 1990, most pension plans have shifted the responsibility for directing pension assets to the employee. This study summarizes some of the possible explanations for this rapid shift toward participant direction and uses IRS Form 5500 data to investigate the effect of worker and plan characteristics on the likelihood of making a switch. The study also estimates the effect of a switch to participant direction on employee contribution and asset allocation behavior. The analysis reveals that collective bargaining and pension investments in employer stock reduce the chance of a switch to participant direction, whereas below average return performance increases the chance. Also, a switch to participant direction increases employee contributions to the pension and reduces the share of assets invested in employer securities.

Pension investments in employer stock

SUMMARYThis study examines the consequences of a pension fund investing in the stock of the sponsoring firm. Using a merger of data on pension asset holdings from IRS Form 5500 filings and financial data on the company's stock from CRSP, two broad questions are addressed: first, what factors influence the extent of a pension fund's investments in the employer's stock? Second, when a pension invests in the employer's stock, how much is lost as a result of poor diversification? The empirical results suggest that investments in employer stock are responsive to non-diversification costs, tax consequences, and the employee's ability to absorb risk. There is also evidence that employers and employees weight these factors differentially in their decision of how much employer stock to include in the pension. Using actual return data on pension plans, we also find that concentrated investments in employer stock substantially reduce risk-adjusted return performance. However, modest holdings of employer stock have negligible effects on pension performance.

The prudence of permitting investment in employer stock under defined contribution retirement plans

There has been a recent trend towards increased class action lawsuits against employers who sponsor retirement plans based on holdings of employer stock in such plans. This phenomenon, known as ‘stock drop’ litigation, gained considerable momentum after the collapse of the Enron Corporation. This paper provides a discussion of the types of private-sector retirement plans prevalent in the United States and some of the reasons why plan sponsors continue to offer employer stock as an option under these plans. Some of the theories of liability in ‘stock drop’ litigation are explored as well as the enactment of recent legislation that may provide some opportunity for relief for plan sponsors. The paper concludes with a few ‘best practices’ for plan sponsors to consider.