Increasing Labor Costs Research Articles

Changes in the tax structure and their impact on economic growth in the Republic of Croatia based on the VAR model

In Croatia, the social security system is based on generational solidarity, i.e. payment of contributions, which is known as pay as you go (PAYG), but the balance of its functioning is permanently and significantly disturbed by long-term unfavourable demographic processes. Projections show that the worrying demographic situation will deteriorate even further and that, with low birth and fertility rates and negative natural growth, negative net migration will contribute to further depopulation. In addition, contributions directly burden labour, i.e. they increase labour costs for employers and reduce their competitiveness in the marketplace, affecting economic growth. The paper reviews empirical research on the impact of different tax structures on economic growth, the sublimated conclusion of which is that direct taxes have a negative effect on growth, while indirect taxes are neutral. The Croatian tax system, with VAT as the main factor in the tax structure, is focused on taxing consumption, but is also characterized by a high level of levies. In this paper, the authors use the vector autoregression model to analyse the relationship between economic growth and the changed tax structure of the Republic of Croatia, in which the role of indirect taxes would be more emphasized. Data in model are consist of different types of taxes, GDPpc, population growth, gross fixed capital formation, unemployment rate and cover the time period from 2004 to 2019. The authors prove that the reduction of the tax burden through direct taxes has positive economic, demographic and fiscal effects.

Strengthening worker benefits or destroying jobs: Effect of the 2008 Labor Contract Law in China

This study examines the effect of strict enforcement of the 2008 Labor Contract Law (LCL) on firm employment in China. Although the LCL caused a substantial increase in labor cost, there are no negative repercussions on employment. By contrast, surviving firms continue to increase employment driven by the strong labor demand of the fast-growing Chinese economy. However, compared with non-exposed firms, exposed firms suffered negative repercussions on employment after the enforcement of LCL. Exposed firms exhibited reduced wages after the LCL relative to non-exposed firms, suggesting that wage has a mediation effect on reducing the insurance expenditures of both employers and employees; they also raised productivity considerably after the LCL to absorb the incremental labor costs and survive in the market. However, there are heterogeneous effects of wage and productivity among firms of various ownerships and exporting behaviors.

Wage councils, product markups and wage markdowns: Evidence from Uruguay

In 2005, after a leftist coalition won the national election for the first time, Uruguay returned to sector-level wage bargaining councils with active government participation. We estimate product markups and wage markdowns using firm-level data for the period 2002–2016, and report decreasing wage markdowns and increasing -to a lesser extent- firm-level product markups. We find statistically significant impacts of minimum mandated wages on product markups and wage markdowns, and additional effects of unions on wage markdowns. The evidence suggests that firms operate in monopsonistic labor markets. Though their bargaining power in the labor market was reduced over time as a result of wage councils, firms were able to pass a sizable part of the increases in labor costs to consumers.

Impact of lowered vehicle weight of electric autonomous tractors in a systems perspective

Modern agriculture rely on heavy machinery that has increased risk of detrimental soil compaction of arable fields. This can lead to negative effects such as reduced yields, reduced field trafficability and increased fuel use. Electric, autonomous tractors makes it possible to replace one heavy machine with several lighter without increased labour costs. In this study, the economic and environmental effects of reduced soil compaction for smaller autonomous tractors were assessed and compared to a scenario with conventional tractors. A discrete event simulation of a Swedish 200 ha grain farm with clay soil was used for the calculations. The electric, autonomous system had lower soil compaction impacts as well as other benefits, and reduced cost in total from 385 to 258 € ha-1 and the climate impact from 270 to 77 kg CO2eq ha−1 compared to the conventional scenario. Soil compaction constituted 20% of the cost and 26% of the climate impact for the conventional scenario. It was concluded that soil compaction was impactful in machinery studies, especially on heavier soil like clay, and should not be omitted. Soil compaction avoidance alone was not impactful enough to warrant a change to electric, autonomous tractors but it reinforced already existing trends and further improved the cost and environmental benefits.

Design and Evaluation Small Scale Dome Dryer of Corn For Small Industry

Corn is still an important commodity for small farmer industries in Indonesia. However, one of the problems is the natural drying process with direct sunlight which is quite long and is often disturbed in the rainy season. Reaching 14% moisture content often takes up to 6-7 days so it is not efficient. This is because the direct drying temperature is relatively low, and when it rains it must be moved around, thus increasing labor costs. Several artificial dryers have been developed, but the price is relatively expensive so it is not affordable for small industrial scale. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate a simple small-scale dome-type dryer. The results showed that the dryers that have been designed and made are quite practical and effective to use for small-scale farmers. Drying time from 35-40% water content to 13.5-14.5% within 2 days with an average drying temperature in the tool 40-56 oC.

Peach for the future: A specialty crop revisited

• Current trends on peach cultivar and rootstock breeding initiatives are highlighted. • Efficient cropping system is linked to appropriate rootstock selection and canopy architecture. • Training system selection is of equal importance with rootstock selection. • High density plantation may result in reduced production cost and enhanced orchard sustainability. • Decision making in the orchard and packinghouse is critical for optimum fruit quality. • Peach industry needs to shift to a systems approach through a re-design of the whole supply chain. Peach is the most important temperate fruit crop worldwide in terms of production after apple. However, a descending trend has been registered over the recent years in several key producing peach countries, mainly due to the increased labor cost and the reduced revenue for the farmer. The present perspective review aims to shed light on the current trends on peach fruit production related to cultivar and rootstock breeding initiatives, appropriate training system selection and targeted integrated management of main diseases, most promptly Monilinia spp. Cultivar breeding programs should focus on the most relevant outcomes about the main drivers of consumer's acceptance. In the near future, a contribution from the breeding sector should be expected in the reduction of the trade-off between quality and yield, towards selection of elite cultivars with enhanced aroma (a pool of compounds still scarcely known), with appreciable nutritional properties and extended market life. Such cultivars need an appropriate rootstock and canopy architecture to facilitate efficient cropping systems. The training/cropping system selection is of equal importance with rootstock selection as it can also determine efficiency and potential for mechanization. A tendency for the future is that several semi- and dwarfing Prunus hybrid rootstocks aligned with the innovations on peach tree architecture will lead to higher planting densities, reduced tree height and thus enhanced peach production with reduced labor cost. With the aim to advance peach fruit production and consumption, there is an urgent need to dissect solutions to valorize on the market the exceptional peach diversity and flavor potential, already present in the varietal landscape. The development of sophisticated non-destructive tools that will allow in cost-effective manner to determine fruit quality and maturity stage is expected to facilitate consumer eating experience and storage requirements with minimum risk of chilling injury symptoms development. Lastly, the phytosanitary protocol of small-sized wall-grown plants would most likely be more effective and would require reduced quantities of pesticides while simultaneously responding to the needs of a market that is increasingly attentive to fruit healthiness and environment protection. Phytosanitary issues can be addressed by controlling diseases and/or by improving genetic resistance.

One-off basal application of nitrogen fertilizer increases the biological yield but not the economic yield of cotton in moderate fertility soil

Basal and topdressing split application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer is widely used in cotton in many cotton-growing countries, including China. Recently, in the Yellow River valley of China, one-off basal application of N fertilizer has been applied to meet the challenge of increasing labor costs. However, how one-off basal application of N fertilizer affects cotton yields and N use efficiency and by what mechanisms are not clear. Therefore, an experiment was conducted using full-season (K836) and short-season (LM532) cotton cultivars in a moderate fertility field in the Yellow River valley in 2019 and 2020. A split-plot design was established for each variety with the main plots assigned to a mulching pattern (with or without plastic film mulching) and the subplots assigned to an N rate (0 or 195 kg N ha −1 , abbreviated as N0 and N195). Cotton yield and yield components, biomass accumulation and distribution, and total N and 15 N absorption and utilization were determined each year. Compared with N0, one-off basal application of N fertilizer (N195) did not increase boll density, boll weight, lint percentage or seedcotton yield regardless of cultivar or mulching. Biomass and total N uptake of cotton increased significantly in N195 compared with N0, but the increases occurred primarily in vegetative organs, leading to reductions in the harvest index and N yield efficiency index. With one-off basal application of N fertilizer, more than 80 % of the N in cotton plants derived from soil. Approximately 28 % of 15 N-labeled urea was absorbed by cotton plants, of which only approximately 35 % was used in forming seedcotton yield. Therefore, cotton plants with one-off basal application of N fertilizer only recovered a small amount of fertilizer N, and even less of the fertilizer N was used in yield formation. As a result, the harvest index of cotton decreased, and thus, one-off basal application of N fertilizer failed to increase seedcotton yield. Cultivar and plastic film mulching did not alter the effects of one-off basal application of N fertilizer. Therefore, although one-off basal application of N fertilizer in cotton is a labor-saving approach, it should not be encouraged in moderate fertility soil in the Yellow River valley or other areas with similar ecology. • One-off basal N application did not increase the seedcotton yield compared with no-N fertilization. • One-off N application led to a low proportion of plant N derived from 15 N and even less for yield formation. • Both N uptake and N distribution to vegetative organs was improved by one-off basal N application. • Cultivar and plastic mulching did not alter the effects of one-off basal application of N fertilizer.

A Size-Grading Method of Antler Mushrooms Using YOLOv5 and PSPNet

Quality grading in antler mushroom industrial production is a labor-intensive operation. For a long time, manual grading has been used for grading, which produces various problems such as insufficient reliability, low production efficiency, and high mushroom body damage. Automatic grading is a problem to be solved urgently for antler mushroom industrial development with increasing labor costs. To solve the problem, this paper deeply integrates the single-stage object detection of YOLOv5 and the semantic segmentation of PSPNet, and proposes a Y-PNet model for real-time object detection and an image segmentation network. This article also proposes an evaluation model for antler mushroom’s size, which eliminates subjective judgment and achieves quality grading. Moreover, to meet the needs of efficient and accurate hierarchical detection in the factory, this study uses the lightweight network model to construct a lightweight YOLOv5 single-stage object detection model. The MobileNetV3 network model embedded with a CBAM module is used as the backbone extractor in PSPNet to reduce the model’s size and improve the model’s efficiency and accuracy for segmentation. Experiments show that the proposed system can perform real-time grading successfully, which can provide instructive and practical references in industry.

The use of pre-crop values to improve farm performance: the case of dairy farms in southwest Finland

ABSTRACT Pre-crop values are used to indicate the benefits of a previous crop for a subsequent crop in crop sequencing. A better understanding and research on pre-crop values has the potential to facilitate the diversification of crop production. Despite the various benefits of diversification, the limited knowledge and incentives concerning the pre-crop values in the market conditions have contributed to the persistence of cereal-dominated land use. The present study evaluated the benefits of utilizing pre-crop values in a Finnish context. Results based on dynamic optimization modelling showed that incorporating more information on pre-crop values into farmers’ decision-making contributes to increased net present values (NPV). The adoption of pre-crop values was analysed under five different scenarios: Removal of the Common Agricultural Policy land constraints, 30% increase in labour costs, +/−10% change in crop prices, and 30% increase in N fertilizer price. Under each scenario, the response of the baseline model (without pre-crop values) was compared to the response of the model with pre-crop values. In all scenarios, the results of the model with pre-crop values showed higher NPVs, higher yields and slightly lower GHG emissions. Hence, increasing knowledge and utilization of pre-crop values may significantly promote shifts towards more sustainable agriculture.

An exploratory investigation of technology-assisted dining experiences from the consumer perspective

PurposeThe use of modern technologies in restaurants has become a trend. For food and beverage services, embracing new technologies helps solve the dilemmas of increasing labor costs and the high level of staff turnover in the industry. However, knowledge regarding how consumers perceive and evaluate technology-assisted dining experiences (TADEs) is limited. This study aims to conceptualize and operationalize TADEs while considering increasing technological applications in restaurants.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted in-depth interviews with 71 restaurant consumers in Nanjing and Wuhan, China. Following the interviews, this study carried out a survey and identified the factor structure of TADEs.FindingsThe in-depth interviews identified 26 attributes of TADEs. An analysis of the survey data identified four important aspects (with 21 items) of TADEs, namely, novelty and fashion, convenience, high efficiency and restrictions and possible risks.Practical implicationsHospitality managers can implement the suggested measures for dining service design and technology management to improve the experiences of customers.Originality/valueThese findings have theoretical implications for the new phenomenon of technology-integrated dining, the application of technology and consumer management in the catering industry.

Experimental and analytical investigation on precast concrete-encased concrete-filled steel tube column-to-column dry connections under axial tension

Precast technologies featuring rapid construction and reduced on-site manpower have been gaining widespread adoption in the construction industry, particularly in reinforced concrete (RC) structures and composite steel–concrete structures over the past few decades, due to rising labour cost. However, to date, no workable precast connections have been developed for concrete-encased concrete-filled steel tube (CECFST) columns, which are increasingly used in ultra high-rise buildings and large-span bridges owing to its superior structural performance and excellent fire resistance. In this regard, to promote applications of CECFST columns in countries with increasing labour cost, this study develops two innovative precast CECFST column-to-column dry connections (PCDCs), through which the construction of CECFST structures would minimise heavy on-site work, such as welding or grouting of joints, formwork, and propping systems. Ten laboratory tests including four component tests and six column-to-column connection tests, were conducted to investigate tensile performance of the developed PCDCs. Key test results of all the ten specimens, such as load versus deformation relationships and failure modes, showed that the PCDCs had excellent tensile resistance and ductility. Furthermore, this paper carried out a series of theoretical analyses to quantify the ductility and tensile strength of the PCDCs through proposed load transfer mechanisms and component-based models. The design method of the PCDCs was presented by a simple flowchart and a worked example. With excellent structural performance, the PCDCs developed in this paper demonstrated huge potential to replace conventional cast-in-place (CIP) connections of CECFST columns.

물류기업의 종업원에 대한 경제적 보상과 기업성과의 관계

Purpose : This study examined how the economic compensation to employees affects the corporate performance of logistics companies. Research design, data and methodology : Multiple regression analysis and T-test were conducted for empirical verification. Variables of economic compensation were labor costs, retirement allowance, welfare benefits, employee growth rates, wage gaps between executives and employees, and average years of service. Profitability, stability, and growth indicators were used as the corporate performance variables. Results : The rate of increase in labor costs of logistics companies had a positive effect on their profitability and stability. In particular, the increase in welfare-related expenditure had a positive effect on sales and net profit. The increase in net income had a positive effect on the increase in the average service period of employees. Selling and administrative expenses and economic compensation variables showed positively significant results. In addition, the difference in the level of economic compensation according to the size of the company did not show a clear difference in the growth rate of retirement benefits and welfare expenses. However, large companies tended to show higher employment growth, the wage gap between executive employees, and the average service period. Conclusions : Logistics companies should improve job satisfaction and logistics services, secure a professional workforce, reduce safety accidents, increase productivity through profit sharing with employees, and ultimately improve management performance.

Is a New Employment Contract Needed?

The article is devoted to the topic of the “new labor contract”, which has recently appeared in the discussions of scientists and experts. The existing configuration of labor relations is heterogeneous and contradictory. There are zones where legal, prescribed by law relations prevail. There is an informal sector where employers make their own rules, and there are labor relations with lower standards reserved for “second class” workers such as migrants. Finally, the digital sector is actively developing, where “pseudo-labor relations” are being formed. All this pushes to search for new ways of development and to try to determine the parameters of the so-called “new labor contract”. Most often, the idea of liberalizing labor legislation and freeing businesses from “excessive restrictions” that increase labor costs is considered as such. The article cites a number of facts showing that the flip side of liberalization is a high level of conflict, turning into protests. At the same time, the practices of resolving conflicts in the labor sphere are mainly reduced to suppressing the dissatisfaction of workers or ignoring their position.Another option, which is actively developing in large corporations, is the use of paternalistic strategies, which, although they look humane, are aimed only at supporting behaviors that are beneficial to companies. Their peculiarity is that they exclude the possibility of employees to defend interests that do not coincide with those supported by business.

The minimum wage and the financialization of firms: Evidence from China

This paper utilizes China's A-listed firm data to investigate whether increasing the minimum wage promotes the financialization of firms. We apply instrumental variable estimation and various robustness tests to address measurement errors and potential endogeneity. We find robust and consistent evidence that exposure to higher minimum wages increases a firm's investment in financial assets. Furthermore, we explore the effects of moderators, such as increased employment stickiness, intensification of financial constraints, and reduced innovation activities as potential explanations for the positive effect of increasing minimum wages. Moreover, firms located in non-coastal cities with relatively higher equity concentration and lower market competition are substantially more incentivized to increase investment in financial assets. Overall, this paper provides new insights into understanding the effects of increasing labor costs on firms' asset allocation in emerging market economies.

The Development of Rubber Tapping Machines in Intelligent Agriculture: A Review

In the past decade, intelligent technologies have advanced rapidly, particularly due to improvements in automatic control, which have had a significant impact on forestry, as well as animal husbandry and the future of farm management. However, the degree of production and management mechanization in natural rubber plantations is low, especially since the methods of tapping still rely heavily on labor. The decrease of skilled rubber tappers and the increase in labor costs have led to the development of the mechanization of rubber tapping operations. The application of emerging intelligent agricultural technologies could provide an alternative in order to maximize the potential productivity of natural rubber. Based on this vision, we reviewed the literature on rubber tapping from the past decade for system implementation in rubber plantations. In this review, selected references on rubber tapping were categorized into several directions of research, including rubber tapping machines, the key technologies applied in tapping operations, and some related protective research, analyzing research works from 2010 to 2022 that focused on tapping methods. The review also discusses the application of intelligent agricultural technologies, such as the recognition of tapping trajectory and tapping path planning. A summary of challenges and future trends is also provided in this study. Based on the relevant research, the use of intelligent technologies in rubber tapping machines is still in its initial stage and has broad prospects. Through this study, we aim to provide a reference for researchers in the field of rubber tapping machines and thus to play a positive role in future rubber tapping.

Intellectualization of monitoring and regulation of the technological processes implementation in railway construction

The article presents abstract theorems and practical options for monitoring and regulating the technological process implementation of building a railway track object using artificial intelligence methods and tools. Railway construction as a complex dynamic system requires certain resources for its maintenance. Under these conditions, effective control over the construction work technology is of decisive importance. This can be achieved by improving the existing engineering and technical support system for railway construction through the introduction of an engineering and intellectual support subsystem for technological processes for railway facilities construction. One of the tasks of the subsystem is the effective use of automation tools with artificial intelligence elements. The deviations occurrence from planned requirements during construction work, due to the stochastic nature of railway construction, leads to violations of technology, an increase in labor costs, prime cost, an increase in duration, and as a result, a deterioration in the operational railway facility characteristics. To avoid such a development of events, a prompt review of the adopted technological solutions is necessary. To this end, within the scope of the methodology formation for engineering and intellectual support of railway construction technological processes, a system for monitoring and regulating work production has been developed. Intellectualization of monitoring the technological process implementation consists of the use of an expert system at the evaluation stage, built on a probabilistic inference model. The main purpose of the system is to process the monitoring results of the work progress during the railway track facility construction. The data obtained at the evaluation stage serve as the basis for predicting the implementation of the technological process. The essence of the forecast is based on the solution of general methodological issues of applying Markov processes. The regulation of the process implementation is based on the monitoring results. Adjusting the technological process to changing conditions of work provides flexibility in railway track facilities construction. This is achieved through rapid decision-making using the capabilities of an artificial neural network and subsequent adjustment of the work progress. Based on the theoretical study results, the article presents the practical aspects of monitoring and regulating the production of works in railway construction using intelligent technologies by the example of the construction of a flooded embankment section of a railway subgrade. The results presented in the article were obtained in the course of dissertation research carried out by the author.

The role of personal income taxes in corporate investment decisions

This paper examines the role of personal income taxes (PIT) in corporate investment decisions. Since PIT reduce consumption and increase cost of labor, investment decisions can be affected because of the inevitable link of production input factors. Using data on PIT in 27 European countries and three within-country approaches, we find that personal income taxes substantially reduce investment. The magnitude is comparable to the effect of corporate taxes. We also document that the PIT-investment relationship can be explained by increased labor costs and by reduced consumption due to higher PIT.

Regional Digital Economy Development and Enterprise Productivity: A Study of the Chinese Yangtze River Delta

AbstractCan the development of the regional digital economy improve the productivity of enterprises and thus contribute to the enhancement of the local economy? To address this question, we employ listed companies operating in the Yangtze River Delta of China from 2007 to 2017 as a case study. The digital economy here refers to the comprehensive combination of digital industrialization and industrial digitalization. First, we find that the development of the regional digital economy has a significant positive effect on the productivity of enterprises. Second, there are three possible paths to improve enterprise productivity: management cost upgrading, capacity of innovation upgrading, and factor input structure upgrading. The empirical results reveal that management cost upgrading suppresses the development of the regional digital economy, that is, the lagged indirect effects of innovation activities or the increased labour costs required by innovation activities crowd out capital from factor inputs. However, if these management costs can be significantly reduced, the development of the regional digital economy increases enterprise productivity.

Comprehensive assessment of intelligent unmanned vehicle techniques in pesticide application: A case study in pear orchard.

The intelligent pesticide application techniques in orchards have grown rapidly worldwide due to the decrease in agricultural populations and the increase in labor costs. However, whether and how intelligent pesticide application techniques are better than conventional pesticide application remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the performance of the unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) and unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) on pesticide application, ecological environment protection, and human’s health protection compared to conventional manual methods. We quantified characteristics from the aspects of working effectiveness, efficiency, environmental pollution, water saving and carbon dioxide reduction. The results showed that the UAV application has the advantages of a higher working efficiency and less environmental pollution and natural resource consumption compared to the UGV and conventional manual methods despite of its worse spray performance The UGV application techniques could improve spray performance at the cost of high environmental pollution. The conventional spray gun technique was unfriendly to environmental and resource protection although it showed a better spray performance. Thus, the balance of improving spray performance and controlling environmental pollution is the key to improve the performance of UAV and UGV technology in the future. The study could be useful in the development of intelligent pesticide application techniques and provide scientific support for the transition of intelligent management in orchards.

Efficient resin production using stimulant pastes in Pinus elliottii × P. caribaea families

To address the increasing labor cost of resin tapping, more efficient methods for resin tapping need to be developed. This study aimed to evaluate the features of resinosis as affected by stimulant pastes in Pinus elliottii × P. caribaea, which is also one of the predominant resin-producing species hybrids in South China. The resin yields and resin compositions were assessed in 33 P. elliottii × P. caribaea F1 families, with the application of four kinds of chemical stimulants, potassium (K2SO4) paste, naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) paste, benzoic acid (BA) paste and 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid (CEPA) paste. Our results showed that all four pastes significantly increased the resin yield by at least 20% at each tapping, and 3- to fivefold increases were detected at the beginning of each year. The correlations between resin yield and growth at each tapping ranged from uncorrelated to moderately positively correlated, indicating that resin yield was mostly but not always determined by tree size. The concentration of each resin component did not change with the stimulant applications. In P. elliottii × P. caribaea, selecting a larger tree diameter at breast height and employing the chemical stimulants at the first several tapping rounds are efficient tapping procedures. Moreover, the K2SO4-based stimulant can be recommended considering its promoting effects on resin yield and the low cost of the chemicals required to produce it.