Involuntary absence is often seen as an exogenous factor, but firms can take actions to reduceit. In this paper the notion that firms, especially SMEs, are faced with a single decisionwhether or not to undertake these actions is questioned. A firm model on involuntary absencemeasures is...

Wetlands provide many important goods and services to human societies, and generate nonuse values as well. Wetlands are also very sensitive ecosystems that are subject to much stress from human activities. Reducing the stress on wetlands requires a spatial matching between physical planning,...

In this paper the reading behaviour of economists is examined to see whether particular typesof knowledge - basic and applied - imply different investment patterns. As it turns out, thereading intensity of advanced theoretical and empirical literature declines with three to fourpercent per year...

In this paper the reliability of travelling by public transport modes is investigated. We deal with the reliability of travel times in public travel chains. Until now the only research in this field has been directed towards the reliability of trips where only one move is made. Therefore, a new...

In this paper we investigate the mediating role of psychosocial benefits in the customersatisfaction/dissatisfaction formation process. Most research on this subject deals with thecausality direction of psychosocial benefits and satisfaction, sometimes preceded by anoverall functional benefit...

Elements of an integrated analysis of a land/water use and nature conservation in De Vechtstreek area are presented. This is a river plane composed of patches of lakes and polders, in the centre of The Netherlands. The attention is focused on the economic dimensions of the research. To this end,...

The returns to firm-provided training depend on many differentfactors. Firm size is an importantindicator of various of these factors, but recent research tends toneglect it. In this study thereturns to firm-provided training are estimated, taking account ofthree possible firm-sizeeffects: the...

This paper explores the hypothesis that wage differentials between skill groups across countries are consistent with a demand and supply framework. Using micro data from 15 countries we find that about one third of the variation in relative wages between skill groups across countries is...

The rapidly rising inflow of foreign migrants confronts policy-makers with many socio-economic problems. The negative externalities of uncontrolled immigration are well known and often hard to cope with. In recent years we have seen many policy initiatives based on self-reliance principles for...

In a corporatist country, of which the Netherlands is an example, wages should not be distinguished by union membership status, but by the bargaining regime. Four bargaining regimes can be distinguished: (i) company level bargaining, (ii) industry level bargaining, (iii) mandatory extension of...