Over the past few generations, expectations of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have altered radically, but these dramatic changes have largely gone unnoticed. This intriguing book brings together the sociology of consumption and technology to investigate the evolution of these changes, as well the social meaning of the practices themselves. Homes, offices, domestic appliances and clothes play a crucial role in our lives, but not many of us question exactly how and why we perform so many daily rituals associated with them. Showers, heating, air-conditioning and clothes washing are simply accepted as part of our normal, everyday lives, but clearly this was not always the case. When did the daily shower become de rigueur? What effect has air conditioning had on the siesta at one time an integral part of Mediterranean life and culture? This book interrogates the meaning and supposed normality of these practices and draws disturbing conclusions. There is clear evidence supporting the view that routine consumption is controlled by conceptions of normality and profoundly shaped by cultural and economic forces. Shove maintains that habits are not just changing, but are changing in ways that imply escalating and standardizing patterns of consumption. This shrewd and engrossing analysis shows just how far the social meanings and practices of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have eluded us.

Comfort, cleanliness and conveniencethe social organization ofnormality

Será que a desigualdade de rendimentos aumentou durante os últimos tempos? Quem ganhou e quem perdeu neste processo? Este processo afectou todos os países da OCDE uniformemente? Em que medida é que maiores desigualdades de rendimentos são a consequência de maiores diferenças nos rendimentos dos trabalhadores e até que ponto são afectados por outros factores? Finalmente, como é que a redistribuição governamental através do sistema de benefícios fiscais afecta estas tendências?

Book Review: OECD, Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries:

Meeting: International Seminar on Information and Communication Technology Statistics, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 19-21 July 2010

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

The advent of automation and the simultaneous decline in the labor share and employment among advanced economies raise concerns that labor will be marginalized and made redundant by new technologies. We examine this proposition using a task-based framework in which tasks previously performed by labor can be automated and more complex versions of existing tasks, in which labor has a comparative advantage, can be created. We characterize the equilibrium in this model and establish how the available technologies and the choices of firms between producing with capital or labor determine factor prices and the allocation of factors to tasks. In a static version of our model where capital is fixed and technology is exogenous, automation reduces employment and the share of labor in national income and may even reduce wages, while the creation of more complex tasks has the opposite effects. Our full model endogenizes capital accumulation and the direction of research towards automation and the creation of new complex tasks. Under reasonable conditions, there exists a stable balanced growth path in which the two types of innovations go hand-in-hand. An increase in automation reduces the cost of producing using labor, and thus discourages further automation and encourages the faster creation of new complex tasks. The endogenous response of technology restores the labor share and employment back to their initial level. Although the economy contains powerful self correcting forces, the equilibrium generates too much automation. Finally, we extend the model to include workers of different skills. We find that inequality increases during transitions, but the self-correcting forces in our model also limit the increase in inequality over the long-run.

/pdf/the-race-between-machine-and-man-implications-of-technology-zhfiet218a.pdf

The Race between Machine and Man: Implications of Technology for Growth, Factor Shares and Employment

Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2012, the 43rd edition of this series, is a statistical data book presenting economic, financial, social, and environmental indicators for the 48 regional members of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This issue of Key Indicators presents in Part I a special chapter—Green Urbanization in Asia—followed by statistical tables in Parts II and III with short, nontechnical commentaries on economic, financial, social, and environmental developments. Part II comprises the first set of statistical tables and commentaries, which look at the Millennium Development Goals and progress in the region toward achieving key targets. The second set of tables in Part III is grouped into seven themes, and provides a broader picture of economic, financial, social, and environmental developments. This publication aims to present the latest key statistics on development issues concerning the economies of Asia and the Pacific to a wide audience, including policy makers, development practitioners, government officials, researchers, students, and the general public. This year, ADB also publishes the second edition of the Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators, a special supplement to Key Indicators.

Book Review: Asian Development Bank, Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2012Asian Development Bank, Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2012, ADB, Manila

The emergence of online digital labour platforms has been one of the major transformations in the world of work over the past decade. 

This report provides one of the first comparative studies of working conditions on five major micro-task platforms that operate globally. It is based on an ILO survey covering 3,500 workers in 75 countries around the world and other qualitative surveys. The report analyses the working conditions on these micro-task platforms, including pay rates, work availability and intensity, social protection coverage and work–life balance. 

The report recommends 18 principles for ensuring decent work on digital labour platforms.

Digital labour platforms and the future of work: Towards decent work in the online world

Using household and labour force survey data fr om 11 developing countries, the authors calculate rates of minimum wage compliance for formal/ informal employees covered by current legislation and assess the average "depth" of violations. Though compliance is negatively related to the ratio of minimum to median wages, countries with a national minimum wage set at a meaningful level typically achieve higher compliance rates than countries with occupational or in- dustry-specific minimum wage systems. However, better compliance - especially for women, ethnic groups, and unskilled and informal workers - also depends on contextualized yet comprehensive minimum wage policies combining union/em- ployer involvement, awareness-raising and credible enforcement.

/pdf/minimum-wage-coverage-and-compliance-in-developing-countries-4jvaj8h5f5.pdf

Minimum wage coverage and compliance in developing countries

Summary
Food consumption is a local activity related to environmental impacts at different scales. Yet, the link between eating food as a social and cultural practice and the global implications of food consumption has not been sufficiently explored. We adopt a multidisciplinary approach to relate social practices with the biophysical flows of food products at the household level. Focusing on middle-class households in Metro Manila, the Philippines, we conduct qualitative interviews to highlight preferences, habits, and perceptions about food consumption. In parallel, we collect quantitative information on food purchased. We relate our results to national trends by analyzing the recent evolution of national food expenditures. Finally, we review environmental impacts related to main food categories. Our research points to the significance of socioeconomic factors on food consumption, notably the presence of domestic help or the professional situation of household members. One main finding is the identification of eating out as an important and growing trend in Asian cities, which causes a shift of resource consumption and related environmental impacts from the household to the service sector.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/JIEC_JIEC12402.pdf?abstractid=2800398&mirid=1&type=2

Urban Food Consumption in Metro Manila: Interdisciplinary Approaches Towards Apprehending Practices, Patterns, and Impacts

Digital technologies have led to the emergence of new forms of flexible work, such as crowdwork or information and communication technology-enabled mobile work, over the past decade. This is consid...

Digital labour platforms and new forms of flexible work in developing countries: Algorithmic management of work and workers:

The emergence of online digital labour platforms has been one of the major transformations in the world of work over the past decade 

This report provides one of the first comparative studies of working conditions on five major micro-task platforms that operate globally It is based on an ILO survey covering 3,500 workers in 75 countries around the world and other qualitative surveys The report analyses the working conditions on these micro-task platforms, including pay rates, work availability and intensity, social protection coverage and work–life balance 

The report recommends 18 principles for ensuring decent work on digital labour platforms

Uma Rani

Papers

Digital labour platforms and the future of work: Towards decent work in the online world

Minimum wage coverage and compliance in developing countries

Urban Food Consumption in Metro Manila: Interdisciplinary Approaches Towards Apprehending Practices, Patterns, and Impacts

Digital labour platforms and new forms of flexible work in developing countries: Algorithmic management of work and workers:

Digital labour platforms and the future of work