We report on our empirical studies of a new controller for a two-link brachiating robot. Motivated by the pendulum-like motion of an ape's brachiation, we encode this task as the output of a "target dynamical system." Numerical simulations indicate that the resulting controller solves a number of brachiation problems that we term the "ladder," "swing-up," and "rope" problems. Preliminary analys...

Updating, Self-Confidence and Discrimination In a laboratory experiment, we show that subjects incorporate irrelevant group information into their evaluations of individuals. Individuals from on average worse performing groups receive lower evaluations, even if they are known to perform equally well as individuals from better performing groups. Our experiment leaves room neither for statistical...

This paper evaluates the return to formal education over the lifecycle and compare it to informal, on the job training. More specifically, we assess the apprenticeship system in Germany by comparing the long run value of education choices and subsequent labor market outcomes for apprentices and non-apprentices. We develop a structural model of career progression and educational choice, allowing...

Occupational stress is an increasing health problem for the high-risk industries. The occupation of correctional officers has received relatively scant attention, contributing to a recent increase in formal occupational stress claims. This research evaluated the ability of the Job Demand-ControlSupport (JDCS) model to predict strain in 132 Australian correctional officers. A specific measure of...

The steady movement of women with children into the workforce has dramatically increased the demand for affordable, quality child care services.' Yet, while demand for care climbs, working conditions in the child care industry remain stagnant, and child care workers labor at the very bottom of the economic ladder. As a group, they are poor women who are disproportionately of color and who rarel...

Gross Worker Flows in the Presence of Informal Labor Markets: Evidence from Mexico, 1987-2002 This paper applies recent advances in the study of labor market dynamics to a representative developing country with a large unregulated of “informal” sector. It confirms the relevance of the recent mainstream models and debates surrounding gross worker flows to the developing country context, and offe...

During economic downturns, labor markets are characterized not only by a higher unemployment rate and by lower transitions from unemployment to employment, but also by a reduction in the transitions from job to job. In this paper I propose a new mechanism to explain the reduction in job-to-job flows. I argue that when workers start a new job, the risk of separation is initially higher. Therefor...

background about one third of unwanted reported medication consequences are due to medication errors, resulting in one-fifth of hospital injuries. objectives the aim of this study was determined formal and informal medication errors of nurses and the level of importance of factors in refusal to report medication errors among nurses. patients and methods the cross-sectional study was done on the...