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    Social stability and efficiency wages : the case in the context of the Chinese labour market : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Studies in Economics at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Wu, Gezie George
    Chinese gradual and piecemeal reform has generated dual labour market sectors: the state sector vs. the non-state sector. One important feature of reforms in the state sector is that balancing the objective of maintaining social stability against that of improving productivity is highlighted. In this thesis I suggest that this trade-off is inherent in the policy of xiagang which allows state owned enterprises to layoff workers but forces them to continue providing some wages and non-wage benefits. The aim of this thesis is to examine the relationship between social stability and a range of variables such as wages, effort levels, employment, output, productivity and profitability. To fulfill it, this thesis builds a theoretical model that extends the Shapiro and Stiglitz no-shirking efficiency wage model to include characteristics of the Chinese context. The most important innovation in this model is the introduction of a social stability parameter that reflects some key features of xiagang such as a low likelihood of workers being laid off. The likelihood of layoffs could be lowered in the interest of social stability. A comparative static analysis is undertaken on this model. It shows that with an increase of this social stability parameter, the overall wages, unskilled worker's effort levels and their employment tend to rise, but the overall profit levels and skilled worker's effort levels tend to decline; Skilled worker's employment, the overall output and productivity may either increase or decrease. This implies that profitability may be improved by lowering the social stability parameter, but that improvement is more likely to be realised through cutting labour costs at an expense of shifting more workers into xiagang rather than through improving the overall productivity.
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    Comparative analysis of the productivity levels achieved through the use of panelised prefabrication technology with those of traditional building system : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Construction, School of Engineering & Advanced Technology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Shahzad, Wajiha
    Several studies have documented benefits of prefabricated building system compared to the traditional approach. Despite the acknowledged benefits of refabrication, its application is generally low in the New Zealand construction industry. This low uptake is largely attributed to the fact that the documented benefits of prefabrication technology are anecdotal, or based on investigations of isolated case studies. This study aims to contribute to filling this knowledge gap by analysing cost savings, time savings, and productivity improvement achievable by the use of panelised prefabrication in place of the traditional building system. A two-phased mixed method of research was adopted for the study. The first phase involved the use of case study-based archival research to obtain qualitative data from records of 151 completed building projects in three cities of New Zealand – Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. The second phase involved the use of questionnaire survey to obtain feedback from industry stakeholders. Results showed that the use of panelised prefabrication in place of traditional building system contributed to 21 percent cost saving, 47 percent time saving and 10 percent average improvement in the productivity outcomes in the building projects. Results further showed that 17 factors could significantly influence the levels of benefits achievable with the use of prefabrication technology. ‘Building type’ and ‘location’ were the factors having the most significant influence on the benefits achievable by the use of panelised prefabrication in place of the traditional building systems. Other factors that influence the benefits of prefabrication included (in diminishing order of influence): logistics, type of prefabrication, scale/repeatability, standardisation, contractor’s level of innovation, environmental impact, project leadership, type of procurement, whole of life quality, site conditions, site layout and client’s nature.