Doing the right thing in the workplace: Responsibility in the face of accountability

Changing trends and the nature of the work force dictate increased personal responsibility by employees and expanded use of self-management practices. Nevertheless, organizations also feel the need to maintain external control. We propose a progressive view of accountability theory which can resolve the dilemma of how internal and external control can effectively coexist. Success of accountability forces is determined primarily by the relationship between the principal (party to whom one is accountable) and the agent (employee). The agent’s felt responsibility is enhanced to the extent that accountability leads to the structuring of expectations, the agent’s perceptions of the task or activity as significant, and the agent’s perception of control over the situation. Propositions that may be used to guide future research are offered throughout the article.     

Faces of the needy: the portrayal of destitute children in the fundraising campaigns of NGOs in India

• This paper focuses on the portrayal of children in fundraising campaigns by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in India and answers the following questions: How do children feel about their portrayal in the images of funding campaigns? How do photographers or managers/directors affiliated with NGOs view their portrayal of destitute children? The study draws on data from analysis of images, focus groups with children, and interviews with photographers and campaign managers from NGOs working in different parts of India. Findings suggest that children like to be portrayed as happy and in a “good light”, telling the whole story about their lives but that also generates awareness about hardships they face, such as child labor; NGOs face a challenge in representing beneficiaries in a good light while also showing “need” to donors; and children interviewed were unaware of the purpose of the images as a fundraising and marketing tool, raising ethical concerns.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Lp error of the Grenander-type estimator in the Cox model

We consider the Cox regression model and study the asymptotic global behavior of the Grenander-type estimator for a monotone baseline hazard function. This model is not included in the general setting of Durot (2007). However, we show that a similar central limit theorem holds for L_p-error of the Grenander-type estimator. As an illustration of application of our main result, we propose a test procedure for a Weibull baseline distribution, based on the L_p-distance between the Grenander estimator and a parametric estimator of the baseline hazard. Simulation studies are performed to investigate the performance of this test.     

Swap-flexibility in the assignment of houses

A house allocation rule should be flexible in its response to changes in agents’ preferences. We propose a specific notion of this flexibility. An agent is said to be swap-sovereign over a pair of houses at a profile of preferences if the rule assigns her one of the houses at that profile and assigns her the other house when she instead reports preferences that simply swap the positions of the two houses. A pair of agents is said to be mutually swap-sovereign over their assignments at a profile if the rule exchanges their assignments when they together report such ‘swap preferences’. An allocation rule is individually swap-flexible if any pair of houses has a swap-sovereign agent, and is mutually swap-flexible if any pair of houses has either a swap-sovereign agent or mutually swap-sovereign agents. We show for housing markets that the top-trading-cycles rule is the unique strategy-proof, individually rational and mutually swap-flexible rule. In house allocation problems, we show that queue-based priority rules are uniquely strategy-proof, individually swap-flexible and envy non-bossy. Varying the strength of non-bossiness, we characterise the important subclasses of sequential priority rules (additionally non-bossy) and serial priority rules (additionally pair-non-bossy and pair-sovereign).     

Multiple objectives in the theory of the firm

An objective function with measures for two objectives is maximized to determine production decisions. These are shown to be analogous to production decisions under pure profit maximization, but using prices which include internally determined prices, different from market prices. The standard case of pure profit maximization results as a special case—as a testable hypothesis—by particular restrictions on parameters.A first draft of this paper was presented at the Philadelphia ORSA/TIMS Conference in 1990. The first draft was coauthored by Wolfgang Schwander, who contributed the empirical part to it, which has been deleted. Matthew S. Goldberg of the Institute for Defense Analyses and Götz Uebe of Universität der Bundeswehr, Hamburg, provided helpful comments on the first draft. The revised versions benefitted substantially from the very constructive comments by three referees. The refereeing process of this paper was handled through Knox Lovell.     

Innovativeness of railway transport in the context of the development of tourism in Poland

Quality & Quantity - The article discusses the issue of innovation activities of companies in railway transport in Poland in the context of the development of tourism. Transport infrastructure...     

Monuments in the winds of change

In Europe, nineteenth-century historicism, with its conscious association of the past with the present, initiated a veritable flood of public monuments — the cities were literally stuffed full of architectural sculpture and statues. At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, Ljubljana was caught up in the winds of change and started to replace its German façade with a Slovene one. Growing national conflicts in the multinational monarchy also played a role in the creation of memorial sculpture. The subsequent changes in political borders have resulted in further changes of symbols — those monuments to statesmen which had occupied the most important areas of the city, announcing to the world that Ljubljana was the true capital of the Slovene nation. Only the monument to Napoleon, a reminder of the ‘bright years of the French occupation’, has survived in Ljubljana, having been erected after the first world war, when Slovenia was no longer a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. History repeated itself after the second world war and after the creation of Slovenia as an independent state. This paper contends that the true meaning of the removal and replacement of monuments, now that Slovenia is an independent country, is no more than a replacement of one myth with another. In this case, the replacement of the myth that the country of Slovenia was born during the national liberation war and socialist revolution between 1941 and 1945, with the myth that there was no national liberation struggle but merely a socialist revolution. The removal of monuments also represents the blotting out of history: an erased memory of Austria and the first and second Yugoslavias. Historical space has always been filled with a national myth in the sense of an age-old yearning of Slovenes for their own state. Therefore the history of the Slovenes is largely a history of correction, a history of myths. There is no history between us and our ancient ancestors, merely an unbroken line of yearning for an independent state. Paradoxically, this is taking place under the rubric of a return to Europe, while it is obviously a matter of ‘Balkanization’. — L’association délibérée du passé et du présent de l’historicisme du dix-neuvième siècle en Europe initia un torrent de monuments publics — les villes étaient littéralement bourrées de sculptures architecturales et de statues. À la fin du dix-neuvième siècle et au début du vingtième, Ljubljana fut prise par un climat de changement et commença à remplacer sa façade allemande par une façade slovène. Les conflits nationaux grandissant dans la monarchie multinationale jouèrent aussi un rôle dans la création de sculptures commémoratives. Les changements subséquents de frontières politiques résultèrent en nouveaux changements de symboles — ces monuments aux hommes d’état qui avaient occupé les endroits les plus importants de la ville, annonçant au monde que Ljubljana était la véritable capitale de la nation slovène. Seul le monument de Napoléon, un rappel des ‘beaux jours de l’occupation française’, a survécu à Ljubljana, ayant été construit après la première guerre mondiale, quand la Slovénie ne faisait plus partie de l’empire austro-hongrois. L’histoire se répéta après la deuxième guerre mondiale et après la création de la Slovénie comme état indépendant. Cet article soutient que la vraie signification du déplacement et du changement de monuments, alors que la Slovénie est un pays indépendant, n’est que le remplacement d’un mythe par un autre. Dans ce cas, le remplacement du mythe que le pays de Slovénie est né durant la guerre de libération nationale et la révolution socialiste de 1941–1945 par le mythe qu’il n’y avait pas de lutte de libération nationale mais seulement une révolution socialiste. L’enlèvement des monuments représente aussi l’oblitération de l’histoire: un souvenir de l’Autriche et de la première et seconde Yougoslavies effacé. L’espace historique a toujours été comblé par un mythe national, à savoir un ancient désir des slovènes d’avoir leur propre état. Ainsi l’histoire des slovènes est essentiellement une histoire de correction, une histoire de mythes. Il n’y a pas d’histoire entre nous et nos ancêtres, simplement une ligne continue de désir d’un état indépendant. Paradoxalement, ceci prend place sous la rubrique d’un retoir vers l’Europe alors que c’est manifestement une question de ‘balkanisation’.     

Testing the value of directional forecasts in the presence of serial correlation

Common approaches to testing the economic value of directional forecasts are based on the classical χ²${\chi }^2$-test for independence, Fisher’s exact test or the Pesaran and Timmermann test for market timing. These tests are asymptotically valid for serially independent observations, but in the presence of serial correlation they are markedly oversized, as has been confirmed in a simulation study. We therefore summarize robust test procedures for serial correlation and propose a bootstrap approach, the relative merits of which we illustrate by means of a Monte Carlo study. Our evaluations of directional predictions of stock returns and changes in Euribor rates demonstrate the importance of accounting for serial correlation in economic time series when making such predictions.     

North American Free Trade and Changes in the Nativity of the Garment Industry Workforce in the United States

In this article, we address the question of the extent to which US producers’ reliance on cheap immigrant labor can continue to retard the march of apparel manufacturing out of the country as garments produced by even cheaper labor overseas flood the US market in the post‐NAFTA period. The article is divided into five sections. In the first, we introduce concepts that are key to our discussion, including the new international division of labor thesis, dual labor market theory, the state’s role in boundary management and the implications of these with regard to industrial development and migration in Mexico and the United States. In the next section, we examine changes in the regulatory regime governing international trade in garments and the subsequent shifts that have occurred in Mexican apparel exports to the United States on the one hand, and in Mexican and US garment employment on the other. In the third section, we review the role immigrants play in the US garment industry and the debates about if and how immigrant workers and entrepreneurs contribute to its international competitiveness. We then turn our attention to a case study of garment production in El Paso, Texas, where thousands of Mexican‐immigrant and Mexican‐American women have lost their jobs as seamstresses since the implementation of NAFTA began in 1994. In the fourth section of the article, we analyze data from US County Business Patterns, the decennial US Census of Population and Housing, the annual March US Current Population Surveys and the US Department of Labor’s records of certified NAFTA‐related layoffs to ascertain the extent to which El Paso’s experience of heavy immigrant garment job losses is typical of the rest of the country. In the concluding section we discuss the implications of our analysis for the future of the US garment workforce. Dans quelle mesure le recours des producteurs américains à un personnel bon marché d’immigrants peut‐il continuer à freiner la confection d’habillement hors du pays, tandis que des v? tements fabriqués par une main‐d’uvre étrangère encore moins chère envahissent le marché américain depuis l’ALENA? Cet article se compose de cinq parties. La première présente les concepts‐clés de notre argument, notamment la nouvelle thèse sur la division internationale du travail, la théorie du double marché de la main‐d’uvre, le rôle de l’État dans la gestion des frontières, ainsi que l’incidence de ces aspects sur l’essor industriel et la migration au Mexique et aux États‐Unis. La deuxième partie étudie les évolutions du régime qui régule le marché international de l’habillement, ainsi que les mutations subséquentes qu’ont connues à la fois les exportations de v? tements mexicaines vers les États‐Unis, et l’emploi de ce secteur dans les deux pays. En examinant le rôle des immigrants dans la confection amééricaine, la troisième partie reprend le débat sur la possibilité que les travailleurs et entrepreneurs immigrants contribuent à la compétitivité internationale de ce secteur. L’article s’attache ensuiteà une étude de cas de fabrication de v? tements à El Paso, au Texas, où des milliers d’immigrantes mexicaines et de femmes américano‐mexicaines ont perdu leur emploi de couturière depuis la mise en place de l’ALENA en 1994. La quatrième partie analyse des données émanant de plusieurs sources statistiques américaines (profils locaux de l’emploi par secteur d’activité, recensement décennal de la population et de l’habitat, enqu? tes démographiques annuelles), ainsi que de dossiers du ministère du Travail américain attestant de licenciements liés à l’ALENA, afin de démontrer que l’ampleur considérable des pertes d’emploi d’immigrants à El Paso est caractéristique du reste du pays. La conclusion déduit les implications de notre analyse pour l’avenir de la main‐d’uvre dans la confection aux États‐Unis.     

On the value of information in the presence of moral hazard

This paper shows that the marginal value of a “small amount of non-output information” is generally non-positive in the context of the standard principal-agent model involving moral hazard, which suggests a non-concavity in the value of information. However, when both the principal and the agent are risk neutral, even a small amount of non-output information may exhibit a positive incremental value in presence of a liability constraint.      

Manpower restructuring in the state-owned railway industry of China: the role of the state in human resource strategy

Twenty years after it first opened its door to foreign enterprises, one of the greatest challenges facing the Chinese government today is the reform of the state-owned enterprise sectors (which make up half of the country's GDP) in order to make them more efficient. This paper intends to describe and then critically assess a number of major human resource policies introduced in the state-owned railway enterprise (one of the biggest enterprises) in China in its recent manpower reform (downsizing). Through the case of the railway company, a wider picture is revealed of the country's changing employment policy and practice as well as its emerging labour market. In particular, problems relating to human resources such as skill, remuneration, and training are highlighted at both organization and national level. As the reality of 'life-long employment' comes to an end, the notion of 'life-long learning' has been given a high profile in government policy decisions. What, then, has been and is the role of the state in 'creating' and resolving these problems as an employer and as a state governor?     

The Nature of the Agrarian Land Question in the Republic of South Africa

Abstract . Most of the land in South Africa is dommnated by 4.5 million Whites. A tiny fraction of this key resource is designated for Black occupation in Black townships in White South Africa and for Black ownership in the ten “homelands.” Several interrelated factors account for the lop sided land distribution that exists in South Africa. The two most important factors are the removal of native occupants from the majority of the land, accomplished by early Dutch settlers, and legislative measures that were designed to guarantee a White controlled economy and foster economic development by assuring an abundant supply of disenfranchised and cheap black labor The extent of the inequality in the land distribution suggests that, from the viewpoint of ownership and control, Blacks were better off prior to 1652 when the first Dutch settlers arrived at the Cape.     

On the identification of the significant independent variables in linear models

Summary Methods for the identification of the significant independent variables in multiple linear regression and in the multiple regression approach to non-orthogonal analysis of variance and covariance are discussed. “Forward Ranking” and “Backward Ranking” (by order of importance) of the independent variables are defined, and the backward method is shown to avoid the disadvantageous effects of “Compounds” upon the ranking. For non-orthogonal analysis of variance, a unique orthogonal decomposition of the regression sum of squares (due to all ANOVA effects) is shown to be possible when the groups of independent variables (representing the effects) are ranked by the criterion of “Non-Significance” and under “Restricted Admissibility.” A computer program is outlined which incorporates the proposed methods.

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Zusammenfassung Methoden für die Identifizierung der signifikanten unabh?ngigen Ver?nderlichen in der mehrfachen linearen Regressionsrechnung und im Regressionsverfahren für nichtorthogonale Varianz- und Kovarianzanalyse werden besprochen. „Vorw?rtsgerichtetes“ und „rückw?rtsgerichtetes“ Rangordnen (nach Bedeutung) der unabh?ngigen Ver?nderlichen werden definiert, und es wird gezeigt, da? beim rückw?rtsgerichteten Rangordnen die nachteiligen Wirkungen von „Verb?nden“ auf das Ordnen vermieden werden. Für den Fall der nichtorthogonalen Varianzanalyse wird gezeigt, da? eine eindeutige orthogonale Zerlegung der Quadratsumme für die Regression (erkl?rt durch die Gesamtheit der Haupt- und Wechselwirkungen in der Varianzanalyse) erreicht werden kann, wenn die Gruppen der unabh?ngigen Ver?nderlichen, die die Haupt- und Wechselwirkungen repr?sentieren, nach dem Rangordnungskriterium „Nicht-Signifikanz“ und unter „Beschr?nkter Zul?ssigkeit“ geordnet werden. Ein Rechenprogramm wird erl?utert, welches auf den vorgeschlagenen Methoden basiert.

     

Problems in the estimation and interpretation of the reliability of survey data

In this paper I discuss several of the difficulties involved in estimating the reliability of survey measurement. Reliability is defined on the basis of classical true-score theory, as the correlational consistency of multiple measures of the same construct, net of true change. This concept is presented within the framework of a theoretical discussion of the sources of error in survey data and the design requirements for separating response variation into components representing such response consistency and measurement errors. Discussion focuses on the potential sources of random and nonrandom errors, including “invalidity” of measurement, the term frequently used to refer to components of method variance. Problems with the estimation of these components are enumerated and discussed with respect to both cross-sectional and panel designs. Empirical examples are given of the estimation of the quantities of interest, which are the basis of a discussion of the interpretational difficulties encountered in reliability estimation. Data are drawn from the ISR's Quality of Life surveys, the National Election Studies and the NORC's General Social Surveys. The general conclusion is that both cross-sectional and panel estimates of measurement reliability are desirable, but for the purposes of isolating the random component of error, panel designs are probably the most advantageous.     

On the political economy of urbanization in the Third World

Cette analyse de l'urbanisation d'aprés-guerre en Afrique Occidentale est proposée comme un jalon pour l'économie politique de l'urbanisation dans le Tiers Monde. L'Afrique Occidentale est une des régions les moins urbanisées du monde qui cependant a récemment connu une urbanisation plus rapide que toute autre. Cette explosion urbaine est associée avec des inégalités sévères à trois niveaux:

• 1 un déséquilibre profond dans les conditions de travail et de vie entre le secteur urbain et le secteur rural
• 2 une forte concentration des ressources dans les capitales
• 3 une énorme disparité économique à l'intérieur des villes entre les masses et une petit élite

Si l'urbanisation en Afrique Occidentale est caractérisée par ces inégalités, il apparait qu'elle entraîne aussi des pertes économiques. Deux approches suggèrent que l'allocation des ressources est loin d'ětre optimale pour la croissance économique. D'une part des ressources sont gaspillées dans le chǒmage et le sous-emploi urbain, dans la croissance des grands centres métropolitains, et dans la construction des ‘quartiers spontanés’. D'autre part la présupposition que la forme prise par l'urbanisation est le résultat d'une allocation optimale des ressources est mise en doute quand les facteurs qui affectent les paramètres économiques ou qui interferent directement avec les décisions d'investissement sont soumis à l'examen, et quand l'attention est dirigée sur le processus politique qui s'avère constamment dominé par les intérěts et les préoccupations d'un petit groupe de dirigeants.     

On the Targeting of the Employment Guarantee Scheme in the Indian State of Maharashtra

Contrary to a widely held view, the targeting of the Employment Guarantee Scheme in the Indian state of Maharashtra was unsatisfactory and worsened over the period 1979–89. Among the participants, from a large group the non-poor became the majority. Some of them were in fact (moderately) affluent. The share of female participants – especially of poor female participants – also diminished. As a result, the overall share of poor in EGS earnings fell sharply. Although a greater targeting accuracy does not necessarily imply a greater poverty impact for a given outlay, some improvements in the design and implementation of this scheme are likely to enhance both. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Modeling the act of measurement in the social sciences

Motivated by time-series experimental designs, we develop a model of the act of measurement in the social sciences. Meaningful measurements are represented by operators that obey a non-commutative algebra. Thus, the order in which information is extracted matters. In addition, responses to questions about an attribute depend on whether information about another attribute has previously been extracted. Measurement “forces” the subject to obtain one value of the attribute, the one measured by the observer. An uncertainty principle imposes a fundamental limit on the ability to extract detailed information about two distinct attributes within a short period of time.     

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in the Workplace Under the ADA in the Wake of Sutton and Its Companions

The terms Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) refer to a neurological impairment that affects the individual's ability to sustain attention and to behave in a calm, rational manner. ³ Although this disorder has long been considered to be restricted to childhood, recent research has demonstrated that many children carry it over into adult life and take it with them into the workplace. Most U.S. courts have treated AD/HD as a disability covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ⁴ However, in the summer of 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court made three decisions that will undoubtedly affect the future status of AD/HD and other impairments under the ADA. This article examines those decisions, how they affect the employment rights of AD/HD-afflicted employees, and the changes they will probably bring to litigation in this area. Because we have many reservations about the court's decisions, we not only voice our criticisms of the decisions, but also offer an alternative approach.     

The cluster role in the development of the Thai car industry

The Thai automotive industry first developed around Bangkok where Japanese car–makers were the first to open plants. During the 1980s, car–makers had to increase their local purchasing to cope with government local content policies. This led to a broader penetration of Japanese parts–makers who also tended to locate their plants close to their affiliated customer. In the 1990s, however, some changes appeared: firstly, the increasing market and the expectation of further growth pushed Japanese car–makers to establish new plants; secondly, the need to cut costs because of increased competition resulted in a new penetration of Japanese parts–makers and subcontractors; thirdly, the excessive concentration around Bangkok pushed the government to implement new policies to develop and industrialize peripheral areas by investing in infrastructures and offering incentives. Additional clusters appeared in several new industrializing areas outside the Bangkok suburb, mainly on the eastern seaboard, with Japanese car and parts–makers opening their new plants in these areas, and with Ford and GM, followed by American parts–makers, also choosing such locations. The article presents these changes in the clustering dynamics in relation to firms’ strategies and public policies, discussing these issues within the framework of the role of the Thai automobile industry in South–East Asia (ASEAN). L’industrie automobile thaïlandaise s’est dans un premier temps développé autour de Bangkok où les constructeurs automobiles japonais ont ouvert les premières lignes d’assemblage. Dans les années quatre–vingt, la politique de contenu national mise en uvre par le gouvernement a incité les constructeurs à augmenter leurs achats locaux, ce qui a conduit à l’implantation dans la même région, des fournisseurs japonais pour alimenter les usines de leurs clients. La décennie suivante a été marquée par plusieurs inflexions: la croissance effective et potentielle du marché a conduit les constructeurs japonais àédifier de nouvelles usines d’assemblage; le renforcement de la pression concurrentielle a rendu nécessaire une réduction des coûts, favorisant l’arrivée de nouveaux entrants dans l’industrie des composants; la concentration excessive dans la région de Bangkok a amené le gouvernement a mettre en uvre une politique de développement et d’industrialisation des régions périphériques par la construction d’infrastructures et des mesures volontaristes d’aide à l’aménagement du territoire. Des complexes automobile se sont édifiés dans de nouveaux espaces en dehors de Bangkok et sa banlieue, principalement vers le bord de mer au sud est. Les nouvelles implantations de constructeurs et fournisseurs japonais ont été suivies par l’arrivée des firmes américaines (Ford et GM). Le papier retrace l’évolution de ces dynamiques d’agglomération en Thaïlande, résultats des stratégies des firmes automobiles et des politiques publiques, tout en analysant la place que prend ce pays en Asie du Sud Est (ASEAN).     

Testing the specification of multivariate models in the presence of alternative hypotheses

In this paper we propose a non-nested hypothesis test for testing the specification of a multivariate econometric model in the presence of an alternative model which purports to explain the same phenomenon. We demonstrate that the new test statistic tends to minus the same random variable as the CPD test statistic introduced by Pesaran and Deaton (1978), provided that the truth is ‘close’ to the null hypothesis. Since the new test is simpler to compute than the multivariate CPD test, it would seem to be the procedure of choice.