Smoking prevalence in the United States: Differences across socioeconomic groups

This paper uses recent US state-level data to examine smoking behavior across four population groups divided by age, literacy, income and ethnicity. Another contribution lies in the consideration of various smoking control policies and the full costs of smoking. Overall, the results show that non-price smoking policies are relatively more effective than price or tax policies in reducing smoking prevalence and that these policies gain effectiveness as the population begins to age.

The components of landline telephone survey coverage bias. The relative importance of no-phone and mobile-only populations

The continuously growing mobile-only population raises concerns regarding the representativeness of traditional landline telephone surveys. At this time, the mobile-only population differs significantly from general population, which leads to coverage bias when using fixed-line samples only for telephone surveys. However, in many European countries the mobile-only population is not the only source of coverage bias in telephone surveys. In addition, we have to consider coverage biases caused by considerable proportions of citizens without any telephone service. Since these two groups differ from the general population with respect to differential socio-demographic categories, in our view, the negative effects of mobile-only coverage error in traditional landline telephone surveys might in fact compensate—in part—for coverage bias caused by the no-phone population. To test this hypothesis of compensating coverage biases we calculated relative coverage biases caused by the mobile-only population and relative coverage biases caused by the no-phone population in 30 European countries for two socio-demographic variables in two points in time. Results are presented for four groups of countries that differ with respect to no-phone and mobile-only rates. Results suggest that—in general—mobile-only biases and no-phone biases do not compensate to a great extent, and thus the alarming mobile-only biases cannot be neglected when using telephone surveys in the estimation of population parameters. Nevertheless, there are several countries where the bias caused by the mobile-only population is far bigger than the joint bias caused by the mobile-only population and the no-phone population. This finding suggests that biases caused by the recent mobile-only population would be even more severe if the no-phone population did not exist.     

Exploring the financial consequences of the servitization of manufacturing

Commentators suggest that to survive in developed economies manufacturing firms have to move up the value chain, innovating and creating ever more sophisticated products and services, so they do not have to compete on the basis of cost. While this strategy is proving increasingly popular with policy makers and academics there is limited empirical evidence to explore the extent to which it is being adopted in practice. And if so, what the impact of this servitization of manufacturing might be. This paper seeks to fill a gap in the literature by presenting empirical evidence on the range and extent of servitization. Data are drawn from the OSIRIS database on 10,028 firms incorporated in 25 different countries. The paper presents an analysis of these data which suggests that: [i] manufacturing firms in developed economies are adopting a range of servitization strategies—12 separate approaches to servitization are identified; [ii] these 12 categories can be used to extend the traditional three options for servitization—product oriented Product–Service Systems, use oriented Product–Service Systems and result oriented Product–Service Systems, by adding two new categories “integration oriented Product–Service Systems” and “service oriented Product–Service Systems”; [iii] while the manufacturing firms that have servitized are larger than traditional manufacturing firms in terms of sales revenues, at the aggregate level they also generate lower profits as a % of sales; [iv] these findings are moderated by firm size (measured in terms of numbers of employees). In smaller firms servitization appears to pay off while in larger firms it proves more problematic; and [v] there are some hidden risks associated with servitization—the sample contains a greater proportion of bankrupt servitized firms than would be expected.

Inequality of opportunity in secondary school enrolment in Italy,Germany and the Netherlands

Aim of this work is to evaluate the overall effect of social origins on secondary school track enrolment in Italy, Germany and Netherlands, allowing for consistent cross country comparisons. Track choices are assumed to depend on student’s ability and social origins; since proficiency before tracking is not observed, ability is not kept under control. Nonetheless, the unconditional social background effect is the quantity of main substantive interest because it represents the total effect of social origins on school choices. Yet, since regression coefficients in logit models are biased even with independent unobserved heterogeneity, comparison across countries are difficult; the average sample derivative of the response probability is employed and it is showed to be a valid alternative measure of the total social origins effect. The following issue is also addressed: social origins inequality in secondary school choices may be affected by access restrictions policies, at work in some countries, where enrolment into the academic track is subject to binding school recommendations or ability tests. First, we propose a simple theoretical model and derive that the policy is expected to lower the effect of social origins conditional on ability, although the impact on the total effect can either decrease or increase. Second, by exploiting the institutional differences across German Länder with respect to enrolment policies, we carry out a preliminary empirical analysis within Germany. The main empirical findings are: (i) the total effect of social origins on track choice is weaker in the Netherlands and stronger in Germany, with Italy in between; (ii) within Germany, access restriction seem to weaken the parental background effect.     

再论餐厅网络化

随着经济生活的发展,商务活动的频繁,流动性人口的增加,餐厅正在逐渐打破原有的地域性限制,开始向更广的空间发展。随着互联网技术发展的成熟以及联网成本的低廉,互联网将企业、团体、组织以及个人跨时空联结在一起,使得他们之间信息的交换变得"唾手可得"。由,餐厅网络化当下成为一个热门,正在被越来越多的人所提及。     

The emission cost of international sourcing: using structural decomposition analysis to calculate the contribution of international sourcing to CO2-emission growth

The effect of changes in trade patterns, particularly increasing international sourcing, on global CO₂-emissions growth has yet to be clearly understood. In this paper, we estimate the emission cost of sourcing (ECS), which originates from replacing domestic products by imports from countries with more CO₂-intensive technologies. Using a structural decomposition analysis, we find that changes in sourcing patterns between 1995 and 2007 contribute (1) to reducing territorial emissions in high-wage countries (70% of their territorial emissions growth) and (2) to increasing territorial emissions in low-wage countries (30% of their territorial emissions increase). The net global effect, the ECS, amounts to 18% of total global CO₂-emissions growth. Our results call the climate change policies based on territorial principles into question given that they disregard that differences in emission intensities between countries contribute to raising global emissions. In contrast, policies fostering the transfer of cleaner technologies to low-wage countries decrease the ECS.     

Investigating Smoker's Profile: The Role of Psychosocial Characteristics and the Effectiveness of Tobacco Policy Tools

This article investigates smoker's profile by addressing the determinants of cigarette demand and providing a circumstantial exposition of the psychosocial characteristics that differentiate smoking patterns. At the same time, the impact of tobacco control policies on smoking rates and their effectiveness on decreasing cigarette consumption are also analyzed. Consumers are distinguished in four smoking groups in concurrence to smoking status, and dichotomous indicators are constructed to describe tobacco control policies, psychosocial, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics. The empirical analysis estimates an ordered probit model with sample selectivity. The results indicate the absence of selectivity bias for cigarette consumption; hence, the subsample of smokers comprises a random independent sample and smoking participation and cigarette consumption form distinct stages of smoking behavior. Most of the psychosocial factors are found to be statistically significant in the econometric analysis, implying the main determinants of smoking behavior. In addition, total smoking bans in workplaces and educational institutions comprise efficient policy tools for decreasing cigarette demand, while partial smoking restrictions are accrued to be ineffective in reducing smoking participation.     

On-duty and Off-duty: Employee Right to Privacy and Employer’s Right to Control in the Private Sector

The changing legal landscape of the right of the employer to control and monitor employee behavior is examined. Two distinct areas are defined: behavioral monitoring and behavioral restrictions. Relevant statutory laws and the developing common law are discussed. We also examine potential employee reactions to such policies by evaluating the reactions of graduate students to six employer policies including weight restrictions, grooming requirements, use of GPS locators, drug testing, ban on off-duty smoking, and email and internet monitoring. Students responded to these policies by determining the reasonable interest of the employer in the behaviors being monitored or controlled and the manner in which policies were implemented. Their comments suggest that employees may accept some level of monitoring or behavioral restrictions if the employer can make a convincing social account of the need for a policy. Additionally, the policy must be clearly communicated and properly implemented. However, restrictions on off-duty behavior were typically poorly received with the exception of illegal drug use.     

Variations in human resource management in Asian countries: MNC home-country and host-country effects

This paper investigates the determinants of HRM strategy in a random sample of firms operating in Korea and Taiwan. Both indigenous and foreign-owned firms are studied. HRM strategy is measured in terms of the company's reliance on high-performance, versus more traditional, HRM policies and practices in several different areas, including staffing, employee influence, employee rewards and employee autonomy. Independent variables include the firm's country or region of origin (USA, Japan, Europe, Korea or Taiwan), the host country (Korea or Taiwan) and the internal culture of the firm, as measured by upper management's perception that human resources constitute a significant source of value for the organization. Pronounced differences are found across countries of origin and between the two host countries. Managerial values and various organizational characteristics that serve as control variables are also found to impact on HRM strategy.     

The dynamics and distribution of the area price in the Nord Pool

The Nord Pool is often cited as a standard and successful electric power exchange. It was first created in Norway and developed into the power change system covering the Nordic countries. The Nord Pool provides a physical market where electricity producers and consumers/distributors meet by submitting bids for sale and purchase for 24 h time segment. If there does not exist a restraint of transmission capacity across the member countries, a single price—system price—is calculated by the intersection of the demand and supply curves, whereas if there exists congestion of transmission lines, area price instead of system price emerges. We are interested in analyzing how often and how far the two prices diverge and the probability distribution of the price ratio between system and area price. We found that the price ratio does not follow the normal distribution but the distribution is fat-tailed.     

The same yet different: Worker reports on labour practices and outcomes in a single firm across countries

This paper examines cross-country differences in labour policies and practices and employee performance and attitudes toward work from a sample of nearly 30,000 employees in a large multinational manufacturing firm. The analysis shows: 1) large establishment and country differences in work practices, performance, and attitudes toward work across countries; 2) qualitatively similar responses of workers to work practices across countries; 3) a strong link between the establishment average of employee reports on the quality of labour-management relations and establishment average measures of employee performance 4) a positive relation between average employee performance and average employee-management relations at the country level, but no relation between country level performance in the firm and measures of the extent of national labour regulations or practices.     

Trade and product innovations as sources for productivity increases: an empirical analysis

Increases in total factor productivity (TFP) are commonly associated with technological innovations measured by the stock of R&D. Empirical evidence seems to corroborate this relationship. However, in trading countries like The Netherlands, productivity increases, even in industry, can also be the result of innovations in the way transactions are managed. These innovations reduce transaction costs and exploit the welfare gains from (further) international division of labour. Such innovations are only partly included in R&D data. Consequently there is not much attention for these ‘trade innovations’—as we label them—in policy. In an empirical analysis this paper compares the influence of trade innovations with the influence of the stock of R&D on TFP in The Netherlands. The regression results show that in this country trade innovations are as important for TFP as technological innovations which directly affect the efficiency of production, which we label ‘product innovations’.      

Dynamics of group grievances from a global cohesion perspective

Grievances are vulnerable to state development and harmony; however, some factors provoke the masses and groups to vulnerability and state fragility (SF) by disturbing social cohesion. Under the grievance assumptions on the political process, this study has been designed to gauge the nexus of group grievances (GG), an essential parameter of social cohesion, institutional governance (IG), government legitimacy (GL), economic growth (EcG), and population growth (POPG) from the global perspective from 2008 to 2022 in a global panel of 158 countries considering the critical aspect of SF. The statistics reveal that PS is essential in controlling and managing the GG in the state. PS is the most significant factor in harmonizing the state's ethnic minorities, focus, and religious groups with stable policies and their grievances issues. It also states that apart from PS, another aspect of IG, Control of Corruption (CoC), helps mitigate malpractices and provides a transparent environment supporting grievances. It further demonstrates that EcG provokes grievances instead of lessening them among the key groups in the state, especially in the processing of industrialization. Because of the government's partiality to provide benefits to specific groups or sectors, that partiality and injustice hype the grievances among the public. Moreover, POPG is also a significant factor in increasing GG, along with government illegitimacy and untrust. The study concludes that to make the country agile and prosperous, the government should balance developing industrialization without compromising agricultural and domestic industries. It helps states gain public trust in the IG framework and GL. The government should harmonize its policies by tackling all minorities, ethnic, and religious groups coherently to maintain social cohesion in the country. Finally, One of the significant factors in natural resources and the scarcity of global resources is population. It stated that prudent population control measures better assist in resource scarcity and conflict management, such as in EU countries compared to Asia and Africa. Recent grievance movements in Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the US, are the practical application of this study because these countries fall in the list of the top 10 most populous countries. So, population control policies should be effectively implemented to support economic and social parity and mitigate GG.     

Resources, conflict and development choices: public good provision in resource rich economies

Natural resource wealth can be a curse or a blessing for a country. This paper hypothesises that the provision of productive public goods (or lack of it) is a pathway that helps understand these different outcomes when policy choices are made under the threat of conflict inherent in resource-rich countries. Facing potential conflict over resources, a self-interested ruler may choose to invest in either military repression or in productive public goods—physical and social infrastructure. While both measures aim at preventing conflict, we show theoretically that the optimal policy choice depends on the relative effectiveness of the ruler and the population in contesting the resources. Increased resource wealth provides a disincentive to invest in development if the ruler is more effective than the population in appropriating the resources. Conversely, if the ruler is relatively ineffective, more resource wealth induces higher levels of public goods. We present empirical evidence consistent with the predictions of the model for a sample of 57 countries over three decades. Thus, we provide and test empirically a conditional resource curse theory, postulating that the relative effectiveness of the contenders plays a crucial role in determining whether resources are a curse or a blessing.     

The liability of mimicry: Implementing “global human resource management standards” in United States and Indian subsidiaries of a South Korean multinational enterprise

There is increasing evidence that multinational enterprises (MNEs) from less dominant economies tend to mimic and disseminate human resource management (HRM) practices sourced from a dominant economy, usually the United States, to overcome their “liabilities of origin.” However, our understanding of the specific challenges involved in the implementation of such practices by firms across different national and subsidiary contexts remains limited. Drawing on evidence from a case study of a South Korean MNE, we examine the extent to which, and ways in which, global HRM policies mimicking U.S. practices are implemented across its sales, manufacturing, and research and development subsidiaries in the United States and India. We find discernible differences in the implementation of the global policies both between the two host country sites and across the three function-specific subsidiaries in each country, identifying a range of national and subsidiary-specific factors that inform these variable implementation outcomes. In addition to legitimacy challenges related to the source, appropriateness, and process of transfer, we note a unique form of legitimacy challenge—“the liability of mimicry”—whereby local actors can challenge head office policies on the basis of a claim to superior expertise in the dominant practices, as a particular concern of MNEs from emerging economies.     

Examining Turkey and member states of European Union in terms of health perspectives of millennium development goals

Development is related not only to production and increase in per capita income but also to social, cultural and political improvements. The purpose of development is that individuals would live long, healthy and happy lives thanks to economic development of society. From this perspective, it is obvious that the human factor is fundamental to the concept of development. This study examines the most important element in human development—health. As health indicators, it uses the health perspectives in the United Nations millennium development goals that are “reduce child mortality”, “improve maternal health” and “combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases”. In the study, European Union (EU) member states and candidate country Turkey are compared in terms of health related goals among millennium development goals by using Multidimensional scaling and Cluster analysis. Initially, countries with similar and dissimilar health indicators are mapped in multidimensional space by multidimensional scaling analysis. Further, the same method is used to reveal similar and dissimilar health indicators among countries. Then, the findings are compared using Cluster analysis and are identified to be similar.     

On the feasibility of monetary union among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: does the symmetry of shocks extend to the non-oil sector?

GCC countries’ output is heavily dichotomized into oil and non-oil. Oil shocks have similar effects on all member countries but little is known about their responses to non-oil shocks. This paper sets out to determine (1) whether aggregate demand (AD) and non-oil supply shocks (AS) are symmetrical across these countries to justify their suitability for monetary union; and (2) whether there is any commonality of shocks with the United States and the three major European countries, namely France, Germany, and Italy, which can warrant the choice of either the US dollar or the Euro as the anchor for the expected common currency of the bloc. We use bivariate structural vector autoregression models identified with long-run restrictions to extract the shocks. Our results show that (a) AD shocks are unequivocally symmetrical but non-oil AS shocks are weakly symmetrical across GCC countries thereby suggesting a monetary union is feasible, but not overwhelmingly; (b) neither AD nor AS shocks are symmetrical between GCC countries and the selected European countries; (c) GCC’s AD shocks are symmetrical with the US but non-oil AS shock are not. Furthermore, there are no significant changes in the results when we aggregate the GCC countries as a bloc. We therefore surmise that the US dollar is a more appropriate anchor for the new currency than the Euro since US monetary policy can at least help smooth demand shocks in GCC countries.     

Evaluation and comparison of European countries: public opinion on services

We propose the setting-up of an indicator for classifying European countries with relation to consumers’ satisfaction for services of general interest. Services considered are fixed telephone service, electricity supply, railways and postal service. The reference data set is the 2002 Standard Eurobarometer database (EB58) and it refers to EU members before 2004 enlargement. The proposed indicator is based on nonlinear principal component analysis and supplies a measure for the citizen’s satisfaction. Its robustness is verified by a Monte Carlo approach to examine the stability of nonlinear PCA results and to compute Bootstrap C.I.s of average country scores. The level of satisfaction is eventually used for country comparison and for detecting possible hotspots, which might be useful when addressing decision making policies.     

“We do not hire smokers”: May employers discriminate against smokers?

Smoking employees are less healthy than nonsmokers, are absent more, make more and more expensive claims for health and disability benefits, and endanger co-workers who breathe smoky air. Employers may establish smoke-free workplaces, but—beyond that—employers may absolutely discriminate against smokers. Absent some common-law or statutory prohibition, employers are free to hire whomever they wish. The Americans with Disability Act prohibits discrimination against “disabled” applicants or employees, but smokers are not “disabled,” nor “regarded as” being disabled. Moreover, statutory construction does not lead to the conclusion that smokers are “disabled.” Since the policy of government is to discourage smoking, and discrimination against smokers promotes nonsmoking, such discrimination is not only not illegal, it is good social policy.     

Is foreign-bank efficiency in financial centers driven by home or host country characteristics?

This paper investigates whether home or host country factors can explain differences in technical efficiency among foreign banks operating in the Luxembourg financial center. We first address heterogeneity across banks by using the group-wise bootstrap to compare DEA measures of bank efficiency between branches and subsidiaries, focused and diversified banks, and euro area and non-euro area banks. We then control for these factors in a second-stage regression indentifying the impact of country-specific regulatory and macroeconomic variables on individual bank efficiency scores. Our regulatory indicators capture the strictness of capital requirements, private monitoring, official disciplinary power and restrictions on bank activities. Our macroeconomic indicators capture GDP per capita in the home country and its position in the business cycle. Our results carry policy implications for bank regulators in both home and host countries and provide insight into banks’ choice between establishing a branch or a subsidiary to develop cross-border activities through international financial centers.