Enterprise Web Accessibility Levels Amongst the Forbes 250: Where Art Thou O Virtuous Leader?

The research team measured the enterprise web accessibility levels of the Forbes 250 largest enterprises using the fully automatic accessibility evaluation tool Sortsite, and presented the compliance of the evaluated websites to WCAG 1.0, WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 accessibility levels. Given the recent attention to organizational leaders having ethical duties towards their dedicated employees, we propose that ‘societal citizenship behaviour’ concerns ethical duties of organizational leaders towards society in general and in particular to those who have less means to assert their needs. In effect, we found enterprise website accessibility levels to be in need of significant improvement. An interpretation of a positive path forward to better enterprise website accessibility levels is put forth based on a focus-group interaction and using BNML—a novel Business Narrative Modelling Language.     

The influence of human resource management in savings bank performance

The aim of this article was to analyse the value of human resources (HR) for competitive advantage and their influence on the firm's performance in the service industry. To achieve our goal, we have first proposed a resource-based framework to discuss the circumstances under which human resources can be a source of competitive advantage. Then, an empirical research was developed in the Spanish savings bank sector to analyse the relationship between HR management and the firm's performance. Our results, suggest that those savings banks which better combine their HR practices to create and to develop a strategic human capital pool have shown better levels of profitability and productivity.     

Multiplicity in general financial equilibrium with portfolio constraints

This paper explores the role of portfolio constraints in generating multiplicity of equilibrium. We present a simple financial market economy with two goods and two households, households who face constraints on their ability to take unbounded positions in risky stocks. Absent such constraints, equilibrium allocation is unique and is Pareto efficient. With one portfolio constraint in place, the efficient equilibrium is still possible; however, additional inefficient equilibria in which the constraint is binding may emerge. We show further that with portfolio constraints cum incomplete markets, there may be a continuum of equilibria; adding incomplete markets may lead to real indeterminacy.     

Changing Patterns of Precipitation at the Sooke Reservoir in British Columbia

The paper is a parametric and nonparametric analysis of past precipitation data. We analyze 90 years of daily precipitation data at the Sooke Reservoir in British Columbia, Canada, for evidence of climate change. We fit probability density functions (PDFs) to the data and find evidence of a structural break in the data generating process by using the Andrews-Ploberger test. To confirm this finding, we analyze higher moments of the distribution of precipitation and show that the PDFs have become more leptokurtic. The results show how the pattern of precipitation has changed.     

Do missing values exist? Incomplete data handling in cross-national longitudinal studies by means of continuous time modeling

In cross-national longitudinal studies it is often impossible to administer the same measurement instruments at the same occasions to all sample units in all participating countries. This quickly results in large quantities of missing data, due to (a) missing measurement instruments in some countries, (b) missing assessment waves within or across countries, (c) missing data for individual sample units. As compared to cross-sectional studies, the problem of missing values is further aggravated by the fact that missing values are always associated with different time intervals between repeated observations. In the past, this has often been dealt with by the use of phantom-variables, but this approach is limited to simple designs with few missing value patters. In the present paper we propose a new way to think of, and deal with, missing values in longitudinal studies. Instead of conceiving of a longitudinal study as a study with \(T\) discrete time points of which some are missing, we propose to conceive of a longitudinal study as a way to measure an underlying process that develops continuously over time, but is only observed at some selected discrete time points. This transforms the problem of missing values into a problem of unequal time intervals. After a quick introduction to the basic idea of continuous time modeling, we demonstrate how this approach provides a straightforward solution to missing measurement instruments in some countries, missing assessment waves within or across countries, and missing data for individual sample units.     

Segmentation by benefits sought: the case of rural tourism in Madeira

Rural tourism has been promoted as an effective catalyst for growth in rural areas severely hit by the rural structuring process. However, with regard to islands, rural tourism has been mainly advertised and promoted as a counterpoint to mass tourism. While in most Western countries rural tourism has been in place for decades, islands have been pursuing a rural tourism agenda only since the 1990s. Consequently, we face a dearth of research regarding motivation factors that attract tourists to the rural hinterland on islands. The purpose of this study is to segment and profile rural tourists based on benefits sought in order to gain a better understanding of the current demand trends. The data collection procedure were based on a self-administered survey applied to a sample of 180 tourists, and four clusters were identified. The relaxer cluster which comprises individuals attracted by opportunities to relax and recharge batteries, are the most dominant, suggesting that the sector mimics, to a large extent, the main tourism market. This is a problematic outcome because the sector is failing to attract a more diverse and wealthy clientele. Due attention should also be paid to other clusters. The ruralist segment values relaxation in natural segments to escape from daily routine, the ‘want it all segment’ is composed of tourists interested in all kind of activities and the family-oriented cluster is mainly interested in socialising with the family. Implications of our preliminary conclusions for theory and practice are discussed.     

Environmental orientation in tourism: the RTEO scale

This paper analysed the validity and reliability of the revised tourist ecological orientation (RTEO) scale. There are relatively few studies in the area of the ecological behaviour of tourists and, therefore, RTEO and other scales should be taken into account in future tourism research. This study is based on a sample of 461 golf tourists. A double analysis was carried out: (1) a qualitative analysis through expert opinion and (2) a quantitative analysis through the partial least squares approach. The results suggest that the RTEO scale is a brief, simple and reliable scale of environmental actions.     

Beyond lectures and tutorials: Formal on-the-job training received by young European university graduates

This paper examines the probability of receiving job-related formal training and the returns to on-the-job training in Europe using a sample containing personal, educational, and firm characteristics. The results show that certain occupations, such as managers and professionals, receive more training than others. Furthermore, certain types of workers are more likely to receive training—for example, those graduates in the public sector and those working in larger firms. With respect to the returns to training, estimation results show that the training measure has a significant impact on wages. In estimating the returns to training we have also taken into account the fact that participation in training is endogenous and not random.     

Lagrangean conditions for consumers with nonrepresentable preferences

A Lagrangian characterization of the solutions of the consumer problem is provided when preferences are not representable by a continuous utility function.