How does working-time flexibility affect workers' productivity in a routine job? Evidence from a field experiment

We conducted an experiment in which we hired workers under different types of contracts to evaluate how flexible working time affects on-the-job productivity in a routine job. Our approach breaks down the global impact on productivity into sorting and behavioural effects. We find that flexible arrangements that allow workers to decide when to start and stop working increase global productivity by as much as 50%, 40% of which is induced by sorting, and 60% represents a motivational effect, mainly driven by more effective working time, with workers reducing the length of their breaks. Our findings also suggest that part-time contracts can enhance global productivity, – though not significant at conventional levels –, and that this effect is also driven by a significant drop in the length of breaks taken. We hence contribute to the literature providing causal evidence of flexibility in routine jobs leading to higher productivity.     

Individual and Collective Choice and Voting in Common Pool Resource Problem with Heterogeneous Actors

In this paper we investigate the effects of heterogeneity in common pool resource (CPR) problems. We examine whether heterogeneity impedes or facilitates coordination on an efficient use of a CPR by proposing and voting on allocation schemes. In a full information design we compare extractions and voting behavior in heterogeneous and homogeneous groups. If the CPR is extracted individually, we find no difference in efficiency between heterogeneous and homogeneous groups. However, when groups can vote on allocation schemes, homogeneous groups are more likely to reach an efficient agreement than heterogeneous groups.     

Voting for direct democratic participation: evidence from an initiative election

We study a constitutional change in the German State of Bavaria where citizens, not politicians, granted themselves more say in politics at the local level through a state initiative election in 1995. This institutional setting allows us to observe revealed preferences for direct democracy and to identify factors which explain these preferences. Empirical evidence suggests that support for direct democracy is related to dissatisfaction with representative democracy in general rather than with an elected governing party.     

The role of motivation to lead for leadership training effectiveness

In this study, the construct of motivation to lead (MtL) is considered as a predictor of leadership training effectiveness. MtL, the individual preference to take on leadership roles, is a motivation that specifically relates to the content of leadership training. A total of 132 managers participated in a longitudinal follow‐up study. The influence of MtL on training effectiveness is explained by a serial mediation process. Individuals high on MtL benefit more from training by acquiring more leadership competencies, which in turn results in more effective leadership behavior and ultimately higher training effectiveness 1 year later. Understanding the process through which trainees' individual MtL influences building up competencies is important for identifying mechanisms that drive training effectiveness. Organizational support is revealed to further enhance this training process by moderating the influence of MtL on leadership competencies. From a practical perspective, MtL is important for leadership training effectiveness and measures should be taken to enhance MtL.     

Out‐of‐sample testing price discovery in commodity markets: the case of soybeans

Price discovery, a central function of futures markets, has been usually tested in‐sample by studying the common stochastic trend between spot and futures prices. Instead, to evaluate futures as anticipatory prices, we develop a forecast approach to out‐of‐sample test price discovery in a multivariate framework. We apply it to the soybeans market. Results indicate futures prices as the best available “predictors” of future spot prices, although this finding holds only on average and for certain periods, other models show forecasting gains.     

Detecting Some Dynamic Properties of the Euro/Dollar Exchange Rate

Financial prices and returns have been the subject of empirical and theoretical analysis for many years, and their dynamic properties and other characteristics are still of interest. Many different tools have been applied to describe financial markets. The presented paper is addressed to examine the euro/dollar exchange rate and the related financial returns in the context of detecting exact and stochastic unit roots, and in the consequence, modelling them using time varying parameters model. The estimated STUR models are compared with standard ARMA-GARCH representations. We also examine causal relationships in the Granger sense. Upon the results of causality testing, some ADL-GARCH models are built, which are further used to examine their forecasting performance.     

Marketing Novel Fruit Products: Evidence for Diverging Marketing Effects Across Different Products and Different Countries

The purpose of this study was to compare the influence of four different marketing claims and price information on consumers’ product choices for novel fruits and novel fruit products, using a choice experiment. In total, 1,652 people in Greece (n = 400), the Netherlands (n = 419), Poland (n = 423), and Spain (n = 410) participated in the study. The marketing claims entailed (1) information about scientific findings concerning health benefits, (2) social norm information, (3) information about the products’ naturalness, and (4) information about the products’ time-until-expiration. The results showed that all four marketing claims and price information influenced consumer choice, but the effect of naturalness depended on the specific novel fruit product being advertised, and the effect of time-until-expiration depended on both country and fruit product. These results suggest that marketing communications should be tailored to different national markets and to specific fruit products.     

Mapping the constructs of a business tourist service quality scorecard model

Abstract

The researchers sought to conceptualize models related to Service Quality (SQ), Balanced Scorecard (BSC), Customer Satisfaction (CS), and Customer Retention (CR). These models are evident within the tourism industry, but are not confirmed in business tourism. The empirical testing of a Service Quality Scorecard (SQSC) as a comprehensive SQ model, for explaining Business Tourist (BT) retention is proposed. Data was analyzed through a structural equation modeling procedure, resulting in a business tourist service quality scorecard (BT SQSC) causal model for the testing of SQ in the BT industry. Findings provide implications for business tourism practitioners to encourage business tourism performance.