Part-time workers doing full-time work in Japan

This paper is concerned with the phenomenon of part-time workers performing similar types of jobs to full-time workers in the same workplace. We use data from Japan's Survey on Diversified Types of Employment to answer two questions. First, why are firms increasingly employing part-time workers in jobs traditionally offered to full-time workers? Second, what are the characteristics of the workers taking these jobs? As for the former, it is primarily service sector firms using this new work relationship. Interestingly, there is evidence that manufacturing firms are outsourcing in lieu of hiring domestic part-time workers. On a positive note, we find evidence that part-time workers are screened by firms for full-time jobs. As to the second question, the workers are primarily professionals working long hours. As an aside, based on our data we find no evidence that part-time workers are more likely to be involuntarily employed in full-time jobs than in non full-time jobs. J. Japanese Int. Economies 21 (4) (2007) 435–454.     

Productivity Change,Technical Progress,and Efficiency Improvement in Telecommunications

Implementation of incentive regulation intelecommunications requires the accurate measurementof the change in productivity. An approach isintroduced that not only provides a measure of thechange in productivity but also allows for adecomposition into two mutually exclusive andexhaustive components – changes in technicalefficiency over time and shifts in technology overtime. Using annual data on four output measures andsix input measures for the period 1988 to 1998 fornineteen individual local exchange carriers, theresults indicate that productivity increased by about5.0 percent per year. This growth is due primarily toinnovation rather than improvements in efficiency. Ofthe nineteen LECs in the sample, thirteen wereoperating efficiently throughout the entire 1988–1998period. Of the remaining six, two showed a slightimprovement in efficiency while the efficiency of fourdeclined. In the aggregate, however, there wasvirtually no change in efficiency. Finally, acomparison is made between two methods of estimatingthe change in productivity. The conventional growthaccounting approach yields a lower estimate of therate of change in productivity than does the Malmquistindex approach. The difference between theseestimates is interpreted as the lower bound of thebias associated with the conventional growthaccounting approach to measuring the growth inproductivity.     

The human resource barriers to managing quality in China

China has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The challenge for the future is likely to be the extent to which Chinese operations can utilize modern management techniques to improve product and service quality. This paper explores some of the problems that were affecting the management of quality within two foreigninvested enterprises (FIEs) based in the Shenzhen region of China. The paper argues that the provision of new factories and machinery was not sufficient in itself to ensure the maintenance of quality standards. Quality management in the West has become synonymous with increased employee involvement and developing customer-orientated cultures (Rees, 1998). The success or otherwise of quality management initiatives therefore depends upon the co-operation and enthusiasm of employees (Wilkinson et al ., 1998; Oliver and Wilkinson, 1992). Quality management within the case companies was hampered by the prevailing work ethic and was hindered by inadequate human resource and management systems. The study highlighted poor standards of training, dissatisfaction over levels of remuneration, and poor communication within the case companies. The paper argues that the problems experienced by the companies were inextricably linked to aspects of China's historical development. This history has helped to engender employee attitudes and behaviours that are poorly understood. Models of quality management are needed which are sensitive to the Chinese operating context.     

Effects of drought on cultural tourism: selected cases of Maasai tourism groups surrounding Tarangire National Park in Tanzania

This study explores the effect of drought on cultural tourism by applying the case study approach using the Maasai women’s groups surrounding Tarangire National Park (TNP) in Tanzania. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to collect data from 30 purposefully selected Maasai women and 30 tourists. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings show that drought affects tourism both positively and negatively. Positively, drought forges unity among individuals, and creates the community’s external links that are crucial for tourism development. Negatively, drought interferes with the development and delivery of tourist products, thus destroying their quality and service delivery. Despite the challenges tourism faces during times of drought, including the scarcity of raw materials for making cultural products, 50% of the respondents would rather continue with tourism as a strategy to curb the effect of drought than their traditional livelihoods. Theoretically, the study shows the importance of the cultural ecology and livelihood lenses in investigating the effects of drought on tourism in a cultural setting. Practical recommendations for tourism authorities and stakeholders, as well as areas for future research, are provided.     

Accounting for the Public Sector at a Time of Crisis

This Special Issue is based on papers initially presented at the ‘Accounting for the Public Sector at a Time of Crisis’ Conference at the Centre for Not-for-profit and Public-sector Research, Queen's University Belfast, UK in 2018. The public sector consists of organizations that are owned and operated by government; organizations that exist to provide goods and services for a country's citizens. What is particularly distinctive about such organizations, and what makes them different from businesses, is that they are (or, at least perhaps, should be) not-for-profit. In addition, they frequently have wide social and cultural goals that are central to what they do. They are pervasive in most societies. Yet, it is argued, they face crisis on a number of fronts: in terms of the influence of potentially inappropriate, business-like new public management ideas related to performance management and the embracing of related accounting and budgeting approaches; and in terms of the impact of austerity, following the Great Recession in 2008. In such a context it is suggested that public sector governance, accounting, and accountability systems are heavily involved. The papers included in this Special Issue present an opportunity to reflect on aspects of this crisis in terms of how it connects with accounting systems and accounting changes. Key arguments of these papers, and overarching themes of this Special Issue, are explored in this editorial.     

Host–guest authentication of intangible cultural heritage: a literature review and conceptual model

ABSTRACT

Cultural tourism and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) play a key role in tourism worldwide, and are especially important for communities in developing countries, due to the demand for authentic experiences. This article provides a review of existing literature on the authenticity and authentication of ICH. The review reveals scholarly inquiry has evolved from external-expert ‘cool’ authentication to direct host–guest on-site or ‘hot’ authentication whereby tourists participate in the process of determining authenticity. Further, existing models for authentication of ICH have focused only on either a guest’s or host’s perspectives with little attention to the inevitable mutual interaction of the host and guest in the authentication of ICH. Mutual authentication can enhance the tourist experience and improve community empowerment. This paper develops a conceptual model of the mutual (host–guest) authentication of ICH, incorporating both hosts’ and tourists’ perspectives. The model has application in ICH based tourism and emphasizes power relationships between the host and guest, and community empowerment across political, social, psychological and economic domains. Future research is needed to test and validate this conceptual model.     

Impressions of Liusanjie: a study of motivation,theatrical performance evaluation,and satisfaction

This paper examines the relationships between motivation to visit, performance evaluation, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions for tourists experiencing ‘Impressions of Liusanjie’, an iconic, outdoor, theatrical performance in Guilin, China. The study finds that motivation does not affect satisfaction directly but that performance evaluation is an intervening variable between motivation and satisfaction. It also finds that experiential evaluation of the theatrical performance has more effect on satisfaction than evaluation of technical and functional attributes. Tourists were surveyed after the performance and the results analysed using cluster, correlation analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). The first two techniques were used to identify existing relationships amongst the study variables. SEM was applied to determine if a causal relationship existed and, if so, their strength. This research provides a contribution to the understanding of tourist motivation, theatrical performance evaluation, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions.     

BRIDGING TRADE THEORY AND LABOUR ECONOMETRICS: THE EFFECTS OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION*

Abstract This paper surveys current theoretical and empirical research on international migration with a particular emphasis on the links between trade theory and labour empirics.     

The Impact of Individual Ethics on Reactions to Potentially Invasive HR Practices

In recent years, the practices of work organizations have raised increasing concerns regarding individual privacy at work. It is clear that people expect and value privacy in their personal lives. However, the extent to which privacy perceptions influence individuals’ work attitudes is less clear. Research has explored the extent to which employee perceptions of privacy derive from characteristics of the programs themselves. However, there is a paucity of research that examines how the characteristics of the individual employee may influence perceptions of these programs. In this study we seek to shed light on this issue, as we examine how the individual ethical orientation of employees influences perceptions of a variety of human resource programs that have the potential to be perceived as invasive. Results indicate that ethical orientation exerts direct effects on perceived invasiveness of programs and exerts both direct and indirect effects on perceived appropriateness of programs. Implications for research and for managers adopting privacy-related programs are discussed.