Retraining midcareer managers: Career history and self-efficacy beliefs

Many corporations are retraining midcareer managers in order to combat employee obsolescence and boost corporate competitiveness. The receptivity of midcareer managers to retraining is mixed. Those managers who believe they can master new work-related learning (in the terms of this study, those who have positive self-efficacy in learning beliefs) are most amenable to retraining. The objective of the present study was to determine the antecedents of positive self-efficacy beliefs for midcareer managers facing retraining. We discovered that managers' advancement potential and the relevance of their previous training had a profound impact on their self-efficacy beliefs. These findings have important practical implications. The seeds of receptivity to retraining are planted throughout managers' careers. Hence, retraining should not be viewed on a program-by-program basis, but rather should be understood in the broader context of corporate life and individual career history. To prepare for the inevitable corporate evolution and change demanded in a dynamic business environment, senior executives and human resource managers should be proactive in creating those conditions that facilitate the development of positive self-efficacy in learning beliefs.     

The Role of Product-Level Dynamics in Export Growth and Productivity: Evidence from Estonia

Recent empirical studies of international trade have stressed that firm-level decisions about the number of export products or markets are an important margin of adjustment in response to globalization and changes in economic conditions. We investigate how decisions about the export product mix are associated with aggregate export dynamics and productivity of firms. We use detailed data on product and export market levels for the full population of Estonia's firms. Decomposition analysis of trade flows shows that both the relative importance of firms' beginning to export products and the role of product-level churning (firms' adding and dropping of products) in total Estonian export growth increases significantly after accession to the European Union in 2004. We show that concentration on core competence products has a rather different association with productivity of firms in different-size groups. Large firms with a large number of different types of export products gain, on average, in terms of productivity from concentrating their export sales on their core export products. There is no such general regularity in the case of small firms.     

An application of DPSIR framework to identify issues of pollinator loss

This paper is an attempt to apply the Driving forces–Pressures–State–Impact–Responses (DPSIR) framework to identify the issues of pollinator loss. The linkages between the significant pressures on insect pollinators, their underlying socio-economic driving forces and responses, with the focus on Europe, are addressed in the study. A review of literature revealed the shortage of empirical studies that prove direct links between policy responses and specific pressures on the pollinators. Based on written evidence and expert judgement, land use practices and the use of agrochemicals were regarded as the most significant pressures on different functional groups of pollinators. As demonstrated in the study, agricultural and rural development policy has been the key driving force of these pressures. The application of the DPSIR framework proved to be useful in identifying the pathway of human pressures on pollinators. The study also concludes that there is further need for specific empirical research on the effects and effectiveness of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures (agri-environment measures in particular) to support farming practices that facilitate the protection of the environment and the prevention of pollinator loss.     

Inflation dynamics and nominal adjustment in the Baltic States

The paper seeks to explain the inflationary dynamics in the Baltic countries since the mid-1990s. Single-equation estimations generally yield poor results, while panel data estimations provide statistically and economically satisfactory findings. The main result is that the observed gradual disinflation can to a large extent be explained by adjustment to international prices. Stringent fixed exchange rate systems have exerted downward pressure on inflation both directly and via expectations to future inflation. Measures of excess capacity in the labour market have no effect on inflation, while industrial output gaps have some explanatory power. Real oil price shocks have an immediate but short-lived impact on inflation.     

The link between innovation and productivity in Estonia's services sector

This paper investigates how the innovation–productivity relationship differs across various sub-branches of the services sector. The Crépon, Duguet and Mairesse structural model is used, consisting of equations for innovation expenditures, innovation output, productivity and exports. The data are taken from the Community Innovation Surveys for Estonia. It is shown that innovation is associated with increased productivity. The results indicate, surprisingly, that the association between technological innovation and productivity is stronger in the less knowledge-intensive service (KIS) sectors. Non-technological innovation plays a positive role especially in KISs. An indirect channel of the effects of innovation on productivity appears to function through increased exports.     

The contribution of multinationals to wage inequality: foreign ownership and the gender pay gap

Review of World Economics - While an abundance of studies exists documenting the significant wage premium of multinationals (MNE) and the effects of foreign direct investments on wage inequality,...     

Exporting and Productivity: The Effects of Multi‐Product and Multi‐Market Export Entry

Empirical studies on the micro‐level effects of exporting on productivity pay usually little attention to the potentially heterogeneous effects of the different modes of export market entry. We show that multi‐product export entry is associated with higher post‐entry productivity compared to other firms. This can imply significant benefits from experimentation with different products. Our analysis is based on detailed export data from full population of firms in Estonia, disaggregated for each firm by export markets and individual products.     

State legislation inhibiting the operation of managed care pharmacy programs increases costs

Managed care has become integral to major health care reform proposals; yet state legislatures are increasingly asked to enact laws that would inhibit its growth. An HIAA/Wyatt Company study examines the impact that such restrictive measures have on managed care's effectiveness.     

Rethinking of Social Space: Generational and Ethnic Differences in Estonia

This article analyses the changes in social space, based on perceptions of individuals in a transition country, Estonia. The Marxist approach to social space is used as a theoretical framework. The article originates from the premise that the changes in individuals' conceptual ‘apparatus’ are needed for keeping up with spatial developments related to capitalism. Analysis of empirical data collected in 2008 focuses on patterns of spatial perceptions of three generations of the two main ethno-linguistic groups in Estonia, the Estonian ethnic majority and the Russian-speaking minority. The results show perception of space is significantly correlated with indices of everyday social and cultural practices and individual wealth and reveal the geographical and ideological division of the world as seen by the inhabitants of a transition country. The article suggests transition has caused spatial disruption particularly amongst the ethnic minority. Increasing ethnic differences from one generation to another infers increasing societal inequality. The quid pro quo relationship between geopolitical changes and economic transition at the individual level is consequently more clearly defined.