The incremental time costs of children: An analysis of children's impact on adult time use in Australia

Abstract

Raising children takes both time and money. Scholars have sought convincing ways to capture the costs of children, but even when these estimates include indirect costs, such as mothers' foregone earnings, they fall short of the true time costs involved. This paper uses data from the 1997 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Time Use Survey to study how the allocation of time differs across households with varying numbers and ages of children and how households with children differ from those without children. It also examines the intra household division of time resources, showing how childcare, related unpaid work, and the total market and non-market workloads compare for a couple in the same household. It includes secondary activity in an analysis of total parental time commitments to give a more accurate picture of the time cost of children than is possible on the basis of analyzing “primary” activities alone.     

Japanese sogo shosha and the U.S. export trading companies

Recent legislation in the U.S. concerning export trading companies has drawn attention to the Japanese general trading companies. While the intent of the ETC Act was not to replicate the sogo shosha model in the U.S., there are some parallels which we can identify. In this paper we examine the evolving forms of the sogo shosha and ETCs, and show how they compete directly in some areas of international trade. Although early performance results for U.S. ETCs are not encouraging, longer term results are expected to improve. To support this expectation, we identify current problems and offer recommendations for improvement. These recommendations are framed in the context of the U.S. business environment, and implications for public policy are assessed.     

Backlash Hits Business Ethics: Finding Effective Strategies for Communicating the Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility

Recently, several articles have asserted that corporate social responsibility programs have gone too far and need to be reigned in. These critics have charged that corporate social responsibility is to be regarded with skepticism and that any changes in corporate accountability should be superficial at best. I will examine a␣number of these objections; I conclude that these critiques are largely ill founded, but that their increasing frequency in popular media is a cause for concern. I argue that these purported objections are better understood as one part of a long-term cycle that generally accompanies positive moral change in institutions. Using the feminist movement as a touchstone, I examine the similarities between backlash against the movement for corporate accountability as compared to backlash against feminists. I␣also suggest ways in which successful strategies adopted by feminists could be used effectively to communicate the aims of those working to increase awareness of business accountability.     

Forecasting another’s enjoyment versus giving the right answer: Trust, shared values, task effects, and confidence in improving the acceptance of advice

In two experiments, participants received advice from another participant on a task either with a correct answer (intellective tasks) or without a correct answer (judgmental task), in which the participant had to make a forecast. In both experiments, the level of trust in the advisor and a perception of the advisor having similar values were important predictors of the acceptance of advice for a judgmental, taste forecast task, whereas advisor confidence was a more important predictor of the acceptance of advice on the intellective task. In Experiment 2, the face-to-face interactions between the decision-maker and the advisor were videotaped and coded. Advisors provided more information to decision-makers for the taste forecast than for the intellective task. Further, whether the advisor provided information to supplement their recommendation or not was a significant predictor of the acceptance of advice on the taste forecast, but not on the intellective task. The results are discussed in the context of previous research on advice, which has predominately used intellective tasks.     

Corporate Rights to Free Speech?

Although the courts have ruled that companies are legal persons, they have not yet made clear the extent to which political free speech for corporations is limited by the strictures legitimately placed upon corporate commercial speech. I explore the question of whether or not companies can properly be said to have the right to civil free speech or whether corporate speech is always de facto commercial speech not subject to the same sorts of legal protections as is the right to civil free speech. In the absence of clearly defined legal precedent, I emphasize moral reasons for determining the appropriate limits of corporate civil free speech. Appealing to arguments typically used to justify individual rights to civil free speech, I examine the extent to which this sort of justification may or may not be legitimately extended to corporations. I conclude that corporate rights to civil free speech must be restricted because granting rights of free speech to institutions may, in practice, undermine the moral rationale and practical feasibility of guaranteeing rights of civil free speech to individuals. Furthermore, I argue that granting corporations full rights to civil free speech will undercut attempts to develop good moral character in corporate institutions by undermining the efforts of watchdog organizations.     

The Wealth Effects of Capital Investment Decisions: An Empirical Comparison of Korean Chaebol and Non‐Chaebol Firms

Abstract:   This paper investigates the capital investment decisions of Korean firms and their impact on shareholder wealth. Overall, we find positive abnormal returns surrounding the announcements of 697 cases of investment projects during the period 1992–1999. This paper also finds that the investment decisions of business group ( chaebol ‐affiliated) firms do not increase shareholder wealth, while the capital investment decisions of non‐ chaebol firms generate significantly positive abnormal returns. The multivariate tests provide consistent evidence that the announcement effects for chaebol firms are lower than for non‐ chaebol firms, after growth opportunities, investment size and firm size are controlled for. The findings support the view that the organizational structure of Korean chaebols creates an incentive for managers to make non‐value maximizing capital investment decisions.     

The pleasures,perils, and possibilities of undertaking international business research

Brian Toyne, Zaida L. Martínez, & Richard A. Menger (Eds.). 2001. International Business Scholarship: Mastering Intellectual, Institutional, and Research Challenges. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. ISBN: 1‐56720‐351‐5. Masaaki (Mike) Kotabe & Preet S. Aulakh (Eds.). 2002. Emerging Issues in International Business Research. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. ISBN: 1‐84064‐836‐8.     

An econometric application of the theory of the farm-household

Employing a Cobb-Douglas specification for the production function and a modified linear expenditure system, the paper presents an econometric model of household production, consumption and labor supply behaviour for a semi-commercial farm with a competitive labor market. The model, estimated from primary, cross-sectional, Malaysian data, is used to analyse the impact of migration, output price intervention and technological change on the agricultural sector. In doing so, the wage-rate is treated as an endogenous variable to be determined by the interaction of aggregate labor demand and supply curves obtained from the estimated micro functions.     

The funding of development research

Statistical data on the funding of development research (drawn mainly from official publications and funding bodies' reports) are presented for OECD member countries, 1973–1979, and trends in financing in this area are analysed. Policies of and expenditures by government agencies, major private funding bodies and selected international organizations are examined. Development research financing is also viewed from the recipients' standpoint, and the results of a questionnaire survey of selected development research institutes in Europe, North America and Japan are analysed. The importance of public-sector finance for development research and indications of increasing dependence of European institutes on government funding in this area are emphasized.