Empowerment of Social Norms on Water Consumption

Environmental and Resource Economics - This study develops a model of water extraction using endogenous social norms. Many users are connected by a unique shared resource that can become scarce in...     

Feminism’s fourth wave: a research agenda for marketing and consumer research

Abstract

Three waves of feminism each reveal a very different relationship with marketing. This commentary considers these relationships in the light of what is now frequently being hailed as the fourth wave, a resurgence of feminism that is driven by younger women who harness the power of the Internet and social media to challenge gender inequity. The commentary looks at what distinguishes the fourth wave from its predecessors and highlights key areas in marketing and consumer research where feminist perspectives are sorely required.     

Effects of Label on Consumer Preferences: Focus on Hawaiian Avocado Industry

This study examines market challenges facing a local agriculture industry in a small island setting. Examination of the Hawai‘i local avocado industry indicates labeling can address the product information gap between consumers and producers, improve market share, and increase import substitution by local products. Currently, local avocados occupy only 33% of market share, compared with 67% captured by imports. Consumer preferences among local labeled, local unlabeled, and imported avocados were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. Statistical results showed that labels influence consumers’ decisions to buy local or imported avocados, and their preferences were also influenced by sociodemographic variables, avocado characteristics, and purchasing behavior. Key market segments to target and policy implications are also discussed.     

The impact of working conditions on sickness absence: a theoretical model and an empirical application to work schedules

This paper explores how poor working conditions impact sickness absence through their effect on health. Our contribution is two-fold. First, we develop a static theoretical model based on the concept of health capital, wherein poor working conditions are partially compensated by higher wages. According to our model, the effect of working conditions on sickness absence is ambiguous. Second, we apply our model to the case of working time arrangements and test the effect of working irregular schedules or work around the clock on sickness absence, using data from the French Labor Force Survey on a specific population (male manual workers in private sector). As heterogeneity may lead to severe bias, we use propensity score matching methods. Our estimates show that working irregular schedules has a significant impact on sickness absence. The results are more mitigated for work around the clock. In any case, the extent crucially depends on age.     

The contribution of human capital to a holistic response to climate change: learning from and for the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

Abstract

The Mekong Delta has been identified by the International Panel on Climate Change as one of the three most vulnerable areas in the world as sea levels rise due to climate change. The Vietnam Government has implemented a range of policies to assist migration in order to address these environmental problems. While much research has focused on the environmental causes of, and responses to, climate change there has been less research on the impact of environmentally motivated responses to climate change on labour force and human capital factors. This paper examines the experience of the Vietnam Government in encouraging internal migration from vulnerable agricultural areas to urban industrial cities, to explore the human capital effects of these environmentally motivated response to climate change. The paper first presents the environmental argument for migration in response to climate change, together with examples of what the Vietnam Government has done to encourage migration from the rural (originating) areas to other rural resettlement and city (receiving) areas. It then uses data collected as part of recent study into the impact of government encouragement for internal migration to explore the labour force and human capital impacts in both the originating region and receiving areas. The findings suggest that while there are social and economic advantages there are challenges, including ensuring that job opportunities are available, migrants and appropriate skills, and that labour contracts provide for job security and healthy and safe working result in improved living conditions. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a more integrated approach that acknowledges and addresses associated human capital (skills upgrading) and business development needs and integrates these with environmentally-motivated policies.     

Tensions in local government employment relationships

Abstract

A wide variety of initiatives characterized under the umbrella term of new public management have been introduced over the past two decades to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the public sector. The implications of these initiatives for public sector employment relationships have been the subject of on-going debate. This article contributes to this debate through examining how employees within local authorities are managed in a time of personal crisis with a particular focus on long-term sickness absence in the context of increased management drives for efficiency under the NPM agenda. The findings reveal that for managers in two local authorities that form the focus of this study there is a tension in struggling to achieve a workable balance between the needs of employees and wider operational requirements, resulting in role ambiguity for line managers and detrimental effects for vulnerable public service workers.