Dismantling the south-west coalition: further evidence of distributive politics in preemption legislation

Economics of Governance - The factors influencing legislative voting behavior have often been studied. This is especially true regarding antebellum federal preemption legislation. Several...     

Biofuels technology development in Southern Africa

ABSTRACT

The benefits of biofuels depend on the feedstock, conversion pathway and local context. This paper assesses biofuels technology readiness and developments to provide foresight to biofuels development in Southern Africa. Efficient conversion pathways, coupled with biomass from waste or high-yielding energy crops, will reduce both the costs of biofuels production, and the environmental impacts. Compared to petroleum fuels, the current commercial biofuels (ethanol, biogas and biodiesel) typically offer carbon emission reductions of 30–50% but are marginally more expensive. The extent of biofuels market penetration will therefore be influenced by mandates (blending targets) and subsidies (green premium). Advanced biofuels promise greater efficiencies and carbon emission reductions at reduced cost but will require further research and development to reach commercialisation. If developed appropriately, biofuels can reduce carbon emissions and improve energy security, while enabling sustainable agriculture and improved natural resources management.     

Retaining and engaging older workers: A solution to worker shortages in the U.S.

Over the next 20 years, many organizations will experience significant shortages of skilled workers. At the same time, because of longer lifespans and a gradual rise in what society has considered the traditional retirement age of 65, older workers will represent a growing proportion of the American workforce. For a variety of reasons, many of these older workers desire to continue working and, if retained and engaged, they constitute a significant labor source for mitigating the emerging shortages of skilled workers. However, many organizations are not prepared to take advantage of this demographic shift; some even generate barriers that impede the retention and engagement of older workers. In this article, we identify a variety of ways in which organizations can retain and engage older workers to meet their staffing needs and enhance organizational performance. We also discuss the relationship of these proposals to prominent theories of motivation in management.     

Peer socialisation: brand-related bullying in the school classroom

ABSTRACT

This paper details a study of brand-related bullying in a school setting, among children approximately 11–18 years of age during their schooling experience. Defined as ‘repeated oppression, psychological or physical, of a less powerful person by a more powerful one’, authors have found self-reported rates of bullying above 25%. Our goal was to assess the role of brands and branded products in violent peer socialisation through bullying. Depth interviews lasting between 45 and 90 minutes that captured the retrospective reflection of forty-one 18–20-year-old college students were conducted and data were analysed hermeneutically with iterative comparison to discover emerging themes. Our findings suggest branded products were used to maintain existing social hierarchical structures and exclude non-conforming students through both covert and overt violence. We describe the influence strategies used and address strategies for dealing with the ‘unusual’, including the adoption of an alternative aesthetic for clothing selection.     

Capital gains lock-in and governance choices

Differences in accrued gains and investors’ tax-sensitivity induce variation in a capital gains lock-in effect across mutual funds even for the same stock at the same time. Exploiting this variation, we show this effect influences funds’ governance decisions: higher capital gains decrease the likelihood a fund exits prior to contentious votes and increase the likelihood a fund votes against management. Consistent with tax motivation, these findings are concentrated among funds with tax-sensitive investors. Further, high aggregate capital gains across funds holding a stock predict a higher likelihood management loses a vote and a lower likelihood a contentious vote is proposed.     

To each according to their ability? Academic ranking and salary inequality across public colleges and universities

This article compares the salary structure of tenured and tenure-track faculty across schools within the university systems of North Carolina and New York. Specifically, we establish a positive relationship between school prestige and salary inequality, both overall and within specific academic ranks. This result suggests that the value to teaching is less discipline-specific than the value to research output. Marked differences in the aforementioned statistical linkage across academic ranks also confirm prior speculation that junior faculty salaries are more closely tied to academic value than senior faculty salaries.     

Identifying Macro Phases Across the Negotiation Lifecycle

Existing models of negotiation as a process are incomplete and do not show an overall, start to finish lifecycle. Current phase based models lack clearly defined criteria that identify phase boundaries. After reviewing existing models, the paper identifies macro phases, clarifies phase boundaries, and delivers a bird’s eye view model of negotiation supported by examples in academic literature and the public record. The enhanced model proposed here provides a practical negotiation guideline and roadmap previously left unclear in the literature. The proposed model contributes to theory around negotiation by defining the boundaries of a sequence of macro phases in negotiation and enhancing the model through business process modeling. With the enhanced model, academics and practitioners can share a viewpoint for understanding, communicating, and further developing negotiation models.     

International joint ventures research on Africa: A systematic literature review,propositions, and contextualization

This study reviewed the research on international joint ventures (IJVs) in Africa up to 2017. The authors performed a systematic search of peer‐reviewed good‐quality research using the 6W procedure and ensured the quality of the review by using the 5Cs quality criteria. The content analysis was focused on four research questions. A total of 22 relevant studies were found. Overall, only about one‐third of the lead authors were affiliated with African universities. A majority of the studies were quantitative, and 78% of the studies were done for three countries: Ghana, Morocco, and Nigeria. There was either just one or no study on trust and conflict, partner selection, and human resource management (HRM). At the contextual level, it seems the most important factor influencing IJV strategy and success is institutions. We therefore suggest a greater use of institutional theory. Finally, we present a summary of conceptual framework and four propositions to guide future research.     

Intermediate Goods and Exchange Rate Disconnect

Open Economies Review - This paper introduces intermediate goods trade into a two-country real business cycle model and examines its implications for real exchange rate behavior. Intermediate goods...     

Christopher Leonard: The Lords of Easy Money: how the federal reserve broke the American economy

Business Economics -