Outsourcing occupational safety and health: An analysis of the make or buy decision

This paper investigates the factors affecting the outsourcing decision of occupational safety and health (OSH) services. I posit several hypotheses following the three main approaches to the make or buy question: (1) the transaction cost theory, (2) the resource‐based view of the firm, and (3) the behavioral decision‐making framework. The empirical analysis draws on microdata from 3,047 Spanish firms that are legally obliged to provide organized OSH activities but free to choose the option to outsource. Results show that informational symmetries and increasing transaction costs mainly explain the decision to outsource the OSH activity. Organizational behavior variables, such as management commitment to safety and workers' representation, also relate to the outcome of the decision but not necessarily as hypothesized. Finally, I did not generally observe the strategic value of safety in informing the make or buy decision. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Human resource strategies and contingent workers: The case of safety and health in the petrochemical industry

One of the most important economic developments in recent years is the growth in the number of temporary and contract employees. Little is known, however, about the implications these contingent employees have for human resource practices. This paper presents the results of a study of one group of contingent workers, contract workers in the petrochemical industry. The primary concern of this study is the consequences contract workers have for safety, a hotly debated and politically charged issue in an industry where safety mishaps can have catastrophic consequences. We find that contract employees offer petrochemical firms an important degree of flexibility in meeting rapid fluctuations in their demand for labor. Contract employment relationships also create stresses with potentially severe adverse effects on workplace safety. Overcoming these threats to safety while maintaining flexibility will require a high level of coordination among human resource professionals, line managers, corporate executives, unions, and government agencies.     

Consumer safety and the regulation of industry

The need for regulation to protect the consumer from unsafe products stems from the lack of full information. The extent of these imperfections is examined and it is argued that there are market pressures on manufacturers to produce safer products and that voluntary regulation can play a useful role before mandatory regulations are introduced. In setting targets it must be acknowledged that there are differences between products and between consumers and particularly that there will be costs associated with attempts to cure the consequences of imperfections. Recent trends in the US and British safety policy are assessed in this light.     

用“健康”拯救“美丽”

1997年,在国内高端化妆品牌近乎空白的情况下,韩庆平进入美容行业,成立了广州傲之美化妆品有限公司（下称“傲之美”）。高端品牌的定位让傲之美在前期开拓市场上困难重重,韩庆平采取了一系列措施,最终使得傲之美在中国化妆品界异军突起,成为中国化妆品市场经营高级品牌的一匹黑马。     

A productivity study of the Norwegian building industry

Slow productivity growth in the building and construction industry is often put forward as the cause of rising building costs. In view of the importance of the building sector in the national economy, factual empirical knowledge is hard to come by. The few studies found are usually carried out on a sectoral level and based on time-series data. However, to come to grips with the real causes for slow productivity growth, one has to analyze at the microlevel of actual decision making. Our study is based on establishment data for 1986. The method of analysis is the deterministic frontier approach. The efficiency distributions show large variations with average structural efficiency about 20 percent. Thus, there is significant scope for productivity improvement if average performance can catch up with best practice.The refereeing process of this article was handled through T.G. Cowing.     

城市居住环境下住户高空抛物行为调查

分析了我国14个城市发生的112例高空坠物事故,调查研究了南昌市两个居住环境中23幢住宅周边的生活坠落物痕迹,通过研究城市居住环境下高空抛物行为的行为主体和行为产物,揭示出住户抛物行为的8大特点和8个影响因素,为高空抛物的防治提供行为学方面的理论和现实依据,最后提出从教育学、法学、管理学和环境科学等方面综合防治的思路.     

论我国建筑企业技术创新战略的选择和运用

随着加入世贸组织和全球经济一体化的迅速推进,我国建筑业面临日益激烈的竞争环境,如何提高企业竞争力,抢占技术制高点已经成为企业必须面对的主要问题。文章从这一背景出发,在考虑了建筑业技术创新特点的基础上,提出了建筑业企业技术创新战略的选择及运用思路。     

The post-offering performance of IPOs in the health care industry

This paper investigates the post-offering performance of initial public offerings in the health care industry in a sample of 223 IPOs issued between 1985 and 1996. Statistically insignificant abnormal returns for IPOs relative to matched control firms and risk-adjusted health care index are evident for the whole sample. Thus, our empirical results support the overall information efficiency in the IPO market. However, numerical and statistical differences of the IPOs’ abnormal returns are documented in every subgroup specified according to the issuance years and sectors. We conjecture that such differences are due to the growing threat of government intervention and the significant structural changes.(JEL11, C11) The views expressed herein are our own and do not necessarily reflect the views of our colleagues.     

Worker representation and health and safety in small enterprises in Europe

The aim of this paper is to review the role that representative worker participation can play in contributing to better health and safety performance in small enterprises. The relevance of representative participation to health and safety in small enterprises is addressed and the challenges that the sector poses are discussed. Using a number of examples, including legislative approaches, trade union initiatives and joint trade union employer schemes in various countries, the paper explores some of the ways in which such challenges have been tackled.     

如何加强建筑行业起重机械的安全管理

文章从建筑行业起重机械的管理现状以及使用情况方面对起重机械事故的原因进行了研究和分析,从起重机械的选型、购置、安装、使用、验收和维护等容易出现问题的环节,提出了如何能够预防建筑行业起重机械事故发生的建议。     

The differing impacts of operational and financial slack on occupational safety in varying market conditions

Operations management scholars have long debated the right level of slack resources required to optimize a production system. Recent research suggests that the right level of operational slack, typically in the form of inventory, is very little but not none. However, this conclusion was reached without considering the role of slack resources in occupational safety, which is a critical oversight since the safety literature predicts that the reduction of operational slack harms workers. To address this gap, secondary data from 3945 publically listed U.S. firms is used to explore the role of operational and financial slack as well as market factors in occupational safety. The results show that decreasing operational slack harms workers and that this effect is mitigated when firms hold higher levels of financial slack. Furthermore, the external market environment also plays a crucial role in the operational slack – safety relationship.     

Health and safety and trade union workplace organization—a case study in the printing industry

Here the author looks at the implementation of the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations in the printing industry. In discussing the relationship between trade union organisation and the joint regulation of health and safety at work, he concludes that leaving health and safety to joint regulation was based on an assumption of trade union power. Wim this power diminished the Regulations have had only limited effect.     

Worker representation in health and safety: options for regulatory reform

Worker representation in health and safety in Britain has received statutory support since the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977. Subsequent developments have, however, acted to undermine the effectiveness of these regulations. The paper consequently discusses a range of reforms that could be introduced to strengthen the present regulatory regime.     

Multinationalization in the pharmaceutical industry as a response to national health policies

This study shows that from the viewpoint of the German pharmaceutical industry the French and Italian markets require an unusual corporate international strategy. Foreign subsidiaries export bulk chemicals and semi-processed drugs. Regulation favouring direct foreign investment results in foreign affiliates carrying out nearly the same range of activities as their parent companies. Entry into these markets is thus deterred. Some conclusions are drawn on the consequences of such international competitive restrictions as they effect the market performance of international competitive processes.     

Learning and technological capability building in emerging economies: The case of the biomass power equipment industry in Malaysia

There is increasing recognition that the transfer of foreign technology to developing countries should be considered in light of broader processes of learning, technological capability, formation and industrial development. Previous studies that have looked at this in the context of cleantech industries in emerging economies tend to overlook firm-level specifics. This paper contributes to filling this gap by utilising in-depth qualitative firm-level data to analyse the extent to which the use of different learning mechanisms can explain differences in the accumulation of technological capabilities. This is explored via an examination of eight firms in the biomass power equipment industry in Malaysia during the period 1970–2011. The paper finds that firms relying on a combination of learning from foreign technology partners and internal learning by planned experimentation make most progress in terms of technological capability. Nevertheless, local spill-over effects were found to be important for some firms who learned principally from imitation of local competitors, although significantly, firms learning from local spillovers failed to advance beyond extra basic operating technological capabilities. Those firms who proactively pursued learning from foreign partners, on the other hand, advanced further, reaching basic innovative levels of technological capabilities. These findings are relevant for a wider range of industrial sectors in emerging economies.     

Employee representation on health and safety and European Works Councils

Three hundred and eighty‐six voluntary agreements on European Works Councils are examined for material that might support their role in transnational consultation on health and safety in Europe. A significant percentage do indeed support the potential development of consultation on health and safety at this level, both substantively and with representation on health and safety at enterprise level. However the support is uneven and in a number of areas it is relatively weak.