Small business and job creation: Dissecting the myth and reassessing the facts

This paper investigates how job creation and destruction behavior varies by employer size in the U.S. manufacturing sector during the period 1972 to 1988. The paper also evaluates the empirical basis for conventional claims about the job-creating prowess of small businesses. The chief findings and conclusions fall into five categories:

Unravelling the mystery of low Japanese profit rates

Japanese companies have, it is claimed, pursued growth and market share at the expense of profitability and dividends–precisely those policies which those concerned with the "creation of shareholder value" would deplore. This paper shows that while operating profitability has indeed been lower in Japan than in the West, returns to shareholders have been higher. While part of the difference is explained by differences in business conventions, a gap remains. An examination of valuation and price-earnings ratios suggests that the growth in the underlying value of the business has generally more than compensated for lower operating profits. Japanese experience suggests that excessive emphasis on "shareholder value" may not only damage the economy but may not be in the interest of shareholders themselves.     

工作满意度、情感承诺和工作投入对工作技能评价结果的影响

In this study, we surveyed 272 post-holders from four different occupations, namely, public servants in charge of HR administration, software engineers, web editors, and newspaper advertisement salesperson. We found that the three job attitude variables of job satisfaction, affective commitment and job involvement all have significant effects upon job skill importance ratings and skill level ratings after controlling for occupational and demographic variables. Further comparison revealed that job satisfaction has a greater influence upon the above two ratings than affective commitment and job involvement. Also, we studied several occupations comprehensively in the present article, which is beneficial to a deeper understanding of factors influencing job analysis ratings and is thus of great importance to future job analysis research and practice. __________ Translated from Xinli xuebao 心理学报 (Acta Psychological Sinica), 2007, 39(1): 146–154     

Liability-of-foreignness effects on job success of immigrant job seekers

We examined the liability-of-foreignness (LOF) hypothesis for immigrant and native job seekers by analyzing a national dataset that tracks their use of job-search methods and their associated job outcomes in the Canadian labor market. To our knowledge this is the first empirical test of LOF at the individual-level while controlling for variables at multiple levels. We found support for LOF when job applicants used the rich media job-search methods of social networks and recruitment agencies, but not when they used the lean media of newspaper ads and the Internet. Study limitations, implications, and future research are discussed.     

Health insurance and job creation by the self-employed

Health insurance is regulated at the state level by the use of state-mandated health benefits. These are regulations issued by the state that mandate minimum levels of certain benefits as part of policies offered, e.g., drug abuse and alcohol treatment services, treatment for mental illnesses, etc. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of state health insurance mandates on job creation by small firms using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) dataset for the period 1993–1995. Results from an ordered probit regression indicate that, the larger the number of mandates in a state, the lower the probability that a self-employed person will be a significant employment generator. These results hold when we consider both the sum of mandates as well as a cost-weighted measure of the most expensive mandates.     

Marketing retirement—or staying on the job

Financial packages provide the most common incentive to meet the legal requirement that retirement be voluntary. However, managers have other tools to encourage retirement or encourage staying on the job—within legal constraints and consistent with current health insurance changes that may make pre-65 retirement more desirable. In using these tools, managers must consider demographic realities that offer a large cohort available to replace retirees. To assist managers, a qualitative study among human resource experts probed how companies decide between encouraging retirement and encouraging staying on the job and also how each is accomplished to maintain a workforce best matched to job requirements. Suggestions for marketing retirement include starting early to encourage saving so that employees can afford to retire and improving the retirement ‘product’ by flexible alternatives to full-time work, including self-employment. Suggestions for keeping employees on the job include tailoring schedules and rewards to the preferences and needs of individuals who might otherwise retire.     

Employee job rights: Foundation considerations

Employee job rights have become a controversial issue, with some courts ruling employees have a fundamental right in retaining their job. Employment at will and assigning the worker a property right to his job are examined from three paradigms of social interaction. An alternative model is presented, and is more consistent with each of the three paradigms. Rick Molz is Assistant Professor of Management at Clarkson University. He was Vice-president of the Hickson Electric Corp. from 1975–1981. His articles have appeared in such journals as The Journal of Business Strategy and Business Horizons.     

Attitudes toward advertising held by the boomers and the busters: some facts and myths

In the United States one of the common perceptions of young consumers, called the baby busters or the Xers, is that they are more critical of advertising in general than the baby boomers. Unfortunately, however, little empirical evidence is available to back up this perception. This study compares the boomers and the busters in terms of their general attitude towards advertising and specific advertising beliefs. Contrary to popular press reports that busters have a more negative attitude towards advertising than baby boomers, no significant differences were found in the two groups' general attitude towards advertising and in four of five ad-belief factors. In fact, the busters were found to have more favourable beliefs about advertising's utility as a source of hedonic amusement, challenging the popular press portrayal of the busters as ‘cynical gripers’. On the other hand, consistent with the popular press reports, regression analysis showed that the busters are knowing consumers and they are perhaps more suspicious and critical of advertising hypes than the boomers. Since the findings may be relevant only in the US market, replications of the study in other countries would be an important contribution to global marketers.     

中国省份工业经济短期波动的相似性:典型化事实

根据基于BP滤波方法得到的中国各省份工业经济短期波动的成分,发现大部分省份与全国工业经济波动的同步性不高,各省份在同步性、易变性、处于收缩期的时间比重和波幅上也存在明显的差异,但没有证据表明存在东、中、西的区域经济周期现象。聚类分析形成了经济发展相对滞后的区域,公有经济、能源经济比重较高的区域,私人资本、外资活跃的区域以及少数异质性程度较高的区域的分类结果。最后在此基础上提出了相应的政策含义和进一步研究方向。