Legal migration and illegal migration: the effectiveness of qualitative and quantitative restriction policies

By considering the optimal behaviour of illegal mi grants who must confront the various enforcement techniques adopted by the host country, we show that an increase in penalties, in travel cost, or in the possibility of detection, would be effective in the 'qualitative ' objective but not in the 'quantitative' objective. Moreover. when a host country starts accepting skilled legal migrants, if the required skill level is relatively low and the possibility of detection is sufficiently high , an increase in penalties will be effective in both objectives.     

Inequality,leverage and crises: Theory and evidence revisited

Rajan points to rising income inequality as a root cause of the recent financial crisis through high household leverage. The Rajan hypothesis has ignited debate over the relationship between inequality, leverage and crises. Kumhof, Ranciere, and Winant prove the validity of this hypothesis with a theoretical formulation, but empirical studies provide mixed evidence using different samples and estimators. To clarify this controversy, we re‐examine the issue by using the same data as in the literature and provide additional evidence after taking into account the role of asset bubbles and policy interventions. Our regression is based on a new tractable theoretical model that is supported by key stylised facts, and all our analyses confirm the existence of the inequality–leverage–crisis nexus.     

我国农村劳动力转移模式调整:成因和涵义

改革开放以来,我国农村劳动力持续向非农产业转移,转移方式包括就地转移和异地转移。分析了我国农村劳动力两种转移模式的互动特征、内外制约因素及其社会经济效应。两种转移模式呈明显的轮替关系,转移模式失衡和被动调整是改革开放后一阶段收入分配效应降低的重要原因。     

农村劳动力迁移与中国工资收入不平等的地区差异:来自2005年全国人口抽样调查的证据

利用2005年全国1%人口抽样调查数据研究中国各地区农村劳动力流动和地区(县/区)内部工资性收入不平等的关系。中国地区间的差异是个人工资收入不平等最突出的决定因素,而地区内不平等程度也存在着很大的差别。农村劳动力人口的迁入有助于降低区内的收入不平等,而迁出则起相反的作用,而且这两种作用在县、县级市和市辖区间存在着显著差别。在研究中国劳动力流动与地区内和地区间的不平等关系时,应该从迁入、迁出两个角度分析其影响,并将城乡分割的二元劳动力市场状况考虑进来。     

The time-harried shopper: Exploring the differences between maximizers and satisficers

Schwartz and his colleagues have proposed individual differences in consumer decision goals. Maximizers are those who always strive to make the best possible decision, whereas satisficers are those who are usually willing to settle for a “good enough” option. In this study, we explore the influence of the maximizing trait in situations where consumers have to make quick purchase decisions. The context for our empirical study is online gift purchases made under a time constraint. The results support our predictions that maximizers (vs. satisficers) engage in more prepurchase browsing behavior and also perceive more decision time pressure. Furthermore, these effects are moderated by the size of the available choice assortment. The results also show that maximizers are more likely to change their initial time-constrained choices if given the opportunity to do so. We discuss the implications of the research for the study of individual differences in consumer behavior and also for customizing retail sales and Internet marketing tactics based on buyer segmentation.     

Gender differences in Egyptian consumers’ green purchase behaviour: the effects of environmental knowledge,concern and attitude

This study investigates the influence of three cognitive and attitudinal factors on gender differences in green purchase behaviour. Using a large sample size (n = 1093), a survey has been developed and administered across Egypt. The findings from the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) confirm the influence of consumers’ ecological knowledge, concern and attitude on gender differences in green purchase behaviour. Consistent with previous studies, this study found that women appeared to be less aware of environmental issues compared with men. However, contrary to other studies conducted in the West, men showed more environmental concern and more positive outlook towards green purchase compared with women. The study discusses how the present findings may help policy makers and marketers alike to fine‐tune their environmental and marketing programmes.     

Firm size and growth in Sweden's life insurance market between 1855 and 1947: A test of Gibrat's law

Using data for the period from 1855 to 1947 and the two sub-periods, 1855–1902 and 1903–47, the article examines whether the organic growth rates of 38 Swedish life insurance firms are independent of size, as predicted by Gibrat's (1931) Law of Proportionate Effects. Using panel unit root tests and panel Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) regression, the article finds a significant difference between the growth rates of small and large Swedish life insurance firms (with smaller firms tending to grow faster than larger firms), a result that clearly contradicts Gibrat's Law as a long-run tendency in the Swedish life insurance sector. significant influences were also found on firm growth from profitability, organisational form, reinsurance, the real rate of interest and the Swedish regulatory environment.     

Competition,firm size and returns to skills: Evidence from currency shocks and market liberalisations

We investigate the impact of product market competition on returns to skills in Italy using a longitudinal dataset on individual working histories. This impact is identified using three exogenous shocks affecting competition: the unforeseen devaluation of the Lira in 1992, its return to a fixed exchange regime in 1996 and the market liberalisation in the utility and transport sectors in the late 1990s–early 2000s. We analyse how firm heterogeneity and shocks of different types and signs affect the impact of competition on skill premia. We find that opposite shocks have opposite effects: an increase (resp. decrease) in international competition increases (resp. decreases) skill premia. Moreover, international shocks have greater effects on medium sized firms, while domestic liberalisation shocks have greater effects on large incumbents.     

Top management team characteristics and firm internationalization: The moderating role of the size of middle managers

This paper examines the influence of the top management teams' (TMTs) characteristics, including tenure and international experience, on the degree of firm internationalization. In addition, this study explores the moderating effect of the size of middle managers (MMs) on the relationship between the TMT characteristics and the degree of firm internationalization. This study use the information-process perspective to emphasize that MMs provide information processing capabilities that assist TMTs as they cope with the high information-processing demands of the strategic decision-making process in international markets. We test the hypotheses using a sample of listed manufacturing firms in the electro-optical and textile industries during the 2006–2010 period. The findings indicate that TMT tenure has an inverted U-shaped relationship with firm internationalization and TMT international experience has a positively affect the firm internationalization. Furthermore, we find that large MM size positively enhances the inverted U-shaped relationship between TMT tenure and firm internationalization.     

The Yin and Yang of entrepreneurship: Gender differences in the importance of communal and agentic characteristics for entrepreneurs' subjective well-being and performance

This research examines gender differences in the relationships of entrepreneurs' agentic and communal personality characteristics with measures of subjective well-being and new venture performance. Results from a stratified national (USA) random sample of founding CEOs (N = 303) demonstrate the advantages of an agentic characteristic (creativity) for women and a communal characteristic (teamwork) for men, with regard to the respective abilities of such persons to achieve high levels of subjective well-being and new venture performance. These relative advantages for women and men were mediated by perceptions of person-work fit.     

Culture and Technology:

The classic study of the relationship between technological innovation and culture has been that of the influence and changes wrought by a technological innovation upon a culture: The Culture Follows Technology school of thought. In this paper we examine the opposite flow: the influence of culuture upon the technological innovative capabilities of a society-Technology Follows Culture. We examine this flow and suggest propositions upon a society's innate ability to source or adopt technological innovations based upon the five Hofstede cultural dimensions.