What effect does uncertainty have on the length of labor contracts?

The literature on duration of explicit labor contracts has suggested that increased uncertainty should be associated with shorter labor contracts. More recently, it has been argued that the effect of uncertainty on contract duration depends on the type of uncertainty involved. Specifically, if the uncertainty pertains to aggregate real shocks, then contract durations should increase as workers seek to insure themselves against the repercussions of such shocks. Using a sample of 1876 labor contracts signed during the period 1977–1988, this paper provides an empirical test of the foregoing hypothesis (known as the efficient risk sharing hypothesis). The paper presents results from estimation of a generalized-probit, simultaneous equation model, in which the dependent variables are contract length, indexation of the contract through a cost-of-living allowance, and the rate of wage change specified in the contract. The empirical findings confirm the efficient risk sharing hypothesis.     

Does Measurement Error Bias Fixed‐effects Estimates of the Union Wage Effect?

This paper compares estimates of the union wage effect using cross-section and panel estimators for male manual full-time and female employees using data from the British Household Panel Survey, 1991-1997. A comparison of cross-section and panel estimates suggests that unobserved heterogeneity biases cross-section estimates upwards. However, it is also found that the divergence between estimates is overstated because measurement error biases the fixed-effects estimates downward. Reducing measurement error in the union variable by taking averages and restricting changes in union status to occur only when a change in employer and/or job takes place increases fixed-effects estimates of the union wage effect.     

What are the antecedents of women’s entrepreneurial orientation?

This study seeks to identify the antecedents of women’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and exploring what possible relationships that may exist between them. The research focuses on women entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in a quantitative perspective whose methodology consisted of the collection of primary data through a survey distributed to women in Portugal. After structural equation modelling was applied, the results suggested that recognition of opportunities influences EO. This influence is expressed both directly and indirectly through training in management and entrepreneurial skills. These findings led to the conclusion that policies promoting training for community members, in general, need to be rethought and policies need to emphasise training in management that enhances entrepreneurial skills, thereby increasing the proliferation of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education and training should be promoted from basic education onwards in order to develop entrepreneurial skills from an early age. Prior to this study, the relationships between opportunity recognition, management training and entrepreneurial skills have never been studied in relation to women.     

What are the predictors of nonprofit association members' supportive behaviors?

This study investigates the factors of members' supportive behavioral intentions to donate and recommend membership to others in the context of engineering professional membership associations. Using data collected from 3,464 members across three engineering professional membership associations, this study found that age, past donation experience, personal and professional benefits, gender, income, and longevity in the field were significant factors to determine giving intention, while personal benefits, professional benefits, past behaviors (donation and volunteering), and longevity in the field were predictors of membership recommendation intentions of engineering professionals.     

What Are the Lessons from Post‐Communist Transitions?

This paper provides a review of the literature on post‐communist transitions. It outlines the debate between the proponents of rapid reforms and the advocates of neo‐institutionalism. Providing evidence from the transitional countries, it suggests an alternative approach, explicitly acknowledging the impact of two categories of constraints on reforms.     

What are the determinants of financial well-being? A Bayesian LASSO approach

The financial well-being (FWB) of individuals is a topic that is becoming increasingly important across a multitude of disciplines. In this study, we use the 2016 National Financial Well-Being Survey administered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to assess the determinants of an individual's FWB. We identify 144 potential covariates that could explain variation in the FWB score of individuals. The statistical methodology of choice is the Bayesian LASSO, which is a covariate selection algorithm that also allows for the importance ranking of covariates. Out of the 144 potential covariates, we find that 26 have 95% credible intervals that do not contain zero. Broadly speaking, the results show that objective measures of financial competency and psychological and sociological factors contribute the bulk of the explanatory power that help explain an individual's FWB score.     

Friend or foe? The impact of high‐performance work practices on workplace bullying

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between high‐performance work practices (HPWPs) and workplace bullying and identify possible mediators. The study presents hypotheses based on two competing perspectives: a mutual gains perspective, arguing that HPWPs lead to higher perceptions of justice and less role conflict, thereby reducing the risk of bullying; and, a critical perspective, arguing that HPWPs lead to work intensification and competition among colleagues, and thereby to more bullying. A two‐wave survey (n = 209) was conducted among business professionals in Finland. The results show that HPWPs are associated with less bullying, and justice and role conflict mediated the relationship. Thus, the results provide support for the mutual gains perspective on HPWPs, challenging prevailing assumptions in the bullying literature that suggest performance‐enhancing HR practices are a risk factor. Instead, the results point to the significance of HPWPs as an important tool to prevent bullying.     

What Motivates Experts to Share? A Prospective Test of the Model of Knowledge‐Sharing Motivation

Knowledge sharing is an employee behavior, critical to organizational success in knowledge‐intensive work environments. This study set out to empirically test the model of knowledge‐sharing motivation designed and presented in this journal by Gagné (2009). The model combines two established behavioral theories, the theory of planned behavior and self‐determination theory, and connects various human resource practices to it. This prospective survey study ( n = 200) in a large expert organization employed structural equation modeling. The results mainly supported the proposed model, with attitudes, autonomous motivation, and sharing norms predicting knowledge‐sharing intentions ( R² = .69), which predicted knowledge‐sharing behavior ( R² = .42). We also identified potential ways to modify the model to better suit typical knowledge‐sharing contexts. Implications for practice, with the emphasis on how our findings can benefit and be used by human resource management, are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

When do high‐level managers believe they can influence the stock price? Antecedents of stock price expectancy cognitions

Stock based rewards are often used to motivate high‐level managers to take actions to increase the stock price of the firm. However, numerous constraints may weaken the perceived link between individual effort and stock price appreciation for many recipients. This study introduces a new construct, stock price expectancy, which we define as individuals' perceptions of influence over their firm's stock price. We examined its antecedents in a sample of 349 high‐level U.S. managers and found that employment at corporate headquarters, firm size, hierarchical level, and contact with investment analysts predicted stock price expectancy perceptions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The frequency of visiting a doctor: Is the decision to go independent of the frequency?

In his analysis of the effects of the reform of the German healthcare system, Winkelmann (Journal of Applied Econometrics 2004; 19 : 455–472) investigates the number of doctor visits. He makes a distinction between the decision to go to a physician and the number of times the physician is visited in the observed time period. Winkelmann finds that there is no correlation between both decisions. This result appears to be far from straightforward since the primary driving force in both decisions will be the health of the patient. From this perspective a significant correlation is expected. In this paper, I first replicate part of Winkelmann's research. I then set out to analyse whether the zero correlation is actually true or comes from the way the relation between both decisions is modelled. My empirical analysis confirms the latter, but nevertheless also corroborates Winkelmann's main conclusions on the relevance of the explanatory variables used in his investigation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How Serious are the Problems of Japan’s Banks?

One of the three main planks of Japan’s new leader’s election platform was reform of the banking sector, including rapid disposal of bad debts and improved disclosure. In this article, Alistair Barr assesses the scale of Japan’s banking problems and their implications for the Japanese economy. He argues that these problems are a major obstacle to sustained growth. However, in the short run improved disclosure, adequate bad debt provisioning and the rapid disposal of bad debts could have very serious negative impact on the economy.     

Does the configuration of macro‐ and micro‐institutional environments affect the effectiveness of green supply chain integration?

Despite the importance of the general environment in affecting the effectiveness of green supply chain integration (GSCI), our understanding of the roles of different configurations of macro‐ and micro‐institutional environments remains limited. Based on institutional theory and resource mobilization theory, this study examined the moderating effects of the configurations of macro‐ and micro‐institutional environments on the GSCI performance link employing both a configuration and a contingency perspective. Our findings from a longitudinal survey of 206 Chinese manufacturing firms provide empirical evidence for the coexistence and nature of macro‐ and micro‐institutional environments and their moderating effect on the GSCI performance link. Specifically, the results revealed that Chinese manufacturers can be clustered into three groups with different macro‐ and micro‐institutional environments (i.e., cognizant, sensible, and conscious manufacturers). Furthermore, the configuration of macro‐ and micro‐institutional environments moderates the effect of green supplier integration on social performance, as well as the effects of green customer integration on financial, environmental, and social performance. This study contributes to both the GSCI literature and practices.     

Pulling in different directions? Exploring the relationship between vertical pay dispersion and high‐performance work systems

Vertical pay dispersion (VPD), a hierarchical pay structure used to motivate employees, has traditionally been studied separately from high‐performance work systems (HPWSs). As a component of HPWSs, incentive‐based compensation schemes focus on employee‐ or team‐level incentives. However, the influence of the simultaneous utilization of VPD and HPWS on performance remains understudied. This study addresses the question of whether these approaches to managing human capital serve as complements or substitutes to one another. VPD and HPWS are argued to substitute for one another with respect to motivation‐ and skill‐enhancing practices. The opposite notion is true in regard to opportunity‐enhancing HPWSs, which serve to amplify the effectiveness of VPD. In a multisource, longitudinal sample of South Korean firms, the hypothesized predictions are supported.     

What is the globalisation of inflation?

This paper studies the globalisation of CPI inflation by analysing core, energy and food components, testing for structural breaks in the relationships between domestic inflation and a corresponding country-specific foreign inflation series at the monthly frequency for OECD countries. The iterative methodology employed separates coefficient and variance breaks, while also taking account of outliers. We find that the overall pattern of globalisation in aggregate inflation is largely driven by convergence of the mean levels of the core component from the early 1990s, compatible with the introduction of inflation targeting in many countries of our sample. There is less evidence of increased synchronisation of shortrun movements in core than aggregate inflation, but an increased role for shortrun foreign energy inflation often contributes to the globalisation effect.     

The reform of Joint Labour Committees—the re‐commodification of labour?

The reform of Joint Labour Committees in Ireland is analysed as a victory for neoliberalism within the shell of pluralist traditions in industrial relations: a floor of rights is transformed into an ‘iron ceiling’; worker voice is drastically reduced; reform is consistent with the re‐commodification of labour within the EU.     

Standardization of Network Technologies: Market Processes or the Result of Inter‐Firm Co‐operation?

As recent studies on the evolution of a technology indicate, the role of a standard, or dominant design, is highly significant in a number of contemporary industries such as computer, telecommunications and consumer electronics. Following Katz' and Shapiro's pioneering works (1985), our paper rationally evaluates the concepts and results developed over the past ten years in this field. It is grounded on a typology of two types of models: the first is based on users' anticipatory behaviour, and the second, on the collaborative behaviour of existing firms. The article initially discusses the specificity of network technologies, then analyses market standardisation models, and finally, studies the different actors models. Our conclusion builds upon existing works in network technologies. We next propose a research agenda     

Broad‐based employee stock ownership: What makes it effective in the management of human resources?

Research linking broad‐based employee stock ownership (BESO) with firm performance continues to receive considerable attention both in and outside the field of management. Despite the evidence being generally positive regarding the BESO–firm performance relationship, there has been a relative dearth of research providing insights into the circumstances surrounding the effectiveness of BESO. With this research gap in mind, we formulated and launched this special issue. This guest editor introduction begins with a look at the research on this topic, followed by a brief discussion of each article accepted for publication. We conclude by highlighting the major themes from the collective contributions of the articles and share insights regarding future research in this growing research domain.     

Workaholism versus work engagement and job crafting: What is the role of self‐management strategies?

Job crafting refers to the proactive actions employees take to redesign their jobs in order to get a better fit with their competencies, expectations, and wishes. So far, little is known about job crafting's underlying mechanisms. In this study, we examine how two different states of affective well‐being (workaholism and work engagement) relate to job crafting 3 months later and how these well‐being states steer different self‐management behaviours, which ultimately lead to job crafting. Structural equation modelling on a heterogeneous sample (N = 287) revealed that work engagement and workaholism both relate to expansive job crafting through different self‐management strategies. Work engagement relates to challenge and resource seeking via self‐goal setting and self‐observation strategies, whereas workaholism associates with challenge and resource seeking only through self‐goal setting. In addition, the results show a strong relationship between workaholism and self‐punishment. Altogether, the findings suggest that self‐management strategies can function as an explanatory mechanism for different job crafting behaviours.