What does the future hold for giving? An approach using the social representations of Generation Y

• Nowadays, not‐for‐profit organizations and charities face the ageing of donors and a growing debate over monetary donation collection methods. They need to find solutions to attract younger generations of donors. Could this be done using the same methods applied to older generations? This present research investigates social representations (SRs) of giving by younger generations to understand how not‐for‐profit organizations and charities should approach them. The study focuses on SRs of a French sample of 276 individuals from Generation Y born between 1979 and 1991. It uses the free association technique. The results show paradoxical representations of giving. Institutionalization of giving is salient as representation of it as a freely consenting act. The paradox relies also in the strong presence of a relationship with others that parallels the gift as an individualistic choice.
• Generation Y individuals appear to be sociable, yet they evoke more sharing and solidarity than charity. Institutionalized forms of giving, particularly via charities and not‐for‐profit organizations, are rejected. These individuals seem to express their individuality through practices that resemble sharing rather than giving. From a managerial point of view, these results shed light on the factors liable to cause members of this generation to give, such as (i) the use of social networks, (ii) appealing to pleasure, festivities and efficiency rather than to guilt and duty, and (iii) encouragement to “work within the not‐for‐profit organization”.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Pollution Regulation and Litigation in the Development of the U.S. Meatpacking Industry, 1865-1880

Business historians have treated the emergence of large, modern,vertically integrated meatpacking firms in the second half ofthe nineteenth century as the economically rational and inevitableproduct of the industry's search for ways to maximize profitsthrough technological innovation, vertical integration, andthe achievement of economies of scale and scope. This is onlypart of the story, however. Society's efforts to force the industryto abate its environmental pollution through government regulationand private lawsuits also stimulated and shaped these processesof modernization.     

Interaktion mit Online-Communities — Spielregeln zur Stärkung der Marke

Zusammenfassung  Innerhalb kürzester Zeit hat sich im Internet eine gro?e Bandbreite von Online-Communities entwickelt, als fester Bestandteil der Beziehungswelt vieler Kunden. Unternehmen k?nnen für die Markenführung der Zukunft das Thema Online-Communities nicht mehr ausklammern, finden sich aber h?ufig im Internetdschungel (noch) nicht zurecht. Um Bewertungsportale, Blogs, Social Networking Sites, Virtual Worlds etc. im Sinne der Marke verstehen und nutzen zu k?nnen müsse Markenmanager eine Reihe von Spielregeln erlernen und beachten. Dr. Claudia Fisher-Buttinger Markenberaterin und Gründerin der Lemontree Brand Strategy mit Sitz in München. Dr. Christine Vallaster Dozentin an der Hochschule Liechtenstein in Vaduz am Institut für Entrepreneurship.     

The relative efficiency of commodity futures markets

The ability of futures markets to predict subsequent spot prices has been a controversial topic for a number of years. Empirical evidence to date is mixed; for any given market, some studies find evidence of efficiency, others of inefficiency. In part, these apparently conflicting findings reflect differences in the time periods analyzed and the methods chosen for testing. A limitation of existing tests is the classification of markets as either efficient or inefficient with no assessment of the degree to which efficiency is present. This article presents tests for unbiasedness and efficiency across a range of commodity and financial futures markets, using a cointegration methodology, and develops a measure of relative efficiency. In general, the findings suggest that spot and futures prices are cointegrated with a slope coefficient that is close to unity, so that the postulated long-run relationship is accepted. However, there is evidence that the long-run relationship does not hold in the short run; specifically, changes in the spot price are explained by lagged differences in spot and futures prices as well as by the basis. This suggests that market inefficiencies exist in the sense that past information can be used by agents to predict spot price movements. A measure of the relative degree of inefficiency (based on forecast error variances) is then used to compare the performance of different markets. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 413–432, 1999     

Can national infrastructure spending reduce local unemployment? Evidence from an Australian roads program

We examine the effect of a federally-funded local infrastructure spending program on local unemployment rates. To address the likely funding endogeneity problem, we exploit variation in spending due to pork-barreling, and find that higher government expenditure on roads substantially reduces local unemployment.     

DISSIMILAR STRUCTURAL AND CONTROL PROFILES OF EDUCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL ORGANIZATIONS[1]

This article contrasts the characteristic structural and control profiles of educational organizations with those of technical organizations. A group of primary and secondary schools and the operating units of an industrial firm differed both in structural variables and in three activities of control: buffering, smoothing, and forecasting. the article suggests that educational organizations emphasize modes of control that operate on components peripheral rather than central to the organization's technical core.