Derivative financial instrument use in Australia

This paper examines the relation between derivatives use and financial characteristics of Australian industrial and mining firms. The firm characteristics proxy for financial distress, tax losses, managerial ownership, growth opportunities, the ability to generate operating cash flows and liquidity. We also control for firm size, dividends and exposure to foreign exchange risk. The results show that firm size and leverage are the main explanatory variables for derivative use for both industrial and mining firms     

Safer piping: Awareness training for the process industries

The ‘Safer Piping’ video training package was produced by the International Process Safety Group (IPSG) to meet the urgent need for training material to stem the ever–growing number of accidents directly caused by piping failures. The IPSG, then under the Chairmanship of Bob Mill, Exxon Chemical Corporation, identified piping as the single most important cause of concern in a process plant. The aim was to raise safety standards by changing people's attitudes to piping.     

Health care reform and reform for health: creating a health system for communities in the 21st century

If we are to improve the health of the population and reduce the inequalities in health that plague our communities and our planet, we will have to give greater attention to the determinants of health. The reform of the health care system, necessary though it is, will never be sufficient; we need to reform our whole society and in particular to focus on human rather than economic development. At the community level we need to create healthy communities that are “health-creating systems” of environmental, social and human development, as well as health care systems that focus first on improving and maintaining health. Such a “bottom-down” health care system would see the hospital become once again the place of last resort (but still a potentially important partner in creating healthier communities) and would focus instead on how to provide health promotion and health care from the household level up.     

Assessing the Effects of Certification Networks on Sustainable Production and Consumption: The Cases of FLO and FSC

Private governance approaches to foster sustainability have gained importance in recent years. The article focuses on such approaches that involve actors from different parts of the value chain, as well as consumers, labour unions, and NGOs. As these approaches rely on the certification mechanism to document the adherence to environmental and social standards, we refer to them as “certification networks.” The main objective of these networks is to realize more sustainable production and consumption patterns from within existing market structures. Concerning their impact on sustainability, however, existing research revealed mixed results. This raises the question, how to systematically assess the success of certification networks. Referring to debates on private governance, this paper proposes to consider structural–material (e.g., altered market and incentive structures) and regulative–normative effects (e.g., altered institutions). Taking this broader perspective, two cases are analysed: The Fairtrade Labelling Organization and the Forest Stewardship Council.     

Developing the evidence base of patient and public involvement in health and social care research: the case for measuring impact

While patient and public involvement (PPI) in health and social care research has progressed successfully in the last decade, a range of difficulties with the evidence base exist, including poor understanding of the concept of impact, limited theorization and an absence of quantitative impact measurement. In this paper, we argue that a paradigm change towards robust measurement of the impact of involvement in research is needed to complement qualitative explorations. We argue that service users should be collaboratively involved in the conceptualization, theorization and development of instruments to measure PPI impact. We consider the key advantages measurement would bring in strengthening the PPI evidence base through a greater understanding of what works, for whom, in what circumstances and why.     

INFORMED TRADING RISK AND BID-ASK SPREAD CHANGES AROUND OPEN MARKET STOCK REPURCHASES IN THE NASDAQ MARKET

Microstructure theory contends that dealers' bid-ask spreads should vary intertemporally with changes in the asymmetric information component of the spread. Corporate theory suggests that stock repurchase announcements signal management's private information to the securities markets. An examination of dealers' spread behavior around firms' open market repurchases in the NASDAQ market reveals a decline in spreads adjusted for dealers' inventory-holding and order-processing costs. This decline is attributed to a reduction in informed trading risk associated with the open market repurchase announcements.     

Revisiting the research–practice gap in HR: A longitudinal analysis

Over 6300 articles published in 4 HR-focused journals over a 30-year period of time (1976–2005) were content analyzed according to 14 topic areas. The purpose of the study was to examine changes that have taken place over a 30-year time frame. Specifically, what HR issues dominate the field during the past and the present? And to what extent has the HR research–practice gap narrowed or widened over time? The results indicate that HR Development and Staffing were dominant HR issues throughout the past 30 years. In addition, some HR topics demonstrated a stable research–practice gap (Motivation-related issues), and other topics were characterized by an increasing gap (Compensation & rewards), a decreasing gap (Employee/Labor relations), or no significant gap (HR Developments, Staffing). These findings are discussed in the context of key human capital trends.     

Life changers: Making sense of the over 50s

This paper discusses the idea of a group of consumers of over 50s, known as ‘life changers’ who are at a critical turning point in their lives. It introduces the concept of lifestage, cohort and period effects as a way of providing a useful analytical framework to understand these consumers. It suggests that a range of non-traditional research techniques can be a powerful means of exploring sensitive and challenging issues with this age group. The paper concludes that exploring life changers shows a ‘one size fits all’ approach is no longer practical in marketing to the over 50s, and products such as current accounts and long-term care finance must be tailored more closely to fit life changers' needs.