Segregation and gender wage gaps in the private and the public sectors: an analysis of Danish linked employer–employee data, 2002–2012

This paper examines the relation between segregation and the gender wage gap in the public and the private sectors in Denmark from 2002 to 2012. The analysis shows that male–female differences in the share of females in occupations, industries, establishments and job cells (occupations within establishments) constitute 46 % of the raw gender wage gap in the private sector, while segregation in the public sector accounts for as much as 63 %. Segregation thus plays a substantially more important role in accounting for the gender wage gap in the public sector than in the private sector. While the importance of segregation for wage formation decreased substantially in the public sector over time, it only decreased slightly in the private sector. Although the remaining gender wage gap, after controlling for segregation, is close to zero in the public sector, a substantial within-job cell differential remains after controlling for segregation in the private sector.     

An adapted TPB approach to consumers’ acceptance of service-delivery drones

Organisations and marketers have long debated the consumer–brand relationship. Theorising related to this debate led to self-service technologies, which were implemented to both reduce costs and increase productivity by turning customers into co-producers of services or merely to keep up with technological developments. With the emergence of disruptive technologies, it is imperative to discuss the potential shift from a customer co-created value to a customer–technology relationship that could disrupt the value-based relationship model. In line with advancements in service-delivery drones, and based on the theory of planned behaviour framework, this paper pioneers the discussion on consumers’ intention to accept their use based on their related perceived risks, potential functional benefits, and relational attributes, leading to a new type of relationship with the brand – namely, the customer–drone relationship. This discussion opens a new direction for retailers and academics alike to reflect on during the coming years.     

Comparing the Forecasting Performance of Futures Oil Prices with Genetically Evolved Neural Networks

In this paper, a hybrid system combining neural networks and genetic training is designed to forecast future oil prices. The architectural design is that of the multilayer back propagation network that is fed monthly prices for West Texas Intermediate covering the period 1986–2014. The model’s predictions are compared to those of the one, two, three, and four-month futures prices and are evaluated both on their level of accuracy as well as correctness. While accuracy measures the degree of error, correctness tests the model’s ability to predict the direction of the movement. By processing information more efficiently, and identifying patterns that may be ill-defined as a result of pronounced price volatility, this paper aims to improve the accuracy of oil price forecasts.     

Financial profiles and the disclosure of expenditures for socially responsible purposes

Recently the relationship between “socially responsible” activities and the financial performance of corporations has received attention in the business literature. Most studies have focused on the market reaction of shareholders to the disclosure of both monetary and nonmonetary corporate contributions relating to pollution control, employee welfare, affirmative action, and other activities deemed to be in the public interest. Results of this research have been mixed, with some authors finding favorable market response to socially responsible actions, and others finding no difference between the market performance of more and less responsible firms. The purpose of this paper is to examine financial performance and socially responsible activities from a different perspective. Specifically, it examines the relationship between the disclosure of monetary expenditures for various social initiatives and composite financial accounting profiles of disclosing and nondisclosing firms. Using two-group discriminant analysis, the authors conclude that management tends to disclose monetary expenditures for these generally nonproductive purposes at times when the financial statements of the firm otherwise look favorable to shareholders. Such disclosure in a sample of Fortune 500 firms in 1976 and 1977 was clearly not unrelated to financial performance, and neither did it appear to occur in order to explain relatively poor financial statements.     

Scientific publications, patents and technological capabilities in late-industrializing countries

Investments in learning in late-industrializing countries have began to include outputs in the form of scientific publications and patents. We examine the patterns which these outputs take by correlating their growth rates with foreign investment, capital formation, R&D expenditures and other variables. We also analyze the scientfic fields of Publications. Where possible, we compare the patterns of latecomers with those af advanced countries, and try to assess whether there has been convergence or divergence in the number of patents and scientific publications over time.     

Struggling with Meaningfulness when Context Shifts: Volunteer Work in a German Refugee Shelter

This article draws on an ethnographic study of volunteer work in a German refugee shelter to explore how individual experiences of meaningfulness are intertwined with shifting discursive and organisational contexts. At the beginning of the so‐called refugee crisis, societal discourses portrayed this volunteer work as extraordinarily meaningful – a state we capture through the metaphor of ‘overflow’. This ‘overflow’ mobilised volunteers and was an important point of reference for framing their work experiences as meaningful. Later, shifting discursive and organisational contexts challenged their framings. Instead of letting go, however, the ‘overflow’ triggered volunteers to reframe their experience in dysfunctional ways in order to sustain their sense of meaningfulness. This paper reveals how shifting societal discourses feed into individual experiences of meaningfulness, shows how individuals may respond to such shifts in problematic ways and theorises the nature of such shifts in drawing on Swidler’s notion of settling contexts.     

Hat die Einführung der Abgeltungsteuer Aktienkurse beeinflusst?

This paper discusses findings of a current research project whose results indicate that the implementation of the German flat withholding tax on capital gains at the turn of the year 2008–09 led to a temporary but significant increase in trading volumes and share prices on the German stock market. As this capital gains tax reform had already been announced in 2007, corresponding market reactions imply a delayed dissemination of tax information. Hence, our results raise some doubt regarding the information-processing capacity of stock markets. This holds true especially in the following circumstances: 1) extensive trading activities of individual investors with limited information access and attention; 2) a strong focus by a large group of individual investors to a limited number of trading days (herd behaviour); and 3) limited liquidity in the market (e.g. stocks with a small market capitalisation).