Too hot to handle? Trust and human resource practitioners' implementation of anti‐bullying policy

In this article, we examine the dynamics of trust in the triadic relationship between HR, employees and managers when dealing with allegations of workplace bullying. Previous research has shown employees to be dissatisfied with HR practitioners' responses to complaints of workplace bullying, and we explore the novel angle of the HR practitioners' perspective through semistructured interviews. Paralleling extant employee accounts, the findings suggest that HR practitioners rarely judge situations as bullying where a manager is accused. Trust between employee, manager and HR practitioner is essential for the successful resolution of bullying claims, yet this study suggests multiple directions of distrust. By virtue of their role alignment and previous experiences of handling bullying, HR practitioners were found to prioritise their relationships with managers, automatically distrusting employees' bullying claims. Despite also distrusting managers to effectively deliver HRM practices, it appears that bullying complaints are ‘too hot to handle’ for HR practitioners given the risks to their relationships with managers.     

The many faces of pay variation

Research on pay variation and organizational outcomes has yielded inconsistent results. We argue that this is due to a lack of construct clarity regarding pay variation, and we attempt to provide clarification by distinguishing among the sources and types of pay variation. Using these distinctions, we integrate different theoretical perspectives on pay variation, and we propose avenues through which different kinds of pay variations affect outcomes. This clarification also elucidates some measurement concerns affecting pay variation studies.     

Reconnecting Australian consumers and producers: Identifying problems of distrust

A growing gap between the production and consumption of food has led to a decline in consumer trust in food, and a desire for increased regulation of food. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of consumer trust in food production and regulation in the wake of shifts in food technology, globalisation and production. Semi-structured interviews (n = 47) were conducted in 2009 with participants living in rural and metropolitan South Australia. Rural participants were more trusting of food production because of their direct experience with producing food than their metropolitan counterparts. Consumers’ embeddedness in food production impacts their trust in food. Increasing local food production and consumption may increase consumer trust in food, and decrease consumer dependence on government regulation.     

Country-specific equity market characteristics and foreign equity portfolio allocation

Do country-specific equity market characteristics explain variations in foreign equity portfolio allocation? We study this question using comprehensive foreign equity portfolio holdings data and different measures of country-specific equity market factors for 36 host countries. Employing panel data econometric estimations, our investigation shows that foreign investors prefer to invest more in larger and highly visible developed markets which are more liquid, exhibit a higher degree of market efficiency and have lower trading costs. The findings imply that by improving the preconditions necessary for well-functioning capital markets, policymakers should be able to attract higher levels of foreign equity portfolio investments.     

Impacts and causes of land fragmentation, and lessons learned from land consolidation in South Asia

Landholdings and land parcels in South Asia are undergoing fragmentation, thereby accelerating the pace of their degradation and constraining agricultural development. Based on experiences gained in the region and elsewhere, this paper finds the fragmentation of small landholdings and tiny land parcels detrimental to land conservation and economic gain, thereby discouraging farmers from adoption of agricultural innovations. Primarily induced by the dependency of the major proportion of ever growing population on agriculture, the process of land fragmentation has been reinforced by the law of inheritance of paternal property, lack of progressive tax on inherited land, heterogeneous land quality and an underdeveloped land market. South Asian countries have had adopted policies and legal measures for facilitating land consolidation. However, desirable results were not achieved, as such interventions could not address structural causes of the problem. Broad policy and legal measures have been outlined for facilitating land consolidation in a sustainable way.     

An Error Corrected Almost Ideal Demand System for Crustaceans in the United States

We have employed an error-corrected almost ideal demand system (ECAIDS) for major crustaceans at a disaggregated level in the United States. The proposed model can provide short- and long-run price elasticities. This article makes an important empirical contribution by reporting a set of reliable, policy-relevant estimates of the elasticities of demand for crustaceans in the United States. The habit formation behavior was significant only for crayfish. The value pricing strategy and the promotional pricing strategy are expected to benefit the domestic shrimp industry. Increasing prices through various marketing strategies can benefit domestic producers of lobsters and crabs.     

Economic Liberalization and the Vintages of Machinery Imports in Developing Countries: An Empirical Test for India's Imports from the United Kingdom

Drawing upon new World Bank poverty data, the analysis examines the feasibility of attaining the Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty (MDG1) when the interrelationships between finance, institutions, trade liberalization, growth and poverty are taken into account. The authors' econometric results suggest a slowing down of poverty reduction in the more recent years since 2000. They also confirm: the role of better institutions in income growth, poverty reduction, trade openness and financial development; the role of financial development in economic growth; and the positive effect of capital liberalization on financial development. Simulations for different regions show that MDG1 is attainable in most regions if the historical growth rate is maintained over 2006–15. However, improvements in institutional quality are crucial for halving extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.     

ENGAGING TIMESHARE OWNERS IN TOURISM DESTINATION MANAGEMENT: TOURISM PLANNING AND TOURISM MARKETING IMPLICATIONS

It is important to understand tourists' willingness to participate in tourism planning and the factors influencing their willingness because they are an integral part of the destination and ultimately one of the main buyers of the product. Timeshare owners are a special group of tourists who have additional connections with the tourism destination through their timeshare. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among timeshare owners' perceptions of tourism planning, civic engagement, sense of place, and willingness to participate in tourism planning.

This study was based on a questionnaire survey of U.S. timeshare owners. The total sample size was 302. A two‐stage structural equation modeling approach was applied in data analysis. Results from the measurement model suggested that the model fit the data quite well. Results from the structural model suggested that timeshare owners' perceptions of tourism planning, their past history of civic participation, and their sense of place significantly impact their willingness to participate in tourism planning, while timeshare owners' past experience in political participation did not significantly affect their willingness to participate in tourism planning. Implications of the findings in tourism planning and tourism destination marketing are presented.