Cutting wages and employment in the public sector: Smarter fiscal consolidation strategies needed

This article provides an overview of the impact of public sector pay and employment cutbacks in EU countries and discusses their justification as part of austerity packages. It begins with the outcomes in the countries first hit by the economic crisis before discussing the impact of the crisis and the perceived need for austerity on collective bargaining in the public sector of other EU countries. It then turns to the arguments put forward for focusing on public sector cuts as a means of fiscal consolidation and submits them to critical review. Policy conclusions are drawn regarding collective bargaining, public sector pay issues and pathways to fiscal consolidation in Europe that would be more effective in economic terms and more equitable in social terms.     

Financial reporting for sustainable development: Critical insights into IFRS implementation in the European Union

By adopting a political economy perspective to accounting, this paper provides an overall post-implementation assessment of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption relative to the European Union’s (EU’s) fundamental goal of sustainable development. The paper questions the consistency of the International Accounting Standards Board’s business view with the EU’s and provides some critical insights into the potential long-run effects of IFRS on the European economy and society. Therefore, it raises several doubts about unquestioned accounting standardization at a global level and makes some suggestions for future policymaking and research.     

Process principle- The way to company＇s competitiveness

Seeking ways to increase company＇s competitiveness under current economic and social conditions brought us to investigate internal and external barriers. These reflect contradictions between participants to creation of company＇s output both in internal and external value creation process. These contradictions were identified and their causes are determined. That requires also considering about the trends that are characteristic of the current development in marketing where versatile development of customer orientation dominates. The general governing principle of overcoming the barriers to the growth of company＇s competitiveness is applied by the process approach in organisation and management. The mater is namely using the potential of supply chain management, as well as product and manufacture management, last but not least systematic creation of customer value with the objective of creating a loyal customer and employee.     

Measuring Individual Preferences for Rural Multifunctionality: The Importance of Demographic and Residential Heterogeneity

We propose an approach to conceptualise ‘rural multifunctionality’ and further investigate peoples’ preferences for it. We use an opinion survey concerning individual preferences for several functions that rural spaces should provide. We use the analytical hierarchy process approach to assess the relative importance of each function. The results show how the social weightings of these functions are balanced, confirming that society demands truly multifunctional rural territories. Nonetheless, differences are found in individual preferences. We explore the demographic and socioeconomic determinants of these individual preferences, paying particular attention to the importance of heterogeneity using seemingly unrelated regressions. In short, results from this research could be employed as a useful informative element for the future development of public policies related to rural spaces.     

Human resource management and developing proactive environmental strategies: The influence of environmental training and organizational learning

The need to implement advanced approaches to protect the environment is forcing companies to refocus their internal procedures and actions. To match employees' capabilities and the organization itself to these new requirements, the human resource management department can offer some key tools. This article analyzes whether environmental training (ET) and organizational learning (OL) positively influence the development of proactive environmental strategies (PESs) and compares the two processes, which differ in the time, costs, and difficulty required to implement them. Companies in the tourism sector are currently facing a highly dynamic environment where innovativeness is a decisive factor for achieving competitiveness. As such, we analyze whether the presence or absence of innovativeness influences the development of these two mechanisms. Using a sample of 252 tourism companies, we tested these relationships using structural equation modeling. The findings showed that (1) innovativeness is an antecedent of implementing ET and OL in the companies sampled, (2) both mechanisms promote implementing PESs, and (3) ET is equally as effective as OL for this purpose. Managers should take these findings into account when deciding which mechanism to apply when striving to achieve environmental proactivity.     

Employment and SMEs during crises

The persistent increasing duration of unemployment has become an issue during economic crises. Although lay-offs at large firms normally make headlines during crises, we still know little about the potential impact of firm size on adjustment behavior in a crisis. We studied effects of firm size on employment growth during economic slowdowns using a rich microeconomic database for the 1988–2007 period in Portuguese manufacturing industry. The results show that economic downturns affect firm growth negatively. This negative effect is found to be higher for larger firms, both during and immediately following crisis periods. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) emerge as potential stabilizers in downturn periods. However, larger firms seem to be able to quickly recover from downturn periods. Our results contribute to the scarce literature and to the understanding of the Portuguese case, where many SMEs secure most jobs. These first results may be useful, because SMEs play a determinant role in other European Union economies.