Überschreitet die EZB mit ihren Staatsanleihekäufen ihr Mandat?

The ECB’s government bond purchases have become an issue for the German constitutional court. The authors see the OMT programme as falling within the bounds of its mandate but call for the ECB’s crisis policies to be strictly temporary. They argue that the OMT programme was necessary to safeguard fi nancial stability and that it does not endanger price stability in the short term. Moreover, they present evidence for the breakdown of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in the crisis countries and argue that the conditions for forbidden monetary government fi nancing are not met — provided the ECB sticks to certain conditions. Particularly, the ECB’s government bond purchases must maintain a clear distinction between the primary market and a functioning secondary market.     

Can a Reliable Framework for Sovereign-Backed Securities Be Established?

The European Commission has proposed the introduction of sovereign-backed securities (SBSs) as a class of safe assets for the euro area. SBSs are generated by an issuing agency that would purchase a representative portfolio of national sovereign bonds from the euro area. Purchases are financed by issuing (at least) two types of structured bonds: a risk-free senior SBS tranche and a risky junior SBS tranche. Overall, we recognise that the SBS concept has the potential to improve financial stability and financial integration in the euro area. However, we highlight several potentially severe technical and political problems. Most important for the SBS concept to function properly are the de-privileging of national sovereign bonds in bank regulation, rules to ensure conditionality in times of crisis and measures to prevent disincentives for national public finances. If such conditions remain elusive, we advise against the introduction of SBSs.     

Networks of queues with infinite servers in each node applied to the management of a two echelons repair system

After a report of results about infinite servers queues, essentially on its busy period, a model is built, using networks of queues with infinite servers in each node, to study a two echelons repair system for example of a fleet of aircraft, shipping or trucks. The customers are the failures, and their service time is the time that goes from the instant at which they occur till they are completely repaired. The failing repairs occur in a base or in a remote station. The whole failures detected in the base are repaired there. Some of the failures detected in the station are repaired there and the others in the base. The results referred above allow the determination of a two echelons repair system performance measures. In this application, models of Carrillo （1991） and Ferreira （1996） are considered, improved and completed. The theory is illustrated with a numerical example.     

Consumer trust, risk and food safety: A review

Consumers' attitudes to trust and risk are key issues in food safety research and attention needs to be focused on clearly defining a framework for analysing consumer behaviour in these terms. In order to achieve this, a detailed review of the recent literature surrounding risk, trust and the relationship between the two must be conducted. This paper aims to collate the current social sciences literature in the fields of food safety, trust and risk. It provides an insight into the economic and other modelling procedures available to measure consumers' attitudes to risk and trust in food safety and specifically notes the need for future research to concentrate on examining risk and trust as inter-related variables rather than two distinct, mutually exclusive concepts. A framework is proposed which it is hoped will assist in devising more effective research to support risk communication to consumers.     

On e-business strategy planning and performance: a comparative study of the UK and Greece

In this research study the effect of Financial and Non-Financial performance of organisations on e-business strategy planning is investigated. The strategic planning parameters of Phillips model are examined when applied to e-business strategy planning. The relationships between these parameters, that is, Formality, Participation, Sophistication and Thoroughness, and Financial and Non-Financial Performance, are examined and the directions of these relationships are investigated. A conceptual model has been constructed and quantitative research methods are used to test four hypotheses. The proposed e-business model was tested in two EU countries, the UK and Greece. A synoptic statistical analysis and comparative numerical results are given showing that in both countries Participation has a positive relationship with Financial Performance and Formality has a positive relationship with Non-Financial Performance. The proposed model is extendable and valid in countries other than the UK and Greece, thus being able to be adapted to and used in other national environments.     

The impact of role models on entrepreneurial intentions and behavior: a review of the literature

Despite the presence of the term ‘entrepreneurial role model’ (ERM) in the discourse on entrepreneurship, existing empirical evidence on the effects of role models is rather limited. By investigating 86 published journal articles, we provide a structured overview of the academic research on role models’ effects on entrepreneurial intentions and behavior. We reveal that prior research focuses particularly on different types of role models (by whom), at which stage of life (when) and in which context the exposure to role models occurs. We use these research areas to structure our review. By expanding the understanding of the current state of ERM research, we reveal research gaps and provide future research recommendations. Our work could help policy makers and educators consider the different types of role models, the sociocultural context and the life cycle stage of the participants in structuring their entrepreneurship education programs.

     

Listen carefully: transgender voices in the workplace

Abstract

We find that only 17% of FTSE 100 company websites refer directly to transgender (‘trans’) individuals, illustrating the extent to which trans voices are unheard in the workplace. We propose that these voices are missing for a number of reasons: voluntary silence to protect oneself from adverse circumstances; the subsumption of trans voices within the larger ‘LGBT’ community; assimilation, wherein many trans voices become affiliated with those of their post-transition gender; multiple trans voices arising from diversity within the transgender community; and limited access to voice mechanisms for transgender employees. We identify the negative implications of being unheard for individual trans employees, for organizational outcomes, and for business and management scholarship, and propose ways in which organizations can listen more carefully to trans voices. Finally, we introduce an agenda for future research that tests the applicability of the theoretical framework of invisible stigma disclosure to transgender individuals, and calls for new theoretical and empirical developments to identify HRM challenges and best practices for respecting trans employees and their choices to remain silent or be heard.     

Have Australia's tourism strategies incorporated climate change?

Tourism is widely acknowledged as a key contributor to climate change, but it remains unclear how the tourism industry has been planning for climate change in practice. This paper conducts the most comprehensive critical review of Australia's tourism policy and planning documents to date. The paper explores the complex challenges posed by climate change to tourism and how tourism policy has been adapting over a 15-year period. Drawing on a longitudinal data-set of 477 Australian tourism policy and planning documents at the national, state, regional and local level, this research analyses the strategic discourse on climate change using content analysis and bibliometrics. The findings reveal opportunities, challenges and strategies for the tourism industry to contribute to the sustainable management of climate change. Opportunities include developing more “green” products, while strategies include establishing and/or participating in collaborative climate change schemes and strengthening dialogue surrounding climate change to aid the implementation of sustainable practices. Future research should consider the broader policy-making environment, such as the stakeholders, power and interest dynamics when analysing tourism strategies in relation to climate change.     

The packaging industry is not carried away by public opinion

The size and composition of our bin has changed over the years, as a result of the evolution of our way of living and our consumption habits. The wider range of goods now offered to consumers has resulted in significant augmentation of waste discarded in the form of packaging. The latter is estimated to represent about 30% by weight of total domestic waste. More than ever concerned about environmental issues, the public, alarmed by the media, has shown a strong interest in the problem of waste and waste management. Packaging is now felt as excessive, wasteful and bad for the environment, in particular plastic packaging since plastics are not as easily recycled as other materials. This paper, which includes the results of a consumer survey, brings to light the attitude and misconception of European consumers towards packaging and packaging materials and gives another insight into the problem.