Motherhood and women's earnings in Anglo-American,Continental European,and Nordic Countries

Abstract

The earnings of mothers make up an important, but difficult to quantify, component of parental expenditures on children. This paper compares the long-term earnings of women with children, women without children, and men. The study conducts separate analyses for less educated, moderately educated, and highly educated people in eight Anglo-American, Continental European, and Nordic countries. The study finds that, for the most part, these countries cluster into three groups, with mothers in the Continental European group experiencing the largest earnings differentials, mothers in the Nordic group experiencing the smallest, and mothers in the Anglo-American countries occupying the middle position.     

International assignments: is there a role for gender and race in decisions?

The authors argue that international managers and researchers need to avoid an ostrich-like attitude of ‘gender and race blindness’ when dealing with diversity in the workforce. This issue is addressed specifically in the case of international assignments. The paper draws on previous studies investigating gender, race and international assignment, and considers a sample of regulations pertaining to gender and race in the context of international assignment decisions. The authors present the results of a preliminary study focusing specifically on the interplay of these variables. Based on the issues discussed, the authors examine selection, preparation and support activities as important avenues for meaningfully incorporating gender and race into the international assignment process.     

Modelling zeroes in microdata

Although the literature contains a number of suggestions for dealing with problems caused by a preponderance of zero expenditure observations that frequently occur in micro level budget studies, in general, these suggestions seem to be either empirically intractable or theoretically unappealing. In this paper it is argued that a natural theoretical specification can be motivated by duality theory and that the statistical technique of compositional data analysis provides a corresponding complementary stochastic specification. The resulting model is a consistent theoretical and stochastic specification for handling the possibility of a zero demand over a range of expenditures and/or prices. The model is then applied to the 1988/89 Australian Household Expenditure Survey.     

The lure of aggregates and the pitfalls of the patriarchal perspective: a critique of the high wage economy interpretation of the British industrial revolution

The new meta‐narrative of the industrial revolution contends that Britain was a high wage economy and that this itself caused industrialization. Contemporary inventions, although derived from scientific discoveries shared with mainland Europe, could only be profitable in the context of Britain's factor prices. Therefore, important inventions were only developed in Britain where they enabled access to a growth path that transcended trajectories associated with more labour‐intensive production methods. The criticism presented here concerns perspective and methodology. The account of the high wage economy is misleading because it focuses on men and male wages, underestimates the relative caloric needs of women and children, and bases its view of living standards on an ahistorical and false household economy. A more accurate picture of the structure and functioning of working‐class households provides an alternative explanation of inventive and innovative activity in terms of the availability of cheap and amenable female and child labour and thereby offers a broader interpretation of the industrial revolution.     

Market segmentation of fresh meat shoppers in Taiwan

Fresh meat product retailing at traditional markets in Taiwan causes concerns over meat safety issues.The agricultural administration has established programmes to raise consumer awareness of potential risks of fresh meat that have remained at room temperature for several hours. Although supermarkets sell chilled and frozen meat products, the majority of grocery shoppers in Taiwan still prefer purchasing fresh meat products at traditional markets where meat is displayed on counters or hung on hooks. This study utilizes survey data to segment meat shoppers in Taiwan. Results indicate the shoppers who purchase meat products at supermarkets tend to continue shopping at that location. Potential shoppers of supermarkets, who may switch from traditional markets to supermarkets for meat products, are identified and the major concerns of this group are the meat safety issues. Factors that influence the possibilities of selecting supermarkets for meat products are examined.     

Creating and Recreating Heritage in Singapore

The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which public planning and policy have created a 'national' identity for Singapore since its independence in 1965, the importance of heritage to contemporary Singapore, and how heritage is marketed to Singaporeans and visitors. Over the last 30 years Singapore has striven to create itself as one of the most modern and successful of the ASEAN nations, but this may have been at the cost of its indigenous cultures and authentic heritage. Many of the craft industries common in the late 1970s and 1980s have been lost, and while the Singapore Tourism Board promotes Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam as 'pockets of individuality' in Singapore's multicultural society, souvenirs currently on sale were made in China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. By contrast, the enduring image of 'Singapore Girl' for Singapore Airlines led to an entire souvenir culture and a batik clad 'Singapore Girl' Barbie Doll.     

Negotiating ‘solidarity’ and internationalism: the response of Polish trade unions to migration

In the context of massive outward migration after Poland's accession to the EU in 2004, this article explores the possibilities for cross‐border collaboration by Polish trade unions. The findings are based on interviews with the two main trade union/trade union federations, Solidarity and Ogolnopolskie Porozumnie Zwi?zków Zawodowych: All‐Poland Alliance of Trade Unions, at national, regional and sectoral levels. Examining the issues and challenges faced by Polish trade unions in terms of loss of membership and social capital, the article also evaluates the significance of Poland's status as a country of some inward migration. It is argued that cross‐border trade union collaboration has become an even more urgent project as the economic crisis intensifies competition in the labour market and increases the potential for xenophobia.     

Ethics and taxation: A cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing firms, an area where there has been little prior research. As perceptions may be determined by response to different legal systems and regulations, we examine responses to a series of ethical questions posed to two groups of tax practitioners, one group employed in UK firms and another group employed in Turkish firms. This facilitates both an examination of responses from within each country and a cross-national comparison of ethics and taxation. Although there is a similarity of perception of the importance of a number of taxation related ethical issues between UK practitioners and Turkish practitioners, there are also several statistically significant differences between the two groups. The paper makes a significant contribution to the literature through obtaining and analysing data from tax professionals in the UK and Turkey to provide a cross-national study of corporate tax practice and ethics. The paper is novel in that no prior studies have reported cross-national studies that have examined tax issues related to firms.