Executive Remuneration and Corporate Divestment: Motivating Managers to Make Unpalatable Decisions

Abstract:  This study examines the impact of voluntary divestment on executive remuneration, using an unbalanced panel of 107 UK quoted companies over the period 1988 to 1993. It employs a dynamic compensation equation, with a vector of controls and alternative specifications of the divestment effect. The results show no general direct evidence of a remuneration process that rewards managers for downsizing their firms. Indeed the substantial pay-size elasticity implies the reverse. However, divestment does have a positive and significant effect in raising executive remuneration under a regime of strong corporate governance, defined in terms of the presence of a substantial blockholder.     

The Education/Growth Relationship: Evidence from Real State Panel Data

This article employs 1963–97 panel data for the 48 contiguous U.S. states (and District of Columbia) to examine the relationship between real personal income and real education expenditures as well as that between real personal income and six measures of real research and development expenditures. Bivariate regressions are employed to determine whether the information content between real education expenditures and real income runs from real income to real education spending or vice versa. The authors find that when data are relative to the U.S. average, the direction of information content runs from real state-level education expenditures to real state-level income. (JEL I2 , H72 )     

Introduction to Articles on Black Women and Work

Black women are one of the hardest working groups in the country. However, hard work is not always properly rewarded. The existence of wage inequities based on race has been shown to exist (Darity The Journal of Human Resources XVII: 72–91 1982), and black women have not been exempt from its implications. In addition, African American women still experience higher unemployment levels than their white female counterparts. In papers examining black women in the nursing profession, their income and earnings volatility, and inequities in their employment, Richard McGregory, Bradley Hardy, and Linda Loubert provide an overview of where black women stand in the U.S. labor market with respect to work and earnings. While these pieces show that African American women have made significant inroads into the American labor market there is still further to go.     

Responses to work intensification: does generation matter?

Work intensification can be an organisational tool to increase the productivity of an existing workforce. We investigate employee reactions to three levels of sustained extensive work intensification (long work hours over two consecutive time periods) of the two most prevalent generational groups in the labour market: Generation X and Baby Boomers. Boomers have been characterised as ‘workaholics’ who ‘live to work’, while Gen Xers are ‘slackers’ who ‘work to live’. We investigate, using a nationally representative sample of employees, whether these generational differences in work attitudes impact employee reactions (measured by employee reports of job satisfaction and work–life balance) to sustained extensive work intensification. The results show that perceptions of job satisfaction and work–life balance are reduced by sustained extensive work intensification but the differences between the two generations are minimal, suggesting that organisations do not need to tailor their employment practices to fit the work values of different generations.     

Changes in psychological contracts during the global financial crisis: the manager's perspective

The employee–organisation relationship is dynamic and arguably affected by contextual factors, such as a change in the economic environment. This study uses data collected from managers in Australia before and after the beginning of the global financial crisis (GFC) to examine the changes in psychological contract (PC) terms from the manager's perspective. In particular, as industries can be affected differently by economic crisis and gender discrimination can increase in tough economic conditions, we examined if any changes in PC terms were contingent on industry and employee gender. The study's results show that the terms of the employment relationship deteriorated in Australia only for employees working in industries affected by the GFC. Further, we found that some gender differences in the terms of the PC exist independent of the state of the economy. In addition, a three-way interaction indicates that managers working in industries not affected by the GFC are allocating a greater proportion of their resources to their female employees than to their male employees. Ongoing labour shortages and gender inequities in Australia might have prompted managers in non-affected industries to use their relative ‘resource-rich’ advantage to positively influence the employee–organisation relationship for female employees, a traditionally disadvantaged group.     

Bad bosses and self-verification: The moderating role of core self-evaluations with trust in workplace management

Who responds most strongly to supervisor social undermining? Building on self-verification theory (Swann, 1983, 1987), we theorize that employees with positive views of the self (i.e., higher core self-evaluations [CSEs]) who also maintain higher trust in workplace management are more likely to experience heightened stress and turnover intentions when undermined. We argue that this subset of employees (high CSE, high trust) are more likely to feel misunderstood when undermined by their supervisor and that this lack of self-verification partially explains their stronger responses to supervisor undermining. We find initial support for the first part of our model in a study of 259 healthcare workers in the United States and replicate and extend our findings in the second study of 330 employees in the United Kingdom. Our results suggest that the employees Human Resources often wishes to attract and retain—employees with high CSE and high trust in workplace management—react most strongly to supervisor social undermining.     

Financial capability and emergency savings among South Africans living above and below the poverty line

Emergency savings provide a buffer against financial shocks, particularly among low‐income households. Despite the importance of these funds in lessening financial hardship, many households have not set aside emergency funds. It has been suggested that financial capability may play a role in financial behaviour. Therefore, this study considers whether financial capability is associated with saving for emergencies and whether there are differences in factors that predict emergency savings behaviour among those living below and above the poverty line. Using data from a sample of South Africans, logistic regression is used to determine the predictors of emergency savings. The study finds that those with higher levels of financial capability, related to financial self‐efficacy and having access to a bank account, are more likely to have emergency savings compared with those with lower levels of financial capability. However, no evidence is found to suggest a relationship between objectively measured financial knowledge and emergency savings. Therefore, the findings suggest that self‐assessed financial ability, as measured by financial self‐efficacy, might be more important than objectively assessed ability in the context of individuals making responsible financial choices. Differences in the predictors of emergency savings for those living above and below the poverty line related to socioeconomic and demographic differences, whereas the same financial capability predictors were significant predictors in both samples. The study provides unique insights into the predictors of emergency savings in a developing market context and identifies the characteristics of those who are likely to be financially resilient to unexpected economic shocks. The importance of the broader financial capability construct in predicting emergency savings, for both those living above and below the poverty line, suggests that programmes aimed at encouraging emergency savings should focus on enhancing financial self‐efficacy and financial inclusion.     

Cultural heritage and Indigenous tourism

ABSTRACT

Tourism is acknowledged as a vehicle that can help sustain both tangible and intangible elements of Indigenous cultural heritage, including languages, stories, song, art, dance, hunting methods, rituals and customs. Often, cultural heritage products developed for tourism promise to provide many socio-economic opportunities for the communities involved, however, tourism can also present a challenge as the self-management of Indigenous cultural product and cultural identity can be problematic. Given the pivotal role culture plays in the sustainability of Indigenous tourism products, it is time for a twenty-first century examination of the nexus between cultural heritage and Indigenous tourism. This paper reflects upon tourism and contemporary Indigenous cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Through a review of the current literature on Indigenous tourism and cultural heritage, the authors identify key areas for future research and aim to stimulate further discussion around the ways Indigenous tourism may be developed to sustain Indigenous cultural heritage.     

Emerging technologies and analytics for a new era of value-centered marketing in healthcare

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science - The healthcare system is undergoing a fundamental transformation fueled by regulatory shifts that reward value over volume, coupled with unprecedented...     

Forensic Econometrics: Demand Estimation When Data are Missing

Often empirical researchers face many data constraints when estimating models of demand. These constraints can sometimes prevent adequate evaluation of policies. In this article, we discuss two such missing data problems that arise frequently: missing data on prices and missing information on the size of the potential market. We present some ways to overcome these limitations in the context of two recent research projects. Jacobi and Sovinsky (2018), which addresses how to incorporate unobserved price heterogeneity, and Hidalgo and Sovinsky (2018), which focuses on how to use modelling techniques to estimate missing market size. Our aim is to provide a starting point for thinking about ways to overcome common data issues.