Re-examining the relationship between economic growth and inequality in the New Member States

The link between income inequality and economic growth has raised many debates in the literature and has generated a large spectrum of results over time. This paper aims at analyzing the relationship between economic growth and income inequality, as well as their macroeconomic and institutional determinants in the New Member States, between 2000 and 2009. In the presence of a set of explicative variables, the economic growth influences the social inequality through a U-shaped relationship. Health, education and gross capital formation generate different direct and indirect effects on income inequality as the per capita GDP growths, while the transition indicators are found to be either common or specific determinants of inequality and growth.     

Complete Neyman measurement procedure

Traditional estimation theory generally starts from point estimators, and based on them confidence regions with given confidence level are constructed. However, this approach works only in some special cases and, even more severe, it is based on the unrealistic but mathematical necessary assumption of a generally unbounded parameter space.  The procedures derived in this paper, start from a bounded measurement range which contains the potential values of the parameter of interest. For given measurement range and given reliability requirement measurement procedures including a point estimator are developed. The result are complete measurement procedures for distribution parameters. Most precise procedures are derived and called complete Neyman measurement procedures.     

Market imperfections,access to information and technology adoption in Uganda: challenges of overcoming multiple constraints

Limited empirical evidence exists on how multiple binding constraints influence the adoption of improved technologies by smallholder farmers. This article uses the case of groundnut variety adoption in Uganda to investigate the role of information, seed supply, and credit constraints in conditioning technology uptake. New data from a household survey in seven groundnut growing districts (n = 945) indicate that 8% of farmers lack information on new varieties, while 18% and 6% of farmers, respectively, cannot adopt mainly due to seed supply and capital constraints. A tobit‐type specification that considers all nonadopters as being uninterested in the technology (i.e., corner solutions) would lead to inconsistent parameter estimates and incorrect conclusions in this context. We therefore estimate a modified multi‐hurdle specification of demand for new varieties, taking into account how information, seed supply, and capital constraints jointly determine adoption probability and intensity. The study reveals new empirical insights on why agricultural technology adoption in Africa has lagged behind: slow uptake is not mainly due to a lack of economic incentives, but rather a reflection of information, seed supply, and credit constraints that prevent farmers from translating their desired demand into adoption of modern varieties. Policy implications are discussed.     

Ambivalence and ambiguity in social enterprise; narratives about values in reconciling purpose and practices

Social enterprises are unusual change organizations; typically their purpose is to bring about change to improve social well-being. Yet they do so in unusual ways. Traditional entrepreneurs generate social value as a by-product of economic value; whereas for social entrepreneurs the reverse is true. This brings about an ambiguity in integrating business and social well being, most manifest in identity and in managing the enterprise. Moreover, the values which drive social enterprise are “different”. Consequently, we examine how values shape practices and how they give direction and purpose to what social enterprises do and how this shapes identity over time. Using the social organisation as the unit of analysis, we collected the narratives about tensions and how these were reconciled. We contribute by improving our understanding of social enterprise by showing how values are worked, used and deployed to give direction in reconciling ambiguity. Moreover, these ambiguities provide a unique identity and purpose for social enterprise.     

Culturally responsive relational reflexive ethics in research: the three rs

In this article, the authors define ethics, discuss why researchers should care about ethics, and briefly review the history of ethics and the surrounding contemporary debate as related to research, the development of research ethics codes, research ethics legislation, and the formation of the human subjects research review boards in the West with an emphasis on the United States’ Institutional Review Board. They then explicate the difference between minimalist ethical codes, which all respected researchers must adhere to, and an aspirational ethical stance. Culturally Responsive Relational Reflexive Ethics (CRRRE) is then advanced as a viable aspirational ethical stance for the research community. Finally, the authors draw on their own research for examples of ethical dilemmas involving ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and power that CRRRE has helped illuminate.     

Project Leadership in Becoming: A Process Study of an Organizational Change Project

Drawing on the current research in general leadership, we propose that a process ontology is relevant and rewarding for project leadership studies. We argue that project leadership can be studied as the ongoing social production of direction through the construction of actors’ space of action, involving continuous construction and reconstruction of (1) past project activities and events; (2) positions and areas of responsibility; (3) discarded, ongoing, and future issues; and (4) intensity, rhythm, and pace. Through an ethnographic case study of an organizational change project, we show how space of action and hence the project direction are in constant flux and becoming.     

Building Power Together: Union Support for Central Labour Bodies

One of the key factors in the success of labour federations is to have affiliate unions who actively participate and support their work. This article examines the catalysts behind union involvement with central labour bodies and presents an analysis of the organizational motivations for engagement. The article uses comparative case study analysis to examine affiliate union commitment in the United States to the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations' state federations, area labour federations and central labour councils. Union leadership, along with contextual, interpretative and organizational factors, was found to influence the level of affiliate union involvement in central labour bodies.     

Targeting college students on Facebook? How to stop wasting your money

While Facebook usage has seen explosive growth, scant research has explored returns on advertising dollars marketers invest in this emerging medium. Our two-stage study of 18- to 25-year-old college students suggests that many of the advertising dollars consumer goods firms spend on Facebook are likely wasted. This study highlights that, in addition to staying in touch with friends and relatives, Facebook users are primarily motivated by three desires: (1) to voyeuristically peer into others’ lives, (2) to create a distinctive identity for themselves, and (3) to act on their inner narcissistic tendencies. These motivations also make them poor prospects for advertisers, as users seem disinterested in Facebook ads and disengaged from marketers’ attempts to build brands. Herein, we discuss challenges for marketers, as well as opportunities for building brands and driving sales via Facebook.     

A Model of Flow Experience as Determinant of Positive Attitudes Toward Online Advergames

Advergames are gaining recognition as a captivating environment. Although several flow models have determined online games usage, no previous model has explored determinants of positive attitudes toward advergames. The objectives included development and empirically testing of a model of flow experience and its determinants of attitudes toward advergames. Positive attitudes toward advergames were partially explained by the flow experience. The model revealed that challenges offered by the gameplay were an important predictor of flow, followed by telepresence and players’ skills. Contrary to expectations, arousal significantly impacted attitudes toward advergames but not flow. Implications for advertisers and web developers are discussed.