Employment Outcomes of Graduates: The Case of Universiti Utara,Malaysia*

Data on the labor market outcomes of graduates of the Universiti Utara Malaysia were analyzed using an ordered logit model. The type of degree, ethnicity, and number of job applications submitted are found to be significant determinants of labor market outcomes. Accounting graduates were found to obtain the best labor market outcomes. Malay graduates had significantly less favorable labor market outcomes. The findings for unemployed graduates support two current programs in Malaysia: re‐training for the long‐term unemployed and job matching assistance. The findings also suggest that universities should monitor the skill‐demands of job vacancies and give specific consideration to Malay graduates.     

Designing the DPD: Indonesia's Regional Representative Council

This paper examines the design of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) that Indonesia set up in 2002. Why was it established with its current electoral system and responsibilities? The design of the DPD had to fit within a compromise made between the two then dominant parties and their leaders. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle wished to preserve the revered People's Consultative Assembly structure, but without losing the power it then wielded by virtue of being the biggest party in the parliament. The other major party, Golkar, obtained the provincial chamber it sought, but was denied control of it when membership was closed to political parties. The public's demand for greater electoral power was appeased through the method of election chosen for the DPD. Institutionally, the design has not made the workings of the legislature more complicated for the established political actors, because the new chamber has little influence.     

International sourcing of services: the “Homeshoring” alternative

The offshoring and outsourcing of service work from high-wage to low-wage countries has received considerable exposure in the popular press. Here, an alternative to offshoring is presented, called “Homeshoring.” In Homeshoring, a process is decoupled, just as it would be if it were offshored, but the work is sent to low-wage areas within a firm’s own country, rather than to another country. Homeshoring does not represent merely “domestic sourcing,” as it implies a new relationship and a working relationship with governmental economic development agencies. The benefits and disadvantages of this strategic choice are examined.     

Occupational sex segregation in the UK 1979–89: the role of part-time employment

In this article, the pattern of occupational segregation by sex in the UK between 1979 and 1989 is explored through the decomposition of the new Karmel Maclachlan index. Over the upturn, 1983–89, integration of the sexes, as measured by the Composition Effect occurred faster for full-time employment than total (full-time and part-time) employment. On the other hand, integration, in general, proceeded more slowly over the downturn of 1979–83 but total employment showed a more rapid rate of desegregation than full-time employment. Further analysis of the index, based on notional redistributions of part-time and full-time employment, confirms that part-time employment appears to be disproportionately responsible for the overall level of occupational sex segregation and to inhibit its decline over the upswing. These results are attributed to the different labour supply behaviour of males and females and the propensity of employers to treat part-time employees as a flexible reserve. Policies are outlined to counteract both the unequal treatment of part-time workers, particularly women, and the allocative inefficiency caused by the growth of part-time employment, relative to full-time employment.     

Dynamics of Unemployment Insurance Claims: An Application of ARIMA-GARCH Models

Time-series analysis of weekly initial claims over 1967–2012 reveal the following: (1) Initial claims are highly seasonal and cyclical, but do not follow a specific trend. Seasonality follows a “W” pattern over the 52 week period. (2) Initial claims are subject to conditional volatility and volatility clustering. The EGARCH and CGARCH specifications provide reasonable representations of the conditional volatility. The former suggests the existence of asymmetries in conditional variance. The latter implies that both permanent and transitory shocks affect volatility, but the effect of permanent shocks is more pronounced. (3) Both models perform well in terms of forecasting as well as within- and out-of-sample model selection criteria.     

THE POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF POSSIBLE NEW ZEALAND WHEAT PRICING SCHEMES*

An empirical policy simulation analysis that was performed prior to the adoption of the revised N.Z. wheat pricing arrangements is reported. The analysis was particularly timely as it coincided with, and made an input to, discussions between the various parties attempting to derive an improved wheat pricing scheme. The implications of making N.Z. farm-gate wheat pricing more responsive to world market prices were assessed using a simulation model to distill information on the impact of alternative pricing schemes on those criteria thought to be of interest to policymakers. The results also indicated how the recently announced new scheme would have performed. This information aided public decision making, particularly in clarifying some of the trade-offs that are necessary in choosing a pricing scheme.     

Transformational and transactional leadership and salesperson performance

This study examines the impact of transformational and transactional leader behaviors on the sales performance and organizational citizenship behaviors of salespeople, as well as the mediating role played by trust and role ambiguity in that process. Measures of six forms of transformational leader behavior, two forms of transactional leader behavior, trust, and role ambiguity were obtained from 477 sales agents working for a large national insurance company. Objective sales performance data were obtained for the agents, and their supervisors provided evaluations of their citizenship behaviors. The findings validate not only the basic notion that transformational leadership influences salespeople to perform “above and beyond the call of duty” but also that transformational leader behaviors actually have stronger direct and indirect relationships with sales performance and organizational citizenship behavior than transactional leader behaviors. Moreover, this is true even when common method biases are controlled. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed. Scott B. Mackenzie (Ph.D., UCLA, 1983) is the IU Foundation Professor of marketing at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. His research on advertising effectiveness, organizational citizenship behavior, and leadership issues can be found in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, andThe Leadership Quarterly. Currently, he serves on the editorial boards of theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, andJournal of Consumer Psychology. Philip M. Podsakoff (DBA, Indiana University, 1980) is a professor of organizational behavior and human resources and the John F. Mee Chair of Management at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. He is the author or coauthor of more than 65 articles and/or scholarly book chapters that have appeared in such journals as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Academy of Management Journal, Psychological Bulletin, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Applied Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, Organizational Dynamics, Research in Organizational Behavior, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, and theJournal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. He serves on the Board of Editors of theJournal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, andThe Leadership Quarterly. Gregory A. Rich (Ph.D., Indiana University, 1996) is an assistant professor of marketing at Bowling Green State University. His primary research interest is in the application of leadership theory to issues of sales management, and his work has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, and several conference proceedings.     

Discrete and Continuous Representations of Unobserved Heterogeneity in Choice Modeling

We attempt to provide insights into how heterogeneity has been and can be addressed in choice modeling. In doing so, we deal with three topics: Models of heterogeneity, Methods of estimation and Substantive issues. In describing models we focus on discrete versus continuous representations of heterogeneity. With respect to estimation we contrast Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods and (simulated) likelihood methods. The substantive issues discussed deal with empirical tests of heterogeneity assumptions, the formation of empirical generalisations, the confounding of heterogeneity with state dependence and consideration sets, and normative segmentation.