The substitutability between parent company and foreign affiliate employment in Europe

This paper examines the substitution pattern between parent company and foreign affiliate employment of European multinationals. The data is drawn from the AMADEUS and BANKSCOPE firm-level databases and covers parent companies in 14 high-wage European countries (EUR14) and their affiliated companies in the wider Europe including locations in the low-wage Central and East European countries (CEEC) for the period 2000–2004. We find that the substitution elasticity between employment of the EUR14 parent companies and employment in their foreign affiliates in the CEEC is quite low. Furthermore, the substitution possibilities are higher between parent company and affiliate employment in other West European countries than those between parent company and affiliate employment in the CEEC. Finally, we find that the output change of the parent company and to a lesser extent that of the foreign affiliates is more important than changes in relative wages in determining the relative labour demand.     

Building Trust in Crisis Management: A Study of Insolvency Practitioners and the Role of Accounting Information and Processes

This paper seeks to understand how insolvency practitioners attempt to build trust with a heterogeneous creditor body during the crisis of formal insolvency and the role accounting information and processes play. Accounting information is mobilized in different ways according to how insolvency practitioners believe the information will be interpreted and valued. This paper suggests specific qualitative characteristics, accounting principles, and processes which appear to enhance trust building in a crisis context. These include perceived objectivity, comparability, cash flow accounting, “matching” of secured liabilities with secured assets, and “crisis” audit. The value ascribed by insolvency practitioners to maintaining specific creditor relationships also appears relevant to trust-building activities. A “tit-for-tat” strategy emerges with secured creditors, whereby insolvency practitioners engage in demonstrable fee write-offs, but on the implicit understanding that future, lucrative work will come their way. This study points to the importance for researchers and policymakers of understanding the “desirable” properties of accounting through informed understandings of how and why that information is mobilized and received in specific relationships between people.     

Institutional Antecedents of the Corporate Social Responsibility Narrative in the Developing World Context: Implications for Sustainable Development

Efforts to understand the background to perceptions and manifestation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the developing world need to focus on establishing their link with the challenges of socio‐economic governance and societal expectations and cultural traditions. This signifies a departure from a western centric understanding of CSR but also an over‐focus on CSR as philanthropy. This study considers the Malawian tourism industry and finds that its colonial legacy, post‐colonialism development thinking and the national education system explain the prevalence of a ‘CSR as philanthropy’ agenda. When these factors interact with challenges of socio‐economic governance and societal expectations, however, the universality thesis that has often been associated with the theory and implementation CSR can be challenged. These findings therefore suggest a shift from the western centric CSR thinking to a CSR perspective that is strongly grounded in local values and norms and which meets the expectations of the global society. This indicates a way forward if CSR is to be adequately institutionalized in the developing world. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Price Expectations,Distressed Mortgage Markets and the Housing Wealth Effect

Using a unique combination of regulatory and survey microdata, we examine the importance of the life cycle theory of consumption in estimating housing wealth effects for the Irish mortgage market. Since the recent financial crisis, this market has experienced substantial house price declines and negative equity. Thus, house price expectations are likely to be important in influencing housing wealth effects. We find a positive correlation between consumption and changes in housing wealth among our sample of mortgaged Irish households. Furthermore, we find that this positive association only exists when housing wealth changes are perceived to be of a permanent nature.     

Comparing the impact of management on public and private sector nurses in the UK,Italy, and Australia

The research examined the impact of management upon employee outcomes (perceptions of discretionary power, well-being, engagement, and affective commitment), comparing public and private sector nurses in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Overall, 1,945 nurses participated in a self-report survey within these core- and laggard-New Public Management countries. While management influenced employee outcomes for each country, there were significant differences between the public and private sectors, with private sector nurses reporting higher perceptions of outcomes. Importantly, nurses’ engagement was affected by management practice for each country. This study raises important implications for nurse managers, especially public sector managers, described within.     

Growth and convergence in South–South integration areas: An empirical analysis

Until recently, it has been argued in economic theory that regional integration and trade agreements among developing countries may achieve negative growth effects. This study tests empirically the effects of such South–South agreements on growth and convergence. All three world regions in question are considered: South America, Southeast Asia, and Sub‐Saharan Africa. A comprehensive panel data analysis is conducted that distinguishes between the problems of testing for stronger growth and accelerated convergence, respectively. The data indicate that the considered South–South agreements promote both.     

Feminization of labour and profit rates: evidence from OECD countries

The article examines the effect of the feminization of labour on profit rates and capacity utilization by employing an indirect and two-stage least squares models for 21 OECD countries during the 1970–2008 period. Findings show that higher women’s labour force participation rates and gender wage gap lead to higher profit rates.     

Use of focus groups in business ethics research: potential,problems and paths to progress

The use of focus groups is a well-established qualitative research method in the social sciences that would seem to offer scope for a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in the field of business ethics. This paper explores the potential contribution of focus groups, reviews their contribution to date and makes some recommendations regarding their future use. We find that, while the use of focus groups is not extensive, they have been utilised in a non-negligible number of studies. Focus groups are usually used as a supplementary method, often as part of the development of a research instrument. Whether used on their own or in conjunction with other methods, we find that in the majority of cases there is insufficient information for a reader to judge that the method has been carried out well and hence that the ‘findings’ may be trusted. Nor is it easy for future researchers to learn about the practical application of the method in business ethics contexts. We therefore recommend improved reporting in future published studies. Based on an analysis of a subsample of papers that provided a reasonable level of methodological detail, we provide further insights into, and recommendations for, the use of focus groups in business ethics research.     

Poisonings

Manufacturers of household products – including appliances, exercise equipment, and even some children's toys – expect consumers to supervise their children to prevent product related injuries. This approach to hazard prevention places the burden of safety on parents and caretakers. This study examined actual supervision practices of parents of children between the ages of two and six years. 59 parents, aged 31 to 40 years, residing in Montgomery County, Maryland, completed a 24-item self-administered questionnaire, consisting of multiple choice and open-ended questions. Nearly all respondents reported that there are times when their children are in a different room from them. When the children are out of sight, parents reported checking on their children periodically, with increasingly longer periods between observations, as the child gets older. Nearly half of the children got out of bed in the morning always or often before a parent. Ninety-five percent of parents perceived that their child was at no risk or slight risk of injury when getting up in the morning before them. In conclusion, it can be said that many parents supervise their children by being close-by and on-hand as needed, rather than being directly involved in the child's activities. Manufacturers are encouraged to employ passive measures and sound designs, rather than rely on close parental supervision for injury prevention.     

Towards a Further Understanding of the Antecedents of Retailer New Product Adoption

In addition to the traditionally investigated profit-drivers of retail adoption, such as gross margin, trade support, consumer marketing support, and product uniqueness, the authors investigate to what extent relatively under-investigated variables, such as relationship variables and category variables, are potential antecedents of retailers’ new product adoption decisions. Based on a sample of 392 new product adoption decisions by buyers of a Dutch food retailer, the authors provide evidence that both relationship and category variables do matter in new product adoption decisions by retailers. They show a significant negative effect of relationship dependence, and a significant positive effect of relationship length on a retailer's new product adoption probability. Furthermore, the authors show that higher levels of expected category growth due to the new product introduction are associated with higher levels of retailer adoption probability. Finally, in contrast with all previous retail adoption studies, this study shows a significant, positive relation between the relative gross margin of the new product and the retailer adoption probability.