Organisational Factors and Dimensions of Satisfaction:A Comparative Study of Accountants in Australia and the US

This paper compares perceptions of organisational characteristics and their relationship to job satisfaction dimensions of US and Australian accountants. Data were collected from accountants in an international accounting firm on perceptions of job satisfaction dimensions, autonomy, feedback on performance and access to job-related information. Given the cultural similarities of the two countries and the use of a single firm, differences were not expected. Results indicated that accountants in the two countries had similar perceptions of the organisational variables and similar levels of satisfaction. However, there were extensive differences in how the organisational variables related to the satisfaction dimensions.     

Casino management: Exploring gender-based differences in perceptions of managerial work

This study provides an exploratory analysis of gender differences in perceptions of male and female managers during strategy implementation within the Nevada casino industry. Specifically, the study explores whether male and female managers differ with respect to the relative emphasis placed on a variety of factors related to successful strategy implementation. Considering women's preference for transformational leadership and an interactive management approach based on personal power, it was expected that women would emphasize different factors than men.     

Stabilization of effective exchange rates under common currency basket systems

We investigate the extent to which a common currency basket peg would stabilize effective exchange rates of East Asian currencies. We use an AMU (Asian Monetary Unit), which is a weighted average of ASEAN10 plus 3 (Japan, China, and Korea) currencies, as a common currency basket to investigate the stabilization effects. We compare our results with another result on stabilization effects of the common G3 currency (the US dollar, the Japanese yen, and the euro) basket in the East Asian countries [Williamson, J., 2005, A currency basket for East Asia, not just China. In: Policy Briefs in International Economics, No. PB05-1. Institute for International Economics]. We obtained the following results: first, the AMU peg system would be more effective in reducing fluctuations of the effective exchange rates of East Asian currencies as a number of countries applied the AMU peg system increases in East Asia. Second, the AMU peg system would more effectively stabilize the effective exchange rates than a common G3 currency basket peg system for four (Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand) of the seven countries. The results suggest that the AMU peg system would be useful for the East Asian countries whose trade weights on Japan are relatively higher than others. J. Japanese Int. Economies 20 (4) (2006) 590–611.     

Effect of Historical Educational Level on Perceived Inequality,Preference for Redistribution and Progressive Taxation

This paper investigated the extent to which educational levels in the nineteenth century have shaped present-day norms, which influence the perceptions of present-day individuals, such as individuals’ perceived inequality, preference for redistribution, and progressive taxation. Cross-country, individual-level data were used to examine historical educational level and present-day perceptions of social and political issues. After controlling for various country-level and individual characteristics, the major findings were as follows: people in countries with higher educational levels in 1870 are less likely to support redistribution policies and progressive taxation. Moreover, people in countries with higher educational levels in 1870 are more likely to consider income inequality to be smaller.     

Measuring Credit Risk of Individual Corporate Bonds in US Energy Sector

In this paper, using the measures of the credit risk price spread (CRiPS) and the standardized credit risk price spread (S-CRiPS) proposed in Kariya’s (A CB (corporate bond) pricing model for deriving default probabilities and recovery rates. Eaton, IMS Collection Series: Festschrift for Professor Morris L., 2013) corporate bond model, we make a comprehensive empirical credit risk analysis on individual corporate bonds (CBs) in the US energy sector, where cross-sectional CB and government bond price data is used with bond attributes. Applying the principal component analysis method to the S-CRiPSs, we also categorize individual CBs into three different groups and study on their characteristics of S-CRiPS fluctuations of each group in association with bond attributes. Secondly, using the market credit rating scheme proposed by Kariya et al. (2014), we make credit-homogeneous groups of CBs and show that our rating scheme is empirically very timely and useful. Thirdly, we derive term structures of default probabilities for each homogeneous group, which reflect the investors’ views and perspectives on the future default probabilities or likelihoods implicitly implied by the CB prices for each credit-homogeneous group. Throughout this paper it is observed that our credit risk models and the associated measures for individual CBs work effectively and can timely provide the market credit information evaluated by investors.     

Transparency and Views Regarding Nuclear Energy Before and After the Fukushima Accident: Evidence on Micro‐Data

This paper examines the influence of government transparency on changing views regarding nuclear energy before and after Japan's natural and nuclear disaster of 2011. Individual‐level data were used, covering 45 countries and containing 27 423 observations. It was observed in the majority of countries that the rate of favouring nuclear energy declined after the disaster. However, empirical results show that such a tendency is less likely to be observed in a more transparent country. This implies that views regarding nuclear energy were less elastic to the news of the Fukushima incident when people were more certain about nuclear energy prior to the Fukushima incident.     

An Analysis of Sorting and Recycling of Household Waste: A neo‐Ricardian Approach

One of the most interesting but troublesome features of daily recycling is the mixture of different types of household waste and degradation of a recycled material caused by the mixture of different types of waste. This is often seen in recycling of materials such as used papers, plastics and so on. This paper analyses this aspect, and demonstrates how the formation of prices and activity levels is made in a long‐run growing economy, by means of a neo‐Ricardian type of production model. It is proved that a long‐run equilibrium exists under reasonable assumptions. It is also shown how the sorting rate of different types of waste affects the grade of recyclable resources as well as prices.     

The effects of the social norm on cigarette consumption: Evidence from Japan using panel data

Using Japan's prefecture-level panel data from 1989 to 2001, this paper examines the influence of the social norm on a person's smoking behavior when the complementary relationship between smoking and drinking is taken into account. The key findings through a dynamic panel model controlling for unobserved prefecture-specific fixed effects are as follows: (1) influence from others is stronger when people live more closely and cohesively. A tightly knit society results in a reduction of smoking through smoking-related interaction. (2) Smoking and drinking have a complementary relationship: greater initial consumption of alcohol results in larger consumption of cigarettes. (3) The complementary relationship between smoking and drinking is attenuated if the cost of committing the annoying conduct (i.e., smoking) is high.Overall, this empirical study provides evidence that the psychological effect of the presence of surrounding people has a direct significant effect upon smoking behavior and, furthermore, that it attenuates the complementary relationship between smoking and drinking, thereby reducing cigarette consumption. These results indicate that not only formal rules but also tacitly formed informal norms are effective deterrents to smoking.     

„Brain Waste“ ausländischer Ärztinnen und Ärzte in Deutschland

Zusammenfassung  Der deutsche Arbeitsmarkt im Gesundheitssektor ist derzeit durch einen Fachkr?ftemangel gekennzeichnet, der sich durch die demographische Entwicklung zukünftig noch versch?rfen wird. Ausl?ndischen ?rztInnen k?nnten helfen, die Lücke zu füllen, wenn man ihnen die Arbeitsaufnahme in Deutschland erleichterte bzw. erst erm?glichte. Wie stellen sich die aktuellen Bedingungen dar und welche konkreten Ma?nahmen k?nnen gegen den ?rztemangel in Deutschland ergriffen werden? Sakura Yamamura, 28, ist Affi liated Researcher bei der Migration Research Group des Hamburgischen WeltWirtschaftsInstituts (HWWI).     

Who benefits more from higher household consumption? The intra-household allocation of nutrients in China

Previous studies find that human capital investments in boys are less income elastic than investments in girls, attributing this result to favoritism toward boys. I show theoretically that it is plausible for more productive or favored household members to have higher income elasticities. I then investigate this question empirically, utilizing panel data on individual nutrient intake from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) to analyze how changes in household per-capita nutrient intake affect the intra-household allocation of nutrients. To deal with potential biases due to omitted variables and simultaneity, I use measures of rainfall variation as instruments. I find that nutritional intakes are more elastic for males (especially prime-age men) than for females, and significantly less elastic for the elderly.