Corporate Communications als integraler Wert-schöpfungsprozess

Zusammenfassungen  Die Kommunikation gewinnt weiter an Relevanz für den Unternehmenserfolg. Die Hauptursache dafür ist eine ver?nderte Erwartungshaltung der ?ffentlichkeit. Dieser Wandlungsprozess fordert innovative Managementmodelle und eine neue Rolle der Kommunikationskultur. Herausforderungen entstehen dabei auf normativer, strategischer und operativer Ebene. M. A. Boris Lyczek Doktorand am Institut für Medien- und Kommunikationsmanagement (MCM) der Universit?t St. Gallen (HSG) Prof. Dr. Miriam Meckel gesch?ftsführende Direktorin am Institut für Medien- und Kommunikationsmanagement (MCM) der Universit?t St. Gallen (HSG)     

Social security for young people amidst high poverty and unemployment: Some policy options for South Africa

South African youth experience extremely high levels of unemployment and poverty. Currently there is no social assistance for low-income young adults in South Africa unless they are disabled. Interventions are needed that can achieve widespread poverty alleviation, as well as help facilitate economic participation to improve lifelong earnings. In this article, six examples of social security policy options are considered, including five grants ranging from an unconditional non-means-tested grant for young people to a conditional grant for young people in training or education, plus an ‘Opportunities voucher’ that is administered through the social security system but paid out to organisations offering youth education or work opportunities. Using a tax and benefit microsimulation model to simulate the five grants, we estimate the potential numbers reached and cost, as well as the impact of these six options on poverty.     

Works Councils,Collective Bargaining,and Apprenticeship Training – Evidence From German Firms

In this paper, we investigate the effects of works councils on apprenticeship training in Germany. The German law attributes works councils substantial information and co‐determination rights to training‐related issues. Thus, works councils may also have an impact on the cost‐benefit relation of workplace training. Using detailed firm‐level data containing information on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training, we find that firms with works councils make a significantly higher net investment in training compared to firms without such an institution. We also find that the fraction of former trainees still employed with the same firm 5 years after training is significantly higher in the presence of works councils, thus enabling firms to recoup training investments over a longer time horizon. Furthermore, all works council effects are much more pronounced for firms covered by collective bargaining agreements.     

A multi-agent model of a low income economy: simulating the distributional effects of natural disasters

This paper develops an agent-based model of a stylized low income region in order to study the impact of natural disasters on population displacement, income, prices, and consumption with a focus on distributions and coping strategies of low income groups. Key features of the model include the integration of decentralized markets into a full economy in a spatially explicit way and the analysis of short-run adjustment processes. The model is calibrated to a low income region of rural agrarian Pakistan that faced severe floods in 2010. Dynamic adaptation by agents in response to falling income includes migrating and running down savings. Despite these consumption smoothing strategies, some low income groups are vulnerable to starvation. The paper showcases two hypothetical policy scenarios, a cash and a food transfer program, and tracks their effects on the welfare of low income groups in the economy.     

How Do Rural Households Cope with Economic Shocks? Insights from Global Data using Hierarchical Analysis

Unanticipated events can cause considerable economic hardship for poor rural households. Some types of negative shocks, for example weather‐related agricultural losses and vector‐borne diseases, are expected to occur more frequently as a result of climate change. In this paper we measure the role of household‐ and location‐specific characteristics in conditioning behavioural responses to a wide range of idiosyncratic and covariate shocks. We use data from 8,000 rural households in 25 developing countries, compiled in the global database of the Poverty Environment Network. We employ a hierarchical multinomial logit model to identify the importance of characteristics observed at different levels of aggregation on a set of strategies aimed at coping with economic shocks. Results indicate that in response to idiosyncratic shocks, households tend to deplete financial and durable assets, whereas covariate and thus often climate‐related shocks predominantly result in reduced consumption. Households in sites characterised by high asset wealth tend to cope with shocks in a more proactive way than those in sites with average or below average asset wealth, but the role of asset types in conditioning shock responses varies across regions. Our findings have implications for rural development and climate change adaptation strategies.