Consumer Self-Control Strategies: An Empirical Study of Their Structure and Determinants

People use self-control strategies to overcome time-inconsistent preferences. In the present study one aim was to test a two-factor model of consumer self-control strategies that divides them into desire-reducing and willpower strategies. Another aim was to explore what may determine the use of such strategies. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses gave support for the two-factor model of self-control. A positive attitude toward risk taking as well as the intention to reduce consumption in response to economic impairment predicted a decrease in the use of both strategies. Financial situation, age, and sex were found to influence the use of desire reduction and willpower in different directions. Income was not a predictor of the use of self-control strategies.     

What Motivates Experts to Share? A Prospective Test of the Model of Knowledge‐Sharing Motivation

Knowledge sharing is an employee behavior, critical to organizational success in knowledge‐intensive work environments. This study set out to empirically test the model of knowledge‐sharing motivation designed and presented in this journal by Gagné (2009). The model combines two established behavioral theories, the theory of planned behavior and self‐determination theory, and connects various human resource practices to it. This prospective survey study ( n = 200) in a large expert organization employed structural equation modeling. The results mainly supported the proposed model, with attitudes, autonomous motivation, and sharing norms predicting knowledge‐sharing intentions ( R² = .69), which predicted knowledge‐sharing behavior ( R² = .42). We also identified potential ways to modify the model to better suit typical knowledge‐sharing contexts. Implications for practice, with the emphasis on how our findings can benefit and be used by human resource management, are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Big-box retail entry in urban and rural areas: are there productivity spillovers to incumbent retailers?

This paper empirically measures the potential spillover effects of big-box retail entry on the productivity of incumbent retailers in the entry regions, and investigates whether the effects differ depending on the size of the new establishment relative to the size of the local market. The results indicate that big-box entry increases the productivity of incumbent stores in two of three rural entry regions where the IKEA is large relative to the local retail market, while no productivity spillover effects could be found in the case of the urban IKEA entry in Gothenburg.     

Differences in Organizing Between Unions and NGOs: Conflict and Cooperation Among Swedish Unions and NGOs

The protection of workers’ rights is at the heart of the ongoing debate on business ethics. In balancing transnational corporations’ (TNCs) influence in private regulatory systems intended to protect workers’ rights in emerging economies, several authors have emphasized the importance of cooperative relationships between unions and NGOs. In practice, however, conflict has often entered into union–NGO relations, weakening the protection of workers’ rights. We argue that cooperative union–NGO relationships are difficult to form in part because of the differences existing between how unions and NGOs organize. More specifically, based on two qualitative studies, we demonstrate that the problems stem from differences in organizing related to (i) identity construction, (ii) governance systems, and (iii) resources. The article concludes with a discussion on the possibility of successful union–NGO cooperation and improved protection of workers’ rights in emerging economies.     

Policies against human trafficking: the role of religion and political institutions

I investigate empirically the role of religion and political institutions in policies against human trafficking, using the new 3P Anti-trafficking Policy Index. The dataset contains 175 countries. The results show that governments in countries with Christian majorities implement stricter anti-trafficking policies than governments in countries with Muslim majorities. The differences between countries with Christian and Muslim majorities are pronounced in dictatorships but less so in democracies. For example, the 3P Anti-Trafficking Policy Index in a dictatorship with no Muslims was by 1.9 points higher than in an otherwise identical but purely Muslim dictatorship (on a scale from 3 to 15). The association between religion and the overall 3P Anti-trafficking Policy Index is driven by protection and prevention policies. As compared to prosecution policies that mainly target the perpetrators of human trafficking, protection and prevention policies mainly protect the victims of human trafficking, i.e. predominantly women. The conclusions are consistent with other empirical findings regarding the association between religion, political institutions, and human development.