Determinants of job satisfaction: a European comparison of self-employed and paid employees

The job satisfaction of self-employed and paid-employed workers is analyzed using the European Community Household Panel for the EU-15 covering the years 1994–2001. We distinguish between two types of job satisfaction: job satisfaction in terms of type of work and job satisfaction in terms of job security. Findings from our generalized ordered logit regressions indicate that self-employed individuals as compared to paid employees are more likely to be satisfied with their present jobs in terms of type of work and less likely to be satisfied in terms of job security. The findings also provide many insights into the determinants of the two types of job satisfaction for both self-employed and paid-employed workers.     

Air transport demand and economic growth in Brazil: A time series analysis

We investigate the relationship between air transport demand (passenger-kilometer: PAX) and economic growth (GDP) between 1966 and 2006 in Brazil. Special attention is paid to stationary features and the existence of a long-run equilibrium between variables to work in a vector autoregressive environment. Our findings suggest that GDP and PAX are co-integrated. Impulse-response analysis indicates a strong positive reaction of PAX due to a positive change in GDP. However, GDP reacts to a change in PAX in a slower and moderated way. We interpret these findings as an empirical evidence of air transport multiplier effects in the economy.     

Online visibility as a source of competitive advantage for small- and medium-sized tourism accommodation enterprises

This study examines the importance of the Internet as a distribution channel for medium-sized and small accommodation enterprises, identifying the characteristics that could make the Internet a source of competitive advantage. From the resource-based view, online visibility is considered a differentiating factor in the accommodation business, able to produce superior organisational performance through the capture of new clients and by increasing the occupancy rate. The hypotheses are evaluated using regression models with data from small- and medium-sized hotels in Spain available in the public database SABI. The results show a positive effect of online visibility on organisational performance, although explaining only 10% of performance variance. However, online visibility is a determinant for the percentage of reservations made via the Internet.     

The Brazilian bankruptcy law experience

In early 2005, the Brazilian Congress approved a new bankruptcy law. The new legislation increased creditor protection and improved the efficiency of the bankruptcy system. This paper evaluates the empirical consequences of a bankruptcy reform on a poorly developed credit market. Using data from Brazilian and non-Brazilian firms, we estimated, using two different models, the effect of the bankruptcy reform on contractual and non-contractual debt variables. In general, both models yielded similar results. Concerning contractual debt variables, we found a significant increase in the total amount and the long-term debt and a reduction in the cost of debt. For the non-contractual debt variable, we found no effect in the loans’ ownership structure.     

A discrete choice experiment to assess patients’ preferences for HIV treatment in the urban population in Colombia

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to assess patients’ preferences for HIV treatment in an urban Colombian population.

Methods: A Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) was conducted. Urban Colombian HIV patients were asked to repetitively choose between two hypothetical treatments that differ in regard to five attributes ‘effect on life expectancy’, ‘effect on physical activity’, ‘risk of moderate side effects, ‘accessibility to clinic’ and ‘economic cost to access controls’. Twelve choice sets were made using an efficient design. A Mixed Logit Panel Model was used for the analysis and subgroup analyses were performed according to age, gender, education level and sexual preference.

Results: A total of 224 HIV patients were included. All attributes were significant, indicating that there were differences between at least two levels of each attribute. Patients preferred to be able to perform all physical activity without difficulty, to have large positive effects on life expectancy, to travel less than 2?h, to have lower risk of side-effects and to have subsidized travel costs. The attributes ‘effect on physical activity’ and ‘effects on life expectancy’ were deemed the most important. Sub-analyses showed that higher educated patients placed more importance on the large positive effects of HIV treatment, and a more negative preference for subsidized travel cost (5% level).

Limitations: A potential limitation is selection bias as it is difficult to make a systematic urban/rural division of respondents. Additional, questionnaires were partly administered in the waiting rooms, which potentially led to some noise in the data.

Conclusions: Findings suggests that short-term efficacy (i.e. effect on physical activity) and long-term efficacy (i.e. effect on life expectancy) are the most important treatment characteristics for HIV urban patients in Colombia. Preference data could provide relevant information for clinical and policy decision-making to optimize HIV care.     

Effect of low-cost airlines on tourism in Spain. A dynamic panel data model

This article estimates the impact of low-cost airlines on Spanish tourism during the first decade of the 21st century looking tourist traffic from the principal EU-15 member states using a dynamic panel data. The expansion in low-cost airline activity has had significant, positive direct and indirect effects on the Spanish economy. The study also looks at some of the key elasticities of demand that have influenced this.     

Should auld acquaintance be forgot? the reverse transfer of knowledge through mobility ties

While mobility's effect on knowledge transfer to firms that hire mobile employees is well demonstrated, we choose to explore mobility's effect on knowledge transfer to firms that lose these employees. Focusing on this ‘outbound mobility’ allows us to isolate effects of social mechanisms associated with mobility. We find that semiconductor firms losing employees are more likely to subsequently cite patents of firms hiring these employees, suggesting that mobility‐driven knowledge flows are bidirectional. In addition, the outbound mobility effect is pronounced when mobility occurs between geographically distant firms, but attenuates for geographically proximate firms since other redundant knowledge channels exist within regions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Causality as validity: some implications for the social sciences

We analyse the concept of causality in the social sciences, whose development is insufficient and lesser than the methodology developed for its study. The nature of the causal process as the production of effects remains unclear and the relationships considered to be manifestations of that process cannot be taken for proof of its existence. Given these difficulties, we suggest that, aside from the inherited interpretations, the practice of the concept of causality makes reference to correctly specified relationships not confounded by others; characteristics identical to those which define validity. In that way, causality is equivalent to the validity of a relationship. Beyond merely re-understanding causality, this proposal permits the deduction that the temporal precedence of the cause is a necessary condition only for one type of causality, making it possible to consider other types, not admitted by the traditional notion, in which the cause is consequent or simultaneous to the variable to be explained. Examples and characteristics of these types of causality are presented and considered to be useful for the social sciences.     

Celebrity Endorsement and Involvement With the Social Cause in Nonprofit Organizations

Celebrity endorsement has become a very popular communication strategy in the nonprofit sector, although there are still doubts about its effectiveness. Specifically, one interesting question is whether the involvement of individuals with a social cause can explain differences in the valuation and effects of the celebrity endorsement strategy in consumer behavior. Taking into account this fact, the current research presents a causal model that analyzes the determinants of the attitude toward ads involving celebrities and the explanatory variables of the behavioral intentions in this sector. We worked with two subsamples of individuals with high and low involvement, who rated a fictitious ad with a well-known social entity and a celebrity. As a result, we observed that the strategy can influence the group of low involved people and have no significant effects on the segment with high involvement.     

Caring for older people: an analysis of the small business sector

This study aims to analyse the small business sector in Spain for institutional care. In the Autonomous Region of Valencia, this sector is represented by non‐profit institutions. Our results show that non‐profit centres easily fulfil the legal requirements, especially with regard to personnel. They are generally of high quality and receive a large amount of volunteer work and funds from donators. Small business centres show an accurate daily cost per user of up to €56.48, a substantially lower rate than those offered by large centres.