Comparing Big Givers and Small Givers: Financial Correlates of Corporate Philanthropy

In a departure from the traditional studies of corporate philanthropy that focus on board composition, advertising, and social networks, the authors investigate the financial correlates of corporate philanthropy. The research design controls for firm size and industry while observing firms from a variety of industries. The sample contains matched pairs of generous and less generous corporate givers. The authors find, as hypothesized, a positive relationship between a firm's cash resources available and cash donations, but no significant relationship between corporate philanthropy and firm financial performance, regardless of whether corporate philanthropy is measured as cash payouts or the aggregate contributions that charities actually receive, and regardless of whether financial performance is gauged using accounting measures or market measures. Whereas the link between available resources and corporate philanthropy is well accepted in the literature on corporate social responsibility, it has been rarely tested and never so definitively found as in this research.     

Unequal jobs or unequal pay?

This article draws on new data to consider whether women would benefit most from upgrading the skill levels of their jobs or from achieving equal pay for work of equal value. It looks in detail at skill, gender, and whether work is full-time or part-time, concluding that reassessment of the value of women's jobs would be of greater immediate financial benefit to women than upgrading the skill level of their jobs unless this upgrading gave them access to men's jobs at men's pay and benefit rates.     

A meta-analysis of satisfaction with complaint handling in services

Academics as well as managers have long been interested in the role of satisfaction with complaint handling (SATCOM) in shaping customers’ attitudes and repurchasing decisions. This interest has generated a widespread belief that SATCOM is driven by the perception that the complaint handling process is just. To test how SATCOM is modulated by distributive, interactional, or procedural justice, we performed a meta-analysis of 60 independent studies of the antecedents and consequences of SATCOM. Results indicate that SATCOM is affected most by distributive justice, then by interactional justice, and only weakly by procedural justice. We also find that SATCOM mediates the effects of justice dimensions on word-of-mouth. However, contrary to common belief, SATCOM does not mediate the effects of justice dimensions on overall satisfaction and return intent. We draw on our results to suggest several avenues for further research.     

The information revolution,innovation diffusion and economic growth: an examination of causal links in European countries

Quality & Quantity - Over the last 5 decades, the economic landscape in Europe has been transformed rapidly due to innovation, digitisation of the economy, and emergence of new sources of...     

Kinship and business: how entrepreneurial households facilitate business growth

Building on studies that have stressed the importance of context and the role of the family in business growth, this study explores the role of the entrepreneurial household in the process of business development and growth. We seek to understand how household strategy influences the development of new businesses, the ways in which household characteristics and dynamics influence business growth strategy decisions and how business portfolios are managed and developed by the household. To examine these questions, comparative case studies were undertaken drawing data from four entrepreneurial households located in remote rural regions of Norway and Scotland. The data reveal the role of the entrepreneurial household in the evolution of business creation and growth, examining the processual aspects of entrepreneurial growth, the interactions between business activities and entrepreneurial households and how business portfolios are developed in practice. Three analytical themes emerged from the analyses: the tightly interwoven connections between the business and the household, the use of family and kinship relations as a business resource base and how households mitigate risk and uncertainty through self-imposed growth controls. Although previous studies have viewed entrepreneurial growth largely as an outcome of personal ambition and business strategy, these results reveal the importance of the entrepreneurial household and the household strategy in determining business growth activities.     

Can diaries help in improving agricultural production statistics? Evidence from Uganda

Although good and timely information on agricultural production is critical for policy-decisions, the quality of underlying data is often low and improving data quality could have high payoff. We use data from a production diary, administered concurrently with a standard household survey in Uganda to analyze the nature and incidence of responses, the magnitude of differences in reported outcomes, and factors that systematically affect these. Despite limited central supervision, diaries elicited a strong response, complemented standard surveys in a number of respects and were less affected by problems of respondent fatigue than expected. The diary-based estimates of output value consistently exceed that from the recall-based production survey, in line with reported disposition. Implications for policy and practical administration of surveys are drawn out.     

Preventing premature death: tobacco treatment services for employees

This article presents a summary of current information concerning the health and financial costs of workplace smoking, with special emphasis on the costs to union workers and multiemployer health and welfare funds. It describes the potential savings from investing in tobacco cessation for workers and members, provides an overview of scientific evidence concerning the efficacy of different approaches to tobacco cessation, including behavioral services and medications, and discusses some of the benefit design and management issues involved in offering tobacco cessation services to employees and members.     

The psychological contract and the transition from office‐based to home‐based work

This article explores how the transition from office‐based to home‐based work impacts upon the psychological contracts of employees involved. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, utilising a short‐term longitudinal design, the setting is a local authority which implemented a 3‐month home‐working pilot scheme. Using the psychological contract as an analytical framework it is shown how the implementation of the changes impacts upon the psychological contracts not only in the workplace but also in the home. In both the arenas of work and the home, obligations are surfaced (and sometimes renegotiated) and boundaries are redrawn. The relationship with the employer becomes increasingly transactional, enabling participants to redefine the status of work in relation to their other priorities. Whilst homeworkers exhibit an increased commitment to the mode of work and become more productive for their employer, they also exhibit a more transactional orientation to work, threatening to leave if homeworking is withdrawn. We explore the methodological and theoretical implications of our findings drawing attention to the analytical potential of the psychological contract for generating more critical insights.