Explaining greater test use for selection: the role of HR professionals in a world of expanding regulation

In recent decades there has been a well‐documented increase in organisations' use of formal tests for selection purposes. This article investigates whether tests' technical qualities and predictive validity are the critical determinants of take‐up, or whether other organisational and contextual factors are more important. Case studies of organisations were used to identify the factors driving change and Workplace Employee Relations Survey data were analysed to determine the consistency of the findings with national data. The single most important factor appears to be the regulatory environment, with tests used as a precautionary measure to protect selection decisions from challenge. The growing formal professionalisation of HR departments is also important, and the influence of both factors is consistent with current theories of organisational decision‐making. Continued growth in test use is likely, but the implications for efficiency in selection are less clear.     

Do Community Supported Agriculture programmes encourage change to food lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes? New evidence from shareholders

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programmes have recently received attention for their potential to influence food lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes, though studies have mostly drawn from small samples (n?t-tests assess if paired means are statistically different, and multiple regressions of paired differences on socioeconomic factors, self-reported health, and years of CSA enrolment estimate the effect of respondent characteristics on behaviour change. The results strongly suggest that CSAs have the potential to positively impact shareholders’ food lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes, and that those reporting ‘poor health’ prior to CSA enrolment exhibited the most change overall. These results should be taken as an initial, yet promising, analysis of the impact of CSA participation on shareholder food lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes.     

On the formation of interaction networks in social coordination games

There are many situations where two interacting individuals can benefit from coordinating their actions. We examine the endogenous choice of partners in such social coordination games and the implications for resulting play. We model the interaction pattern as a network where individuals periodically have the discretion to add or sever links to other players. With such endogenous interaction patterns we see multiple stochastically stable states of play, including some that involve play of equilibria in the coordination game that are neither efficient nor risk-dominant. Thus the endogenous network structure not only has implications for the interaction pattern that emerges, but it also has a significant impact on the play in the coordination game relative to what would arise if the same interaction network were exogenous.     

The return from travel: a new beginning?

Within the context of the return from long-term travel, this paper uncovers the transitional and at times traumatic nature of return for 24 OE (overseas experience) travellers. Important considerations are raised in respect of easing repatriation distress among those returning from long-term travel. Contributing an understanding of the experience of return from travel, this paper proffers that return to the place one left to travel from does not necessarily mark the end of the journey. Conversely, it can mark a new beginning. As such, we argue that a broader framework for examining the travel experience is called for; notably, one that extends the examination of the travel experience to the return phase and beyond.     

Evidence, What Evidence? The Foundations for Housing Policy

Developments in housing policy and practice have been marked by strong ideological stances and a persistent unwillingness to clarify ends and means, so that key policy questions remain unresolved. Evidence can, and does, impact on policy, but only under certain conditions; for example, if it relates to a specific policy question, is restricted to the interests of a single government department and, especially, if it implies reductions in public spending. Moreover, housing's complexity and relationship with a range of policy areas requires a linked perspective, at a local scale. A predominance of sector-specific, cross-sectional and qualitative research, allied to inadequate data impede the production of evidence to meet this challenge.