Market and spillover forces in wage award determination in Australia: 1986 to 1997

This paper examines the role of market and spillover forces in wage award determination in Australia. The results show, consistent with other similar studies, that wage awards are only weakly related to market forces. In the period studied (1986 to 1997) spillover forces emerge as the dominant determinant of award wage adjustments. The results thus provide some empirical evidence for phenomenon such as wage rigidity.     

Men at Work in a Land Down‐Under: Testing Some Predictions of Human Capital Theory

We use new training data from waves 3–6 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey to investigate training and wages of full‐time men. We explore the extent to which the data are consistent with the predictions of human capital theory or with recent alternative theories based on imperfectly competitive labour markets. According to the raw data, most work‐related training received by full‐time private‐sector men is general, but it is also paid for by employers. Our fixed effects estimates reveal that this training is associated with higher wages in current and in future firms, and that the effect in future firms is larger and more precisely determined. These results are more consistent with the predictions of human capital theory based on imperfectly competitive labour markets than with the alternative of perfect competition.     

The Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility in Chile: The Importance of Authenticity and Social Networks

Little is known about how and why corporate social responsibility (CSR) emerged in lesser developed countries. In order to address this knowledge gap, we used Chile as a test case and conducted a series of in-depth interviews with leaders of CSR initiatives. We also did an Internet and literature search to help provide support for the findings that emerged from our data. We discovered that while there are similarities in the drivers of CSR in developed countries, there are distinct differences as well. In particular, we found that different sectors drive CSR in Chile. In contrast to other geographies where consumer demand and government regulation provided the impetus for CSR efforts, multinational companies (MNCs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are key actors in Chile. MNCs imported their CSR beliefs, skills, and processes into Chile. Their efforts resulted in a virtuous cycle. Once large domestic firms felt pressured by their MNC rivals, they too adopted CSR initiatives. The ability to manage relationships with multiple stakeholders and perceptions of authenticity were also critical to the success of CSR in Chile. Using network theory as a lens, we suggest that network density and centrality largely determine whether CSR efforts will be authentic. Based on these contentions, we suggest avenues for future research.     

Household decision-making for everyday travel: a case study of walking and cycling in Lancaster (UK)

Increased walking and cycling for short journeys in urban areas has many obvious advantages yet so far gains from the promotion of more sustainable travel of this type are mostly small. This paper reports on a large research project which uses a mixed method approach to explore attitudes to and perceptions of walking and cycling, and which examines the process of household decision-making for everyday travel and the constraints that this imposes. Using survey, interview and ethnographic data it is argued that many people hold ambiguous and sometimes contradictory views of walking and cycling as effective means of everyday travel, that what they do rarely matches precisely what they believe, and that the complexity and contingency associated with everyday travel for many households is a major barrier to the use of more sustainable travel modes. It is suggested that better understanding of these processes could help to inform both future transport policy and the promotion of walking and cycling for short trips in urban areas.     

Moving beyond individualism in leisure theory: a critical analysis of concepts of community and social engagement

The subject of this paper is the emotions which are aroused in sport and leisure and their significance for a full sociological understanding of sport and leisure behaviour and sport and leisure institutions. The paper deals more with sport than leisure in general and is primarily conceptual and theoretical in its focus. It advances the claim that a ‘figurational’ (or ‘process-sociological’) approach, above all Elias's theory of ‘civilizing processes’ (Elias, 1939; l994a), whilst by no means representing a panacea for all of sociology's current problems, does represent a means of circumventing and hopefully overcoming some of the dilemmas on the horns of which practitioners of our subject recurrently become impaled.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Fertility Patterns*

Recent studies by economists have focused on cultural transmission from the origin country rather than the origin family. Our paper extends this research by investigating how family‐specific‘cultural transmission’ can affect fertility rates. Following Machado and Santos Silva [Journal of the American Statistical Association (2005) Vol. 100, p. 1226] and Miranda [Journal of Population Economics (2008) Vol. 21, p. 67], we estimate count data quantile regression models using the British Household Panel Survey. We find that a woman's origin‐family size is positively associated with completed fertility in her destination family. A woman's country of birth also matters for her fertility. For a sub‐sample of continuously partnered men and women, both partners’ origin‐family sizes significantly affect destination‐family fertility.     

Delivering ‘effortless experience’ across borders: Managing internal consistency in professional service firms

This article explores how professional service firms (PSFs) manage across borders. When clients require consistent services delivered across multiple locations, especially across borders, then firms need to develop an organization that is sufficiently flexible to be able to support such consistent service delivery. Our discussion is illustrated by the globalization process of law firms. We argue that the globalization of large corporate law firms primarily takes place in terms of investments in the development of protocols, processes and practices that enhance internal consistency such that clients receive an ‘effortless experience’ of the service across multiple locations worldwide. Over the longer term the ability to deliver such effortless experience is dependent upon meaningful integration within and across the firm. Firms that achieve this are building a source of sustainable competitive advantage.     

The Right to the City: Road to Rio 2010

In the last decade, the right to the city has evolved as a powerful rallying cry in the struggle against the exclusionary processes of globalization and the commodification of urban space, and in conflicts over who has claim to the city and what kind of city it should be. Drawing on the work of Henri Lefebvre the vision of the right to the city has inspired a global social movement, legislative reform in Latin America and international debates (e.g. at World Urban Forum 5 in Rio de Janeiro). Nevertheless, despite its theoretical appeal, the content remains elusive and implementation is fraught with challenges. This article critically examines the right to the city through the lens of contributions to the UN‐HABITAT e‐debate in November/December 2009, which gave voice to those who might otherwise not be heard. Drawing on these contributions, the article argues for a new conceptualization of citizenship, and for a redefinition of the role of the local state and social actors in implementing the rights‐based agenda that the right to the city entails.     

Managing people or places?

Based upon a growing body of nursing research, emphasizing the management of the work environment is more likely to lead to strong individual and organizational performance than focusing on individual performance. In several studies, individual variables among staff such as age, experience, and tenure were less predictive of their perceptions of an organization than were variables in the work environment.