The morning after: alcohol misuse and employment problems

Using a rich, recent, and nationally representative longitudinal survey specifically designed to examine alcohol use and associated problems, we investigate the effects of alcohol misuse on a series of understudied and perhaps less common employment problems. Such problems include being fired or laid off from a job, sustained unemployment, and conflicts with a supervisor and/or co-worker. After controlling for time-invariant omitted variables via fixed effects estimation, we find evidence that three measures of alcohol misuse are significantly related to employment problems. The results offer new information on the potential adverse labor market effects of alcohol misuse and shed light on potential mechanisms through which alcohol misuse may impact intensive labor supply and/or wages.     

Trips and tips for negotiation self-defense: Forewarned is forearmed

Continued attention in both the popular and academic press regarding negotiation and the related concepts of influence and persuasion is nothing short of astonishing. The topics on which we focus in this article, however, are rarely—if ever—vetted in such outlets. We venture, with some measure of caution, into the dark side of negotiation: those tactics that may be duplicitous, unethical, and unprincipled. Such tactics provide a quintessential moral hazard, as they are both brutally effective and rarely illegal. It is not our intent to provide a treatise on unsuitable behavior. Rather, our objective is to establish that no one need be victimized by such behaviors, as all of these tactics are avoidable. It is in this spirit that we provide some guidelines on self-defense in a negotiation context to avert and attenuate the consequences of these behaviors.     

From Storyville to Bourbon Street: Vice,Nostalgia and Tourism

This paper contrasts New Orleans' former red-light district, Storyville, and contemporary Bourbon Street, New Orleans' major tourist attraction, to illustrate how history has been revived into a tourist product to maintain the city's appeal as a destination. Nostalgic images are developed for tourism consumption of heritage destinations. The images are idealised versions of the past that alter the authenticity of the historic context from where they came. On Bourbon Street, the Storyville district is utilised as an image to elicit nostalgia of a period no longer actively incorporated into New Orleans's cultural fabric. Through a qualitative analysis of the tourism communication materials, Bourbon Street is analysed as a nostalgic representation of Storyville and its once acceptable vice activities. Activities such as public sexuality, music and dancing, and shopping are ways in which tourists can experience the once legal red-light district. It is argued that what is presented to tourists is a commercial image of the past and its reputation, rather than an accurate portrayal of New Orleans either yesterday or today.     

Behavioural responses to employment discrimination: a study of Hong Kong workers

This study examines the behavioural responses of Hong Kong workers to employment discrimination. Based on the exit-voice framework proposed by Hirschman, five possible responses (i.e. neglect, quit, internal voice, external voice and litigation) are identified. The effects of certain personal attributes and work-related factors on these responses are evaluated. Two different data sets, focusing on gender discrimination and family status discrimination, are analysed. The results of logistic regression indicate that workers with higher levels of education and sensitivity to discrimination are more likely to complain and less likely to neglect their work or resign. Additionally, men and women respond differently to sex-based discrimination. Work-related factors such as employment sector, job tenure and employer size are also found to exert significant effects. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Assessing the Benefits of Trade Facilitation: A Global Perspective

This paper estimates the relationship between trade facilitation and trade flows using a panel of disaggregated manufactured goods for the 2000–2001 period for 75 countries. Four categories of trade facilitation are defined, measured and assessed for their impact on bilateral trade flows using a gravity model. The four measures of trade facilitation are: port infrastructure (air and maritime), customs environment, regulatory environments and e‐business infrastructure. The results suggest that raising global capacity halfway to the world average in the four areas would increase trade by $377 billion. Most regions of the world increase exports more than imports. In large part, this result stems from increased exports to OECD markets that is obtained through a country's own effort to improve ports, customs, regulations and services infrastructures. In addition, the results suggest that reform and capacity building in trade facilitation in areas related to GATT Articles V, VIII and X that are under discussion at the World Trade Organisation could expand trade and exports significantly. Many of the reform measures necessary to achieve this goal need not necessarily require large‐scale investment projects, but rather action in legal and administrative reform to facilitate trade.     

The Stability of Social Preferences in a Low‐Income Neighborhood

We investigate whether social preferences are stable across contexts using a field population of low‐income Americans. We develop and demonstrate a simplified, visually‐based experimental methodology appropriate for this population. We show that choices in a laboratory public goods game predict giving in real donation experiments, as well as self‐reported donations and volunteering outside the lab. At the same time, choices vary systematically by individual characteristics and decision context. Thus, our results provide evidence both for an underlying stable social preference and for the role of context in influencing the expression of that preference.     

LINK BETWEEN DOMESTIC R&D AND INFLOW OF FDI: A GAME-THEORETIC ANALYSIS

Abstract.  The empirical literature has generated mixed correlations between research and development (R&D) undertaken by domestic firms and the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) by their multinational rivals. Further, the existing theoretical explanations of such empirical results appear to be inadequate. This study presents an alternative game-theoretic explanation for the observed correlations. The results show that the seemingly contradictory observed mixed correlations can be explained in an encompassing model in terms of the multinationals' competitive and interactive assessment of the efficiency and expenditure consequences that domestic R&D could generate for the undertaking domestic competitors.