What Attracts Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in the United States

The present study evaluates the relative impact of industry and state specific economic factors on inward FDI in several US states that compete for the same inward FDI. It appears that relative labor productivity, relative spending on education, and relative crime rate are important in inter-state competition for the same inward FDI. Also, when the contest in attracting inward FDI comes down to two states, relative tax incentives also become important in attracting FDI inflows.     

Do All Foreign Direct Investment Inflows Benefit the Local Economy?

The present study measures the impact of FDI inflows on the local economies of the US states that receive most of the FDI inflows in the country. It appears that FDI inflows in manufacturing have rather weak effects on local employment and wages in most of the states in the sample. However, these results are primarily due to the industry composition of the FDI. FDI inflows in Printing and Publishing, Transportation Equipment and Instruments have positive effects on local employment and wages, while FDI inflows in Leather and Stone/Clay/Glass have detrimental effects on local labour markets in most of the states in the sample. These findings indicate the importance of industry characteristics in evaluating the effects of FDI inflows on local communities. Also, they emphasise the need for US states to selectively target and attract FDI inflows in specific industries.     

The effect of unemployment insurance on the riskiness of occupational choice

This paper examines the effect of unemployment insurance on the riskiness of occupational choice by postulating a model of job search in which job offers have two characteristics; their wage and their security of tenure. Two versions are considered: a general case in which the unemployment benefit is earnings-related, and a special case in which the benefit is of a flat-rate form. Of particular interest in the paper is the individual's desired trade-off between wage and security of tenure, and how this trade-off is affected by the type of insurance scheme in operation. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that an earnings-related scheme encourages risk-taking behaviour by the poor, and risk-avoiding behaviour by the rich; in contrast, a flat-rate scheme neither encourages nor discourages risk-taking.     

To go or stay home and watch: exploring the balance between motives and perceived constraints for major events: a case study of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

The current study offers insight into the role of motivation and constraints on behavioural intentions prior to a mega event. The Psychological Continuum Model framework was used to integrate motivation and leisure constraints theory to examine attraction towards the 2008 Olympic Games. Semi‐structured interviews (N = 47) and a questionnaire (N = 235) distributed in Australia and the USA were used to identify and measure three motivational themes: cultural learning, cultural experience and olympic event interest, and three perceived constraints: structural, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Structural Equation Modelling revealed that motives were positively related to behavioural intentions while constraints were negatively related. Analysis further revealed the interaction between motives and perceived constraints led to two different forms of behavioural intentions; intentions to travel and attend the event vs. stay home to watch the event on TV. Policy and marketing implications are discussed that illustrate the benefits of understanding both motives and perceived constraints for tourism travel. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.     

Relationships among three facets of family-supportive work environments,work–family conflict and job satisfaction: a research in Greece

The purpose of the present study is to extend the line of current enquiry related to family-supportive work environments (FSWEs), and their relationships to work–family conflict (WFC) and job satisfaction. Three facets of a FSWE are examined: family (non-) supportive culture, family-supportive management (FSM) and the model of ideal worker. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey from 612 employees. The results indicate that among the three facets of a FSWE, FSM appears to better predict both WFC and job satisfaction. Furthermore, WFC was negatively related to job satisfaction. An intriguing result is that the ideal worker model – manifested via long hours of work, visibility, availability and the dominance of organisation's needs over the family ones – was found to be positively related to job satisfaction, whilst it has no impact on WFC. Finally, the implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

The role of productive efficiency on entry and post‐entry performance under different strategic orientation: the case of the Greek plastics and rubber industry

The present study formulates and empirically tests the hypothesis that the post‐entry performance and growth of new firms is affected by the way in which crucial resources are combined during the decision‐making process to enter the industry or not. Further, the study empirically tests the hypothesis that multifaceted productive efficiency influences both the entry decision and the entrants' post‐entry performance. The proposed analytical framework allows for testing these hypotheses under different strategic orientations assumed to be followed by entrants. Results of the estimated partial observability model provide support to these hypotheses in almost all of the examined cases. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Market Concentration and Multifaceted Productive Efficiency

Developing the analytical framework of the decision making process of a possible entrant, a reduced form system equations model is estimated in order to examine the market concentration – productive efficiency relationship in an endogeneity context. Technical and scale efficiency estimates are obtained from an inter-industry stochastic production frontier using a panel dataset regarding the seven most energy intensive manufacturing industries in Greece over the period 1980–96. Several new versions of the concentration – efficiency relationship, may be derived from the alternatives of the entrant considering the possible conduct character of incumbents’ technical efficiency and excess capacity, which is depicted on their scale efficiency, on market concentration.     

Measuring technical efficiency in the Greek agricultural sector

This paper measures the degree of technical efficiency of Greek farms at discrete points in time. Stochastic frontier production functions are estimated from four annual Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) surveys of the 1992–1995 period. From the results, a measure of technical efficiency is calculated for each farm for each year. The four distributions of technical efficiency values are examined and compared. All four samples show a wide range of farm-specific technical efficiency but efficiency is improving over the period. The paper also presents frontier estimates for small and large farms classified according to economic size. In that case, technical efficiency measures are calculated and their distributions are examined and compared. The results show that large farms are more efficient than small farms. However, efficiency is improving in both size farms over the period. In general, the results of this study indicate that there is substantial scope for improving technical efficiency of Greek farms.     

Leisure constraints and the psychological continuum model: a study among recreational mountain skiers

Studying the factors that contribute to the development of skiing loyalty holds particular interest for ski resort managers and marketers, since it has been reported that recreational skiers’ dropout rates are considerably high. This study examines how intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural constraints, influence the development of skiers’ stage-based attitudinal loyalty (Attraction, Attachment and Allegiance stages), as conceptualised by the psychological continuum model, and further tests if constraints can be used for classifying skiers into the three stages of the model (Attraction, Attachment and Allegiance). Two hundred and thirty (N = 230) recreational skiers from one ski resort in North Greece participated in the study. The results indicated that the intensity of perceived constraints decreased from the lowest (attraction) to the highest (Allegiance) stage of the model. However, the hierarchical influence of constraints was not entirely confirmed, since all three types of constraints contributed to the stage classification of recreational skiers. The theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed.