Employment opportunities and labor force participation

Conclusions The research reported here provides a link between expected mix of job opportunities and labor force participation rates for various demographic groups in the working age population. The model produced statistically significant results, generally, for the expected employment opportunities indices, and appears to be a useful device for analyzing labor force participation changes in reaction to varying employment opportunities.The empirical results give further evidence of the existence of a dual labor market in which several worker groups, encompassing younger and older workers and non-family heads, are not as strongly attached to the labor force as prime age males. In particular, percentage increases in job seekers in secondary labor force groups induced by expanding employment opportunities may well exceed percentage increases in employment opportunities in an area. These groups' labor force participation elasticities with respect to employment opportunities are usually greater than one, thus adversely affecting attempts to reduce the official unemployment problems of these secondary groups.Given the greater difficulties these so-called marginal or secondary workers have in finding employment, manpower planners need to anticipate shifts in the labor force composition in assessing needs to be met through job creation and manpower programs. In particular, the results suggest that selective job creation and training programs may be necessary to solve unemployment problems.Finally, this research provides additional evidence demonstrating the inadequacy of unemployment counts to show the total number of persons desiring a job and, thus, the total size of the employment problem faced in a labor market. Moreover, the number of hidden unemployed who will became active job seekers as job openings develop is related to the mix of specific job openings as well as to the demographic mix of the population age 16 years and over.The authors wish to thank the Economic Development Administration and the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah for funding portions of this research. The authors also wish to thank Professor Dan Mitchell, Graduate School of Management, UCLA, for his comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Chapter 11: Strategic advantage and social anathema?

The United States is at a crossroad in its treatment of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, which deals with reorganization of bankrupt organizations. It is vital that the issues surrounding the debate be properly framed. This paper attempts to do just that by reviewing the evolution of bankruptcy law, assessing the impact of Chapter 11 leniency on societal stakeholders, considering bankruptcy as a strategic option, and addressing the ethical and societal issues that arise from the use of Chapter 11 to avoid massive litigation or to abrogate labor contracts. Serious threats to the underlying fibers of the American system of enterprise are exposed and an assessment of these threats is offered.Brad Johnson is a consultant with FLR Health Resources, Dallas, Texas. His recent research has addressed health care strategic management, societal consequences of health care systems changes, and competitiveness of NFP organizations. B. R. Baliga is Assistant Professor in Business Policy and International Business at the College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University. He has written two books on Strategies of Multinational Corporations and several articles, which have appeared in Strategic Management Journaland Journal of International Business Studies. John D. Blair is Associate Professor of Management at the College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University. He is also Associate Professor of Health Organization and Management at the School of Medicine at Texas Tech University. He has written two coauthored books: The All-Volunteer Force: A Study of Ideology in the Military(University of Michican Press, 1977) and Leadership on the Future Battlefield(Pergamon Press, 1984).     

Meanings of the home in popular song lyrics: A feminist critique examining rock and country music

The paper examines the meanings of home as portrayed in the lyrics of popular country and rock songs. These two genres were selected because they loosely represent two American subcultural traditions. The home was chosen because of the central role that it plays in most people's lives and because it is commonly mentioned in the lyrics of popular songs. Because the main role of women in American society is integrally associated with their position and activities in the home, it is hard to separate the two. The authors use an interpretive approach and a feminist perspective to analyze the treatment of women's roles in the home in popular music lyrics. They conclude that, while some representations of women are being questioned by both the performers and the lyric writers, the popular music industry, with its many gatekeepers, continues to promote predominantly stereotypical and traditional images of women.     

Tourist perception of environmental impact

This study investigated the relationship between measured environmental impact and tourists' perception of it, at ten sites in Central Australia. A positive relationship between annual visitation to a site and measurable impact was found, despite the small amount of tourism impact in the area. Tourists' perception of impact varied in degree. A majority identified relevant environmental threats (tourism or introduced species), while a smaller proportion suggested management options to address track spreading, the major impact identified by this study. Overall, environmental conditions were rated lower at sites with a higher intensity of impacts, reflecting some tourists' ability to distinguish impacts.     

Building local legitimacy into corporate social responsibility: Gold mining firms in developing nations

A transnational model of global strategy suggests that multi-national enterprises generally rely on proven global capabilities to adapt existing business models. Alternatively, this paper argues that the transnational model needs to be amended to allow for a hybrid approach that balances local and global strategies for multi-national gold (MNGs) firms working in developing nations. This is illustrated by Newmont Mining's efforts to develop local legitimacy through contributions to community development around its gold mining operations in Peru. We then compare the Newmont case with corporate social responsibility (CSR) at other MNGs. We have found that there appears to be an industry-wide institutional environment developing which includes local CSR projects in an attempt to balance the effects of capitalism between global markets and developing nations.     

Evaluating and Managing Brand Repurchase Across Multiple Geographic Retail Markets

Many companies manage their business on a geographic basis and evaluate marketing metrics and managers correspondingly. Here, using a multi-level dataset from the U.S. retail gasoline industry, we demonstrate inherent differences in the levels of brand repurchase across territories. Furthermore, we show that the effects of factors that may improve repurchase—customer satisfaction and customers’ relational investments—are moderated by market share at the territorial level. Relational investments have relatively more effect on repurchase in territories where a brand's market share is higher, while customer satisfaction has relatively more effect in territories where a brand's market share is lower. These findings imply that one size does not fit all for either evaluating or managing brand performance at a territorial level.     

Limited attention and the optimal incompleteness of contracts

A decision-maker's limited attention is allocated between writingnew contracts and directing current contracts. More time spentwriting a new contract makes the contract more complete. A morecomplete contract performs better and generates higher returns.The optimal allocation of attention implies two types of contracts,relational and market. A relational contract, which is directedperiodically, is optimally less complete than a market contract,which is not directed. The completeness of relational contractsdecreases with the ability to direct contracts, since changingcircumstances can be dealt with later. In addition, the completenessof relational contracts increases with the ability to writenew contracts, since more complete relational contracts aredirected less frequently and leave more time for writing newcontracts. The optimal allocation of attention to relationalcontracts is socially efficient even though it does not maximizethe discounted expected returns of the firm.     

Being and Time: On the Nature and the Evolution of Institutions

The process that drove the early evolution of hominid culture was an arms race that led to selection for 'big brains,' higher consciousness, and language. Culture was a constraining force on this arms race. 'Big brains,' higher consciousness and language paved the way for the evolution of theory of mind and lower rates of time preference, two keys to the development of complex culture. Culture is a shared mental construct, a form of shared social intentionality with a deeply abstract and symbolic nature. Our symbolic ability enabled the development of this public good, which included such mental constructs as promises, obligations, contracts, marriages, property, money, agency, and government. Cultural institutions change the way we think because they both reduce the cost of cognition and become a substitute for cognition by forming a framework for social habits and routines and that allows for specialization in cognition over space and time; in a fundamental and often unrecognized way, they reduce transactions costs. Perception—including social perception—is an ill-posed problem. Culture provides background assumptions and constraints which allow us to solve this problem and thereby reduce transactions costs.     

The Efficiencies Defense in the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines

We analyze the efficiencies defense that is contained in the 2010 Merger Guidelines, which provides the most current statement of the Agencies?? enforcement philosophy and procedure. Most of our attention centers on efficiencies in production, but we also address merger-specific efficiencies that may lead to improved product quality, enhanced services, or even to the introduction of entirely new products. We begin with the analytically clean case of merger-specific efficiencies that are accompanied by monopoly power. From the perspective of either consumer welfare or social welfare, this presents the welfare analysis that should guide merger policy. We, then, examine the errors that may arise due to the restricted role that efficiencies play in Section 7 enforcement. Finally, we close with some policy recommendations.