Socially responsible investment fund performance: the impact of screening intensity

Perhaps the most common criticism of socially responsible investment funds is that imposing non‐financial screens restricts investment opportunities, reduces diversification efficiencies and thereby adversely impacts performance. In this study we investigate this proposition and test whether the number of screens employed has a linear or curvilinear relation with return. Moreover, we analyse the link between screening intensity and risk. Screening intensity has no effect on unadjusted (raw) returns or idiosyncratic risk. However, we find a significant reduction in α of 70 basis points per screen using the Carhart performance model. Increased screening results in lower systematic risk – in line with managers choosing lower β stocks to minimize overall risk.     

Long‐term effects of alcohol warning labels: Findings from a comparison of the United States and Ontario,Canada

Since 1989 the U.S. federal government has required warnings on alcohol containers. Findings are presented from telephone surveys conducted between 1990 and 1994 in the U.S. and Ontario, Canada, the no‐treatment reference site. In the U.S., penetration peaked in 1993–94, with 43% of the lifetime drinkers reporting label awareness. Label exposure was weaker (<20%) for all years in the reference site. The proportion reporting conversations about drinking during pregnancy was higher among label seers in both sites. Those seeing labels in the U.S. were more likely to engage in conversations about drinking and driving than those not seeing. Reports of limiting drinking for health reasons showed a positive association with label exposure increasing with time. In the U.S. only, across all years, controlling for age, gender, education, and alcohol consumption, label seers were more likely to drive after drinking too much, but also to say they had deliberately not driven after drinking during the last year. Findings from this quasi‐experiment cannot establish causal relationships, but the pattern of results, though mixed, suggests modest effects on conversations and several precautionary behaviors related to risks of drinking. The label's effects may partially offset an overall trend toward lower public concern about health risks of alcohol. Results are interpreted as consistent with Congressional intent to remind people of certain hazards of drinking, especially during pregnancy or before driving vehicles. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Housing Attribute Preferences in a Northern Mexico Metropolitan Economy

Studies of the valuation of housing attributes have been conducted for numerous metropolitan markets. Empirical analyses of this nature for cities in Latin America and Mexico are less common. This study utilizes data for 175 new houses in Ciudad Juarez, a major metropolitan economy in northern Mexico, to estimate a hedonic pricing model. All units in the sample were completed and sold between November 2006 and April 2007. For each house, a total of 14 characteristics relating to structure and location are employed as explanatory variables. Estimation results indicate that the structural characteristics play bigger roles than the neighborhood amenities. Surprisingly, neighborhood parks are found to lower housing values.      

Aviation and the environment in the context of the EU–US Open Skies agreement

We examine the impacts of the EU–US Open Skies agreement on the environment on emissions from the aviation sector. We use the Hamburg Tourism Model of domestic and international tourist numbers and flows, to estimate these impacts. The Open Aviation Area will result in increased competition between carriers and falls in the cost of transatlantic flights. This will not only have implications for the size and structure of the industry but also for climate policy. The paper assesses what effects the expected increases in passenger numbers will have on CO₂ emissions and tests whether this increase in travel will result in a corresponding rise in emissions. Simulations show that passenger numbers arriving from the US to the EU will increase by between 1% and 14% depending on the magnitude of the price reductions because of substitution between destinations, the percentage increase in global emissions is much smaller (max. 1%) than the increase in cross-Atlantic traffic.     

A typology of solo independent women travellers

This paper aims to profile solo independent women travellers in Tropical North Queensland, describe their key motivations for travel and behaviours, and locate this group on a typology of solo independent travellers in Australia. Previous research has painted solo independent women at one end of a travel spectrum as fearful and risk‐adverse and at another end, as risk‐takers who have few concerns about safety within the destination. This analysis is based on visitor surveys completed over 21 months at Cairns Airport (n = 2,618). The results indicated that solo independent women travellers (n = 228) felt safe in the destination and participated in a wide variety of activities including those with some degree of risk. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do Immigrant Nurses in Canada See a Wage Penalty? An Empirical Study

The purpose of this study is to analyse the labour market for female immigrant nurses in Canada and to address the following question: does a nurse with foreign educational credentials have the same earning potential compared with a nurse who was educated in Canada? This is part of a more general question on economic discrimination against immigrants. Using data from the confidential master files of the 2001 Canadian Census on Individuals, this study finds that nurses educated outside of Canada do face wage penalties. This indicates that their credentials might not be fully recognized and/or valued in the Canadian labour market for registered nurses. This result is important to the business world since it suggests the possibility of a general finding that immigrant credentials may not be readily transferable and compensated in a new country. This can result in qualified workers not being able to gain meaningful employment and this source of labour might not be adequately used to fill jobs in industries facing labour shortages.     

Unpacking the client(s): Constructions, positions and client–consultant dynamics

Research on management consultancy usually emphasizes the role and perspective of the consultants. Whilst important, consultants are only one element in a dynamic relationship involving both consultants and their clients. In much of the literature, the client is neglected, or is assumed to represent a distinct, immutable entity. In this paper, we argue that the client organisation is not uniform but is instead (like organisations generally) a more or less heterogeneous assemblage of actors, interests and inclinations involved in multiple and varied ways in consultancy projects. This paper draws upon three empirical cases and emphasizes three key aspects of clients in the context of consultancy projects: (a) client diversity, including, but not limited to diversity arising solely from (pre-)structured contact relations and interests; (b) processes of constructing ‘the client’ (including negotiation, conflict, and reconstruction) and the client identities which are thereby produced; and (c) the dynamics of client–consultant relations and how these influence the construction of multiple and perhaps contested client positions and identities.     

Engineering and technology students’ perceptions of courses

As cultural, social, political and economic changes take place, the secondary or high school curriculum should reflect and respond to changing needs and aspirations of students. Technology Education has been proactive in this arena as it has transformed over the decades to meet ever-changing societal needs. The most recent change to the discipline has been to add engineering and, as a result, adopting a new name and curriculum-Engineering and Technology Education. The added component and name change in Technology Education is causing discussions about what the new direction means, what professional preparation changes will be incurred, and what work graduating students will be prepared to do. In light of these changes, this study investigated perceptions of high school students in the United States of America about engineering and technology courses they take. To investigate whether students’ perceptions are in accord with current changes in Engineering and Technology Education, 316 students enrolled in engineering and technology courses in Georgia schools that have an affiliation with the Georgia Engineering and Technology Education Association (GETEA) were surveyed. According to data analyses, students’ perceptions can be divided into two factors. Educational Value of Course (factor 1) was extracted from statements measuring the degree to which the courses prepare students for employment and provide them with information regarding future employment. Personal Relevance of Course (factor 2) was derived from statements measuring students’ perceptions about links between engineering and technology education and their personal lives. Such findings suggest these students valued their engineering and technology courses, planned to continue their education, made good grades, and had varied types of career expectations for jobs such as design engineers and architects.     

The role of corporates in creating sustainable Olympic legacies

Abstract

The Olympic Games is a major stimulus for increased tourism. In recent years, there have been greater calls for this and other mega-events to leave sustainable positive legacies for the host city, partly to offset the massive cost of hosting. To date, little consideration has been afforded to the role corporates might play in contributing to event legacies. This gap is compounded by the lack of research examining stakeholder engagement in legacy planning more generally. This paper adopts Holmes, Hughes, Mair and Carlsen’s (2015) sustainable event legacy timeline to conceptualise how corporates through the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of sponsorship and employee volunteering can engage across the Olympic event planning cycle to generate volunteering legacies. Drawing upon a comparative study of the Sydney 2000 and London 2012 Olympic Games, tentative evidence of corporate engagement was noted but for the most part it was fragmented and CSR initiatives primarily focused on the immediate planning and delivery stages of the event cycle. The paper advances new knowledge of how volunteering legacies can be generated through the best practice engagement of corporates as key stakeholders involved in legacy planning and governance across the Olympic planning cycle.