Work–home enrichment and health: an analysis of the mediating role of persistence in goal striving and vulnerability to stress

Extant research has shown that work–home enrichment (WHE) generates favorable effects on individuals' work-related and nonwork-related outcomes because of the synergistic combinations realized between work and home lives. In this paper, I explore the link between WHE and self-reported health. Despite this relationship has been already investigated in prior research, scholars have mostly adopted a simplistic approach that directly linked WHE to health, resulting in a limited understanding of what factors are conducive of such positive effects. In this paper, I test a more sophisticated model that link WHE to self-rated health indirectly, through the mediating role of persistence in goal striving and vulnerability to stress. By using data collected through the second follow-up of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II; 2004–2006) and involving a large national sample of working adults, the results show that individuals experiencing high levels of WHE report a better health status because of an enhanced determination to persist in goal striving even when facing difficulties and a lower vulnerability to stress. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.     

The Economy of Music Programs and Organizations. A Micro Analysis and Typology

The paper presents a model for understanding the inner economy of live music programs and organisations at a micro level, according to a management and accounting perspective. The complexity and variety of situations and solutions in organizing live music is described with reference to a number of real events. As a way of handling such a complexity and variety in organising, a typology is proposed based on three distinct features that can be found, to a different extent, inside music entities: the preparation of the Premiere; the running of performances after the Premiere; and the management of a portfolio of music programmes. The typology is a tool to understand possible implications on the economy of music programs arising from different solutions to the issue of organising and related cost behaviour.     

GDP dynamics and unemployment changes in developed and developing countries

We design a new specification of Okun’s model that takes the following features into account: estimation of the relation in first differences, the possible lagged effect of GDP dynamics on unemployment changes, the persistence of unemployment rate dynamics, the possible different values of Okun coefficients under recession (with respect to periods of increases in GDP), the existence of cross-country institutional and structural differences (i.e. country-specific Okun coefficients), the additional effect on unemployment caused by large adverse shocks such as financial crises.

A distinctive feature of this article is its consideration of a large set of countries for which we find differentiated Okun coefficients. Moreover, we focus in particular on the distinction between developed and developing countries, and on the additional impact of financial crises. From an econometric point of view, the model developed belongs in the family of linear mixed-effects models. The estimation method uses an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. Our results confirm the general validity of ‘Okun’s law’; they show the Okun coefficient differences between high- and low-income countries; and they evidence an additional impact of some types of financial crisis on the unemployment dynamics of developed economies.     

Industry risk and market structure

This paper examines the relationship between industry risk and industry profitability. A three-equation model is employed in which profits, profit variability (total risk) and debt (financial risk) are simultaneously determined. One of the main findings of the study is that risk, as measured by profit variability, is not related to industryprofitability. One possible explanation is that risk-reducing strategies reduced profit variability and thus profit variability had little, role to play in explaining interindustry profitability. A second reason suggested by the results of the profit equation is that the equity/asset variable may be a better measure of risk.     

Examining the effect of novelty seeking,satisfaction, and destination image on tourists’ return pattern: A two factor,non-linear latent growth model

With many destinations relying on repeat business, intention to revisit has become an important research topic. As revisit intention changes over time, this paper proposes the use of a latent growth curve to model the developmental trajectory of return behavior. The proposed model was tested in two steps in AMOS 16.0 using SEM methodologies to investigate the effects of novelty seeking, destination image and overall satisfaction levels across intent to revisit trajectories using data collected among French, English, and German travelers. Findings indicate that both novelty seeking and low satisfaction among travelers temper immediate intent to return. Conversely, a positive image of the destination enhances both immediate and future intentions to return.     

Framing adaptive capacity through a history–futures lens: Lessons from the South East Queensland Climate Adaptation Research Initiative

This paper explores how the history–futures interface can inform a set of concrete adaptation options to climate change for stakeholders in South East Queensland, Australia. It is based on research undertaken as part of the Commonwealth funded South East Queensland Climate Adaptation Research Initiative (SEQ-CARI) that profiled 33 historical case studies to identify common themes in the ways societies responded to stress. The case studies are intended to provide a context for thinking about adaptive capacity with stakeholders in the four areas of human settlement and health; energy; agriculture, forestry and fisheries; and ecosystems and biodiversity. The case studies demonstrate that adaptive capacity varies with context and is affected by the complexity, technology, leadership, institutions and imaginative resources inherent to the social system examined. To increase the possibilities for reflection by stakeholders, the case studies were used to create a set of historical scenarios that explore some of the key features of human responses to challenges such as climate change. This paper draws on this work to suggest a set of ‘practical’ lessons for those engaged with climate change today and into the future.