Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of work motivation tested empirically on seasonal workers in hospitality and tourism

The objective of this study was to understand work motivation in a sample of seasonal workers at a tourism destination strongly steered by seasonality. Furthermore, it was investigated whether seasonal workers could be divided into worker subgroups on the basis of their work motivation. A structural equations model tested Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of work motivation empirically. The findings of the study support the Two-Factor Theory of work motivation. Furthermore, results indicated that a migrant community of workers was significantly less concerned about wage level as well as significantly more concerned about meeting new people than resident workers. As a result of these findings, it is suggested that management of businesses in hospitality and tourism need to consider that the seasonal workforce consists of different kinds of worker subgroups, which have different needs to be satisfied.     

Balancing the trade-off between learning prospects and spillover risks: MNC subsidiaries’ vertical linkage patterns in developed countries

This paper investigates local vertical linkages of foreign subsidiaries and the dual role of such linkages as conduits for learning as well as potential channels for spillovers to competitors. On the basis of data from 97 subsidiaries, we analyze the quality of such linkages under varying levels of competition and subsidiary capabilities. Our theoretical development and the results from the analysis document a far more complex and dynamic relationship between levels of competition and MNCs’ local participation in knowledge intensive activities, i.e. learning and spillovers, than previous studies do. We find a curvilinear relationship between the extent of competitive pressure and the quality of local linkages confirming our argument of a trade-off between learning prospects and spillover risks. Furthermore, the level of subsidiary capabilities moderates this relationship.     

Normative,authentic, and altruistic fruit and vegetable consumption as weblog discourses

The Internet is a growing information and communication channel for health- and diet-related issues. Keeping updated on the fruit- and vegetable-related (F&V) discourses among laypeople is important for health communicators in order to promote F&V consumption through tailored health messages. The aim of the present study was to identify F&V-related discourses in weblogs that were maintained, obviously, to influence diet. A theoretically chosen sample of weblogs were analysed applying critical discourse analysis. The analysis showed three partly overlapping F&V-related discourses: (1) normative consumption with a focus on single nutrients and physiological mechanisms; (2) authentic consumption with a desire for naturalness; and (3) altruistic consumption where ethical responsibilities are enhanced. Bloggers have clear perceptions on ideal F&V consumption, but it is a challenge for the reader to make a synthesis of the discourses presented. Filtering contradictory instructions requires health literacy, which may need more support from dietetic professionals.     

On the Gram series on Pearson's system of frequency functions

Abstract

Among the manifold frequency curves that may conceivably arise when it is assumed that, instead of the variate χ itself, a function of the latter, u = ψ(χ), is normally distributed, the logarithmic normal curve occupies a unique position for two reasons: it can be theoretically deduced from a slightly modified elementary error hypothesis and it is applicable in practice to different cases.     

Tourism as a mixed industry: Differences between private, public and not-for-profit festivals

This paper discusses important policy and management implications of tourism as a mixed industry in which public, not-for-profit, and private organisations such as festivals both compete and collaborate in creating the tourist product. To illustrate, four samples of festivals from the UK, Australia, Norway and Sweden are systematically compared in terms of their ownership, governance, structure, and content. Although the festivals offered a similar product and had similar mandates, they differed considerably in terms of revenue sources, cost structure, use of volunteers, corporate sponsorship, and decision-making. These differences are potentially important to destinations that view festivals as attractions and use them in place marketing. Implications are drawn for festival management and tourism policy, and recommendations are made for extending this line of inquiry to the tourism industry as a whole.     

Fallacious convergence? Williamson’s real wage comparisons under scrutiny

The idea of manifest real-wage convergence for unskilled workers in the latter half of the nineteenth century stems from an article from 1995 by Jeffrey G. Williamson. That article presented real wage comparisons of unskilled urban workers for seventeen countries. Sweden, along with the rest of Scandinavia, is found to be an influential case in accounting for much of the alleged factor price convergence taking place. This paper takes a closer look at all the three steps that have to be taken in order to establish real wage comparisons, focusing on Sweden in relation to the US and the UK. The most important findings are twofold. First, that the US–Sweden wage gap is considerably smaller for manufacturing than for building workers, and second, that the rate at which Sweden’s real wages approached the American and the British has been grossly overestimated. Swedish real wages did grow rapidly, but not as rapidly as Williamson’s comparison will have us to believe, because his real wage series does not constitute a representative account of the Swedish unskilled real wage experience. It is argued that, as we suffer from a serious paucity of data for narrow and comparable samples of late nineteenth century unskilled workers, resorting to more encompassing wage measures is a more viable option. That also implies a questioning of the American unskilled wage series, which makes considerably slower progress than the wage series for manufacturing workers.     

On the validity and reliability of self-reported vote: validity without reliability?

Data from seven Swedish election study panels, 1973-1994, were analyzed to assess simultaneously the validity and reliability of self-reported vote. Eight categories were created, based on self-report at Time 1, an external check, and self-report at Time 2. Overall the validity and reliability of this measure were quite high. However, the cases in which the measure was valid but not reliable outnumbered those in which it was reliable but not valid. Subsequent turnout behavior was most strongly predicted by what people had done previously, but the two self-report measures were also significant predictors in the regression analysis. The eight categories were then compared on a series of demographic and political variables.     

Effective patent life of drugs in Sweden—a comparison with international studies

The effective patent life of all pharmaceutical New Chemical Entities registered in Sweden was investigated for the period 1965-88. Three-year moving average effective patent life was 12.3 years in the beginning of the period, while by the end of the period it had decreased to 8.3 years. If we exclude the increase in the nominal patent term which accompanied Sweden's entry into the European Patent Convention, the effective patent life decreases over the period by over 3 months per year. This coincides with the results of similar studies in other countries. If European research-oriented Pharmaceuticals companies are to maintain their international long-term competitiveness, patent term restoration measures appear to be urgently needed.     

NON‐LINEAR PRICING AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY

This paper investigates non‐linear pricing schedules that are based on Roemer's equality of opportunity (EOp) criterion, and compare them with the maximin and the utilitarian non‐linear pricing schedules. The main results suggest that the EOp policy offers a reasonable compromise between the maximin and the utilitarian policies in the sense that: (1) the consumption for each individual is highest under the utilitarian policy and lowest under the maximin policy, and (2) the individuals in the extreme positions rank the EOp policies between the maximin and the utilitarian policy in terms of utility level.