Leader‐member exchangeand job satisfacton: Cross‐industry comparisons and predicted employee turnover

The present research analyzes quality of leader‐member exchange (LMX) and job satisfaction and predicts employee turnover rates in the food manufacturing, restaurant, and banking industries resulting from low‐quality LMX and job dissatisfaction. It confirms the reliability and construct validity of the well‐known LMX scale and Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) in cross‐industry comparisons. It also identifies the shape of the hypothesized relationships among the three industries. Comparisons indicate that in the service sector, quality of LMX is significantly higher than in manufacturing, that the level of job satisfaction is higher in manufacturing than in service, and that satisfaction with supervision has a significant impact on job satisfaction.     

Making direct democracy work: a rational-actor perspective on the <Emphasis Type="Italic">graphe paranomon</Emphasis> in ancient Athens

The specific way the Athenians set up their democracy presents both theoretical and empirical challenges. Decisions were taken by majority vote in the Assembly. To keep politicians in line, the Athenians first used ostracism, which however was replaced by the graphe paranomon around 415 BCE. The latter provided that anybody who had made a proposal in the Assembly could be accused of having made an unconstitutional suggestion, bringing a potentially severe penalty if found guilty. We know of 35 such cases between 403 and 322. During the fourth century the notion of illegality was extended to a mere question of political undesirability. Henceforth any decision by the Assembly could be overturned by the courts, but if the accuser failed to get at least 20% of the jury votes, he was punished instead. While these rules can be seen as a safeguard against bad decisions, they also provided the Athenian politicians with important information about the relative strength of their political support. This effect has not been analysed before, and it may help explain the relative stability of political life in classical Athens. Furthermore this analysis also contributes to our understanding of a curious but often overlooked fact, namely that the decrees of the Athenian Assembly to a great extent concerned honorary rewards, and the use of the graphe paranomon in turn was largely focussed on the honorary decrees.     

Fiskalpolitik nach der Krise

Die ?ffentlichen Haushalte sind durch die Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise stark in Anspruch genommen. Au?erdem wurde, noch bevor der Ausgang der Krise absehbar war, in Deutschland die Schuldenbremse beschlossen. Bei den Autoren besteht Einigkeit darüber, dass die Nachkrisenzeit einer sensiblen Fiskalpolitik bedarf. über deren Ausgestaltung gehen die Auffassungen jedoch auseinander.     

Proposed Ocean Shipping Reform Act's likely effects on conferences and rates

This paper examines the likely effects of the proposed Ocean Shipping Reform Act now being considered by the U.S. Congress. Specifically, it considers whether ocean shipping conferences are likely to continue to exist after deregulation and the probable effect on rates resulting from those parts of the proposed legislation which would end public tariff filing requirements, permit the negotiation of confidential service contracts, and continue antitrust immunity for ocean carriers. The proposed legislation may weaken shipping conferences, but it is unlikely to eliminate them. This conclusion is based on the long history of survival of shipping conferences, the theory of the empty core, possible economic advantages resulting from conferences, and continued antitrust immunity for ocean carriers under the proposed legislation. Moreover, the proposed legislation is likely to continue, if not strengthen, the frequent current practice of offering discounted service contracts. This conclusion is based on recent empirical studies and laboratory market experiments, as well as several recently negotiated nonconfidential service contracts.     

The Variation in Wage Rigidity by Occupation and Union Status in the Us

This study estimates wage equations with data disaggregated by occupation and union status, and it derives two measures of wage rigidity for each group of workers: the sensitivity of wages to unemployment and the speed with which wages respond to price inflation. The sensitivity of wages to an aggregate measure of unemployment was found to depend negatively on an occupation's skill level. In addition, union wages were more sensitive to unemployment than non-union wages and responded less rapidly to price inflation.     

The interaction of the financing and investment decisions: Preliminary results in the Australian context

This paper investigates the presence of the interaction of investment and financing decisions in Australian firms. Using simultaneous equations incorporating the variables of investment, dividend, and new debt issue, interactive effects are found for two sub-periods.     

Contents of Volume 8 2001

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 8 2001