Does training facilitate SME's performance?

This study explores relationships between small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) foreign direct investment (FDI), FDI-related training programs and organizational performance. To determine if the implementation of training programs mediate the relationship between FDI and SME performance, and if the alignment between training needs and training implementation leads to higher SME performance, we collected large-scale company-level data (N = 816) from within Taiwan.

Research results suggest that FDI leads to higher SME performance. This relationship was partially mediated by the implementation of FDI-related training programs. Unexpectedly, the results also suggest that higher levels of training need attenuate the positive relationship between FDI-related training implementations and SME performance. This implies that the alignment between SME training needs and training implementation may be of a more complicated nature than was previously thought. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are also identified.     

The persistence of gender discrimination in China – evidence from recruitment advertisements

In this paper we present an analysis of recruitment advertisements that suggests that Chinese employers frequently discriminate on gender grounds, both directly and indirectly. We illustrate how employers continue to use entrenched stereotypes and perpetuate highly segregated expectations of men and women's roles at work, predominantly to the detriment of women and hindering their progress in the labour market. The paper concludes that while employers’ recruitment practices are not the only cause of women's continued labour-market disadvantage – and are in themselves a function of the wider of economic, socio-cultural and ideological factors that underlie it (Kitching 2001; Patrickson 2001; Leung 2003; Cooke 2005) – a change to employer behaviour in this area is a necessary and potentially achievable step forward towards greater equality.     

Valuing risk reductions: Incorporating risk heterogeneity into a revealed preference framework

Our study expands the hedonic wage framework to take advantage of the inherent differences in workplace deaths, both in type and probability of occurrence, and examines revealed preferences over these heterogeneous risks. We use data on all fatal workplace deaths in the US from 1992 to 1997 and develop risk rates that are differentiated by how the fatal injury occurred. Within sample tests of the equality of compensating wage differentials for heterogeneous risks indicate that we can reject aggregation of homicide risks with other sources of workplace fatalities. However, our results are not without qualification and highlight important nuances of the labor market as related to estimating compensating wage differentials for risks that have generally been ignored in the previous literature.     

Cost effectiveness of a medical vigilance system to reduce patient falls

Patient falls are a serious problem in hospitals, resulting in substantial morbidity, mortality, length of stay, and costs. The results of a small trial of a patient vigilance system in a post-neurosurgery unit of a large acute care hospital are reported. The system includes two components: (a) passive sensor array placed under the patient in a hospital bed, and (b) a bedside unit that connects to the nurse call system already in place at the hospital. This trial demonstrated the overall effectiveness of the vigilance system in reducing the rate of patient falls. The cost-effectiveness analysis found that use of this system was associated with somewhat higher measured costs. It is likely that the system was cost-saving, due to unmeasured costs.     

Influence of hospital context on cost and length of stay following cardiac catheterization

This study attempted to link health care activities and outcomes, taking into account characteristics of the health care system, the work group, and the individual. Results indicated that organizational structure and work group process had a greater influence on cost and derived length of stay (a measure of efficiency) than did the individual-level variables. The findings of this study add to the body of knowledge that explains how the processes of nurses' work influence the outcomes of that work.     

Price Adjustment to Exchange Rates and Forward‐looking Exporters: Evidence from USA–China Trade

This paper shows that the pricing behavior of exporting firms exhibits a “forward‐looking” nature with sticky prices. As a result, the expectations of future exchange rates affect current prices at both the product level and firm level. We find evidence by employing both highly disaggregated Harmonized System (HS) 10‐digit product‐level import data of the USA and firm–product level customs data on China's exports to the USA. These findings provide evidence for a previously unexplored micro‐level forward‐looking nature of trade price adjustment as response to future exchange rates, and suggest a potentially important factor in helping explain incomplete exchange rate pass‐through.     

TRADE‐OFFS BETWEEN CIVIL LIBERTIES AND NATIONAL SECURITY: A DISCRETE CHOICE EXPERIMENT

We explore differences in perception of national security policies between self‐identified liberals, moderates, and conservatives from a national sample of U.S. adults. Using a discrete choice experiment, we also quantify each group's willingness to trade off select policies in exchange for reduced risk of a 9/11‐style terrorist attack. Relative to other groups, liberals are more likely to view such policies as ineffective and susceptible to government abuse. They also perceive a lower threat of terrorism. All groups are willing to make trade‐offs between civil liberties and risk of a terrorist attack. However, loss of civil liberties affects liberals more than conservatives. (JEL D61, H41, H56)     

Complex home care: part III--economic impact on family caregiver quality of life and patients' clinical outcomes

Family caregivers perform a significant role in the care of patients with chronic illnesses and prescribed life-long complex home care treatments. Both quantitative and qualitative data from this study suggest the mental health burdens and financial costs of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) caregiving are extensive. In this study, the variability in HPN out-of-pocket expenses and the uncertainty of incurring such extensive costs created additional financial worries within already stressed families. Based on these data, interventions to improve caregivers' sleepiness, depression, and physical health could be hypothesized to improve both patients' and caregivers' quality of life and reduce the frequency of patients' catheter-related infections. These specific nursing interventions also could improve caregiver health and subsequently reduce the costs of caregivers' health care.     

Learning to Punish: Experimental Evidence from a Sequential Step-Level Public Goods Game

This paper studies how subjects in a three-person sequential step-level public good game learn to punish free riders more over time. Our current work makes several additions to the literature on other regarding behavior. First, our experiment provides evidence that subjects care about the actions that lead to an outcome as well as the outcome itself, replicating the results of A. Falk, E. Fehr and U. Fischbacher (Economic Inquiry, in press), J. Brandts and C. Solà (Games and Economic Behavior, 36(2), 138–157, 2001.) and J.H. Kagel and K. Wolfe (Working paper, Ohio State University, 1999). Second, our experiment provides one of the first tests of the newer theories of reciprocity by A. Falk and U. Fischbacher (Working paper, University of Zurich, 2000) and G. Charness and M. Rabin (Quarterly Journal of Economics, in press) that take a psychological games approach. We find that these theories fail to explain the experimental data. Finally, we examine the mechanism by which subjects learn to punish free-riding more ofter over time.     

The origin of spatial interaction

This paper uses spatial empirical methods to detect and analyze trade patterns in a historical data set on Chinese rice prices. Our results suggest that spatial features were important for the expansion of interregional trade. Geography dictates, first, over what distances trade was possible in different regions, because the costs of ship transport were considerably below those for land transport. Spatial features also influence the direction in which a trading network is expanding. Moreover, our analysis captures the impact of new trade routes both within and outside the trading areas.