Adolescents' sustainability concerns and reasons for not consuming sustainably

Many consumers report being concerned about sustainability but they do not necessarily consume in a sustainable manner. Understanding why this occurs is vital to encouraging sustainable consumption practices. Understanding the phenomenon in relation to adolescents is particularly important. In addition to being a significant segment of current consumers, adolescents are learning consumption habits and preferences that they will carry into adulthood. This research contributes to the domain by fulfilling two research objectives. The first objective was to develop and use a scale for measuring adolescents' sustainability concerns (ASC). The second objective was to identify and examine adolescents' reasons for not consuming sustainably. The research used a three‐stage multi‐method design that included small group interviews and two online surveys with adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. The ASC scale that we produced identifies 14 key sustainability concerns across the dimensions of environment, well‐being and society. The reasons for not consuming sustainably varied across these dimensions. For example, the most frequently reported reasons in the environmental dimension included cost and convenience whereas peer pressure and hedonic preferences were the dominant reasons for well‐being. More broadly, three groups of reasons for unsustainable consumption emerged. These included (i) limited application of sustainability concerns across consumption; (ii) deviating from concerns due to competing priorities; and (iii) limiting or eliminating personal responsibility. The contributions of this research have theoretical, methodological and practical implications for consumer researchers, social marketers and policy makers.     

Occupational Licensing and the Earnings Premium in the United States: Updated Evidence from the Current Population Survey

Using survey data from 2015 to 2018, this article analyses the occupational licensing wage premium in the United States. The estimates show a robust 4–6 per cent wage differential for licensed workers. This premium is robust to careful control for location/local labour market effects and occupation effects. The premium is also positive for the majority of individual occupations and groups of occupations estimated. Similar results are found using additional techniques, including a matching estimator and an analysis of border metropolitan statistical areas.     

Forecast encompassing tests for the expected shortfall

We introduce new forecast encompassing tests for the risk measure Expected Shortfall (ES). The ES has received much attention since its introduction into the Basel III Accords, which stipulate its use as the primary market risk measure for international banking regulation. We utilize joint loss functions for the pair ES and Value at Risk to set up three ES encompassing test variants. The tests are built on an asymptotic theory that is robust to misspecifications. We investigate the finite sample properties of the tests in an extensive simulation study. Finally, we use the encompassing tests to illustrate the potential of forecast combination methods for different financial assets.     

Changing Consumer Preferences in Emerging Markets: Food Market Challenges in Central Mexico

As incomes in emerging markets grow, consumers’ ability to break from former food consumption patterns and introduce new foods or conveniences grows as well. While this general principle is widely accepted, the path of such introductions is not identical worldwide. In this study, we explore how consumers in an advanced emerging market have identified with their current food options, including open-air markets v. supermarkets, and simple v. processed alternatives. Using focus groups, we find that Mexican consumers have strong ties to traditions in food preparation while also showing interest in modern food conveniences. Using product adoption theory, we show that consumers exhibit expected traits of innovation resistance, social contagion influence, and consumption innovativeness, but with specific local variation, including problems with trust, expectations of government action (paternalismo), and considerable definitional confusion. Foreign marketers wishing to access the growing Mexican market should account for these differences from broader product adoption theory.     

MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS IN FAMILY FIRMS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Family firms play a significant role in the global economy. Although family firm literature has devoted much time and effort to investigating topics concerning corporate governance, leadership, ownership and succession, accounting issues have received relatively scant attention. In this paper, we assemble and critically review extant literature on the choice of management controls. This is an essential topic for firms as management control systems (MCS) are used to make sure subordinates behave in function of the goals of the firm. Family firms, however, have distinct features, such as differences in governance structures and goals, which can have a significant impact on whether and how MCS are used. We conclude this review paper by providing avenues for future research that can advance our understanding of both the determinants and the outcomes of the choice of MCS.     

Sociology,Economics, and Gender

This article explores the profoundly gendered nature of the split between the disciplines of economics and sociology that took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, emphasizing implications for current efforts to bring the fields more closely together. Drawing on historical documents and feminist studies of science, it investigates the gendered processes underlying the divergence of the disciplines in definition, method, and degree of engagement with social problems. The recently developed field of economic sociology and other efforts to bridge the disciplinary gap have the potential to heal this disciplinary split, if they are broadened, deepened, and made wiser and more self-reflective through the use of feminist analysis.     

War Legacies,Welfare and Livelihoods in Rural Areas: The Case of Kosovo

This article examines the effects of war on livelihood choices and welfare outcomes of rural households in Kosovo using the 2000 Kosovo Living Standards Measurement Survey. We analyse the extent of the legacy of war on livelihood activities and welfare. We first identify livelihood portfolio clusters of households pursuing similar combinations of activities. These clusters are comparable to those described in more qualitative studies in the immediate post‐conflict period. We then examine the determinants of livelihood portfolio choice and the consequences of these for welfare outcomes. Our results provide evidence of a relationship between a household’s experience of war and livelihood choice. We also identify significant selection effects on welfare for three out of four livelihood clusters, highlighting the fact that selecting into a specific livelihood portfolio changes welfare relative to expected levels. Our results show that war not only affects livelihood choices but also changes the returns to these activities.     

The Indonesian tourism industry under crisis: a Bourdieuan perspective on social boundaries among small-scale business owners

Abstract

This study investigates how small-scale business owners in the Indonesian tourism industry seek to overcome the consequences of multiple crises, over a 10-year period. Taking a Bourdieuan perspective, the authors emphasize the context-dependency and quality differences of various forms of capital, and explain how these differences are manifested in boundary work aimed at overcoming major adversity. It is argued that social, economic and cultural capital contributes differently to small-scale business owners’ resilience, either spanning or setting developmental boundaries. This furthers understanding of how small-scale business owners cope with social boundaries and generate innovative opportunities for the development in the aftermath of crises.