Union Representatives in Labour–Management Partnerships: Roles and Identities in Flux

This study examines the challenges met by union representatives (URs) who have to reconstruct their traditional role in the context of labour–management partnerships. They are innovators involved in the transition to renewed labour relations. Identity issues and role conflicts are examined through an in‐depth analysis of the process involved in assimilating this new role in unionized organizations. The results suggest that URs subordinate the partner role to the interest representation role. Interviews suggest that this enhanced union legitimacy. Some blurring of traditional social categories such as those of employee or employer is possible to the extent that the relations between the actors are founded on interpersonal relations.     

FTA and equity: New approaches to governance

FTA and equity addresses the need for multiple stakeholders’ participation in public policy and corporate decision making thus leading to more democratic societies. The need for more participative and inclusive decision making is due to the move from the technocratic nature of decision making towards more democratic processes, which is a result of the transformation of societies and situations as a result of various factors including globalisation, environmental concerns, more knowledge intensive work and lifestyle.The current paper addresses Future-oriented Technology Analyses (FTA) in the context of a better understanding of issues that ought to be considered by the FTA community so that it can support the quest for new forms of governance. The paper has been structured on the discussion of governance around three pillars: socio-cultural evolution, corporate industrial activity and government.Analysis of the relationship between governance and each of the three pillars poses a number of questions to the FTA community that reflect on the potential impacts of FTA activities in governance. Setting a new landscape for the FTA, the paper concludes with those issues where the FTA community is starting to devote attention, as well as those it still ought to consider.     

Pricing Bermudan options by nonparametric regression: optimal rates of convergence for lower estimates

The problem of pricing Bermudan options using simulations and nonparametric regression is considered. We derive optimal nonasymptotic bounds for the low biased estimate based on a suboptimal stopping rule constructed from some estimates of the optimal continuation values. These estimates may be of different nature, local or global, with the only requirement being that the deviations of these estimates from the true continuation values can be uniformly bounded in probability. As an illustration, we discuss a class of local polynomial estimates which, under some regularity conditions, yield continuation values estimates possessing the required property.     

RISK-EFFICIENT THRESHOLDS FOR PEST CONTROL DECISIONS

Risk and uncertainty are incorporated in an economic model to develop risk-efficient pest control advice similar in character to advice currently being offered by researchers to farmers. An example to illustrate computation of risk-efficient advice is presented and implications of risk aversion for efficient pest control advice and average pesticide use are examined.     

Cyclical analysis of key US aggregates during a period of macroeconomic stability (1953–1965)

The cyclical response patterns of major financial and macroeconomic aggregates to money shocks in the US economy is estimated. The data set is limited to the 1953–1965 period. The nature of this temporal window is rare in US economic history; growth was stable and noninflationary, and there was a marked absence of major downturns, inflationary expectations and supply shocks. These facts permit a more reliable portrayal of the dynamics associated with conventional monetarism than would otherwise be the case. Instead of a formal structural model, the methodology employs a four-variable vector autoregression. Variables are chosen according to the traditional IS-LM model and include money, the Index of Industrial Production, the CPI and various interest rates. While the method is a theoretical, the variables accord with accepted orthodoxy and the results allow theoretically, plausible interpretation. Significant patterns of persistence are found in major macrofinance aggregates over the period. Money shocks produce peaks at eight, twelve, and twenty-four months for interest rates, the IIP, and the CPI, respectively. We find the liquidity effect dominated by a short-term income effect. The Fed appears to have engaged in significant monetary accommodation over the period. A stable Phillips curve tradeoff is evident. Finally, we find the conventional upward-sloping yield curve replaced by a humpshaped configuration about eight months after a money-induced shock to aggregate demand.     

An Alternative View of Citation Patterns of Quantitative Literature Cited by Business and Economic Researchers

Using nationally representative data, the authors examine the effects of preprofessional education on the earnings of lawyers. They specify and estimate a statistical earnings function on the basis of well-established theory and principles. Along with standard control variables, categorical variables are included to represent graduate degrees in addition to the law degree and an assortment of undergraduate major fields. Holding a Ph.D. or M.B.A. degree, with the law degree, is associated with significantly higher earnings in some sectors. Lawyers with undergraduate training in economics earn more than other lawyers, ceteris paribus, and economics is the only undergraduate field associated with earnings that differ significantly. The available evidence supports the hypothesis that economics training increases a lawyer's human capital compared with other undergraduate majors.     

Implementation of a System Approach for Enhanced Supply Chain Continuity and Resiliency: A Longitudinal Study

Researchers and practitioners frequently point to inventory as a necessary component of an effective supply chain strategy. However, an undisciplined or ineffective approach to inventory can have a detrimental impact on an organization and its entire supply chain. When making inventory decisions, firms must ensure that the selected approach “fits” the overall supply chain strategy. While such an assertion seems intuitive, there is a need for empirical validation. We seek to contribute to this important body of research by investigating the impact of improved strategic alignment of inventory on resiliency and continuity. More specifically, we investigate the impact of improved strategic fit by comparing two distinct approaches to inventory management within a service parts environment. We hypothesize that a well‐aligned approach to inventory management can enhance continuity and resiliency. We test these hypotheses via a longitudinal field study involving 10 United States Air Force (USAF) locations and two years of data (approximately 650,000 inventory transactions). Results from nine test locations and one control location suggest that a well‐aligned approach to inventory management is indeed effective in improving continuity and resiliency, thus enhancing service‐based strategies—in this case, the USAF's ability to be mission‐capable. While the results of the study are derived from the USAF, we believe the implications provide broader insight into the use of inventory as a means of realizing a strategic fit.     

Measuring entrepreneurial passion: Conceptual foundations and scale validation

Along with other affective and emotional dimensions, passion is at the heart of entrepreneurship. Yet past research on entrepreneurial passion (EP) has been hindered by the lack of a sound measurement instrument. Through a series of empirical studies conducted with samples from relevant populations, we develop and validate an instrument to capture EP and its inherent dimensions. We show that the task-specific dimensions of EP (intense positive feelings toward the domains of inventing, founding and developing, and the centrality of these domains to entrepreneurs' self-identity) are conceptually and empirically distinct from one another, and from other emotions and cognitions known to play a role in entrepreneurship. Our theory and results indicate that proper measurement of entrepreneurial passion incorporates the interaction between entrepreneurs' feelings and identity centrality for each domain. We discuss the implications of our model, instrument and findings for future research on the affective components of innovation and entrepreneurship. We also develop specific guidelines for using our validated instrument in future research.     

Inter-Group Inequalities in Child Undernutrition in India: Group Analogue of the Gini Coefficient and Atkinson's Index

Studies of undernutrition in India (and elsewhere) have focused exclusively on interpersonal inequalities, and estimates of the magnitude of inter-group inequalities are unavailable. A focus on “horizontal”, or group-based, inequalities offers vital policy insights that would be lost in an approach based purely on interpersonal inequalities. We therefore apply the group analogues of Atkinson's index and the Gini coefficient to shed light on the disproportionate burden of undernourishment borne by rural and historically vulnerable caste groups. Furthermore, the prominent determinants of inter-group disparities are identified through Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition analysis. The paper calls for explicit targeting of backward castes across the country and improved inter-sectoral collaboration to ensure equitable access to education, health care and water and sanitation, particularly across underdeveloped regions.     

High food commodity prices: will they stay? who will pay?

Much of the public discussion of the food price crisis has focused on the sharply increased use of food commodities for biofuel production, framing debate in simple food versus fuel terms. Reality is more complex. Multiple forces drove food prices to high levels and, according to findings we report in this article, these forces will sustain high prices over the medium term. We also find that the distinction between high world prices for food commodities and the consumer costs of food is an important one to make. Food consumers do not buy raw food commodities at international prices. The degree to which the price of traded food commodities and the price of food are related depends on a long list of factors, most of which operate to dampen price transmission. In the search for appropriate policy response, it is essential to measure consumer effects correctly and to apportion properly the causes of current high prices.