Perspectives on the implementation of employee rights programs

In the past decade, employee rights have been an increasingly important and complex issue. This paper examines the benefits of successfully implementing employee rights programs and outlines factors that influence effective implementation. This includes a discussion of three general organizational approaches to employee rights issues and contextual factors that influence successful implementation of employee rights programs.Never in American history has there been so much confusion over the prerogatives of managers to manage and the rights of their subordinates to be managed within limits. On this point, if nothing else, there is complete agreement... (Ewing, 1983, p. 1)     

Racial differences in married female labor force participation behavior: An analysis using interracial marriages

Based on data from the 1980 census, three major findings emerge from this study. First, the labor force participation rate is higher for women in black-white interracial marriages than women in endogamous marriages. Second, the labor force participation rate of wives in interracial marriages, after adjusting for differences in observed personal characteristics, is approximately halfway between that of women in white homogeneous and black homogeneous marriages. Third, interracial marriages are more likely among women who are younger, Hispanic, foreign-born, more educated, previously married, and reside in the West.     

How does the benefit effect vary as unemployment spells lengthen?

This paper investigates how the effect of income while unemployed on the probability of an individual leaving unemployment varies with the length of time that the individual has been unemployed. We examine this question in the context of a variety of alternative econometric models. We extend the Proportional Hazards model with unrestricted baseline hazard to one in which there are unrestricted effects of a subset of the explanatory variables and also consider models that can be estimated as series of binary response models. The proportional hazard restrictions are rejected for the sample of British unemployed men analysed and in the binary sequence framework Logit and Probit models based on symmetric distributions dominate (in likelihood terms) the Extreme Value form model implied by extension of the Proportional Hazards formulation. Logit models with a flexible form for the duration dependence which also incorporate unobserved heterogeneity in a flexible way are estimated. The results for all formulations indicate a rapidly declining effect of unemployment income as a spell lengthens, with no significant effect for the long-term unemployed. The preferred specifications which allow for omitted heterogeneity indicate no significant effect after about 5 months, and this result is robust to the inclusion or exclusion of previous labour-market experience variables and to the choice of mixing distribution.     

Evaluating employee integrity: Moral and methodological problems

This paper reviews the research on proprietary paper and pencial tests of integrity or honesty, which have effectively supplanted polygraph examinations in evaluating the moral attributes of employees and applicants. Moral integrity is a complex issue that encompasses more than conventional notions of honesty and is difficult to operationalize as a psychological trait or construct. Integrity test questions are largely derived from polygraph interrogations and the tests validated through polygraph results. The field studies reviewed and an exploratory test cast doubt on the ability of these paper and pencil instruments to meet standards of construct validity. Other studies show promise of predictive validity in some situations. Unfortunately, the research designs used to substantiate the predictive powers of integrity tests failed to hold other workplace influences constant. In light of these findings, employers are urged to exercise caution in the use of these tests until further independent research is reported because of potential infringements on privacy and equal opportunity.     

Debt and managerial rents in a real-options model of the firm

We present a theory of capital investment and debt and equity financing in a real-options model of a public corporation. The theory assumes that managers maximize the present value of their future compensation (managerial rents), subject to constraints imposed by outside shareholders’ property rights to the firm's assets. Absent bankruptcy costs, managers follow an optimal debt policy that generates efficient investment and disinvestment. We show how bankruptcy costs can distort both investment and disinvestment. We also show how managers’ personal wealth constraints can lead to delayed investment and increased reliance on debt financing. Changes in cash flow can cause changes in investment by tightening or loosening the wealth constraints. Firms with weaker investor protection adopt higher debt levels.     

Corporate governance and disclosures on the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards

For reporting periods ending on or after 30 June 2004, Australian companies were required to disclose the expected impact of applying Australian equivalents of International Financial Reporting Standards effective from 1 January 2005. The objective of this paper is to examine the association between the level of disclosure and corporate governance quality. Using a sample of listed companies with 30 June balance dates, we find that the quantity of disclosure was positively related to some aspects of superior corporate governance, such as the frequency of board and audit committee meetings and the choice of auditor.