A Regional Analysis of Productivity Change in Canadian Agriculture, with Special Reference to Energy Prices

By using a profit specification for the agricultural sector instead of the conventional value-added production formulation, this paper explains changes to regional productivity in Canada in terms of changes in output prices, material prices, energy prices, capital deepening and technical progress. The results indicate that ignoring variable input and output price increases will generally result in an overstatement of the rate of technical progress. Most notably, in the 1973-79 period, energy price increases caused a reduction in average labor productivity, though increased capital deepening and rising output prices offset price increases for energy and other materials .
C'est en subsliluant une spécification du gain pour le secleur agricole à la formulation classique de la valeur ajoutée de la production, que cette communication explique les changements regionaux de la productivité au Canada en fonction des changements du rendement el des prix des matériaux el de ľénergie, en plus des changements du rapport capital/main-ďoeuvre el du progrès technique. Les résultals indiquent que si on ne tenait aucun compte des augmentations variables des prix ďenlrée el de sortie. ľaccélération du progrès technique serait, en général, exagéré. Pendant les années 1973 à 1979 en particulier, les augmentations des prix de ľénergie onl donné lieu à une réduction de la productivité moyenne de la main-ďoeuvre. Néanmoins, ľaugmentation du rapport capital/main-ďoeuvre el les prix croissants du rendement onl compensé les hausses des prix de ľénergie el ďaulres matériaux .     

Assessment of a Comfort Indicator for Natural Tourist Attractions: The Case of Visitors to Hanging Rock,Victoria

Increasing visitor numbers raise dilemmas for managers of natural tourist attractions. Though biophysical conditions may fall within limits acceptable to attraction managers, high use-levels may create undesirable consequences for visitor experiences. An apparent solution is to set a maximum use-level by determining an attraction's social carrying capacity. However, studies have demonstrated that this determination is problematic when considering the relationships among the multifaceted characteristics of users and the unique elements within specific locations. As an alternative, a comfort indicator is proposed to determine appropriate user experiences within the context of an attraction's management objectives. To test this concept, a study examining visitor perceptions (N = 385) of a popular natural tourist attraction is reported. Significant interrelationships were found among use-level, crowding and waiting (p < 0.05). No relationship was found between visitor use-level preferences and times visited. Applying these findings, a management strategy for the attraction is outlined with future research avenues suggested.     

Weber,Marx, and work values: Evidence from transition economies

Are work values a cause (Weber) or consequence (Marx) of the economic environment? The collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 provides a unique opportunity to investigate this link. Using data collected from an employee survey conducted in over 340 workplaces in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, we investigate generational differences in adherence to the Protestant work ethic (PWE). Our results indicate that Marx was ‘right’ about the link between work values and economic environment. That is, despite economic and cultural differences emerging during the transformation process, in all three countries, participating workers born after 1981 adhere more strongly to PWE than workers born before 1977. Moreover, the estimate magnitudes are very similar across these economically and culturally diverse countries. More generally, PWE adherence is stronger among participating workers with an internal locus of control and among supervisors. PWE adherence also tends to be stronger among participants with high relative earnings, as well as among those working in organizations that reward hard work with the chance to develop new skills or learn new things.     

Social Enterprises and the Performance Advantages of a Vincentian Marketing Orientation

This study focuses on the managerial issue of should social enterprises (SEs) become more marketing oriented. It adapts the Kohli et al. (J Mark Res 30:467–477, 1993) MARKOR marketing orientation scale to measure the adoption of marketing by SEs. The items capture Vincentian-based values to leverage business in service to the poor as a measure of a Vincentian marketing orientation (VMO). A VMO is an organisational wide value-driven philosophy of management that focuses a SE on meeting its objectives by adopting a more marketing orientated approach to serve the needy and poor in a just and sustainable manner. SEs that exhibit a VMO seek to understand and respond to both the needs of their beneficiaries and stakeholders. They are constantly generating, disseminating, and responding to environmental, beneficiary, and stakeholder information and develop their business propositions to more effectively and efficiently meet the needs of the poor, while guided by a philosophy of leveraging business for social good. This study of SEs in Australia found that a VMO is strongly and positively correlated with social, economic, and environmental performance. These findings suggest that SEs may benefit by leveraging marketing capabilities to better serve their beneficiaries and stakeholders.     

Using narrative evidence synthesis in HRM research: An overview of the method,its application,and the lessons learned

The use of systematic approaches to evidence review and synthesis has recently become more common in the field of organizational research, yet their value remains unclear and largely untested. First used in medical research, evidence review is a technique for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing existing empirical evidence. With greater demand for the best evidence about “what works” in organizational settings, nuanced approaches to evidence synthesis have evolved to address more complex research questions. Narrative synthesis is perceived to be particularly suited to evaluating diverse evidence types spanning multiple disciplinary fields, characteristic of the HRM domain. This article evaluates the narrative evidence synthesis approach, explains how it differs from other techniques, and describes a worked example in relation to employee engagement. We consider its strengths, the challenges of using it, and its value in HRM research.     

West and Central African iron ore development and its impact on world prices

The focus of the paper is on the potential of iron ore supplies from West and Central Africa to enter the export market over the short and medium terms and how this could impact the supply‐side capacity and market price. To assess this, three export development scenarios (low, medium and high risk) are constructed for 17 iron ore mines (over 27 production expansion projects) in West and Central Africa. The projections for African iron ore are compared with the latest medium‐term import forecasts and suggest that the development of West and Central African iron ore has the potential to create significant downward pressure on the price of iron ore exports over the medium term. The increased export capacity could push marginal producers – mainly in China but also in India and elsewhere – out of the market.     

Developing pre-service primary teachers’ understanding of engineering through engineering habits of mind and engagement with engineers

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - This paper explores how primary teachers might be prepared through their pre-service training to feel more confident to include...     

Market Power,Productivity and Sectoral Labour Shares in Europe

Open Economies Review - The stability of the labour share of income is a fundamental feature of many macroeconomic models. Empirically however, the labour share varies considerably across countries...     

What Do Employers Want？ Views of Chinese and Canadian Job Seekers

I. Introduction Countries differ significantly in culture, and cultural differences affect businesses operation (Hofstede, 1980). East–West cultural differences can lead to confusion and misunderstanding. In order to obtain a better understanding of these issues, many studies have been conducted in the past two decades. In general, Chinese have been found to be more oriented towards collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance than Canadians (Hofstede, 1980, 2001; Ralston et al,…