A social clause against discrimination in the labor market

This paper considers the possibility of employing a social clause on international trade to reduce occupational discrimination and wage discrimination in the labor market. A country subject to such a clause is given the choice of reducing discrimination or having to face the imposition of a tariff or quota on its exports. The impact of these two changes on the remunerations of different groups in society is analyzed in a model allowing for a labor surplus. The analysis shows that neither in the case of occupational discrimination nor in the case of wage discrimination is the social clause necessarily an efficient means for reducing discrimination. Very much depends on how different groups are affected, on the relative political weight of these groups, and on the share of exports in total output.     

Has Management Studies Lost Its Way? Ideas for More Imaginative and Innovative Research

Despite the huge increase in the number of management articles published during the three last decades, there is a serious shortage of high‐impact research in management studies. We contend that a primary reason behind this paradoxical shortage is the near total dominance of incremental gap‐spotting research in management. This domination is even more paradoxical as it is well known that gap‐spotting rarely leads to influential theories. We identify three broad and interacting key drivers behind this double paradox: institutional conditions, professional norms, and researchers' identity constructions. We discuss how specific changes in these drivers can reduce the shortage of influential management theories. We also point to two methodologies that may encourage and facilitate more innovative and imaginative research and revisions of academic norms and identities.     

Why Do Politicians Implement Central Bank Independence Reforms?

The purpose of this paper is to investigate why politicians around the world have chosen to give up power to independent central banks, thereby reducing their ability to fine-tune the economy. A new data-set covering 132 countries, of which 86 countries had implemented such reforms, was collected. Politicians in non-OECD countries were more likely to delegate power to independent central banks if their country has been characterized by a high variability in historical inflation and if they faced a high probability of being replaced. No such effects were found for OECD countries.     

Sexual Prejudice and Labor Market Outcomes for Gays and Lesbians: Evidence from Sweden

This paper presents results from a study of sexual prejudice and differentials in labor market outcomes due to sexual orientation. It uses data from a nationwide Swedish survey on public attitudes toward homosexuals, conducted in 1999, and combines them with register data for 2007, which include information about sexual orientation, employment status, and yearly earnings for the total population in Sweden. It finds that prejudice against homosexuals negatively affects the relative employment and relative earnings of gay men. Lesbians are affected negatively by prejudice against homosexuals in terms of employment, but the relationship is less clear in regard to earnings. Discrimination against homosexuals, as well as social norms, occupational sorting and self-selection in, geographic mobility are presented as explanations for the results.     

Immigrant self-employment in Sweden - its variation and some possible determinants

This paper examines self-employment among immigrants in Sweden. There are differences in the self-employment rate between immigrants and the native population and between different immigrant groups, both in the raw data and after controlling for variables such as age, gender, education and civil status. The study shows that non-Nordic immigrants in Sweden who arrived at an early date have higher self-employment rates than the native population. It seems as if self-employment among immigrants is to some extent positively correlated with time elapsed after arrival in the country. A number of possible explanations for the observed differences in self-employment between immigrants and natives and between different immigrant groups are presented in the study. Plausible explanations for the observed differences in self-employment rates are differences in traditions from the home country, differences in the labour market situation, and often a lack of knowledge among immigrants about the practical and formal matters an individual encounters when trying to establish a business.     

A Stupidity‐Based Theory of Organizations

In this paper we question the one‐sided thesis that contemporary organizations rely on the mobilization of cognitive capacities. We suggest that severe restrictions on these capacities in the form of what we call functional stupidity are an equally important if under‐recognized part of organizational life. Functional stupidity refers to an absence of reflexivity, a refusal to use intellectual capacities in other than myopic ways, and avoidance of justifications. We argue that functional stupidity is prevalent in contexts dominated by economy in persuasion which emphasizes image and symbolic manipulation. This gives rise to forms of stupidity management that repress or marginalize doubt and block communicative action. In turn, this structures individuals' internal conversations in ways that emphasize positive and coherent narratives and marginalize more negative or ambiguous ones. This can have productive outcomes such as providing a degree of certainty for individuals and organizations. But it can have corrosive consequences such as creating a sense of dissonance among individuals and the organization as a whole. The positive consequences can give rise to self‐reinforcing stupidity. The negative consequences can spark dialogue, which may undermine functional stupidity.     

Why Are Rich Countries More Politically Cohesive?*

We document empirically that rich countries are more politically cohesive than poorer countries. In order to explain this regularity, we provide a model where political cohesion is linked to the emergence of a fully functioning market economy. Without market exchange, the welfare of inherently selfish individuals will be mutually independent. Whoever has greater bargaining power will be willing to make decisions that enhance the productivity of their supporters at the expense of other groups in society. If the gains from specialization are sufficiently large, however, a market economy will emerge. From being essentially non‐cohesive under self‐sufficiency, the political decision‐making process becomes cohesive in the market economy, because the welfare of individuals will be mutually interdependent as a result of the exchange of goods.     

The transformation between exploration and exploitation applied to inventors of packaging innovations

While the inventor is often the driver of an invention in the early stages, he/she needs to move between different social networks for knowledge in order to create and capture value. The main objective of this research is to propose a literature-based framework based on innovation network theory and complemented with C–K theory, in order to analyze the invention/innovation process of inventors and the product concepts in a packaging industry context. Empirical input from three case studies of packaging inventions and their inventors is used to elaborate the suggested framework.The article identifies important gaps in the literature of innovation networks. This is addressed through a theoretical framework based on network theories, complemented with C–K theory for the product design level. The strength-of-ties dimension of the theoretical framework suggests, in agreement with the mainstream literature and the cases presented, that weak ties are required to access the knowledge related to exploration networks and strong ties are required to utilize the knowledge in the exploitation network. The transformation network is an intermediate step acting as a bridge where entrepreneurs can find required knowledge. The transformation network is also an intermediate step where entrepreneurs find financing and companies interested in commercializing inventions.     

Intergenerational transmissions in immigrant self-employment: Evidence from three generations

This paper presents the first study of intergenerational transmissions in immigrant self-employment across three generations. Based on a Swedish data set, the results show that having a self-employed father, as well as having a self-employed grandfather, has a positive effect on self-employment propensities for male third-generation immigrants. For native Swedes having a self-employed father is of importance for self-employment propensities, while having a self-employed grandfather is not. Evidently, there appears to be a generational link in self-employment across three generations for immigrants, but not for natives. Since immigrants transfer general self-employment abilities, third-generation immigrants with self-employed ancestors are over-represented in self-employment. Many of them, however, are not necessarily in the same business line as their fathers. In contrast, when natives transfer general self-employment abilities, their offspring tend to become self-employed in the same business line as their fathers.