Industrial Relations Climate and Union Commitment: An Evaluation of Workplace‐Level Effects

This paper examines the relationship between industrial relations (IR) climate and union commitment. Using a multi‐workplace sample from North East England, aggregation analysis provided support for treating IR climate as a workplace‐level variable, and workplace IR climate was negatively associated with union commitment. However, IR climate moderated none of the relationships between individual‐level antecedents and union commitment.     

Credit Crunches from Occasionally Binding Bank Borrowing Constraints

We present a model in which banks and other financial intermediaries face both occasionally binding borrowing constraints, and costs of equity issuance. Near the steady state, these intermediaries can raise equity finance at no cost through retained earnings. However, even moderately large shocks cause their borrowing constraints to bind, leading to contractions in credit offered to firms, and requiring the intermediaries to raise further funds by paying the cost to issue equity. This leads to the occasional sharp increases in interest spreads and the countercyclical, positively skewed equity issuance that are characteristics of the credit crunches observed in the data.     

FAIR DAIRY POLICY

Dairy policy in the United States has gone through many changes over the years, but the basic instruments have remained in place for decades. The Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996 is best seen as a relatively small scale reform of dairy policy. Most of the income transfers from consumers and taxpayers to dairy farms remain intact, and the major economic distortions are unaffected. The major change from phasing out price support program is more one of form rather than substance. Some consider this a fundamental shift in U.S. dairy policy, but its quantitative impact is likely to be minor. Further, because dairy assessments associated with the price support are eliminated immediately, the net transfer from taxpayers to the dairy industry is likely to be higher than it would be if the price support program were left in place. This paper reviews the effects of this change and other dairy policy provisions in the FAIR Act and compares the implications of the new dairy program to implications of three alternatives: continuing the previous program, eliminating marketing orders and the price support program, and eliminating all policy interventions including import barriers.     

Consumer Awareness of the Legal Obligations of Funeral Providers

The results from a consumer survey that examined consumer knowledge of some parameters of the Funeral Rule are presented. Currently, all funeral home activities are regulated under the Funeral Industry Practices Rule of the Federal Trade Commission. The rule is premised on the assumption that it is difficult for consumers to make careful, informed purchase decisions in at‐need situations because of emotional stress, time pressure, and lack of familiarity with available goods and services. However, limited research has assessed how much consumers know about the legal obligations of funeral providers as provided for by the Funeral Rule. Implications for consumer protection and policy are discussed.     

知识城邦中的艺术

近来,"知识生产"这个概念在艺术界中引起了新的关注并激起了强烈的评论。人们对该概念持相互冲突对立的观点的原因之一,是它与新自由主义教育政策的理念与实践相联系。在一封题为"致知识生产者"(To the Knowledge Producers)的公开信中,一位来自维也纳艺术学院的学生雄辩地批评了今天的教育和知识正在日益"商品化、工业化、经济化,并日益受到自由贸易的支配。"     

旅游业国际化背景下的饭店员工技能研究

研究针对旅游业国际化发展的现状,对中国四星级以上的酒店前厅员工的服务技能进行调研,并对他们的职业安排、工作认知、发展计划和技能需求进行了综合分析。数据表明,中国星级饭店员工的教育水平以职业教育为主,员工对职业安排、提升机会感到渺茫和不确定。他们一致认为要作好前台工作,口语交流是最重要的技能,职业和道德标准、团队工作及领导素质也发挥着重要的作用。在旅游业国际化进程的过程中,提高员工的服务技能,外语水平,进行职业规划是中国星级饭店吸引和留住人才的主要渠道。