Financial inclusion and food insecurity: Examining linkages and potential pathways

Considering the worsening levels of food insecurity globally, studies exploring the link between financial inclusion and food insecurity have become imperative. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the effect of financial inclusion on food insecurity using a multidimensional index of financial inclusion and a food insecurity construct obtained from the Food Insecurity Experience Scale. Based on data extracted from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, our preferred endogeneity-corrected results indicate that improvements in financial inclusion is associated with a reduction in food insecurity. This finding is consistent across different conceptualisations of food insecurity, alternative weighting schemes and cut-offs for the financial inclusion index and different quasi-experimental methods. Financial inclusion is mainly effective in reducing food insecurity in male-headed and rural-located households. Our findings reveal that entrepreneurship is an important pathway through which financial inclusion influences food insecurity.     

COVID-19-induced layoff,survivors’ COVID-19-related stress and performance in hospitality industry: The moderating role of social support

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the hospitality industry hard globally, resulting in millions of employees being laid off. Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to empirically examine how and when COVID-19-induced layoff influences employees’ in-role and extra-role performance in the hospitality industry. We tested this model by using field data collected from 302 employees and their supervisors in China across two waves. Results revealed that COVID-19-induced layoff increases survivors’ COVID-19-related stress, which in turn leads to decreased in-role and extra-role performance. The strength of these indirect effects is mitigated by perceived family support against COVID-19. Unexpectedly, perceived organizational support against COVID-19 intensifies these indirect effects. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are further discussed.     

高新企业员工玩趣人格对创新行为作用机制实证研究

基于成年人玩趣与创新理论,通过对269名高新企业员工进行问卷调查,探讨了玩趣人格对创新行为的作用机制。研究发现,玩趣人格对创新行为具有显著正向影响;工作倦怠在玩趣人格与创新行为之间存在部分中介作用;员工敬业度在玩趣人格与创新行为关系中发挥调节作用。     

Entrepreneurship as a non-profit-seeking activity

It is typically assumed that people engage in entrepreneurship because there are profits to be made. In contrast to this view, this paper argues that entrepreneurship is more adequately characterized as a non-profit-seeking activity. Evidence from a broad range of authors and academic fields is discussed showing that entrepreneurship does quite generally not pay in monetary terms. Being an entrepreneur seems to be rather rewarding because it entails substantial non-monetary benefits, like greater autonomy, broader skill utilization, and the possibility to pursue one’s own ideas. It is shown how incorporating these non-monetary benefits into economic models of entrepreneurship can lead to a better understanding of the phenomenon.

The challenge of program evaluation: When increasing program participation decreases the relative well-being of participants

Two goals of food assistance programs are to improve well-being and to increase participation among those in need. Progress in meeting the first goal can be measured by the difference in well-being between participants and eligible non-participants. This gap in well-being though can be affected by progress made toward the second goal of increasing participation rates. In particular, if those with the lowest levels of well-being disproportionately enter the program, the gap can increase. To examine whether this tension between goals exists empirically, we consider the case of the Food Stamp Program and its effect on food insecurity in the United States, using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). In particular, we use variation in State policies (the change in administrative error rates and the combined value of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and food stamp benefits) to analyze whether increasing participation rates leads to increases in the difference in food insecurity rates. Controlling for other factors, we find evidence of the tension between these two program goals insofar as States with policies which encourage participation have higher differences in the food insecurity rates of participants and non-participants.     

Informality,public employment and employment protection in developing countries

This paper proposes an equilibrium matching model for developing countries’ labor markets where the interaction between public, formal private and informal private sectors are taken into account. Theoretical analysis shows that gains from reforms aiming at liberalizing formal labor markets can be annulled by shifts in the public sector employment and wage policies. Since the public sector accounts for a substantial share of employment in developing countries, this approach is crucial to understand the main labor market outcomes of such economies. Wages offered by the public sector increase the outside option value of the workers during the bargaining processes in the formal and informal sectors. It becomes more profitable for workers to search on-the-job, in order to move to these more attractive and more stable types of jobs. The public sector therefore acts as an additional tax for the formal private firms. Using data on workers’ flows from Egypt, we show empirically and theoretically that the liberalization of labor markets plays against informal employment by increasing the profitability, and hence job creations, of formal jobs. The latter effect is however dampened or even sometimes nullified by the increase of the offered wages in the public sector observed at the same time.     

Family formation and economic insecurity among youth in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Youth unemployment continues to be a burden and concern for the South African government. Being economically insecure, the situation is dire with the government needing to provide resources to a population who should be economically independent. There is a need to look at the social determinants of economic insecurity among youth in South Africa. Family formations could either promote or inhibit economic well-being. This article aims to assess whether economic security improves as youth enter into unions and/or have children. The South African National Income Dynamics Study is used. Unmarried youth with no children are measured at baseline (2008) and followed up over time to examine whether economic security status changes as union status changes. Results show that while economic security, employment (from 7.61% to 25.67%) and net income per month (from 19.48% to 32.79%) increase over time, youth who marry but have no children have the lowest risk of economic insecurity (relative risk ratio?=?0.02, p < 0.05) compared with those who remain unmarried but have children. Special attention needs to be given to youth who have children and are unmarried and among those who marry and have children soon after.     

大学生工作搜寻的“摘麦穗”效应——风险容忍视角下的大学生就业满意度分析

基于299份来自广东、江西、安徽和上海等地高校部分2014-2016年毕业大学生的问卷调查数据,利用SPSS19.0软件进行cox半参数模型回归和调节效应检验。结果表明,大学生工作搜寻就如同"摘麦穗",一是工作搜寻时间的影响因素是多样的,人际交往能力更强的大学生,在资本充足的基础下,为追求下一份更好的工作,会选择延长搜寻时间。本省外市、外倾性更强、情绪更不稳定、应聘能力更强的大学生,因其高水平的表现能力,或迫切期望实现就业的心态,而选择早早定下工作岗位。二是工作搜寻在风险容忍影响就业满意度中存在调节效应。具体地,不同群体中,工作搜寻所发挥的调节效应有所不同。在低风险容忍群组中,随着工作搜寻时间的延长,风险容忍较高的大学生所表现出的就业满意度越低。而高风险容忍群组中,工作搜寻的调节效应没有通过显著性检验。     

新就业大学生员工离职动因及其管理之浅见

如何降低新就业大学生员工的主动离职率,是那些接受大量大学生就业,处于高速发展阶段的高新技术企业迫切需要解决的问题。本文通过分析新就业大学生员工的群体特征,结合国内外离职动因理论,探讨了新就业大学生员工离职率居高不下的主要动因,并提出了有针对性的离职管理方略。     

Dysfunctional executive behavior: What can organizations do?

Much has been made of dysfunctional executive behavior in recent years. As such, the purpose of this article is to assist organizations in the design of executive work. To better construct a work environment that diminishes self-serving and unethical behavior, we propose that organizations structure an executive's work around three factors: the accountability environment, managerial discretion, and relationship composition. These factors are used to describe how organizations can better design executives’ work so as to promote more desirable executive behavior. We describe how these factors should be calibrated, as well as how they affect each other.