Company and union commitment: evidence from an adversarial industrial relations climate at a Korean auto plant

This study examines the feasibility and antecedents of worker commitment to company and union at an automobile plant in Korea. It utilized a sample of 331 workers at the plant who were implementing new management techniques, e.g. human resources management, total quality management and lean production. The plant had a long history of adversarial industrial relations, and its workforce was organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a union organization known for its militancy. The study found little evidence of workers' dual commitment to the company and the trade union, but instead discovered a competing commitment between company and trade union. Furthermore, company and union commitment were predicated on different factors, with workers' positive perceptions of the industrial relations climate positively affecting commitment to their company and negatively affecting commitment to their union. The findings were more consistent with those at other workplaces with an adversarial industrial relations climate rather than those with a co-operative one.     

Labour Productivity: A Comparative Analysis of the European Union and United States, 1994–2007

This article confirms that labour productivity in the European economies has continued to slow down in recent years. U.S. productivity growth has been higher than in the EU, but only since 2001. At the same time, both economies have modified previous employment performance: EU employment growth is now higher than in U.S. This article proposes that productivity growth be explained by demand dynamics, and investment in particular, not forgetting the influence of employment, along with other factors such as new technologies.     

Foreign direct investment and employment: host country experience

This study investigates the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on employment creation and wages in Ghana. A simultaneous panel regression model is used in estimating the effect FDI has on employment and wages. The results of this study indicate that FDI has a statistically significant and positive effect on employment levels in Ghana, but has an insignificant effect on wages. FDI can greatly augment domestic efforts by creating more jobs in the economy. The results clearly demonstrate that FDI flows affect employment quantitatively, but not necessarily qualitatively. The study identifies other factors including, productivity, wages, sub-sector, and location as important in influencing employment levels. Also, productivity, labour union, firm size, sub-sector, and location are noted as significant in affecting wages in Ghana. The main value of this paper is in respect of the fact that it provides insight into the effects of FDI flow on employment from a host country perspective. The study recommends that FDI should be considered as an integral part of the Ghanaian economic policy in order to spur on economic growth.     

‘Work always wins’: client colonisation,time management and the anxieties of connected freelancers

This article focuses on ‘connected freelancers’ as a category of teleworkers and examines the pressures placed on their work‐home balance by their relationship with clients. Based on diaries, questionnaires and interviews, it reveals that, while connected freelancers do not generally work excessively long hours, they do work irregular hours. This is because ‘work always wins’ in a conflict with domestic commitments, a phenomenon the article dubs ‘client colonisation’. Client colonisation was a source of anxiety for respondents, who found themselves continually thinking about the current and future projects on which their livelihoods depend. The article illustrates the porous ways in which they interleave work with non‐work activities and contrasts traditional ‘monochronic’ forms of work with emerging ‘polychronic’ forms, which erode work‐home boundaries. It concludes that a new model of work—one in which individual patterns of control over work‐home balance are paramount—already coexists alongside traditional models but is still insufficiently socially understood and accepted.     

文化产业中女性就业比较优势探析

产业结构调整将给就业市场带来深刻而长远的变化,女性作为传统的弱势就业群体,在新的产业结构调整中扮演什么样的角色是非常值得关注的问题。在新兴产业的就业比较分析中,发现女性在文化产业中具有一定的就业比较优势。本文分析了文化产业及女性的特点,阐述了女性在文化产业中的就业性别优势,并对女性在文化产业中的就业优势进行了案例分析。希望本文的研究对女性在文化产业中就业有所裨益。     

The Enlarged EU and Russia-What Do Visegrad-Countries Contribute to EU-Russian Economic Relationship?

Abstract

The European Union's economic strategy on Russia had not been clearly and consistently worked out by the time of the 2004 May enlargement; major questions still needed to be answered. Since new member-states had not been really involved into the process of shaping EU policy toward its ‘strategic partner’, their approaches should be also included into the EU Russia-policy in the future. Though enlargement certainly brings about growing importance and new perspectives into the EU-Russia dialog, it will create new problems or deepen some old ones as well.

Beside Baltic-states, that have their special interests and attitudes-Visegrad-countries (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and to a less degree the Czech Republic) are the most interested new-members in this dialog. They may turn to be either the most active ones in taking part of shaping EU-Russian economic and political dialog from among the 10 newcomers or the most influential ones in doing so. The role of Poland in this process is undoubtedly unique.

Notwithstanding the fact that characteristics of bilateral economic relations (Polish-Russian, Hungarian-Russian, etc.) are common to a great extent, it seems to be unlikely that these countries will intend or will be able to cooperate on this issue. The reasons for potential and already sensible divergence in their attitudes toward Russiacontrary to their more or less similar approaches regarding Ukraineare rooted more in politics then in different economic interests. Analysing figures concerning bilateral trade and investment flows indicates these common features. Energy is in the focus of Russian-Visegrad4 economic relations.     

高职院校在校生就业与创业服务体系的研究

随着高等职业教育的快速发展,高职院校毕业生就业形势日趋严峻,构建完善的高职院校在校生就业与创业服务体系势在必行。本文在分析构建高职院校在校生就业与创业服务体系的必要性的基础上,提出了具体的解决途径。     

资本替代劳动与产业特征的关联机理及测度分析

由于生产技术及产业间资本有机构成不同,不同产业存在不同的资本替代劳动的可能程度,这种程度可以用替代弹性衡量,各产业替代弹性的大小分布即为资本替代劳动的产业特征。在总产出不变的情况下,由于人均资本增加,替代弹性大于1时,将导致劳动的总收入减少,进而就业减少,替代弹性小于1时,则就业增加。利用CES生产函数对我国资本—劳动替代弹性的初步测算表明,我国整体资本替代劳动的可能程度处于中性,但第二产业则存在严重程度的资本替代劳动趋势。     

Factors Inducing National Media Coverage for Tourism in Rural versus Urban Areas: The Role of Public Relations

This study examines the relationship between media coverage patterns of rural and urban tourist spaces in Israel, the characteristics of these spaces, and the way in which public relations (PR) are conducted to promote rural tourism in those areas. Using geographical distance, population size and type of tourist products for the spatial variables, PR financial budgets and PR practice types for the PR variables, the study examines their relative importance for rural versus urban tourism promotion. Results show that ongoing professional PR is crucial for the success of rural destinations in receiving large and positive national media coverage.     

Knowledge at work: Some neoliberal anachronisms

With a predilection for market solutions, neoliberalism upholds that the individual is generally the best judge of his or her interests. Yet markets are never universally applied as a mechanism of allocation and there are reasons, in principle, why capitalism will always have “missing markets.” Concentrating on the application and appropriateness of neoliberal theory to the workplace, this article argues that firms are not markets, despite some tendencies in modern theory to conflate the two. The employment contract is a key characteristic of modern firms, but neoliberal theory is often silent on the distinction between an employment contract and a contract for services, and largely ignores the asymmetrical rights of authority within contracts of employment. Furthermore, the social nature of knowledge represents a challenge to neoliberal theory and policy, because it sometimes makes it more difficult to define individual property rights. Accordingly, with the growth of the knowledge economy, neoliberalism to some extent is an anachronism.