Organizational work–family support as universal remedy? A cross-cultural comparison of China,India and the USA

In both industrialized and emerging countries, organizations increasingly seek to support employees’ efforts to maintain a healthy work–family balance. Research has identified two types of organizational support in this context: formal work–family programs and informal work–family cultures. This study examines the relative effects of work–family programs versus work–family culture on employees’ job satisfaction and performance in various cultural environments. Drawing on the individualism–collectivism cultural dimension introduced by Hofstede, it is argued that employees’ cultural background may affect family models, which in turn determine employees’ need for formal organizational work–family support, but are not related to employees’ need for informal support. In line with this notion, the results from comparisons of an industrialized country (the USA) with two emerging countries (China and India) show that work–family culture has positive effects in all three contexts. However, formal work–family programs positively affect job satisfaction and job performance only in India and the USA, whereas they exhibit no significant effect in the more collectivist setting of China.     

CLASSICAL LIBERALISM IN THE LIBERAL PARTY SINCE 1886

Although the Liberal Party has seen a clear shift towards social liberalism as its main philosophy since 1890 and has seen a series of defections to the Conservative Party, there has been a classical liberal element within the party throughout this period. Moreover, even when such people have left the Party they have typically not gone over to conservatism but have rather entered the world of think tanks and independent thought. Others have stayed in the party. This reflects the way that supporters of the ideas have rejected conservative social attitudes and have worked out a radical market position.     

Interrogating Sickonomics,from Diagnosis to Cure: A Response to Hodgson

Hodgson's review of our books argues against us that marginalism neither adopted methodological individualism nor excluded the social from economics. Thus, he finds a partial solution to sickonomics in abandoning the term methodological individualism and using both structures and individuals as analytical starting point(s), revisiting Marshallian marginalism dressed up in socio-institutional clothing. He also denies any relationship between the current malaise in economics and the marginal revolution, as we claim, focusing exclusively on institutional developments since the Second World War. We show Hodgson is either partial or wrong on all of these counts. Firstly, his alternative to methodological individualism is untenable. Secondly, institutions, although implicitly present in Marshallian and Walrasian economics, play no substantive analytical role and as such are superfluous. Finally, although institutional factors help explain the sickness of modern economics (in addition to socioeconomic, ideological, political, and intellectual factors), the intellectual roots of this decay lie in the conceptual framework established around the marginal revolution.     

Jules Dupuit,Société d'économie politique de Paris and the issue of population in France (1850 – 66) ∗

Abstract

The tradition that views Dupuit only as a brilliant engineer-economist who trained at the École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées remained strong in the fifty years that followed World War II. Within this tradition, research on Dupuit mostly was focused on his publications on surplus theory, road tolls and discriminating monopoly. His participation in the debates about other issues taking place within the various learned societies to which he belonged (Société d'économie politique de Paris, Société d'économie sociale, Société de statistique de Paris) long remained unexplored. But recent research has begun filling the gap. This paper follows on these latter research efforts. It aims at uncovering a largely unknown facet of Dupuit, endeavouring to fully elicit his role in the various controversies that took place in France between 1850 and 1866 on the issues of population and the Malthusian principle of population.     

How store attributes impact shoppers’ loyalty: do different national cultures follow the same loyalty building process?

This paper takes a first step toward verifying the robustness of a comprehensive loyalty building model across different national cultures, according to Hofstede’s distinction between individualist and collectivist countries. To this end, we test a two-stage model. After collecting data from 12 countries with different cultural traits, we test the two models in two macro groups: individualist and collectivist countries. The study’s results show that the intensity of some core loyalty model paths – particularly the relationships between store loyalty and its main drivers (perceived value and customer satisfaction) – are contingent on the country’s culture. In particular, the impact of customer satisfaction on store loyalty intention is greater in collectivist countries than in individualist countries. By contrast, the impact of perceived value on store loyalty is greater in individualist than in collectivist countries. Moreover, the cultural dimension moderates the impact of the stores’ environment and promotions on satisfaction. By contrast, some other paths show robustness to national culture.     

胡适“五四”时期的人生观初探

一代文化名人胡适,在二十世纪初叶中国思想界的动荡时期,面对西方文化的近代冲击,尤其是面对科学民主的新思潮,他及时抓住时代的主题,提出他那建立在现代科学思潮基础上的个人的、社会的、科学的人生观,并以此为思想武器,去＂除旧布新＂,发动了一场全社会的关于人生观的革命。他对中国传统思想进行了独到的批判反思和整理,阐述了自己关于人生诸多方面的主要观点,这些观念在今天仍有不少发人深省、值得借鉴之处。     

门格尔的经济学方法论

卡尔·门格尔开启了奥地利学派经济学家重视方法论和哲学基础的传统,并与德国历史学派进行了西方经济学发展史上第一次方法论争论。他的经济学方法论主要体现在如下几方面：基于因果关系的主观主义、以经济学为典型的社会科学研究中密切结合演绎法和归纳法并给予演绎法应有的重视、赞同方法论个人主义,发展出社会制度形成与演化的有机秩序理论。     

整体主义还是个人主义——哈耶克自生秩序理论的方法论问题

尽管哈耶克本人以及众多哈耶克思想的研究者都强调自生秩序理论的基础是个人主义和主观主义。但近几年西方学界却对此提出不少质疑,一些学者甚至提出哈耶克实质上是方法论整体主义者;而同时,承认哈耶克方法是个人主义者的学者对其＂个人主义＂的实质也有不同的理解。因此有必要厘清哈耶克关于社会秩序演化的方法论基础,这不仅是我们把握哈耶克思想精髓的唯一进路,也将对现代经济学的研究方法有重大启发。     

个人主义,集体主义价值观对现代企业管理的影响

本文对东、西方价值观念，尤其是个人主义、集体主义进行对比分析，指出了个人主义、集体主义价值观对企业文化、管理模式、管理风格的影响，及东、主价值观对现代企业管理的几点启示。     

A structural analysis of value orientations,price perception and ongoing search behaviour: a cross‐cultural study of American and Korean consumers

The direct impact of value orientations on price perceptions has not received extensive investigation in previous research. We examined the impact of materialism, individualism and collectivism on American and Korean consumers’ perceptions of the positive and negative roles of price. We also examined the influence of price perceptions on consumers’ ongoing search behaviour. Using a structural equation modelling technique, results indicated that these value orientations positively and negatively influenced perceptions of the positive and negative roles of price, which in turn influenced ongoing search behaviour. Implications and future research directions are delineated.