An examination of restaurant employees’ work-life outlook: The influence of support systems during COVID-19

The main objective of this research paper is to examine the influence of perceived support (i.e., organizational support and social support) on life satisfaction (i.e., current and anticipated life satisfaction), which is hypothesized to increase restaurant employees’ loyalty organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and decrease their intentions to leave the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the moderating effects of employees’ resilience and employment status are also examined. Analyzing the responses of 609 restaurant employees using structural equation modeling (SEM), findings revealed that all direct effects were supported, except for the effect of anticipated life satisfaction on intention to leave the restaurant industry. Lastly, the moderating role of resilience in the relationships between current life satisfaction and restaurant employees’ loyalty OCB and intentions to leave the industry was confirmed. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in detail.     

保险发展与经济增长的S曲线成立吗?——来自87个经济体的证据

保险发展与经济增长之间的S曲线关系是一个重要假说,但在经验上是否成立一直存在争议。本文利用1999~2017年87个经济体保险市场与宏观经济指标数据,将数据质量评估、保险业务结构融入经典的S曲线中,通过构建"一致性"分层模型,采用稳健的实证方法检验S曲线假说,研究发现,假说成立。具体而言,全球寿险、非寿险和总保险市场发展与经济增长之间的S曲线并非估计偏差,而是具有规律性的事实;保险需求收入弹性与经济发展程度显著负相关,且寿险需求收入弹性明显高于非寿险,这与寿险市场更易受外部环境和经济周期影响一致;不同经济体保险需求收入弹性存在明显下行和收敛趋势;各经济体非寿险市场发展趋势表现出比寿险市场更大的一致性。S曲线的稳健估计有助于改进保险深度和保险密度的长期预测,对确立保险市场发展阶段及其与经济增长的关系具有重要启示。     

On the calculation of the scale elasticity in DEA models

An issue in the multiple-output case within the literature on piecewise linear frontier production functions has been how to determine the nature of the scale properties. It is shown that knowledge of scale efficiency does not permit calculation of scale elasticity or vice versa. For inefficient units there is a relationship between input-saving and output-increasing efficiency measures through the average value of the scale elasticity between the two different reference points on the frontier. A direct approach to determine the scale properties is to calculate the scale elasticity from the dual problem to the calculation of Farrell efficiency measures.     

Effects of international trade on domestic employment: an application of a global multiregional input–output supermultiplier model (1995–2011)

The effects on domestic employment of international trade and the globalisation of supply chains are as politically controversial as they are empirically inconclusive. To estimate them we extend the global multiregional input–output framework by endogenising demand for both domestic and imported intermediates, private business investment and household non-durable consumption – or equivalently, we generalise the supermultiplier formula. The model accounts, in particular, for the employment consequences of economic integration and those channelled through integration. We estimate these foreign sector effects alongside those of domestic origin using a recursive hierarchical structural decomposition analysis and statistics from the World Input–Output Database and National Accounts that cover years 1995–2011. Focusing on Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, the US, Japan and China we answer the following questions: To what extent did international linkages deriving from international trade affect domestic employment? Did domestic employment benefit from economic integration?     

AN EMPIRICAL SURVEY OF RESIDENTIAL WATER DEMAND MODELLING

Abstract The increased reliance on demand‐side management policies as an urban water consumption management tool has stimulated considerable debate among economists, water utility managers, regulators, consumer interest groups and policymakers. In turn, this has fostered an increasing volume of literature aimed at providing best‐practice estimates of price and income elasticities, quantifying the impact of non‐price water restrictions and gauging the impact of non‐discretionary environmental factors affecting residential water demand. This paper provides a synoptic survey of empirical residential water demand analyses conducted in the last 25 years. Both model specification and estimation and the outcomes of the analyses are discussed.     

Entry regulations and labour market outcomes: Evidence from the Italian retail trade sector

The paper analyzes the relationship between entry regulations and employment in the Italian retail trade sector. In Italy the opening of large outlets is regulated at the regional level. First, by using differences-in-differences estimators the paper presents evidence that in regions with less stringent entry regulations, retail trade employment does not decrease. Second, the paper focuses on the effects of the rules implemented in Abruzzo and Marche, two otherwise close and similar Italian regions which adopted very different policies: the first set tight restrictions on the opening of large stores; the second did not impose substantial entry regulations. The results show that in Marche after the inception of the flexible regulations the share of total retail trade employment in total population increased by 0.8 percentage points more than in Abruzzo. Fiercer competition also led to a recomposition of employment in small retail shops. These findings are robust to a number of checks.     

创业板上市公司募集资金使用问题探析

创业板市场的建立,为我国大量的新兴中小企业提供了一个有效的融资渠道。但自创业板登场以来,出现的高市盈率、高发行价、高超募率的三高问题、募集资金大量闲置、使用效率低下,引发社会各界的关注。本文以我国创业板上市公司为研究对象,对募集资金使用现状进行了描述性的统计分析,总结了募集资金使用中存在的问题,分析了创业板上市公司募集资金使用行为的动因,并就提高募集资金使用效率提出了相关建议。     

Will Deregulating the Labor Market in Australia Improve the Employment COnditions of Women?

This article traces the development of policies designed to reduce gender workforce inequality in Australia. In contrast to earlier centralized and collective approaches, current strategy is founded on individualism and direct workplace bargaining. The location of reform is now the enterprise, with direct bargaining replacing collective standards. Current policy developments have seen gender subsumed under market imperfections and family responsibilities. These policies will remove many of the safeguards of minimum pay and conditions for women workers, especially those who are most vulnerable. When combined with the growth of "nonstandard" jobs the picture is bleak for many workers, especially the low paid. The onus for corrective action now rests with individual employees and workplace managers, with trade unions being marginalized. The authors suggest that a continuation of the current policy will wind back the clock on the employment conditions of women workers in Australia.     

Home country employment and foreign direct investment: evidence from the Italian case

The present paper provides further insights on the relationshipbetween home country employment and foreign direct investment(FDI) undertaken by national firms. The unit of analysis iseach ensemble of firms operating in the same industrial sectorand localised in the same geographical region. That allows usto capture both direct and indirect effects of foreign productionon the parent's environment, which arise through the generationof linkages and externalities. Empirical evidence has been providedwith reference to the Italian case in the decade 1985–95.Results suggest that the impact of outward FDI on the labourintensity of domestic production is negative in the case ofvertical investment undertaken—especially by smaller firms—inless developed countries, and positive for horizontal and market-seekinginvestments in advanced countries.