Towards an integrated framework for analysing sustainable innovation policy

An integrated framework for the analysis of sustainable innovation policy was developed, based on a combination of the transition management (TM) framework, the strategic niche management approach, and policy recommendations, resulting from technological innovation system (TIS) studies. In the framework, the multi-level view from TM has been integrated with the functions approach from the TIS literature. The integrated policy framework shows that specific policy goals and measures can be found at the specific points of intervention related to (the interfaces between) landscape, regime, TIS and niches. The integrated framework suggests that stimulation of a TIS only makes sense when this action is well aligned with landscape and regime developments. The framework should be used in empirical studies for further testing and refinement.     

Worktime Demands and Work-Family Interference: Does Worktime Control Buffer the Adverse Effects of High Demands?

This study examined whether worktime control buffered the impact of worktime demands on work–family interference (WFI), using data from 2,377 workers from various sectors of industry in The Netherlands. We distinguished among three types of worktime demands: time spent on work according to one’s contract (contractual hours), the number of hours spent on overtime work (overtime hours), and the number of hours spent on commuting (commuting hours). Regarding worktime control, a distinction was made between having control over days off and vacations (leave control) and having control over starting and finishing times (flextime). These three worktime demands were expected to have separate as well as joint effects on WFI, whereas worktime control should buffer these adverse effects of worktime demands on WFI. Stepwise regression analyses showed that working high numbers of contractual and overtime hours was indeed associated with high WFI. Further, worktime control indeed made a difference in terms of WFI: whereas leave control contributed directly to lower WFI, flextime buffered the adverse effects of long contractual workhours. Our results suggest that very long working days should be prevented, and that worktime control may be a powerful tool to help workers maintaining a good work–family balance.     

Building a valuable event log for process mining: an experimental exploration of a guided process

The digitalisation of business processes has led to the new opportunity of investigating process executions by using process mining. The complex preparation step of building an event log is often perceived as a technical task, although business considerations should be involved. In this paper, we examine via an experimental study whether and how a guiding procedure supports the performance of this task. Our findings provide insights into the parts played by business and technical considerations in this task and suggest that procedural guidance positively impacts the process of building an event log and its outcome.     

A value-in-process analysis of relationship interactions in non-equity alliances

In the domain of relationship marketing, there is an increasing need for greater understanding of ‘value’ in the process of social exchange interactions. We present a framework for analysis of value creation through these interactions. Two types of value creating interaction are identified, asset specific investment and technical exchange. Taking a series of 197 project-based, non-equity alliances between architects and building contractors, we examine value creation through these interactions. The findings establish that value in the relationship process is co-created and that this occurs through an iterative investment in specific assets at the operational level throughout the alliance. Additionally, the exchange of technical information at the operational level is found to be a source of value for the relationship and has iterative and co-creational characteristics similar to investment in specific assets. We provide an explanation for the relationship between these interaction types and relational value. We also find that goodwill trust's positive relationship with the asset specific investment interaction type is stronger in low, rather than high, operational compatibility partnerships. The implications for researchers and managers are explored and study limitations acknowledged.     

Measuring Career Mobility: An Empirical Comparison of Six Mobility Indexes

The current paper presents six indexes that can be used to characterize the course of a career during a particular time interval, respectively, (1) the total number of transitions during that interval; (2) the number of positive transitions; (3) the number of negative transitions; (4) the subtraction of the number of negative transitions from the number of positive transitions; (5) the relative uncommonness of the transitions; and (6) the subtraction of the number of negative transitions from the number of positive transitions, weighted by their uncommonness. Advantages and disadvantages of these six indexes are discussed. Further, an empirical example is presented that draws on data from a sample of 357 employed Dutch youth. Finally, our approach is compared to previous approaches (event-centered methods, such as survival analysis, and career-centered methods, such as clustering techniques). It is concluded that our simple approach complements these other approaches well.     

Worktime Demands and Work-Family Interference: Does Worktime Control Buffer the Adverse Effects of High Demands?

This study examined whether worktime control buffered the impact of worktime demands on work–family interference (WFI), using data from 2,377 workers from various sectors of industry in The Netherlands. We distinguished among three types of worktime demands: time spent on work according to one’s contract (contractual hours), the number of hours spent on overtime work (overtime hours), and the number of hours spent on commuting (commuting hours). Regarding worktime control, a distinction was made between having control over days off and vacations (leave control) and having control over starting and finishing times (flextime). These three worktime demands were expected to have separate as well as joint effects on WFI, whereas worktime control should buffer these adverse effects of worktime demands on WFI. Stepwise regression analyses showed that working high numbers of contractual and overtime hours was indeed associated with high WFI. Further, worktime control indeed made a difference in terms of WFI: whereas leave control contributed directly to lower WFI, flextime buffered the adverse effects of long contractual workhours. Our results suggest that very long working days should be prevented, and that worktime control may be a powerful tool to help workers maintaining a good work–family balance.     

Unfolding event histories: Scaling of non-repeating events

The present paper discusses the use of Coombs' (1950, 1964) unfolding procedure applied to event history data. This procedure is appropriate when several stimuli are rated according to the individuals' preference, and yields scale values for stimuli and individuals, as well as a ‘best’ order of stimuli. We propose to consider the order of occurrence in time of non-repeatable events (such as first marriage, leaving home, and first job) as an indication of the subjects' preference for these stimuli. In that case unfolding may be applied to the analysis of event history-data. The statistical principles of unfolding analysis in general are briefly discussed. Subsequently an illustration is given, using data concerning the life course of 216 Dutch women of birth cohort 1961, concerning five events: first steady relationship, leaving home, first child, first job, and first occurrence of living together. It is shown that these events can be ordered at an underlying one-dimensional continuum on which individuals can be scaled. Furthermore, using regression analysis it is shown that the location of the subjects at this continuum correlates significantly with various explanatory variables, showing how unfolding may be used in practical applications.     

Towards Shared Social Responsibility: A Study of Consumers’ Willingness to Donate Micro-Insurances when Taking Out Their Own Insurance

In recent years, the concepts of charity and development aid have changed significantly. Present concepts combine direct money transfer with co-production, knowledge sharing and the development of products and services designed for the need of developing and transition economies. The concept of micro-financing is a financial service which has proven to allow for entrepreneurs in the respective countries to start up their businesses. A relatively new financial product for these countries is micro-insurance. This article deals with the question whether consumers in the Netherlands are willing to donate micro-insurances and which factors influence this willingness to contribute to the non-profit micro-insurance approach of an insurance company. The data were collected with questionnaires among a sample of the Dutch population (N = 504). The data have been processed in a one-way between-groups ANOVA, a paired sample t test and an ordinal regression analysis. The results show that approximately half of the Dutch consumers are willing to pay an additional amount on their insurance premium for the donation of micro-insurances. The amount of the insurance premium did, however, not affect the willingness to donate (WTD). If consumers could choose the beneficiary less people are willing to donate, yet those people are willing to donate more money. In conclusion, there is readiness among consumers to contribute to micro-insurance via an insurance company that assists in setting up micro-insurance projects. This indicates a possible role for companies to act as an intermediary between philanthropic acts and consumers.     

Modeling nonresponse in multiwave panel studies using discrete-time Markov models

Quality & Quantity - Nonresponse is of major concern to social scientists, due to the possibility of selectivity: not all groups in the population are equally represented in the final sample,...     

Conflict or cooperation? Exploring the relationship between cooperative institutions and robotisation

Robotization of production challenges the status-quo in the economy, some win, while others lose out. Literature has argued that automation causes redistribution, both between capital and labour as within either category. We also know that many economies have chosen to adopt cooperative institutions to negotiate the negative by-products of such economic changes. What is, however, less clear is how such institutions influence rates of automation themselves. This article contributes to this debate by conducting a panel analysis of sectoral robotization rates and cooperative institutions in 25 OECD countries between 1993 and 2017 using an original institutional indicator. The findings suggest that aside from simply redistributing the costs and benefits of automation throughout the productive sector, cooperative institutions also meaningfully predict higher levels of robot density, showing that more institutionalized economies do not lag behind in terms of automation. What is more, these institutions also seem to co-determine the rates of robotization occurring during recessions.