MARKET REFORM AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN LATIN AMERICA: Evidence from an Error Correction Model

This study models dollar values of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to conditions in seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela) during the 1988-1992 period. Although much research on FDI has used time series data to explain inward or outward flows, two things set this study apart. First, this study includes market reforms as independent variables. Second, this study uses newer time series econometric tools (unit root test and cointegration analysis) to correct for a spurious regression. Our model is robust, explaining 79.4 percent of variation. We found three independent variables (size of current account deficit, size of GDP, and value of privatization less FDI in privatized companies) to be significant. Although we found directional support for three other independent variables (degree of capital market liberalization, low inflation rate, and depreciation of the real exchange rate), none of these proved significant.     

The preconditions for manufacturing foreign direct investment in the united states: An empirical assessment

This study used a multivariate regression analysis of industry-and firm-specific factors to determine characteristics that lead to manufacturing firms’ foreign direct investment in the United States (FDIUS). Two hundred forty firms were examined (137 investors and 103 noninvestors) from 7 countries in 10 industries during the 1984–1988 period. Firm size and overall profits were positive and significant indicators of FDIUS, but firms’ return on assets was not significant. Three industry-specific variables (prior exports to the United States, industry concentration, and technological intensity) were examined; they were generally positive but insignificant indicators of FDIUS.     

Organizational culture in a terminally ill hospital

This study analyzed an organizational culture in a community hospital in Texas to measure organizational culture change and its impact on Patient Satisfaction (PS). The study employed primary and secondary data, combining quantitative and qualitative methods for a case study. Participant observation was used and archival data were collected to provide a better understanding of the organizational culture and the context in which change was taking place. This study also applied a "Shared Vision" of the organization as the central process in bringing forth the knowledge shared by members of the community hospital who were both subjects and research participants. The results from the study suggest an increase in PS due to the shared vision of one subculture within the hospital. There were powerful subcultures in this organization based on occupation and specialization, and their interests and functional orientations were not conducive to a systems approach. Hospital management was conducted in "silos" and there was lack of feedback between organizational levels of the hospital, especially in financial management, with organizational dysfunctionality in reacting and adapting to the health care market.     

Gender disparities: a medical detoxification program

Significant gaps exist in health care regarding gender in the United States. Health status, social roles, culturally patterned behavior and access to health care can be influenced by gender. Women have been the primary users of health care and minority women usually have received poorer quality care than Non-Hispanic White (NHW) females. The objectives of this study were to identify gender, racial and ethnic disparities in access to substance abuse treatment in a Texas hospital. Secondary data collected on 1,309 subjects who underwent detoxification were studied. Gender, race/ethnicity, drug of abuse, relapse and financial classification were included in the analysis. Results indicate Hispanic females and Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) females were about 5 and 3.5 more likely than NHW females to use Medicaid services respectively (p < .05). NHW and NHB males were more likely to use Medicare than females (p < .05). NHB and Hispanic females were 5.8 and 2.1 times more likely to receive care for abuse of cocaine when compared to NHW females respectively (p < .05). Hispanic females were 2.3 times more likely to relapse than Non-Hispanic females, and uninsured NHB females were 7.1 times at a higher risk to abuse multiple drugs compare to NHW females (p < .05). Socio-economic factors, lower labor force participation rates, and less financial independence can explain females utilizing more often Medicaid regardless of their race/ethnicity. These results can be also explained by aggressive case management utilization, socio cultural barriers and/or discriminatory practices, both intentional and unintentional.     

Reactions to unjust dismissal and third-party dispute resolution: A justice framework

Little previous research has examined why dismissed workers view their discharge as unjust and how they respond to third-party dispute resolution interventions. This exploratory field study relied upon a justice framework to understand complainant motivations for filing unjust dismissal disputes and their reactions to a voluntary conciliation program. Analysis of archival and interview data suggested that procedural justice principles dominated both motivations for filing claims and reactions to third-party intervention. These findings were consistent with previous justice and labor relations research. Implications for future research, management practice, and third-party dispute resolution are discussed.     

Meta-learning about business ethics: Building honorable business school communities

We propose extending business ethics education beyond the formal curriculum to the hidden curriculum where messages about ethics and values are implicitly sent and received. In this meta-learning approach, students learn by becoming active participants in an honorable business school community where real ethical issues are openly discussed and acted upon. When combined with formal ethics instruction, this meta-learning approach provides a framework for a proposed comprehensive program of business ethics education.Linda Klebe Trevino is Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Mary Jean and Frank B. Smeal College of Business Administration, The Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on the management of ethical-unethical behavior in organizations and justice in disciplinary situations.Donald L. McCabe is Associate Professor of Management at the Graduate School of Management, Rutgers — the State University of New Jersey. His research focuses on decision making and interpretive processes under conditions of uncertainty, and the management of ethical behavior in organizations.     

Technology transfer in Mexico: Past patterns and new problems related to the North American free trade agreement

As the Mexican economy prepares to transition from a relatively closed and protected market to a regionally integrated free market which is part of the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a change in its technology licensing environment will be needed to enable Mexican companies to compete for technology with firms from the other member countries of the NAFTA. This study identifies the national sources which have provided Mexico with technology and the Mexican industrial sectors which have been able to attract this technology in the 1980s. It further evaluates the current licensing environments in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.A. as well as in the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA). The study provides recommendations for changes to the Mexican licensing environment and proposes strategies for attracting technology to Mexican industry under the changed conditions which would be introduced by the NAFTA. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Unexpected Effects of Criminal Violence along the Mexico-Texas Border

The violence and insecurity that Mexico suffered during former President Calderon’s war on the Mexican drug cartels have come at a grave economic cost to many cities. The criminal violence had an impact on interdependent borderlands, which are geographic areas that have a symbiotic link between cities and communities of adjoining territories. Mexican business people and consumers that live in cities along the shared border with the United States have the ability to shift their economic transactions away from their insecure environments and to US border communities. In addition, US residents that would normally travel south for economic transactions would decide to avoid violent areas and therefore conduct business on the northern side. This research demonstrates that increased violence in Mexico produced a positive economic effect on the US side of the Mexico–Texas interdependent borderlands. Specifically, our time series analysis (2002–2014) shows that increased homicides, kidnappings and extortions in adjacent Mexican cities are strongly associated with higher gross total sales in the Texas communities while controlling for economic and demographic factors. We also found that the increases in the three crime categories were not associated with the arts, entertainment and recreation sector, nor the accommodation and food services sector performance. However, there was a positive relationship with the retail sales sector.