US HRM principles: cross-country comparisons and two case applications in India

This paper analyses the human resource management (HRM) systems of two fairly large, complex, technical organizations in India, embedded in specific external environments. The HRM practices of the two are compared with studies of practices in India and other developing countries. Further, the practices of the two organizations are compared utilizing a US HRM model. Findings are discussed with reference to relevant studies in India and the US. A complex view emerges from the analysis: (1) A mixed HRM model with US and Indian characteristics exists. (2) Differences in the two cases involve implementation and integration of HRM activities. (3) While hierarchy and paternalism are observed, adaptiveness and innovation are also evident. (4) Managerial characteristics and values (status, power, orientation) have an influential role. (5) Highlights among organizational characteristics are growth stage and professionals; and among external factors are management groups and their member interactions.     

Has the Affordable Care Act increased part-time employment?

We examine the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on part-time employment. Because the ACA’s employer health insurance mandate applies to individuals who work 30 or more hours per week, employers may try to avoid the mandate by cutting workers’ hours below the 30-hour threshold in order to avoid having to provide them with health insurance. Although the employer mandate only went into effect in 2015, many observers have argued that forward-looking employers began to shift towards a part-time workforce well in advance of the mandate. To test this hypothesis, we examine relative shifts across two categories of part-time workers (25–29 hours and 31–35 hours). We find some evidence of a shift from the 31–35-hour category into the 25–29-hour category after the passage of ACA in March 2010. However, that shift is not more pronounced among low-wage workers or among workers in industries and occupations most likely to be affected by the mandate. Thus, there is little evidence that the ACA has caused the shift across hours categories, or led to an increase in part-time employment. However, the ACA could cause a shift towards part-time work in the future as the mandate takes effect.     

The Mystery of Missing Real Spillovers in Southern Africa: Some Facts and Possible Explanations

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the economies of South Africa and its neighbours (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe) are tightly integrated with each other. The multiple interconnections suggest that South Africa's GDP growth rate should affect positively its neighbours'. However, our review of the available econometric evidence and our panel growth regressions suggest that there is no strong evidence of real spillovers in the region after 1994, once global shocks are controlled for. More generally, we find no evidence of real spillovers from South Africa to the rest of the continent post‐1994. We investigate the possible reasons for this lack of spillovers. Most importantly, the economies of South Africa and the rest of Sub‐Saharan Africa might have decoupled in the mid‐1990s. That is when international sanctions on South Africa ended and the country re‐integrated with the global economy, while growth in the rest of the continent accelerated due to a combination of domestic and external factors.     

Crude oil and gasoline volatility risk into a Realized-EGARCH model

This paper disentangles oil volatility risk to two components. The first component is attributed to crude oil, while the second is related to gasoline. This disentanglement serves the purpose of investigating the extent to which crude oil and gasoline are complementary in impacting return and variance residuals. The Realized-EGARCH model of Hansen et al. (J Appl Econom 29(5):774–799, 2014) is used to test the hypothesis that stock markets show some delay in incorporating oil information. This study shows that both crude oil- and gasoline-based information impact stock markets contemporaneously in a complementary fashion. Unlike the underreaction hypothesis, which is suggested as an explanation to the negative lagged effect of crude oil price change on return, the sequential information hypothesis explains better the ways information about oil is disseminated among U.S. industry portfolios.

     

Do common currencies facilitate the net flow of capital among countries?

Earlier studies have hypothesized that membership in a common currency arrangement (either a currency union or a currency board) is associated with larger current account imbalances (either deficits or surpluses) for participating countries. This paper examines a panel of 128 countries over the period 1976–2005, and finds that the current account balances of common currency participants are more highly correlated with fundamental factors (such as net foreign assets, incomes, growth rates, fiscal policy, demographics, resource endowments) than the current accounts of non-participants. Furthermore, this greater sensitivity to fundamentals leads to larger current account imbalances. Participation in a common currency is typically associated with a 1.6 percent increase in a country's current account imbalance. Larger current account imbalances under common currency arrangements could be a sign of increased financial integration. Alternatively, they could reflect the difficulties of current account adjustment under fixed exchange rates.     

Multinational corporate social responsibility,ethics, interactions and Third World governments: An agenda for the 1990s

A critical literature on mulitnational corporate social responsibility has developed in recent years. Many authors addressed the issue in the Third World countries. This paper reviews the literature, focusing on the relationship between the multinational corporations (MNCs) and Third World governments in fulfilling the social responsibility, based on the underlying ethical imperative.There is a growing consensus that both corporations and governments should accept moral responsibility for social welfare and individual interests in their economic transactions. A collaborative relationship is proposed where the MNCs share information based on global experiences and offer input into host government developmental policies, and aid their implementation. The government, in turn, provides a reasonable regulatory environment. This calls for ongoing interactions among officials at all levels of the two institutions, with the local corporate subsidiary playing a pivotal role. The desired conduct of the parties is reinforced by international organizations and other constituents, representing common human concerns across cultures. These relationships are examined and an agenda for policy and action by the MNCs and the Third World governments is developed.The accelerated growth in the number of multinational corporations (MNCs) and their worldwide scope, with concentration of economic and political power draws attention to corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, a meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1987, with delegates from 141 developed and developing countries concluded with a major agreement.Sita C. Amba-Rao professional interests involve Human Resource Management (HRM) and Organizational Development. She taught Business and Society, and her research on business social responsibility includes a publication on the Union Carbide accident in India. Amba-Rao had worked in Indian Industry. She will be conducting a field study in India on comparative HRM and managerial values.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Association for the Advancement of Policy Research and Development in the Third World (APRDT) at Mexico City in November, 1990.     

Do immigrants delay retirement and social security claiming?

ABSTRACT

We use data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine how immigrants’ retirement and Social Security claiming patterns compare to those of natives. We find that immigrants retire and claim Social Security at older ages than natives, an effect that is similar across immigrant ethnic groups and more pronounced among immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after age 40. We discuss and explore possible mechanisms for these differences. Hazard models suggests that these differences arise because immigrants have lower retirement and claiming hazard rates in their early 60s. We do not find evidence of an increase in the rate at which immigrants move abroad or exit the survey, compared to U.S. natives, in their late 50s through 60s, a finding that is consistent with immigrants retiring in the U.S. rather than abroad. These results are important given the rising share of older immigrants living in the U.S., and they have implications for the impact of immigration on government finances as well as the retirement security of an important subgroup of the population.     

Effect of value perceptions on luxury purchase intentions: an Indian market perspective

India is witnessing a phenomenal growth in the luxury market segment. However, empirical studies in this domain are few and far between. The main objectives of this study are, firstly, to build and empirically test the theoretical framework designed to measure the effect of value perceptions on intention to purchase luxury fashion brands among Indian consumers. Secondly, to determine the role of gender in understanding the relationship between luxury value dimensions and purchase intention. This study employed researcher controlled sampling and questionnaires were administered through the personal interview from actual users of luxury fashion brands. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test proposed hypotheses using AMOS. The statistical analysis indicated that conspicuous value was the most significant predictor of purchase intention among Indian luxury consumers followed by hedonic value and social value. The results of the study also revealed that gender does not play moderating role in the relationship between luxury value dimensions and purchase intention among Indian consumers.     

Autocorrelation of the trade process: Evidence from the Helsinki Stock Exchange

This study investigates how duration-based trading intensity modifies the first-order autocorrelation and the transitory variance of the trade process. Because prices are conditional expected values, a structural model in which the trade duration represents the rate at which prices incorporate new information is developed. This refined model is an extension of the one developed by Madhavan, Richardson, and Roomans (1997) and allows parameters characterizing the arrival rate of new information to be derived. Testing this model with data from the Helsinki Stock Exchange, I was able to determine that a model ignoring trading intensity effects on price changes would underestimate the transitory effects of the trade process. This finding suggests that trade duration captures neglected elements of implicit trading costs that increase with market microstructure effects.