Shifting models of equality? Union Equality Reps in the public services

This article explores how far the emergence of public sector Equality Representatives represents a departure from a distinct radical model of union self‐organisation generated by the collective mobilisation of politically conscious identities, towards a more inclusive liberal model of equality based on abstract notions of ‘fairness’.     

Creative Mediations of the City: Contemporary Public Art as Compass of Metro Manila's Urban Conditions

In this article, public art is proposed as creative agency mobilized to form urban imaginaries. These alternate visions are largely facilitated by artists and art collectives using urban communities as performative grounds. These projects promote a view of art as an effective channel for ‘recentering’ — the identification of a multitude of centers that endlessly fracture and shift, very much resembling the nature of cities themselves. An alternate vision of the city through cartography informed by contrast, temporality and ephemerality is proposed alongside dominant representations of the city. Works by artists Alma Quinto, Mark Salvatus and Wire Tuazon are representative examples of such strategies. Diverse in tactics and platforms, defined by site‐specific mediations, the projects facilitated by these artists reveal the uneven conditions that beset Metro Manila and its outlying areas. Quinto's altered Urban Plan/Duyan is the result of her engagement with women in an informal settler community in San Andres Bukid, Manila, while Salvatus's web‐based Neo‐Urban Planner is an astute observation of the obsessive yet futile ordering of people and space by the state. Tuazon's Amphibian installation is a commentary on the encroachment of multinational interests in local communities. These interventions are foils to state‐ and private‐led urban development schemes. Their strength lies in their direct engagement with the sphere of public dialogue and self‐determination. These artistic practices and strategies are shaped by community interaction, revealing that meanings residing in urban forms are relentlessly negotiated by the numerous actors that inhabit the city.     

The Investment Performance of Art in Mainland China

This article investigates price determinants and investment performance for paintings from mainland China using hedonic regression analysis applied to a new dataset from over 190,000 auction transactions. The price index obtained indicates that from 2000 to 2015, the average annual appreciation in value of Chinese art was 8.42% in real USD. Compared with American artwork, global artwork, and traditional financial assets, Chinese art possesses a comparatively better risk and return profile and a low correlation with other assets. Finally, regarding the masterpiece effect, the conclusion is that highly priced Chinese art does not underperform the market.     

Ethical Attitudes of Accounting Practitioners: Are Rank and Ethical Attitudes Related?

We address a previous finding in the business ethics literature in which accounting professionals in higher rank levels, i.e., “manager” or “partner” of auditing firms, appear to have lower moral reasoning ability than their junior counterparts. Prior investigations have relied upon a similar methodology for estimating ethical beliefs, namely testing “moral reasoning ability” using either the Moral Judgment Interview or Defining Issues Test. In the present study, we use a multiple vignettes approach to test for the existence of the inverse rank-ethical beliefs effect. With only 2 of the 30 vignettes resulting in both managers and partners being more accepting of the ethically charged behaviors, the results presented here using this alternative methodology are generally not supportive of the inverse rank-ethical beliefs phenomenon. We also use a multivariate analysis in order to control for demographic characteristics. Our results suggest that the most robust predictor of ethical attitudes among accounting practitioners is age, not rank within a firm.     

Understanding the effect of market orientation on circular economy practices: The mediating role of closed-loop orientation in German SMEs

The implementation of circular economy (CE) practices is considered a key driver towards sustainable development of firms. Earlier studies point to the general strategic approach of market orientation as an antecedent to CE practice implementation. Still, insights are limited as the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Based on a sample of 121 German small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), we empirically examine how the strategic approach of closed-loop orientation mediates the relationship between market orientation and the implementation of three types of CE practices. Using structural equation modelling, we find that while market orientation is positively related to all three types of CE practices, closed-loop orientation mediates these relationships for only two. Our study extends CE literature by suggesting that market orientation is translated into closed-loop orientation to spur CE practice implementation. We also offer a differentiated understanding of CE practice implementation in the context of German SMEs.     

Interpreting the risks of AIDS: A case study of long‐distance truck drivers

This is a study of long‐distance truck drivers ‐ their perceptions of working conditions, social networks, and health and sexual practices. Its purpose is to place AIDS in the work and life context of truckers in order to establish the meaning of ‘risk’ of AIDS. The research also aims to contribute to practical, multilateral action by all players in order to address the problems drivers in the industry face, one of which is AIDS. The findings are based on a study of 213 long‐distance truck drivers passing through the midlands of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa, during ten days in April 1995. Drivers are in trucking to feed themselves and their families. The sophisticated road network, the need to earn money and the poor rates of pay create a work routine which puts them under continuous pressure to drive. Their work routine is exhausting, lonely, isolating and boring. It is also dangerous and hard. These conditions of employment take a toll on drivers’ health and emotional well‐being. Despite or because of the intensity of their work routine they look for opportunities to unwind. For many this includes buying drink and sex, the few recreational activities which are readily available, immediately gratifying and congruent with the demands of a job which leaves truckers ‘dreaming of home’. Buying sex is tantamount to a condition of work. Objectively, the core of drivers who acknowledge having unprotected sex with multiple partners ‐ between a third and half of all drivers ‐ can be considered to be at high risk. Their susceptibility to AIDS may be greater if additional sexual and health factors are taken into consideration. Subjectively, drivers do not relate the risks of AIDS to their own practices or their ‘knowledge’ that having multiple partners increases the danger. Their fears are greatest where they have been tested for HIV, or they know or have heard of someone who has died of AIDS. The fluidity of the boundaries of risk, for them and the women they interact with on the road and at home, presents a huge personal and personnel crisis in an industry which is notable for the lack of support it provides to drivers. The risk of AIDS has to be acted on, but it cannot be treated in isolation from other problems of health and working conditions which have a bearing on the well‐being of truckers.     

Price Discovery in Initial Public Offerings and the Role of the Lead Underwriter

We examine the price discovery process of initial public offerings (IPOs) using a unique dataset. The first quote entered by the lead underwriter in the five-minute preopening window explains a large proportion of initial returns even for hot IPOs. Significant learning and price discovery continues to take place during these five minutes with hundreds of quotes being entered. The lead underwriter observes the quoting behavior of other market makers, particularly the wholesalers, and accordingly revises his own quotes. There is a strong positive relationship between initial returns and the time of day when trading starts in an IPO.