Value of Household and Farm Work: Evidence from Alberta Farm Family Data

Estimates of the economic value of unpaid household and farm work of Alberta farm women and men are calculated using two common market alternative cost methods. Time use data for 1984 collected by Doherty and Keating (1985) from 414 Alberta grain farm families as well as Statistics Canada wage data are used. The average annual value of unpaid farm work ranges from $20,647.35 to $29,088.24 for men and from $5,017.54 to $6,604.19 for women. Conversely, unpaid household work performed by women has an average annual value of $17,460.98 to $34,617.66, while the value of men's unpaid household work ranges from $1,943.02 to $3,962.54 annually. When the values of farm and household production and the income generated by off-farm work are accounted for, there is little difference between mend's and womend's total contributions to the economic well-being of the farm family. These estimates illustrate the importance of family membersd' unpaid work to the economic well-being of the family. They also suggest that there is little basis for the historic inequity of legal and other social systems that neglect the economic value of womend's contributions to family welfare. On estime la valeur du travail domestique et agricole non rémunéré des agricultrices et des agriculteurs de l'Alberta au moyen de deux autres méthodes de calcul des coûts, dd'usage courant sur le marché. On se sert pour cela des données de 1984 sur le temps recueillies par Keating and Doherty (1985) auprès de 414 producteurs de céréales de l'Alberta et des données sur les salaires de Statistique Canada. La valeur annuelle moyenne du travail agricole non rémunéré varie de 20 647,35 $ à 29 088,24 $ pour les hommes et de 5 017,54 $ à 6 604,19 $ pour les femmes. Parallèlement, le travail domestique non rémunéré effectuÉ par les femmes vaut de 17 460,98 $ à 34 617,66 $ en moyenne par année, tandis que pour les hommes il varie entre 1 943,02 $ et 3 962,54 $. Lorsqud'on additionne la valeur de la production agricole et domestique et le revenu générÉ par le travail non agricole, on constate qud'il y a peu dd'écart entre la contribution totale de l'homme et celle de la femme au bien-être économique de la famille rurale. Ces estimations prouvent 1d'importance du travail non rémunéré des membres de la famille pour la situation économique de cette derniÈre. Elles suggèrent également qud'il nd'existe pas de véritable fondement à l'injustice historique introduite par les systèmes juridiques et sociaux qui négligent la valeur de la contribution des femmes au bien-être économique de la famille.     

The Child as Learner, Critic, Inventor, and Technology Design Partner: An Analysis of Three Years of Swedish Student Journals

From Autumn 1998 to Spring 2001, 27 Swedish children (14, at age 5 and 13, at age 7) partnered with an interdisciplinary and international group of researchers supported by a grant from the European Union to create new storytelling technologies for children. After each of the many design activities, children were asked to reflect with drawings and/or writing in a bound paper journal. As the project concluded in the third year, the children's journals were analyzed and four constructs emerged from the data: learner, critic, inventor, and technology design partner. This study examines the motivation for such a research and learning experience, describes the changes in roles we saw represented in our child partners' journals, and suggests possible future directions for educators and technology developers. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Losing More than Money: Organizations’ Prosocial Actions Appear Less Authentic When Their Resources are Declining

Journal of Business Ethics - Companies often benefit from others’ attributions of moral conviction for prosocial behavior, for example, attributions that a company has a sincere moral desire...     

The future of industrial new venture departments

In the companies studied, the primary reason for “failure” of New Venture Departments (NVDs) did not appear to be ineffectiveness in new business development. An NVD was an effective structure for managing new ventures in many companies. The main reasons NVDs became inoperative were that (1) the corporate strategic situation changed and the NVD was no longer needed, and/or (2) the NVD's political position eroded within the company and it was rejected by the existing power structure. The NVD's performance may be a contributing factor to the erosion of its political position but in many companies there were more important factors such as the NVD's sponsor leaving the company, excessively high expectations generated or the NVD appearing to pose a threat to other divisions.     

Key managerial factors in new venture departments

Two clusters of factors —the “corporate strategic posture” and the New Venture Department (NVD) “political posture” — appear to determine the direction of an NVD's evolution. The “corporate strategic posture” refers to the cycles of diversification and consolidation that typically characterize corporate growth. A corporation's “strategic posture” at any given point in time can be positioned on a continuum, one end of which is a “diversifying” posture, while the other end is a “consolidating” posture.     

New venture departments: Organizing for innovation

A popular approach to managing new business development in a large corporate environment—the New Venture Department— is considered in this article. The author reports on a study of NVDs in 18 companies—discussing why they were, established, ways that they differed and how they evolved over time.