Exploring the future for pensions pillarisation

The pensions pillarisation agenda envisages a reduction in the role of social insurance while simultaneously advocating the parallel expansion of fully funded private sector, occupational and personal retirement contingencies. Widespread perception of looming state failure in the field of pensions delivery highlights the inherent limitations of current pension delivery arrangements. However, moves to de-emphasise the provision afforded by, predominantly, monopillar state-mandated pension systems by expanding private privision represent short-term palliative responses to deep rooted structural and demographic problems. Multipillar systems appear no more capable of guaranteeing system funding in the face of demographic ageing and structural unemployment than existing monopillar systems. Moreover, a diminished role for social insurance will leave the low paid and unemployed significantly more vulnerable in old age. Consequently, this paper argues for a pension reform agenda which, in terms of levels of income substitution, will secure an adequate social insurance element into the future.     

Job change and workplace learning in the public sector: the significance of new technology for unskilled work

Focussing here on local authorities and health services, this paper examines the significance of new technology to unskilled work in the public sector as it is developing and the implications for workplace learning. An argument is developed that new technology is central to a minority of examples of job change, although, significantly, it is more important to staff–initiated change and to workers' ability to fully participate in life beyond the workplace.     

Effects of Label on Consumer Preferences: Focus on Hawaiian Avocado Industry

This study examines market challenges facing a local agriculture industry in a small island setting. Examination of the Hawai‘i local avocado industry indicates labeling can address the product information gap between consumers and producers, improve market share, and increase import substitution by local products. Currently, local avocados occupy only 33% of market share, compared with 67% captured by imports. Consumer preferences among local labeled, local unlabeled, and imported avocados were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. Statistical results showed that labels influence consumers’ decisions to buy local or imported avocados, and their preferences were also influenced by sociodemographic variables, avocado characteristics, and purchasing behavior. Key market segments to target and policy implications are also discussed.     

Agency costs and product market competition: The case of audit pricing in Greece

Jensen and Meckling (1976) argue that agency costs are not dependent on product market competition. However, elsewhere in the economics literature, theoretical analysis and empirical research have indicated that product market competition reduces agency costs by reducing the marginal cost of eliciting effort from agents. We investigate the relationship between product market competition and audit fee, as an example of agency cost. Taking advantage of a proprietary data set for Greek audit firms, we find that the audit fee and audit hours are inversely associated with client firm product market competition. We conclude that audit effort, as an agency cost, is reduced where competitive forces reduce the need for shareholders to bear the costs of monitoring agents.     

The impact of working conditions on sickness absence: a theoretical model and an empirical application to work schedules

This paper explores how poor working conditions impact sickness absence through their effect on health. Our contribution is two-fold. First, we develop a static theoretical model based on the concept of health capital, wherein poor working conditions are partially compensated by higher wages. According to our model, the effect of working conditions on sickness absence is ambiguous. Second, we apply our model to the case of working time arrangements and test the effect of working irregular schedules or work around the clock on sickness absence, using data from the French Labor Force Survey on a specific population (male manual workers in private sector). As heterogeneity may lead to severe bias, we use propensity score matching methods. Our estimates show that working irregular schedules has a significant impact on sickness absence. The results are more mitigated for work around the clock. In any case, the extent crucially depends on age.     

Empowerment of Social Norms on Water Consumption

Environmental and Resource Economics - This study develops a model of water extraction using endogenous social norms. Many users are connected by a unique shared resource that can become scarce in...     

On Empirical mis Research: The Case of Information Requirements Analysis

A major problem infield research in Management Information Systems (mis) is that of controlling and measuring complex behavioural and organizational factors. This paper addresses the difficulties of field research in the area of Information Requirements Analysis (ira) and examines the relationship between the concept of information value and ira. Measurement of the value of information is thus identified as a major source of experimental difficulty. The use of subjective evaluation by users is suggested as a possible approach, and the absence of conclusive field experiments in ira is noted. Possible reasons why a particular field experiment utilizing subjective evaluations did not yield conclusive results are examined. Re-analysis of the data of that study with a new technique yielded more convincing results demonstrating that obtaining significant results in ira field experiments is possible. It is noted that although statistically significant results are not uncommon in laboratory experiments (e.g., simulations), such successes in mis field experiments are rare. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that meaningful results can be obtained in an ira field experiment if the experimental design and technique of analysis are appropriate. Résumé Un des problèmes majeurs dans la recherche relative aux problèmes de gestion de l'information (sgi) est de contrǒler et mesurer les facteurs complexes de comportement et les facteurs organisationnels. Cette étude traite des difficultés que pose la recherche dans le domaine de l'analyse des exigences requises (aer) et examine la relation entre le concept de valeur de l'information et I'aer. La mesure de la valeur de l'information est donc identifiée comme source de difficulté expérimentale. L'usage d'évaluation subjective par les utulisateurs est suggéré à titre d'approche possible et l'absence d'expériences concluantes dans le domaine de I'aer est notée. Les raisons pour laquelle une expérience particulière menée avec des évaluations subjectives n'a pas fourni de résultats concluants ont ete examinées.