Towards a cultural typology of European work values and work organisation

This is a first attempt to present a typology of work values and work organisation in Europe. The typology identifies four core cultures: traditional capitalist countries, southern Europe, the Scandinavian countries and the former communist regimes. Examples are drawn from three areas: a social‐historical context (societal) and two group related phenomena: the typical scandal and the social role of money. In addition, a paradigm is proposed, comparing and contrasting contemporary cultural models on work values.     

Beachboys as culture brokers in Bakau Town, The Gambia

This article places the development of tourism in Bakau, TheGambia, within the general context of social and economic changesin the town. It focuses on the activities of beachboys in Bakauwho assume the role of culture brokers, acting as mediatorsand innovators in the community. It then studies the ambivalentreaction of Bakau elders to the beachboys' activities.     

Marital alternatives and the regulation of sex

The relationship between the occurrence of extramarital affairs (as an indicator of the reduction of normative constraints) and commuter marriage (as an indicator of the reduction of structural constraints) was examined. It was found that when couples set up two separate homes they were not more likely to have affairs than when they shared a single home (or that the reduction of structural constraints does not necessarily lead to the reduction of normative constraints). In contrast to other studies that stress opportunity as a key factor in the occurrence of extramarital affairs, this study suggests that attitudes toward affairs are neither enforced nor weakened by opportunity. Two underlying orientations to marriage, which exist simultaneously in different segments of the population, were uncovered: one involving an attachment to the family as institution and one involving an attachment to the family as companionship.     

Culture and Organization: The Case of Transmanche-Link

The relationship between culture and organization has often been discussed, but rarely explored directly. This paper implements a cultural values instrument taken from Hofstede together with a behavioural instrument derived from Van de Ven to matched samples of British and French managers working on the Channel Tunnel project. The results largely replicate the findings of Hofstede regarding cultural values, but do not support the predicted implications for behaviour. In essence, the British were found to be more bureaucratic and more team-oriented than their French counterparts, who tended to be more fonceur and competitive. This indicates that the relationship between culture and behaviour might be more complicated than research to date suggests.     

Who Reads Catholic Newspapers? Exploring Readership in a Changing Industry

Newspapers published by Roman Catholic dioceses represent a large and unexplored part of the religious publishing industry. This study attempts to shed light on the challenges these publications face by examining the readership of a diocesan newspaper in a large Catholic diocese in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Based on a comprehensive survey of 24,278 Roman Catholic households from 27 parishes throughout the diocese, this study finds a large gap in readership and engagement between older and younger readers, raising important strategic and pastoral questions for the newspaper in the years to come.     

Implications of behavioural economics for financial literacy and public policy

This paper summarizes and highlights different methodological approaches to behavioural economics in the context of the conventional economic wisdom and the implications of these different methodological approaches for financial literacy, related institutional change, and public policy. Conventional economics predicts no substantive improvement from improvements to financial literacy. The errors and biases approach to behavioural economics suggests limited improvements to decision making from financial education as errors and biases are largely hardwired in the brain. Government and expert intervention affecting individual choice behaviour is recommended. The evidence suggests that the bounded rationality approach to behavioural economics, with its focus on smart decision makers and the importance institutional and environment constraints on decision making, is the most promising lense through which to analyse financial decision making. From this perspective, financial decision making can be improved by providing decision makers with better quality information presented in a non-complex fashion, an institutional environment conducive to good decisions, an incentive structure that internalize externalities involved in financial decision making, and financial education that will facilitate making the best use of the information at hand within a specific decision-making environment.