How international trade affects union wages: New evidence

We reexamine the effect of import competition on union wages using the NBER Industry Data for Imports and Exports by SIC category 1987– 1994 (Feenstra, 1996). We find that the effect of import share on union wage levels and wage growth is zero by the end of the twelve-year period covering 1983– 1994. These results suggest that although import competition initially reduced union wages in the late 1970s and early 1980s, by 1987 union wages were largely unaffected by import competition. Apparently, the diminished import effect results from increased union strength over the period, particularly in highly organized industries. The authors appreciate the comments of Barry T. Hirsch and Wm. S. Mounts. David Macpherson aided in the development of our CPS data sets.     

How disability affects absenteeism: An empirical analysis for six European countries

Using data from the European Community Household Panel for six European countries (Austria, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) for the period 1995–2001, this article investigates how disability affects workers' absenteeism. The results show that workers with disabilities are absent more often than workers without disabilities. This finding is obtained after controlling for individuals' self‐reported health, visits to doctors and nights spent in hospital. The severity of disability is also a relevant factor in higher absenteeism. The total effect of disability on absenteeism amounts to a marginal increase of six to 26 days per year (depending on the country).     

Not all computerized cheating tasks are equal: A comparison of computerized and non-computerized versions of a cheating task

Computerized versions of population inferred cheating tasks (C-PICT)—i.e., tasks in which dishonesty is statistically determined on the aggregate by comparing self-reported outcomes with a known probability distribution—have become increasingly popular. To this date no study has investigated whether non-computerized population inferred cheating tasks (PICT) and C-PICT as well as different implementations of C-PICT produce similar results. The current study tackles both issues via a well-powered pre-registered online experiment (N = 3,645) with four conditions. Participants played either a non-computerized coin toss task (CTT) (C1) or one of three computerized CTT: a computerized CTT provided via an external website (C2), a computerized CTT provided within the survey framework of the study in which participants were explicitly informed that the actual outcome of the CTT was not monitored (C3), or a computerized CTT provided within the survey framework of the study in which participants were explicitly informed that the actual outcome of the CTT was monitored (C4). A priori we expected the probability of dishonesty to be higher in C1 compared to C2, C3, and C4, as well as lower in C4 compared to C3 and C2. Results show that the probability of dishonesty is higher in C1 and C2 compared to C3 and C4. Conversely, no significant difference was observed between C1 and C2, nor between C3 and C4. Taken together, our results indicate that C-PICT produce results similar to PICT when they are provided via an external website, but not when they are implemented within the survey framework of the study.     

Leveling the playing field: Dishonesty in the face of threat

We examined the effects of framing and perceived vulnerability on dishonest behavior in competitive environments. Participants were randomly matched into pairs and took a short multiple-choice test, the relative score of which determined their merit-based payoffs. After learning about the test scores, participants were asked to report them, thus affecting the final payoffs. Framing was varied as participants could either report their own scores or the scores of their counterparts. The presence of threat, or vulnerability to other players’ dishonesty, was varied as either one or both players in a pair could misreport scores. Participants who reported their counterparts’ scores were more likely to report honestly than participants who entered their own score. Participants, whose payoffs were threatened by their opponents’ misreporting, were more likely to cheat to the fullest extent. Furthermore, we found that framing significantly reduced misreporting in the absence, but not in the presence of threat. Results suggest that when actors feel vulnerable to other people’s dishonesty they would often cheat as much as they can in order to “level the playing field”, even when they strongly disapprove of the behavior.     

Income in jeopardy: How losing employment affects the willingness to take risks

Identifying the determinants of risk-taking is crucial for our understanding of a variety of choices. Using German panel data, we find that people become more risk-averse when losing work. The immediate income loss does not mediate this effect. It seems also unrelated to the loss of non-monetary benefits of work and to changes of worker’s emotional state. However, we find that risk aversion responds the more strongly to losing work the more future income is at stake, and that the effect manifests itself already on the eve of job loss when people do not yet suffer from the consequences of the event. We conclude that lower future income expectations and more uncertainty about future incomes may explain the effect of job loss on risk attitude. Our results might imply that a recession may reinforce itself as it induces people to fear job loss, which raises their risk aversion and might therefore reduce the willingness to invest in risky projects. Moreover, self-assessed risk attitude seems to measure absolute risk aversion and thus not only an underlying risk preference parameter.     

Ladders and lifting: How gender affects safety behaviors in the fire service

This research explores the degree to which gender affects safety behaviors and outcomes in the fire service. Semistructured focus groups and interviews were conducted based on findings from the literature on women and gender in the fire service. Four focus groups (N?=?22) and eight interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using NVivo 10 software. This methodology explored if female gender improves safety behaviors through (1) weighing the risks and benefits of dangerous situations, (2) focusing on biomechanics and technique, (3) asking for help, (4) being motivated to report injuries, (5) being heard by colleagues, and (6) illuminating a hostile work environment’s contribution to safety. Participants report that women have less of a “tough guy” attitude than their male colleagues and felt that deviating from the modernist American hyper-masculine norm may have a positive impact on their work practices and injury outcomes. If women in the fire service perceive risk differently than their male colleagues, perhaps strengthening efforts to recruit women and creating a culture that values their perspective will improve the occupation’s overall safety outcomes. Further research is necessary to quantify these gender differences and their relationship to safety outcomes.     

Managing internal communication: How the choice of channels affects internal communication satisfaction

As the environment of internal communication is continually changing for a multitude of reasons, especially new technologies, organizations have to adapt fast in their attempts to reach their employees. When deciding on the type of channel to use, internal communication managers should be aware of their employees’ preferences. The purpose of this study is to identify how the choice of internal communication media affects internal communication satisfaction. In order to explore this relationship further, we conducted an analysis of the most commonly used internal communication channels in ten large corporations and linked the results to employees’ satisfaction and media choice. By expanding the knowledge on preferred communication channels, we are hoping to provide some insight for better management of internal communication.     

Different relationships for coping with ambiguity and uncertainty in organizations

This study seeks to shed light on the relationship between the situation and the activation of specific relationships. We hypothesized that the type of uncertainty present in a situation would prompt people to call upon different relationships based on different types of trust: cognitive trust for expertise and affective trust for friendship. We elaborated vignettes as name generators to test whether the colleagues called upon in different situations were perceived as being more friends or more experts. The perceived level of expertise and friendship were evaluated with Likert-style scales. The results support our theoretical argument to the effect that the “activation” of a relationship is influenced by the type of uncertainty a person is confronted to. Situations of information uncertainty elicit recourse to relationships based on expertise while ambiguous situations call for friendship.     

Living everyday lies: the experience of self

Lying is a ubiquitous feature of everyday social convention and also permeates the intimate bonds of romantic and family life. This article reviews the research literature on the gender-based motivations for lying and the contexts in which it occurs, along with relevant psychoanalytic perspectives, which help to explain how lying is related to one’s experience of self. Emphasis will be placed on contemporary psychoanalytic formulations, which emphasize the subjective nature of truth and the multiplicity of self-experience. A case illustration is offered to demonstrate the applicability and complementarity of various viewpoints on the topic.This article is based on a keynote address given at the New York State Society for Clinical Social Work 29th Annual Conference held in New York City. The Conference theme was entitled “Secrets and Lies: Intrapsychic and Interpersonal Dimensions.”     

Before crisis: How near-miss affects organizational trust and industry transference in emerging industries

A near-miss, such as a narrowly avoided collision between vehicles, evades a full-scale accident but can generate media attention that threatens trust. In emerging industries, the effects of near-miss may extend beyond organizational boundaries and influence trust in the industry and technology. This study empirically tests these assertions by examining how media reports of near-miss affect organizational trustworthiness and how trust repair strategies after a near-miss influence organizational and industry trust and technology acceptance in the emerging commercial industry of unmanned aircraft. Notwithstanding parallels to paracrisis, near-miss communication is understudied in public relations research. Further, studies of trust in the context of crisis are recent (see Brühl et al., 2018; Fuoli et al., 2017), and have produced unexpected results that warrant continued exploration in public relations. Underpinned by attribution theory, this study adopts a 2 (near-miss cause: external, low controllability; internal, high controllability) x 3 (trust repair strategy delivered via news story: denial, excuse, apology) scenario-based experiment. This study found that near-miss reduced organizational trustworthiness regardless of whether the event was controllable or not, indicating that when it comes to trust perceptions, near-miss can operate similarly to crisis. Further, apology was the only strategy that arrested a fall in organizational trustworthiness. The study signaled a trust transfer effect where organizational trust influenced industry trust, which led to the acceptance of unmanned aircraft technology. In the context of emerging industries, these findings have implications for organizations that experience near-miss, highlighting the potential for a standardized initial strategy to acknowledge a reduction in trust in order to support trust beyond the organization.     

How the birth of a child affects involvement with stepchildren

This study investigates the effect of childbearing on parental involvement in stepfamilies and intact families, based on the reports of 1,905 stepparents and biological parents from the National Survey of Families and Households. Regression analysis indicates that involvement with children declines over time, especially among respondents with only stepchildren in the household. Respondents who have had a child between waves of the survey reduce parental involvement at a slower rate than respondents who did not have a child. These effects are explained by the children's age. The birth of a child has a similar effect on parental involvement in stepfamilies and intact families. These findings suggest that the addition of a half‐sibling is not particularly beneficial to stepchildren and provides further evidence that couples with children from prior relationships should not make the decision to reproduce to “cement” stepfamily bonds.     

How information technology affects wages: Evidence using internet usage as a proxy for IT skills

Many research studies have found a positive link between information technology (IT) in the work place and wages. Using data from the December, 1998 Current Population Survey, we examine the impact of IT, as proxied by on-the-job Internet usage, on wages. After controlling for selectivity bias, we estimate an average wage gain of 13.5 percent for on-the- job Internet usage. This wage advantage is consistent with estimates from studies based on data collected earlier in the 1990s examining the impact of computers in the workplace. We also tested for differences across industries in the manufacturing sector. We conclude that industries marked by less intensive use of technology offered significantly higher wage premiums than industries characterized by more intensive use of technology. This finding undermines the argument that higher wages go to those working in high-tech firms, not to those with high IT skills. We also find evidence that high-tech firms sort workers by skill level, which is also consistent with earlier studies.     

How cultural difference affects international tourism public relations websites: A comparative analysis using Hofstede's cultural dimensions

This research aims to employ Hofstede's cultural dimensions as a frame to identify valid explanatory factors that account for differences in countries’ tourism websites. The study results support that Hofstede's cultural dimensions can be a valuable tool for developing public relations strategies conducive to building and maintaining relationships with multicultural audiences.     

How an aging society affects the economic costs of inactivity in Germany: empirical evidence and projections

Background

Aging societies represent a major challenge for health care systems all over the world. As older people tend to be more physically inactive, economic costs of inactivity are likely to increase notably. The present study aims to investigate this relationship between an aging society and economic costs of inactivity using the example of Germany.

Methods

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, this study applied the comparative risk assessment method developed by the WHO to estimate the direct costs of inactivity for the period 2001–2013 differentiated by gender-specific age-groups (15–29; 30–44; 45–64; 65+). Based on population statistics predicting the aging of the German population for the years 2014–2060, this research projects the development of future costs of inactivity and potential effects of interventions promoting physical activity among the German population.

Results

The results reveal an increase in the level of physical activity during the observed period (2001–2013) which compensated the negative effect of aging and resulted in a decline of inactivity costs. The projections for the years 2014–2060 indicate a constant increase in direct per capita costs until 2060 because of an aging society. Scenarios indicating how a short-term reduction of physical inactivity impacts costs of inactivity reveal the crucial role of the oldest age-group in this context.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that the aging of the German population demands further actions and initiatives to promote physical activity, especially for the oldest age-group.

     

How the size of a coalition affects its chances to influence an election

Since voting rules are prototypes for many aggregation procedures, they also illuminate problems faced by economics and decision sciences. In this paper we are trying to answer the question: How large should a coalition be to have a chance to influence an election? We answer this question for all scoring rules and multistage elimination rules, under the Impartial Anonymous Culture assumption. We show that, when the number of participating agents n tends to infinity, the ratio of voting situations that can be influenced by a coalition of k voters to all voting situations is no greater than $D_{m} \frac{k}{n}Since voting rules are prototypes for many aggregation procedures, they also illuminate problems faced by economics and decision sciences. In this paper we are trying to answer the question: How large should a coalition be to have a chance to influence an election? We answer this question for all scoring rules and multistage elimination rules, under the Impartial Anonymous Culture assumption. We show that, when the number of participating agents n tends to infinity, the ratio of voting situations that can be influenced by a coalition of k voters to all voting situations is no greater than , where D _m is a constant which depends only on the number m of alternatives but not on k and n. Recent results on individual manipulability in three alternative elections show that this estimate is exact for k=1 and m=3.

Arkadii SlinkoEmail:

     

The micropolitics of choice in Italy: How the law affects lesbian and bisexual women’s daily life

Abstract

This article stems from three years of fieldwork (2015–2017) in the context of a five-year-long, European-Research-Council-funded research project called INTIMATE—Citizenship, Care and Choice: The Micropolitics of Intimacy in Southern Europe, a comparative qualitative study that involves three countries (Italy, Portugal, and Spain) and studies intimate citizenship and the micropolitics of daily life of LGBTQ people. The article focuses specifically on the Italian case and shows how non-heterosexual women deal with the scarce legislative protection Italy grants. Our aim is to reflect upon the reciprocal influence of different axes from public and private spaces and on how they impact the micropolitics and the daily choices of our lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual participants. More specifically, considering the lack of legal and social recognition of lesbian experiences in Italy, we will focus on the different strategies of reaction, assimilation, and resistance employed by participants in their private and public life. The three-year-long fieldwork covered the period between the proposal of the bill on same-sex civil unions and the first year after Act 76/2016 came into force. This allows us to sketch a brief diachronic analysis of its functioning, in particular from the perspective of the very subjects it impacts.     

How organizational characteristics affect the adaptive tactics used by human service nonprofit managers confronting financial uncertainty

The way that nonprofits respond to funding uncertainty is crucial to their ability to meet goals and position themselves for future success. This article investigates how structural, managerial, and financial characteristics affect the adaptive tactics used by human service nonprofits during times of financial stress. These tactics include adding new programs, reducing programs or staff, expanding or starting joint programs, pursuing earned income, and expanding advocacy involvement. Using longitudinal data on human service nonprofits collected on either side of the 2002–2003 economic downtown, we find that larger size provides organizations with a unique ability to choose among different adaptive tactics, as larger size was significantly predictive of adding new programs, reducing programs, expanding advocacy, and pursuing earned income. Strategic planning was positively associated with innovative tactics such as starting joint programs or pursuing earned income. Financial stress or declines in an organization's major funding source led to cutbacks, as expected, but managers who foresaw these challenges were able to respond proactively by adding programs or starting joint programs. However, managers with more training did not respond much differently than did other managers, and organizational age and use of performance management tools had no effect in guiding organizational responses to financial uncertainty.     

Career Management in Uncertain Times: Challenges and Opportunities

The beginning years of the 21st century have witnessed the confluence of a host of environmental factors that have dramatically altered employment relationships and upended long‐standing approaches to career management for workers in the United States and around the world. The authors critically examine these environmental changes, focusing on the implications for career choice and decision making. On the basis of these findings, they address how individuals, working with career counselors and professionals, can enhance their contemporary careers in response to the challenges and uncertainties brought on by rapid environmental change.     

Why reputation is not always beneficial: Tolerance and opportunism in business networks

Many researchers in economics as well as sociology have stressed the important role of business networks for cooperation, trust, and performance. This claim is based on solid theoretical arguments as well as empirical findings. However, neither theory nor the selective empirical results support the view that networks are always beneficial for economic transactions. This paper begins with an observation that for the purchase of IT products, network embeddedness leads to even more problems for the customer. In order to explain this effect, possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed using theory as well as empirics. The most promising explanation for this special case is the effect of uncertainty and incomplete information ex post. In order to reduce this uncertainty, the buyer forms beliefs on the basis of the opinions existing in a shared network or group. However, if the network members have the same problem of uncertainty, suppliers have an incentive to reduce their performance because such behavior will not be detected and sanctioned. An analysis of the customer's tolerance to a supplier's behavior in business transactions yields support for this argument. Even if problems in a transaction are kept constant, customers give suppliers more reputational credit if they share a common network.