Women's Career Development and Divorce Risk in Japan

ABSTRACT In Japan, divorce rates have more than doubled since the mid-1960s, and female paid employment has increased rapidly in the past few decades. By applying a conventional economic model of labor force participation to micro-level data gathered from a nationally representative sample survey, this paper shows that Japanese married women who have contemplated divorcing their husbands are more likely to participate in the workforce as full-time paid employees. This finding suggests that an increasing risk of divorce has made a substantial contribution to the fast rise in Japanese women's participation in paid employment, particularly full-time work.     

基于宏观经济视角的我国上市公司现金持有量研究

已有研究表明,公司现金持有量受到公司内部因素的影响并会进行动态调整。然而,现金持有量受宏观经济环境的影响如何以及如何根据宏观经济的变化进行动态调整,少有文献探讨。本文在理论分析的基础上,构建了宏观经济环境对现金持有量影响的静态模型和动态模型,以2001-2011年沪深两市843家上市公司的平衡面板数据为样本,就宏观经济环境对不同控股性质上市公司现金持有行为的影响进行了实证研究。研究结果表明,上市公司现金持有量与经济周期和财政政策显著负相关,而与货币政策显著正相关;现金持有量调整速度与经济周期变化和货币政策变化正相关,而与财政政策变化显著负相关。研究结果还显示,非国有控股公司的现金持有量对宏观经济更敏感,调整速度明显快于国有控股公司。本文为现金持有量的研究提供了更全面的视角。     

Private equity: A review and synthesis

The recent international surge in private equity markets has been accompanied by growing interest in its nature and effects. Private equity involves investment in unquoted companies and includes both early stage venture capital and later stage buyouts. The latter, which have been particularly controversial, are our focus. This paper provides a review of the different theoretical approaches that have been deployed to understand this phenomenon. Thereafter, the findings of a large cross section of empirical studies within a range of different national settings are compared and contrasted. Finally, existing themes emerging from – and gaps in – the existing literature and likely future directions are summarized.     

Labour Market Regulation,Flexibility and Employment

ABSTRACT: Chronic unemployment and slow employment growth in some countries have led to calls for more labor-market “flexibility”. This paper defines the flexibility issue in terms of legally-mandated “severance”, a generalized employment cost linked to seniority. A mandated severance benefit can stand for a variety of programs including employer-provided employment guarantees, payments which must be made to laid-off workers, and compensation for wrongful discharge. Such a mandated cost can be seen as a payroll tax on the employer, raising the issue of tax incidence. Employers often take the view that labor costs are given and that mandated costs are simply add-ons to pre-existing cost levels. However, the literature on tax incidence suggests that a significant portion of “employer-paid” payroll taxes are shifted to labor in the form of lower wages. Such shifting should reduce the dis-employment effects attributed to severance. A model is provided of a firm upon which a severance mandate is imposed. Even at the micro level, the firm can shift some of the cost of severance to employees by lowering wages — although at the expense of higher turnover costs associated with increased quit rates. At the macro level, to the extent that firms reduce employment, there could be still further downward wage adjustments which would shift the severance burden to labor and mitigate the dis-employment effect. Ultimately, if the natural rate of unemployment is raised by severance mandates, the age-old question is raised of why wages do not fall in the face of labor surpluses. The true inflexibility to be explained, therefore, is in wage determination.     

Effects of the implementation of information technology on employees' strain and job satisfaction: a context-dependent approach

The effects on staff of the implementation of new office information technology were investigated in ten companies in Vienna using a longitudinal design. Strain and satisfaction of 331 employees (implementation sample: n = 212; control sample: n = 119) were measured at five points in time over a period of 22 months. The study is based on a context-dependent approach. Personal factors (individual differences, external load) were assessed by questionnaires, and situational factors (job design, implementation content and implementation context) by objective measures. The impact of these factors on employees' strain responses was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). While the implementation of new technology as such made no significant contribution to the explanation of strain variables, a reasonable model fit was achieved when implementation characteristics were taken into account. The data suggest that negative effects of implementations must be expected if (1) adaptational demands do not include the enhancement of employee qualifications, (2) character-based user interfaces are not replaced, and (3) employees have few or no opportunities to participate in the implementation process.     

Attitudes,Expectations and Sharing

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Apology . Labour 19:4 801 .
Online publication date: 16‐Dec‐2005. Abstract. We explore the relationship between performance‐related pay and the attitudes and expectations of a representative sample of British workers. Our results suggest that employees who participate in productivity‐linked bonus schemes, discretionary bonus schemes, share ownership or profit sharing are more optimistic about future employment and pay and are generally more satisfied with their work environment. However, employees participating specifically in profit‐sharing schemes are less likely to work as hard as they can, ceteris paribus. This is an intriguing finding, insinuating as it does that group‐sharing schemes are unable to rout the temptation to free ride and thereby ensure a first best cooperative equilibrium.     

Work-related psychosocial,physical and individual factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in computer users

The aim of this study was to study associations between psychosocial, physical and individual factors, and musculoskeletal symptoms in the neck, shoulder and hand/wrist regions of computer users. Questionnaires were distributed to 5033 employees in 11 Danish companies; these employees all used computers for at least some of their work time. The response rate was 69% ( n = 3475). The analyses were based on employees working 32-41 h/week ( n = 2579). Symptomatic respondents reported symptoms for at least 8 days within the previous year. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used. Gender (female), age and duration of employment in the same job were associated with an increased prevalence of symptoms. High quantitative job demands and low possibilities for development at work were predictors of neck and hand/wrist symptoms. A high degree of repetitiveness and disturbing reflections on the computer screen were associated with symptoms in all three body regions. Repetitive movements were defined as the same finger, hand or arm movements performed many times per minute for at least 75% of their work time. Repetitiveness was the only factor that could partly explain associations between symptoms and duration of computer use, i.e. respondents who used the computer almost all the time at work reported more repetitive movements than those who used it less. Thus, long hours of computer use may be associated with musculoskeletal symptoms, due to physical factors such as repetitive movements, whereas psychosocial factors appeared to be associated with the symptoms independently of the duration of computer use.     

Work-related psychosocial, physical and individual factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in computer users

The aim of this study was to study associations between psychosocial, physical and individual factors, and musculoskeletal symptoms in the neck, shoulder and hand/wrist regions of computer users. Questionnaires were distributed to 5033 employees in 11 Danish companies; these employees all used computers for at least some of their work time. The response rate was 69% ( n = 3475). The analyses were based on employees working 32-41 h/week ( n = 2579). Symptomatic respondents reported symptoms for at least 8 days within the previous year. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used. Gender (female), age and duration of employment in the same job were associated with an increased prevalence of symptoms. High quantitative job demands and low possibilities for development at work were predictors of neck and hand/wrist symptoms. A high degree of repetitiveness and disturbing reflections on the computer screen were associated with symptoms in all three body regions. Repetitive movements were defined as the same finger, hand or arm movements performed many times per minute for at least 75% of their work time. Repetitiveness was the only factor that could partly explain associations between symptoms and duration of computer use, i.e. respondents who used the computer almost all the time at work reported more repetitive movements than those who used it less. Thus, long hours of computer use may be associated with musculoskeletal symptoms, due to physical factors such as repetitive movements, whereas psychosocial factors appeared to be associated with the symptoms independently of the duration of computer use.     

股权比例、过度担保与隐蔽掏空——来自我国上市公司对子公司担保的证据

本文借鉴LLSv的掏空模型,模型化推导了控股股东对上市公司的隐蔽掏空模式,建立了控股股东持股比例与掏空程度的分段函数关系.以2004年我国沪深A股上市公司对子公司担保的386起事件为样本,并把样本分为过度担保组和适度担保组,运用事件研究法进行实证检验.发现过度担保样本组累计超额收益率显著为负,而适度担保组的市场反应为正但不显著,由此推测过度担保的上市公司具有向控股股东输送利益的倾向.多元回归结果表明,对于第一大股东持股比例和国家持股比例的回归系数而言,60%均是其有效的临界点.当大股东持股比例低于60%时,大股东存在通过上市公司对子公司担保的方式掏空上市公司的现象,但回归系数不显著;当持股比例高于60%时,则产生了显著的利益协调效应.能有效地抑制掏空.通过分类变量和股权临界变量的多种组合,回归发现,国有性质的上市公司被控股股东掏空程度更高;与第一大股东持股比例变量相比.国家持股比例变量的股权临界值对CAR的影响更加显著.     

Safety Does Not Happen by Accident: Antecedents To A Safer Warehouse

On a daily basis, thousands of employees suffer from severe occupational accidents worldwide. These accidents not only lead to negative consequences for the physical and mental health of employees, but also to high costs for companies and the society as a whole. A large share of these accidents take place in warehouses. Prior research has demonstrated the critical role of leadership, and especially safety‐specific transformational leadership (SSTL), in reducing warehouse accidents. Yet several important questions concerning SSTL remain: What effects does SSTL have on outcomes other than safety, and what determines whether leaders display SSTL behaviors? To answer these questions, this research studies the relationship between SSTL of warehouse managers and not only occupational accidents, but also quality and productivity. Moreover, it investigates the managers who are most likely to display SSTL. Data from 87 warehouse managers and 1233 employees were used to test the conceptual model. The results suggest that the dispositional prevention focus of the manager (one of two possible motivational strategies that people deploy) positively relates to SSTL, and that SSTL negatively relates to occupational accidents. Furthermore, SSTL and its identified negative relationship with occupational accidents does not appear to have detrimental impact on productivity or quality. These results extend existing models of SSTL and safety, and can help companies to reduce the number of accidents and the associated costs by selecting and developing safety‐specific transformational leaders.     

Globalization, Social Identities and Employment

On the basis of social identity theory, we predict various outcomes of current reactions against globalization which have important implications for the management of employees. Globalization and its associated developments have added impetus to two social trends: increases in inequality and in individualism. Inequalities have increased both between and within nations, whilst individualism is increasingly apparent in social life in general, and in organizational life in particular. It is argued that individualism has led to a preference for personal identities over social identities, but that these are not always satisfying because they are often based upon consumerist values. Moreover, inequalities have resulted in feelings of injustice. Consequently certain social movements have increased in popularity. The most important of these are religious fundamentalism, nationalism and single–issue politics.
Increasing numbers of employees have at least one of these social identities central to their selves. Social identity and self–categorization theory suggest certain hypotheses about the likely implications for employment. First, to the extent that these social identities are salient for employees in the work situation, they will maintain the beliefs, values and norms associated with their identity at the expense of organizational beliefs, values or norms which are incompatible. Second, they will further the interests of their own category at the expense of other social categories of employee. Third, they will fail to differentiate between individuals within their own category, and between individuals within other categories. The implications of these hypotheses, if supported, for organizations are then explored. Finally, certain preventative strategies, also based upon social identity theory, are described.     

An exploratory factor analysis of workplace learning,job satisfaction,and organizational commitment in small to midsize enterprises in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to identify the factor structures associated with three Western-developed instruments (Small Business Workplace Learning Survey, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, hereinafter referred to as SBWLS, MSQ, or OCQ) used to assess workplace learning, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment when applied in a non-Western setting; and (2) to determine if individuals who differed in terms of selected demographic variables, differed in terms of the derived constructs. The factor analytic structure of each instrument which was originally established using Western samples was compared to the factor structure results obtained for an Eastern sample. Quantitative data were collected from employees in 26 small to midsize IT companies in Taiwan. A total of 206 valid surveys were obtained and analysed out of 450 that were distributed. The factor structure of each instrument generated from this study appeared to be substantially different from those obtained for the original instruments. The researchers suggest that the highlighted structure deviations reflect some culturally oriented factors which might be useful for developing more indigenous instruments. Regarding the participants' demographic variables, no differences in terms of SBWLS, MSQ, or OCQ were found for Gender, Age and Tenure. Marital status was significant in terms of MSQ and OCQ. Educational level was significant for SBWLS and OCQ.     

Using input—output models for planning in groups with considerable inter-company trading

In any group where a lot of inter-company trading takes place and where the member companies are allowed a degree of autonomy, conflicts of interest will arise. Actions taken by individual companies in their own best interest will, on occasion, be detrimental to the group as a whole. Furthermore, the accounts relating to a particular company will tell head office management very little about the through-group profitability of the products concerned. Nor will the usual accounts and statistics throw much light on the extent to which individual companies or processes depend on the group's main end markets, since in many cases these companies will be largely or partly concerned with supplying other members of the organization.It follows that in such groups an information system is needed which will not reflect the organizational structure of the enterprise—as do individual company accounts—but which will provide top management with an overall group view. It should also make a contribution, both towards resolving any conflicts of interest which might occur, and to improving the overall return on group assets employed.This article examines the role of the micro input–output model in this situation with particular reference to its application in areas where conflicts of interest between the group and its member companies are likely to arise.     

The availability of personal and external coping resources: Thier impact on job stress and employee attitudes during organizational restructuring

This study examines the relationships among personal coping resources, social support, external coping resources, job stressors and job strains in a sample of 110 American Telephone and Telegraph employees undergoing a major organizational restructuring. The study expanded on a model suggested by Ashford (1988) by defining another category of coping resources that employees may draw upon to deal with the stressors and strains which occur during major organizational changes. External coping resources were defined as those which provided employees with a sense of 'vicarious control' in stressful situations. Results indicated that personal coping resources, social support and external coping resources had a direct effect upon job stressor and strain levels. No 'buffering' effect of these coplng resources was found. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that external coping resources added to the prediction of job stressors and strains even when pertonal coping resources and social support were entered first into the prediction questions.     

Employment Relationships and Firm Innovation: The Double Role of Human Capital

We examine how employment relationships and human capital influence innovation in a sample of Spanish firms. Previous research has indicated that human capital directly affects innovation, but few studies have considered human capital as a variable that mediates or moderates the effects of other variables on innovation. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 150 innovative Spanish firms and confirmed that, while human capital favours innovations, employment relationships are not directly associated with innovation unless they take human capital into account. Specifically, our analyses suggest that human capital mediates the relationship between a mutual investment employment relationship and innovation, which is characterized by high levels of incentives and expectations. However, we also found that human capital plays a moderating role when organizations develop an employment relationship characterized by low investments in personnel but high expectations from their work (the underinvestment model). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results.     

基于混合分布的中国股票波动风险因素的识别与分析

论文用GARCH模型描述股票的波动特性，应用混合分布对中国上市公司按照股票波动特性进行分组，发现中国上市公司的波动特性可以被分为4个子总体。其中，子总体1主要包含表现异常的公司股票，其他三个子总体的参数向量的相关性相似，风险大小不同。应用列联表法分析和多元logistic模型统计分析发现，非国有股权分散公司、制造业公司相对偏向低风险公司，社会服务业、房地产公司相对偏向高风险公司，制造业的公司（股票）波动的持续性相对较低。混合分布是对股票特性进行分组的良好工具。     

基于财务报告的内部控制缺陷影响因素研究

以2007、2008沪深两市2195家上市公司为研究样本,构建了一个关于内部控制缺陷影响因素的概念模型,使用Logit回归分析验证内部控制缺陷的影响因素。把影响内部控制缺陷的因素分为经营复杂性、会计风险和内部控制建设三个方面。在控制上市公司是否为国有和是否为ST或*ST后,发现存在内部控制缺陷的公司一般经营更加复杂,存在的会计风险更高,内部控制建设相对更不完善。     

Comparing three alternative types of employment with permanent full-time work: How do employment contract and perceived job conditions relate to health complaints?

Previous research has found that alternative employment arrangements are associated with both impaired and improved well-being. Since such inconsistencies are likely to derive from the type of employment contract as well as the characteristics of the job, this paper compares permanent full-time work with forms of alternative employment (permanent part-time, fixed-term and on-call work) in order to investigate how different employment contracts and perceptions of job conditions relate to individual well-being. This study contributes to the literature by addressing several questions. Different forms of alternative employment are distinguished and individual background characteristics that might be intertwined with the employment contract are controlled for. Moreover, the scope of this study extends to the effects of perceived job conditions, and possible interactive effects with type of employment are tested. Analyses of questionnaire data from 954 Swedish healthcare workers show that perceptions of the job (job insecurity, job control and demands), but not the type of employment contract, predicted health complaints. However, type of employment interacted with perceptions of job insecurity, in that insecurity was associated with impaired well-being among permanent full-time workers, while no relationship was found for on-call or core part-time employees. Despite the absence of interactions between employment contract and job demands or job control, it can be concluded that knowledge about the relationship between alternative employment arrangements and the well-being of workers can be enhanced when the combined effects of employment contract and job conditions are studied.     

Cardiac measures of stress in British prison officers

Abstract

Previous research has found that alternative employment arrangements are associated with both impaired and improved well-being. Since such inconsistencies are likely to derive from the type of employment contract as well as the characteristics of the job, this paper compares permanent full-time work with forms of alternative employment (permanent part-time, fixed-term and on-call work) in order to investigate how different employment contracts and perceptions of job conditions relate to individual well-being. This study contributes to the literature by addressing several questions. Different forms of alternative employment are distinguished and individual background characteristics that might be intertwined with the employment contract are controlled for. Moreover, the scope of this study extends to the effects of perceived job conditions, and possible interactive effects with type of employment are tested. Analyses of questionnaire data from 954 Swedish healthcare workers show that perceptions of the job (job insecurity, job control and demands), but not the type of employment contract, predicted health complaints. However, type of employment interacted with perceptions of job insecurity, in that insecurity was associated with impaired well-being among permanent full-time workers, while no relationship was found for on-call or core part-time employees. Despite the absence of interactions between employment contract and job demands or job control, it can be concluded that knowledge about the relationship between alternative employment arrangements and the well-being of workers can be enhanced when the combined effects of employment contract and job conditions are studied.