Does the Public Sector Lead the Wage Evolution in the French Economy?

Has the wage policy of the State in the French public sector (government services and State owned enterprises) had a leading effect on wages in the private sector up until the early 1980s? This paper firstly aims at verifying the existence and analysing the causes of this leading effect. The second aim is to estimate the scope of the changes which took place from the early 1980s. It shows that the wage policy of the State did influence disinflation in the 1980s and early 1990s. Indeed, it not only slowed down the growth of wages in the public sector but, by this means, it also influenced indireclty the growth of wages in the private sector.     

Strategic Planning in the Malawi Public Sector: Potential Tool for Progress or Regression?

The process of developing strategic plans in the public sector is regarded as one indicator of positive reform in the system. The assumption is that strategic planning ensures that (just like in the private sector) public sector organizations’ operations should cost less but deliver better service. Ultimately the argument is that public sector institutional governance and responsiveness to the citizenry is not only seen but felt. However, strategic planning has to be done in an appropriate manner for it to deliver. For instance an analysis of the underlying motives, the role of leadership in the process as well as the relevance or viability of the guiding strategic planning model significantly affect the nature of expected results. In the early 2000s, the Malawi public sector embarked on a serious drive towards strategic planning process as part of its reform package. In order to ascertain it’s potential to transform the Malawi public service, this paper focuses at critically analyzing the strategic planning process in the Malawi public sector by among other things asking: who initiated and led the process? What approach determined the process? What is the possible potentiality of the adopted strategic planning approach in enhancing the reform agenda in Malawi? Based on interviews with senior officers in key Malawi public sector institutions, the paper concludes that the strategic planning process is ‘transitional and fluid’ hence lacks the clout to effectively enhance reforms in this sector. Another finding is that lack of effective leadership has largely contributed to the status quo.     

Do Foreigners Cushion Native Jobs? The Case of European Regions in the 1990s

Abstract. This paper investigates whether foreigners cushion native labour during the phases of the economic cycle. The theoretical model, based on the work of Blanchard and Katz (Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 0(1): 1–75, 1992), assumes that foreigners supply labour with a higher wage elasticity than natives. The empirical analysis, based on an unbalanced panel of 161 European regions during 1988–97, shows that following a labour demand shock the variability of native employment growth is lower the higher the proportion of foreign citizens in the local labour force. These results suggest that foreigners absorb some of the effects of the shock, shielding natives from its full impact. The analysis also reveals that the main channel mediating this ‘cushioning’ effect is the inter‐regional migration of foreign workers, followed (as a far distant second) by their higher/lower unemployment rates.     

Testing Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation in the Public Sector: Is it Applicable to Public Managers?

Given the limitations in providing monetary rewards as an incentive in the public sector, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation can be promising if it is applicable to public employees. This study identifies the effects of motivators and hygiene factors on public managers’ job satisfaction, and finds out if there is difference, compared to how private-sector employees are motivated. According to the findings, a majority of identified motivators in the previous research showed positive effects on job satisfaction among public managers, and public managers’ job satisfaction was not affected by hygiene factor as predicted in Herzberg’s study. Managerial implications are discussed.     

Detrimental Effects of Performance-Related Pay in the Public Sector? On the Need for a Broader Theoretical Perspective

Performance-related pay has been a key ingredient in New Public Management reforms. Nevertheless, the research presented here indicates some adverse effects of such incentives. These incentives may impair an initial motivation to work and change the norms that guide behavior. An issue which in particular has been given insufficient attention is fairness. Findings drawn from experimental economics supported by field studies demonstrate that perceived unfairness may have important negative effects on performance. The implication of a broader perspective in the analysis of performance-related pay in the public sector is that such a pay system, contrary to its aim, may have detrimental effects on performance.     

Do Transformational Leaders Affect Employee Performance and Normative Commitment Through General Self-Efficacy? Analysis in Ghanaian Public Sector Organizations

Public Organization Review - The study sought to evaluate whether transformational leaders affect employee performance and normative commitment through general self-efficacy in the public sector...     

Strategic Management in the Public Sector: Reflections on It’s Applicability to Iranian Public Organizations

Strategic management is a managerial story of private sector that has been transferred to the public sector. Many authors have challenged its applicability in public organizations. This paper discusses some important barriers to implementation of strategic management in the public sector empirically. After presenting a conceptual model, we examine several important factors that influence the failure or shortcomings of public sector strategic management. The last section of paper offers implications for theory and practice.     

What Risks Do People Perceive in Everyday Life? A Perspective Gained from the Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

The experience sampling method (ESM) was used to collect data from 74 part-time students who described and assessed the risks involved in their current activities when interrupted at random moments by text messages. The major categories of perceived risk were short term in nature and involved "loss of time or materials" related to work and "physical damage" (e.g., from transportation). Using techniques of multilevel analysis, we demonstrate effects of gender, emotional state, and types of risk on assessments of risk. Specifically, females do not differ from males in assessing the potential severity of risks but they see these as more likely to occur. Also, participants assessed risks to be lower when in more positive self-reported emotional states. We further demonstrate the potential of ESM by showing that risk assessments associated with current actions exceed those made retrospectively. We conclude by noting advantages and disadvantages of ESM for collecting data about risk perceptions.     

Why are manufacturing SMEs cancelling their ISO 9001 certification? Research from Italy

We investigated why Italian manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) cancelled ISO 9001 certification from the Italian database and the problems and difficulties that led to this. Eight such problems derived from a literature review and interviews with a Delphi panel of 20 experts were tested through an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was completed by 167 managers from Italian SMEs that have cancelled their ISO 9001 certification. Costs related to consultancy and certification body are no longer a difficulty for maintaining ISO 9001 and neither are misinterpretations with the external auditors or paperwork. Internal audits are considered a problem when they are not managed with the aim of measuring performances. Staff can represent a cost when just dedicated to administrative and bureaucratic activities. The more relevant difficulties were top management commitment, measurability of performances and customers’ current lack of interest in ISO 9001. Respondents’ comments also provided interesting suggestions for practitioners such as quality managers and quality consultants to avoid mistakes while maintaining ISO 9001 certification.     

Why Do People Keep Their Promises? An Experimental Test of Two Explanations1

Numerous psychological and economic experiments have shown that the exchange of promises greatly enhances cooperative behavior in experimental games. This paper seeks to test two theories to explain this effect. The first posits that individuals have a preference for keeping their word. The second assumes that people dislike letting down others' payoff expectations. According to the latter account, promises affect behavior only indirectly, because they lead to changes in the payoff expectations attributed to others. I conduct an experiment designed to distinguish between and test these alternative explanations. The results demonstrate that the effects of promises cannot be accounted for by changes in payoff expectations. This suggests that people have a preference for promise keeping per se.     

Do People Actually Pursue Risk Elimination in Environmental Risk Management?

This study examines whether people pursue the total elimination of environmental risks even if the risk reduction occurs incrementally and requires steadily increasing amounts of money to achieve. Participants' willingness to pay (WTP) was measured for various levels of reduction in the risk of cancer caused by dioxin. Results showed that: (1) people were willing to pay more for an initial reduction in risk than for subsequent reductions, (2) the WTP for the final risk decrement-which achieved total risk elimination-was higher than the WTP for either of the two previous decrements but barely half of that for the first reduction, and (3) the manner in which the questions were framed did not affect participants' responses. These results suggest that the public will not always try to pursue perfect safety at the cost of a large sum of money, but rather may seek a decreasing expenditure as the risk level is reduced.     

Private Action for Public Good?: The Public Role of Voluntary Sector Organizations

Voluntary sector organizations claim to be private institutions acting for the public good. However, if the concept of public is disengaged from the state and connected instead to citizenship, VSOs can be shown to have both private and public origins, as well as private and public impacts. As citizens, VSOs are public organizations serving the public good through their purported representation of the people and civic leadership. The legitimacy of their assumption of these public roles remains a continuing challenge.     

Do Compensation Consultants Drive Up CEO Pay? Evidence from UK Public Firms

Do compensation consultants drive up CEO pay for the benefit of managers, or do they design pay packages to benefit firm owners? Using a large sample of UK firms from the FTSE All‐Share Index over the 2003–2011 period, we show a positive correlation between the presence of compensation consultants and CEO pay. Importantly, isolating this effect is somewhat dependent on the endogenous selection of consultants and the statistical modelling strategy deployed. We find evidence that compensation consultants improve CEO compensation design when their expertise is of greater importance (e.g. during the post‐financial crisis period, or for firms that have particularly weak compensation policies). In addition, our findings show that compensation consultants increase CEO pay–performance sensitivity. The balance of evidence supports optimal contracting theory more than managerial power theory, but the authors caution the limits to this verification. We are careful to note that the more compelling evidence for the positive effect of pay consultants on CEOs is based on advanced methods (such as propensity score matching and difference‐in‐differences), and that more standard approaches (such as OLS and fixed effects) are unlikely to reveal the same level of causality of consultants on CEO pay.     

Whose Risk? Why Did the U.S. Public Ignore Information About the Ebola Outbreak?

To test a possible boundary condition for the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model, this study experimentally manipulates risk perception related to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in a nationally representative sample. Multiple‐group structural equation modeling results indicate that psychological distance was negatively related to systematic processing in the high‐risk condition. In the low‐risk condition, psychological distance was positively related to heuristic processing; negative attitude toward media coverage dampened people's need for information, which subsequently influenced information processing. Risk perception elicited more fear, which led to greater information insufficiency and more heuristic processing in the low‐risk condition. In contrast, sadness was consistently related to information processing in both conditions. Model fit statistics also show that the RISP model provides a better fit to data when risk perception is elevated. Further, this study contributes to our understanding of the role of discrete emotions in motivating information processing.     

Too Scared or Too Capable? Why Do College Students Stay Away from the H1N1 Vaccine?

Although college students were among the populations that had the highest frequency of infection for H1N1 influenza, only 8% of them received H1N1 vaccine this past flu season nationwide. During the peak of this pandemic, information about H1N1 vaccine was widely available. However, knowledge test and behavioral data indicated that most college students were not equipped with basic facts about H1N1 and the H1N1 vaccine. To investigate socio‐psychological factors that might have deterred this high‐risk population from learning about and getting the H1N1 vaccine, this study tested the utility of a risk information seeking model in addressing this health communication problem. Data collected from an online survey of 371 college students showed that respondents seemed to overestimate how much they knew about the vaccine. Risk information seeking, however, positively influenced their intentions to get the vaccine. Results suggested that to communicate effectively to this population, it is important to emphasize the difference between perceived knowledge and actual knowledge, monitor emotional responses to potential risks, and promote getting flu vaccination as a socially desirable behavior.     

Is There a Motherhood Wage Penalty in the Finnish Private Sector?

This paper investigates the effects of children on women's wages in the Finnish private sector. The paper finds evidence of the motherhood wage penalty, the penalty varying with the length of the child‐related career break. Mothers staying at home no longer than for 2 years face considerably smaller penalties than mothers spending longer periods at home. The negative wage effects of children decrease, however, quickly with time. For example, mothers who experience a career break of 2 years or less do not lag behind non‐mothers in terms of wages after the second year from the return to employment. There is also variation in the motherhood wage penalty across the wage distribution. The penalty is higher at the top of the distribution than in the middle of it, especially in the cases of prolonged child‐related career breaks.     

Strategic Management in Turkey’s Public Sector: Reforms and Application Issues

Public Organization Review - Over the last five decades, several reforms have been undertaken in Turkey’s Public sector with the goal of achieving efficiency in service delivery. While...     

Looks and Labor: Do Attractive People Work More?

Using the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) 2008, I investigate how looks affect an individual's labor supply decision. My results are, by and large, in line with predictions derived from the neoclassical model of labor supply. Applying regular probit, bivariate probit, Tobit and Heckman selection regression models, I find that good looks go hand in hand with higher employment probabilities and more hours of market work. Furthermore, physical attractiveness is positively associated with spousal income and spousal employment. Hence, beauty appears to affect labor supply decisions both directly and through the marriage market.