Feminization and Labor Vulnerability in Global Manufacturing Industries: Does Gendered Discourse Matter?

Two contested arguments persist in explaining the causes of feminization and labor vulnerability. Some scholars argue that global industries are dominated by female workers as a result of the search for cheap labor. On the other hand, some scholars claim that the primary cause of feminization and labor vulnerability is the gendered discourses of work. Drawing views from readymade garment (RMG) industries of Bangladesh, this paper argues that both economic choices of cheap labor and gendered discourses of work collaboratively contribute to feminizing the labor force. This feminization of the workforce enables the violation of labor rights and benefits capitalists.     

The Determinant of Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN: A Semi-Gravity Approach

This study used a semi gravity model to identify the determinants of FDI in ASEAN countries. The results revealed that besides the market size for host and source country, other criteria such as the shorter the distance, common in language and border, the extended market relative to distance also attracts more foreign investors. Other macroeconomic factors such as lower inflation rate, the slightly higher in exchange rate and good management of the government budget are among the key factors that attract more FDI. In addition to economic factors, social factors such as good telecommunication and infrastructure and non-economic factors such transparency and trade policy also encourage more investors to the ASEAN.     

Games of capacity allocation in many-to-one matching with an aftermarket

In this paper, we study many-to-one matching (hospital–intern markets) with an aftermarket. We first show that every stable matching system is manipulable via aftermarket. We then analyze the Nash equilibria of capacity allocation games, in which preferences of hospitals and interns are common knowledge and every hospital determines a quota for the regular market given its total capacity for the two matching periods. Under the intern-optimal stable matching system, we show that a pure-strategy Nash equilibrium may not exist. Common preferences for hospitals ensure the existence of equilibrium in weakly dominant strategies whereas unlike in games of capacity manipulation strong monotonicity of population is not a sufficient restriction on preferences to avoid the non-existence problem. Besides, in games of capacity allocation, it is not true either that every hospital weakly prefers a mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium to any larger regular market quota profiles.     

The Compassion Strategy: Race and the Gender Gap in Campaign 2000

Recent studies have shown that social "compassion" issues, andnot those directly linked to women’s interests, seem todrive the gender gap in presidential vote choice. Some of thesecompassion issues are associated with the plight of racial minoritiesin the media and in the minds of average citizens. Drawing ontheories of gender role socialization, we predict that traditionalpartisan stands on racial issues may help to explain the gendergap. Specifically, we hypothesize that the gap emerges becausemen and women react differently to cues about how compassionatecandidates are toward vulnerable social groups. In one experiment,we manipulate news information regarding George W. Bush’scommitment to blacks versus women. The gender gap is maximizedwhen Bush takes the traditional Republican stance, while itis reduced significantly when Bush espouses a more moderateposition. The gender gap is unaffected by variation in the positionthat Bush takes on women’s issues. In another experiment,we also find that the gender gap emerges when traditional partisanappeals are racialized. Finally, exposure to the 2000 RepublicanNational Convention, with its message of racial inclusion, boostedevaluations of Bush among women but not men.     

Differentiating Contemporary Racial Prejudice from Old-Fashioned Racial Prejudice

The present study addresses the distinction between contemporary and old-fashioned prejudice using survey data from a national sample (n = 600) of self-identified whites living in the United States and interviewed by telephone in 2001. First, we examine associations among indicators of contemporary and old-fashioned prejudice. Consistent with the literature, contemporary and old-fashioned prejudice indicators represent two distinct but correlated common factors. Second, we examine whether belief in genetic race differences uniformly predicts both types of prejudice. As might be expected, belief in genetic race differences predicts old-fashioned prejudice but contrary to recent theorizing, it also predicts contemporary prejudice.     

OPTIMIZING AND SATISFICING IN STOCHASTIC COST-VOLUME-PROFIT ANALYSIS

This paper examines some of the implications of introducing penalties for output not equalling demand by employing a general stochastic model for a firm facing an uncertain demand with a known probability density function. Several alternative objectives of the firm are considered: (1) maximization of expected profits; (2) maximization of the probability of achieving a particular target level of profits; and (3) maximization of target profits, given a target level of the probability of their being achieved. It is shown that the resulting probability density function of profits is not well defined. The shape and location of the function depend on the relative magnitudes of the model parameters and the output decision. Several important implications of this result for cost-volume-profit analysis are discussed.