Employee perceptions of reputation: An ethnographic study

The ability of organizational members to identify and analyse stakeholder opinion is critical to the management of corporate reputation. In spite of the significance of these abilities to corporate reputation management, there has been little effort to document and describe internal organizational influences on such capacities. This ethnographic study conducted in Red Cross Queensland explores how cultural knowledge structures derived from shared values and assumptions among organizational members influence their conceptualisations of organizational reputation. Specifically, this study explores how a central attribute of organizational culture – the property of cultural selection – influences perceptions of organizational reputation held by organizational members. We argue that these perceptions are the result of collective processes that synthesise (with varying degrees of consensus) member conceptualisations, interpretations, and representations of environmental realities in which their organization operates. Findings and implications for organizational action suggest that while external indicators of organizational reputation are acknowledged by members as significant, the internal influence of organizational culture is a far stronger influence on organizational action.     

Policy relevant heterogeneity in the value of statistical life: New evidence from panel data quantile regressions

We examine differences in the value of statistical life (VSL) across potential wage levels in panel data using quantile regressions with intercept heterogeneity. Latent heterogeneity is econometrically important and affects the estimated VSL. Our findings indicate that a reasonable average cost per expected life saved cut-off for health and safety regulations is 7 million to7 million to 8 million per life saved, but the VSL varies considerably across the labor force. Our results reconcile the previous discrepancies between hedonic VSL estimates and the values implied by theories linked to the coefficient of relative risk aversion. Because the VSL varies elastically with income, regulatory agencies should regularly update the VSL used in benefit assessments, increasing the VSL proportionally with changes in income over time.     

Comment on ‘Facts and Artifacts in the Study of Intra-Uterine Mortality: A Reconsideration from Pregnancy Histories’ by Henri Léridon1

Extract

I have suggested that at a given birth order the probability of having a further pregnancy is greater when the last pregnancy had been spontaneously aborted than when it resulted in a birth.² Léridon,³in the course of a valuable paper on foetal wastage, presents data which, according to him, impugn my suggestion. I would like to question his claim.     

A correlation type procedure for assessing multivariate normality

A correlation-type statistic for assessing multivariate normality is described. Its estimated finite sample distribution is tabulated, and its performance against certain alternatives is compared with that of a competing Cramer-von Mises type statistic in a Monte Carlo power study. A set of quadrivariate data is examined as illustration of the procedure.     

Interdistributional Income Inequality

Incomplete moments are used to characterize income inequality and provide the basis for interdistributional Lorenz curves. Four measures of interdistributional inequality are considered and seen to be related to an interdistributional welfare interpretation. Based upon these measures, there has been a significant secular decline in interdistributional inequality between blacks and whites over the past 30 years.     

Association Fellows' Luncheon Address: Maintaining Purpose in a Changing Environment

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the motivational factors and the barriers to physical activity (PA) in traditional college students (TS) and nontraditional college students (NTS) and determine if differences exist between these 2 groups. Participants: A total of 746 college students; 628 were TS (19.1 ± 1.2 years), and 118 were NTS (31.2 ± 8.6 years). Methods: In fall 2010, students voluntarily completed a demographic questionnaire, Barriers to Being Active Quiz, and Exercise Motivations Inventory–2 (EMI-2). Results: EMI-2 revealed that TS and NTS differed on 8 of the 14 motivational factors for exercise. There was a significant difference between TS and NTS for the following barriers: fear of injury (p = .001), lack of resources (p = .017), and lack of skill (p = .003). Conclusion: Based on these findings, interventions can be developed for the varied needs of a diverse student population as it pertains to PA participation.