Aspirations as reference points: an experimental investigation of risk behavior over time

This paper examines the importance of aspirations as reference points in a multi-period decision-making context. After stating their personal aspiration level, 172 individuals made six sequential decisions among risky prospects as part of a choice experiment. The results show that individuals make different risky-choices in a multi-period compared to a single-period setting. In particular, individuals’ aspiration level is their main reference point during the early stages of decision-making, while their starting status (wealth level at the start of the experiment) becomes the central reference point during the later stages of their multi-period decision-making.     

The ‘Harmonization’ of Islam with the Neoliberal Transformation: The Case of Turkey

The end of the Cold War brought about a great uncertainty in relation to the geopolitical order. The prevalence of this neoliberal model of development had as a prerequisite the integration of countries other than the traditionally developed and powerful nations of the West. As a consequence, the developing or the less economically developed economies were the ones appearing to acquire ‘renewed’ importance. A fundamental aspect of these repercussions was the triggering of ideological debates over the compatibility of Islam with this stage of capitalist development. One major axon of these debates was the ‘desecularization’ of capitalist modernization and the integration of Islam in the new global order. This article examines the case of Turkey in this framework. It analyses how the ‘Conservative Democracy’ programme of the Justice and Development Party is ‘harmonizing’ Islam with the transformation of the country and how this transformation is presented with ‘local colours’, being more acceptable and creating the new hegemony in Turkey.     

Lawful but awful: ‘Legal Corporate Crimes’

By concentrating on what is officially defined as illegal or criminal, a more serious threat to society is left out. This threat is caused by corporate practices that are within the letter of the law and yet have multiple adverse social consequences. Thus, just when more effective regulatory action and oversight is imperative, the global neo-liberal agenda and practice promotes de-regulation and a further reduction of the role of the state. Not only does this have criminogenic consequences of its own, it furthers types of misconduct undermining democratic processes and sustainable economic growth.     

The Impact of Process Variation on Customer Dissatisfaction: Evidence from the U.S. Domestic Airline Industry

This paper investigates how process variation reduction affects customer dissatisfaction in the context of the U.S. domestic airline industry. We use quarterly data on all major carriers, available since the introduction of required reporting of service indicators to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Specifically, we investigate how both average performance and variation performance (consistency) of certain processes affect customer dissatisfaction. Our empirical results show that the relationship between process variation and customer dissatisfaction is contingent upon a company's average performance with regard to each process. Consistency is at least as important as average performance for high performers, while it has limited impact for low performers.     

The relation between board size and firm performance in firms with a history of poor operating performance

Focusing on a sample of smaller firms with a history of poor operating performance, this paper posits that increases in board size will be associated with better share price performance. Notably, board sizes studied here are, on average, much smaller than those typically studied by prior research. Mostly consistent with predictions, board size is found to be positively correlated with firm value in between-firms tests, and changes in board size are found to be positively associated with annual stock returns. Last, event study results suggest that the market responds favorably to board size increases and unfavorably to large board size decreases. Together, these results identify a setting in which larger board sizes appear to be positively related to shareholder value.     

Food Price Surges: Possible Causes,Past Experience,and Longer Term Relevance

The food price surges of recent years have created much misery and raised once again the Malthusian specter. Increases in the demand for food in the emerging economies, particularly China and India, have frequently been identified as the dominant factor behind a perceived shock on the demand side. Use of crops for biofuels was listed as an additional, though less important, factor. Yet global cereals utilization without biofuels has been growing at slowly decelerating rates, as in the past. It is the addition of biofuels that has resulted in its growing faster than in the past. In parallel, global production had been falling behind utilization for several years, leading to declining stocks. Weather shocks, depreciation of the dollar, and turbulence in the financial markets were added to these fundamentals of the supply–demand balance to generate the price surges. If energy prices remain high and/or rising and pro‐biofuel policies remain in place, the diversion of crops to biofuels is likely to continue. This could prevent the current commodity cycle from unfolding in the “normal” way over the short to medium term with prices trending back toward their pre‐surge levels. Conclusions are drawn about how these developments should influence the way we assess long‐term food and agriculture prospects.     

Civil Society Organizations and Labour Market Integration for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Greece

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The 2015 crisis of refugee policies saw an upgrade in the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) as service providers...