Unemployment Insurance Policy and Union Wage Formation

Abstract. The paper considers the wage and employment effects of alternative social security policies. Such a policy can take the form of a fixed benefit level or linking the level of unemployment benefits to private sector wages. The latter is an important social security policy instrument to guarantee an equitable distribution of income. A fixed benefit level policy yields lower wages and larger employment than an automatic link between the level of benefits and the wage rate. Further, if the government decides to make the link conditional on the stabilization of the tax rate, wages are lower and employment is higher than in both former alternatives. By endogenizing its social security policy, the government is able to reduce the loss in employment that the link policy brings about.     

Maria Concetta (Etta) Chiuri 1969–2009

In Memoriam

Maria Concetta (Etta) Chiuri 1969–2009     

Work and welfare‐state trajectories in Norway over two decades: Has the goal of getting more people into work been achieved?

In this study, we investigated the work and welfare‐state trajectories of three cohorts of middle‐aged Norwegian inhabitants over a period of two decades (1994–2014). The period of this study is particularly interesting because of an extensive welfare reform that was initiated in 2006 and completed in 2011. We addressed two questions: What were the most typical labour market and welfare‐state trajectories for middle‐aged people over the past two decades, and have they changed? Second, did the work and welfare‐state trajectories of a major target group of the NAV reform – adults with a high risk of health‐related exclusion – change during our observation period? Over the period, we witnessed a sharp drop in the number of people in stable employment. Furthermore, rather than solving the problem of permanent health‐related exclusion from the labour market, policy changes have created a new problem by steering people into temporary and less secure income sources from the welfare state.     

Attitudes Toward Aging and Retirement Homes Before and After Entry Into a Retirement Home

The change of one's habitual living conditions in favor of institutionalized living in a retirement home can be a stressful event. Therefore, the question arises: How does entry into a retirement home affect attitudes toward one's life and aging and toward retirement homes? In order to answer this question, we used longitudinal data from 53 older individuals who were surveyed before and after entry into a retirement home. The data revealed that attitudes toward one's life and aging changed negatively and attitudes toward retirement homes changed positively; however, there are gains and losses in both attitudes.     

Strategies and Tools for Entrepreneurial Resource Access: A Cross‐disciplinary Review and Typology

Given that gaining access to external resources is a critical component of entrepreneurial activity, a great deal of research has been done in an attempt to predict and explain this phenomenon. Unfortunately, this literature is largely scattered across a wide variety of somewhat disconnected research streams, which makes interpreting the insights that have been hitherto gained challenging. In response, the authors identify a sample of 76 relevant articles from the leading management and entrepreneurship journals that examine entrepreneurial access to resources. Using a narrative synthesis approach, they then organize these articles based on the strategies (projective and/or interpersonal) and tools (words, actions, associations and/or intangibles) by which entrepreneurs gain access to resources. Based on this categorization, the authors discuss the major themes in the extant literature and offer suggestions for how to move research on entrepreneurial access forward in the future.     

An Institutional Perspective on Individual Work Well-Being: Evidence from China

This paper evaluates how factors and values that are embedded in China’s changing institutional environment impact work well-being. Using firm level survey data, the paper examines how exogenous institutions—state ownership and individual traditionality—interact with firm level institutions—strategic human resource management (SHRM) and person-organisation fit (P-O fit) to influence workers’ job involvement. We find that state ownership weakens the effect of SHRM on workers’ job involvement while P-O fit does not. Individual traditionality on the other hand moderates the effects of SHRM and P-O fit on workers’ job involvement. Our study contributes to work well-being research in transitioning economies such as China and has consequences for labour market and SHRM policies.     

An Interpretive Phenomenological Inquiry of Family and Friend Reactions to Suicide Disclosure

Suicide attempt survivors’ interpretations of reactions to attempts are understudied, yet could inform prevention efforts concerning subsequent attempts. Interviews with 40 attempt survivors about family and friend reactions were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological techniques. Three distinct patterns emerged as follows: (a) Stigmatizing statements and emphasis on reactor's feelings were interpreted as signs that attempt survivors were a burden to others, (b) avoidant reactions and excessive monitoring were interpreted as cues that suicidal behavior must remain hidden to not be a burden, and (c) asking questions and projecting strength were interpreted as signs that attempt survivors belonged and were not a burden. These findings highlight the importance of working with family and friends to encourage reactions that reduce the risk of future attempts.     

Relations between postdivorce custody arrangements,family contexts,and children’s adjustment

The goal of the present study was to shed light on the relation between postseparation custody arrangements and family contexts in which school-age children (8–12 years old) live so as to better understand the processes underlying their adjustment. The sample was composed of 112 dyads (parents and children) from families in joint custody (n?=?37) or maternal custody (n?=?75). The dyads were met with twice at a 1-year interval. Compared with those in joint custody, the respondents with sole custody had a negative opinion of the transitions between homes and had the impression that the children were more involved in interparental conflicts. This analysis showed that the difficult nature of transitions between homes was a crucial mediating variable in the relation between conflicts and the children’s adjustment, but that other variables, such as the relational problems with the mother, played a role, particularly in joint custody situations.     

Weak convergence of bivariate sequence to bivariate normal

It is shown that under certain conditions the distributions of a bivariate sequence of random vectors converge weakly to that of a bivariate normal distribution.