Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management capability and high performance work organization

Building upon the resource-based view of the firm and the managerial rents model, we explore role played by two forms of management capability (‘general’ and ‘HR specific’) in the use of high performance work organization (HPWO) practices and their impact on performance. A nationally representative establishment-level survey of organizational practices conducted in 1999 and 2002 in a single industry found that both forms of management capability were associated with the use of HPWO practices in 1999 but this association did not hold for the use of HPWO practices in 2002. There was a strong and positive relationship between the use of HPWO practices in 1999 and subsequent value-added per employee in 2002. HR-specific management capability did not moderate the relationship between HPWO practices in 1999 and value-added per employee in 2002. Contrary to expectations we found high levels of value-added per employee where the use of HPWO practices was high but our measure of general management resources was low.
Jochen Clasen, Paying the Jobless: A Comparison of Unemployment Benefit Policies in Great Britain and Germany , Avebury, Aldershot, 1994, xi + 243 pp., hard £35.00.

The partiality of the available evidence is reflected in other ways. The use of short-time working in slack periods receives far too little attention its adoption in mining and textiles is noted, but its role in engineering, boots and shoes and various branches of metal working remains unacknowledged. Nor is its relationship to unemployment as such fully explored. Instead, we are presented with the picture as painted by contemporary commentators: that the workforce divided itself neatly into those in 'regular' employment and those with no employment with the exception of those casual trades (largely dockers and construction workers) which reformers wanted to reorganise. Early twentieth-century manual workers experienced little 'regular' employment as we would currently understand it: in part because the demand for labour among a multiplicity of small firms remained fluid, in part because the physical strength required to work 'regularly' in many blue-collar jobs was beyond the capacities of most labourers. This issue is not merely of antiquarian significance. As Burnett notes, the recent expansion in self-employment, part-time work, short-term contracts features of our 'new' flexible labour market has again blurred apparently clear distinctions between the employed and the unemployed. 'Unemployment', then as now, is not experienced simply in terms of hours worked (or not) each week, but is rather more subtle involving (as it must) an appreciation of income required to meet existing commitments and time available within which such income can be earned. This book feels too rushed a production to tackle such subtleties. Instead, it takes the meaning of 'unemployment' as read. There is some unnecessary repetition of explanation, figures and even quotation in the first two chapters; sources are irregularly cited in the footnotes. Such slight irritations could have been edited out. More seriously, and here the blame passes firmly to the publishers, at least one (apparently rather good) chapter is ruined by the disappearance of half the text. Let those who purchase the book check pp. 50-85 as, in the copy sent to your reviewer, half were totally blank. In summary, this book is extremely useful in recalling the damage caused by unemployment in the past to individuals, families, communities. It reveals the price paid in terms of health, well-being and general employability and general social conformity. It reminds us that, left to its own devices, a free market does not secure full or even near full employment however much politicians might want to claim otherwise. It rescues unemployment from its recent decline into a residual variable in the assessment of economic growth. In the process, unfortunately, it fails to examine how unemployment itself has varied (and varies) between different occupational sectors thereby, I would argue, underestimating the toll taken by economic recession on human lives.
Avoiding the Employment Relationship: Outsourcing and Labour Substitution among French Manufacturing Firms, 1984-2003

Using a comprehensive data set for French manufacturing firms with over twenty employees, the authors quantify the use of outsourcing and show how it has spread since the mid-1980s, leading to the substitution of external labour for in-house labour. Empirical analysis suggests that firms outsource in order to bypass the effects of the employment relationship and circumvent their labour law obligations.
Preliminary study: Psychological effects of muscle relaxation on Juvenile delinquents

The purpose of this study is to test our hypothesis that muscle relaxation is effective on the psychological well-being of juvenile delinquents. Subjects were 16 juvenile delinquents who had entered a reform school. Subjects were divided into two groups. The muscle relaxation group received muscle relaxation therapy once a week for a total of 4 times. The control group spent an ordinary daily life in the reformatory. Psychological questionnaires used were the Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Study (P-F study), the Psychological Stress Response Scale (PSRS), and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). There was a significant Group × Time interaction of the Group Conformity Rating (GCR) of the P-F study (F [1,14] =10.1, P=0.007). There were no significant interactions in the other psychological subscales.Thus, muscle relaxation therapy may improve frustration tolerance among juvenile delinquents.
An unusual case of fatal pulmonary allograft rejection

Abstract: This case report describes an atypical form of acute pulmonary allograft rejection that was refractory to conventional therapy. The rejection manifested primarily as interstitial lymphocytic infiltrates with little perivascular involvement. Despite aggressive therapy the patient died within 7 months of transplant. The timely recognition and treatment of unusual forms of allograft rejection is vital in the management of pulmonary transplant patients.
Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence From Public Companies in Chile

We studied the impact of family ownership on firm performance by using a set of data on Chilean firms. From a sample of 175 firms listed on the stock market, the group of 100 family-controlled firms performed significantly better than the group of 75 nonfamily companies over the 10-year period under study (1995—2004). Three distinct measures of performance—ROA, ROE, and a proxy of Tobin's Q—were employed to test the differences of means between the two groups of firms. These results were in line with our multiple regression model. All these findings support our conceptual framework and hypothesis, which states that public family firms perform better than public nonfamily firms.
Can sonographic measurements and changes in cervical length during pregnancy predict preterm labour in an asymptomatic low-risk population?

Abstract Objective: This study measured cervical length (CL) at 14–16 and 21–24 weeks of gestation and assessed whether the difference between the measurements is predictive of preterm delivery (PTD). Methods: This retrospective, cohort study included patients with two consecutive CL measured with transvaginal sonography at 14–16 weeks of gestation (CL1) and 21–24 weeks (CL2). Electronic medical records were reviewed for demographic, medical and obstetric history; complications during the current pregnancy and delivery data. CL1, CL2 and the change between scans were evaluated and correlated to PTD prediction. Results: Among the 216 patients, 196 (90.7%) delivered at term (≥37 weeks) and 20 (9.3%) preterm (<37 weeks). CL1 was not a good predictor of PTD (p = .70). CL2 was significantly shorter in the PTD group (p < .05). The correlation between CL change and PTD was not significant (p = .55). Perinatal outcomes between term and preterm deliveries were similar. Conclusions: Sonographic measurement of CL at 14- to 16-week gestation and the difference between CL in the first and second scans are not reliable predictors of PTD. However, cervical length at 21–24 weeks in low-risk women is predictive of this complication.
Choice, consumerism and devolution: growing old in the welfare state(s) of Scotland, Wales and England

ABSTRACT The introduction of choice and consumer mechanisms in public services has been identified as a fundamental shift in welfare service provision internationally. Within the United Kingdom (UK), such mechanisms developed and integrated into English services have not been replicated in their entirety in Scotland and Wales. For the first time since the inception of the UK welfare state, there are now formal differences in entitlement for older people as a result of devolution. This paper uses comparative policy analysis to review a range of sources not hitherto brought together in order to explore how these concurrent developments – choice and devolution – impact on people over state retirement age. We also consider the extent to which a more consumerist approach to public services might redress or increase later-life inequalities. Drawing on theoretical research and policy evidence, we argue that for many people over state retirement age, the prospect of becoming a consumer in these varied contexts is difficult and unwelcome. We suggest that although it is too early in the devolutionary process for any significant impact of these divergent policies to materialise, continued policy divergence will lead to different experiences and outcomes for older people in Scotland, Wales and England. We conclude that these divergent social policies offer significant research opportunities, particularly concerning their impact on later-life inequalities.
Cognitive Ad-hoc Networks under a Cellular Network with an Interference Temperature Limit

We propose an efficient deployment scenario for cognitive ad-hoc networking under a cellular network with a pre-defined interference temperature limit (ITL). Using this scenario, a cellular radio spectrum can be reused efficiently without disturbing the existing cellular network. It uses a relaxed ITL concept in which the pre-defined ITL is satisfied at the target receiver only instead of all around the cellular service coverage. In this scenario, a cognitive radio (CR)-enabled secondary user (also, called as a cognitive ad-hoc user), equipped with the cellular signal strength monitoring device measures the pathloss from the nearest cellular base station (CBS) (also, called as the target CBS) in a cellular downlink channel. Then, using the measured pathloss, each secondary user computes its allowable maximum transmit power level (AMTPL) for a cellular uplink channel. In this scenario, secondary users farther from the target CBS can transmit more power than nearer users can do, thus making the cellular uplink resource reused more efficiently. Therefore, the proposed scenario can reduce the routing overhead and associated delay, and the infrastructure cost because this secondary user power flexibility can decrease the number of required nodes for cognitive ad-hoc networking, or can increase the utilization efficiency of the cellular radio spectrum.
Enterprise mobility: concept and examples

Although the literature on wireless applications has predominantly focused on business-to-consumer markets, following the patterns in the media and e-commerce research, it is now becoming clear that mobile networking will provide a tremendous impetus to the development of other strategic applications for businesses. This paper explores this emerging area of wireless applications in the business, focusing specifically on enterprise mobility. It aims to provide a basic background to conceptual ideas of enterprise mobility, and a framework for understanding the development of enterprise mobility in organisations. Moreover, the paper also begins to apply these conceptual ideas in a number of original case studies. The paper rounds off with a summary and some conclusions regarding the future of enterprise mobility.
FasL shedding is reduced by hypothermia in experimental stroke

Protection by mild hypothermia has previously been associated with better mitochondrial preservation and suppression of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. It is also known that the brain may undergo apoptotic death via extrinsic, or receptor‐mediated pathways, such as that triggered by Fas/FasL. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats subjected to 2 h middle cerebral artery occlusion with 2 h intraischemic mild hypothermia (33°C) were assayed for Fas, FasL and caspase‐8 expression. Ischemia increased Fas, but decreased FasL by ∼ 50–60% at 6 and 24 h post‐insult. Mild hypothermia significantly reduced expression of Fas and processed caspase‐8 both by ∼ 50%, but prevented ischemia‐induced FasL decreases. Fractionation revealed that soluble/shed FasL (sFasL) was decreased by hypothermia, while membrane‐bound FasL (mFasL) increased. To more directly assess the significance of the Fas/FasL pathway in ischemic stroke, primary neuron cultures were exposed to oxygen glucose deprivation. Since FasL is cleaved by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and mild hypothermia decreases MMP expression, treatment with a pan‐MMP inhibitor also decreased sFasL. Thus, mild hypothermia is associated with reduced Fas expression and caspase‐8 activation. Hypothermia prevented total FasL decreases, and most of it remained membrane‐bound. These findings reveal new observations regarding the effect of mild hypothermia on the Fas/FasL and MMP systems.
Aid Conditionality and Military Expenditure Reduction in Developing Countries: Models of Asymmetric Information

This paper analyzes problems of implementing noneconomic conditionality, such as military expenditure reduction, in the granting of foreign aid given the presence of asymmetric information. The authors present two conceptually separate principal-agent models to capture the stylized facts of multilateral and bilateral aid negotiations respectively. The first model is an application of the problem of adverse selection when there is more than one type of principal (donor) with varying objectives. The second model extends moral hazard to double moral hazard, where neither principal nor agent (recipient) can fully observe or verify each other's strategies. Copyright 1995 by Royal Economic Society.
Costs of Equity and Earnings Attributes

We examine the relation between the cost of equity capital and seven attributes of earnings: accrual quality, persistence, predictability, smoothness, value relevance, timeliness, and conservatism. We characterize the first four attributes as accounting‐based because they are typically measured using accounting information only. We characterize the last three attributes as market‐based because proxies for these constructs are typically based on relations between market data and accounting data. Based on theoretical models predicting a positive association between information quality and cost of equity, we test for and find that firms with the least favorable values of each attribute, considered individually, generally experience larger costs of equity than firms with the most favorable values. The largest cost of equity effects are observed for the accounting‐based attributes, in particular, accrual quality. These findings are robust to controls for innate determinants of the earnings attributes (firm siz.
Geographies of Knowledge Formation in Firms

This paper focuses on the spatial dimension of learning in firms. It works with important new insights in economic geography that stress the role of spatial proximity and territorial embeddedness in the process of knowledge formation, but it also seeks to go beyond them by recognizing learning based on relations at a distance. The paper defines space as a network of both contiguous and non‐contiguous relations of varying length, shape and duration, where knowing can involve all manner of spatial mobilizations, including placements of task teams in neutral spaces, face‐to‐face encounters, global networks held together by travel and virtual communications, flows of ideas and information through the supply chain, and trans‐corporate thought experiments and symbolic rituals.
An equilibrium model of nominal bond prices with inflation-output correlation and stochastic volatility

A vector autoregressive (VAR) model is used to describe the joint dynamics of consumption growth and inflation. The commonly used homoscedastic VAR is extended to allow for stochastic volatility, driven by an unobservable autoregressive factor. Bond prices, the conditional expectation of a function of these factors, are approximated using Tauchen's quadrature method. We show that the mean, variance, and autocorrelation of yields is captured relatively well by the VAR-SV model, calibrated with inflation and consumption data. The co-dependents of consumption and inflation are shown to be important determinants for both real and nominal rates. Time variations in inflation volatility generate realistic variability of risk premia, but unrealistically low average magnitudes. Copyright 1993 by Ohio State University Press.
Interactivity of Corporate Websites: An Integrative Review of the Literature

Research problem: Corporate websites have been the subject of several research endeavors, and most of the research has focused on usability and interactivity. Since the emergence of the term Web 2.0, more websites have added social features to their base functionality, and this new type of interactivity has yet to be investigated. This study explores the research evolution in this field. Research questions: How has research on interactivity in corporate websites evolved? How can prior research be categorized? In each category, which of the research challenges has little or no research support? Literature review: Our approach to the topic is guided by four major streams of research-(1) the diffusion of innovations theory; (2) the technology, organization, and environment framework; (3) the institutional theory; and (4) the model from Iacovou et al. The analysis of the evolution of corporate websites showed three common types of corporate websites classified by their purpose and interaction intensity. Corporate websites hereby often benefit from the inclusion of design principles and patterns induced by the term Web 2.0. While examining the characteristics of corporate websites, usability and interactivity were found to be most important with reference to positive user response. Therefore, we clarified the concept of web-based interaction and reviewed the research on consumer response. Methodology: To gain a deeper understanding of the evolution of research on the interactivity in corporate websites, our study conducted a systematic and exhaustive literature review in which we identified and categorized several research issues. We conducted a qualitative analysis of 166 articles and classified relevant contributions by research issue and category. Results and conclusion: Among the identified research issues concerning interactivity that facilitates communication of the organization, only relationship management emerged as a dominant issue. Research issues concerning interactivity that facilitates e-commerce could be found most and they tend to focus on two main areas: decision support systems and recommendation agents on sales-oriented e-commerce websites and loyalty, satisfaction, and trust as key variables. Research issues concerning interactivity for interpersonal communication mainly focus on the user's individual motivation and successive behavior, and contain many different references to computer-mediated interaction and online communities. Research issues in the field of designing for interactivity discuss interface design questions and focus on numerous website characteristics and their impact. Given those issues, we make suggestions for future research that would explore the organizational behavior related to innovation diffusion on corporate websites.
Social dialogue and industrial relations in South Korea: Has the tripartite commission been successful?

This paper analyses the sweeping changes in industrial relations in South Korea that have taken place since democratisation in 1987, which gave workers the right to organise themselves, and critically reviews the development of social dialogue since the financial crisis of 1997. A number of international labour specialists have maintained that social dialogue plays an important role in enhancing economic restructuring and the stability of industrial relations in order to compete in a global economy. Contrary to the positive assessment of social dialogue, the paper argues that the Korean Tripartite Commission has not reduced the antagonism between unions and employer organisations due to the influence of embedded, state-led economic development. The financial crisis of 1997 merely provided a catalyst to propel the ‘historic compromise’ of February 1998, without creating effective institutional arrangements to maintain social dialogue. It is worth noting that the uncertainty of social dialogue results from the inability of the Korean Tripartite Commission to encourage employers and workers to trade off wage restraint for job security in the context of a lack of social welfare protections. The paralysed Korean Tripartite Commission provides fertile ground for reflecting on the complex relationship between social dialogue and institutional arrangements.
Adoption of internet in Malaysian SMEs

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate empirically the decision of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt the internet in their businesses.Design/methodology/approach – Using a survey of 465 sampled SMEs from Klan valley area in Malaysia, this study tests seven hypotheses about the factors that influence internet adoption.Findings – The findings show that manager's characteristics, perceived benefits, organisational culture, technological competency and cost of adoption have significant relationships with internet adoption. The results of the study of highly educated managers of SMEs also revealed a non‐significant relationship between language, growth of web and internet adoption.Originality/value – The study provides more understanding of managers' perceptions about internet adoption in their businesses. Those interested in promoting the web may find these results helpful in guiding their efforts.
Managing distance in a global virtual team: the evolution of trust through technology‐mediated relational communication

Virtual teams offer the potential for the efficient combination of a dispersed workforce and the potential for leveraging diffuse knowledge and skills effectively for collaborative innovation. Information technology plays an important role in virtual teams, but virtual teamwork also involves significant social redesign. Trust is argued to be an important component in team development and effectiveness, and within this paper we explore the role and development of trust in the early stages of a virtual team. On the basis of findings from a web-based questionnaire and interviews with global virtual team members in a major telecommunications company it appears that communications technology supports relationship building in tasks related to information sharing and storing and relational communication to a lesser degree. The antecedents of trust in the virtual team identified are similar to the antecedents of trust in a traditional collocated team context, and it appears that virtual team leaders and members approach virtual teams as an extension of traditional teamwork. On the basis of the research results it is argued that relational communication and psychosocial factors such as trust, commitment and communication play an important role in the functioning of virtual teams. It is also suggested that where virtual team leaders and members attempt to approach virtual teams as an extension of traditional teamwork, many of the potential benefits may not be realized while much of the expense related to virtual teamwork remains. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.