This paper replicates and refines the finding that subsidies for charitable contributions of a rebate type are less effective than matching subsidies. A survey based field…
Abstract
This paper replicates and refines the finding that subsidies for charitable contributions of a rebate type are less effective than matching subsidies. A survey based field experiment with health charities was conducted among a national sample representative of the Dutch population on key demographic characteristics. The greater effectiveness of matching subsidies found in laboratory experiments is replicated. Also some evidence is provided on why matches are more effective than rebates. Matches attract a larger pool of donors, in part because donors expect more people to make donations and “join in.” Matches also increase the amount contributed among the higher educated, higher income households and larger donors. Subsidies of either type do not decrease subsequent giving in a campaign for tsunami relief. The experiment could not test whether the greater effectiveness of a matching subsidy is due to a change in the donor’s attention to the benefits of a donation to the cause. This explanation should be tested in future research. The findings imply that a given budget available to subsidize charitable contributions can be used more effectively if the subsidy is framed in the form of a match than in the form of a rebate. Nonprofit organizations can use this insight in the design of fundraising campaigns. For governments the finding suggests that the effectiveness of current subsidies for charitable contributions can be enhanced by matching them rather than providing a deduction in the income tax, which works as a rebate.
J.J. Boersema, G.W.J. Barendse, J. Bertels and A.E. de Wit
Conducts an analysis of the content and scope of textbooks in environmental science, and discusses what to do about possible shortcomings. In almost all introductory courses…
Abstract
Conducts an analysis of the content and scope of textbooks in environmental science, and discusses what to do about possible shortcomings. In almost all introductory courses, teachers and students make use of textbooks. One may therefore safely assume that the content of these books reflects somehow what is thought to be relevant to the teaching and knowledge of environmental sciences. Scope and content may therefore represent what is considered to be the core curriculum, at least in the eyes of the editors and writers of these books. The analysis is confined to 12 textbooks published over the last five years, of which ten are in the English language, paying most attention to those widely used. Important research questions were: What perspective do the books take? Is their scope clearly depicted? How are environmental problems defined? What are the major issues and concepts dealt with? How are they structured? What is left out and/or missed? None of the books examined takes a disciplinary stance. In nearly all, chooses a thematic approach, with strong emphasis on Earth as a living system, and on the human‐environment interrelationship. There is a rather strong overlap in themes and concepts used, suggesting the existence of a shared “body of knowledge”, which is quite promising when striving after a core curriculum. Social and societal aspects come relatively late on the stage, mostly in the second or third part of the books, when implementation of measures is at stake. In several textbooks, environmental problems are taken as problems formulated and defined by natural scientists. Interdisciplinary methodology does not get proper attention.
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Walter Wehrmeyer and Jonathan Chenoweth
To investigate the effectiveness of one‐off short continuing adult education courses for expanding the penetration of sustainable development education beyond current tertiary…
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the effectiveness of one‐off short continuing adult education courses for expanding the penetration of sustainable development education beyond current tertiary students.
Design/methodology/approach
Pre‐ and post‐course questionnaires are used to evaluate the effectiveness of a series of short training courses on environment and sustainability issues conducted by the Centre for Environmental Strategy for a UK government department.
Findings
These short continuing education courses were effective at meeting their specific aims of increasing awareness and understanding of sustainability issues, with longer courses being more beneficial and providing qualitatively different experiences. Learning on sustainable development was maximised by overtly drawing on the collective past learning experiences and knowledge of participants though carefully facilitated discussion that encourages the sharing of and building upon this knowledge base.
Practical implications
If the training effectiveness of short continuing education courses in sustainable development is to be effective then such courses need to exploit existing knowledge bases so that limited time resources are used for maximum benefit through teaching methodologies that promote a constructivist learning environment.
Originality/value
This paper examines a significant means for maximising the effectiveness short continuing education courses in sustainability. Ensuring the effectiveness of such courses is critical to increasing the penetration of sustainable development education in higher education.
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Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence…
Abstract
Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.
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Bruno Broucker, Jeroen Huisman, Jef C. Verhoeven and Kurt De Wit
Higher education systems of small(er) countries may be less attractive to investigate, and it is likely that only a small indigenous research community is interested in and…
Abstract
Higher education systems of small(er) countries may be less attractive to investigate, and it is likely that only a small indigenous research community is interested in and capable of researching such small systems. In this chapter, we map which studies have been carried out at the meso- and macro-levels of the Flemish higher education system since the early 2000s. It allows us to discover gaps in our understanding of that particular system. We conclude that it would be beneficial for all stakeholders involved (researchers, policymakers, institutional management) to try to align their research and practical interests and develop a research agenda that fits these interests.
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Fernanda Leal, Kyria Rebeca Finardi and Maria Julieta Abba
The immersion of global higher education in a competitive, economy-oriented paradigm calls for perspectives on internationalisation that are explicitly aimed at shaping…
Abstract
The immersion of global higher education in a competitive, economy-oriented paradigm calls for perspectives on internationalisation that are explicitly aimed at shaping cooperative, sustainable and alternative/decolonial futures. The authors of this chapter recognise the relevance of research perspectives that – epistemologically aligned with critical internationalisation studies – emphasise the dilemmas and contradictions of internationalisation of higher education (IHE). In this chapter, the authors therefore present reflections that confront the hegemonic discourse that portrays the phenomenon of IHE as an unconditional good. The authors dialogue with the idea of promoting a perspective of IHE from and for the Global South – that is, one that instead of suppressing, recognises the epistemic plurality of the world. To do so, the authors assume that any critical efforts to address internationalisation in the context of the Global South can be enriched when explicitly situated within colonial history. The authors argue that looking towards the future of IHE requires a look towards its past. Specifically, the authors bring together four interrelated lines of argument: (i) recognising the university as a historical producer and reproducer of colonial hierarchies; (ii) conceiving the Global South as a field of epistemic challenges; (iii) having a non-myopic view of South–South cooperation; and (iv) spreading the epistemological horizon of internationalisation. Such reflections might contribute to envisioning new horizons for IHE in the Global South and its relation with those who have been relegated to a status of invisibility.
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Yaw A. Debrah and Ian G. Smith
Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on…
Abstract
Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.
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Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…
Abstract
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.
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Martijn Jungst and Boris Blumberg
Guided by social resource theory, this study aims to examine the influence of conflict (i.e. task and relationship) on performance. The authors investigated whether job engagement…
Abstract
Purpose
Guided by social resource theory, this study aims to examine the influence of conflict (i.e. task and relationship) on performance. The authors investigated whether job engagement mediates this relationship and whether social network quality moderates the relationship between conflict, job engagement and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors built and tested a moderated mediation model, using data from 217 graduate students.
Findings
Results showed that job engagement operates as a mediating mechanism between task conflict and performance. The authors also found that the indirect effect of job engagement depended upon the quality of the social networks. When the quality of the social network was high, both the task and relationship conflict did not negatively influence the association between job engagement and performance.
Research limitations/implications
These findings provide new insights into how social embeddedness in the form of social network quality can create a social context in which conflict works out less detrimental.
Practical implications
Given that employees are interdependent and coworkers are likely to differ in their personal values and opinions, the authors conclude that managers should facilitate the development of meaningful relationships at work.
Originality/value
Whereas prior research has found conflict (i.e. task and relationship) to negatively associate with performance, the authors show that social networks do affect the strength of the relationship between conflict (i.e. task and relationship) and performance.
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Anthony L. Wagner and Erich Dietrich
This chapter examines the internationalisation of public higher education in Brazil using the theoretical triptych of internationalisation as developed by leading scholars in the…
Abstract
This chapter examines the internationalisation of public higher education in Brazil using the theoretical triptych of internationalisation as developed by leading scholars in the field: internationalisation at home (IaH), internationalisation abroad (IA), and internationalisation at a distance (IaD). This framework – while rooted in knowledge, systems, and scholarship from researchers and institutions in the Global North – is a constructive tool for categorising and understanding internationalisation at Brazil’s higher education institutions (HEIs) when coupled with an exploration of the history, context, policy, and dynamics of internationalisation efforts. The chapter then summarises and underscores recent and important scholarship by Brazilian researchers and others in the Global South that describes the history of the nation’s internationalisation efforts. It also critiques the powerful influence that Global North-centred objectives and priorities for internationalisation have on the process at Brazilian HEIs. Following a discussion of the theoretical framework and relevant literature, the chapter provides a case study of internationalisation efforts and initiatives of an elite public university, the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). Content analysis of UFMG’s website and publicly available reports and data demonstrates a high level of institutional internationalisation that has unfolded in recent years, stimulated by federal funding and guided by a strategic framework developed within the Ministry of Education. An analysis of UFMG’s mission, partnerships and programmes finds that the institution serves as an example of internationalisation in Brazil’s public higher education context, as its programmes and initiatives exemplify the overarching objectives of internationalisation in Brazilian higher education.