Andrea Vincent and Durgam Rajasekhar
Indian government initiated several skill development policies and different types of vocational education and training (VET). Yet the participation in skill education is low…
Abstract
Purpose
Indian government initiated several skill development policies and different types of vocational education and training (VET). Yet the participation in skill education is low because of poor labour market outcomes. This paper aims to calculate returns to skill education to understand the type of training that will have better labour market outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper nationally representative data from the periodic labour force survey (PLFS), collected by the national sample survey office for 2017–2018, are used to estimate the returns to formal and non-formal VET obtained (after different levels of general education) with the help of Heckman's two-stage method.
Findings
Nearly 8% of the working-age population has received some form of VET (mostly non-formal), generating poor returns. For the overall population, formal on-job training (OJT) and full-time VET influence wage positively and significantly. Full-time VET obtained after secondary and below levels of education generates positive returns, whereas part-time VET is profitable only to those without formal education. At the graduate level, technical education obtained along with VET is associated with better wages.
Originality/value
In India where a considerable proportion of the workforce is employed in the informal sector, different types of skill training like full-time, part-time and OJT influence labour market outcomes. This finding has policy implication for countries with large informal sector and calls for further research in such countries.
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Jens Eklinder-Frick, Andrea Perna and Vincent Hocine Jean Fremont
Deepa Guleria and Gurvinder Kaur
This article offers a bibliometric analysis and explores the relationships among the documents on ecopreneurship by using relational techniques. The results highlight the…
Abstract
Purpose
This article offers a bibliometric analysis and explores the relationships among the documents on ecopreneurship by using relational techniques. The results highlight the publication trends; most cited documents, top contributing authors, countries and institutions with highest productivity and most contributing journals to the research field.
Design/methodology/approach
Initially, 216 documents were retrieved from the Thompson Reuters Web of Science Core Collection database with three document types: articles, review and book review. All the documents were considered for the analysis. Then VOSviewer and bibliometric analysis using R with an inbuilt utility Biblioshiny were used together for co-word analysis, co-citation network analysis, generating collaboration networks and also generating a unique three-field plot to analyze the evolution of a research field.
Findings
The results highlight the publication trends: most cited documents, top contributing authors, countries and institutions with highest productivity and most contributing journals to the research field. The network analysis of co-authorship, co-citation, keyword co-occurrence and bibliographic coupling reveals most prominent relationships between authors, documents, co-cited references, sources and countries for the available documents on the research field.
Research limitations/implications
The study helps not only in expansion of knowledgebase on the research topic but also in understanding the evolution of the ecopreneurship to provide research support further in this area.
Originality/value
Ecopreneurship is an emerging field of research connecting ecology and entrepreneurship together, making it a potential research area. The contributions made to this research field from 1989 to 2019 serve as a core for conducting this analysis. The study is an effort to help in coordinating research network across countries, authors and affiliating universities.
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Andrea Garnero, Romina Giuliano, Benoit Mahy and François Rycx
– The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of fixed-term contracts (FTCs) on labour productivity, wages (i.e. labour cost), and productivity-wage gaps (i.e. profits).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of fixed-term contracts (FTCs) on labour productivity, wages (i.e. labour cost), and productivity-wage gaps (i.e. profits).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors apply dynamic panel data techniques to detailed Belgian linked employer-employee panel data covering the period 1999-2006.
Findings
Results indicate that FTCs exert stronger positive effects on productivity than on wages and (accordingly) that the use of FTCs increases firms’ profitability.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to examine the FTC-productivity-wage nexus while addressing three important methodological issues related to the state dependency of the three explained variables, to firm time-invariant heterogeneity, and to the endogeneity of FTCs.
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Vincent Dutot, Francois Bergeron and Andrea Calabrò
With the increasing digitalization processes taking place in different industries, the success of family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) appears to be more under threat…
Abstract
Purpose
With the increasing digitalization processes taking place in different industries, the success of family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) appears to be more under threat than for any other types of organizations, especially when information technologies (ITs) are not adequately used and managed. To grow and increase the chances of survival, family SMEs need more than ever IT. Stemming from agency theory, the aim of this article is to understand whether family harmony impacts the performance of family SMEs and to what extent IT mediates this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The research follows a quantitative approach, based on a sample of 182 family SMEs. Structured equation modeling, through SmartPLS, was employed to validate the research model.
Findings
This study’s main findings suggest that family harmony positively impacts firm performance and that IT governance and strategy mediate positively this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
First, the relatively limited number of respondents limits the degree of representativeness of all family SMEs. Replicating the research with a larger number of respondents could strengthen the findings. Second, this study is limited to French firms and future research could extend the findings by looking at cross-country comparisons.
Practical implications
Family SMEs are encouraged to link their IT governance with their IT strategy in order to increase their organizational performance. A favorable family harmony will make it easier to choose and implement a richer IT strategy and put in place an adequate IT governance function.
Originality/value
This research offers an enriched knowledge of the roles of family harmony and technological innovation in family SMEs and IT contexts as significant predictors of organizational performance. It contributes to family firm theory through the identification of three determinants of family SMEs' performance.
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Vincent Onyemah and Simon O. Akpa
The purpose of this paper is to offer a state of the art description of open air markets (OAM), a little-known phenomenon that is indispensable in Africa’s consumer packaged goods…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a state of the art description of open air markets (OAM), a little-known phenomenon that is indispensable in Africa’s consumer packaged goods industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology comprising in-depth semi-structured interviews and direct observation was employed.
Findings
Analysis of data from Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, reveals that channel members have roles that are different from that of their Western counterparts. For example, distributors often do not distribute and principals are expected to actively sell on behalf of their distributors to empty the latter’s warehouse. Also, while many end-users in developing countries expect credit sales and opportunity to bargain, extant literature does not include these demands in the formal list of service output demands. Another major finding is the surprising order underlying OAM. It is the bedrock of commercial activities: for most consumer packaged goods manufacturers, sales through OAM account for over 90 percent of revenue.
Research limitations/implications
The focus on one industry and country limits the generalizability of the above findings.
Practical implications
Africa is the next growth frontier. Tapping into this growth requires a deep understanding and appreciation of the important role played by its unique marketing channels.
Originality/value
Given the dearth of documented knowledge about marketing channels in emerging markets, this study addresses an important gap. Its findings could inform theory development and encourage more research on marketing channels in developing countries.
Tracy A. Smith-Carrier, Sarah Benbow, Andrea Lawlor and Andrea O'Reilly
The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of parents who have full professorial positions (in faculties of engineering and nursing) in universities in Ontario…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of parents who have full professorial positions (in faculties of engineering and nursing) in universities in Ontario, Canada, with a particular focus on the ways in which gender shapes professors' parenting experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
We employ a case study methodology involving quantitative and qualitative data collected from a survey emailed to full professors in Ontario.
Findings
Data from the study reveal that numerous strategies, resources (e.g. informal social support networks, supportive partners) and institutional supports (i.e. pausing the tenure clock after child birth) are required to assist academics to meet the extensive demands of their positions, while they perform caregiving responsibilities for their children.
Research limitations/implications
The protected ground of family status is inconsistently applied in Canadian human rights policy, considerably reducing its transformative potential. Yet, while family status gains greater recognition in rights-based practice, we argue that it be added to forthcoming institutional equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) action plans across post-secondary institutions to better ensure equity for mothers who shoulder significant paid and unpaid work responsibilities.
Originality/value
While there is literature on parenting in academia, family status is rarely featured as an intersection of interest in EDI research. This article aims to fill this gap.
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Alexandra Polyakova, Zachary Estes and Andrea Ordanini
Companies often provide preferential treatment, such as free upgrades, to customers. The present study aims to identify a costly consequence of such preferential treatment (i.e…
Abstract
Purpose
Companies often provide preferential treatment, such as free upgrades, to customers. The present study aims to identify a costly consequence of such preferential treatment (i.e. opportunistic behavior) and reveal which type of customer is most likely to engage in that negative behavior (i.e. new customers).
Design/methodology/approach
Across two experimental studies, the authors test whether preferential treatment increases customers’ entitlement, which in turn increases their propensity to behave opportunistically. Moderated mediation analysis further tests whether that mediated effect is moderated by customers’ prior relationship with the company.
Findings
Preferential treatment increases feelings of entitlement, which consequently triggers customers’ opportunistic behaviors. New customers are more likely to feel entitled after preferential treatment than repeat customers, and hence new customers are more likely to behave opportunistically. Preferential treatment also increases customers’ suspicion of the company’s motives, but suspicion was unrelated to opportunistic behavior.
Research limitations/implications
Future research may focus on other marketplace situations that trigger entitlement and explore whether multiple occurrences of preferential treatment provide different effects on consumers.
Practical implications
Present findings demonstrate that preferential treatment can evoke opportunistic behaviors among customers. The authors suggest that preferential treatment should be provided to customers who previously invested in their relationship with a company (i.e. repeat customers) rather than new customers.
Originality/value
Prior research has focused more on the ways companies prioritize their repeat customers than how they surprise their new customers. The present research instead examines preferential treatment based on customers’ relationship with a firm (i.e. both repeat and new customers) and demonstrates behavioral and contextual effects of entitlement.
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In the past 50 years, numerous reference books have been written on the subjects of medieval history, art, literature, and philosophy. Steven F. Vincent provides a guide to…
Abstract
In the past 50 years, numerous reference books have been written on the subjects of medieval history, art, literature, and philosophy. Steven F. Vincent provides a guide to selecting modern, as well as standard, sources of information on the Middle Ages.