Alex Bryson, Andrew Clark and Colin Green
A small literature has shown that individual wellbeing varies with the price of company stock, but it is unclear whether this is due to wealth effects amongst those holding stock…
Abstract
Purpose
A small literature has shown that individual wellbeing varies with the price of company stock, but it is unclear whether this is due to wealth effects amongst those holding stock, or more general effects on sentiment, with individuals taking rising stock prices as an indicator of improvements in the economy. The authors contribute to this literature by using two data sets to establish the relationship between share prices on the one hand and worker wellbeing on the other.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors use over 20 years of British panel data to show that employee happiness and job satisfaction moves with share prices among those whose pay is partly determined by company fortunes. The authors then examine share price movements and employee stock holding in a single corporation and provide suggestive evidence that an increase in the firm’s stock price increases the well-being of those who belong to its employee share purchase plan (ESPP). These effects are greatest among those making the largest monthly contributions to the program who have the most to gain (or lose) from stock price fluctuations. There is also tentative evidence that the well-being effects of a higher share price are larger for those who hold more shares. Taken together these results suggest that, although stock price movements have little effect on well-being in the population at large, the well-being of those holding stock in their own company rises when the price of that stock is higher, suggesting the effects of share prices work at least partly via changes in wealth.
Findings
Taken together these results suggest that the wellbeing effects of share prices work at least partly via changes in wealth.
Research limitations/implications
The authors cannot be certain that the job satisfaction movements they see are causally linked to share plan participation and bonus receipt. Future research might fruitfully examine the mechanisms at play, and whether the effects identified here are linked to differences in employee motivation and effort over the business cycle.
Practical implications
Firms may wish to consider the appropriateness of linking their workers’ pay to firm performance through share plans or profit shares to establish whether this improves worker wellbeing.
Social implications
The utility of workers may increase where firms offer some compensation via a share plan or profit share.
Originality/value
The literature suggests a link between share price movements and worker wellbeing, but the reasons for the link are contested. Using two very different data sources, the authors are able to show that share price increases induce higher worker wellbeing, at least in part, through wealth effects.
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To understand the factors encouraging growth in two social enterprises involved in recycling based in London, UK, and how these can be interpreted and understood in terms of…
Abstract
Purpose
To understand the factors encouraging growth in two social enterprises involved in recycling based in London, UK, and how these can be interpreted and understood in terms of “managerialist” concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
The study aimed to understand how particular aspects of social enterprise literature relate to practice on the ground, and to gain a clearer picture of the diversity, complexity and contested ideas that coexist within the social enterprise sector. Focuses on the experience of two social enterprises based in London: ReBoot, a project set up by Bootstrap Enterprises, a social enterprise based in Hackney for the recycling of computers donated from individuals and organizations; and Green‐Works, a social enterprise for preventing large volumes of office furniture from going to landfill. Explains that the research comprised two parts: an extensive literature review to provide background theory and context; and the use of semi‐structured interviews with the selected organizations to gain qualitative data for comparison.
Findings
The results provided broad indications relating to the ideas and conflicts existing within and between social enterprises across such broad themes as “growth”, public and private origins, market orientation and long‐term sustainability. Concludes that the research highlights the diversity of social enterprises in terms of their objectives, structures, operations and long‐term visions, while demonstrating the great differences between the two enterprises despite their seeming similarity on the surface.
Originality/value
Challenges the frequently over‐simplified generalizations and assumptions that are applied to social enterprises.
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From a systems perspective, vulnerability can be defined as the relationship between a purposive system and its environment, where that environment varies over time. Which…
Abstract
From a systems perspective, vulnerability can be defined as the relationship between a purposive system and its environment, where that environment varies over time. Which environmental perturbations are significant therefore depends upon the objectives of the system as only those perturbations that can inhibit the achievement of these objectives are significant. That system must decide whether to adjust in advance to each potential perturbation or to rely upon a recovery path when that perturbation occurs. In each case, it must then decide upon the adjustment or recovery path to adopt. In particular, the basic resources available to a household are time and energy where the rates at which these can be directly or indirectly, through earning income, converted to consumption are crucial. Perturbations can reduce the energy available as well as reduce the efficiencies with which time and energy can be converted to income.
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R.M. (Bob) McKinlay is appointed managing director, British Aerospace (Commercial Aircraft) Ltd. in succession to Dr. Maurice Dixson, who is leaving the company to take up a…
Abstract
R.M. (Bob) McKinlay is appointed managing director, British Aerospace (Commercial Aircraft) Ltd. in succession to Dr. Maurice Dixson, who is leaving the company to take up a senior appointment outside British Aerospace. Bob McKinlay is currently managing director, Airbus Division of British Aerospace (Commercial Aircraft) Ltd.
Manufacturing and Consulting Services (MCS) is signing dealers and value‐added resellers for ANVIL‐5000pc™, the company's newest CADD/CAM software package for mechanical…
Abstract
Manufacturing and Consulting Services (MCS) is signing dealers and value‐added resellers for ANVIL‐5000pc™, the company's newest CADD/CAM software package for mechanical engineering.
M Joy Lewis, Audrey W Hill, Alan Day, KC Harrison, Clive Bingley and Helen Moss
A BIBLIOGRAPHY may seem to many to be as dry as dust and I must admit to having subscribed to that view about some bibliographies in the past. This is one, for a number of…
Abstract
A BIBLIOGRAPHY may seem to many to be as dry as dust and I must admit to having subscribed to that view about some bibliographies in the past. This is one, for a number of reasons, about which I feel differently. For me, after nearly a quarter of a century's involvement in a particular area of librarianship, browsing through the pages is an evocative experience, like a meeting with friends. Some whose work is recorded here I never knew but reading about them and studying their writings over the years has produced an illusion of their being old and close companions; and there are those who were friends whose voices can still be heard in memory. Some authors cited I hope yet to meet because their views and ideas are challenging and awaken a sympathetic response or make me want to start an argument. Still others are former colleagues from whom I learnt much and whose example has been inspirational, and then there are those who are staunch friends, without whose support and co‐operation my professional existence would be very dull indeed.
Tsunamis, droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods are a constant threat to society. Where in the past the population at risk had to react on the consequences of disasters, at…
Abstract
Tsunamis, droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods are a constant threat to society. Where in the past the population at risk had to react on the consequences of disasters, at present society wants to be more in control. Due to the high costs of restoration, of the stress and of the loss of family and friends, a proactive policy in order to prevent disasters or at least to minimize the impact is required. Such a policy asks for a framework to decide on the risk society wants to take. Moreover, it is mandatory to agree on the way instruments preventing disasters are evaluated on their effectiveness. This special issue accounts for the contributions on the methodology of damage estimation by leading European and American economists. Introduces the subject and presents an overview of all papers.
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Reports from AMK Berlin indicate that over 280,000 visitors attended ILA92 Airshow in Berlin. The first airshow to take place at Berlin‐Schönefeld Airport for the last 64 years.