David Melamed, Hyomin Park, Jingwen Zhong and Yue Liu
This study examines how the structure of referent networks, or the social network defined by knowing others’ reward levels, affects perceptions of distributive justice. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines how the structure of referent networks, or the social network defined by knowing others’ reward levels, affects perceptions of distributive justice. The homogeneity of rewards in the referent network, the amount of inequality in the referent network, and an individual’s reward level are all associated with distributive justice perceptions. Several moderating relationships are also examined.
Methodology/Approach
We relied on data from a controlled laboratory experiment to test a series of theoretically derived hypotheses.
Findings
The study shows that several aspects about the structure of the referent network are important for shaping perceptions of distributive justice. Specifically, the reward heterogeneity and amount of inequality in the network are found to be negatively associated with distributive justice, while reward levels are found to be positively associated with distributive justice. Furthermore, the effect of reward levels on distributive justice is moderated by both (i) the presence of a referential standard for rewards and (ii) the amount of inequality in the network.
Research Limitations/Implications
While being among the first studies to demonstrate effects of referent networks on perceptions of fairness, it is unclear how group memberships combine with referent network effects and which factors may blur these relationships in uncontrolled environments. Subsequent scholarship on the effect of referent networks on justice perceptions should leverage multiple data sources.
Originality/Value of Chapter
Research on the effects of referents on justice perceptions has focused on particular referent individuals. We recast this issue in terms of referent networks, which highlights the empirical reality that individuals have a variety of sources or alters which could operate as referents.
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This paper aims to review research of relevance to women with learning disabilities, focusing in particular on literature which is applicable to women with learning disabilities…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review research of relevance to women with learning disabilities, focusing in particular on literature which is applicable to women with learning disabilities who use forensic services.
Design/methodology/approach
Research involving women with learning disabilities over the past 30 years was sought out and reviewed, and literature relating to women living in locked wards (including those without learning disabilities) was focused upon. Related themes such as the BPD diagnosis, self injury, and aggression are explored.
Findings
The author found very little research relating to women with learning disabilities who use secure services, particularly which included quotes from the women themselves.
Research limitations/implications
The author recommends that more research in this area is needed, primarily research which includes the voices of women service users themselves.
Originality/value
This paper will be relevant to all staff who work with women in secure services.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a firm’s undertaking of a bond IPO influences the monitoring of the private loans granted to the firm by private lenders. If it…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a firm’s undertaking of a bond IPO influences the monitoring of the private loans granted to the firm by private lenders. If it does, in which direction the monitoring changes?
Design/methodology/approach
The author uses both univariate and multivariate analyses to test the hypothesis. For the purposes of this research, the author’s primary data sources are LPC Dealscan, which provides data on private loans; Mergent FISD, which provides data on public bond issues; and the Compustat Industrial Annual Database, which provides the required financial data for the sample firms. The author’s sample covers non-financial US firms for the period of 1991-2010. The author’s final sample consists of nearly 23,000 private loans granted to about 5,500 non-financial US firms.
Findings
The major finding of this research is that private lenders increase their degree of monitoring of loans that they extend to a firm after it issues a bond IPO. The results of the two-stage bond IPO anticipation model further strengthen the findings. The evidence suggests that as the firm issues public debt for the first time, private lenders get concerned about the potential increase of agency problems and leverage, and consequently, find it valuable to increase the degree of monitoring of loans. Also, the magnitude of change in monitoring is strongly influenced by the degree of information asymmetry, leverage, profitability, and potential to waste free cash flow.
Originality/value
This paper enhances one’s understanding of the contracting dynamics between private lenders and the firm as it issues in the public debt market. The findings can aid firms anticipate the borrowing conditions they will face if they undertake a bond IPO. Further, the cross-sectional analysis on covenant changes from pre- to post-bond IPO period identifies specific firm characteristics that impact the magnitude of change of covenant intensity and comprehensiveness. As a result, uncertainty regarding post-bond IPO outcomes is reduced for borrowing firms.
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Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are a far too common and disturbing occurrence for people with dementia, their families and those who care for them. The…
Abstract
Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are a far too common and disturbing occurrence for people with dementia, their families and those who care for them. The consequences can be not only devastating personally and challenging professionally, but also costly for service providers. In this, the fourth of this series on older people's mental health services, we describe what BPSD are, what we know about current service provision for this group and the gaps, and how commissioners might approach these issues when developing services for older people with dementia.
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Efficiency, equity, equality and parity all have shortcomings in both procedural and substantive values. The primary readjustment required is to re‐stress political analysis, even…
Abstract
Efficiency, equity, equality and parity all have shortcomings in both procedural and substantive values. The primary readjustment required is to re‐stress political analysis, even though it may deal with fluid concepts such as power and values. Secondly, there is a need to reverse the apparent tendency among policy analysts to reduce real political and social conflicts to the level of technological problems which only need more resources or technological innovations in order to be “solved”. The fluidity of values such as equity, equality and parity means that they are malleable and can be changed over time via education; social policies can thus be re‐shaped.
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Jill Manthorpe, Steve Iliffe, Claire Goodman, Vari Drennan and James Warner
The purpose of this case study is to report and reflect on a recently completed five-year programme of research on dementia care and practice in England. This EVIDEM programme of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this case study is to report and reflect on a recently completed five-year programme of research on dementia care and practice in England. This EVIDEM programme of research was specifically designed to influence services for people with dementia and their carers; several additional lessons emerged along the way that might shape broader research on ageing that includes older people and those who work with them.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study of the EVIDEM programme presents and discusses four lessons learned by the core research team – covering the implications of newly basing research inside the NHS, multi-disciplinary working across academic disciplines, communicating with diverse practitioners, and the impact of patient and public involvement on the research process. The paper reflects on communication between the NHS and academic communities, and the creation of new research capacity in dementia.
Findings
Collaborative working between academic disciplines is possible, given willing researchers and commitment to participating in frequent opportunities for dialogue and learning. In research in dementia these foundations are probably essential, given the growing scale of the problem and the small size of the research community, if we are to have a beneficial impact on people's lives. Lay expertise is a necessary ingredient of research programmes, not just for its co-design power, but for its ability to redesign projects when major problems arise.
Research limitations/implications
This case study reports the subjective views of the research collaborators. While this raises the potential for bias, it offers an “insider” perspective of the research process and engagement in research leadership.
Originality/value
There are few reflections on research processes and management and this case study may be useful to academic researchers, to those working in the NHS with responsibility for research in different forms, and to older people's organisations who wish to hear of the value of older people's engagement in research advisory activity.
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This volume of Research in the Sociology of Work brings together chapters that address the intersection of work and family in the new economy. In our introductory chapter, we…
Abstract
This volume of Research in the Sociology of Work brings together chapters that address the intersection of work and family in the new economy. In our introductory chapter, we provide a short overview of some characteristics associated with the current era, briefly introduce the other chapters in the volume, and explain the major themes that connect them. The chapters are diverse – ranging from how precarious employment influences the boundaries workers create between work and family, to how social environments present within work teams, organizations, or nations shape the work–family intersection, and workplace interventions that aim to create more flexibility in when, where, and how work is done. Collectively, these chapters reflect some of the breadth present in the growing work–family field. We conclude with our parting thoughts about the current state of work–family scholarship.
Many traditional companies have formalized the process of brainstorming, reducing it to an activity often characterized as the untrained leading the unwilling to do the…
Abstract
Many traditional companies have formalized the process of brainstorming, reducing it to an activity often characterized as the untrained leading the unwilling to do the unnecessary. However, many, if not most, successful innovations come from the “wrong” places—nonconformists with an obsession, individuals stumbling on new discoveries by accident, people finding new uses for products intended for different markets, and so on. After twenty‐five years of studying IBM, General Electric, Polaroid, and Xerox, James Brian Quinn of the Amos Tuck Business School at Dartmouth College found that not a single major product had come from the formal planning process.
The unit trust industry is one of the fastest growing areas in the financial sector. This dramatic growth has raised concern about the level of investors’ knowledge, or lack…
Abstract
The unit trust industry is one of the fastest growing areas in the financial sector. This dramatic growth has raised concern about the level of investors’ knowledge, or lack thereof, relating to the factors associated with investment decisions. This study investigates the factors and dynamics behind cash flows into and from General Equity unit trusts from September 1996 to September 2001, and the extent to which market factors and unit trust characteristics explain the variation in cash flows. The analysis shows a significant positive relationship between cash flows and contemporaneous returns of the General Equity unit trusts and the equity market, while being negatively related to one‐month lagged returns and cash flows. Several of the determinants, including interest rates, fee structures, risk and fund size, are found to be insignificant at a 5% level. The results indicate that investors exhibit an element of profit maximisation, driven by performances and irrationality, in that they give less consideration to fee structures, risk and fund size.
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Katie James and Jody Clay-Warner
Research has not yet examined how paid labor performed at nontraditional hours may factor into women’s perceptions of the fairness of the division of household labor. Here we…
Abstract
Purpose
Research has not yet examined how paid labor performed at nontraditional hours may factor into women’s perceptions of the fairness of the division of household labor. Here we specifically examine how being employed during nonstandard hours alters the relationship between the division of household labor and wives’ perceptions of the fairness of this division of labor.
Methodology/approach
We analyze data from the National Survey of Families and Households using multinomial logistic regression.
Findings
We find that over-work in household labor has a weaker effect on perceptions of unfairness for wives who work nonstandard hours than for wives who work standard hours. This interaction effect, however, is partially mediated by husbands’ time in feminine-type chores.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional design does not allow us to draw causal conclusions. Future research would benefit by considering how movement in and out and nonstandard work affects perceptions of fairness of household labor.
Originality/value of the chapter
Our findings suggest that one way that the gender revolution has stalled is through women’s participation in the service economy since this participation is positively associated with their husbands’ hours in routine chores, which women particularly value. Thus, women may continue to perceive fairness in the home, despite objective inequality, because their husbands are spending more time in feminine-type chores, as necessitated by women’s participation in work at nonstandard times.