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Provides a general approach for the incorporation of the influence of insiders and outsiders in the union utility. In particular, the specification is such that the weight of the influence of the outsiders can vary; and this makes it possible to consider different degrees of union altruism and also to embrace all the previous work on the subject. Examines both the monopoly union and the efficient bargain cases. Comparative statics analysis provides some interesting results, such as that wages are more inflexible downwards.

Looks at a union model where a trade union leader represents union members in dealing with the firm. The union leader is risk neutral and derives his utility solely from the union fees. The employment level is efficient, and equivalent to the contracts without a union leader, when the unemployed receive severance pay and wages and employment is included in the contract. In this case the outcome of the contract does not depend on whether severance pay is paid by the firm or is as a result of internal redistribution of income from employed to unemployed members. In contrast with the efficient bargaining literature, less than efficient levels of employment arise if severance pay is excluded. It is in the interest of the union leader that the unemployed receive no severance pay. This leads to a conflict of interest between the union leader and the members of the union.

Absenteeism is a costly behavior that occurs around the world. However, in spite of the growth in cross‐cultural research in organizational research and in global businesses, very few studies have examined absenteeism from a cross‐cultural perspective. This study examined the effect of national culture on absenteeism using a sample of 17,842 respondents from 24 countries. Based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions, we postulated that uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism, and masculinity will be negatively related to absenteeism. Similarly, based on the GLOBE cultural dimensions, we proposed that there will be positive relationships between societal collectivism and assertiveness, and absenteeism. However, we hypothesized that in‐group collectivism and gender egalitarianism will have negative relationships with absenteeism. To test our cross‐level hypotheses, we used Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Our results indicated that with the exception of uncertainty avoidance and assertiveness, all our hypothesized relationships were supported. Consistent findings were obtained for the common elements of both the Hofstede and GLOBE cultural dimensions, demonstrating convergence of our findings. We offer theoretical and practical implications of our study and suggest future research directions in the culture‐absenteeism link

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the externality that arises from environmental tobacco smoke damage is no ordinary externality. Apart from acting to the detriment of passive smokers, tobacco smoking also affects the survival probabilities of smokers. Incorporating this into its analysis, this paper evaluates the damage caused by smoking, the appropriate design of public health policies and tax policies targeted at reducing tobacco‐related externalities.

By mathematically characterising how smoking impacts smokers and non‐smokers differently, the paper determines smokers' and non‐smokers' lifetime utility, enabling one to evaluate the impact of both health interventions and tax policies.

The paper shows that treatment as well as research and development leading to life‐prolonging health outcomes for smokers are generally oversupplied. The tax recommendations, however, are far from straightforward. Indeed, although not universally the case, it may be optimal to subsidise tobacco usage. The paper also discusses the separating conditions necessary for cigarette taxation to fall or rise with time.

It follows from the paper that ignoring the effect that smoking has on smokers' own life expectancy may lead to erroneous theoretical results and misguided policy recommendations.

The paper seeks to rectify the omission that smoking is somewhat different from other externalities. It develops a model where smoking results in both self‐harm and harm to others, enabling one to demonstrate that there is more to the theoretical study of this externality than is currently acknowledged in the literature.

The aim of this research is to determine the extent to which the human resource (HR) function can screen and potentially predict suicidal employees and offer preventative mental health assistance.

Drawing from the 2019 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (N = 56,136), this paper employs multivariate binary logistic regression to model the work-related predictors of suicidal ideation, planning and attempts.

The results indicate that known periods of joblessness, the total number of sick days and absenteeism over the last 12 months are significantly associated with various suicidal outcomes while controlling for key psychosocial correlates. The results also indicate that employee assistance programs are associated with a significantly reduced likelihood of suicidal ideation. These findings are consistent with conservation of resources theory.

This research demonstrates preliminarily that the HR function can unobtrusively detect employee mental health crises by collecting data on key predictors.

In the era of COVID-19, employers have a duty of care to safeguard employee mental health. To this end, the authors offer an innovative way through which the HR function can employ predictive analytics to address mental health crises before they result in tragedy.

This study focuses on the relationship between informal relationships, work ethics and (short‐time) absenteeism. According to self‐categorisation theory, which elaborates on the social identity theory, hypotheses were formulated for the relationship between consensus in work ethics within teams, informal relationships (cohesiveness) and short‐term absenteeism. The hypotheses were tested within two Dutch organisations: study 1 concerns a housing corporation (n=53, eight teams), and study 2 concerns a nursing home (n=97, nine teams). As expected, consensus in work ethics and cohesiveness within a team were positively related. Results from multi‐level analyses showed as expected, a negative relationship between cohesiveness within a team and short‐term absenteeism of employees. Furthermore, an interaction‐effect was found in the first study, but not in the second: the more cohesive the team, the stronger the relationships between work ethics and short‐term absenteeism. Findings are discussed in terms of recommendations for further research and practical implications.

Since the literature on the effect of the unemployment rate as reflection of economic fluctuations on crime shows an empirically ambiguous effect, the purpose of this paper is to argue that a new way of modeling the dynamics of unemployment and crime by focussing on the transitory and persistent effect of unemployment on crime helps resolve this ambiguity.

Panel data for US states from 1965 to 2006 are examined using the Mundlak (1978) methodology to incorporate the dynamic interactions between crime and unemployment into the estimation.

After decomposing the unemployment effect on crime into a transitory and persistent effect, evidence of a strong positive correlation between unemployment and almost all types of crime rates is unearthed. This evidence is robust to endogeneity and the controlling for cross-panel correlation and indicators for state imprisonment.

The paper is the first to examine the dynamics of the interaction of crime and economic fluctuations using the temporary and persistent effects framework of Mundlak (1978). In one set of estimates, one can evaluation both the short- and long-run effects of changes of unemployment on crime.