nep-bec New Economics Papers
on Business Economics
Issue of 2008‒02‒02
nine papers chosen by
Christian Calmes
University of Quebec in Ottawa

  1. Teamwork and Intra-Firm Wage Dispersion among Blue-Collar Workers By Jirjahn, Uwe; Kraft, Kornelius
  2. How to Limit Discrimination? Analyzing the Effects of Innovative Workplace Practices on Intra-Firm Gender Wage Gaps Using Linked Employer-Employee Data By Wolf, Elke; Heinze, Anja
  3. Unions, Training, and Firm Performance By Addison, John T.; Belfield, Clive R.
  4. Returns to Tenure or Seniority? By Sebastian Buhai; Miguel Portela; Coen Teulings; Aico van Vuuren
  5. Responsible corporate governance: Towards a stakeholder board of directors? By Ayuso, Silvia; Argandoña, Antonio
  6. Developing and Testing a Measure for the Ethical Culture of Organizations: The Corporate Ethical Virtues Model By Kaptein, M.
  7. Investigating the Development of the Internal and External Service Tasks of Non-executive Directors: The Case of the Netherlands (1997-2005) By Bezemer, P.J.; Maassen, G.F.; Bosch, F.A.J. van den; Volberda, H.W.
  8. The Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Team Reflexivity By Schippers, M.C.; Hartog, D.N. den; Koopman, P.L.; Knippenberg, D.L. van
  9. Coevolutionary Competence in the Realm of Corporate Longevity: How Long-lived Firms Strategically Renew Themselves By Kwee, Z.; Bosch, F.A.J. van den; Volberda, H.W.

  1. By: Jirjahn, Uwe (University of Hannover); Kraft, Kornelius (University of Dortmund)
    Abstract: Using data on a sample of manufacturing establishments in Germany, we find that the use of self-managed teams is associated with increased intra-firm wage inequality between skilled and unskilled blue-collar workers. We also show that moderating factors play an important role. While teamwork interacts positively with employer-provided further training and a production technology of the most recent vintage, it interacts negatively with the age of the establishment and the coverage by a collective bargaining agreement.
    Keywords: technology, training, skill-biased organizational change, wage inequality, establishment age, collective bargaining
    JEL: J30 J31 M52
    Date: 2008–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3291&r=bec
  2. By: Wolf, Elke; Heinze, Anja
    Abstract: This paper provides a new approach to assess the impact of organisational changes fostering employee involvement, performance related pay schemes and other relevant trends in personnel policy on the gender wage gap. Our results indicate that innovative human resource practices tend to limit the wage differential between men and women. The innovation of this study is that we use linked employer-employee data to look at within-firm gender wage differentials. To investigate the theoretical hypotheses regarding the effect of selected human resource measures on gender wage inequality, we calculate a firm-specific gender wage gap accounting for differences in individual characteristics.
    Keywords: gender wage gap, within-firms wage differentials, organizational change, performance-related pay systems
    JEL: J16 J31
    Date: 2007
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:6897&r=bec
  3. By: Addison, John T. (University of South Carolina); Belfield, Clive R. (Queens College, CUNY)
    Abstract: The present paper uses a combination of workplace and linked employee-workplace data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey and the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey to examine the impact of unions on training incidence, training intensity/coverage, and training duration. It also examines the impact of unions and training on earnings and a measure of establishment labour productivity. In addition, the implications of training for the firm’s bottom line are evaluated. Union effects on training emerge as fairly subtle, and are more positive when using individual rather than plant-wide training data. A positive impact of training on earnings is detected in both the individual and plant-wide wage data, albeit only for the earlier survey. Consistent with other recent findings, the effects of union recognition on earnings are today rather muted, while union-training interaction effects vary greatly. Instrumenting training provides positive results for the labour productivity outcome and, in the case of the earlier survey, for the financial performance indicator as well. However, some negative effects of unions are now also detected.
    Keywords: labour productivity, union recognition, bargaining structure, employer-provided training, training Incidence, training intensity/coverage, training duration, earnings, financial performance
    JEL: J24 J33 J51
    Date: 2008–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3294&r=bec
  4. By: Sebastian Buhai (Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus and Tinbergen Institute/Erasmus Univ. Rotterdam); Miguel Portela (Universidade do Minho - NIPE); Coen Teulings (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Analysis, Univ. of Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute); Aico van Vuuren (Free University Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute)
    Abstract: This study documents two empirical regularities, using data for Denmark and Portugal. First, workers who are hired last, are the first to leave the firm (Last In, First Out; LIFO). Second, workers’ wages rise with seniority (= a worker’s tenure relative to the tenure of her colleagues). We seek to explain these regularities by developing a dynamic model of the firm with stochastic product demand and hiring cost (= irreversible specific investments). There is wage bargaining between a worker and its firm. Separations (quits or layoffs) obey the LIFO rule and bargaining is efficient (a zero surplus at the moment of separation). The LIFO rule provides a stronger bargaining position for senior workers, leading to a return to seniority in wages. Efficiency in hiring requires the workers’ bargaining power to be in line with their share in the cost of specific investment. Then, the LIFO rule is a way to protect their property right on the specific investment. We consider the effects of Employment Protection Legislation and risk aversion.
    Keywords: irreversible investment, efficient bargaining, seniority, LIFO, matched employer-employee data, EPL.
    JEL: J31 J41 J63
    Date: 2008
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:02/2008&r=bec
  5. By: Ayuso, Silvia (IESE Business School); Argandoña, Antonio (IESE Business School)
    Abstract: The central question posed in this paper will be how to organize board composition in order to ensure responsible corporate governance both from a CSR and a good governance perspective. Adopting a stakeholder approach to corporate governance, we analyze the arguments given by different theoretical approaches for linking specific board composition with financial performance and CSR, and discuss the empirical research conducted. Despite the inconclusive findings of empirical research, it can be argued that diverse stakeholders on the board will promote CSR activities of the firm, but at the same time will increase board capital (which ultimately may lead to a better financial performance). Finally, we propose a model for selecting board members based both on ethical and pragmatic arguments.
    Keywords: Board composition; corporate governance; corporate social responsibility; financial performance; stakeholders;
    Date: 2007–07–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:iesewp:d-0701&r=bec
  6. By: Kaptein, M. (Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), RSM Erasmus University)
    Abstract: Based on four interlocking empirical studies, this paper initially validates and refines the Corporate Ethical Virtues Model which formulates normative criteria for the ethical culture of organizations. The findings of an exploratory factor analysis provide support for the existence of eight unidimensional subscales: clarity, congruency of supervisors, congruency of management, feasibility, supportability, transparency, discussability, and sanctionability. The findings of a confirmatory factor analysis show that the overall fit of the model is quite high. Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity is also found. The resulting 58-item self-reporting questionnaire is a useful tool that can be used in future research and by managers in assessing the ethical culture of their organization.
    Keywords: ethics;culture;virtues;construct development;factor analysis
    Date: 2007–12–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765010770&r=bec
  7. By: Bezemer, P.J.; Maassen, G.F.; Bosch, F.A.J. van den; Volberda, H.W. (Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), RSM Erasmus University)
    Abstract: During the last decade, globalization and liberalization of financial markets, changing societal expectations and corporate governance scandals have increased the attention for the fiduciary duties of non-executive directors. In this context, recent corporate governance reform initiatives have emphasized the control task and independence of non-executive directors. However, little attention has been paid to their impact on the external and internal service tasks of non-executive directors. Therefore, this paper investigates how the service tasks of non-executive directors have evolved in the Netherlands. Data on corporate governance at the top-100 listed companies in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2005 show that the emphasis on non-executive directors’ external service task has shifted to their internal service task, i.e. from non-executive directors acting as boundary spanners to non-executive directors providing advice and counseling to executive directors. This shift in board responsibilities affects non-executive directors’ ability to generate network benefits through board relationships and has implications for non-executive directors’ functional requirements.
    Date: 2007–08–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765010698&r=bec
  8. By: Schippers, M.C.; Hartog, D.N. den; Koopman, P.L.; Knippenberg, D.L. van (Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), RSM Erasmus University)
    Abstract: Team reflexivity, or the extent to which teams reflect upon and modify their functioning, has been identified as a key factor in the effectiveness of work teams. As yet, however, little is known about the factors that play a role in enhancing team reflexivity, and it is thus important to develop theorizing around the determinants of reflexivity. From an applied perspective, leadership is a very relevant factor. The current study is a first step in the development of such a theory, and addresses this important gap in our understanding of team reflexivity by focusing on the role of leader behavior. We examined the extent to which transformational leadership influences team reflexivity and, in turn, team performance in a field study conducted among 32 intact work teams from nine organizations. Team members rated reflexivity and leadership, while external managers rated team performance. We hypothesized and tested a mediational model proposing that transformational leadership is related to the adoption of a shared vision by the team. This in turn relates to team reflexivity, which leads to higher team performance. Results support this model.
    Keywords: transformational leadership;shared vision;team reflexivity;team performance;team learning
    Date: 2007–11–27
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765010720&r=bec
  9. By: Kwee, Z.; Bosch, F.A.J. van den; Volberda, H.W. (Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), RSM Erasmus University)
    Abstract: Understanding the phenomena of corporate longevity and self-renewing organizations has become an important topic in recent management literature. However, the majority of the research contributions focus on internal determinants of longevity and self-renewal. Using a co-evolutionary framework, the purpose of this paper is to address the dynamic interaction between organizations and environments in the realm of sustained strategic renewal, i.e. corporate longevity. To this end, we will focus on the competence of long-lived firms to coevolve due to the joint effect of managerial intentionality and environmental selection pressures. Building on coevolutionary framework, we develop a conceptual framework that highlights an organization’s coevolutionary competence. Two longitudinal case studies are presented illustrating the arguments.
    Keywords: competence-based management;coevolutionary competence;corporate longevity;strategic renewal;adaptive open systems
    Date: 2007–11–19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765010716&r=bec

This nep-bec issue is ©2008 by Christian Calmes. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.