Search

Purpose: The literature mostly investigates the business cycle transmission of the United Kingdom (UK) and France as a part of a wider group (e.g. European Exchange Rate Mechanism or G7), despite their historical links and regional significance. Thus, herein paper aims to analyse the inter-dependence of these economies and how a shock from one of them affects the other for the data since 1978 to 2019. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, first, preliminary statistics were calculated in order to describe the historical relationship between these countries. The econometric part estimates the vector auto-regression model (VAR) to assess the inter-dependence of the economies. VAR model allows further to inspect the impulse response functions that shows the shock dynamics from one country to another. In order to verify if a shock from one of the economies is important to another, the study uses granger causality test. Findings: The study establishes a strong link between these countries. A business cycle is transmitted significantly between the economies of France and UK, with a single standard deviation shock from France resulting in a long term effect of 0.4% change in gross domestic product (GDP) of UK and 1% vice versa. Additionally changes in GDP of both of the countries significantly Granger-cause change to GDP of the corresponding economy. Originality/value: This is the first empirical study investigating the business cycle transmission between France and UK and providing a quantitative assessment of their inter-dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Since 2008-2009, the governments in France and Great Britain have encouraged more rigorous penalization of tax evaders. This paper aims to investigate the implementation of these policies on the basis of an important and original empirical material.Design/methodology/approach The study done in France relies on interviews conducted with representatives of law enforcement agencies on public statistics and on an innovative database compiled from nearly 600 cases submitted to the judiciary. The comparison with Great Britain is developed through interviews conducted with different participants in the fight against tax fraud and statistical information.Findings This paper describes the recent evolution of the machinery for screening tax-related wrongdoings in France and in the UK. It demonstrates that whilst publicly calling for harsh punishment against tax dodgers, in practice, both governments tend to seek a balance between the growing demand for tax equality and the belief that the State should not intervene in the economic realm. This strategy leads to the over-representation of certain categories of taxpayers. Despite the commonalities resulting from the numerous filters before prosecution, the penal strategy takes on two different shapes on either side of the Channel: whereas the British institutions support an “exemplary punitive” system, French regulatory system favours a “quasi-administrative” treatment. The French tax authority continues to use the criminal procedures mainly as a financial instrument for the improved restitution of stolen taxes. The policy of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, supported by the “Sentencing Guidelines”, aims much more at obtaining exemplary convictions.Originality/value Based on a large empirical material, this paper highlights the different outcomes of the criminal trials against tax evaders in the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the rising public health phenomenon of workplace suicide drawing on comparative insights from the French and UK contexts. France has experienced what the media describes as a “suicide epidemic” in the workplace, with rising numbers of employees choosing to kill themselves in the face of extreme pressures at work.Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a comparative approach drawing on insights from the French context, in which workplace suicide is legally and officially recognised, to shed critical light on the UK context where workplace suicide remains a hidden phenomenon.Findings Whilst in France, workplace suicide is treated as an urgent public health phenomenon and data on suicides are collected centrally, in the UK, despite a deterioration in working conditions, suicide is not recognised in legislation and data are not collected centrally. Unless society recognises and document rising workplace suicides, we will be unable to deal with their profound human consequences for suicidal individuals, their families and society more widely.Research limitations/implications Research on workplace suicides in the UK and many other national contexts is hampered by fragmentary statistical data on this phenomenon.Practical implications The paper calls for greater recognition, analysis and monitoring of workplace suicide in the UK. Suicide should be included in the list of workplace accidents that are reported to the authorities for further investigation. In a context where workplace conditions are deteriorating, society need to recognises the profound human costs of these conditions for the individual employee.Social implications The paper has important implications for the contemporary workplace in terms of the contractual relationship between employer and employee.Originality/value Workplace suicide is an urgent, yet under-researched phenomenon. The paper brings a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective to bear on this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of the risk management system in the European context, especially with regard to the risk management committee, the uncertainty of the environment and company performance. In summary, it evaluates European companies listed on the stock exchange in France, Germany and the United Kingdom to determine how risk management systems influence financial companies' performance. Design/methodology/approach -- To study the effectiveness of risk management systems and their influence on performance, the large companies selected in our sample are fairly representative of the European market, according to the Dutch indices of each country (SBF 120 in France, HDAX 110 in Germany and FTSE 100 in United Kingdom).The empirical evidence is based on an international quantitative analysis, using a data set involving 320 companies listed on the stock exchange over a ten-year period from 2005 to 2014. Findings -- The results indicate that the establishment of a risk management and control system by a company positively influences its management, and its performance level and value creation also improve. The results of this study demonstrate a significant strengthening of the role of the risk management committee in the three countries. The surveillance function is reinforced, and in particular, the internal control system is accentuated. Research limitations/implications -- This study has some limitations that can form leads for future research. One of these limitations is the sample size. The authors have represented the European context by three countries that certainly constitute great European powers, but have regulations different from other countries. The company size is also a possible research element. Indeed, risk management system varies between large, small and medium-sized enterprises, so it is important to study each type of company well. Originality/value -- This study identifies the risk management committee as a mechanism of control that is highly important in the company, and it proposes an international framework that comparatively and empirically evaluates how the risk management system used in large European companies can improve their financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – In this paper the authors aim to consider the impact of regulatory changes on work-life integration outcomes. Using the cases of France and the UK they seek to explore changes in objective and subjective measures of work-family conflict. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use data from the European Foundation's European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) to analyse trends in employees' working time and work-life integration outcomes. Findings – The authors observe an increase in reported satisfaction with work-life integration in the UK in contrast to a slight fall in France. The authors also find a reinforcement of the working time norms in France and something of a tentative re-emergence in the UK. However, against these trends evidence is also found of an enhanced flexibility in the scheduling of hours in both countries with French employees more at risk of changeable schedules. Practical implications – Downward trends in working time do not necessarily translate into satisfaction with work-life integration and may create their own tensions and conflicts for employees where there is reduced autonomy. While regulatory change may help shape the working time experiences of employees, the underlying tension between employee and employer-friendly flexibility highlights the challenges for working time regulation and work-life integration in different societal contexts. Originality/value – The paper makes a contribution to the analysis of work-life integration outcomes by examining both objective and subjective measures using comparable data. The authors underline the need to contextualise the regulation and experiences of work-life integration in different societal settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the similarities and differences in the development of psychological therapies in three European Union countries (the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France) in the context of national policies about health services and public mental health. Design/methodology/approach – Three case studies are utilised for this purpose as historical descriptions. The latter are then discussed in the light of traditional approaches to the sociology of the professions. Findings – Whilst some similarities are identified across the three countries (for example the recent convergence of policy interest in "evidence-based practice") it is also clear that the particular national cultures have shaped developments and their different forms of healthcare organisation have been reflected in national legislative and regulatory arrangements. Research limitations/implications – These case studies draw attention to the need to explore national variations in policy formation about the same matter (in this case the professionalization of psychological therapies) and to extend discussions within the sociology of the professions to ones of healthcare organizational contexts. In addition, the contested nature of applied psychology may require special attention relative to other forms of health work practice. Originality/value – This paper provides a particular form of understanding about psychological practices within modern healthcare and public health policies, in the light of the peculiar and contextualised aspects of the case studies provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper seeks to focus on the role of organizations in mediating the impact of national work-life balance (WLB) policy on employees, in particular fathers. Design/methodology/approach – It presents existing research about WLB policy implementation in organizations as well as the findings of empirical work in insurance and social work in France and the UK (questionnaire survey, case study analysis, interviews with national and sector-level trade union officials). Findings – These indicate that fathers' take-up of WLB policies is the outcome of a complex dynamic between national fatherhood regimes, organizational and sector characteristics and the individual employee. They suggest that fathers tend to use WLB measures to spend time with their families where measures increase their sense of entitlement (state policies of paternity leave) or where measures offer non-gendered flexibility (reduced working time/organizational systems of flexi-time). In line with other studies it also finds that fathers extensively use informal flexibility where this is available (individual agency). Practical implications – These findings have implications for the way WLB policies are framed at national and organizational level. At national level they indicate that policies work best when they give fathers a sense of entitlement, by giving specific rights linked to fatherhood (e.g. paternity leave or "daddy month"-type arrangements), and or by providing universal rights (e.g. to reduced working time and/or flexible working time); however, where measures are linked to childcare they are often framed as mothers' rights when translated to the organizational level. The research also shows that informal flexibility is used and valued by fathers within organizations, but that such informal arrangements are highly subject to local variation and intermediation by line managers and co-workers; hence, for effective and even coverage they would need to be backed up by formal rights. Originality/value – Cross-national comparative research into WLB policy and practice at national and organizational level is very rare. The empirical work presented in this paper, although exploratory, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of WLB policy and practice, particularly as it relates to fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — It is known that the self-employed are generally more satisfied than salaried workers. The aim of this paper is to test whether this phenomenon is particularly found for the first-generation self-employed. Design/methodology/approach — French and British panel data are analysed, which include information on various measures of job satisfaction, and the respondent's parents' occupation. Job satisfaction regressions were run in which the first-and second-generation self-employed were distinguished between. Findings — The study finds that first-generation self-employed (those whose parents were not. self-employed) are more satisfied overall than are the second-generation self-employed. The findings are consistent between the British and French data. Research limitations/implications — While the results are the same in the two countries considered, further validation work should extend the analysis across countries. While the authors are fairly sure that the second-generation self-employed do worse, they cannot precisely distinguish between comparison to one's parents, constrained occupational choice, and selection effects due to lower barriers to self-employment entry. Originality/value — The authors believe that this is one of the first papers to distinguish between types of self-employed in terms of their higher satisfaction. The finding that parents' labour force status continues to have a significant impact on their children's job satisfaction argues for a more systematic consideration of intergenerational factors in the analysis of labour markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this research is to investigate the positive effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on loyalty to retailers through trust dimensions (competence, benevolence and integrity) taking into account socio-cultural factors (social norms and collectivism) across nations. Design/methodology/approach: The authors carried out three quantitative studies (N = 948) in three countries (France, Germany and the United Kingdom [UK]). They then used structural equation modelling to test the model and hypotheses. Findings: The results show contingent positive effects of CSR perception on customer loyalty. They underscore indirect effects of CSR on loyalty through the mediation of specific dimensions of trust (competence, benevolence and integrity). The authors also identify significant moderations such that the effects of social norms on CSR and loyalty are stronger in France/Germany than in the UK. The effects of collectivism on CSR and loyalty are stronger in France than in Germany and the UK. Practical implications: Retailers can rely on CSR and trust to increase loyalty directly. When communicating CSR activities, retailers have to account for cultural differences in their main markets and adopt adjusted strategies to convince consumers about their CSR efforts. Retailers should understand the social norms of their customers in order to determine the effectiveness of disclosing CSR initiatives. Originality/value: Using a cross-cultural perspective, this article extends and enriches knowledge on the relationship between CSR, social norms and loyalty in retailing in different cultural settings. It also underscores the role of trust in building loyalty across nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the ways in which the European Union (EU) is influencing policy making in EU member states. It covers the historical development of the UK, France and Germany. There is evidence to suggest politics and economic policy making in these countries are now similar particularly in the areas of adopting anti inflationist strategies and opening up markets. However, some differences remain particularly regarding the flexibility of labour markets in the various member states. Design/methodology/approach — The paper draws on the various components of integration theory and incorporates also a business history approach. Findings — The main findings indicate that the EU is gradually having more influence over member states, newer areas of development include social policy, immigration and an increasing neoliberalist approach towards opening new markets. However, countries are still given some flexibility, for example, there are still a number of countries not yet willing to join the Euro currency. Originality/value — The paper illustrates the important role of the EU in formulating policy for member states in today's increasingly competitive business environment Business needs to be fully aware of these implications in order to become more successful while operating in the expanding European market [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Taking into account strong intra-European discrepancies between workforce models for women, such as part-time work rates and the ability to have uninterrupted careers, this article aims to show how nursing careers are shaped differently by employment and gendered social policies in France and Britain. Using the case of state hospitals, it explores how French and British nurses reconcile sector-specific work constraints and family life at different stages of their life and career cycle. Design/methodology/approach - This paper compares nurses' career patterns using age, "early exit" and part-time data drawn from national and European official sources, large-scale surveys and secondary literature. Findings - Although hospital employment policies prioritise entry-level recruitment over retention of mature nurses in both countries, French nurses are more likely to have uninterrupted full-time careers than their British counterparts thanks to the protective effect of state employment regulations and interventionist gendered policies. However, the positive impact of the French social model on nurses' careers is limited to the childbearing and rearing stage. Research limitations/implications - The analysis of nursing careers is constrained by the scarcity of official longitudinal data in both countries. Although the study is limited to one profession in two countries, the method used is transferable to other professional groups and national contexts. Originality/value - Thanks to the cross-national comparative approach, the paper broadens profession-centred analyses, highlighting the impact of employment and social policies on female professional careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade the telecommunications sector has undergone an accelerated structural change in work organisation, qualification profiles and the mode of socialisation at work. Telecommunications is taking the lead when it comes to the dynamics of vocational identity transformation. Classical models of vocational identities are declining in favour of a new "negotiator-network/mobility" mode of socialisation at work. The latter is mainly taken in charge by a new generation of telecom employees who are mobile, flexible and proactive in constructing their own work identities and project-based work activities. This paper examines the key findings of the FAME project investigation in the telecommunications sector in France, Germany and the UK. The first section focuses on the employers' perception of the contextual background for change. The second section examines employees' responses to these structural changes and new modes of socialisation at work. The concluding section highlights some overall trends and implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Prior studies suggest that corporate cash holding will reflect firms' corporate governance (CG) environment. Consistent with this prediction, this study aims to examine the impact of board characteristics on firms' cash holding in the UK, France and Germany. Design/methodology/approach: Using 2,805 firm-year observations between 2009 and 2019, the authors examine the relationship between board characteristics and corporate cash holding. The authors used two measures of cash holdings as our dependent variables. As independent variables, the authors used CG characteristics relevant to effective board monitoring such as board meetings, outside directors, board size and board gender diversity. Findings: The authors find that board characteristics influence firms' cash holdings of firms in the UK, France and Germany. However, this study documents evidence of varying impacts of board monitoring on the cash holding of the UK when compared to German and French firms, the countries that are classifiable as bank-based economies. The result of this study is robust to alternative cash-holding measures and endogeneity. Practical implications: This study provides evidence supporting the board's impact in mitigating agency conflict in shareholder- and stakeholder-oriented CG environments. Originality/value: This study contributes to previous works on firms' financial orientation by showing that the impact of board characteristics on corporate cash holdings varies between bank- and market-based economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim was to identify the competencies professionals need to promote co-creation engagement within communities. Design/methodology/approach: Co-creation could contribute to building community capacity to promote health. Professional development is key to support co-creative practices. Participants were professionals in a position to promote co-creation processes in health-promoting welfare settings across Denmark, Portugal, France and United Kingdom. An overarching unstructured topic guide was used within interviews, focus groups, questionnaires and creative activities. Findings: The need to develop competencies to promote co-creation was high across all countries. Creating a common understanding of co-creation and the processes involved to increase inclusivity, engagement and shared understanding was also necessary. Competencies included: How to run co-creation from the beginning of the process right through to evaluation, using feedback and communication throughout using an open action-oriented approach; initiating a perspective change and committing to the transformation of co-creation into a real-life process. Practical implications: Overall, learning about underlying principles, process initiation, implementation and facilitation of co-creation were areas identified to be included within a co-creation training programme. This can be applied through the framework of enabling change, advocating for co-creative processes, mediating through partnership, communication, leadership, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation and research, ethical values and knowledge of co-creative processes. Originality/value: This study provides novel findings on the competencies needed for health promoting professionals to embed co-creative processes within their practice, and the key concerns that professionals with a position to mediate co-creation have in transferring the abstract term of co-creation into a real-world practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a study which determined possible grouping of similar master of business administration (MBA) programmes offered by British and French business schools accredited by the Association of Master Business Administration (AMBA) as of January 2006. The study used the statistical co-plot method to map/group the schools according to both core and elective units offered by the business schools. It outlined the features of the six groups of MBA programmes found. It described the differentiating characteristics of core and option units offered by business schools in each cluster.

Condom use is a preventive action of the type that the health belief model was designed to understand. The model would hypothesize that beliefs about greater seriousness and susceptibility to AIDS and HIV infection would lead to perceived threat and greater condom use. Condom use also would be influenced by perceived bathers such as moral objections or difficulty in obtaining them. Additionally, recent campaigns to increase the knowledge of AIDS among the populations of Western nations may provide cues that increase perceptions of threat. The purpose of this paper is to examine an emotional factor, fear of AIDS, and the role it plays in a health belief approach to explaining condom use. The object of this analysis is to determine the strength and functional form of the association between fear of AIDS and condom use. Emotional factors seldom play a central role in models commonly used to explain health-related behaviors, for example, the health belief model, the theory of reasoned action, and self-efficacy theory.

The article presents a study which examines the cultural differences in the corporate political activity (CPA) of government affairs managers in French and British firms. The study uses qualitative research design and collects data from interviews to determine the effect of national culture on the objectives and political strategies of government affairs managers. Results show that cultural dimensions and corporate political action have a possible relationships in the cultural dimensions of CPA. Moreover, it says that avoidance of uncertainty can help in explaining the objectives of the managers when they become active in politics.

This review arises from a series of multidisciplinary Franco-British workshops which were supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). More than 30 participants from a range of institutions and agencies were involved in compiling the material in this review (Appendix I). The workshops offered an opportunity to exchange ideas from research on the relationships between migration, health and well-being in Britain and France. In the following discussion we compare and contrast experiences in the two countries, with the aim of assessing the importance of international, national and local contexts, in their various cultural, social and political dimensions, for the relationships of interest. Drawing on these ideas, we suggest the definition of a future international research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the issue of uprating the minimum wage. It argues that this issue is nearly as important as the level of the minimum wage, but one that has been relatively neglected. It also maintains that Britain lacks an adequate uprating mechanism and outlines some consequences of this and argues that increases in the United Kingdom have had an erratic pattern that may be related to the electoral cycle. Drawing upon experience in the United States, the article argues that the lack of an adequate mechanism may lead to avoidable and intense political lobbying, greater instability and uncertainty for low paying firms, and unfairness to those on or near minimum wages, who are then held captive to the vagaries of the political process to maintain the value of their incomes. Considers the possible form of any uprating mechanism with an overview of the U.S. and French experience. The article argues that any uprating mechanism must not only maintain the value of the minimum wage in relation to inflation but also to those of more highly paid workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares the major features of pension provision in the UK and in France. It considers why the UK population appears to be at best indifferent to their system of provision, when overall it is financially secure, whereas the French system, which is faced with increasing costs, receives wide support. The significant differences in provision, apart from the method of funding, are in the level of coverage and the extent of member involvement. The article concludes that, if the UK system took some steps in this direction, perhaps employees would begin to perceive pension provision as the valuable benefit it is, and more employers would be encouraged to introduce, or retain, defined benefit occupational pension schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This article presents an estimation of the incidence and the impact on wages of employer provided training in two countries with different legal systems concerning this type of vocational training, France and Britain. A selectivity bias correction method is used to estimate the real impact of training on wages. This shows that, if the selection in training processes are quite similar in the two countries according to the statistically observable characteristics, this is not the case according to statistically non observable characteristics. Our results show that the "less efficient" workers (level of education, seniority, experience, firm size . . . being equal) are more likely to be trained by their employers in France, which does not seem to be the case in Britain. We explain this result by the fact that the two countries have a different legal system concerning employer provided training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a study that examines the French and British traditions of management training and education. It also highlights the traditions shaped organizational approaches to human resource development (HRD). In increasingly competitive environments organizations are turning to their people as a means of creating or sustaining competitive advantage. This trend is placing a greater focus on the role of HRD within organizations. In addition, the increasing internationalization of markets has meant organizations are no longer operating within the confines of one national context. There is a large body of evidence that suggests that organizational differences in human resource practices, including training and development, are related to variations in national legislation and cultural frameworks of a country. The article concludes that Concludes that French and British organizations focus differently on training and development. States that these are clearly a reflection of the legislative and cultural environment in which the organization is operating.

The article focuses on the British government's goal to cut greenhouse gases by 60 percent by 2050. It states that the goal is the most ambitious after France's similar goal to reduce greenhouse gases by 75 percent. A new package of climate change legislation will be made within a few weeks. It further reports that the British government will establish an independent "carbon committee,"to advise the government on measures and monitor and report arrangements on the measures taken. It will also "create enabling powers" to cut down on emissions.

This article reports on findings of a research on collective bargaining released by the International Labor Organization in 1977. It shows that collective bargaining has spread beyond its original use as a means of settling wages and basic working conditions. For example, collective agreements have been made in many countries to protect workers in the event of a cut-back in production. Others now include investment policy and work organization among the subjects for negotiation. Detailed clauses governing the relations between the parties to the collective agreement have become a customary feature in many countries. Collective bargaining also covers increasing number of workers. It has spread to the nationalized countries in France and to farming in parts of the U.S. In the U.S. in 1976, more than 200,000 collective agreements were signed. In Germany, the total was about 8,000, covering more than 90 percent of all workers in the country. About 75 percent of British workers and more than 50 percent of French workers are covered.