Search

Taking its cue from Dorothy Richardson's essay, 'The Film Gone Male' written for the critical, Left-wing British film publication Close Up in 1932, this article looks at women working in the British film industry during the transition from silent to sound cinema between 1929 and 1932. It considers the effects of new sound technology on women's roles in front of and behind the camera from production to reception and critique. It also questions whether sound technology further marginalised women as producers of cinema and interrogates whether synchronised sound masculinised film as Richardson asserted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the rise of specific new modes of gender ambivalence from within male subculture and mass media in the 2000s and examines the emergence of the cute cross-dressing 'otoko no ko'. The broader context of this emerging orientation towards girlishness and cuteness is the now widely-documented circumstances of the recessionary period, particularly in the decade from the steepening of the recession and labor market deregulation from around 2006–2008 forwards. Interestingly, this precise period also correlates with a moment of creative escalation and bifurcation in male subcultural positions and forms: witnessing the emergence of self-defined himote ('don't haves' [partners/ sex]) as well as otoko no ko in manga, animation and bedroom and upload subculture. Hints about the relatively weak position of fans and readers of otoko no ko in the labor market, and aspects of the language and ideas underlying the process of transformation through josō fashion, will be explored. Suggestions will be posed about the: undetermined qualities of male cross-dressed parodies of shōjo idols; the increased importance of self-discipline and self-transformation, and the personal effort to be 'cute' and 'appeal' and in order to fulfil the proscriptions for success in the late capitalist economy; and finally, the fuller significance of finding an 'orientation' for both financial and psychological survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Britain's older industrial towns have long been known to face economic problems. However, in the aftermath of the recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis, recorded unemployment in the towns has fallen to relatively low levels. This paper deploys labour market accounts to measure the contributions of changing levels of employment, population, national and international migration, commuting, and labour market participation to the pattern of change in the towns in the period 2010–16. It also places older industrial towns in their regional context by comparing recent trends in the towns with those in the main regional cities, London and the UK as a whole. The paper concludes that the reduction in recorded unemployment since 2010 paints an overly positive picture of labour market trends in Britain's older industrial towns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all sectors of life. Despite economic downturn, one major impact of global pandemic is the rise of 'infodemic' and 'disinfodemic', which actually creates challenge for the public to access reliable information when they require it. News media plays a crucial role in such stressful situations by providing timely and accurate information about the pandemic. Nevertheless, when the news verification and gatekeeping is weak, dissemination of false information within the infodemic can result in the toxic disinfodemic of disinformation and misinformation. It is imperative to recognize that journalists, especially in restrained environments (like Pakistan), can combat infodemic and disinfodemic about the pandemic when their safety and accessibility to needed information are guaranteed, and when they are not prone to diverse challenges. Therefore, drawing on Reese's hierarchy of influences model, this study seeks to explore the various levels of influences that impact on the Pakistani journalists' reporting and their ability to deal with the challenges of infodemic and disinfodemic amid COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, this study uses qualitative method of in-depth interviews (online) and employs thematic analysis to address the study's findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how different groups of workers, according to their ability level, respond to 'push' and 'pull' factors as local labour market conditions change. Arguments based on the opportunity cost of a transition to entrepreneurship serve to link individual-level motivations, which relate to 'pull' or 'push' factors, with contextual variations, which capture the scenarios in which individuals evaluate their occupational choice. Micro-level panel data on career histories reveal that overall entries into self-employment tend to be pro-cyclical, though the relationship is moderated by individual ability levels. The negative effect of the local unemployment level is attenuated and even reverses for the least able workers; self-employment entry probability instead is highest among the ablest workers across most stages of the business cycle. The results also reveal that large urban settings provide refuge for low ability individuals, who are less likely to resort to self-employment during economic downturns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has amplified so has country responses to it. With COVID-19 taking its toll on humans, as reflected in the number of people infected by, and deaths from, COVID-19, countries responded by locking down economic activity and peoples movement, imposing travel bans, and implementing stimulus packages to cushion the unprecedented slowdown in economic activity and loss of jobs. This article provides a commentary on how the most active financial indicator – namely, the stock price – reacted in real-time to different stages in COVID-19's evolution. We argue that, as with any unexpected news, markets over-react and as more information becomes available and people understand the ramifications more broadly the market corrects itself. This is our hypothesis which needs robust empirical verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a database of 171 studies across 62,965 organizational units with job attitude data and business performance outcomes ranging from 1994 to 2015, we tested the hypothesis that positive employee job attitudes relate more strongly to business unit success during bad economic times than during favorable economic times. Results showed that although the relationship between favorable job attitudes and unit-level performance is positive and generalizable across all time periods, the relationships between job attitudes and all business success outcomes studied (profitability, productivity, turnover, and customer perceptions) were substantially stronger during the recession years of 2001, 2002, 2008, and 2009 in comparison to other years. Favorable employee job attitudes may provide extra assistance that helps business units continue to achieve under challenging economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many previous articles have studied the contribution of inflows and outflows to the cyclical variation in unemployment, but ignored the critical role of unobserved heterogeneity across workers. This article develops new estimates of unemployment inflows and outflows that allow for unobserved heterogeneity as well as direct effects of unemployment duration on unemployment-exit probabilities. With this approach, we can measure the contribution of different shocks to the short-run, medium-run, and long-run variance of unemployment as well as to specific historical episodes. We conclude that changes in the composition of new inflows into unemployment are the most important factor in economic recessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak was neither unpredictable nor unforeseen, yet it blind-sided policymakers when it emerged, leading to unprecedented global restrictions on human activity and almost certainly triggering the first global economic contraction since WWII. This paper considers the key factors in the eruption of the crisis, as well as the lessons that should be learned from it. The paper begins with an outline of COVID-19's spread, highlighting six key drivers that have determined its severity: the exponential pace of transmission, global interconnectedness, health-sector capacity, wider state capacity, the economic impact of suppression measures, and fragilities caused by the 2008 financial crisis. The paper then proceeds by considering the steps that have been taken in response to five key challenges, corresponding to elements of the IRGC risk governance framework: technical assessment, risk perception, evaluation, management and communication. While acknowledging that only tentative conclusions can be drawn at this early stage, the paper ends with a series of ten recommendations designed to increase preparedness for future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many years in the United States, there has been consistent interest in academic research and policy debate regarding household tenure choice as researchers aim to drive policy that promotes higher levels of homeownership. Despite myriad studies and debates concerning the real causes of changes in housing tenure, there is still much disagreement on the contributing factors to this phenomenon. This article offers a summary and critique of the U.S. empirical evidence on five hypotheses concerning the determinants of tenure decision: (1) income, wealth, and employment status; (2) life-cycle factors; (3) user cost, financial constraints, and economic downturn; (4) residential mobility and location; and (5) prior tenure. This study provides useful information for local and state policymakers and incorporates comprehensive empirical evidence, methodologies, and variables for tenure-choice research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we use wavelet methodology to analyse the long-term relationship between spending and taxes. Unlike the standard methodology that utilizes unit roots and cointegration with or without structural breaks, the present method makes it possible to know the long-term evolution of variables (time series) and the possible delay or advance between these variables. Although we limited ourselves to studying the most recent period of 1980–2015, the results obtained reveal various alternatives and nearly perfect synchronization, with revenues perhaps slightly leading spending, which may be the result of recent budget restrictions instated in response to the economic recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how the Great Recession affected the gender disparity in material and social deprivation in Europe. We propose multidimensional non-monetary indexes of absolute and relative (i.e. using peer comparisons) deprivations estimated on data from the European Quality of Life Survey for the waves 2007 and 2011. We find that the Great Recession decreased gender disparity over all the dimensions of deprivations. By applying a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, we estimate that this decline of gender gap has depended on a reduction of the difference in characteristics between genders that has more than offset an increase of gender discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the years of the economic crisis, 'broke celebrities' attracted the attention of the Spanish media. The main aim of this paper is to analyse how these narratives of celebrities in bankruptcy fostered a neoliberal definition of the economic crisis and legitimised austerity policies. In these narratives, the crisis was represented as a social equaliser, affecting all social groups evenly; the causes of the crisis were individualised and celebrities were identified as the epitome of irresponsible citizens who have 'lived beyond their means'; and citizens were encouraged to do 'whatever it takes' to find a job. Nevertheless, our paper also shows how audiences contested some of these values in online comments, challenging the narratives conveyed by Spanish media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant environmental improvement in China has drawn much research attention in recent years. However, in exploring the factors that lead to pollution reduction, most literature has ignored the slowing economic growth under the 'New Normal' of China. This omission could lead to the overestimation of the pollution reduction effects of other factors. In this paper, we estimate the effect of the economic slowdown using a dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model, CHINAGEM. We find that the contribution of the economic slowdown to pollution reduction ranges from 10% to 30%. This indicates the importance of considering the economic slowdown when evaluating the effects of other factors related to the environmental improvement in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With firm data from the Spanish Community Innovation Survey (CIS) for the period 2003–2014, we find a positive and significant effect of innovation in the demand for labor when firms introduce product and process innovations in the same time period. The effect of innovation on the demand for labor is countercyclical, higher in the recession, after 2008, than in the expansion, before 2008, but the probability that firms innovate in product and process is counter-cyclical, i.e. lower in the recession. Altogether, the elasticity of the demand for labor to the probability that firms introduce product and process innovations remains stable throughout the sample period, at around 0.035. Innovation contributes to stabilize average employment during the cycle, more so when the innovation is in product, alone or together with process, than when it is only in process. These results are broadly consistent with product and process innovations shifting firms' demand and production functions upwards, but differentially in expansions (less product market competition) than in contractions (more competition). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apparently never-ending phase of economic slowdown that advanced economies have been experiencing in recent decades has recently contributed to the resurrection of the hoary old argument of 'secular stagnation'. In this paper, situated intellectually within the strand of research documenting the negative impact on growth of inequality and financialization, we elaborate on the idea that such a prolonged period of stagnation is associated with a new paradigm of socio-economic policy, known as 'finance-dominated capitalism'. In this way, we distance ourselves from the mainstream 'secular stagnation' narrative, adopting instead a post-Keynesian perspective that allows us to discuss the links between financialization and inequality, on one hand, and economic performance, on the other. Then, we submit our arguments to empirical scrutiny by undertaking an econometric analysis of 21 OECD countries between 1990 and 2016. The evidence indicates that excessive levels of financialization, along with high inequality and weak labor market institutions, have a negative impact on real growth. Based on our findings, we propose possible demand-side policies, to be implemented through expansionary fiscal measures, which could help sustain GDP growth and employment in the current context of stagnation, mitigating income inequality and sustaining an inclusive recovery at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that, in response to economic recessions, governments strategically choose certain strategies to cut spending and increase revenues. However, little is known about the factors that influence their decisions to rely on certain strategies rather than others. To fill this gap in the literature, this study examines and compares the cutback strategies of local governments across the two recent recessions – the 'dot-com bubble' in the early 2000s and the Great Recession in the late 2000s. Using general-purpose local governments in New York State as a sample, this study finds that local governments generally employ the same cutback strategies during multiple periods of fiscal stress, following a 'path-dependent' pattern. Based on this finding, we conclude that previous cutback actions play an important role in predicting a government's current cutback strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian economic crises of 1997 and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) had far-reaching impacts on Asian and other global economies. Turmoil in the banking and finance sectors led to downturns in stock markets, resulting in bankruptcies, house repossessions and high unemployment. These crises have been shown to be correlated with a deterioration in mental health and an increase in suicides, and it is important to understand the implication of these impacts and how such recessions affect the health of affected populations. With the benefit of hindsight, did lessons learned from the negative effects of the 1997 Asian economic recession impact the aftermath of the 2008 GFC in Asian countries? Utilising a framework based on a simple strata-bootstrap algorithm using daily data – where available – we investigate the trend in suicide rates over time in three different populations (Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea), and examine whether there were any changes in the pattern of suicide rates in each country subsequent to both the 1997 Asian and 2008. We find that each country responded differently to each of the crises and the suicide rates for certain age-gender specific groups in each country were more affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to check the existence of possible nonlinearity in the behavior of the Central Bank of Tunisia (CBT) in response to changes in macroeconomic variables over 2000:1-2018:12 period (pre-and post-2011 revolution). We used a general model with asymmetric loss function, which enables Central Bankers to weight differently positive and negative deviations of inflation and output from their reference values, as well as a nonlinear economic structure. The empirical analysis reveals that in the pre-revolutionary period, the CBT, for the sake of financial stability approved asymmetric preferences only toward the inflation rate in the sense that it reduces interest rate by a larger amount when inflation is expected to be below the target than the amount it will increase it when it is expected to be above target. During the post-revolutionary period, which was marked by a severe economic recession, the CBT also showed asymmetric preferences toward the output stabilization as it reacted more vigorously to recession. Nevertheless, for a sufficiently large inflation pressure strengthened by the nonlinear economic structure, the CBT is obliged to enhance sharply the political instrument and to carry out a strict restrictive monetary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part of the literature identifies the core constituency of radical right parties (RRPs) in the so-called "modernization losers". But while analysing the social bloc supporting RRPs, the literature often treats the matter as a monolithic bloc rather than focusing on the different expectations of such a heterogeneous electorate. Our findings indicate that political attitudes and other social characteristics influence the voting behaviour in different ways depending on the voter's social backgrounds. Our study indicates that while cultural nativism is a common trait of the RR electorate, economic nativism is a significant predictor only for small-business owners and production workers. Our results also indicate also that the significance of Euroscepticism and political distrust as predictors of a RR vote varies across social backgrounds. We conclude by highlighting the need for further research to differentiate within the RR electorate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how spatial planning systems have changed in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece in times of economic recession and austerity politics, in amid pressures of external actors, and local conditions and traditions. We analyse the round of reforms of spatial planning and territorial governance implemented by national governments under pressures by European institutions, as well as local responses to them. On the one hand, we highlight how European institutions have used the conditionalities attached to bailout packages and other instrument of pressure to frame what can be considered an implicit Southern European spatial planning policy developed by the European Union. On the other, we suggest that Southern European planning amid crisis and austerity should be understood, together, as field that problematizes the idea of Europeanization of planning; a space used as 'prototype' for new rounds of neoliberalization; and a political space that continuously develops through top-down/bottom-up dialectic conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article researches gender differences in the incidence and persistence of unemployment during the debt crisis and recession in Portugal through estimating a dynamic random effects probit model to control for unobserved individual heterogeneity and for the 'initial conditions' problem. The estimation applies data from four waves of ICOR – the Survey on Income and Living Conditions between 2010 and 2013. We find strong evidence of persistence in unemployment alongside indications that men are more prone to enduring negative implications from previous periods of unemployment. Simultaneously, we find evidence of a greater likelihood of unemployment for women through a fixed effect designed to capture gender discrimination in unstable labour markets. Our results suggest that policies to boost employment should accommodate a gender dimension and also place a special emphasis on the long-term unemployed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two contrasting methods have been proposed recently to predict the recession flow coefficient using past discharge information only. This study proposes a new method that attempts to obtain past discharge information that is minimally influenced by non-subsurface storage-controlled flows. The existing and new methods were tested using data from 324 US Geological Survey basins, and the new method was found to be superior to both existing methods in 265 basins. Furthermore, this study for the first time used past discharge-derived coefficients to predict recession discharge. The model performance was found to be satisfactory (NSE > 0.5) in 244 basins. Our results also show that the new framework may be useful in certain regions for predicting recession discharge in totally ungauged basins using past discharge information from nearby gauged basins. Overall, this study advances the idea that recession discharge can be predicted by just using past discharge data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the conditions of the protracted economic crisis in Russian society, a multitude of conflict-related contradictions are arising that are capable of turning into real sociopolitical conflicts. The emergence of conflicts depends on many factors, some of which stimulate the development of contradictions, while others help to smooth them out. The article assesses the conflict potential of Russian society by describing and analyzing the factors that contribute both to an increase in social tension and to its mitigation. The study makes it possible to identify a phenomenon for reducing conflict potential at a time of deepening economic crisis and worsening living conditions for Russians. An analysis of the existing contradictions in society makes it possible to identify more clearly the condition and trends in the development of Russian society and to take measures to prevent emerging social conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the eve of the 100th anniversary jubilee of the historic events of 1917, sociologists, political scientists, and economists offer their diagnoses of present-day Russian society. The events of recent years (the reunification of Crimea, the deterioration of the Russian Federation's relations with Western countries, the imposition of sanctions and retaliatory countersanctions, the economic crisis, the replacement of the political leader of the United States, etc.) have not only altered the political and social context but have also produced changes in the social expectations of the country's population. Studies in 20161 found an increase in anxious attitudes among Russians, yet the assessments of the situation in the country are nowhere near disastrous. The experts discuss not only the reasons for this phenomenon, but also the possibility that the economic crisis will develop into a political one. An attempt is made to determine the direction in which the political regime of today's Russia will be transformed in the next few years. A forecast is made about the new challenges and threats that Russia may face in the next five to ten years. The economic and political trends that may take Russia to a new qualitative condition are analyzed. The experts arrive at the conclusion that the condition of Russian society today is stable, but the government's lack of a strategic vision for the future may also lead to dramatic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Recession substantially affected most developed countries. How countries responded to the Great Recession varied greatly, especially in terms of public spending. We examine the impact of the Great Recession on long-term services and supports (LTSS) in the United States and England. Financing for LTSS in these two countries differs in important ways; by examining the two countries' financing and program structures, we learn how these factors influenced each country's response to this common external stimulus. We find that between 2006 and 2013, LTSS increased in the United States in terms of spending (17%) and number of people served; in contrast, over the same period, LTSS in England decreased in terms of spending (6%) and people served. We find that the use of earmarked LTSS funding in the United States, compared to non-earmarked funding in England, contributed to different trajectories for LTSS in the two countries. Other contributing factors included differences in service entitlements, variations in ability of state and local governments to tax, and larger macroeconomic strategies implemented to combat the recession. We analyze the implications of our findings, especially as related to the potential shift to Medicaid block grant LTSS funding in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, recent salary data are reported from a survey of hospitality educators' compensation. As with the 2008 and 2012 studies, data were collected from many regions of the world (all results presented in US$ for analytical purposes). Comparisons are made between the 2008, 2012, and recent salary studies and changes are highlighted, most of which are discussed in light of the deep, worldwide recession and economic recovery that occurred during the 2008–2018 time period. Data are presented by faculty rank, gender and type of institution, among other variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We utilize the nonlinear least squares (NLLS) and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) techniques to estimate information stickiness parameter λ for the USA. We find that λ values appeared in a somewhat humped shape or inverted U pattern during the financial crisis. Prior to the financial crisis (1978.Q1-2006.Q4), λ was around 0.3. However, when the sample is extended to include the financial crisis period (1978.Q1-2011.Q4), λ increased to around 0.6. Results imply that during the financial crisis many firms became flexible and efficient and used updated information to set optimal prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the major factors influencing the Cambodian rice exports through an application of the dynamic gravity framework estimated by the Generalized Least Square (GLS), the Poisson Pseudo-Maximum-Likelihood (PPML), and the Heckman Sample Selection models, based on a period of 22-year panel data (1995–2016) and a total of 40 selected importing partners. The results show that the historical ties, the policy of exchange rate and the agricultural land reform promote the rice exports; the expansion of the exports to the trading partners, especially the EU, China and the ASEAN countries are particularly highlighted. As a macroeconomic issue and resistance factor, the economic recession, impeding the exports flows, would require further special attentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can we explain the recent decline of trust in representative institutions of the EU in many of its Member States? This article presents evidence supporting the congruence hypothesis, according to which citizens have been extrapolating their increasing distrust in national institutions to the EU institutions. We also find that these contagion effects are produced by citizens' evaluations of national governments. Furthermore, we show that these spillover effects from the national to the EU level tend to be stronger in situations of economic recession and political crisis. The only counterbalance to this contagion comes from citizens' positive evaluation of EU performance. We test these general arguments based on a twofold panel analysis of the Spanish case, a country that has suffered a remarkable deterioration of political trust in a context of profound economic and political crisis, by analysing data from a micro-level panel study and 28 pooled surveys from the Eurobarometer between 1999 and 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite many initial similarities, Latvia and Poland represent two opposite extremes in terms of practical and theoretical approaches to the economic crisis. The Polish government applied a 'pragmatic' approach to fight the recession, based on expansionary fiscal policies and currency devaluation. Conversely, the Latvian administration opted for the Austerity and internal devaluation strategy. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to analyze, from the perspective of political economy, the strategies chosen for the economic crisis management and their effects in Latvia and Poland, in light of the main EU narratives about its causes and responses. The research contends that the economic performance of both countries during the crisis was due to their respective economic structures. On the one hand, Poland is a bigger, more diversified and industrialized economy, with fewer channels of vulnerability and could apply expansionary policies effectively. On the contrary, the economic model established in Latvia generated a high exposure to external shocks, in particular, with a double vulnerability in the banking sector. In this context, due to internal and external motives, the Latvian government decided to apply the austerity and internal devaluation strategy, worsening the economic decline and the subsequent recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including financial crisis, Europeanization, and economic recession.

The Great Recession had a tremendous impact on low-income Americans, in particular Black and Latino Americans. The losses in terms of employment and earnings are matched only by the losses in terms of real wealth. In many ways, however, these losses are merely a continuation of trends that have been unfolding for more than two decades. We examine the changes in overall economic well-being and inequality, as well as changes in racial economic inequality during and since the Great Recession. We find that the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being inequality between White and Black households decreased during the Great Recession but since 2010, racial inequality in terms of LIMEW has increased. We find that changes in base income, taxes, and income from non-home wealth during the Great Recession produced declines in overall inequality, while only taxes reduced between-group racial inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on the question of how particular types of regions react to economic shocks. Drawing on a case study of Czech microregions, we aim to determine if the old industrial regions differ significantly from other types of regions (metropolitan, urban, rural) in (post)crisis economic development. Two aspects of regional resilience (measured by unemployment growth) were considered: recession and recovery. We focused on the comparison of two subsequent recessionary shocks: the 2008–2010 global recession and the 2012–2013 austerity crisis. Metropolitan regions showed relatively stable economic development. Old industrial regions were more resilient than expected. Rural regions exhibited highly diverse reactions: lower resistance was characteristic for regions specialized (mostly) in automotive and some labour-intensive industries. The first wave of recession increased unemployment mostly in (rural) regions dependent on export-oriented manufacturing, the second wave especially hit larger cities with metropolitan functions. Regions that experienced a sharp unemployment increase in the first recession were generally more resistant in the second wave. All types of regions were internally highly diverse in their reactions to economic crises, which points to the importance of micro-regional variations of economic resilience, the performance of individual local firms and subsidiaries, and extra-regional factors of regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper shows that economic recessions result from a scarcity of product innovations attributable to the flawed balanced approach of the current patent system. While rejecting the balanced approach, this paper proposes an innovative approach and suggests a number of reforms to build a new patent system, including redefining patent right, banning exclusive patent licenses and patent assignments, standardizing patent licenses, prolonging patent duration infinitely, and improving the patent quality standard. It is projected that the new patent system will lead to faster and smoother economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the modelling of growth rate time series in Nigeria with a view of detecting its statistical properties, structural breaks and non-linearities. We employ both fractional integration and structural break time series techniques in modelling the annual growth rate series of the Nigerian GDP growth rate for about 55 years. The data span between 1960 and 2017. The results show that Nigerian growth rate is unstable with non-linearities and long-range dependence structures. We also investigate what might explain these features and conclude that erratic political institutions, associated with poor economic management and insecurity in Nigeria, among others, in the decades after independence are the root causes of non-linearities observed, which have also led to the subsequent recent economic recession in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to research on misrepresentation in private residential mortgage-backed securities by using new data on losses from foreclosure to estimate higher than expected losses associated with income overstatement and adverse selection in no/low documentation loans, using full documentation loans as a counterfactual. Overall, no/low documentation loans account for $350 billion of the $500 billion lost from 2007 to 2012. No/low documentation loans lost an additional $5200 per loan, implying $97 billion of total no/low documentation losses were higher than expected. I also find underwriting exceptions differentially predict loss by documentation type, which provides evidence consistent with originator-led adverse selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising powers, collectively joined in informal diplomatic groups such as the BRICS, aim to influence the meaning of the international order by means of "strategic narratives." Together, the BRICS develop strategic narratives that support their aspiration for a fairer and more democratic multipolar world order and which produce a positive perception of the group. This paper evaluates how BRICS's system and identity narratives combine geostrategic, economic and solidarity narratives. Narrative tension emerges due to their embeddedness in contradicting power constructions, namely a geostrategic perspective and a multipolar perspective. The synchronisation of these three narratives is undermined when there is a fall in perceived power, economic recession or a lack of accountability and transparency practices. Strategic narrative analysis helps to think about and analyze power in global politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper incorporates measurements of the four financial condition dimensions of cash, budget, long-run, and service solvency to explore the link between financial condition and public sector employment among states in the context of the Great Recession of 2008–2009. The finding is that the severity of this economic recession led states to reduce public workers as one type of fiscal response to cope with budget shortfalls. The results suggest that not all dimensions of state financial condition affect public sector employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to contribute to complex systems thinking in manufacturing organisations through the development of a metric for operational complexity. Operational complexity is concerned with the temporal aspects of coordination and control in manufacturing systems. Statistical complexity from computational mechanics theory is proposed as the metric. The metric can potentially be used to support decision making by objective assessment of complexity. The properties of the metric are explored through simulation studies. The simulation results confirm that the proposed metric captures the intuitive notion of complexity. It is shown that operational complexity is influenced by internal factors such as system structure, as well as external ones such as demand, and that complexity can be managed through the application of appropriate control methods. A case study is presented that applies the metric to real production data. The case study shows that the global recession had resulted in a decreased operational complexity of outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic downturn and continuing budget concerns have libraries, publishers, and vendors making strategic changes as they seek to provide a high-level of services at a time when uncertainty continues to dominate planning and development. Creative thinking has become the norm as organizations seek to challenge long-held views and uncover and implement needed changes. Librarians, publishers, and vendors have all experienced a period of assessment, strategic review, and reaction as a result of the continued evolution from a print-based model to one dominated by electronic dissemination of scholarly information and the new role eBooks promise to play. This article addresses some of the important actions taken by librarians, publishers and vendors to cope with changes forced by both the economy and budget pressures, by the continued migration of scholarly resources to electronic formats, and by current and planned eBook activities and new eBooks models. It explores patterns in library content selection and spending trends, publisher prices and pricing models, as well as vendor strategies and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For academic libraries, sustainability may well require a radical recalibration of their historic value proposition. The “Great Recession” has accelerated profound changes in higher education funding and in the perception of higher education as a public good. Can libraries use scarcity to fuel the imagination? Can the singular strengths of libraries boost the ability of higher education to thrive, not merely survive? What can be learned from strategies employed in the Great Depression and other periods of severe constraint? Ultimately, how might libraries increase revenue, engender flexibility, foster collaboration, align activities, reduce costs, strengthen infrastructure, and encourage innovation within the framework of a sustainable academic business plan? This article examines these questions by using the University of Washington's 2Y2D (Two Years to Two Decades) initiative and the UW Libraries companion effort, Building Sustainable Futures, as a case study. 2Y2D provides an inclusive framework for near term action (two years) that will realize an aspirational future in the long-term (two decades). Building Sustainable Futures places a library lens over 2Y2D. The Libraries Research Commons exemplifies the synergistic intersection of the two initiatives and may be instructive for other environments and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The financial and economic crisis that started simmering in 2007 and came to a full boil in late 2008 affected organizations of every kind, including independent research libraries large and small. Having just completed long-term, strategic planning, the Newberry Library found itself having to make big adjustments to carefully crafted plans, in just a few weeks. These remarks explore how the Newberry's response to this crisis, despite much institutional pain, has strengthened it considerably—and what some of its independent peers have done at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Academic libraries have undergone an evolutionary change as emerging technologies have impacted operations and services during the past two decades. For much of this period, increasing budgets have enabled libraries to keep pace with needed change. For the past two years, many academic libraries have lost significant funding due to the economic recession. This article argues that it is not a time for retrenchment and timidity but for expansion and boldness for academic libraries. The library that thrives, even in the midst of a recession, will be the one which seizes the opportunity to redesign itself for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines associations between company earnings and marketing communication (i.e., advertising and promotion) expenditures during recessions. Data date to 1971, a period covering five recessionary periods. Using crosssectional time series analysis, the data reveal that changes in firms' advertising and promotion expenditures are related to changes in firms' current and future earnings, conditional on product classification. In addition, differential effects occur for changes during recessions compared to nonrecessionary periods. Specifically, the link between advertising and promotion spending increases and future earnings is stronger and more immediate during recessions. Decreases in advertising and promotion spending during recessions have a delayed relationship with future earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What should be the strategies for library fundraising during a recession? During a time when donors do not have as many resources to share, planning and assessing friends activities becomes more critical to make a better case for supporting the library. This article will describe the activities and programs of the Friends of Fondren Library at Rice University that foster participation, build loyalty from the library's donor community to the campus, and raise much-needed funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper scrutinises the way in which ethics is taught in the modern marketing syllabus. Our intention is to open up a space within which to promote timely debate on contemporary marketing education. Specifically, we wish to ask whether the tutor's role as a conduit of apparent ethical knowledge to students has somehow failed to map with sufficient sensitivity the terrain of the moral impulse in business practice. Drawing on literature from educational philosophy and the work of Emmanuel Levinas, we argue that the conceptualisation of ethics in marketing cannot be divorced from the question of pedagogy and the responsibilities of the tutor. This reading of ethics in marketing leads us to suggest that the largely conventional model adopted for the teaching of marketing may be unsatisfactory. Whilst current approaches may provide students with a prescribed set of knowledge and skills, it may by the same token refuse us the moral education that seems to be necessary. The significance for the teaching of ethics in an atmosphere punctuated with the discourses of economic crisis is acknowledged. We call for a reappraisal of the tutor/student relationship such that we may facilitate a greater understanding of how marketing students can make sense of themselves and of 'the Other'. To begin the process of articulation, we offer an example drawn from nursing education. Through this, we consider the requirements of the capable moral educator and offer initial practical suggestions on how this could be incorporated within teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Set against a transforming social and economic climate, this empirical study reignites debate about the degree to which theory and practice priorities are aligned in the academic market-segmentation research agenda. Results from an online survey of academics researching and publishing in the market-segmentation field suggest little change in the scope or content of these priorities in the past 30 years. This reopens discussion about the slowly changing nature of the segmentation research agenda and raises questions about the ways in which research priorities are shaped by the external environment. The findings further suggest that the conflicting nature of academic and practitioner requirements is a barrier to opportunities for a successful academic/practitioner interface. We conclude that the segmentation research agenda has become too narrow, outlining the need to broaden debate and re-emancipate this important field of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]