Search

Buyer-supplier negotiations play a central role in supply chain networks regulating the conditions for the exchange of goods. This paper investigates the relationships between influencing factors and their impact on bargaining power. In a multiple case study, we triangulate secondary data from 12 German automotive suppliers. Following a structural equation modelling approach, bargaining power and the effects of those influencing variables are analysed. Four relationships can be found. (1) The availability of internal resources and the existence of strong buyer-supplier relationships have a positive effect on bargaining power. (2) A positive influence of buyer-supplier relationships on gaining access to internal resources can be identified. (3) External market conditions have a small negative effect on bargaining power. (4) No significant effect can be found looking at the impact of external market conditions on internal resources or buyer-supplier relationships. The findings support theory by showing that internal resources and strong buyer-supplier relationships positively influence bargaining power. Based on these results, managers are advised to prioritise strategic resource allocation, implement win-win strategies, and employ benchmarking techniques to enhance competitiveness and strengthen bargaining positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary focus of brand equity research has been on how brand knowledge creates value for firms through customer behavior in product markets. Using archival data and five experiments, this article tests a framework that outlines the unique role brands play in the labor market. The framework distinguishes between vertical and horizontal differentiation and shows that vertical brand differentiation is associated with lower pay, whereas horizontal brand differentiation is associated with higher pay. Employees are also vertically and horizontally differentiated, and firms high in horizontal brand differentiation pay more for employees who match their brands' differentiating characteristics (i.e., brand-relevant complementarities). Results show that these brand–pay relationships have important downstream effects on employee behavior and, consequently, on firm profits. Specifically, leveraging vertical brand differentiation to lower pay represents a false economy because profits are attenuated by negative effects on employee productivity and retention. In contrast, when managers at firms high on horizontal brand differentiation pay more, profits increase via the same mediating employee behaviors. Six firm strategies and investments that influence firm bargaining power in the employee–brand matching process are found to moderate the brand–pay relationship and downstream effects on profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of organizations breaking laws and norms in the pursuit of strategic advantage has received substantial attention in recent years. Such transgressions generally elicit the intervention of social control agents seeking to curb deviant behavior and defend the status quo. In some cases, their efforts result in the deviant behavior being suppressed; in other occasions, however, organizational deviance can persist and even be accepted into the very system of rules that was initially challenged. In this paper, we advance a structured view of this process by formulating a theory of the social control of organizational deviance. Building upon the sociological literature, we classify forms of social control based on their cooperativeness and formality; additionally, we shed light on the outcomes of social control by illustrating the conditions under which they are likely to be more, or less, accommodative of deviant behavior, as well as more, or less, permanent. In so doing, we contribute to scholarly understanding of the role of social control in organizational fields, as well as of the advantageousness of deviant behavior as a strategic option for organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tightening lending standards are motivating companies to adopt supply chain financing, with invoice backed lending to remedy financial stress. These financial objects depend on company-to-company relationships. The accumulation of these dyadic relationships creates complex supply network topologies. Companies within these networks are selfish and have varying degrees of bargaining power. To remain operational, they maximise their liquidity by negotiating longer repayment terms and cheaper financing, thus distributing risk onto weaker companies and propagating financial stress. To study this phenomenon, we created an agent-based supply network simulation model capturing these behaviours. We investigate structural conditions that make supply networks vulnerable to financial stress propagation and the resultant financial ripple effects using survivability analysis. We found firms with higher bargaining power are disproportionately more exposed to network risk. In diamond-shaped networks, firms occupying lower tiers are critical in financial stress propagation, becoming deep-tier nexus suppliers. Our results are relevant to industries with heterogeneous network composition. Practitioners must mitigate the effects of vulnerable network structures with careful supply chain financing design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between the share of assets held by institutional investors relative to GDP and a synthetic index of union bargaining power in 20 OECD countries from 1980 to 2017. Findings from the use of fixed-effects OLS and instrumental variables regressions show that the share of assets held by institutional investors, especially insurance companies and pension funds, is correlated with a decline in union bargaining power. The authors argue that by contributing to significant changes in corporate strategies and governance through potential effects on jobs and wages, institutional investors in most OECD countries may have weakened the influence of trade unions, thereby leading to a higher decentralization of wage bargaining. Mixed evidence is found, however, when investigating the role of complementarity across institutions to explain cross-country heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the data of China's A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2022, this paper confirms that customers' management tone has a spillover effect in the supply chain, which in turn affects suppliers' provision of trade credit. The results show that the more positive customers' management tone is, the more trade credit suppliers provide. A further analysis finds that the disclosure of customers' management tone increases analyst attention, which in turn promotes suppliers' provision of trade credit.In addition, when the supplier's bargaining power is lower, the regional product market is more developed, and the customers' annual report information quality is higher, the relationship between customers' management tone and suppliers' provision of trade credit is more significant. This study enriches the relevant literature on supply chain management and has important practical significance for promoting the stable development of supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study's primary focus is on examining fairness deliberations of bargainers in Germany and in China under symmetric and asymmetric bargaining power to understand whether they incorporate fairness into their decision process and, if so, how this affects bargaining outcomes. To this end, we conducted an incentivized ultimatum bargaining experiment with symmetric and asymmetric outside options. Groups (N = 142) of three persons interact as proposers and responders in dyads and decide simultaneously on their offer or which offers to accept or reject. Communication between parties is inhibited. We videotaped in-group discussions; the resulting transcripts were text analyzed by eliciting whether groups make fairness an issue, which fairness norms they discuss, and whether they use fairness-related perspective-taking to overcome the communication constraint. We find that asymmetry of bargaining power in favor of the proposer leads to lower offers relative to the symmetric situation. Not all groups make fairness an issue, and fairness deliberations alone have no significant impact on offers. However, when associated with the equal-payoff norm, and in Chinese groups in particular, discussing fairness increases offers in symmetric but also in asymmetric situations, in which other fairness norms could have been applied, too. Fairness-related perspective-taking is used by German and Chinese groups and is associated with higher offers in the former. Our study makes an epistemological and related methodological contribution: a possibly biased interpretation of bargaining outcomes can be mitigated if information on decision processes and underlying mechanisms were available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the limitations of the Match-Motive Matrix proposed by the World Bank in the 2023 World Development Report on Migration. The matrix aims to match migrant skills with destination needs to maximize benefits and minimize costs of migration. However, the article highlights concerns about the categorization of skills, vulnerability of temporary labor regimes, and challenges faced by temporary workers with limited protections, especially in countries like the Gulf Cooperation Council. It also raises questions about surveillance for skills matching and emphasizes the need for a more robust framework prioritizing access to justice for migrant workers. [Extracted from the article]

Trade book publishing is characterised by authors with weaker bargaining power than the commercial intermediaries, including publishers and distributors. One key solution representing the empowerment of authors is self-publishing works, thereby cutting out the gatekeeper. However, self-publication has failed to improve the position of authors: their incomes continue to fall across the sector. Using social network analysis as well as industry practices, this article examines UK trade book publishing dynamics. It argues that the reason for the self-publication route's 'underperformance' is structural, explained by a realistic view of the publishing sector and the relationships it entails. The self- publishing author is shown to have little information and bargaining power, while self-published books are subject to inherent commercial limitations. The wider structural impact of market concentration in book distribution is clarified. The findings suggest that solutions need to combine copyright with competition law interventions as bargaining and market issues require different but coherently designed remedies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greater women's bargaining power and decision‐making within a household have been shown to increase investments in human capital. This study links women's participation in decision‐making in dairy production with household investment in girls and boys in health, nutrition, and education. We survey households in the urbanizing region of Bangalore, India. We utilize a multinomial treatment effects model to analyze the individual and household factors that are associated with women's participation in sole or joint decision‐making. We then assess how the type of decision‐making influences a household's investments. The results first show that female decision‐making households are more disadvantaged on average than other types of decision‐making households. Second, we observe that female decision‐makers for dairy production are more likely to have more children and earn a higher income than their husbands. Third, the main findings show that households in which women engage in joint decision‐making have higher levels of investment across all categories for girls. Conversely, investments decrease in education and nutrition for both girls and boys when the wife is the sole decision‐maker. Lastly, investments are enhanced further for girls when households can sell milk at a higher price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preference for sons has been shown in various ways, but is it still up to date? I investigate how sex preference has evolved during the past 50 years using population-wide data from Finland. I find that having a first-born girl increases fertility and decreases the probability of being together with the child's father in the 1960s to 1980s but not after the 1990s. Families with a first-born girl had 0.03 more children in the years 1960–1980. The effect decreases to an imprecise zero in the 1990s and to 0.007 fewer children in the 2000s. This shift occurs at the same time as the female and male employment rates approach each other. As the costs of raising a girl are not greater than those of raising a boy in Finland, the results suggest that the shift might be due to increased female bargaining power. Past literature has shown that females prefer girls over boys or are more neutral than males, who prefer having sons over daughters more often. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the causal effect of a targeted panic button program—implemented in two Turkish provinces between 2012 and 2016—on domestic violence. Difference-in-differences and synthetic control estimates suggest that the program notably increased physical violence against women both at the extensive and intensive margins. The likelihood of physical violence in the treated provinces increased by more than 5 percentage points relative to the control provinces, and the number of physical violence incidents increased by about 10 percent. The increase comes almost entirely from the increase in violence against less-educated women. Employment rates and economic independence indicators improved for women in the treated provinces, which suggests that the program empowered vulnerable women. However, male partners increased physical violence in response to female empowerment. The results are consistent with the male backlash theories and a class of non-cooperative models incorporating violence as a vehicle for enhancing males' bargaining power, but inconsistent with the models predicting that economic empowerment of women reduces violence by balancing bargaining power within the household. We also develop a method based on retrospective violence information to understand whether the increase is attributable to actual or self-reported violence and conclude that the estimates are entirely driven by the increase in actual violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the recent SEC-mandated disclosures of CEO-worker pay ratios, we find that firms significantly decrease (increase) their CEO-worker pay ratios when their prior pay ratios are high (low) relative to peers. More importantly, the decrease in pay ratio among high pay ratio firms is significantly more pronounced with stronger stakeholder influences, proxied by employees with greater bargaining power, communities with higher social capital, and states with more stringent minimum wage legislation. These results are robust to controlling for CEO and median worker pay benchmarking as well as the influences of shareholders. Using state-level pay ratio tax proposals as another proxy for stakeholder influence, we find high pay ratio firms in states with these proposals reduce pay ratios significantly more than firms with similar high pay ratios in other states. Overall, our results highlight the influence of corporate stakeholders in mitigating high CEO-worker pay gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift fur Wirtschaftspolitik is the property of De Gruyter 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 uncovers the nexus between global value chain participation and firm exit during COVID‐19 using merged data from World Bank Enterprises Survey and the Enterprise Survey Follow‐Up on COVID‐19. Empirical results suggest that participation in global value chain could positively extend firm survival and is robust to several specifications, including alternative measures of firm exit and global value chain participation. Further analysis indicates that global value chain participation helps a firm to improve productivity, enhance bargaining power, and mitigate financial constraints, thereby lifting the firm survival. Our paper contributes to understanding how global value chain participation influences firm exit, suggesting several policy and managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the relationship between AI applications and supply chain concentration. We measure the AI applications of Chinese listed firms based on text analytics on annual reports from 2007 to 2021. Our results show that AI applications reduce supply chain concentration, and these results are robust to endogeneity examination. In addition, AI reduces companies' supply chain concentration by enhancing their bargaining power and, in turn, improving their operational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2021 136 countries reached a political agreement to transform the global tax regime for the first time since its creation. The disconnect between the digitalized economy and the global tax system was a key driver of the agreement, but it was not sufficient as negotiations only a few years earlier had failed to address the problem. This article advances a three-part explanation to resolve this puzzle. First, developments on one side of the Atlantic changed the default conditions and so increased support for compromise in the other. Second, those changes enhanced the bargaining power of higher-tax jurisdictions relative to lower-tax ones. Third, the Biden administration saw securing a multilateral agreement on minimum corporate taxes as a way to realize domestic tax objectives. The linking of the issues gave it an incentive to compromise on taxing the digital economy and paved the way for agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a unique hand-collected dataset of purchase obligations, we find that customers' financial reporting quality is positively associated with future supply contracts, indicating that suppliers are more willing to contract with customers who provide them with better information. Further, the association between customers' financial reporting quality and future supply contracts is stronger for customers with strong bargaining power, which is consistent with suppliers relying more on financial reports when they have less access to customers' private information. Collectively, our results suggest that customers' financial reporting quality plays an important role in influencing suppliers' decisions to contract with customers for the future supply of goods and services. Data Availability: Data for dependent variable are manually collected and data for all other variables are available from public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: D80; M41. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about whether reductions in intimate partner violence (IPV) from transfer programs persist. Using a randomized controlled trial, we find that women in rural Bangladesh who received cash transfers with complementary nutrition programming (including group-based training, home visits, and community meetings) experienced sustained reductions in IPV four years after the program ended. Neither cash transfers alone, nor food transfers with or without complementary nutrition programming, showed sustained impacts on IPV. Evidence suggests that cash with complementary nutrition programming sustained IPV reductions through persistent increases in women's bargaining power, costs to men of perpetrating violence, and men's emotional well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many policymakers and practitioners argue that corporations may become more stakeholder focused if employees are given more power. We study the causal impact of unionization on stakeholders by analyzing how close labor union elections affect environmental and social (E&S) scores. We find that unionization is associated with an increase in internal social scores that primarily benefit employees and a decrease in external E&S scores that primarily benefit non-employees. The negative effects on external E&S are amplified when firms have greater financial constraints. The effects on both internal and external E&S are magnified when labor unions have more bargaining power. Our results suggest that policymakers consider implications for all stakeholders before implementing policies that prioritize the corporate influence of one stakeholder group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the effects of takeover feasibility on asset prices and returns in a unified framework. We show theoretically that takeover protections increase equity risk, stock returns, and bond yields by removing a valuable put option to sell the firm, notably for firms approaching distress. We investigate these claims empirically and find that distressed firms experience a significant decrease in value and increase in returns and market betas after the passage of antitakeover laws, in line with our predictions. At issue bond yields are also higher when an antitakeover law is in effect. Consistent with the model, the effects of antitakeover laws on stock returns, respectively, bond yields, are greater when shareholders, respectively, bondholders, have greater bargaining power. This paper was accepted by Lukas Schmid, finance. Funding: E. Morellec acknowledges financial support from the Swiss Finance Institute. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.03111. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen a growth in customized products and services. As a prerequisite for customization, private information on individual customers' quality preferences needs to be uncovered. Sellers can listen to customers about their stated or self-reported preferences through direct communication (e.g., conversation, survey). Alternatively, customer preferences can be inferred from their behavior when they are given the rights to self-design the quality. In this research we endogenize the viability of customization by investigating whether and when customers may reveal their stated/inferred preferences truthfully. We find that, for either preference-learning approach, customers would voice their preferences faithfully if and only if they are sufficiently heterogenous. Equilibrium preference revelation, and hence endogenous customization, tend to be sustained by intermediate seller bargaining power or nonextreme production/selling costs. We examine how the preference-learning approaches may differ in the endogenous feasibility of customization, equilibrium qualities, and the parties' expected payoffs. We show that giving up the design right need not always be harmful for the seller, and gaining it can make the buyers worse off, especially when fixed costs of customization are considered. This paper was accepted by Eric Anderson, marketing. Funding: This work was supported by a DAG grant offered by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen intense debate about the causes of the observed decline in the labor share. We extend this inquiry by investigating whether the design and enforcement of competition law and policy are associated with changes in the labor share. Using a panel of 22 industries in 12 OECD economies, we find a positive statistical association between the effectiveness of competition policy and changes in the labor share over the period 1995–2005. This suggests a potential link between the design and effectiveness of competition policy and the labor share, and more broadly to distributional outcomes. Our results reinforce the importance of accounting for country-specific factors, including the design and enforcement of local laws, when examining dynamics in the labor share. The analysis implies that effective competition law and policy could mitigate the decline of the labor share, particularly in settings characterized by low levels of labor protection and limited labor bargaining power. (JEL : E21, E24, E64, J01, J21, K21, L40). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question/Issue: This study investigates the role of board‐level employee representatives (BLERs), a common corporate governance practice in Europe, in determining the pay ratio between CEOs and average employees. Research Findings/Insights: Using 15,340 firm‐year observations from 17 European countries between 2001 and 2019, we find that BLERs provide greater bargaining power to the board for dealing with CEOs and use this power to reduce the pay gap between CEOs and employees. Subsample analyses indicate that bargaining power is more apparent when BLERs are more socially connected, have longer tenure, and hold more seats on the board. Theoretical/Academic Implications: This study supports the role of BLERs in providing workers with more bargaining power to create fairer wage distribution in firms. Furthermore, it supports the fair wage–effort theory, indicating a positive effect of lower pay ratios on firm value following the presence of BLERs. Practitioner/Policy Implications: This study demonstrates the effects of a unique corporate governance practice, the presence of BLERs, on companies' wage distribution, with significant policy implications. In particular, the results indicate that when presented with opportunities in affecting companies decision‐making BLERs provide fairer environments for the workers who they represent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study endogenous intermediation activity, the implied transaction pattern—direct trade, indirect trade, or both—and implications for efficiency. Related papers have agents exchanging indivisible goods or assets, capturing only extensive margins (trade frequency). To capture intensive margins, we incorporate divisibility representing quantity or quality. We characterize equilibrium, show how it depends on bargaining powers and costs, and how intensive margins matter—for example, middlemen with high bargaining power may charge more but offer higher quantity/quality, thus improving welfare. A tax‐subsidy policy is designed to achieve efficiency. A monetary version lets us compare money and middlemen and further discuss policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's education and empowerment have engaged the interest of policymakers and academics for many years. We employ individual-level data from Ghana and Uganda in this paper to offer a comparative analysis of the impact of women's education and empowerment on six household welfare indicators: child labor, child school enrollment, female labor force participation, fertility rate, household food expenditure, and nutrition intake. Comparing the two countries is insightful due to their distinct socio-economic structures and cultural contexts, which might influence the dynamics of women's empowerment differently. The study utilizes the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Instrumental Variables (IV) regressions and provides a battery of robustness tests. The empirical results show that in a household, the woman's and man's education levels are significant determinants of household welfare. However, contrary to common assumptions, the woman's education does not have a stronger effect than the man's, and her relative bargaining position has negligible effects on the welfare indicators studied, at least for the cases of Ghana and Uganda. Further sensitivity checks support these findings, suggesting that female education can improve household welfare, but its impact may not necessarily operate through enhanced bargaining power within the household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to understand the role of workers' bargaining for the labor share in transition economies. We rely on a share-capital schedule, whereby workers' bargaining power is represented as a move off the schedule. Quantitative indicators of bargaining power are supplemented with self-constructed qualitative indices derived from textual information describing the legal environment enabling bargaining in each country. Due to multiple data constraints, we employ a cross-sectional empirical model estimated using instrumental variables (IV) methods, where former unionization rates and the time since the adoption of the ILO Collective Bargaining Convention serve as instruments. The sample comprises 23 industrial branches across 69 countries, including 28 transition economies. In general, we find the stronger bargaining power to influence higher labor share, when the former is measured either quantitatively or qualitatively. Conversely, higher bargaining power is associated with a lower labor share in transition economies. This is likely a matter of delayed response to wage pushes, a function of the structural transformation of transition economies, and reconciled with the increasing role of MNCs which did not confront the workers' power rise per se, but introduced automation and changed market structure amid labor market flexibilization, which eventually deferred bargaining power's positive effect on labor share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology innovations propel both economic development and environmental sustainability. Exploring the contributing factors to green technology innovations carries important policy implications, but research from the perspective of supply chain relationships has been rare. This paper examines the impact of corporate customer concentration on green technology innovations and explores its influencing mechanisms using the data of Chinese A-share listed companies. The results show that a high customer concentration inhibits the quantity and quality of green technology innovations, a finding that is robust when endogeneity is addressed and when alternative measures and an alternative estimation model are employed. Financing constraints and social responsibility play intermediary roles in the impact of customer concentration on green technology innovations. A high customer concentration tends to increase corporate financing constraints and reduce corporate social responsibility performance, which hinder green technology innovations. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the inhibitory effect of customer concentration on green technology innovations is less severe in digitally transformed enterprises, mature enterprises, or enterprises with a high level of market power. As this study provides a novel perspective on the contributing factors to corporate green innovations, it offers important policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In global agricultural markets, farmers often face profit squeezes due to low bargaining power, which affects the sustainability of agriculture and the livelihoods of farmers. Cooperative intervention is seen as a key solution to improve bargaining power and optimize profit distribution in the agricultural supply chain. In this study, a two-stage dynamic game model is adopted to focus on bargaining power and compare the effects of linear pricing versus a double charging system under cooperative intervention. It is found that the cooperative is better when it has full bargaining power or when it faces downstream sellers with comparable bargaining power, and the dual-charging system is more favorable. When cooperatives bargain with sellers, the degree of differentiation of agricultural products affects the cooperatives' profitability and cooperatives tend to maintain the two-part tariff when the bargaining power is less than a threshold condition containing the degree of differentiation of agricultural products; when discounts exceed the threshold, cooperatives shift to linear pricing to safeguard their profitability. Numerical analysis validates the theory and reveals the changing pattern of cooperative profits under market forces. This study not only provides theoretical support for the study of supply chain pricing strategies under the condition of considering the bargaining power of producers (farmers) but also provides management insights for the stability and sustainable development of agricultural supply chains. Its novel dynamic game framework is cross-culturally applicable to help farmers' cooperatives cope with the challenge of profit distribution in a global context and emphasizes the importance of differentiation strategies to enhance bargaining power and promote fairness and efficiency in global agricultural supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaculture contributes significantly to the sustainable livelihood improvement of a considerable portion of Bangladesh's population. However, fish farmers often encounter the challenge of receiving lower market prices, necessitating the exploration of market choice options to mitigate economic losses. Using cross-sectional data collected from 200 fish farmers, this study applied the multinomial logit (MNL) model to identify the factors influencing fish farmers' decision to select a fish market. Results indicate that the bargaining power of the fish farmers can increase the probability of selling their fish at the upazila and district markets by 44% and 36%, respectively. Conversely, education, age and distance from the market display a negative association with market choices. The findings suggest several interventions to facilitate fish sales through alternative marketing outlets, including financial assistance for fish production, promoting collective marketing, strengthening extension services, and investing in logistics services, particularly improving the dissemination of market information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the gendered rights and challenges of ownership, access, and investments in land and shea trees in Ghana. It mainstreams women into policies regarding land and shea tenures. A qualitative approach through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders was used. From the study, women do not own land or shea trees, but they can exploit them. The loss of farmlands and shea trees through urbanisation worsens women's welfare, incomes, and bargaining power. To ensure the effective management of shea parklands, collaborative governance of land and shea trees between the landowners and local government is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducts a systematic comparison of two main textbook variants within the Kaleckian tradition of post-Keynesian conflict inflation and distribution theory: the Blecker and Setterfield (2019) and Lavoie (1992; 2022) (BSL) model based on Dutt (1987), and the Hein (2023a) and Hein and Stockhammer (2011) (HS) model founded on Rowthorn (1977). Focusing on a basic closed economy framework sans government, we explore various iterations of each approach. Our analysis reveals that disparities chiefly centre around the treatment of price inflation expectations ('indexation') and the incorporation of bargaining power in wage- and price-inflation equations. BSL variants generally yield stable price Phillips curves, stable distribution and employment curves, and hence stable equilibria. Only the BSL-3 variant with complete indexation and complete pass-through generates shifting Phillips and employment curves, implying instability. It is thus similar to the HS-0 approach, which has bargaining power and complete indexation representing adaptive expectations in wage inflation and incomplete pass-through in price inflation. Introducing a workers' wage share target directly into the wage-inflation equation, but keeping full indexation/adaptive expectations in wage inflation and incomplete pass-through in price inflation, allows for stable and even flat Phillips curves, stable distribution and employment curves, and hence stable equilibria in the HS approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent post-Keynesian debate on conflict inflation revolves around plausible magnitudes of the parameters of the standard model. We assess this debate by examining the economic meaning of the 'bargaining' and 'indexation' parameters, and proposing a reinterpretation in which the bargaining power is reflected in the relative frequency of wage and price increases in a period. Inflation then depends on the size of the inconsistent distributive claims and the absolute frequency of wage and price increases. Distribution depends on the relative frequency of such increases. From the latter we derive the real wage and profit resistance parameters, which determine the structural degree of inflation inertia. By adding the employment rate as a determinant of the desired real wage, we get a conflict-augmented Phillips curve. We show how different assumptions on the real resistance parameters affect the shape of the Phillips curve and the distributive outcomes in different conflict inflation models. A NAIRU occurs only when there is both full real wage and real profit resistance. Conflict generates inflation (not acceleration) with less extreme assumptions. The old-type conflict-augmented Phillips curve, with income distribution depending on the relative frequency of wage and price adjustments, is the most plausible case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study carries out a comprehensive examination of the evolving landscape of labour laws in India, with a particular focus on the recent labour codes introduced in 2020. Through a historical analysis of labour regulations, we contextualize the present labour regulatory framework, emphasizing the influence of the Indian state on the shifting dynamics of labour relations. Our analysis reveals that over the years the government has significantly enhanced labour market flexibility through less conspicuous channels and backdoor policy adjustments, instead of outright amending the 'protectionist' labour legislations. We argue that the new labour codes are an addition to the series of 'reforms by stealth' carried out by the government, to enhance flexibility in the labour market in the guise of promoting employment generation and economic growth. The new codes continue to exclude the bulk of the workforce engaged in the unorganized sector and have limited applicability in the organized sector. They dilute the bargaining power of trade unions and 'juridify' industrial relations and the provisions for exemptions in the OSHWCC further subject workers to precarious and subpar working conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many scholars consider the bargaining power between ruler and society to be one of the most important determinants of a country's political regime and institutions. The relative bargaining power, in turn, is shaped by arms technology and societal modernization: arms tend to strengthen rulers, and modernization tends to strengthen society. We document that rulers outside of Western Europe were strengthened by advanced arms technology at a time when societies were weakly modernized and political demands limited. We dub this the "coercive imbalance" and argue that it has shaped the state-society bargain outside Western Europe since at least 1850. We show that the coercive imbalance arose because arms diffuse faster than civilian technology. We then use ordinary least squares, system GMM, and two-stage least squares to document that the adoption of advanced arms technology at an early stage of societal modernization is strongly associated with limited democracy, poor bureaucracy, and corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate how emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) are integrating and expanding into other emerging market host countries, focusing on Chinese mining companies in Peru. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting a qualitative approach, an in-depth analysis of two Chinese state-owned enterprises' strategies was conducted, building on stakeholder theory and the business ecosystem perspective. Findings: This study reveals a reliance on high-level political lobbying rather than localized engagement strategies. However, findings point to increasing grassroots resistance among local stakeholders, undermining EMNEs' bargaining power. Originality/value: This paper argues for a paradigm shift toward inclusive, cooperative "translocal governance" approaches as empowered communities gain voice. Key contributions include advancing theoretical understanding of changing stakeholder relationships and power configurations in emerging countries, underscoring the rising significance of microlevel sociocultural embeddedness for MNE success and highlighting practical imperatives for EMNEs to embark on rapid localization strategies in Latin America. By elucidating multilayered integration realities in Peru, this interdisciplinary study yields contextualized insights and enriches perspective on the conditions and pathways for EMNEs to build sustainability in Global South emerging market environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the dynamics of the collective agency among gig workers in the digital platform economy, focusing on three key research questions. First, it examines power dynamics, worker autonomy, and the role of social networks in mitigating power imbalances imposed by digital platforms. Second, it investigates how algorithmic management affects gig workers' agency and their capacity for collective action. Lastly, it proposes directions for future research to address power imbalances and enhance worker empowerment. Using a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis of 59 scholarly articles, this study reveals that gig workers, despite the control exerted by opaque algorithms, leverage social networks to enhance their autonomy and bargaining power. These networks enable information sharing, negotiation strategies, and collective actions that challenge platform-driven power asymmetries. The study proposes a comprehensive framework illustrating the interplay of economic, technological, social, and regulatory forces affecting gig workers. These insights offer practical implications for policymakers and platform developers aiming to foster a more equitable gig economy. Future research should explore the long-term impacts on worker well-being and assess the effectiveness of regulatory interventions in addressing power imbalances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces cooperative game theory into the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method for building a novel fixed cost allocation (FCA) approach from group and individual consciousness. We start by acknowledging the divergences of decision-making units (DMUs) and propose an asymmetrical Nash bargaining DEA game, where DMUs' bargaining powers are defined through the functions of cross-efficiency and operation scale. However, the asymmetrical Nash bargaining solution is proposed from an individual perspective, without providing the theoretical support of full cooperation. To narrow this gap, we further introduce the core concept of a coalitional cooperative game into the built asymmetrical Nash bargaining DEA game, resulting in the asymmetrical core-Nash bargaining DEA game. The asymmetrical core-Nash bargaining solution is based on the common weights, with the properties of stability, fairness, Pareto-efficiency, and invariance to affine transformation. Furthermore, our proposed approach inherently ensures the uniqueness of the fixed cost scheme. Finally, numerical analysis and case study are provided to show the concrete application of the new method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the challenges faced by disadvantaged individuals in the labor market and presents the empowerment model as a distinctive approach to justice. It discusses the virtues of equalizing bargaining power and promoting egalitarianism by addressing inequalities based on gender, race, disability, and social class. The article acknowledges practical limits to achieving equal bargaining power but suggests that governments should consider individuals' own views and preferences. It also discusses the goods of work model and argues that the empowerment model is more practical and effective in guiding policy decisions. The article emphasizes the importance of considering global and environmental challenges in discussions of justice in the labor market. [Extracted from the article]

One of the core objectives of unions is to raise the wages of the lowest paid. Utilizing a panel of individual‐matched employee–employer data covering the Norwegian private sector in the period 2000–2014, I investigate how workplace union density is related to individual low‐pay risk. By exploiting changes in tax deductions for union members in Norway as a source of exogenous variation, a negative effect of increased union density on low‐pay risk is identified within jobs. The results further suggest that the effect of local bargaining power on individual low‐pay probability is larger among immigrants than among natives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child stunting is a serious challenge in Indonesia, one of the largest middle-income countries in the world. Beyond the influence of bio-behavioral determinants, mothers’ bargaining power in the household is expected to have an overarching contribution to stunting, particularly as the primary caregivers of their children. Using a dataset from the fifth wave of the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS-5), this study examines whether and to what extent a mother’s bargaining power influences children’s nutritional status. The study uses the instrumental variables method to correct the potential endogeneity of the mother’s bargaining power. Results suggest that children of mothers with higher intrahousehold bargaining power have a lower prevalence of stunting and better anthropometric outcomes. However, other members of the household matter, in the sense that improved outcomes are evidenced when the mother exercises her choice in decision making in a more consensual manner, by consultation with other household members.HIGHLIGHTSIn Indonesia, higher women’s bargaining power enhances child nutritional long-term outcomes.Child nutrition improves when women make decisions jointly with other family members.Boys appear to be the main beneficiaries of mothers’ higher bargaining power.Policies to increase women’s agency need to consider family support and social norms.In Indonesia, higher women’s bargaining power enhances child nutritional long-term outcomes.Child nutrition improves when women make decisions jointly with other family members.Boys appear to be the main beneficiaries of mothers’ higher bargaining power.Policies to increase women’s agency need to consider family support and social norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misclassification of employees as independent contractors is widespread. This article aims to make two contributions. My first goal is to sharpen the explanation of why misclassifications persist; I argue that three well‐known problems – the indeterminacy of employee status tests, the barriers to self‐enforcement, and the inequality of bargaining power – together combine to give employers de facto power to set the default legal status. Putting the burden on the worker to initiate legal proceedings and challenge their classification as an independent contractor is the ultimate reason for persistent misclassifications. The second and main contribution is to propose a solution that relies on new AI capabilities. Thanks to technological advancements it is now possible to require employers to seek pre‐authorisation before engaging with someone as an independent contractor. The authorisation would be granted (or refused) by a state‐run automated system, based on an AI prediction about the law. Both parties would still be able to bring the case before a court of law; but the power to set the default legal status would be taken away from employers. The article considers the difficulties with relying on AI predictions, and argues that those difficulties can be addressed, proposing a model that can be justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most subsistence crops that fall in low-value chains, such as cassava, are controlled mainly by women; hence, intra-household gender roles and power dynamics are complex and depend on socio-economic and cultural contexts. Cassava food value chains contribute to the immediate food and income household needs of marginalized and vulnerable rural communities where agriculture is a significant livelihood. However, few studies have explicitly documented how perceived lowvalue agricultural commodity value chains transform intra-household social relations and resource ownership, benefit sharing, and how, in turn, these value chains are affected by these micro-level processes. The primary objective in designing this framework was to highlight the importance of gendered interactions at the microscale through an analysis of the changing roles, responsibilities, and bargaining power of women and men within the cassava value chains at the household level. A crosssectional survey involving focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and an ethnographic approach was undertaken using repeated household visits during data collection. Qualitative data analysis used content analysis to identify key themes from focus group discussions about intra-household gender power dynamics. The framework was derived from analyzing the empirical findings from Tanzania's smallholder farming sector underpinned by the Colfer and Minarchek framework. The findings refute the assumption of unitary household preferences along the gender axis, given the intricate relationships in the multi-sectoral smallholder farming space. By emphasizing intra-household gender power dynamics, the framework helps to identify gender inequalities emanating from skewed resource ownership, limited women participation, unequal benefit sharing, and power relations within the cassava food value chain. The study recommends policy shifts for women to own productive resources such as land, reduced export taxes, access to finance, and rewarding markets for cassava value chain actors. This study resonates with global and regional policy initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2063: Africa We Want in enhancing gender equality, reducing poverty, and ensuring food and nutrition security. The framework will facilitate the development of gender-sensitive intervention programs for upgrading and strengthening women's participation in cassava food value chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Identifies factors affecting the workers' bargaining power. • Builds a composite index for the United States using the principal component analysis. • Analyses the relationship between this index and the wage share in the years 1960–2018. • Discusses the link between the workers' bargaining power and inflation. • Estimates the Phillips curve and explains why it has flattened over the last decades. This paper aims to construct a synthetic index of workers' bargaining power and investigate the relationship between it and inflation in the U.S. economy. As a first step, we identify the factors affecting the bargaining power of workers, referring to different groups of variables: labour market indicators; institutional indicators (e.g., collective bargaining coverage, union density); characteristics of the economy (e.g., degree of freedom for capital mobility, share of employment by sector). We then implement Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to assess the adequacy of the indicators and calculate the weights to aggregate the single indicators into a composite index. As a second step, we estimate the impact of our Bargaining Index on inflation by estimating an equation of the determinants of inflation. The composite index thus has a twofold use: it sheds light on the extent to which changes in the labour market in recent decades have weakened workers' bargaining power, and it can be used to test how the evolution of the wage bargaining system affects inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh, a country that has been a solid example of low levels of trade unionism in the last 40 years, is significantly influenced by globalisation and neoliberalism, the main factors contributing to the decline of trade unionism. These factors have played a key role in the decline, particularly in the ready-made garments (RMG) sector, which currently has only 5% to 10% union membership. As a result, millions of RMG workers work in shoddy factories with meagre minimum wages. At the same time, their RMG factories lack trade union rights and collective bargaining power, leading to extreme exploitation in the modern century. This article analyses the empirical data collected from Bangladesh to understand the reasons for the decline of trade unionism in Bangladesh over the last 40 years. The scholarly recommendations provided at the end of this article are a call to action for all stakeholders to contribute to the necessary structural changes in trade unionism in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes how the relationship between corporate income tax and employment varies according to the bargaining power of labor unions. To this end, we use a dynamic general equilibrium model to examine corporate income tax and the bargaining power of labor unions based on a span-of-control model. Previous studies on the relationship between corporate income tax and employment are inconclusive and do not examine the role of the bargaining power of labor unions in this relationship. Calibrated results obtained using data from Korea show that a reduction in only the corporate income tax rate slightly decreases total employment, but a reduction in the corporate income tax rate accompanied by a decline in the bargaining power of labor unions significantly increases total employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We set up a model on the hold-up problem with uncertain bargaining power and find that, when two agents are overconfident about their bargaining power ex ante, both of them may endogenously choose incomplete contract over complete contract even when complete contracting is feasible. The intuition behind the result is that ceteris paribus, overconfidence leads to a higher expected return to relationspecific investment and a higher investment level. Our model provides an additional behavioral explanation for the prevalence of contract incompleteness in addition to those existing in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]