Business Commons^™

Management Of Cull Dairy Cows—Consensus Of An Expert Consultation In Canada, Jane Stojkov, G. Bowers, M. Draper, Todd Duffield, P. Duivenvoorden, M. Groleau, Deb Haupstein, R. Peters, Jane Pritchard, C. Radom, N. Sillett, W. Skippon, H. Trépanier, David Fraser

David Fraser, PhD

Many cull dairy cows enter the marketing system and travel to widely dispersed and specialized slaughter plants, and they may experience multiple handling events (e.g., loading, unloading, mixing), change of ownership among dealers, and feed and water deprivation during transport and at livestock markets. The objectives of this study were to describe the diverse management of cull dairy cows in Canada and establish consensus on ways to achieve improvements. A 2-day expert consultation meeting was convened, involving farmers, veterinarians, regulators, and experts in animal transport, livestock auction, and slaughter. The 15 participants, recruited from across Canada, discussed regional management practices …

Impact Of Life-Cycle Costs Threshold Criteria In The Alternate Design Pavement Bidding Practices Of Public Transportation Agencies, Ilker Karaca, Douglas Gransberg, Ashley F. Buss

Ilker Karaca

This paper proposes a model that enables Department of Transportation (DOT) policy makers to quantify the expected volume of projects that will qualify for letting in their alternate design/alternate bid (ADAB) pavement bidding programs. Current guidance on alternate bidding recommends a fixed percentage as the life cycle cost (LCC) threshold criterion to determine whether pavement selection decisions should be made through ADAB bidding practices. The paper’s analysis shows that the fixed LCC threshold percentage approach may have considerable shortcomings. Instead, a dynamic threshold value is proposed that can subsequently be calibrated by agencies, based on the desired size of their …

Online Hunting Forums Identify Achievement As Prominent Among Multiple Satisfactions, Alena M. Ebeling-Schuld, Chris T. Darimont

Chris Darimont, PhD

Understanding hunter satisfactions can lead to improved wildlife management policy and practice. Whereas previous work has suggested that hunters often seek multiple satisfactions (achievement, affiliation, appreciation), little is known about how satisfactions might vary with target species. Additionally, past research has mostly gathered data using interviews and surveys, which might limit scope as well as introduce strategic bias for potentially provocative subjects such as hunting. To address these gaps, we analyzed data from online hunting forums, which provide an open-access source of peer-to-peer discussion that is geographically and taxonomically broad. We used directed qualitative content analysis to analyze hunting narratives …

Turning Science Into Policy: The Case Of Farm Animal Welfare In Canada, David Fraser

David Fraser, PhD

Implications

• Development of farm animal welfare standards in Canada has evolved significantly over 35 yr in terms of process, leadership, and the role of science.
• Key elements of the current process include: 1) influential producers and producer organizations that see the benefit of having science-informed standards, 2) a credible coordinating body to ensure that a well-defined process is followed in developing standards, and 3) trusted scientists who are engaged in relevant research and willing to participate.
• The process benefits from having a distinct and defined role for the scientists, specifically to analyze relevant science and identify conclusions that are scientifically …

Summary Of Yuji Ijiri Lectures, Tepper School Of Business, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.

An Invitation To Accounting - Policy, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.

Employee Attendance Policies: The Foundation For Successful Absenteeism Control, Dow Scott, Steve Markham, G Stephen Taylor

Dow Scott

No abstract provided.

Rewarding Good Attendance: A Comparative Study Of Positive Ways To Reduce Absenteeism, Dow Scott, Steve Markham, Richard W. Robers

Dow Scott

No abstract provided.

A Human Resource Planning Approach For Reducing The Cost Of Absenteeism, Dow Scott

Dow Scott

Although absenteeism rates can be reduced significantly in most organizations, it must be recognized that absenteeism is a legitimate employee benefit and will occur at some level despite control efforts. The author proposes that a human resource planning approach can substantially reduce the cost of absenteeism by staffing for predicted levels of absenteeism. There are three preconditions for such an approach: (1) absenteeism measures must be developed and attendance data collected: (2) the probability that jobs will be vacant must be calculated; and (3) a cost analysis for alternative strategies of filling job vacancies must be completed. Diagnostic instruments are …

Workshop | Body Worn Video Recorders: The Socio-Technical Implications Of Gathering Direct Evidence, Katina Michael, Alexander Hayes

Alexander Hayes Mr.

- From in-car video recording to body-worn video recording

- Exploring available technologies: how do they work, pros and cons

- Storing direct evidence in secure storage: factors to consider

- Citizens “shooting” back with POV tech – what are their rights?

- Crowdsourced sousveillance- harnessing public data for forensic profiling

- Police force policies and practices on the application of new media

Regional Differences Pose Challenges For Food Security Policy: A Case Study Of India, Renuka Mahadevan, Sandy Suardi

Sandy Suardi

This paper examines factors affecting the calorie gap by considering the risk of calorie inadequacy or excess at the tails of food intakes. Non-linear estimations accounting for rural/urban differences in more and less developed states allow for policy-making on two levels. First, the calorie gap was found to respond differently depending on the calorie status of the individual, to various socio-economic characteristics, social assistance programmes, as well as caste and religion. Second, these impacts depended on rural/urban differences and at other times on the development of the states. These findings pose significant challenges towards achieving a balanced regional food security …

Testing Conflicting Political Economy Theories: Full-Fledged Versus Partial-Scope Regional Trade Agreements, Xuepeng Liu

Xuepeng Liu

We apply a duration analysis to test the conflicting predictions of the median voter model and the lobbying model using panel data on regional trade agreement (RTA) formation. Our results show that the pro-labor prediction of the median voter model is supported by the full-fledged free trade areas and customs unions (FTAs/CUs), while the pro-capital prediction of the lobbying model is supported by the partial-scope preferential trade arrangements among developing countries. This finding holds better for the country pairs with more different capital-labor ratios as a result of the stronger distributional effects of RTAs. The support for the median voter …

Rationalism's Irrationality - An Example From Australian Mental Health Policy, Ciorstan J. Smark

Ciorstan Smark

This article reflects on the way in which accounting-related thinking influenced one particular historical event: the process of deinstitutionalisation from mental hospitals in New South Wales. The article suggests that accounting (via economic rationalism and other allied philosophical lenses ) led to the under funding of the deinstitutionalisation process to the detriment of society as a whole. Some of the societal difficulties inherent in using such rationalist calculus (biased towards quantified, monetary, accounting entity assumptions) as a means of evaluating social policies are then considered.

Star Or Black Hole? Australia And The International Transfers Of Anti-Terrorism Policy, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This paper investigates the role that Australia is playing in the international transfer or diffusion of anti-terrorism policy. It is widely believed that those Western states that actually have been the target of homeland terrorist attacks, in particular the United States and Britain, have led the way in enacting harsh national security and counter-terrorism legislation. It is further assumed that other states have followed the lead of these vanguards in adopting and implementing their own legislative response to terrorist threats to national security. There is some merit in this view. In the wake of the September 11 attacks of 2001 …

The Stock Market Implication Of Political Connections: Evidence From Firms' Dividend Policy, Jerry Cao, Sheng Huang, Qigui Liu, Gary G. Tian

Qigui Liu

Political connections are valuable for shareholders of privately-run firms especially in countries with weak legal institutions. We study the effect of a firm's political connections in the public equity market by focusing on its impact on the firms' dividend policy. Prior studies suggest that dividends signal the commitment for proper treatment of minority shareholders and thus high growth firms pay dividends to establish such a reputation for better access to equity market in the future. Using a sample of privately-owned Chinese firms, we find that politically connected firms are less likely to pay dividends and pay less if they pay. …

National Electronic Health Records And The Digital Disruption Of Moral Orders, Karin Garrety, Ian Mcloughlin, Rob Wilson, Gregor Zelle, Mike Martin

Karin Garrety

The digitalisation of patient health data to provide national electronic health record systems (NEHRS) is a major objective of many governments. Proponents claim that NEHRS will streamline care, reduce mistakes and cut costs. However, building these systems has proved highly problematic. Using recent developments in Australia as an example, we argue that a hitherto unexamined source of difficulty concerns the way NEHRS disrupt the moral orders governing the production, ownership, use of and responsibility for health records. Policies that pursue digitalisation as a self-evident 'solution' to problems in healthcare without due regard to these disruptions risk alienating key stakeholders. We …

The Stock Market Implication Of Political Connections: Evidence From Firms' Dividend Policy, Jerry Cao, Sheng Huang, Qigui Liu, Gary Tian

Qigui Liu

Political connections are valuable for shareholders of privately-run firms especially in countries with weak legal institutions. We study the effect of a firm's political connections in the public equity market by focusing on its impact on the firms' dividend policy. Prior studies suggest that dividends signal the commitment for proper treatment of minority shareholders and thus high growth firms pay dividends to establish such a reputation for better access to equity market in the future. Using a sample of privately-owned Chinese firms, we find that politically connected firms are less likely to pay dividends and pay less if they pay. …

Accounting For Policy In Accounting, Economics And Law, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.

New Minimum Wage Research: Symposium Introduction, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] The passage of the 1989 FLSA amendments stimulated a new wave of research on the effects of minimum wage legislation, and five of the resulting papers are gathered together in this symposium. Four of these are revisions of papers that were presented at the ILR-Cornell Institute for Labor Market Policies/Princeton University Industrial Relations Section Conference, "New Minimum Wage Research," which was held at Cornell University on November 15, 1991. These papers, as well as the fifth paper, which was contributed by one of the conference participants after the conference was concluded, have all been subject to a refereeing process. …

Enhancing The Attractiveness Of Research To Female Faculty, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] CSWEP has long been concerned about the underrepresentation of women in faculty positions at major research universities. I have been charged by the committee with enumerating a set of policies that might enhance the attractiveness of research universities to female faculty. After presenting some data that suggest the magnitude of the underrepresentation problem, I do so below. In each case, I sketch the pros and cons of the policy. Although the focus is on increasing the attractiveness of research universities to female faculty, many of the policies would increase the attractiveness of academic careers per se to new female …

The Stock Market Implication Of Political Connections: Evidence From Firms' Dividend Policy, Jerry Cao, Sheng Huang, Qigui Liu, Gary G. Tian

Gary Tian

Political connections are valuable for shareholders of privately-run firms especially in countries with weak legal institutions. We study the effect of a firm's political connections in the public equity market by focusing on its impact on the firms' dividend policy. Prior studies suggest that dividends signal the commitment for proper treatment of minority shareholders and thus high growth firms pay dividends to establish such a reputation for better access to equity market in the future. Using a sample of privately-owned Chinese firms, we find that politically connected firms are less likely to pay dividends and pay less if they pay. …

Climate Change Policy: Actions And Barriers In New Zealand, Geoff Kelly

Geoff Kelly

The success of global negotiations in structuring a new broadly based agreement towards greenhouse emission reduction will be much influenced by the extent to which developed countries have met their commitments under the current Kyoto agreement. It is apparent however that many developed countries have failed to reduce their emissions, and it is important to understand why this has been so. The paper examines the case of one such developed country, New Zealand, and the factors which have helped shape its climate policy implementation. While New Zealand’s emissions have risen, few substantive steps have been taken to counter them in …

Sustainability At Home: Policy Measures For Energy-Efficient Appliances, Geoff Kelly

Geoff Kelly

Residential energy consumption is now an important component of total energy consumption and its related emissions. In addition,this consumption has significant potential for growth in both developed and developing countries, as average incomes increase, and domestic appliance numbers rise. Reduction in this energy use may be achieved both through conservation measures, and through increased efficiency in its use. This paper focuses on energy efficiency in appliances-those many devices through which household energy is consumed. The policy instruments available to promote the uptake of more efficient devices, and issues associated with their use, are reviewed, drawing on developed country experiences to …

Faculty Retirement Policies After The End Of Mandatory Retirement, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Michael J. Rizzo

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] The findings we report above have implications for both institutions and their faculty members. In some states, rapidly growing college age cohorts will require academic institutions to hire large numbers of new faculty in the years ahead to fill positions created to meet the expanding demand for enrollments. Nationally, institutions will have to replace a large number of retiring faculty members in the years ahead. This suggests that most institutions’ concern in upcoming years will not be how to encourage their faculty members to retire. Rather, their concern will be how to continue to draw on the skills of …

Do Historically Black Institutions Of Higher Education Confer Unique Advantages On Black Students? An Initial Analysis, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Donna S. Rothstein

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] Despite the declining relative importance of HBIs in the production of black bachelor's degrees, in recent years they have become the subject of intense public policy debate for two reasons. First, court cases have been filed in a number of southern states that assert that black students continue to be underrepresented at traditionally white public institutions, that discriminatory admissions criteria are used by these institutions to exclude black students (e.g., basing admissions only on test scores and not also on grades), and that per student funding levels, program availability, and library facilities are substantially poorer at public HBIs than …

Maestros To Multipliers: Exploring The Evolution Of Public Sector Innovation Intermediation And Governance (A Case Study Of Greater Manchester, 2003-2011), Martin Wain

Martin Wain

There has been a trend within the last decade, observable to economic development practitioners, for innovation becoming increasingly integrated into and central to mainstream economic development. To date it can be seen across all areas of economic development, including factors of competitiveness and competitive advantage, to the attraction and retention of talent. Arguably, this extends the policy recommendations and implications of innovation from competitiveness and growth to the perceived dynamicity and attractiveness of a locale to potential inward investors and upwardly mobile entrepreneurs.

This dissertation explores the evolution of innovation policy, through design and implementation, over a nine-year period. The …

El Paso Economic Development System Review & Recommendations, Edward Feser

Edward J Feser

This report, commissioned by the City of El Paso, recommends that El Paso city government undertake a substantial reform of its economic development effort and that public and private sector stakeholders in the broader El Paso region mobilize to create an organizational vehicle for the kind of public‐private collaboration that is driving innovative economic development in many other major city‐regions in the United States. The analysis also calls for a stronger integration of physical, land use, and economic development planning activities in the city and region, consistent with a trend in international best practice in local and regional economic development.

[Review Of The Book Labor Regulation In The Global Economy], Gary Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This is a practical and useful volume on labor standards in today’s highly globalized world. An introduction is followed by ten chapters, some of them general, talking about the ILO or the WTO, and some more specific, focusing on the United States and Europe. The general chapters cover the ILO, corporate codes of conduct, efforts to introduce labor standards into the multilateral trade regime, arguments for and against labor standards in trade, and policy implications. The specific chapters cover U.S. initiatives on child labor, labor standards in the bilateral trade agreements entered into by the United States and the …

[Review Of The Book Successes In Anti-Poverty], Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] Michael Lipton has devoted a long career to studying and fighting poverty in the developing world. In this volume he talks about how to make anti-poverty programs work.

[Review Of The Book Private Pension Policies In Industrialized Countries: A Comparative Analysis], Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] John Turner and Noriyasu Watanabe have written numerous articles and books on pensions and employee benefits. In this collaborative effort, they synthesize a great deal of institutional and analytical material on a wide range of countries, including those typically regarded as industrialized (most of the OECD countries are the subjects of case studies and illustrations) and those that would probably be happy to learn that they now fall into that category (in particular, Chile and Argentina). The book is both accessible (there are no equations in sight) and analytical.