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The research was commissioned by a major manufacturing union concerned about the level of involvement of its members in workplace introductions of new technology and is intended to provide an independent assessment of the impact of technological change in recent years as well as a set of guidelines with regard to future policy making within the union.

The trade union response to flexibility has become more pragmatic as public discussion about the subject has progressed. From initial and outright condemnation of the flexibility model produced by the Institute of Manpower Studies, unions have developed an awareness that some aspects of workforce flexibility may produce positive advantages for their members. The reality of that pragmatism should not be surprising since trade unions have adopted that approach throughout much of their history, but what is interesting in its application in this current sphere is its association with the ways in which trade unions are re‐thinking their relationships with their members and debating plans for their future workplace role. In this paper I seek to explore the nature of these relationships in greater detail, and the tensions inherent within them, as the trade union movement strives to come to terms with what are complex and sometimes disturbing changes in the relevancy of its workplace role.

I suggest that the search for Adam Smith’s theodicy is likely to be in vain. The paper begins with a brief history of approaches to evil, emphasizing the context in which they arose, and the questions authors were addressing. Approaches most relevant to Adam Smith include those of Augustine and Calvin, and the early modern theodicies of Leibniz, Samuel Clarke and William King, as well as the attacks on them by Bayle and Voltaire. Scottish Enlightenment writers were not terribly interested in theodicy, though Hutcheson and Kames did devote space to their versions of problems of evil. David Hume’s Dialogues on Natural Religion are often taken to be classic statement of the problem of theodicy and argument against religious belief, but his concern was to demolish rationalistic theodicies rather than religious belief or practice. The paper then turns to Smith’s writings, considering similarities and differences to these approaches to evil. Smith emphasizes the wisdom and beneficence of God, and that evils we observe are part of a larger providential plan. He makes no attempt to justify the God in the face of evil, and in this respect Smith shares more with Augustine and Calvin than he does with the early modern theodicists. Smith’s approach to evil is simple and ameliorative. Smith’s approach contrasts with early nineteenth century English political economists, from Malthus onwards, for whom theodicy was important. Whatever view we take of the theodicists project of justifying an all-powerful and good God in the face of evil may, we still struggle to make sense of economic suffering and evil.

The crop insurance purchase decision for a group of Kansas farmers is analyzed using farm‐level data from the 1990s, a period that experienced many changes in the federal crop insurance program. Results indicate a reduction in the elasticity of the demand for crop insurance with respect to premium rates by the end of the decade. The reduction in demand elasticity corresponded with a considerable increase in government subsidies by the end of the 1990s. This result may also reflect the attractiveness of new revenue insurance products which may have made producers less sensitive to premium changes.

My task in this second introductory paper is to attempt a review of the research that has been undertaken in relation to the retrieval of information. It is some twenty years ago that the term ‘information retrieval’ was first used, reputedly by Calvin Mooers, although it was several years later before it became a generally accepted term. It would be absurd to suggest that there was no such thing as information retrieval before the term was coined, but it is useful to consider it as marking a new approach to a problem that had always existed, but which had become very much more serious in consequence of the great increase in scientific and technical literature during and after World War II.

OWING to the comparatively early date in the year of the Library Association Conference, this number of THE LIBRARY WORLD is published so that it may be in the hands of our readers before it begins. The official programme is not in the hands of members at the time we write, but the circumstances are such this year that delay has been inevitable. We have dwelt already on the good fortune we enjoy in going to the beautiful West‐Country Spa. At this time of year it is at its best, and, if the weather is more genial than this weather‐chequered year gives us reason to expect, the Conference should be memorable on that account alone. The Conference has always been the focus of library friendships, and this idea, now that the Association is so large, should be developed. To be a member is to be one of a freemasonry of librarians, pledged to help and forward the work of one another. It is not in the conference rooms alone, where we listen, not always completely awake, to papers not always eloquent or cleverly read, that we gain most, although no one would discount these; it is in the hotels and boarding houses and restaurants, over dinner tables and in the easy chairs of the lounges, that we draw out really useful business information. In short, shop is the subject‐matter of conference conversation, and only misanthropic curmudgeons think otherwise.

Despite widespread media attention and growing interest from researchers, pay transparency remains an under-studied field of research and its impact on organizational outcomes like job turnover is not well understood. This study explores the impact of pay transparency on job turnover intentions through the mediating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) and organizational justice.

Data from quantitative surveys conducted with 299 employees at four South African organizations with different pay transparency practices were used to test the conceptual model of pay transparency impacting job turnover intentions through the mediators of POS and organizational justice.

The authors found a weak negative relationship between pay transparency and job turnover intentions and the role of the mediating variables was confirmed. Unexpectedly, the role of the organization emerged as a key variable. Controlling for organization type showed that the direct effect of pay transparency on turnover intentions became insignificant, indicating a stronger effect from organizational factors, of which pay transparency practices are just one.

Identifying a contextual (organizational) dimension to pay transparency practices extends the understanding of this concept and has implications for practice. The study also makes a methodological contribution by demonstrating the value of linking respondent data to a particular organization when researching pay transparency.

The purpose of this paper is to advance the theory and practice of luxury and masstige brand advertising effectiveness by decoding symbolism imbedded in fashion advertising.

This research employs a semiotic analysis of masstige brand advertising to discover those messages and themes that emerge and that communicate masstige values.

The research identifies identitary values that are exclusive to masstige brands, and those they share with luxury brands.

The purpose of this research is not to make generalizations; rather, its purpose is to offer insights into those themes that define luxury and masstige brand identitary values.

The research provides insights into the key identifiers, which may inspire further research and provide marketing insights for the operation management in luxury fashion.

The research contributes to luxury and masstige retail brand research by identifying the symbolic meaning of luxury advertising.

This paper examines the growth strategies adopted by fashion design houses which have undergone significant transformation in the past decade from being privately owned, niche market companies to stock‐market‐listed businesses selling fashion and other lifestyle products to a lucrative and international middle retailing market. In order to illustrate this transition, the paper will focus upon the entry of American fashion design houses into central London. The expansion activities of these firms are identified and the resultant impact of their strategies upon central London fashion retailing is considered, providing invaluable insights to the impact of fashion retailer internationalisation and strategic growth at the micro environmental level.

The paper considers whether and how Calvinism as a specific type of religion, ideology, and social system impacts political democracy in modern society. In contrast to the previous sociological and related literature assuming only a positive or negative linear effect, the paper proposes that Calvinism exerts mixed positive-negative and non-linear effects on democracy. The purpose of this paper is to aim at making a contribution to the sociological theory and research on Calvinism and democracy and modern society in general.

A combination of comparative and historical sociological methodology.

The main proposition and finding is that whether Calvinism is likely to have a positive or negative impact on democracy is the function of its specific position within social structure and its concrete phase of development. Thus, different positions of Calvinism in social structure are linked to its differential consequences in aggregate for democracy, and various stages of its development to time-variable non-linear effects in sequence.

This is a relatively novel finding innovating and expanding on the literature's assumption that Calvinism has a structurally uniform, either positive or negative, and linear, time-constant effect on democracy.