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There is a growing body of comparative research examining country differences in job satisfaction and its determinants. However, existing research cannot explain similarities in job satisfaction levels across very different countries, nor can it explain the differences between seemingly similar countries. Moreover, there has been no significant research conducted to date that has examined the country-level contextual conditions that are poised to impact worker satisfaction and its determinants. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this research, the author address this existing gap in the academic literature on job satisfaction by using non-panel longitudinal data from the International Social Survey Program (Work Orientations I, II, and III: 1989, 1997, and 2005) to examine cross-national differences in job satisfaction and its determinants. The author compare and combine previous international political economy theoretical work and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine global macro-level variables and their impact on worker satisfaction cross-nationally.

Study results demonstrate that both intrinsic and extrinsic work characteristics strongly impact worker job satisfaction. Furthermore, country by country regression and HLM results suggest that there are important country differences in both the perceived importance of various work characteristics and workers’ self-report experiences with both intrinsic and extrinsic work characteristics.

To get a clearer picture in the HLM analysis as to the full impact of these various country-contextual impacts on differences in perceived job characteristics and worker satisfaction, future research needs to examine a greater number and wider variety of countries, while exploring other theoretically relevant country-level variables that may help to explore country-level differences from these various cross-national theoretical frameworks. Additionally, a more diverse and greater number of participating countries would also potentially help in achieving levels of significance in the level-2 covariates in the HLM models.

Due to the fact the worker job satisfaction impacts firm performance and various measures of worker well-being, firms (regardless of economic sector or private/public status) need to be cognizant of these differences and unique challenges and work to tailor management philosophy and policy to create a unique work atmosphere that will benefit the interests of both the employer and the employee, as well as society at large.

While the nature of work has changed dramatically in the post-war era in response to economic shifts and an increasingly global economy, particularly over the past two decades, this paper examines the previously unexamined country-level contextual and global macro-historical variables driving differences in work quality and perceived worker satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate critically the competing explanations for the cross-national variations in the scale of informal employment which variously correlate higher levels of informal employment with economic under-development (“modernization” theory), corruption, higher taxes and state interference (“neo-liberal” theory) and inadequate state intervention to protect workers from poverty (“structuralist” theory).

To do this, data on the prevalence of informal employment collected by the International Labour Organisation using a common survey method across 41 less developed economies are analysed and compared using bivariate regressions with World Bank development indicators.

Some 34.4 per cent of the non-agricultural workforce is in informal employment across these 41 countries, with the share in informal employment ranging from 83.6 per cent in India to 6.1 per cent in Serbia. Evaluating critically the competing explanations, a call is made for a synthesis of the modernisation and structuralist theoretical perspectives in a new “neo-modernisation” theory that tentatively associates higher levels of informal employment with economic under-development, smaller government and inadequate state intervention to protect workers from poverty.

Based on 41 cases, a multivariate regression analysis was not possible to determine how important each characteristic is to the final outcome whilst controlling for the other characteristics.

This paper tentatively displays that wider economic and social policies, such as social protection, are significantly correlated with the level of informal employment.

This is the first paper to use a direct survey to analyse and explain cross-national variations in informal employment in less developed economies.

This article presents fieldwork perspectives and research reflexivity gained from the cross-national research team, with the aim of promoting better qualitative research practices in transnational research. It focuses on how the team incorporates diverse cultural perspectives and insider and outsider roles to enhance the research in the data collection process.

This article is drawn from the authors' qualitative research with 25 Japanese retirees in Thailand, addressing cultural challenges encountered by researchers in the cross-national team when conducting field research.

Our findings indicate that researchers with an emic view in the cross-national team who shared nationality and cultural background as the participants facilitated an effective recruitment process and productive collaboration in data gathering. They also served as cultural brokers, tailoring smooth communication during interviews on certain cultures, participant traits and sensitive issues. On the other hand, the outsiders helped the team uncover more transnational issues that the insiders had overlooked. Additionally, combining emic and etic perspectives helps to avoid ethnocentric narratives or purely etic and emic conclusions.

This article addresses a gap in the methodological reflections in transnational research that remains largely overlooked. Our reflection highlights the advantages of cross-national teams, which include researchers from emigration and immigration countries. Their status and roles as insiders and outsiders significantly facilitate a positive impact on the research process and increase the extent of investigating the complex cultural dynamics of transnational practices. The incorporation of emic and etic perspectives is suggested in the methodological approach for transnational migration research.

Finland's performance in PISA has created considerable interest in the country's education system, to ascertain what has made Finland so successful in the survey. In reference to the phenomenon, this chapter discusses cross-national attraction, policy borrowing, the effect of Finland in PISA, and its influence on education policy. This chapter explores at length the theoretical background of cross-national attraction and policy borrowing, also investigating cases that have already occurred. It discusses Finland's role as the new object of cross-national attraction and eventual policy borrowing. The chapter incorporates research into the reasons for Finland's success in PISA, the possibilities of policy transfer from Finland, and delves into the likelihood of policy implications as a result of Finland in PISA. This cross-national attraction denotes the first stage in policy borrowing; however, comparative educationalists, for years, have warned about the uncritical transfer of education policy. Research in Finland has revealed many reasons for the country's PISA success stem from contextual factors: those related to historical, cultural, societal, and political features of Finland. Therefore, policy borrowing from Finland needs to heed warnings of past comparativists. The new phenomenon of Finland in PISA has generated much curiosity from those in education, educational policy, and politics. Policymakers are keen to incorporate Finland's educational features into their education systems. PISA and Finland's performance in the survey influence educational policy. This illustrates the importance the warnings of past and present comparative educationalists in order to prevent uncritical policy borrowing.

Given the increasing global focus of many aspects of our society, researchers have taken significant steps in understanding the impact of culture on various psychological states. This review focuses on the stressor–strain relationships within the context of cross-cultural and cross-national studies. Using research findings from the United States as a baseline, we identify common and unique themes concerning the stressor–strain relationships between different countries, and clarify the differences between cross-national and cross-cultural studies. Furthermore, we consider cross-cultural and cross-national occupational stress research from an individual differences perspective. We encourage future studies to adopt this perspective and carefully consider the implications of cultural values on occupational stress research at the individual, group, and country levels.

This chapter evaluates the cross-national variations in the proportion of employment that is in informal sector enterprises and evaluates competing theories which view these cross-national variations to result from either economic underdevelopment (modernisation explanation), high taxes, public sector corruption and over-regulation of work and welfare (neo-liberal explanation) or conversely, a lack of intervention in the realm of social protection (political economy explanation).

To evaluate these competing explanations, the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) country surveys that investigate the scale of employment in informal sector enterprise in 43 developing and transition economies, along with the World Bank database of development indicators, are analysed here.

The finding is that lower levels of employment in informal sector enterprises are closely associated with economic development, lower levels of public sector corruption and state intervention in the form of higher tax rates and social transfers to protect workers from poverty.

This chapter reveals the need to move beyond treating these contrasting representations as competing explanations and to recognise how all are required to more fully explain the prevalence of informal sector entrepreneurship.

Tackling employment in informal sector enterprise is shown to require broader economic and social policies associated with the modernisation of economies, tax rates, social protection and poverty alleviation.

One of the first evaluations of the competing explanations for why some countries have higher levels of employment in informal sector enterprises.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the impact of branding strategies on horizontal and downward line extensions of French luxury brands in a cross-national context (France vs USA).

This study is based on a two line extensions (horizontal/downward) × three branding strategies (direct brand/sub-brand/standalone brand) x two country (France/USA) between-subjects ANOVA design.

The study shows that the subtyping effect created by a sub-branded luxury downward line extension tends to be rated similarly to a direct branded extension which oppose previous beliefs put forward in non-luxury settings. In contrast, a new independent/standalone extension fully uses the subtyping effect which helps attenuate this risk related to luxury downward stretches. The study also found that the effect of gender in cross-national settings must always be taken into consideration as significant variations occur in the process.

The study covers two countries but should be replicated in other cross-national contexts.

This study helps marketing managers of luxury brands make a better decision when it comes to launching vertical line extensions (upscale/downward) by carefully using types of branding strategies and relevant communications whether women and/or men are targeted in cross-national contexts.

This study breaks new ground in the international luxury literature by providing key theoretical and managerial insights in terms of launching new downward line extensions with the proper use of branding strategies when targeting specific genders.

For much of the scholarly literature regarding retirement, private pensions are incapable of engaging the trust of those who depend on them. However, this appraisal is flawed by its one‐dimensional emphasis on the importance of social solidarity to trust. The purpose of this paper is to develop an assessment of the private sector against a broader range of contingencies that may impact on public confidence in pensions.

This task is approached by reporting the findings of a cross‐national comparative study of existing mandated private pension provision. The country‐specific arrangements are compared in terms of the programme design requirements of six trust benchmarks.

A reliance on the private sector is not necessarily incompatible with trust in retirement provision. Its trust‐enhancing potential is exemplified by the design of mandated private pensions in Switzerland and the UK.

Programme design is not the only important influence on public confidence in pensions. Furthermore, the weighting of the benchmarks and their corresponding design features needs further consideration.

The evaluation provides a foundation for cross‐national policy learning and transfer, by highlighting elements of the design of mandated private pensions that are compatible with trust.

Unlike much of the scholarly work in this field, the assessment defines and operationalises trust in terms of a comprehensive range of contingencies that may impact on public confidence in pensions. Building on this foundation, it provides the first cross‐national review of the capacity of private pensions to build and sustain trust.

Establishing the validity and measurement equivalence of core marketing concepts in the emerging market economies of Africa is a key step in assessing the transferability of modern marketing theory and managerial practice to these countries. However, measurement equivalence issues are rarely addressed in studies of marketing practices in Africa. Accordingly, this study examines the equivalence of core marketing concepts based on interviews of 459 marketing managers from Kenya, Nigeria, Japan and the USA. The results show that optimal scaling analysis of the managers’ evaluations provide more valid and meaningful assessment than that of the raw data. The managers’ evaluations of the concepts revealed amazingly similar or prototypical perceptions of marketing’s core concepts and its applicability in their organizations, despite the profound country environmental differences. It appears that the concepts fall into two cross‐national categories of applicability that permeate the industrialized and developing country categorization. Managerial and research implications are discussed.

This paper aims to examine the political, social, and legal factors that shape the deployment of the police in a cross‐national sample of nations.

Ordinary least squares regression models are used to investigate police strength in 70 developing and developed nations.

Controlling for indicators of crime, development, and population‐geography, it is found that political factors such as durability of the political regime, corruption, the presence of a black market, and state formation are significantly associated with police strength. Inconsistent with expectations, however, it is found that there is not a significant relationship between indicators of criminal justice system priorities, such as incarceration rates or use of the death penalty, and police strength.

A lack of indicators of property or violent crime for large samples of nations makes it difficult to discount the role of crime in the deployment of the police. Further, cross‐national studies are hampered by a lack of data about the use of private security to bolster the formal activities of the police, or the role of the military in regulating social order.

This study builds on the theoretical knowledge of how the police are deployed. A better understanding of police strength can contribute to discussions about a global policing community. Implications for theories of policing and criminal justice system operations are also outlined.

Very few cross‐national studies of criminal justice system operations have been conducted, and this study increases knowledge of global patterns of policing.