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This paper aims to shed new light on the inability of credit rating agencies (CRAs) to forecast the recent defaults and so-called quasi-defaults of rich countries. It also describes how Moody’s sovereign rating methodology has been modified – and could be further improved – to solve this problem.

After converting bond yields into yield-implied ratings, accuracy ratios are computed to compare the respective performances of CRAs and market participants. Then Iceland’s and Greece’s ratings at the beginning of the Great Recession are estimated while accounting for the parameters included in the new methodology implemented by Moody’s in 2013.

Market participants outperformed Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s in terms of anticipating the sovereign debt crisis that hit several European countries starting in 2008. However, the new methodology implemented by Moody’s should lead to more conservative and accurate sovereign ratings.

The chronic inability of CRAs to anticipate public debt crises in rich countries is dangerous because the countries affected – which are generally rated in the investment-grade category – are substantially downgraded, amplifying the sovereign debt crisis. This study is the first to demonstrate that Moody’s has learned from its recent failures. In addition, it recommends ways to detect serious threats to the creditworthiness of high-income countries.

This paper aims to explore the perceptions of non-Muslim tourists towards halal tourism in Malaysia and Turkey. It also investigates the extent to which non-Muslim tourists are willing to purchase certain types of halal products and services.

Qualitative data were collected by conducting 35 semi-structured interviews with non-Muslim tourists in Malaysia and another 25 in Turkey.

Six major aspects are identified that describe the perceptions of non-Muslim tourists towards halal tourism. This paper also provides some suggestions for destination marketers on how best to cater for Western tourists and increase international arrivals.

This paper explores the perceptions of non-Muslim tourists towards halal tourism which is totally new research in destination marketing. It provides some original insights into the interactions between the religion of Islam and non-Muslim tourists. The insight should be of value to authorities, the industry and academics in both the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.

More journalists died in Syria during 2013 than in any other country experiencing conflict. This statistic raises concerns about the psychological wellbeing of journalists covering the internecine violence. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The study sample was made up of 59 western journalists currently covering the Syrian conflict. To place these results in the broader context of war journalism previously collected data from a group of 84 journalists who had reported the war in Iraq were used as a control sample. Outcome measures included indices of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Impact of Event Scale-revised) and psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire-28 item version (GHQ-28)).

Compared to journalists who covered the Iraq war, the journalists working in Syria were more likely to be female (p=0.007), single (p=0.018), freelance (p=0.0001) and had worked fewer years as a journalist (p=0.012). They were more depressed according to the GHQ-28 (p=0.001) and endorsed more individual symptoms of depression including worthlessness (p=0.012), helplessness (p=0.02) and suicidal intent (p=0.003). A linear regression analysis revealed that the group differences in depression data could not be accounted for by demographic factors.

An absence of structured interviews. Results not applicable to local Syrian journalists.

Western journalists covering Syrian appear to be particularly vulnerable to the development of depression. Journalists and the news organizations that employ them need to be cognizant of data such as these. Given that depression is treatable, there needs to be a mechanism in place to detect and treat those in need.

This is the first study that highlights the emotional toll on western journalists covering the Syrian conflict.

Corporate business activities can require expatriates to relocate to dangerous countries. Applying the expectancy value theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate differences in female and male expatriates in their relocation willingness to dangerous countries as a function of sensation seeking. The authors further examine money orientation as a moderator of the effects of sensation seeking.

The sample is comprised of 148 expatriates currently residing in safe host countries. The authors build and examine a moderated mediation model using the PROCESS tool.

The results show that male expatriates are more sensation seeking than female expatriates. Further, the results indicate a positive main effect of sensation seeking on relocation willingness to dangerous countries. Most importantly, sensation seeking was found to mediate the effects of gender on relocation willingness. Accordingly, male expatriates are more willing to relocate to dangerous countries due to higher sensation seeking. Money orientation was not found to interact with sensation seeking.

The authors analyzed cross-sectional data. Future studies are encouraged to use multi-wave research designs and to examine further predictors, as well as mediators and moderators of relocation willingness to dangerous countries. Another limitation is the low number of organizational expatriates in the sample.

The study provides implications for the process of selecting eligible individuals who are willing to relocate to dangerous countries.

The study is among the first research endeavors to investigate antecedents of expatriates’ relocation willingness to dangerous countries. The authors also introduce the sensation seeking construct to the literature on expatriation management.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which a destination's security level affects the relationship between personality traits and individuals' expatriation willingness.

The authors apply an experimental vignette methodology using a 2 × 1 between subjects-design with two destinations characterized by different security levels (dangerous vs. safe) among 278 participants (students and employees). Partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) was employed to test the hypotheses.

The findings indicate that different personality variables appear to impact individuals' expatriation willingness depending on the security level of a destination: emotionality and conscientiousness predicted expatriation willingness to dangerous environments, whereas openness to experience predicted expatriation willingness to safe environments. The personality traits of honesty–humility, extraversion and agreeableness were not found to influence expatriation willingness in either scenario.

The study discusses a set of practical recommendations for the selection and the management of eligible individuals who are willing to expatriate to dangerous locations.

The study is among the first to examine the influence of personality on expatriation willingness in safe and dangerous environments at the same time. It advances prior research by providing a more nuanced understanding of the context-specific effects of personality on expatriation willingness.

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differing perceptions of fear of expatriates operating in terror-exposed Nairobi and the high-crime environment of Johannesburg and its impact on stress and well-being. It illustrates how expatriates cope with the challenges associated with these two regions.

Following an interpretative and inductive research approach, qualitative content analyses were conducted using evidence from in-depth interviews with 12 expatriates in senior management or officer positions within a large global organisation, with respondents based in South Africa and Kenya.

Data suggest that expatriates in the more terrorism-exposed context perceive fear less strongly than expatriates in environments categorised by high degrees of conventional crime. Fear seems to relate to physical well-being via restricted freedom of movement, but there is little evidence that fear affects mental well-being. The study finds that respondents in terror-exposed Nairobi tend to engage more in avoidance-oriented coping strategies, whereas their counterparts in the high-crime environment of Johannesburg predominantly rely on problem-focused coping.

The qualitative design allows practitioners to better understand expatriates’ perceptions of fear, its consequences for stress, and well-being and potential coping strategies expatriates employ. It discusses a set of practical recommendations focussing on the deployment of expatriates assigned to dangerous locations.

This study develops a distinction between terror and conventional crime and contributes with practical insights for assignments into dangerous work environments. The geographic lens of the study provides an in-depth look at expatriation challenges in an arguably neglected regional context.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to compare occupational health and safety (OHS) performances of countries. Additionally, another aim is to debate the impacts of using recorded data and ratios for OHS performance evaluations.

The number of fatal accidents (NFAs), fatal accident rates (FARs), numbers of lost days (NLDs) and accident severity rates (ASRs) are determined as main criteria and six economic activity areas (EAAs) are considered as sub-criteria. Two different initial decision matrices are used as the initial decision matrix, the first of which consists of recorded data of countries related to NFAs and NLDs, and the second consists of FAR and ASR values as ratios. Importance weights of main and sub-criteria regarding the recorded data and ratios are determined using four different weighting ways. Countries are ranked via utilizing Multi-Attributive Ideal-Real Comparative Analysis considering two different initial decision matrices.

It can be stated that an evaluation based on ratios for comparison of OHS performance provides more realistic results. Additionally, increasing the effect of the FAR values using the 6,000 equivalent lost days factor is also important in terms of differentiating the data of the countries in question.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study in literature that discusses the ranking of countries by means of recorded data and ratios considering different criteria. Additionally, this study is a first in terms of the number of countries evaluated and the comparison of these countries according to their respective EAAs.

Ethnographers, as tools of data collection, are uniquely positioned in a paradoxical relationship between intense immersion and objective distance from research and participants. This relationship can be particularly intense when researching hidden or marginalized communities in violent contexts. Yet, the emotional consequences of research on the researcher are rarely discussed and little literature exists. When emotions in research are revealed, researchers can be confronted with stigma surrounding issues of subjectivity, “going native” and implications of failed research. This paper seeks to address these issues.

Drawing on research from Lee, Hume, and Nordstrom and Robben, this article presents a reflexive analysis of the author's ethnographic PhD experience. It examines the transformation undertaken to adapt and cope with in‐depth research with vulnerable groups in dangerous environments. It also explores the post‐fieldwork transition and consequences of post‐traumatic stress syndrome which were viewed as the author's feet of clay, or possible weakness which could derail or even invalidate the research.

This article delineates the risks of emotional trauma in ethnographic research, and outlines the symptoms of post‐traumatic stress syndrome and secondary trauma in order to facilitate their identification in future researchers.

The practical implications of this paper are to raise awareness about the emotional consequences of research and revealing how essential it is that awareness be included in the training of future researchers.

The paper aims to raise awareness about the acute emotional consequences of conducting research with marginalized populations in violent contexts. It specifically looks at the insider/outsider position, highlighting those isolating affects which can lead to post‐traumatic stress syndrome. It aims to reveal the attitudes within academia which tend to hide emotional struggles in research.