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1 – 5 of 5Li Dai and Yongsun Paik
Conventional wisdom suggests that war in the host country makes it unattractive for foreign firms to invest. To see if this is true for US firms on the aggregate, this paper aims…
Abstract
Purpose
Conventional wisdom suggests that war in the host country makes it unattractive for foreign firms to invest. To see if this is true for US firms on the aggregate, this paper aims to examine the veracity of a “permanent war economy” hypothesis, that foreign direct investment (FDI) may, in fact, increase in the host country not despite, but because of, war, i.e. one that lends credence to the idea that, in the USA, “defense [has] become one of constant preparation for future wars and foreign interventions rather than an exercise in response to one-off threats.”
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test the hypotheses using Generalized Method of Moments estimation, with Heckman Selection, on US FDI data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and war data from the Correlates of War2 Project, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program/International Peace Research Institute data set, the International Crisis Behavior Project and the Center for Systemic Peace Major Episodes of Political Violence data set. The final sample consists of 351 country-year observations in 55 host countries from 1982 to 2006.
Findings
The findings indicate that overall US FDI in a host country in a given year decreases if the host country is engaged in wars with multiple countries and if the US Government is involved in the war. Most notably, the results show that US involvement in multiple host country wars is actually correlated with increased US FDI into the host country, providing empirical support for the “permanent war economy” hypothesis.
Originality/value
While other studies have focused on war and FDI, the authors have sought to show the impact of the involvement of arguably the most influential country, i.e. the USA, in the sovereign matters of a focal host country. By studying FDI from the USA as a function of US involvement in wars overseas, over the years with the greatest use of private military companies by the USA and the largest portion of global FDI accounted for by the USA, this work motivates a research agenda on home-host-"other” relations in the context of war and FDI, with the “other” being the supranational “elephant in the room.”
Leonardo Valero Pereira, Walter Jesus Paucar Casas, Herbert Martins Gomes, Luis Roberto Centeno Drehmer and Emanuel Moutinho Cesconeto
In this paper, improvements in reducing transmitted accelerations in a full vehicle are obtained by optimizing the gain parameters of an active control in a roughness road…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, improvements in reducing transmitted accelerations in a full vehicle are obtained by optimizing the gain parameters of an active control in a roughness road profile.
Design/methodology/approach
For a classically designed linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control, the vibration attenuation performance will depend on weighting matrices Q and R. A methodology is proposed in this work to determine the optimal elements of these matrices by using a genetic algorithm method to get enhanced controller performance. The active control is implemented in an eight degrees of freedom (8-DOF) vehicle suspension model, subjected to a standard ISO road profile. The control performance is compared against a controlled system with few Q and R parameters, an active system without optimized gain matrices, and an optimized passive system.
Findings
The control with 12 optimized parameters for Q and R provided the best vibration attenuation, reducing significantly the Root Mean Square (RMS) accelerations at the driver’s seat and car body.
Research limitations/implications
The research has positive implications in a wide class of active control systems, especially those based on a LQR, which was verified by the multibody dynamic systems tested in the paper.
Practical implications
Better active control gains can be devised to improve performance in vibration attenuation.
Originality/value
The main contribution proposed in this work is the improvement of the Q and R parameters simultaneously, in a full 8-DOF vehicle model, which minimizes the driver’s seat acceleration and, at the same time, guarantees vehicle safety.
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David M. Blodgett and Marjorie N. Feld
The sustainability of the global food system hinges on its environmental resiliency and safety, including the health and well-being of its labor force. Single disciplinary courses…
Abstract
Purpose
The sustainability of the global food system hinges on its environmental resiliency and safety, including the health and well-being of its labor force. Single disciplinary courses in liberal arts or science often fail to highlight the overlap between environmental and social vulnerabilities that lead to food insecurity and diminish the sustainability of food systems. This paper aims to present the design and delivery of a successfully co-taught, interdisciplinary module on agricultural labor and sustainable food systems as a case study.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors designed a co-taught module in which they joined each other’s respective history and science class sessions at the undergraduate business college where they teach. Innovating the cross-disciplinary content of food security, immigration status, labor exploitation and pesticide exposure, they approached sustainability from the disciplinary perspectives of labor history and environmental science to show how these elements had both unique and overlapping impacts across food systems levels. Comparisons between pre- and post-module survey responses, alongside assessments of a co-authored exam question, measured the effectiveness of this module is changing students’ perspectives as food consumers and as citizens.
Findings
This module altered students’ understanding and perspectives around issues of food systems sustainability. Assessments indicated that students increased their awareness of agricultural workers at the front end of the food system, during production; students also gained awareness beyond consumption as they came to see the connections between workforce invisibility and ecosystem degradation.
Originality/value
These insights are valuable to educators at all institutional levels who seek to collaborate on sustainability initiatives and teaching, both in the singular, robust modules and in building modules that will lead to the development of entire courses focused on sustainability. The module described here builds on previous demonstrations of the value, significance and effectiveness of cross-disciplinary collaborations; it pioneers the use of the food system as the link between social and environmental sustainability education.
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Minette Bellingan, Catherine Tilley, Mukesh Kumar, Luciano Batista and Steve Evans
Companies are concerned about the well-being of workers in their supply chains, but conventional audits fail to uncover critical problems. Yet, if the happy worker – productive…
Abstract
Purpose
Companies are concerned about the well-being of workers in their supply chains, but conventional audits fail to uncover critical problems. Yet, if the happy worker – productive worker thesis is correct, it would benefit factories in fast-developing countries, particularly China which is key to many global supply chains, to ensure the well-being of their workers. The authors set out to better understand the relationship between well-being and performance in four Chinese factories.
Design/methodology/approach
Over 12-months the authors collected digital diaries from 466 workers in four factories, and monthly data about the performance of their factories. The authors used this data to gain insights into the well-being of workers in these factories; to design experimental interventions to improve this; and to consider any effects these had on factory performance.
Findings
The experiments showed that training interventions to improve workers' well-being through their work relationships and individual skills improved not just a factory's general worker well-being, but also some aspects of its performance and worker retention. Thus, it brought benefits not only for the workers but also for the factory owners and their client companies.
Originality/value
While there is a significant body of research investigating the happy worker – productive worker thesis, this was not conducted in Chinese factories. The authors’ work demonstrates that in this and similar environments, workers' eudaimonic well-being is more important than might be assumed, and that in this context there is a relationship between well-being and performance which can be practically addressed.
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Derya Çevi̇k Taşdemi̇r, Güfte Caner Akin and Yakup Durmaz
The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of “safety climate” on “productive organizational energy”, based on the idea that higher energy and productivity will be seen in…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of “safety climate” on “productive organizational energy”, based on the idea that higher energy and productivity will be seen in employees with the improved safety climate in the working environment.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, data were collected using an online questionnaire from 426 employees of small and medium-sized textile enterprises in the Organized Industrial Zone in the Turkish province of Gaziantep. The “easy sampling” method was applied, one of the sampling techniques not based on probability. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the effects of the “Management's perspectives and rules” and “Colleagues and safety trainings” sub-dimensions of the safety climate on the “emotional”, “cognitive” and “behavioral” components of productive energy.
Findings
The findings showed that the safety climate in the workplace positively and significantly affects the productive organizational energy of employees. In addition, it was observed that the management's perspective and rules had a higher impact on productive organizational energy in attitudes towards the safety climate and productive energies of these employees compared to safety pieces of training.
Practical implications
First of all, the result of this study and the positive results that the safety climate in organizations might cause have been noted. It has been demonstrated that the productive energies of the employees will increase if the necessary safety climate is established in the enterprises. In addition, despite the importance attached to the safety training of the employees, as a result of the analysis, it has been determined that the management's perspective and rules (ß = 0.61; p < 0.01) have a higher positive effect on the productive energy of the employees. If these situations are considered by the managers, it is expected that the occupational health and safety management strategies created for the employees will contribute to the formation of positive behaviors in the employees.
Originality/value
The driving force of the present study is that, to our knowledge, there has been no research on this issue related to employees who are mentioned as a critical force in solving productivity and whose number is about 26 million in Turkey's population.
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