Search results

China's New Rural Pension Program (NRPP) has been implemented for a decade, but the factors that facilitate rural residents' participation have received little attention. This study aims to investigate whether financial literacy has an influence on rural residents' behavior of participation in the NRPP. In particular, this study further verifies if high financial literacy is important and whether financial education can enhance the impact of financial literacy on current, long-term and dynamic pension decisions of rural households.

This study investigates the impact of financial literacy on rural residents' participation in China's NRPP using the China Household Financial Survey (CHFS) Data of 2015 and 2017. This study constructs an analytical framework for current, long-term and dynamic impacts and comprehensively analyzes the value of financial literacy in the decision making of the NRPP. This study uses the instrumental variable method to solve the possible endogeneity problem. In addition, the authors also demonstrate the positive role of high financial literacy in household pension decisions. Further analysis reveals gender and regional heterogeneity in the impact of financial literacy on pension decisions. The moderating effect model explores whether financial education has a significant moderating effect on financial literacy and pension decision making of the NRPP.

Financial literacy can improve the participation behavior of households in rural areas (dynamic effect) and promote their current and long-term participation in the NRPP, choosing a higher pension contribution level in the NRPP. However, financial literacy has no significant effect on the change in the contribution amount of the NRPP. Further research finds that high financial literacy has comparative advantages in household pension decision making in rural areas. There are gender and regional differences in the impact of financial literacy on pension decisions. In addition, effective financial literacy education enhances the current, long-term and dynamic impacts of residents' financial literacy on NRPP participation and pension contributions.

This study comprehensively considers the impact of financial literacy on pension decision making behavior from three aspects: current, long-term and dynamic, making up for the dearth in the existing literature that only focuses on the impact of financial literacy on current financial behaviors and bridging the gap between the theoretical framework and experimental results. Our study proposes new policy implications: (1) Governments and financial institutions should pay attention to financial literacy and education levels in rural areas and carry out financial education and training programs to increase social welfare levels by increasing rural residents' participation and pension contribution. (2) The community can strengthen the policy advocacy of the NRPP and make people develop a stronger sense of trust toward it. The government can also subsidize individual accounts through financial support.

This study comprehensively considers the impact of financial literacy on pension decision-making behavior from three aspects: current, long-term and dynamic, making up for the dearth in the existing literature that only focuses on the impact of financial literacy on current financial behaviors and bridging the gap between the theoretical framework and experimental results. Our study proposes new policy implications: (1) Governments and financial institutions should pay attention to financial literacy and education levels in rural areas and carry out financial education and training programs to increase social welfare levels by increasing rural residents' participation and pension contribution. (2) The community can strengthen the policy advocacy of the NRPP and make people develop a stronger sense of trust toward it. The government can also subsidize individual accounts through financial support.

This study aims to examine the solvency and performance persistence of defined benefit private and public pension plans (DBPPs) in the Republic of Congo.

The authors use the 2 × 2 contingency table approach and the time product ratio (TPR)-based cross-product ratio (CPR) on data covering ten years from 2011 to 2020, with variable funded ratios and excess returns, to determine the solvency and performance persistence of defined benefit pension plans.

The authors document a lack of solvency and performance persistence in DBPP funds. They conclude that the solvency and performance of DBPP funds are not repetitive. The previous year's private and public defined benefit pension funds’ results do not repeat in the current year. Hence, the current solvency and performance of defined benefit pension funds are not good predictors of future funds' solvency and performance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to combine solvency and performance to examine the persistence of defined benefit pension plans in sub-Saharan Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to give an updated overview over the development of employee-ownership in Italy, France, Spain including Mondragon, the UK and the US with relatively many employee-owned firms. How have the barriers for employee-ownership been overcome in these countries?

The overview is based on updated descriptions of the development of employee-ownership included in this special issue. The analysis follows the structure of overcoming five barriers: the organization problem; the problem of entry and exit of employee-owners; the startup and takeover problem; the capital- and the risk problem.

Italy, France and Spain have overcome the barriers by specific legislation for worker cooperatives, this includes rules for entry and exit of employee members. Cooperative support organizations play an important role for monitoring and managing the startup problem and for access to capital. The Mondragon model includes individual ownership elements and a group structure of cooperatives. The EOT and ESOP models are well suited for employee takeovers, financing are eased by tax advantages and they are all-employee schemes. While the EOT has no individual risks, the ESOP model has the possibility for capital gains for employees but also the risk of losing these gains.

Comprehensive and updated overview of the development in employee-ownership in the five countries to identify successful formats of employee-ownership for implementation in countries with few employee-owned firms.

Human resource records are the cornerstone of human resource management. Organizations rely a great deal on their employees to furnish them with human resource records, which is crucial to the effective management of the employees and the success of the organization. It is evident, however, that personal information-related issues in organizations are of significant concern and that examining employees’ perceptions and attitudes regarding personal information management is extremely valuable. Yet, this is largely absent in the literature. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the influence of perceptions of employees concerning the uses and security of human resource records on their attitude toward human resource records in Ghana.

A descriptive survey design was used in this study. An online questionnaire was used to gather responses from employees for analyses. A structural equation model was developed and assessed because of the advantages that come with its use and the characteristics of this study. The assessment of the structural equation model was done to determine the significance of the hypothesized paths. In addition, effect size, coefficient of determination and predictive relevance of the structural model were assessed. Before that, the validity and reliability of the measurement model were examined through the assessment of the indicator loadings, average variance extracted, Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability. An importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) was also conducted.

The hypotheses formulated in this study could not be rejected because the hypotheses tested were statistically significant. Thus, this study revealed that employees’ perception of the uses of human resource records influenced their attitude toward human resource records. Also, employees’ perception of the security of human resource records influenced their attitude toward human resource records. The IPMA revealed that the perception of uses of human resource records was more important, yet its performance was below the perception of security as significant.

Human resource records management professionals, particularly in Ghana, ought to ensure that the human resource records in their organizations are used for the purpose for which they are collected and also, secured. In addition, they should assure employees that their personal information is used as expected and secured. This could be realized with the use of international records management standards especially those in the ISO 30300 series. More so, human resource managers as part of their counseling duties also need to counsel employees so that they form positive perceptions about the uses and security of the personal information they give to their organization in the course of their employment.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study brings to light the attitude of employees toward human resource records based on their perceptions of uses and security in the Ghanaian context which is absent in the literature as previous studies have focused mainly on personal information management behavior only at the individual level.

This paper aims to explore the lived experiences of key stakeholders working with homeless people during the implementation of universal credit during the austerity years.

The literature on austerity reveals welfare reforms’ impact on support services staff. Service providers’ perceptions of the impact of austerity-led policies and welfare reform via nine interviews with people working in homelessness organisations in Brighton and Hove in the UK. Service providers see the situation for their service users has gotten worse and that the policies make it more difficult to extricate themselves from their current situation. Three central themes relating to the impact of austerity-led welfare reforms were, namely, Universal Credit: the imposition of a precarious livelihood on welfare claimants; a double-edged sword: “If people are sanctioned: people can’t pay”; and “Hard to maintain my own mental equilibrium”.

More precisely, this paper captures service providers’ perceptions and experiences of the impact of austerity-led policies on their services and how they believe this, in turn, impacts their clients and their own lives.

The dimension cuts across service provision to vulnerable people and is intertwined with health and well-being outcomes. Austerity is detrimental to the health of service users and their clients. It is known that when it comes to the health and well-being of the most vulnerable, who have suffered most from the impacts of austerity policies. However, in times of open austerity, it falls also on those trying to ease their suffering.

The data suggest that policies were developed and accentuated by austerity, which led to the stripping of welfare support from vulnerable people. This process has impacted the people who rely on welfare and service providers.

This study aims to better understand how to interact with the five generations that currently make up our workforce.

The author bases her article on 8+ years of HR experience and research.

The five generations are more similar than we think. They want many of the same things, but they want them in different ways. Communication is the biggest difference between the groups.

The paper will better enable readers to engage workers from multiple generations in their own organizations.

An Indian emerging market positioning taxonomy has been developed in response to the literature review's findings that existing positioning typologies/taxonomies are based on managerial perspectives rather than consumer/customer perceptions and are only developed for advanced countries.

This study employs a three-step process for developing and validating a scale in order to conduct its research. In the first phase, items are generated and selected based on a literature review, focus groups and expert opinion. Exploratory factor analysis is used to fine-tune the scale in the second phase. Phase 3 uses CFA to establish convergent, discriminant and nomological validity through the use of CFA.

A consumer-based taxonomy of positioning strategies were developed as a result of the research. Six distinct positioning strategies emerged that was named (1) Value for Money, (2) Functional (3) Premiumisation, (4) Promotional Campaign, (5) Brand Name (6) Visual Aesthetics.

Developing and validating measurement scales will be made easier with the help of this paper. Target populations, industry and geography selection and a cross-sectional time horizon are just a few of the study's drawbacks.

The study's practical implications include six factors/strategies that managers, advertising executives and marketing experts of consumer electronics companies in the Indian emerging market could use to position their products, resulting in the overall success of their organisations.

This study adds to the marketing literature by providing a solid theoretical foundation and a validated instrument for operationalising positioning strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on positioning strategies, categorise them as typologies and taxonomies and propose generic positioning strategies for organisations from a theoretical viewpoint.

Typologies and taxonomies are defined and characterised, and then all product or brand positioning strategies are examined. Articles published in reputable marketing and strategic marketing journals from 1969 to 2022 are analysed for this purpose. The analysis was done using qualitative text mining: classification, coding and text analysis.

The review enables the identification of three generic positioning strategies widely accepted in the literature, as well as the distinction between conceptually derived positioning strategies (typology) and empirically derived positioning strategies( taxonomy).

This study provides a comprehensive overview for researchers who wish to get broad-picture research on generic classifications in positioning strategy. Moreover, most notably for academics, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to classify positioning strategies into typologies and taxonomies based on their evolution.

Knowledge of positioning typologies and taxonomies can assist managers in developing and implementing a strategy that allows their company to maximise the potential of its product/brand and achieve better results. The literature review contributes to theory development and helps companies understand their positioning strategies.

Despite considerable interest in positioning research, little effort has been made to examine positioning strategies’ current or future development. Some authors use the term taxonomy to describe their conceptually derived classification of positioning strategies, and it was discovered that authors frequently interchangeably use the terms typologies or taxonomies. When attempting to understand and compare the various classifications, this liberal use of the term’s typology and taxonomy creates misunderstanding and confusion. This paper fills that void.

This research studies the influence and mechanism of rearing cost and endowment insurance on family fertility desire from the micro perspective.

Through the construction of overlapping generations (OLG) model and on the basis of this research purpose, the research hypothesis proposed by the theoretical model is tested by using the data of China household tracking survey (CFPS).

(1) Endowment insurance has an inhibitory effect on family fertility desire. The marginal effects of participating in old-age insurance on total fertility desire and boy fertility desire are – 3.2% and – 3.6% respectively. (2) The cost of rearing has a significant negative impact on family fertility desire. (3) There is regional heterogeneity in the impact of endowment insurance and rearing cost on fertility desire. (4) There is no significant difference in the impact of endowment insurance on fertility desire between urban and rural areas.

This research tries to fill the gap existing in the international literature by analyzing the micro mechanism of the influence degree of upbringing cost on fertility desire by introducing the rearing cost and fertility rate into the OLG, providing a micro basis for relevant quantitative calculation.