What Comes to a Manager’s Mind

This paper shows that firms spread the adverse impacts of local employment shocks across regions through their internal networks of establishments. Linking confidential micro data at the establishment level from the U.S. Census Bureau's Longitudinal Business Database to ZIP codelevel variation in house price changes during the Great Recession, we find that local establishment-level employment responds strongly to employment shocks in other regions in which the firm has establishments. Consistent with theory, the elasticity of establishment-level employment with respect to shocks in other regions is increasing with firms' financial constraints. Moreover, establishments belonging to more expansive firm networks exhibit smaller employment elasticities with respect to their own local shocks. To account for the impacts of general equilibrium adjustments, we examine aggregate employment at the county level. Similar to what we found at the establishment level, we obtain large elasticities of county-level employment with respect to employment shocks in other counties linked through firms' internal networks. Overall, our results suggest that firms play an important role in the provision of regional risk sharing and the propagation of local employment shocks across different U.S. regions.

We study how firms allocate resources across their constituent establishments in response to local economic shocks in the context of the Great Depression. Using establishment-level data from the Census of Manufactures, we find that establishments in multi-plant firms are affected by local shocks in the regions in which the other establishments comprising the firm are located. In particular, establishment employment is positively affected by positive shocks to the local supply of credit to other establishments that make up the firm. Our results show the important role of firms in the geographic propagation of local economic shocks.

This longitudinal evaluation of gender inequalities and economic growth addresses key questions in the evolving debate over the character of gender differentiation and the goals of womens empowerment. These questions include: 1) whether the impact of strategies of economic growth served to enhance or undermine the status of women; 2) whether changes in the status of women were accompanied by significant changes in gender inequality; and 3) the implications for existing debates. Section I reviews several sets of literature pertinent to the questions using three general approaches: modernization-neoclassical women in development and gender and development. Section II presents the data and methods used in the evaluation. The research assessed the contending interpretations reviewed in the first section by combining another set of cross-sectional and longitudinal data on womens status and inequalities between men and women with other existing indicators. Section III discusses the results in the following order: 1) cross-sectional patterns in womens status; 2) trends in womens status; 3) cross-sectional patterns in inequality between men and women; 4) trends in inequality between men and women; and 5) conclusion. Finally section IV presents an overall discussion of the findings of the whole longitudinal evaluation.

The Cross-Market Spillover of Economic Shocks Through Multi-Market Banks

Who Borrows and Who May Not Repay?

Heat and Learning

The authors draw on an internal attitude survey conducted yearly from 1996 to 2000 in the freight-handling terminals of a unionized trucking firm to investigate the effect of local labor market conditions on employee wage-fairness perceptions. Their research design exploits the fact that local managers had no discretion to vary wage rates in response to local labor market conditions; local economic shocks thus generated exogenous variation in the attractiveness of the wage paid by the firm relative to employees' options in the outside labor market. The authors find robust associations between the wage-fairness perceptions of employees in the firm and two indicators of local conditions—the rate of unemployment and the wages of similar workers in the outside market. They argue that these correlations reflect a causal relationship: an increase in unemployment or a decrease in outside wages led workers to perceive their wage to be more fair.

Norrland is often represented and constructed as a “typical male” region, a region dominated by rural problems. The “male” power structure is often depicted as a static problem, a part of a rural traditionally bound periphery which cannot be changed. In public discourse, Kiruna is positioned as a town adjusted to men which is a situation in need of change; it is argued that gender equality is a necessity for Kiruna’s survival. Put differently: there are clear ambitions for change. By studying how gender equality is made and how gender equality is produced in different practices, this article studies the implications of these ambitions. A key analytical starting point is that gender equality is something “made” by various actors in specific contexts. Gender equality is understood as an empirical field filled with meaning, or produced, in different contexts, not as a “fact” that can be measured. With place as an analytical hub, and inspired by Carol Bacchi’s critical approach to policy analysis we examine how gender equality is articulated and how place is produced. Using policy documents, newspaper materials and interviews, we conclude that gender equality is filled with partially different meanings in the three themes, but attractiveness stands out as a central underlying rationality – often in combination with participation and the absence of conflict between women and men. These representations of gender equality create a win-win, a non-conflictual understanding of gender equality, underpinned by an understanding of men and women as different and complementary subjects. In spite of clear articulations of men’s privileged position and women’s subordinate position, the measures suggested for achieving change target the image of Kiruna rather than gendered power relations. We explain this result in the context of overall processes of de-politicisation in contemporary society and by the need for Kiruna to be seen as “good” and “attractive” in order to challenge and avoid reproducing the picture of the Northern periphery as backward and traditional.

Budgeting decisions in the context of local economic shocks reveal local fiscal priorities. This paper explores the relationship between economic shocks, expenditure path dependencies and local fiscal strategies in the context of federal environmental regulations under the Clean Air Act. Federal regulations applied to counties classified as not in attainment of ambient air quality standards affect local tax bases. Furthermore, these impacts are not immediate in nature, allowing local governments the time necessary to implement their most preferred fiscal response. This econometric analysis of counties throughout the entire U.S. spanning 20 years finds that current expenditure paths are more influential when making cuts than when expanding budgets. Local communities are also seen to employ some short-term use of reserve funds when facing negative expenditure pressures, but these funds are not used to completely prevent expenditure cuts. Furthermore, communities do not use debt as a mitigating response to external tax base pressures, but instead alter expenditure patterns.

Decision makers often consult multiple experts when trying to forecast a future event or quantity. Once the experts' forecasts are obtained, aggregating them into a single forecast can present a significant challenge. The simplest way to aggregate the experts' forecasts is to average them. The Bayesian decision maker, instead, uses the experts' forecasts as data to update prior beliefs about the event or quantity of interest. We examine several prototypical Bayesian aggregation models. We highlight the two main assessment challenges a decision maker faces in constructing such models: (i) judging each expert's discrimination or dependency between the event of interest and the expert's forecast and (ii) judging the dependency between the experts' forecasts, or overlap in their information sources.

Women constitute half of the world's population. However, their participation in various arenas be it entrepreneurship, corporate sector, politics, etc. is far from satisfactory. Gender equality is not only a fundamental right but also an imperative condition for a prosperous, peaceful, happy, and sustainable world. The inclusion of gender equality in the gambit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is indicative of the glaring inequalities as far as gender parity is concerned. As per World Economic Forum’s Annual Gender Gap Report, 2023 India ranks 127 out of 146 countries on Gender Parity Index. There are several indicators of gender parity. Political participation of women both in the capacity of leaders as well as voters is one of the important parameters of gender parity in any country. The present study relying on secondary data is an attempt to delve into the extent of participation of women in the national parliament of the country. The findings of the present study show a low representation of women in the national parliament of the country vis-à-vis its neighbouring countries. Furthermore, In India, women's representation in the parliament lags as far as Global Averages, Asian Averages, and even the average of the upper chamber in South Asia is concerned. The present study also establishes a glaring gender gap in the voter turnout for the polling even after 75 years of independence. To increase the political participation of women several women-centric and women-empowering programs have been initiated by central and state governments. However, there is still a long way to go before gender parity is achieved both at the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

In Nigeria like most African Countries, the female gender have been relegated and marginalized. This has caused the misrepresentation of the women's right in all segments of society. The Nigerian society is patriarchal in nature. Promoting gender equality has become a global issue which is critical to the sustainance of national development. The emergence of gender equality can be seen as a catalyst for the attainment of sustainable development in Nigeria. The paper is an assessment of the emergence of gender equality and the empowerment of women in political decision making and governance in the Nigerian State. The paper argued that democracy should allow diversity of opinion and participation by different groups in governance. Women constitute a large proportion of Nigeria's population and their contribution to decision making within the frame work of governance is very important. The paper proposes the elimination of all forms of discriminatory actions and gender inequality in Nigeria.

Mainstream pornography is popular, freely accessible, and infused with themes of male dominance, aggression, and female subservience. Through depicting sex in these ways, mainstream pornography has the potential to influence the further development of harmful sexual scripts that condone or endorse violence against women and girls. These concerns warrant the adoption of a harms-based perspective in critical examinations of pornography's influence on sexual experiences. This chapter reports on findings from interviews with 24 heterosexual emerging adults living in Aotearoa/New Zealand about how pornography has impacted their lives. Despite a shared awareness among participants of mainstream pornography's misogynistic tendencies, and the potential for harm from those displays, men's and women's experiences were profoundly gendered. Men's reported experiences were often associated with concerns about their own sexual behaviors, performances, and/or abilities. Conversely, women's experiences were often shaped by how pornography had affected the way that men related to them sexually. Their experiences included instances of sexual coercion and assault which were not reported by the men. These findings signal the need for a gendered lens, situated within a broader harms-based perspective, in examinations of pornography's influence.

Gender equity remains critical for sustainable supply chains. As organisations integrate sustainability from compliance-driven obligations into strategy and innovation, the potential for sustainable supply chain management to catalyse gender equity and responsible marketing has never been greater. This chapter explores how technology, transparency, and stakeholder engagement identify, measure, and address gender disparities across global supply networks. The narrative uses empirical evidence and case studies to show why and how a persistent focus on gender equity is vital and a key driver for transformative marketing and long-term value creation. Integrating technology-driven transparency in sustainable supply chain management enables rigorous gender-disaggregated data collection and verification. At the same time, collaborative frameworks and policy innovations create pathways for systemic change. The analysis concludes by outlining research directions and practical policy, practice, and scholarship recommendations in the inclusive, sustainable global value creation era.

Empirical studies suggest gender inequity increases men’s health risks. Multiple pathways may explain this relationship. These pathways however have not been explored concurrently. This paper is based on an extensive review of the theoretical literature linking gender inequity to men’s health. It identifies a range of theoretical approaches and examines links between them. In particular, it discusses masculinities and health theory, which argues gender inequity is linked to gender norms that lead to poor health-related beliefs and behaviours; the impact of gender inequity on men’s psychosocial and emotional experiences through limiting social roles, setting unattainable and restrictive expectations, and reducing access to social and emotional support; reproductive pathways, wherein gender inequity compromises optimal reproductive and early life outcomes leading to lifelong health impacts for males; and political, economic and social processes influenced by women’s social position that shape the social and economic resources, such as welfare and support, available to men. There are important interdependencies between these pathways. For example, masculine gender norms appear to not only increase poor health-related beliefs and behaviours, but also limit men’s opportunities to satisfy psychosocial and emotional needs. The findings suggest the extent of gender inequity can accentuate or buffer the negative health effects of other social inequalities. Further, while gender inequity provides men with many benefits, it limits access to the rich array of resources required to meet a diversity of lifelong health-related challenges. The paper provides the basis for richer theoretical approaches to men’s health.