Employment Decisions Research Articles

Exploring Test Takers’ Perceptions and Characteristics in Predicting TOEIC Validity Arguments

TOEIC is one of the most impactful English proficiency tests in South Korea. This study examined test takers’ perceptions of TOEIC validity following the Assessment Use Argument (AUA) framework and further explored validity arguments’ interconnectedness and effects of test takers’ characteristics. A total of 106 employees of South Korean companies completed an online survey developed for this study, rating their opinions about TOEIC’s beneficence towards society and individuals’ English proficiency improvement, its uses in employment decisions, and score interpretation. In multiple hierarchical regression analyses, this study used the predictors of validity arguments and individual characteristics to predict three criterion variables: social beneficence (Model 1), individual beneficence (Model 2), and employment decision (Model 3). The validity predictors were entered first in step 1, followed by individual characteristics (age, gender, company size, and business partner types) in step 2. The results revealed diverse patterns and interconnectedness of significant validity predictors in three models. The prediction power of individual characteristics differed by models. Business partner types were a significant predictor of individual beneficence and employment decision, while gender was a significant predictor of employment decisions. Further discussions are presented from the perspectives of gender differences and the proxy of English proficiency.

Examining the effects of male candidates' gender nonconformity on employment decisions

Our research aimed to explore how interviewers perceive male candidates' gender nonconformity during job interviews and how job type may play a role in the process. Based on role congruity theory, we propose that male candidates' gender nonconformity negatively affects employment decisions through cognitive and affective processes (i.e. perceived expectancy violation and likability). Further, based on the literature on occupational gender stereotypes, we examined the moderating effect of job type on the above indirect process. We believe that the negative indirect effects of male candidates' gender nonconformity on employment decisions through perceived expectancy violation and likability will be weakened when interviewing for female‐dominated jobs compared with male‐dominated jobs. We found robust evidence consistent with our theoretical assertion using three independent between‐subjects experiments.

Monopsony, wage discrimination, and public policy

AbstractA vast number of empirical studies have found that monopsony power is pervasive in labor markets. In some circumstances, the exercise of monopsony results in wage discrimination that is not taste‐based. Instead, it results from profit maximization in the presence of different labor supply functions of two distinct groups of workers. This paper examines the profit maximizing employment decisions of a monopsonist under these conditions, as well as the public policy regarding wage discrimination. The economic effects of the current statutes are also examined, as well as some policy recommendations to strengthen the prohibition of wage discrimination.

Shifting Hours: Unstable Work Scheduling Practices

Stable work schedules are a key component of job quality and of supporting a thriving labor force. Stable scheduling practices are associated with improved job attachment, lower turnover, and higher revenues.i On the other hand, employer-initiated unstable scheduling practices have been shown to destabilize workers’ finances, sleep, caregiving, education, other employment, and community and leisure activities, and are associated with negative health outcomes, reduced worker satisfaction, and increased turnover.ii Though unstable scheduling practices are widespread, with about 41% of all workers experiencing such practices, hourly and part-time workers and workers in low-wage occupations are especially affected. Further, due to occupational segregation,iii workers of color are disproportionately impacted by unstable scheduling and its negative outcomes. These inequities in scheduling instability were only compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.iv As jobs have been added back into low-wage industries hit hard by the pandemic, workers’ hours in many of those jobs have remained low and unstable.v Unstable scheduling practices exacerbate the increasingly steep tradeoffs that low-income households face in navigating the costs of low-wage work, including the costs of transportation, housing within a reasonable distance of work, and caregiving. This instability in work hours and income makes it particularly difficult to qualify for employer and state benefits, access reliable care, pursue education or training, and consistently cover rising basic costs of living. As these factors play a role in household employment decisions, understanding unstable scheduling is an important consideration for the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate. This brief outlines the employer practices that comprise unstable scheduling, how underwork and overwork—and fluctuations between the two—can be understood as intertwined with unstable scheduling, and how we can measure the prevalence of unstable scheduling practices across industries. What follows is a discussion of the inequitable distribution and impacts of unstable scheduling, the negative effects of unstable scheduling practices for all workers, and the benefits of stable scheduling for both workers and employers. The final section discusses how potential solutions could address both quality and quantity of work hours, as well as the related challenges of accessing benefits and affordable care.

Internal control weakness and corporate employment decisions: evidence from SOX Section 404 disclosures

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of material internal control weaknesses on corporate employment decisions. We find that, on average, ineffective internal control is significantly related to lower efficiency in employment decisions. We also find that firms with material internal control weaknesses are associated with both over-investment and under-investment in labour. Further analysis suggests that the negative impact of internal control weaknesses on employment decisions is predominantly driven by more severe types of weakness that have a pervasive effect on internal reporting and those related to core accounts. Moreover, our change analysis shows that the remediation of material weaknesses contributes to an improvement in labour investment efficiency. Finally, consistent with the effective monitoring role of high-skilled employees, our subsample analysis indicates that the negative impact of internal control weaknesses on labour investment efficiency is mitigated in firms with high reliance on human capital. Our findings are robust to various sensitivity checks including propensity score matching, entropy balancing, removal of observations during the financial crisis, various measures for the efficiency of investment in labour, and the adjustment for employing residuals as outcome variables. Overall, our study contributes to the ongoing debate on the net benefits of SOX 404 by highlighting the significant value of internal control systems to efficient human capital investment and provides timely implications for managers and regulators.

A Race-neutral Approach to the Interpretation of Lung Function Measurements.

Rationale: The use of self-reported race and ethnicity to interpret lung function measurements has historically assumed that the observed differences in lung function between racial and ethnic groups were because of thoracic cavity size differences relative to standing height. Very few studies have considered the influence of environmental and social determinants on pulmonary function. Consequently, the use of race and ethnicity-specific reference equations may further marginalize disadvantaged populations. Objectives: To develop a race-neutral reference equation for spirometry interpretation. Methods: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III data (n = 6,984) were reanalyzed with sitting height and the Cormic index to investigate whether body proportions were better predictors of lung function than race and ethnicity. Furthermore, the original GLI (Global Lung Function Initiative) data (n = 74,185) were reanalyzed with inverse-probability weights to create race-neutral GLI global (2022) equations. Measurements and Main Results: The inclusion of sitting height slightly improved the statistical precision of reference equations compared with using standing height alone but did not explain observed differences in spirometry between the NHANES III race and ethnic groups. GLI global (2022) equations, which do not require the selection of race and ethnicity, had a similar fit to the GLI 2012 "other" equations and wider limits of normal. Conclusions: The use of a single global spirometry equation reflects the wide range of lung function observed within and between populations. Given the inherent limitations of any reference equation, the use of GLI global equations to interpret spirometry requires careful consideration of an individual's symptoms and medical history when used to make clinical, employment, and insurance decisions.

What makes Chinese rural migrants self-employed: a qualitative perspective

This study scrutinizes the causes, configuration, and consequences of rural migrants’ motivations for becoming self-employed. It aims to solve two main problems in the current literature. The first is that previous studies primarily explain migrants’ self-employment through economic variables when other factors (e.g., autonomy, meaningfulness, and work environment) might be more important. Second, no study has been conducted to qualitatively understand migrants’ self-employment outcomes. By drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with rural-to-urban migrant workers conducted in four regions of China, this article provides insights into the pecuniary and nonpecuniary motivations of rural migrants’ employment decisions. Notably, it finds that most rural migrant workers in wage employment sectors are not in a position to exercise free choice regarding their working arrangements. In contrast, the prospect of achieving a higher level of income, greater autonomy, and more flexibility and freedom is important and attractive aspects of self-employment, with apparent gender differences. Nevertheless, migrants’ self-employment often involves self-sacrifice and economic and social marginalization. Therefore, it is unlikely that migrants select self-employment as an effective means for status acquisition.

Exploring young people's perceptions of health and inequality through art: a co-produced qualitative study

BackgroundDespite increased focus on adolescence, young people's voices are often undervalued and underrepresented in inequalities research. Through exploring young people's perceptions of health and inequality, we might understand how public health interventions can be more effective and equitable. Engaging with youth through art enables self-expression on these complex and sensitive topics. This qualitative project aimed to explore young people's perceptions of their health, inequality, and their aspirations within the Bristol context to inform local policy and everyday practice for adolescent health. MethodsCreative focus groups, co-produced with a young artist, were done at three community centres in deprived areas of Bristol, outlined by the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Participants engaged in art and were guided through discussion by a semi-structured topic guide. A thematic approach to analysis was adopted. Written informed consent was obtained for participants aged 16 years and older and parental consent or participant assent obtained from participants younger than 16 years. The study was reviewed by the University of Bristol Health Sciences Faculty Research Ethics Committees. Findings30 children aged 11–18 years took part. Five themes represented how participants understood health and inequality in Bristol. Adolescents felt forgotten, which they exemplified through a scarcity of age-appropriate activities and public spaces. Participants saw mental health and health risk behaviours such as alcohol and unhealthy diet as major problems for their generation, and highlighted inequalities across these factors. They described how inequalities are experienced in their everyday lives, such as through differential Wi-Fi access, gentrification visible in architecture, experiences of crime, and feeling safe. All felt uncertain about their future and thought they could be better supported around education and employment decisions. Participants thought all issues were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. InterpretationThere is strong awareness of negative health factors and socioeconomic inequalities across youth in Bristol. Young people's perceptions and experiences signal the need for city-wide structural and age-specific policies for adolescents, particularly in deprived areas, to support them in living a healthy life. FundingThe University of Bristol, Wellcome Trust.

The Impact Of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (Fop) on Patients and their Family Members: Results From an International Burden of Illness Survey

What is this article about? Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (also known as FOP) is a very rare genetic condition. In FOP, bone forms in places where it would not normally, such as muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This leads to loss of movement over time for people with FOP. Currently, there is very little information on the relationship between the physical impact, quality of life impact, and economic impact of the condition on people with FOP and their families. What was done? To address this gap, the first international FOP burden of illness survey was done between January 18 and April 30, 2021. People with FOP, referred to as the ‘patient’ population, and their family members took part in the online survey. This was available across 15 countries and in 11 languages. Researchers used multiple assessments to measure patients' movement and ability to carry out daily activities, quality of life for patients and family members, use of adaptive tools (also commonly referred to as living adaptations) by patients, and the impact of FOP on employment for patients and family members. What were the results? The survey received 463 responses in total (219 patients and 244 family members). The results show that older patients have greater loss of movement than younger patients, and this can have a negative impact on their quality of life. Also, as movement and the ability to carry out daily activities become more difficult, patients tend to rely on more living adaptations. There is also a negative impact of FOP on employment decisions. As a result, FOP may have a large financial impact that is highest for older patients and their families. There may also be a large financial impact on healthcare systems. What do the results mean? The results of this survey provide valuable information that can be used to improve care, resources, and support for people with FOP and their family members. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT04665323 ( ClinicalTrials.gov )

COVID-19 SALGINI VE TÜRKİYE İMALAT SANAYİ FİRMALARI

Purpose: Globally taken similar measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions in the supply and demand schedules and increase in uncertainty. The shock of this pandemic has forced many firms to take new actions and make new business decisions. The aim of this study is to examine the heterogeneity of the production, employment and policy decisions taken by the firms against the pandemic across productivity distribution.Methdology: For this purpose, pandemic specific survey responses of a representative panel of 1207 Turkish manufacturing firms matched with pre-pandemic tendency survey responses and administrative data and cross sectional models are employed.Findings: Estimation results show that productive firms of the Turkish manufacturing sector have taken firmer stance against the devastating economic impact of the pandemic at the initial wave. They are more likely to continue the production and less likely to reduce the employment and to benefit from government supports.Originality: This study uses unique firm-level dataset that enable to investigate the effects of the pandemic and mitigation policies on firms using representative survey data for Turkish manufacturing sector. This will contribute to the existing narrow empirical literature on the impact of COVID-19 on manufacturing firms by providing new evidence on a large developing country, Türkiye, based on representative firm-level dataset.

Re‐examining technology's destruction of blue‐collar work

AbstractDespite research suggesting certain death of blue‐collar work due to technological advancements, blue‐collar jobs continue to be in demand. Through a study of the blue‐collar dominant Transport and Logistics sector in Australia, we apply a Critical Realist framework to consider the tendencies contributing to, and limiting, technological uptake and worker displacement. Our analysis of interviews with sector managers demonstrate how technological uptake decisions to enact labour saving technologies are often constrained by other causal mechanisms and associated (counter) tendencies. Causal mechanisms related to geographical artifacts, industry structure and established business models, along with class structure, mitigate against ‘big bang’ technological transformation and the demise of blue‐collar work. We conclude that tracking the future of work is important, but it cannot be done solely on the basis of technological capacities to displace labour or without consideration of the complex interplay of causal mechanisms and tendencies shaping employer decisions about technology.

Population mobility and employee social responsibility: evidence from hukou reform in China

ABSTRACT Population mobility may have a profound impact on the labor market, affecting firms’ employment decisions. We consider hukou reform in China as a quasi-natural experiment in identifying the effects of population mobility on employee-related corporate social responsibility (employee social responsibility, or ESR). The empirical results show that hukou reform prompts firms to invest more in ESR activities, particularly in ESR activities with weak externalities and in regions with a smaller labor market size. Cross-sectional tests suggest that the effects of hukou reform on firms’ ESR investment are stronger for more financially constrained firms and those in high-tech industries, and in more competitive regions. The findings have important practical implications for employment strategies that firms should adopt when the labor market becomes more competitive.

Relationship Lending and Employment Decisions in Firms’ Bad Times

AbstractUsing firm-level survey information, we investigate whether relationship lending affects firms’ employment decisions in the face of negative sales shock. We find that firms with a durable relationship with their main bank display significantly less employment growth sensitivity to such shocks, especially where these are transitory. The result is stronger for younger and smaller firms that benefit from tighter bank-firm relationships, and for firms in sectors or economic environments where the costs of employment adjustment are greater. Our findings indicate that relationship lending provides liquidity insurance to firms to meet their demand for labor hoarding.

Professional Certification and Career Development: A Comparative Analysis between Local and Foreign Certifications

Professional certification, a proficiency to validate employees' competency and readiness for career development, has recently become a subject of inquiry among researchers. There are concerns about employers' demand for foreign in place of local professional certifications in employment decisions, especially in developing countries. Therefore, this study examines the impact of indigenous and foreign professional certifications on employee career development in developing countries like Nigeria. A survey questionnaire was designed to collect data from certified and non-certified human resource professionals in Nigeria. A structural equation modelling analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between the exogenous and homogenous constructs. Findings revealed that local and foreign certifications influence the career development of the sampled employees. However, the model's explanatory power shows that foreign certification has a greater influence on career development than local certification. The study report suggests that both certifications benefit career development, thus, are relevant in career development and employment decisions.

Spillover Effects in Empirical Corporate Finance: Choosing the Proxy for Treatment Coverage

The existing literature indicates that spillovers can lead to a complicated bias in the estimation of causal effects in empirical corporate finance. We show that, under the assumption of simple random treatment assignment and when the proxy chosen for the group-level treatment coverage is the leave-one-out average treatment, such a spillover bias exists if and only if the average indirect effects on the treated and untreated groups are different. We quantify the gains in spillover bias reduction using Monte Carlo exercises. We propose a Wald test to statistically infer the presence of bias. We illustrate the application of this test to bear out spillovers in firms’ employment decisions.

Overview and commentary of the California Workplace Technology Accountability Act

ABSTRACT Technological innovation and the resulting automation are increasingly being applied in the workplace, which is a high-risk context where decisions can majorly impact a worker’s life. Consequently, a number of ethical concerns with automated employment decision systems have been raised, with California proposing the Workplace Technology Accountability Act to limit the use of electronic monitoring systems and automated decision systems to specific times of day, activities and locations that must be proven as essential job functions. Workers would also be given the right to know, review and correct data held about them by their employer. In this article, we summarise and discuss the key points of the legislation before providing a commentary, where we identify four key themes: (i) how boundaries can contribute to a healthy work-life balance and protect the privacy of workers; (ii) how the requirement for impact assessments reflects the wider movement towards algorithmic assurance; (iii) the necessary and potentially problematic requirement to share notices and impact assessment reports with the Labor Agency; and (iv) how the Act might conflict with existing laws. Our intended readership is those interested in the regulation of automated employment decision tools, algorithmic assurance, and the potential impact of the proposed legislation.

Emerging Themes on Factors Influencing Career and Employment Decisions: Voices of Individuals with Disabilities from Four Gulf Countries

Understanding the range of factors influencing career and employment decisions of individuals with disabilities is crucial for policy makers, businesses, and other stakeholders to support and integrate individuals with disabilities in the economic and social capital of the Arab-Gulf. The purpose of this sttudy was to investigate the factors that influence individuals with disabilities in making decisions about their career and employment. We explore how Arab adults with disabilities explain their career and employment decisions experiences, challenges, and barriers. We interviewed 15 adults with disabilities from four Arab-Gulf countries: Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Our findings reveal eight factors that influence individuals with disabilities in their decision-making process about work and their future goals. Two distinct emerging themes were identified as influencing career and employment decisions for individuals with disabilities: individual attributes and environmental factors. Self-determination theory guided our analysis for this research study. The study provided in-depth understanding of the factors that impact employment persistence and individuals with disabilities in the Gulf region. The findings from this base-line study has implications for transition and self-determination. Thus, the study discusses ways to improve the quality of services and supports for individuals with disabilities in the Arab-Gulf and their families.

The Relationship Between Employee Excess Weight and Turnover: A Longitudinal Field Study

The global obesity epidemic, together with the high cost of employee turnover, makes it increasingly likely that employment decisions will be influenced by employers’ assessments of the risk of turnover associated with overweight and obese employees. There currently appears to be a widely held belief that both voluntary and involuntary turnover is greater among overweight and obese employees. This study puts that belief to the test. Based on our review of the literature, it is the first study to investigate the relationship between employee weight and both voluntary and involuntary turnover behavior using a nationally representative sample and longitudinal data (the National Longitudinal Study Youth 1979). We found that overweight and obese people are less likely to turnover voluntarily than their normal weight counterparts, whereas there is no relationship between excess weight levels and involuntary turnover. The study’s theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.

An Investigation of Job Attribute Preferences of Disadvantaged Beneficiaries of Hybrid Organizations

While scholarship in hybrid organizing of social enterprises has gained maturity in recent years, most existing studies have examined hybrid organizing at the internal and organizational level, and lesser is known about the tensions, balance and trade-offs within individual beneficiaries that served by social enterprises. Given the centrality of the employment of marginalized individuals served in the value creation of social enterprises, it is necessary to deepen our theoretical understanding of whether, how, and to what extent disadvantaged beneficiaries of social enterprises make employment decisions. Adopting an individual-level perspective, this study embarked on a quantitative exploration by testing how disadvantaged employees of social enterprises evaluate different job attributes and their attribute levels using the discrete choice experiment method. We found that opportunities to build social relations, employee recognition, potential earnings, career advancement opportunities, and workplace support had positive and significant influences on disabled individuals’ job preference decisions. Among all, the economic dimension had the greatest importance. This paper contributes to social entrepreneurship research by examining job attribute preferences of disadvantaged employees within the theoretical logic of hybridity as it is nested within individuals. We also stimulate a new conversation on an understudied domain of “individual preferences” within the discourse on social entrepreneurship.

Understanding the Aging Workforce: Defining a Research Agenda

Over the past decades, considerable research has been devoted to generating a better understanding of the impact of the aging population and workforce. At the request of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened the Committee on Understanding the Aging Workforce and Employment at Older Ages (the Committee), an interdisciplinary panel of scholars, to assess what is known about the aging workforce in the United States, identify gaps in current knowledge and data infrastructure, and make recommendations for future research and data collection efforts. This symposium presents the findings of the Committee’s forthcoming report Understanding the Aging Workforce: Defining A Research Agenda. The symposium is designed to highlight important research findings from the Committee’s report and outline a new research agenda that is focused on further elucidating the heterogeneity of older workers’ experiences and outcomes and identifying the role of workplaces in enabling and constraining work behaviors at older ages. To this end, the discussant will demonstrate how the conclusions reached by the four presentations together reveal a future research agenda and the methodological and data infrastructure needed to make this research agenda a reality. Work and Retirement Pathways: A New Conceptual Framework Presenter: Mo Wang; U. of Florida A Life Course Perspective on Inequity in Work and Retirement Presenter: Emma Aguila; U. of Southern California The Effect of Workplace Practices on the Employment Decisions of Older Workers Presenter: Peter B. Berg; Michigan State U. Age Discrimination: Several Anomalies in Search of Some Answers Presenter: Susan Fiske; Princeton U.