How global is the affordable housing crisis?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Coupe

Purpose This paper aims to determine to what extent the housing affordability crisis is a “global” crisis and to what extent there is a variation across countries and over time, in who is concerned about housing affordability. Design/methodology/approach The author analyses data from about 500,000 respondents from over 140 countries and uses both descriptive statistics as well as regression analysis (using a random effects within between model [Bell et al., 2019]). Findings The findings show that concerns about housing affordability are widespread both within and across countries but the extent of these concerns depends greatly on the country, the subgroup and the indicator analysed. Moreover, in many countries, more people worry about other aspects of life than about housing affordability. Research limitations/implications The global diversity in the housing affordability crisis suggests that one should be cautious when extrapolating research findings for a given country to other countries or when proposing housing policy transfer across countries. Practical implications The specific nature of the housing affordability crisis varies substantially across countries. Policymakers thus should be aware that there is no guarantee that a housing affordability policy that was effective in one country will also be effective in another country. Originality/value This paper is original in its use of the Gallup World poll, a unique survey, which is done world-wide and hence is ideally suited for the purpose of this paper, providing a much more detailed picture of the global housing crisis than so far available in the literature.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk Chang ◽  
Sylvain Max ◽  
Jérémy Celse

Purpose Employee’s lying behavior has become ubiquitous at work, and managers are keen to know what can be done to curb such behavior. Managers often apply anti-lying strategies in their management and, in particular, the role of self-awareness on lying intervention has drawn academic attention recently. Drawing on multi-disciplinary literature, this study aims to investigate the efficacy of self-awareness in reducing lying behavior. Design/methodology/approach Following the perspectives of positivism and deductive reasoning, a quasi-experimental research approach was adopted. Employees from Dijon, France were recruited as research participants. Based on the literature, different conditions (scenario manipulation) were designed and implemented in the laboratory, in which participants were exposed to pre-set lying opportunities and their responses were analyzed accordingly. Findings Unlike prior studies which praised the merits of self-awareness, the authors found that self-awareness did not decrease lying behavior, not encouraging the confession of lying either. Employees actually lied more when they believed other employees were lying. Practical implications This study suggests managers not to rely on employee’s self-awareness; rather, the concept of self-awareness should be incorporated into the work ethics, and managers should schedule regular workshops to keep employees informed of the importance of ethics. When employees are regularly reminded of the ethics and appreciate its importance, their intention of lying is more likely to decrease. Originality/value To the best of the atuhors’ knowledge, the current research is the first in its kind to investigate lying intervention of employees in the laboratory setting. Research findings have brought new insights into the lying intervention literature, which has important implication on the implementation of anti-lying strategies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 564-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J.R. Butler

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the potential implications and non-implications for leadership and organization development of a recent systematic review of empirical developments in organizational cognitive neuroscience (OCN). Design/methodology/approach Butler et al.’s (2016) systematic review of 40 empirical articles related to OCN is re-interpreted in terms of its potential to reveal (non-) implications for practice. OCN is critically discussed, then related to the research findings from studies with two methodological designs. Findings At this stage of OCN’s emergence, it appears that neuroimaging and physiology-based research methods have equal potential in their implications for practice, though hormonal data poses ethical public interest dilemmas. Both methods cannot be reduced to specific forms of application to practice, but they set an aspirational direction for the future development of leadership and organizations. Practical implications There appear to be two paces of translational activity – practitioners are moving more quickly than academics in applying OCN to practice. It is suggested that a meeting of minds may be needed to ensure that any risks associated with applying OCN to practice are minimized or eliminated. Social implications Inter-disciplinary research, like OCN, requires a social consensus about how basic research in cognitive neuroscience can be applied to organizations. A think tank will provide opportunities for deeper engagement and co-production between academics and practitioners. Originality/value Critically exploring the potential implications of OCN for practice, by basing the discussion on a systematic review of empirical developments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah P. Lonbay ◽  
Toby Brandon

Purpose The increased involvement of adults at risk in the safeguarding process has become a prominent issue within English safeguarding policy. However, there is evidence to suggest that actual levels of involvement are still low. The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a PhD study in relation to the benefits of advocacy in supporting this involvement in adult safeguarding for older people. Design/methodology/approach Participants in the study included advocates and social workers who had experience of working with older people through the safeguarding process within two North East England local authorities. A critical realist approach through in-depth interviews was taken with all the participants. Findings The research findings in relation to the benefits of advocacy in supporting older people going through safeguarding processes are reported. The practical limitations and factors which help and hinder advocacy support within the process are also considered. The theoretical implications for power, empowerment, and advocacy are also explored. Research limitations/implications A key limitation of this research is that it did not include older people who had been through safeguarding amongst the participants. Practical implications Key implications for practice and policy are discussed. Originality/value The paper provides an overview and critique of empowerment in adult safeguarding and the role that advocates play in promoting this key principle.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Mayuree Sengupta

Purpose The article examines strategically directing the breadth of scope of a patent and hazards of litigation vis-à-vis the length of claims for innovating firms. Design/methodology/approach This paper enumerates latest literature on assessing patent scope and hence protection afforded to firm innovations. Based on prior research findings, this paper proposes to maintain a balanced and nuanced approach to claim drafting to assure grant of patent while minimizing litigation threats. Findings To strategically manage patent grant and minimize litigation threat, firms would better take a leaf out of academic discourse and streamline claim drafting – not too wide to earn an examiner’s ire and not too narrow to let an infringer bypass by. Unlike smaller firms or universities, big firms are less likely to renew a patent with less scope. Research limitations/implications The study sample in contemporary literature is exclusive to patents from US Patent and Trademark Office. Whether the same result will be replicated for diverse countries is uncertain. Practical implications The understanding that patent scope not only influences grant chances but also is an indicator of future litigation threat can help patent practitioners and innovating firms in strategically directing the patent. Originality/value The paper draws from the findings of three well-articulated recent research papers. The paper’s originality and value is in providing practical insights on how to perfect patent scope in a real world based on academic discourse.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-38
Author(s):  
John P. Sloan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe lessons learned from a homecare practice for frail elderly people. Design/methodology/approach – It is strictly a description of a point of view in respect of care of frailty designed to avoid institution. Findings – Generally, frail elderly patients choose care focused on comfort and function as opposed to the traditional systematic healthcare goals of rescue and prevention. This choice should be respected. Research limitations/implications – There are no formal research findings. Practical implications – Cost-saving as well as improvement in care is possible through team-based relationship-oriented homecare of the frail elderly where that care emphasizes comfort and function. Originality/value – This paper is authored by Dr John Sloan and is entirely original.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sampsa Hyysalo ◽  
Mikael Johnson

Purpose – “User” is the lingua franca term used across IT design, often critiqued for giving a reductionist portrayal of the human relationship with technologies. The purpose of this paper is to argue that equating “user” with flesh and blood “people out there” is naïve. Not only that, it closes important options in conducting human-centered design. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conceptually elaborate a relational understanding of the user and integrate research findings on user representations found at the intersection of human-centered design and social studies of technology. Findings – The user is best understood as a relational term that bridges between people out there and renditions of them relevant for design. A distinction between “user representations” and “engaged use” is a key distinction to clarify this further. Research to date demonstrates that R & D organizations have a wide range of user representations and positioning human-centered design to these would advance its likely yield. Research limitations/implications – The strategic positioning of user studies and other human-centered design within R & D organizations is a growing research area that merits further research. Practical implications – Descriptions of users would benefit from being more strategic in order to become viable amidst other design concerns. This can be aided by, for instance, visualizing the “users” that different fractions in the company rely on and compare these to the users indicated by human-centered design. Originality/value – The paper makes an original reconceptualization of the user and integrates literature on user representations to open new options for conducting human-centered design.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-339
Author(s):  
Weizhuo Wang ◽  
Christopher Gan ◽  
Zhiyou Chang ◽  
David A. Cohen ◽  
Zhaohua Li

Purpose This paper aims to develop and estimate a logit model of whether homeownership could be promoted by participation in and use of the Housing Provident Fund (HPF) program, with a focus on factors that influence the use of HPF loans. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops and estimates a logit model of whether homeownership could be promoted by participation in and use of the HPF program, with a focus on factors that influence the use of HPF loans. Findings The results show that coefficients of marital status, educational level, age, duration of employment and employer are significantly related to the use of HPF loan for homeownership. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Practical implications The research findings provide a better understanding of homeowners’ characteristics. Originality/value To manage the HPF program effectively, it is important for government to have a better understanding of the underlying demand for homeownership, especially with respect to the different demographic variables and accessibility to HPF loans and the HPF.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Sarre

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to draw to the attention of parliamentarians and policy-makers the specific vulnerabilities of applicants for bail that need to be addressed if there are to be any answers to the current malaise. Design/methodology/approach Almost a quarter of the adult prison population in Australia is made up of persons imprisoned awaiting trial. By looking at current data and recent research findings, the paper reveals that there persists in Australia great unevenness in remand distributions by jurisdiction. Findings The paper explains why there are differences in remand rates across Australia and why they are rising and draws from more recent snapshots that complement these findings from comprehensive studies conducted a decade ago. Practical implications Furthermore it examines ideas floated in the last decade by academics and practitioners keen to lower remand rates and to bring some uniformity to the process while keeping intact the two key (yet potentially contradictory) aims of the remand in custody system: the safety of the community and the presumption of innocence. Originality/value The paper’s findings will appeal to parliamentarians and policy-makers tasked with bringing about law reform in the field, as well as police leaders, correctional advisors and students of the legal process.


Author(s):  
Rod Mullen ◽  
Naya Arbiter ◽  
Claudia Rosenthal Plepler ◽  
Douglas James Bond

Purpose Over nearly six decades in prison, therapeutic communities (TCs) have waxed and waned in California. While there have been dramatic and demonstrable sucess with some of the most intractable populations in California prisons, the TC model has met substantial challenges, both bureaucratic and political. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This is a six-decade review of in-prison TCs in California based both on the research literature and from personal experience over 30 years providing both in-prison and community based TCs in California. Findings Despite well-documented success reducing the recidivism of violent offenders in California prisons (which is now the bulk of the population), the government has ignored the success of well implemented in-prison TCs, and has implemented a CBT model which has recently been documented to have been ineffective in reducing recidivism. The State is now at a crossroads. Research limitations/implications Documented research findings of success do not necessarily result in the implementation of the model. Practical implications There is evidence that violent felons are amenable to treatment. Social implications Public concern over the return of violent felons from prison can be ameliorated by the evidence of the effectiveness of TC treatment in prison. Originality/value There is no other publication which captures the narrative of the TC in California prisons over six decades.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 877-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Powell ◽  
Sophie King–Hill

PurposeThis article brings together the literatures on policy learning and lesson drawing with the intra-crisis learning literature in order to assess “learning lessons” in the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachIt carries out a structured review of articles that seek to provide lessons for the pandemic. It examines these articles using interpretative content analysis to apply the criteria of prospective policy transfer to the material.FindingsApplication of the criteria of prospective policy transfer suggests that lesson drawing was fairly limited. It is often not fully clear why nations were selected. Many articles were brief and provided limited detail, meaning that there was little depth on issues such as problems and goals and on policy performance or policy success or failure. There was limited discussion of transferability of lessons, and few clear lessons could be drawn. Finally, the extent to which it was possible to learn lessons in a “non-routine” or “less routine” crisis, under conditions of threat, uncertainty and urgency was generally not discussed.Practical implicationsThe criteria within the framework of prospective policy transfer provide a template for policy makers to assess lessons.Originality/valueThis article indicates the problems of attempting to draw lessons from the past or from other nations to an unprecedented crisis, where decision-making is characterized by elements of threat, urgency and uncertainty.


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