Expatriates at the base-of-the-pyramid. Precarious employment or fortune in a foreign land?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Holtbrügge
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Comparison ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Base Of The Pyramid ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality

PurposeInternational human resource management research has only recently started to recognize the many millions of people who engage with the international labor market as low-skilled self-initiated expatriates. In contrast to company-assigned expatriates, they predominantly come from less-developed countries (often from rural areas) and independently decide to pursue an international career. The aim of this study is apply an expatriate-centered perspective and explore how expatriates at the base of the pyramid perceive the conditions of their international employment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a qualitative study among self-initiated expatriates in the tourism and hospitality industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).FindingsTwo theoretical categories that reflect the evaluation of expatriate employment were identified, namely the social comparison with friends and family who stayed at home as well as with other expatriates and locals and the temporal comparison to the situation before the expatriation and the prospective situation after the expatriation. Both categories largely differ from the concepts and categories prevalent in the expatriate literature.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to the understanding of the temporal and transitory dimensions of expatriation, which have been barely addressed in the academic literature. It shows that self-initiated expatriation often represents a break in the professional and personal biography. It is less perceived as linear continuation of a steadily advancing career path than a restart or springboard to the future. The results are situated in the tourism and hospitality sector in the UAE and cannot be generalized to other countries and industries.Practical implicationsThe study emphasizes the relevance of social inclusion, equal opportunities, a safe work environment and a relaxed corporate culture for expatriates at the base of the pyramid.Originality/valueWhile research about self-initiated expatriates usually compares them with company-backed assignees, this comparison is not salient in the narratives of the interviewees in this study. Instead, low-skilled self-initiated expatriates predominately compare their current foreign assignment with the situation in their home country. This social comparison reflects their perceived reality of life better than a fictional comparison with highly skilled and company-assigned expatriates that is prevalent in the academic expatriation literature. By emphasizing an expatriate-centered perspective, the study supports and extends Piore's (1979) application of segmented labor market theory.

Coping mechanisms of Philippine tourism and hospitality family businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a non-parametric approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Santiago ◽  
Fernando Martin Roxas ◽  
John Paolo Rivera ◽  
Eylla Laire Gutierrez
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Family Enterprises ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Non Parametric

PurposeFamily businesses (FB), mostly small-sized, dominate the tourism and hospitality industry (THI), especially in the rural areas. While many would have been used to the impact of demand seasonality, it is unknown how these businesses would have survived through the restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as compared to non-family business (NFB) counterparts. This study aims to determine if there were differences on how family and non-family enterprises in the THI coped with government restrictions.Design/methodology/approachBy subjecting the survey data from tourism enterprises to non-parametric techniques, the authors establish empirical evidence on similarities and differences of coping strategies adopted by FBs and NFBs; their required support from government and their perceptions of a post-pandemic THI.FindingsThe analysis revealed that family-owned tourism and hospitality businesses in the Philippines tended to collaborate with other businesses to manage the impact of the pandemic restrictions. Since they hired more seasonal workers prior to the restrictions, they tended to avoid hiring workers during the restricted period. NFBs, on the other hand, that were generally larger in size and more professionally managed with more regular employees, tended to streamline operations for greater efficiency.Research limitations/implicationsThe study relied on survey results distributed and collected online. There is an innate bias against those firms that did not have access to the survey links.Practical implicationsThe comparative study suggests that interventions to assist firms in the THI should consider the differences in firm ownership as “one size does not fit all.”Social implicationsThe study provides evidence about how environmental factors impact the operations of family firms. Thus, it provides valuable insights for both the academic community and industry practitioners.Originality/valueThis is the first study in the Philippines that was able to capture response of family and non-family firms in the THI during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Monitoring of regional labor markets and the main trends of labor underutilization in Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena V. Sibirskaya ◽  
Maria V. Volkova ◽  
Lyudmila V. Oveshnikova ◽  
Natalia A. Shchukina ◽  
Paweł Lula
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Normative Documents ◽  
Regional Labor ◽  
Labor Underutilization

PurposeIn the recent two decades, a model of the labor market formed in Russia; it differs from the model that is peculiar for most developed countries. Its specific feature consists in the fact that adaptation to the fluctuations of the economic situation takes place by means of changes in the labor price, not by means of changes in employment and unemployment.Design/methodology/approachSuch model ensures high and stable level of employment and low level of unemployment with significant pro-cyclic fluctuations of wages. Changes that take place in the sphere of employment of population in labor markets and gradual implementation of collection of information in view of the forms of labor activities into the practices of different countries led to the necessity for reconsidering the previously adopted international standards.FindingsThis is due to the fact that the normative documents present the treatment of unemployment without the criterion “job search,” and new indicators of measuring potential labor force and incomplete employment were adopted. The authors analyze the situation of labor underutilization, which is important for characterizing a region of the Russian Federation by the indicator of unmet need for employment.Originality/valueThe offered information could be used for wider monitoring of the labor market, studying the volume and tendencies in the sphere of unemployment, evaluating the problems of integration in the labor market, studying the connection between employment and poverty and forecasting the tendencies.

scholarly journals Co-production as deep engagement

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary S. Mangai ◽  
Michiel S. De Vries
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Care Giving ◽  
Domestic Use ◽  
Philosophical Framework

Purpose While there is an urgent need for clean water in Ghana and Nigeria, governments lack the financial means to do much to address this need. This does not mean that improving access to clean water is impossible. On the contrary, this paper argued that engaging citizens through co-production, as is already being done in developed countries in the fields of care-giving, waste management, healthcare and community policing, could provide a successful strategy. The purpose of this paper is to examine how public water facilities are being managed to improve and sustain access to clean water for domestic use in rural areas in Ghana and Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach A survey interview with households and in-depth interviews with water professionals were conducted in Ghana and Nigeria to help the authors understand the practicalities of the co-production of clean water and how this is improving and maintaining access to clean water sources. The paper draws on a philosophical framework of “deep” citizen engagement to describe the merits of co-production and how it works in practice in developing countries. Findings Based on the interviews with officials and surveys among the population of rural areas in the two countries studied, the authors found that the two countries vary significantly in their approach to water management decisions and the extent to which citizens are involved. Ghana’s approach seems much more successful than Nigeria when it comes to maintaining boreholes for water supply with the help of the population. In Nigeria, three-quarters of the public water facilities are non-functional, while in Ghana, community involvement in maintaining public water facilities has resulted in the sustained use of boreholes and eliminated the lack of access to clean water in many communities. Originality/value This paper contributes to the practical understanding of co-production in developing countries and the potential of such co-production in improving clean water access. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous scientific research has studied how co-production can improve and sustain access specifically to clean water sources in developing countries, and this paper aimed to fill this gap.

Deadly migrant trafficking trade by sea and restrictive service trade by the WTO

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-104
Author(s):  
Rafiqul Islam ◽  
Khorsed Zaman
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Restrictive Trade

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine one of the most pressing global challenges, the ongoing migrant trafficking across sea, from international trade law and policy perspective. It identifies global poverty as one of the underlying causes of such trafficking. It argues that restrictive trade in labour-intensive services of the World Trade Organization (WTO) contributes to and sustains poverty in many migrant producing countries. Chronic unemployment in poor countries with surplus manual workforce renders these workers bewildered to survive in a jobless and incomeless home markets. Non-liberalization of movements of natural persons under General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) Mode 4 prevents legal cross-border delivery of labours. Restrictive trade in agriculture has but aggravated their marginalized plight. It is this poverty trap that pushes workers, lured by smugglers, to take risky migration routes for better life in countries with labour shortages. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a blend approach of theoretical and applied aspects of international trade law and policy, which is interpreted and applied to a fact situation of contemporary challenge of migrant trafficking by sea. Findings – This paper establishes a nexus between restrictive Mode 4 trade and its implications for poverty-induced migration trafficking trade. It suggests a palatable trade law and policy-based reform response for the WTO to ameliorate poverty and migration trafficking trade concurrently through the creation of legal channels for the cross-border delivery of labours by liberalizing Mode 4 trade in a manner beneficial for developed countries as well. Originality/value – Its value lies in its contribution to maximize multi-lateral trade liberalization for the benefit of all countries, social inclusion and economic emancipation of the disadvantaged, which would minimize global poverty.

Multi-utility framework: blockchain exchange platform for sustainable development

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Bou Abdo ◽  
Sherali Zeadally
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Blockchain Technology

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to design a sustainable development platform for water and energy peer-to-peer trading that is financially and economically feasible. Water and other resources are becoming scarcer every day, and developing countries are the neediest for an immediate intervention. Water, as a national need, is considered to be one of the most precious commodities, but it is also one of the main causes for conflicts in the 21st century. Rainwater harvesting and peer-to-peer trading of the harvested water is one of the most convenient, scalable and sustainable solutions but faces organization challenges such as the absence of suitable business models motivating normal users to sell their generated resources (such as water and energy), currency and financial settlement complexities and single utility markets. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a multi-utility trading platform based on the blockchain technology which can address the challenges faced by peer-to-peer trading for resources such as energy and water. Findings This paper presents a peer-to-peer multi-utility trading platform that solves the shortcomings of existing utility frameworks reported in the current literature. Originality/value This proposed platform meets the needs of developing countries as well as rural areas of developed countries. The open nature of the proposed design makes it suitable for adoption and use by various stakeholders.

scholarly journals Qualification mismatch in the labor market and the impact on earnings: evidence from Vietnam

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-233
Author(s):  
Huy Le Quang ◽  
Binh Tran-Nam
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Asymmetric Effect ◽  
Wage Penalty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Rural And Remote Areas ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the incidence and earning effects of the vertical mismatch between attained and required educational qualifications in a developing country’s labor market. Design/methodology/approach Following Duncan and Hoffman (1981), this paper uses the augmented Mincerian wage equation to decompose the actual years of education of a person into years of over-education, years of required education and years of under-education. These years of education are then fitted in an ordinary least squares model to measure the earning effects of an employee when his/her attained educational qualifications are higher or lower than the required educational level in his/her job. Findings Unlike studies in developed countries, this paper finds that Vietnam has a higher incidence of under-education than over-education due to a large proportion of the population in rural and remote areas not having access to formal education. Further, qualification mismatch has an asymmetric effect on earnings in the sense that the wage rate is flexible downward but rigid upward. In particular, years of schooling that are in excess or in deficit of the required level for the job are not compensated with higher earnings. This paper concludes that although qualification mismatch incidence in Vietnam is different from that in developed countries, mismatched workers also suffer from significant wage penalty. Originality/value This paper makes a significant contribution by providing the first evidence from a developing country to the vertical mismatch literature which has already been overwhelmed with studies from advanced economies.

E-Governance and Social Inclusion

2014 ◽  
pp. 256-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco A. Magno
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Less Developed Countries ◽  
Entry Points ◽  
Development Plans ◽  
Access Information

This chapter presents a case study of community e-Centers in the Philippines. Developed as part of the pilot multi-purpose community centres program in the late 1990s and expanded as part of Philippine Development Plans, the centres were envisaged as local entry points for residents to access information and services, especially in rural areas of the country. The case study touches on the problems when content lags behind the provision of hard infrastructure, a problem associated with many e-government projects, especially in less-developed countries.

Meeting the demand for statisticians in UAE: challenges and experiences

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-52
Author(s):  
Rafiq Hamed Hijazi
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Training ◽  
Training Institute

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the supply of and perceived demand for statisticians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the past decade. Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory study is conducted to examine the institutional and individual supply of statisticians in the UAE in relation to the perceived demand for such services. Supply data for the study was derived from UAE University, the Statistical Training Center and the Statistical Training Institute on statistics graduates and trainees. Findings – It was found that the supply of statisticians and trainees from UAE universities and training bodies is falling short of meeting the actual needs of statisticians in UAE. As the demand continues for such services, concerted efforts are needed to identify and implement workable approaches to reduce the gap between supply and demand. This includes stronger collaboration between government agencies and academic institutions to create a genuine partnership utilizing the experience of developed countries in this field. Originality/value – This study is the first of its kind in the UAE aimed at exploring the arising need for statistical services in the UAE. Recommendations from the study are intended to guide educational policy makers in addressing identified shortages of skilled Emirati statisticians as main contributors in supporting the knowledge-driven economy vision of UAE government.

Liveability, sense of place and behavioural intentions

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Tournois
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Sense Of Place ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Behavioural Intentions ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Cities from developing countries strive to compete on a global scale and hence try to attract and retain their residents in offering higher liveability. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which liveability influences resident’s sense of place and determines residents’ behavioural intentions. Design/methodology/approach A survey was carried out to test the hypotheses using a sample of 362 residents from the city of Dubai (United Arab Emirates). Structural equation modelling and the method suggested by Hayes and Preacher (2010) for mediation analysis were used. Findings Findings show that residents’ preferences for different types of liveability attributes (included in seven dimensions) influence their sense of place that in return shapes their behavioural intentions towards their place of residence. Results also reveal the importance of non-economic attributes of the urban environment. Moreover, residents’ sense of place mediates the relationship between liveability and residents’ behavioural intentions. Research limitations/implications Future research could more deeply investigate the social functioning of a place and particularly the role of place identity, as it is recognized to affect residents’ attitudes and behaviours. In addition, further developments may contribute to the ongoing debate on the relationship between liveability and growth. Practical implications From a public policy standpoint, this study suggests that local authorities need to identify a distinct set of economic and non-economic characteristics that will encourage residents to stay longer in the place they live. As such, enhancing liveability represents a critical strategic initiative for cities from developing countries to make them a great place to live. Originality/value Compared to developed countries’ cities, few attempts have been made to investigate the attitudes of residents towards a place and the role of liveability in the context of emerging countries fast-growing urban areas. In addition, findings revealed the importance of place-based meanings, i.e. sense of place, which played a pivotal role in the development of place-protective behaviours.

How can governments nudge students to become ebook readers? Evidence from Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad R. Pratama ◽  
Firman M. Firmansyah
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Government Intervention ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Government Interventions ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Book Format

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate if and how government intervention can nudge students to become ebook readers. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 1,144 students from four middle and high schools in urban and rural areas of Indonesia participated in this study. The results from statistical analyses were further discussed through the lens of the nudge theory. Findings This paper founds evidence that government intervention in the form of the Buku Sekolah Elektronik (BSE) policy that has been providing free electronic textbooks for more than a decade can help nudge students to become ebook readers. After controlling for student’s demographic information, this paper founds that their awareness of such a policy is significantly associated with a stronger preference toward ebooks while having no significant effect on their preferences toward printed book format. This paper also founds that mobile device adoption plays an important role where early adopters tend to prefer ebook format, whereas laggards are more associated with printed book format. Originality/value Many have studied the benefits of using ebooks in learning, but the literature also shows that most students still prefer reading printed books over ebooks. This is true not only in developing countries where problems with infrastructures can hamper the adoption of ebooks in general but also in developed countries where ebooks are much more prevalent, even among the general population. This paper showed how government interventions have the potency to help tip the scales and nudge students to become ebook readers.

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