An international novelty in this paper is the development of the indicator of the rush hour of life (RHOL), which allows for measures of the time squeeze by gender over the life course. The study contributes to defining periods of time pressure during life and to gaining important insights into the division of market and non market work across genders and different institutional contexts. The analysis takes advantage of detailed survey data of time use for three countries and it reveals the existence of relevant differences and inequality in workload between men and women. In Austria, there are no gender differences in the length or the intensity of the RHOL since during prime age the total workload (market and non-market work combined) is about equally distributed among genders, although men are more specialised in paid work and women in unpaid work. On the other hand, in Italy and Slovenia the RHOL is more intense and lasts longer for women than for men. Slovenian women are strongly involved in paid work, which is a characteristic of ex-socialistic countries. After they finish with the work in the formal sector, they work another ‘shift’ at home. Italian women use little time for paid work, but they spend much more time on unpaid work than women in Slovenia or Austria. Austria shows a more traditional pattern regarding gender work division—men are more involved in paid work and women more in unpaid work. Using the regression method, the paper investigates the impact of breadwinner arrangements and various other variables affecting the RHOL indicator. The results also offer recommendation for adequate policy measures in different countries. The above-mentioned analysis of NTA and NTTA results by gender was further extended in the article ISTENIČ, Tanja, VARGHA, Lili, SAMBT, Jože. Is there a connection between welfare regimes and inter-age reallocation systems?. The Journal of the economics of ageing, ISSN 2212-828X, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2019.100202. [COBISS.SI-ID 25214950]. The article presents NTA results for 10 EU countries, which have been estimated in a fully comparable way. The newly assessed and fully comparable NTA and NTTA results by gender enabled us to contribute to the existing literature about welfare regimes. Namely, in addition to public intergenerational transfers, the NTA methodology enables us to estimate private intergenerational transfers. Past researchers have already recognized the importance of differences in the organization of private transfers in different welfare regimes; however, private transfers are hard to estimate based on secondary data. However, the accounting identity of the NTA methodology enables such an assessment. At the same time, the NTA methodology allows us to analyze gender-specific organization of transfer systems, which crucially affects the formation of groups of countries belonging to a particular regime. We further estimated NTA results by gender for 25 EU countries and NTTA results for 16 EU countries, which are publically available on the AGENTA project website and are already highly cited. The results of NTA and NTTA by gender for 15 countries were also presented in the article The gender dimension of intergenerational transfers in Europe (HAMMER, Bernhard, SPITZER, Sonja, VARGHA, Lili, ISTENIČ, Tanja. The gender dimension of intergenerational transfers in Europe. The Journal of the economics of ageing, ISSN 2212-828X, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2019.100234. [COBISS.SI-ID 25464806]) ). This article is listed as one of the most downloaded articles in the last 90 days on the website of The Journal of the Economics of Aging.
COBISS.SI-ID: 24821222
The article sheds light on the impact of changing supply conditions in global supply chains. Over the last decade, there has been a significant departure from the established practice of offshore companies, which have exploited markets with lower labor costs, in the direction of opening new supply channels closer to customers. The article clearly emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive view of the supply chain, where changes in the modern global business environment require constant adjustment of the supply strategy and the corresponding policy of ordering products from suppliers. Establishing production capacities closer to consumer markets is a trend that is gaining in importance, and new challenges are emerging related to limitations in the total available capacity and related reliability of supply. In the research, the authors formulate a hybrid procurement policy that defines the extent to which it makes sense to distribute orders across local and global supply channels. Methodologically, the research belongs to the field of dynamic stochastic models of inventory management, where the authors determine the optimal ordering policy for a company operating in such supply conditions. Given the complexity of the optimal policy, the authors formulate a simpler myopic policy and prove that this is a very good approximation of the optimal one. The study received further confirmation in light of the current COVID-19 crisis, which highlighted the vulnerability of global supply chains. The research was published in 2018 in the European Journal of Operational Research, which is one of the leading journals in the field of Operations Research and Management Science (1st quarter according to the journal Impact factor). The journal also belongs to the top group of AJG 4 according to the Chartered Association of Business Schools ’Academic Journal Guide, which is a representative index of relevance of publication within the business sciences field. The article won the award of the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, for the best scientific article in 2018. Related topics were covered also in two further top publications from the members of the team in this period: KADIĆ-MAGLAJLIĆ, Selma, MICEVSKI, Milena, LEE, Nick, BOSO, Nathaniel, VIDA, Irena. Three levels of ethical influences on selling behavior and performance : synergies and tensions. Journal of business ethics, ISSN 0167-4544, May 2019, vol. 156, iss. 2, str. 277-397, doi: 10.1007/s10551-017-3588-1. [COBISS.SI-ID 23870182], and MIHELIČ, Katarina Katja, CULIBERG, Barbara. Reaping the fruits of another's labor : the role of moral meaningfulness, mindfulness, and motivation in social loafing. Journal of business ethics, ISSN 0167-4544, Dec. 2019, vol. 160, iss. 3, str. 713-727, doi: 10.1007/s10551-018-3933-z. [COBISS.SI-ID 24536294].
COBISS.SI-ID: 24201702
The article challenged the tacit consensus on the dominance of utilitarianism and deontology in managers’ ethical decision-making. By introducing virtue ethics, we not only confirmed that there are three (and not two) main normative ethical theories but also how important virtue ethics is in managers’ ethical decision-making. When managers face a general ethical dilemma or must refuse an unethical decision, managers primarily use deontology. When in a position of leadership or informal leadership position, managers predominately use virtue ethics. The complexity of the modern business world does not support one grand ethical theory. To the contrary, we confirmed existence of moral pragmatism, a concept in which the ethical theory used by a decision-maker varies in different circumstances based on their moral reasoning. Unlike moral relativism, which claims that moral actions are judged in relation to, for example, culture, values or society, moral pragmatism demands high moral sensitivity, moral reflection and moral learning. Managers should be proficient in all ethical theories and views. Therefore, organizations should support the competency of moral reasoning. Similar topics were covered also in two further top publications from the members of the team in this period: BRENČIČ, Vera, PAHOR, Marko. Exporting, demand for skills and skill mismatch : evidence from employers' hiring practices. The world economy, ISSN 0378-5920, Jun. 2019, vol. 42, iss. 6, str. 1740-1773, doi: 10.1111/twec.12768. [COBISS.SI-ID 25063910], and BODLAJ, Mateja, ČATER, Barbara. The impact of environmental turbulence on the perceived importance of innovation and innovativeness in SMEs. Journal of small business management, ISSN 0047-2778, Nov. 2019, vol. 57, iss. S2, str. 417-435, doi: 10.1111/jsbm.12482. [COBISS.SI-ID 24702694].
COBISS.SI-ID: 25607142
The article covers the responsible sustainable consumer behavior (RSCB), in line with the view of sustainability as a construct with both environmental and social pillar. Published in highly influential journal (one of TOP FT50 journals that are used by top research economic and business schools for evaluating research output) investigates the antecedents of both environmentally and socially RSCB and willingness to behave in environmentally/socially responsible way: concern, perceived consumer control/effectiveness, personal/social norms and ethical ideologies/obligation. Findings show that in general, antecedents of environmentally and socially responsible sustainable consumption are similar in their effect on consumer behavior, with personal norms, concern and ethical ideologies having the strongest impact on RSCB. When comparing both types of behavior, socially responsible behavior is more influenced by perceived behavioral control and possibly social norms than environmentally responsible behavior, while information availability plays its role for both behaviors. The complexity and struggles between doing what is good for environment and society could be the reason why consumers have difficulties achieving sustainable responsible consumption. Topics related to sustainable consumer behavior were covered also in further three top publications from the members of the team in this period: GOLOB, Urša, PODNAR, Klement, KOS KOKLIČ, Mateja, ŽABKAR, Vesna. The importance of corporate social responsibility for responsible consumption : exploring moral motivations of consumers. Corporate social-responsibility and environmental management, ISSN 1535-3958, Mar./Apr. 2019, vol. 26, no. 2, str. 416-423, ilustr., doi: 10.1002/csr.1693. [COBISS.SI-ID 24739814], KADIĆ-MAGLAJLIĆ, Selma, ARSLANAGIĆ-KALAJDŽIĆ, Maja, MICEVSKI, Milena, DLAČIĆ, Jasmina, ŽABKAR, Vesna. Being engaged is a good thing : understanding sustainable consumption behavior among young adults. Journal of business research, ISSN 0148-2963. [Print ed.], Nov. 2019, vol. 104, 644-654 [COBISS.SI-ID 24998630] and KOS KOKLIČ, Mateja, GOLOB, Urša, PODNAR, Klement, ŽABKAR, Vesna. The interplay of past consumption, attitudes and personal norms in organic food buying. Appetite, ISSN 0195-6663, Jun. 2019, vol. 137, 27-34 [COBISS.SI-ID 24989414].
COBISS.SI-ID: 25475558
The article discusses the presence of trans-saturated fats in food chains and their contribution to cardiovascular mortality and the rise of obesity in the developed world. The presence of trans-saturated fats turns out to be the result of public health and nutrition policies that either favor the preferences of food suppliers over health of the consumers or the result of misguided public policies based on self-regulation or illusionary voluntary initiatives. As this is a fundamental problem arising from the asymmetric distribution of information between consumers and providers, the article assesses the contribution of trans-fat prohibition and self-regulatory measures to cardiovascular mortality and the spread of obesity through difference-in-differences empirical analysis. From the broader point of view of the research group's goals, the key contribution of the article is the point of view of unsustainability of self-regulatory measures, which are doomed to generate negative externalities. Concerning long-term sustainable development to ensure a broad-based public health of citizens, the article highlights the ban on trans-saturated fats as a regulatory measure that eliminates information asymmetry, negative externalities and short-term opportunistic behavior of food providers, which would represent a significant setback in sustainable development from a public health perspective. Authors have in the period published a range of excellent works, including: SPRUK, Rok, KEŠELJEVIĆ, Aleksandar. Economic freedom and growth across German districts. Journal of institutional economics, ISSN 1744-1374, 2018, vol. 14, iss. 4, str. 739-765, doi: 10.1017/S1744137417000480. [COBISS.SI-ID 24099302]. Rok Spruk’s article “Institutional transformation and the origins of world income distribution” (Journal of Comparative Economics 44 (4): 936-60) was in 2019 selected as one of the most influential works in the field of institutions and economic development and was included in a series entitled "Institutions and Economic Development" by Edward Elgar (https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/institutions-and-economic-development-9781788118842.html), edited by prof. dr. Jakob De Haan (University of Groningen.
COBISS.SI-ID: 25150182