Thomas Lange

Abu Dhabi University · College of Business

Most studies in the economics discourse argue that the impact of self-employment on job satisfaction is mediated by greater procedural freedom and autonomy. Values and personality traits are considered less likely to explain the utility difference between self-employed and salaried workers. Psychology scholars suggest that entrepreneurial satisfact...

Using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), we investigate how various types of job training impact upon employees’ job satisfaction and its domains. We find that orientation training exerts a significant positive effect on newcomer male employees’ job satisfaction in both the private and public sectors, but it increases the job sati...

Low pay poses issues for managers internationally. We examine productivity in low-paying sectors in Britain, since the national minimum wage’s (NMW) introduction. We use a multiple channel analytical strategy, emphasising the wage-incentives channel and linking it to a model of unobserved productivity. We estimate firm-specific productivity measure...

Employees’ expected contributions can be incongruent with those of their leader. We examine the congruence effect of leaders’ and employees’ expected contributions on job satisfaction. Results of cross-level polynomial regressions on 947 employees and 224 leaders support the congruence effect. When expected contributions are congruent, employees ar...

Drawing on the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity, Corporate Environmentalism, and Value Belief Norm theories, this study proposes a framework that focuses on the consequences of green human resource management practices. We collected data from employees (n = 184) in sustainability-focused organizations in the United Arab Emirates. The results suggest...

Latest rankings of business scholars, using P-Rank metrics, CABS 2021 and Times Higher Education Arab University Ranking country selection

Report commissioned by the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce. It provides an independent desk-based, secondary data review and analysis with a focus on local labour market data, education/training provider data, and skills data.

This study contributes to the organizational sustainability literature by exploring a methodology for defining and making the notion of employee flourishing at work operational. It applies stochastic frontier methods on British longitudinal data to estimate the maximum job satisfaction that employees can achieve should they utilize their resources...

Government and firms may not grasp the potential for significant productivity advances. Online access via: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/01/18/national-minimum-wages-improve-productivity/

Purpose Drawing on climate theory and social exchange theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how the strength of the expectation climate, defined as the degree of agreement among job incumbents on what is expected from them, affects their job performance. To explain this relationship, the authors utilize mediating trust-in-the...

A 'Point of View' commentary, p.5, published in the MPOWER newsletter, December 2015.

This study examines the stability of social capital as a predictor of job satisfaction at a time of economic crisis. Drawing on data for 23 countries elicited from the 2010/11 wave of the European Social Survey and capturing the social capital dimensions of trust, social interaction, norms and sanctions, the analysis reveals a remarkably resilient...

Invited research seminar at Monash University Business School, Melbourne, Australia. May 2015.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the new journal, its inspirations, scope and ambitions. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews selected strands of the literature on evidence-based scholarship and discusses some of the observations and remedial recommendations made in the literature to bring research,...

Previous research has shown that both past unemployment and anticipated future unemployment have a detrimental impact on employees' attitudes and behaviours, which may affect organisational performance. Surprisingly, however, very little is known about the relative impact of past unemployment compared with current job insecurity. Although it is pos...

This independent research review was commissioned by ILO in order to contribute to establishing a solid empirical basis for future research and interventions. It reviews the empirical relevance of the assumption that a win-win scenario exists in SMEs, especially in the context of developing economies. It also seeks to identify the factors or condit...

Using data from the European Values Survey (EVS), we examine the relationship between job and life satisfaction across Europe. We find that for the majority of employees, job and life satisfaction are positively correlated, thus supporting the spillover hypothesis, whereby attitudes and practices developed in the life domain spill over into the wor...

Employing fixed effects regression techniques on longitudinal data, we investigate how life events affect employees’ job satisfaction. Unlike previous work-life research, exploring mostly contemporaneous correlations, we look for evidence of adaptation in the years following major life events. We find evidence of adaptation following the first marr...

Purpose The aim of this paper is to re‐examine the unique political economy of Germany's dual apprenticeship training model and its underlying philosophy of corporatist governance. It responds to recent arguments suggesting that Germany's collectivist skill regime is under threat, increasingly giving way to the introduction of “segmentalism”. Desi...

Active labour market policy measures have grown in popularity once more. At a time of global economic meltdown, these policies have attracted renewed interest amongst policy makers as they aim to improve the labour market position of unemployed workers. Whilst training and public work creation schemes target primarily the re-employment probabilitie...

A large empirical and theoretical literature has highlighted the importance of intrinsic motivation in improving organisational pefrformance. However, researchers have not investigated whether on-the-job training or the type of training received has an impact on the intrinsic motivation of employees. We argue that on-the-job training can enhance fe...

This paper explores the link between cultural behavioural traits, the potential effect of industrialisation and multiple domains of job satisfaction, utilising survey data collected from public and private service sector employees in Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya in the North East Region (NER) of India. Results from ordered probit regress...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to model the link between political participation and life satisfaction whilst correcting for the endogenous nature of the relationship; explore the impact of different strengths of political participation and aim to uncover if the relationship displays different patterns by gender. Design/methodology/approach...

Defining culture by reference to deeply engrained societal values and beliefs, this article makes two contributions to the growing field of satisfaction research: first, it explores whether and to what extent a range of cultural values serve as important moderators of individuals' life satisfaction; and second, it also tries to uncover if the econo...

Based on data from the European Values Study (EVS), we compare the determinants of job satisfaction and the impact of union membership in Eastern and Western European labor markets. Correcting our regressions for union endogeneity and controlling for individual characteristics, values and beliefs, and important aspects of a job, we find a positive...

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the growing body of empirical evaluations of workers' subjective well being by assessing the impact of values, beliefs, important job attributes and autonomous institution building on employees' job satisfaction across ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach Data derived fro...

Guest Editorial Introduction to Special Issue

Purpose – This paper aims to contribute to the growing body of empirical evaluations of subjective wellbeing by assessing the impact of basic cultural values and beliefs on job satisfaction across 20 countries in Eastern and Western Europe. Design/methodology/approach – Basic cultural values and beliefs are defined by reference to traditional vs se...

■ This article studies potential legacy effects of a communist gender order, and in particular the impact on job satisfaction, in five Central and Eastern European labour markets. The empirical basis is derived from a sub-sample of the third wave of the European Values Study. There are substantial differences between male and female employees, some...

Across various social science disciplines, several determinants of job satisfaction have been identified, ranging from personal background variables to individual labour market characteristics. Primarily in the scholarship of human resource management and applied psychology, job satisfaction has also been strongly associated with measures of organi...

This policy commentary complements the research report on Transition Assistance for Young People, released by the New Zealand Mayors' Taskforce for Jobs. It provides a snapshot at the international evidence concerned with job guarantee and welfare-to-work initiatives. Against this background, ten policy propositions are presented to inform the desi...

A number of studies in the human resources literature acknowledge the importance of workplace training for inducing organisational commitment on the part of workers. However, small sample sizes and the absence of relevant panel data have raised concerns about the general validity of results and highlighted the need for further research to explicitl...

Purpose – To introduce the papers which make up a special issue of IJM on labour market intervention. Design/methodology/approach – Briefly describes each of the five papers which comprise this issue of IJM. Findings – Notes that the study contexts of the papers are New Zealand, the UK, Sweden, West Germany, and 14 member countries of the EU. Or...

Purpose The aim of the paper is to assess the determinants and impact of employer sponsored further training on wage growth in West Germany over the period 1992 to 2002. Design/methodology/approach Following a descriptive narrative on further training and wages in Germany, data derived from the West German sub‐sample of the German Socio‐Economic P...

In a growing number of countries, government-appointed assessment panels develop ranks on the basis of the quality of scholarly outputs to apportion budgets in recognition of evaluated performance and to justify public funds for future R&D activities. When business and management journals are being grouped in broad quality categories, a recent stud...

What constitutes the ultimate aim of managers of businesses remains a contestable question that has been debated by both economists and management scholars for several decades. We collected and analyzed survey data from 159 managers of UK based companies and explored the latter's overriding ambitions for their businesses. We combined our survey dat...

It has been argued that the dynamic effects of economic development through innovation are poorly understood by mainstream economic theory. This paper provides a conceptual and heuristic framework that is intended to move us closer to a dynamic growth model of the firm in a high-tech, knowledge based economy. A Cobb-Douglas production function with...

Policy makers in New Zealand advocate investments in training and Research and Development (R&D) as effective policy options to increase the country's level of productivity. However, uncertainty remains about the strategic prioritisation of these policy options. The article examines the impact of public investment in training and R&D on productivit...

This paper attempts to assess the role of orthodox Economics in the increasingly prominent area of Knowledge Management. More specifically, it serves three purposes: first, it explores the definitions and understanding of knowledge, knowledge creation and knowledge management from a variety of different academic perspectives; second, in addition to...

Despite recent criticism of agency theory to inform corporate governance research, the author of this article remains wholly unconvinced and argues that the theory has much to offer to help scholars understand organizational complexities. In response to Michael Lubatkin’s critique of agency theory, he highlights shared interests between the scholar...

Britain’s decision to reject membership of a Single European Currency – the Euro – remains a focal point of contemporary political and economic debate. Both the Danish vote to reject the Euro and the latter’s slide in value have resulted in some anxious moments for those politicians and commentators who previously confidently predicted a rosy futur...

This paper summarises the institutional arrangements and prerequisites for a new social partnership, necessary for the successful completion of labour market reform in western Germany. It does this by drawing on key policies and proposals highlighted and explored in the papers of this special issue. The paper elaborates further on these issues by o...

Reviews and elaborates on some of the major skills development barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The analysis reveals the influence of the prevalent SME culture to be significant. Other barriers that are identified refer to awareness, finance, access and provision of training and other skills development opportunities. By high...

Incl. abstract, bibl. Examines the experiences of Germany and Sweden in their attempts to develop core skills and key competencies among trainees and young employees. Particular attention is devoted to vocational training as a promising school-to-work transition process, which stimulates and supports the development of core skills. Some case study...

The article questions the myth of inequality and elitism on the grounds of tuition fees in higher education. It argues that the key to a successful transformation in higher education lies in the ability to provide `high quality products,' driven by independent charges or fees and an equitable loan finance system. Unless these conditions are met, th...

This article examines the cases of Germany and Japan where education and training is orientated towards producing workers who can consistently deliver high standards of quality control in manufacturing industry. It begins by examining why unemployment is such a serious problem for Europe and then moves on to analyse the significance of training for...

Wages in Eastern Germany have risen in excess of productivity growth. The usual argument is that this has been one of the main reasons for the unprecedented level of mass unemployment which has emerged in this decade. This paper argues, however, that the growth of wages, in combination with investment subsidies, has resulted in a period of “creativ...

The expansion of higher education in Britain has led to concerns about the undermining of its quality and the sources of the finance for the expansion. The argument that expansion is necessary because of the demand for highly skilled labour is not obviously supported by the evidence an increasing proportion of graduates ends up in unemployment or u...

Unemployment in Theory and Practice examines the effectiveness of current policies in the battle against unemployment. It uses a variety of country case studies to analyse the range of potential causes of and cures for unemployment and analyses the complex nature of labour markets. This volume surveys the policy options and prescribes a mix of bo...

Although German unification has had a profound impact on European integration and economic development, very few studies of the East German economy exist. The editors of this volume have therefore brought together specialists in economics and politics who analyze such important issues as privatization, monetary reform and unemployment. The aim is t...

Unification left eastern Germany with an acute imbalance between physical and human capital. A well-educated and trained workforce is a necessary condition for physical investment to generate sustained productivity growth. This is grounded in theory as well as the experience of South Korea and Taiwan where, since the 1960s, high investment promoted...

This book contains 10 papers about developing a systematic approach to the school-to-work transition in Europe and the United States; the role of training and formal qualifications; and unemployment and social inequality. The following papers are included: "Understanding the School-to-Work Transition--An Introduction" (Thomas Lange); "School-to-Wor...

Discusses the impact of high wages and investment strategies in physical and human capital on eastern Germany post unification. Introduces the concept of learning-by-doing as an externality of high quality investment. Provides some eclectic arguments in support of learning-by-doing effects which may be used to partly replace costly, publicly financ...

In this paper, the authors use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) to examine the effect of further training on wage growth in West Germany for the period 1984 to 1992. After controlling for the endogeneity of the training participation decision and the presence of unobserved fixed effects, the authors estimate a wage growth equation...

Revisits the problems of the East German labour market post-unification, the emergence and persistence of unemployment and possible scenarios for future development. Examines active labour market programmes, highlights gender inequalities in the East German labour market and discusses potential labour market remedies. Pays particular attention to w...

High levels of unemployment experienced in Europe in the last few years, coupled with a loss of faith in Keynesianism, have led to a surge of interest in active labour market policies (ALMP). In this paper the author gives a brief account of the theoretical and empirical literature on policies of this type. His conclusion is that, although these sc...

Invited seminar presentation, Department of Economic History, Lund University, Sweden

Increasing international competition has put improvements in vocational training at the top of many nations’ political agendas. This important book explores the economic analysis of training and relates it to the differing systems found in Western Europe and the United States. After an examination of the theoretical basis for increased emphasis on...

Training provision in Germany is widely assumed to be superior to that in this country, and is frequently held up as the model for an improved system of training for Britain. There is nothing new in this: a hundred years ago, Alfred Marshall was arguing on very similar lines. But the comprehensiveness of the modern German training system, coupled w...

Over the last decade, training has gained in popularity as European unemployment remains stubbornly high. Critical voices accuse the British education and training system of not being sufficiently prepared to measure up against other European training systems, notably that of Germany. Training provision in Germany is widely assumed to be superior t...