A Theoretical Exploration of the Adoption and Design of Flexible Benefit Plans: A Case of Human Resource Innovation

This article explores theoretical explanations of managers\u27 decisions about flexible benefit plans. We (1) examine the adoption and design of flexible benefit plans through four theoretic lenses: institutional, resource dependence, agency, and transaction costs; (2) integrate the relevant insights gained from these theories into a more complete model and derive propositions for future research; and (3) generalize the insights gained from exploring a specific innovation to broader questions surrounding decisions about other human resource innovations

A Theoretical Exploration of Firms\u27 Decisions About Flexible Benefits Plans

The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of current theories for organizations\u27 decisions about employee benefits, an area that has traditionally received little attention from researchers in the field of human resource management. Drawing on organizational and economic theories, we offer alternative explanations for observed patterns in the adoption and design of flexible benefits plans. By critically analyzing current theories in the context of flexible benefits plans, we hope to gain insights not only into the factors that may determine organizations\u27 benefits decisions, but also into the strengths and weaknesses of the theories themselves. We find that the conflicts, overlaps and limitations inherent in the theories as applied to benefits issues are substantial. The implications for future research are discussed

Predicting Employee Health Care Decisions in a Flexible Benefits Environment

[Excerpt] The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of employees\u27 health care selections in a flexible benefits environment. The goal is to develop a model which will enable managers to predict the health care selections of employees. The research tasks required to accomplish this goal are extensive, and are in progress. The following report will summarize the results of analyses completed to date, the analyses that are in progress, the data required to complete these analyses, and the outcomes that can be expected when the study is done

The Diffusion of Human Resource Innovations: The Case of Flexible Benefits Plans

The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of current theories for organizations\u27 decisions about employee benefits. Drawing on organizational and economic theories, we offer alternative explanations for patterns in the adoption and design of flexible benefits plans. An integrated model of firms\u27 flex plan decisions is presented

Employee Health Insurance Decisions In a Flexible Benefits Environment

Empirical investigations of flexible benefits plans, an increasingly popular type of plan that allows employees to choose among multiple benefits options, have been limited. This study investigates hypotheses relating to the determinants of employees\u27 choices among six different health insurance options under a flexible benefits plan. Using employee-specific selection and demographic data provided by a large firm, we estimate a logistic regression model to analyze the effects of employee and plan characteristics on choice of health care plan. Results suggest that health plan decisions are significantly influenced by option premium, deductible and coinsurance amounts, and by employees\u27 age, gender, salary, and marital status. The results are considered within an expected utility maximization model

Boundaryless Organizations and Boundaryless Careers: A New Market for High-Skilled Temporary Work

A typology of four different groups of temporary workers (transitional, traditional, career, boundaryless) is derived from economic, strategic, and human resource theories. Based on a survey of 276 temporary workers, we find support for distinguishing between high-skilled boundaryless temporaries and the three other types using multinomial logistic analysis

Ex vivo expansion and differentiation of erythroblasts: From culture dishes to stirred tank reactors for the production of red blood cells

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Interstate migration of the US poverty population: Immigration “pushes” and welfare magnet “pulls”

This study evaluates the social and demographic structure of poverty migration during the 1985–90 period based on an analysis of recent census data. Particular attention is given to the roles of two policy-relevant factors that are proposed to be linked to poverty migration. The first of these is the role of immigration from abroad and its effect on the net out-migration of longer-term residents with below-poverty incomes, from States receiving the highest volume of immigrants. Such a response, it is argued, could result from job competition or other economic and social costs associated with immigration. The second involves the poverty population “magnet” effect associated with State welfare benefits (AFDC and Food Stamp payments) which has come under renewed scrutiny in light of the impending reform of the federal welfare program. The impact of both of these factors on interstate poverty migration is evaluated in a broader context that takes cognizance of other sociodemographic subgroups, and State-level attributes that are known to be relevant in explaining internal migration. This research employs an exceptionally rich data base of aggregate migration flows, specially tabulated from the full migration sample of the 1990 US census (based on the “residence 5 years ago” question). It also employs an analysis technique, the nested logit model, which identifies separately the “push” and “pull” effects of immigration, welfare benefits, and other State attributes on the migration process. Our findings are fairly clear. The high volume of immigration to selected US States does affect a selective out-migration of the poverty population, which is stronger for whites, Blacks and other non-Asian minorities as well as the least-educated. These results are consistent with arguments that internal migrants are responding to labor market competition from similarly educated immigrants. Moreover, we found that the impact of immigration occurs primarily as a “push” rather than a reduced “pull.” In contrast, State welfare benefits exert only minimal effects on the interstate migration of the poverty population—either as “pulls” or “pushes,” although some demographic segments of that population are more prone to respond than others. In addition to these findings, our results reveal the strong impact that a State's racial and ethnic composition exerts in both retaining and attracting migrants of like race and ethnic groups. This suggests the potential for a greater cross-state division in the US poverty population, by race and ethnic status.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43484/1/11111_2005_Article_BF02208337.pd

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29