Understanding and Preventing Employee Turnover

Child welfare agencies have identified worker turnover as a particularly problematic organizational issue. In children’s mental health agencies, turnover also seems to be an issue for residential care services. Do people voluntarily leave child welfare and children\u27s mental health organizations because of the work itself, because of the workload, or because they find “success” difficult to experience? These are often given as reasons by departing employees, but to develop a comprehensive understanding why turnover takes place in these organizations, this paper looks at the research on turnover in organizations generally and in child welfare and children\u27s mental health organizations specifically. Research on unwanted employee turnover has produced thousands of articles. We begin by exploring the major themes in this literature and then relate these themes to research done in human services organizations, and child welfare and children\u27s mental health organizations specifically. We conclude with a list of research questions to pursue in our study of workers’ experiences in the workplace

The European Central Bank and the Eurosystem

The Eurosystem comprises the European Central Bank at its center as well as the national central banks of the twelve countries currently participating in monetary union. The European Central Bank was established in July 1998, six months before the beginning of Stage Three of economic and monetary union. Although decisions regarding monetary policy are made centrally by the Governing Council of the Eurosystem, the operational aspects of monetary policy-including open market operations, administration of the minimum reserve system, and management of the standing facilities-are undertaken in a decentralized fashion at the twelve national central banks. The main features of the Eurosystem's operating procedures are similar in many respects to those employed by the Bundesbank and other national central banks in the euro area in recent years.European Central Bank ; Banks and banking, Central - Europe ; Monetary policy - Europe

Credit cards: facts and theories

We use data from several waves of the Survey of Consumer Finances to document credit and debit card ownership and use across US demographic groups. We then present recent theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of credit and debit card behavior. Utilization rates of credit lines and portfolios of card holders present several puzzles. Credit line increases initiated by banks lead households to restore previous utilization rates. High-interest credit card debt co-exists with substantial holdings of low-interest liquid assets and with accumulation of retirement assets. Although available evidence disputes ignorance of credit card terms by card holders, redit card rates do not respond to competition. There is a rising trend in bankruptcy and delinquency, partly attributable to an increased tendency of households to declare bankruptcy associated with reduced social stigma, ease of procedures, and financial incentives. Co-existence of credit card debt with retirement assets can be explained through self-control hyperbolic discounting. Strategic default motives contribute partly to observed co-existence of credit card debt with low-interest liquid assets. A framework of “accountant-shopper” households, in which a rational accountant tries to control an impulsive shopper, seems consistent with both types of co-existence and with observed utilization of credit lines. JEL Classification: G11, E2

Debt Revolvers for Self Control

By 1998, about two-thirds of U.S. households held a bank-type credit card. Despite high interest rates, most revolve credit card debt. The majority of debt revolvers have substantial liquid assets, apparently violating arbitrage. We propose an "accountant-shopper" model that could provide an explanation for this puzzle. In our model, the "accountant self" (or spouse) of the household can control the expenditures of the "shopper self" (or spouse) by limiting the purchases the shopper can make before encountering the credit limit. Since the card balance is used for control purposes, the accountant self may also find it optimal to save in lower-return riskless assets. Using attitudinal responses and demographic data from the pooled 1995 and 1998 Surveys of Consumer Finances, we estimate a bivariate probit model of the decisions to have a credit card and to revolve debt on it, allowing for sample selection. The pattern of estimated coefficients is consistent with debt revolvers being motivated primarily by self-control considerations rather than intertemporal consumption smoothing.credit cards, consumer debt, portfolio puzzles, household portfolios

The financial crisis and U.S. cross-border financial flows

The financial crisis that began in the summer of 2007 caused notable changes in the composition of U.S. cross-border financial flows, especially in the fall of 2008, when the crisis intensified. This article documents three major channels through which financial flows and associated portfolio positions were affected: (1) “flight to safety” shifts away from riskier securities and toward investments in safe and liquid markets, particularly U.S. Treasury securities; (2) unusual flows through the banking system resulting from a shortage of dollar liquidity abroad and a breakdown in interbank markets; and (3) a pullback from cross-border positions during the crisis.Financial crises ; Government securities