How to Save Jobs and Build Back Better: Employee Ownership Transitions as a Key to an Equitable Economic Recovery

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Maine was already on the leading edge of what was termed the “silver tsunami,” the looming retirement of aging business owners with no real plan for how to exit their businesses. While half of business owners nationally are over age 50, in rural regions such as Maine, nearly half are over 60. Fewer than one in five business owners have a documented exit plan, and most don’t understand the process or options. Rob Brown examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on this issue and argues that helping businesses transition to employee ownership will be good for workers, owners, and Maine\u27s economy in general

Nonsimultaneity and Futures Option Pricing: Simulation and Empirical Evidence

Empirical tests of option pricing models are joint tests of the 'correctness' of the model, the efficiency of the market and the simultaneity of price observations. Some degree of nonsimultaeity can be expected in all but the most liquid markets and is therefore evident in many non-US markets. Simulation results indicate that nonsimultaneity is potentially a significant problem in empirical tests of futures option pricing models. Empirical results using Australian data show that a five-minute window for matching transactions does not remove the nonsimultaneity bias for near-the-money and out-of-the money options. A more accurate matching may therefore be required. The nonsimultaneity bias is effectively removed if a five-minute window is employed for in-the-money options.Nonsimultaneity; Futures option; Mispricing

The citizen and trust in the (trustworthy) state

Public sector modernisation has focused on achieving greater efficiency within the institutions and agencies of the state. In comparison the relationship between citizen and state as a basis for service improvement has received less attention. This study helps to redress this balance by exploring the role that trust can play as a mechanism of accountability of the state to the citizen, and as a consequence improving their mutual cooperation. This poses a challenge for the state; to be trusted by citizens, the state must be trustworthy in the eyes of those citizens. Establishing the citizen’s view of the characteristics of the trustworthy state, and how this differs from the norm of trust currently in use within the state, is the subject of the research. The question is addressed through a process of dialogic action research with users and frontline staff of two public services (a housing benefit service and a GP practice). The output of the study is a relational diagnostic, applicable across the public sector, derived from a synthesis of the tests applied by the citizen as they assess the trustworthiness of a public service. The diagnostic is structured around the essential elements of the citizen/state trust relationship. It tests the citizen perception of the respect with which they are held as trustor, the sense of responsibility they perceive in the state as trustee, and the degree to which their consent is important to the governance of the relationship. Applying these tests sets a demanding agenda for change in the management of the state and its agencies, in organising to create a more responsive relationship with service users. The diagnostic structure and tests are designed to be used by public services and citizen groups to improve relationships across the public sector

Trends in wintertime climate in the northeastern United States: 1965–2005

Humans experience climate variability and climate change primarily through changes in weather at local and regional scales. One of the most effective means to track these changes is through detailed analysis of meteorological data. In this work, monthly and seasonal trends in recent winter climate of the northeastern United States (NE-US) are documented. Snow cover and snowfall are important components of the region\u27s hydrological systems, ecosystems, infrastructure, travel safety, and winter tourism and recreation. Temperature, snowfall, and snow depth data were collected from the merged United States Historical Climate Network (USHCN) and National Climatic Data Center Cooperative Network (COOP) data set for the months of December through March, 1965–2005. Monthly and seasonal time series of snow-covered days (snow depth \u3e2.54 cm) are constructed from daily snow depth data. Spatial coherence analysis is used to address data quality issues with daily snowfall and snow depth data, and to remove stations with nonclimatic influences from the regional analysis. Monthly and seasonal trends in mean, minimum, and maximum temperature, total snowfall, and snow-covered days are evaluated over the period 1965–2005, a period during which global temperature records and regional indicators exhibit a shift to warmer climate conditions. NE-US regional winter mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures are all increasing at a rate ranging from 0.42° to 0.46°C/decade with the greatest warming in all three variables occurring in the coldest months of winter (January and February). The regional average reduction in number of snow-covered days in winter (−8.9 d/decade) is also greatest during the months of January and February. Further analysis with additional regional climate modeling is required to better investigate the causal link between the increases in temperature and reduction in snow cover during the coldest winter months of January and February. In addition, regionally averaged winter snowfall has decreased by about 4.6 cm/decade, with the greatest decreases in snowfall occurring in December and February. These results have important implications for the impacts of regional climate change on the northeastern United States hydrology, natural ecosystems, and economy

Deployment and impact of support staff in schools : characteristics, working conditions and job satisfaction of support staff in schools (strand 1, waves 1-3 in 2004, 2006 and 2008)

This study was designed to obtain up to date and reliable data on the deployment and characteristics of support staff and the impact of support staff on pupil outcomes and teacher workloads. The study covered schools in England and Wales. It involved large scale surveys (Strand 1), followed by a multi method and multi informant approach (Strand 2).It provided detailed baseline data by which to assess change and progress over time. It sought to understand the processes in schools which lead to the effective use of support staff. This report presents results from the three waves of Strand 1 which took place in 2004, 2006 and 2008. At each wave there were three questionnaires: the Main School Questionnaire (MSQ), the Support Staff Questionnaire (SSQ) and the Teacher Questionnaire (TQ). The DISS project was funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Welsh Assembly Government

Owning Maine’s Future: Fostering a Cooperative Economy in Maine

Maine’s economy faces a host of well-known challenges: reliance on natural resource extraction or low-quality service jobs, geographic isolation, challenging climate, and out-migration, especially of young adults. Staying on this course is undesirable, but traditional economic development fixes have had limited success. The authors examine the possibilities of making cooperatively owned businesses a central feature of Maine’s economy. They outline the characteristics, benefits, and challenges of cooperatives and identify six important sectors of the Maine economy in which cooperative ownership already plays an important role or could make more contributions to economic and community vitality. The authors describe several other regions, with a focus on Finland, with strong cooperative economies or businesses, and examine the socioeconomic benefits and institutional features that encourage the development of cooperatives. The article concludes with policy recommendations that could facilitate similar outcomes in Maine

Does Sacrificial Leadership Have to Hurt? The Realities of Putting Others First

Sacrificial leadership has generally been associated with positive outcomes for organizations and employees. While it is often desired by organizations, we suggest that current organizational systems often fail to promote sacrificial behaviors. We present a new perspective sacrificial leadership that includes character-based elements such as humility, a willingness to calculate the cost of leading and the courage to be irrelevant in the presence of systems that pressure leaders to behave otherwise. We discuss how these elements are often not encouraged in current selection, employee development, and succession planning processes