College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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Item TO LOHN OR NOT TO LOHN--A PUZZLE IN SUBCONTRACTING ARRANGEMENTS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE(2009) Andrei, Simona Cristina; Betancourt, Roger; Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The dramatic increase in outsourcing has led to a burgeoning theoretical literature that tries to explain the associated organization of production. So far the literature has focused solely on analyzing the determinants of decisions by outsourcing firms, but has ignored the firms to which production is outsourced. This dissertation bridges this gap in the literature by studying outsourcing decisions not from the point of view of the outsourcing firm alone, but as a joint process that actively involves the manufacturer to whom production is outsourced. We focus on a particular form of international outsourcing, also known as the lohn system , in which the outsourcing firm provides the manufacturer with inputs needed to produce and then re-imports the final goods. We use an incomplete contracts framework to develop a theoretical model that shows that the lohn system is more likely to be adopted the lower the manufacturer's ability to find low-cost inputs; the lower the bargaining power of the manufacturer; and the lower the degree of relationship-specificity. In order to test empirically the predictions of the theoretical model we exploit two unique firm-level databases with monthly data on physical production and balance sheet items for a large number of firms in Romania. We use the data sources to construct two data sets, at the firm and firm-product level, respectively. We present firm-level results for cross-sections for the years 2005 and 2006, while at the firm-product-level we provide results for both cross-section and panel data. Our empirical findings support the main predictions of the theoretical model. For instance, measuring the bargaining power of the manufacturer as the ratio of domestic to export sales, we show that the lower this ratio is, the more likely it is that the manufacturer will adopt the lohn system. Similarly, we find that the lower the firm or product specificity, the higher the use of the lohn system. Using firm age as a measure of its ability to obtain the low-cost input provides mixed evidence for our theoretical prediction. Our results are robust to the use of different estimation procedures, measures, and samples.Item Civilianization of the Military: Social-Psychological Effects of Integrating Civilians and Military Personnel(2005-05-25) Kelty, Ryan D.; Segal, David R.; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The U.S. Federal government is increasingly civilianizing the military as a manpower management strategy. Combining military personnel with civilians creates a bifurcated work setting resulting in differential structural and environmental job characteristic between service members and civilians. Analyses of the process and outcomes of Federal civilianization of the military have focused predominantly on economic outcomes and have failed to confirm or refute its effectiveness as a management strategy. In this study I argue that social-psychological outcomes must be considered in evaluating the effects of military civilianization. Data gathered from case studies of the Navy and Army are path analyzed to determine the direct and indirect effects of two civilianization variables on retention intentions. Sailors and soldiers report feeling relatively deprived compared to the civilians with whom they work. For sailors, but not soldiers, these feelings of deprivation decrease with level of contact with civilians. Soldiers and sailors report being satisfied with their jobs, but less satisfied than their civilian co-workers. Civilians are significantly more committed to their employers than service members are committed to the military. While at least 75% of the civilians in each case study lean toward or plan to stay with their current employer, just over a third of service personnel expressed positive intentions to remain with the military. Social comparisons significantly and negatively impact sailors' and soldiers' intentions to remain in military service past current enlistment obligations, but this effect is only indirect through job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Neither level of contact nor social comparisons with civilians have a significant direct effect on intention to remain in service for military personnel. Consistent with prior research, job satisfaction significantly increases organizational commitment, which, in turn, significantly increases retention intentions. Civilian mariner data indicate that social comparisons did not directly or indirectly affect retention intentions. Though sample size limited the ability to path analyze the data from the Army civilian contractors, correlation analysis suggests that similar patterns among variables are present in terms of direction and magnitude of the partial correlation coefficients. Implications of these results and recommendations for future research are discussed.