Suchergebnisse

While the global economic recovery remains fragile, output in most of the major advanced economies has been rising since mid-2009. Employment, however, tends to lag production, and unemployment continued to rise well into 2010 in many countries. The ILO estimates that the level of unemployment remains elevated by 30 million worldwide relative to 2007 (ILO-IMF, 2010). After taking into account global population developments, this points to a rise in the global unemployment rate of about ¾ percentage point. As the advanced economies have been faced with the brunt of the global downturn, unemployment rates have risen far more significantly within the OECD area. The unemployment rate in this region remains 2.9 percentage points higher than at the beginning of 2008.

PurposeThis paper seeks to review and explore the relatively neglected notion of the adjustment of expatriate families to living abroad with the aim of developing a new model that can be used for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on the few studies of the topic that have been carried out, but widens the search to include evidence from the related adjustment and family stress literature to create a new model of the process. Using the ideas of stressors, strains and hassles, capabilities, and shared meanings, the paper examines the situation of the expatriate family and explores how families can adjust to life in another country.FindingsBy adopting a salutogenic approach and incorporating insights from these other literatures, the paper shows that family adaptation is a complex and many‐faceted process. It is a process that greater awareness on the part of the family and the organization can improve.Research limitations/implicationsWith the help of the model of family adjustment the paper points to systematic gaps in studies on expatriate families and outlines a consequent research agenda.Practical implicationsAwareness is a crucial element in adjustment. The paper shows that awareness by the family can alleviate problems, and that organizations employing members of the family can assist in the adjustment process for the family.Originality/valueThe contribution of the paper comes in its attempt to encompass what is known about expatriate family adaptation directly with a wider view of family adjustment. This provides both a practical framework for future research and some practical implications.

We consider two firms, located in different countries, selling the same homogeneous good in both countries. In each country there is a non negative tariff on imports of the good produced in the other country. We suppose that each firm has two different technologies, and uses one of them according to a certain probability distribution. The use of either one or the other technology affects the unitary production cost. We analyse the effect of the production costs uncertainty on the profits of the firms and also on the welfare of the governments.