Caroline McMullan

Welfare regime, welfare pillar and southern Europe:

This paper uses a variety of methods of statistical cluster analysis to examine how EU countries (other than the new East European members) are grouped. Using the four dimensions, family, market vs state, religion and clientelism, the results of the analysis are that Southern European/Mediterranean (SE/M) countries form a distinct cluster that, both in its existence and in its difference from the conservative cluster, contradicts the notion of ‘three worlds of welfare capitalism’. In addition Ireland, though not geographically contiguous, falls into the SE/M grouping.

Welfare regime and inter-household food provision: The case of Cyprus

There are three main aims of this paper. The first is to identify the role, if any, of the family in the provision of food between households. Second, the paper addresses the paradox of food at home in Cyprus appearing to be less shared than takeaway food. Third, the paper attempts to answer the question as to why older households spend more per person on food at home than younger households. These three aims are approached through the perspective of the literature on welfare regimes. The empirical part of the paper is based on qualitative research using purposive sampling to select cases. The findings are that the family is important in inter-household food provision/consumption, and that this explains both the paradox of food at home being less shared than takeaways and the relatively high expenditure of older households on home-prepared food. There is both familiocracy and de-commodification in food in Cyprus.

Do industrial incidents in the chemical sector create equity market contagion

INTRODUCTION This paper examines a number of US chemical industry incidents and their effect on equity prices of the incident company. Furthermore, this paper then examines the contagion effect of this incident on direct competitors. METHOD Event study methodology is used to assess the impact of chemical incidents on both incident and competitor companies. RESULTS This paper finds that the incident company experiences deeper negative abnormal returns as the number of injuries and fatalities as a result of the incident increases. The equity value of the competitor companies suffer substantial losses stemming from contagion effects when disasters that occur cause ten or more injuries and fatalities, but benefit from the incident through increasing equity value when the level of injury and fatality is minor. CONCLUSIONS Presence of contagion suggests collective action may reduce value destruction brought about by safety incidents that result in significant injury or loss of life. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This research can be used as a resource to promote and justify the cost of safety mechanisms within the chemical industry, as incidents have been shown to negatively affect the equity value of the not just the incident company, but also their direct competitors.

Crisis Management: By Accident or Design? The Bombing of the Killyhevlin Hotel

Managing a hotel within a turbulent environment such as Northern Ireland, where there is an increased threat of a terrorist attack, presents managers with a significant challenge. The relatively open access and busy nature of hotels in Northern Ireland increases their vulnerability to such incidences. On Saturday 13th of July 1996 the Killyhevlin Hotel near Enniskillen, in the North West of Ireland was bombed. The bomb exploded during a busy trading period when, in addition to normal business, a wedding reception was underway in one of the function rooms. This paper tells the story of how this incident unfolded. It indicates how the crisis developed, the key players during the first few minutes after the bomb exploded and the major challenges which faced the organisation. The paper concludes with a review of how the crisis was managed, including the lessons learned and recommendations for the future.

Engel and Simmel: sharing meals at home in Cyprus

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show the relationship between food as a shared good (or public within the household) in the economic sense, and food as a shared meal in the sociological sense. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative data derived from a household budget survey (HBS) in Cyprus are used to set up questions to which answers are suggested using the qualitative approach of in-depth interviews. Findings – The main finding is that the relatively high expenditure by elderly couples on food for home consumption may be explained by frequent inter-household, intra-extended family meals in Cyprus. Research limitations/implications – The paper provides evidence that household expenditure on food may not be directly indicative of household consumption of food. Researchers interested in household consumption of food should therefore be aware of the differences between household and extended family and, where extended family continues to be significant, they should be wary of using data from ...

How Do United States Equity Markets Respond to Industrial Injury and Fatality

This paper examines the equity market reaction to 77 industrial incidents involving publicly traded companies in the United States over the period 2000-2013. This sample of incidents involves 14,449 injuries and 105 fatalities, with contributing factors identified as company violations and safety errors, equipment failure, human error and vandalism. The equity market reaction is identified using a GARCH-methodology. Companies that experienced incidents that were identified as safety violations are found to suffer from the highest costs in terms of equity price reductions, but the volatility effects of these incidents tend to mitigate within two weeks. Incidents caused by vandalism experience the sharpest volatility increases, but are found to reduce within two days. Whereas, equity market volatility associated with incidents caused by equipment failure tends to persist for almost four weeks after the event. Injuries are found to cost publicly traded companies

Stock market reaction to irregular supermarket chain behaviour: An investigation in the retail sectors of Ireland and the United Kingdom

14 million each, however, fatalities lead to equity market capitalisation reductions of between

Chemical industry disasters and the sectoral transmission of financial market contagion

465 and

Paper Two. Methodology, process & outcomes:delivering the national risk assessment 2017

720 million depending on the cause of the incident. Hence, these results shed light on the equity market’s role as a driver for enhanced compliance with health and safety regulation and compliance with industry good practice.