APSSR PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH ABOUT REPRESENTATION OF CONTRACTUAL WORKERS IN THE PHILIPPINES, INSTITUTIONAL OWNERSHIP ACTIVISM IN INDIA
The Asia-Pacific Social Science Review (APSSR) is an internationally refereed journal, which publishes research-based articles in the social science. Published twice a year by the De La Salle University Publishing House, featured studies are mostly conducted by academics and researchers from the Asia-Pacific region. Many of the topics covered in the journal are compelling and have real-world implications and applications. The following articles were written and edited based on two of the research papers featured in the latest edition of APSSR. * Between Representation and Regulation The incidence of non-standard employment (NSE) has increased locally in the last 15 years, amidst declining union density rates. NSE, which has become synonymous with “non-regular employment,” refers to work that is short-term and unprotected. In the Philippines, this is more popularly known as contractualization or “endo,” (a colloquial shorthand for persons whose short-term contract has ended or is ending soon). In a research paper called “Between Representation and Regulation: Union Strategies on Non-Standard Employment in Selected Industries in the Philippines” by Melisa R. Serrano of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, she examines how this twin phenomenon has posed challenges to trade unions’ structures and their understanding of representation. The number of non-standard workers in the country, who are often engaged in precarious work, across all establishments totaled some 7 million in 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Trade unions are often seen as an agency addressing the associated precariousness with NSE. Unions try to expand their mantle of representation to nonstandard workers as a way to reverse membership decline, avert waning influence, and energize their organization, the article noted. decade, started The to research trade experiment unions found have that, in noticeably the last on organizing non-standard workers, albeit sporadic. It found that unions prefer regulation over representation. In a nutshell, results reveal that the main union strategy is regulation, in terms of restricting the use of NSE by employers in order to limit if not stop employers’ practice of subjecting workers to short-term employment arrangements.
* On Institutional Ownership Activism
nated weathered US ership and Emerging and India’s A crisis investment Financial research global Activism, in stock Market” the the investors, called Crisis: late tough market behavior Market 2000s. looked “Institutional times Evidence especially growth of at Performance, following the the has From institu- trading after Own- fasci- the an it tional ket on the Conducted post-financial investors market performance. by in the crisis B.D. Indian Panda and capital their and effect mar- N.M. Leepsa nology that foreign of in the India, institutional National the research Institute investors suggested of Tech- enhance whereas performance domestic institutional of the Indian investors market, dampen it. The paper also found that equity investment from banks and insurance companies have a harmful effect, while mutual fund investment has no significant impact on the market performance of the Indian firms. Results of the research suggested that investments from domestic banks and insurance companies do not aid in improving the market performance after the crisis, which shows that these investors lack the market timing and stock picking abilities.
APSSR, a Scopus-abstracted journal, is a Commission on Higher Education ‘Journal Challenge Grant’ awardee. Visit APSSR’s website at http://apssr.com to read all research papers in full.