Confounding conventional wisdom: political not principled differences in the transatlantic regulatory relationship

The transatlantic complaints over hormone-treated beef and genetically modified organisms before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) seem to confirm two separate but related conventional wisdoms about the transatlantic economic relationship: that it is highly conflictual and that many of the conflicts are rooted in profoundly different approaches to regulation. This article argues that neither of the two conventional wisdoms is accurate. Rather, it contends that they are products of two, compounding analytical shortcomings: one methodological, one empirical. The methodological shortcoming takes the form of an implicit selection bias. While WTO complaints are high profile they are rare and extreme examples; it is, therefore, unsound to generalise from them to the regulatory relationship as a whole. The empirical shortcoming has to do with neither the beef hormones nor the GMO dispute demonstrating what it is purported to. The article thus serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of relying on obvious cases and the need to question whether evidence really does support a prevailing popular narrative

Antecedents and consequences of psychological workplace strain during expatriation: A cross-sectional and longitudinal investigation

In this study, we examined nonlinear/interaction effects associated with the antecedents and consequences of psychological workplace strain, using cross-sectional (N = 165) and longitudinal (N = 133) data collected from Western expatriates in China. The results of this study indicate that family characteristics interact to affect the level of psychological workplace strain experienced by expatriates. In addition, we find an inverse u-curve relationship between psychological workplace strain and supervisory rated job performance for both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Finally, the empirical results lend support to the hypothesized positive relationship between work adjustment measured at Time I and job performance measured at Time 2. Implications for expatriate adjustment research and practice are discussed

Women and international assignments: taking stock - a 25-year review

Women's progress into management and, more specifically, into the world of expatriates, is the subject of this review. Despite advances in equal opportunities legislation, women failed to embark on expatriate missions in significant numbers during the 1980s. In the 1990s, more women were offered international assignment opportunities but they remained a negligible minority compared to men. The first decade of the twenty-first century has witnessed a gradual increase in the number and visibility of women in international assignments. Through a comprehensive review of the literature over the period from 1980 to now, this article charts the emerging themes and changes in the tone of discourse: from when organizations were debating whether to “give women a chance” through attempts to identify and remove “blockages” to women's progress to, most recently, structural changes in the expatriate assignment and claims for women's superior affinity to operating internationally. We highlight gaps in the current literature and propose a platform for future research. We conclude with recommendations for practice. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc