Perceptions of investors and stockbrokers on corporate social responsibility : a stakeholder perspective from India

This paper aims to understand the perceptions of shareholders and brokers regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives by Indian companies. The research, presented in this paper, employs stakeholder theory to examine the perceptions of investors and sharebrokers on CSR in the context of a fast growing country, India. The data has been collected by using semistructured survey instrument. The findings of the study highlight that the respondents in both categories of stakeholder groups agree that CSR-oriented companies enjoy higher levels of investor confidence, which is reflected in higher stock prices, and leads to enhanced reputation and corporate goodwill. The research demonstrates that Indian companies are in fact implementing CSR initiatives and that stakeholders have a considerable interest in such initiatives. Both the groups expect higher CSR disclosures from large corporations and multinational companies operating in India. Educational initiatives have received maximum attention from the both the groups of stakeholders followed by the environmental issues. Investors are least aware of healthcare and rural development initiatives possibly because of the relatively low penetration of Indian financial markets into the rural areas. This study demonstrates that the stakeholder theory is a useful tool for collecting and evaluating CSR data and explains that the stakeholder perception of CSR performance determines corporate initiatives to a certain level. The findings would help in building consensus on strengthening the implementation and establishing the future CSR framework in emerging economies and other parts of the world. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Urban social insurance and worker satisfaction in China: Implications for India

This paper draws on a unique survey of urban employees in Jiangsu that was designed to assist analysis of workers' satisfaction with the urban social insurance scheme in China, and sheds light on whether workers in the urban non-state sector are satisfied with the level of social insurance coverage and whether their perceptions compare favourably with workers in the state-owned sector. It also discusses the globalisation and social protection debate in India and draws implications for the Indian experience from both our perception research and China's experience with urban social insurance reform more generally.

The microbiome: a biological mechanism underpinning the social gradient of musculoskeletal conditions?

We read with interest the article by Steves et al, published in J Bone Miner Res, 2016; 31(2):261-269 (1). The authors review available evidence and suggest that the modifiable nature of the gut microbiome (GM) provides a potential therapeutic target to intervene in musculoskeletal conditions of aging.

What do we know about preventing drug-related harm through social developmental intervention with children and young people

This chapter examines the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions aiming to reduce drug-related harm by improving conditions for healthy develeopment in the earliest years through adolescence. Of the interventions beginning prior to birth, there is efficacy evidence that family home visitation is a feasible strategy for implementation with disadvataged families and can reduce risk factors for early developmental deficits and thereby improve childhood development outcomes. There is efficacy evidence for strategies such as parent education and school preparation through the pre-school age period. Some of the strongest evidence for efficacy in reducing developmental pathways to drug-related harm comes from interventions delivered through the early school years to improve educational environments. Of the interventions targeting the high school age period, school drug education has been the most commonly evaluated. The evidence suggests that short term reduction in both drug use and progression to frequent drug use may be achievable through this strategy, but the prospects for longer-term and population-level behaviour change is still unclear. In overview, a range of prevention strategies have been developed and evaluated. Most of the exisiting evidence is restricted to efficacy studies and there are future challenges to progress evaluation through to studies of effectiveness. In general, prevention programmes appear more successful where they maintain intervention activities over a number of years and incorporate more than one strategy. Much of the existing research has been based in North America and evaluates discrete programmes. Future research should test effects in other countries, in different social contexts and seek to better understand the interrelated effects of combining interventions within the community. Developmental prevention programmes target different age periods and social settings, hence communities have the challenge of coordinating a mixture of programmes that address the local conditions that adversely influence child and youth development. There are opportunities in this work to coordinate prevention activities using funding from different jurisdictions (e.g., crime prevention, health promotion, mental health, education, substance abuse prevention).

Caste, land and livestock holdings in India: an analysis

A ban on grazing, particularly by small ruminants, forms an important component of the Forest Policy and Joint Forest Management arrangements in India. Some caste groups keep larger number of small ruminants than the others. It is considered as a social trait that is sought to be corrected through extension efforts. This paper analyses the livestock structure of households by using a model of household behaviour based on profit maximisation. It shows that landholding plays a crucial role in livestock structure of households and because certain caste groups have smaller landholding they tend to keep small ruminants that can feed on the common lands and forest areas. The policy of a ban or restriction on grazing adversely affects such caste groups who therefore come to resent it.

Living alone, social support, and feeling lonely among the elderly

This study aimed to describe the characteristics of the elderly population living alone, and to examine how living alone relates to feeling lonely. Interviews were conducted with a stratified random sample of 4,859 elderly individuals living in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Variables collected included demographic information, living alone or not, activities of daily living
(ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ), chronic conditions, perceived social support, and a subjective measure of feeling lonely. Using logistic regression, it was found that factors associated with living alone included gender, marital status, occupation, source of income, religion, and IADL. Living alone was, in tum, related to decreased levels of both perceived social support
and feeling lonely after adjustment for potential confounders. Managing retired life is important for adult elders, particularly for men. Lack ofsocial support is common among the elderly community who live alone, which could wel1 be a main reason for this group to feel lonely. As loneliness is linked to physical and mental health problems, increasing social support and facilitating friendship should be factored into life-style management for
communities of elderly.

Reflection of eGovernance on websites of India and Russia

Governments of the developing countries have been exploring new ways to allow participation of citizens in the governance, enabled by the Internet revolution. In this paper, we have explored, through a preliminary analysis of national government web sites, the attempts of two developing nations -- India and Russia, to establish digital governance. We have used the KPMG E-Commerce maturity model, WiIIcoks eBusiness evolution model and the WebQual site analysis tool as a theoretical framework to analyse the website performance and content, as a social construct that reflects government intentions, attitudes, digital governance directions and policies.

Global social justice at the WTO? The role of NGOs in constructing global social contracts

Over the past decade, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been contesting the neo-liberal economic order in international politics by campaigning for normative conditions to bring about what Richard Falk calls 'humane governance'. However, the degree to which NGOs have contributed to the formation of global social contracts remains controversial. While NGO activists and various scholars advocate the establishment of such contracts, empirical testing of this normative argument is underdeveloped. Drawing upon this lack of empirical support, critics dismiss the global social contract concept and question the roles played by NGOs in international politics. This article addresses the controversy through a review, refinement and application of global social contract theory and an empirical study of two prominent international NGO campaigns directed at the World Trade Organization (WTO), an institution that represents a 'hard test case'. It explores the ways in which NGOs and their networks are challenging the neo-liberal basis of WTO agreements and contributing to the emergence of global social contracts. The article concludes that in some circumstances, NGOs have the capacity to inject social justice into international economic contracts and there is some basis for optimism regarding the formation of global social contracts involving NGOs, nation-states and international organizations.

Wellbeing, job satisfaction and commitment among Australian community health workers: the relationship with working conditions

The Australian community health sector has undergone extensive organisational reform in recent times, and, in the push to enhance efficiencies and contain costs, there are indications that these changes may have undermined the wellbeing of community health personnel and their ability to provide high quality illness-prevention services. The aim of this study was to examine the working environments experienced by community health service employees and identify conditions that are predictive of employee stress. The study was guided by a tailored version of the demand-control-support model, whereby the generic components of the model had been augmented by more situation-specific stressors. The results of multiple regression analyses indicated that job control, and, to a lesser extent, social support, were closely associated with the outcome variables (psychological health, job satisfaction and organisational commitment). The more situation-specific stressors also accounted for significant proportions of explained variance. Overall, the results suggest that working conditions, particularly job control, social support and specific job stressors, offer valuable opportunities for protecting and enhancingthe wellbeing of community health service personnel.