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Due to the high costs and strategic importance of expatriate assignments, expatriate performance management (EPM) plays an increasingly important role for multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, research on EPM is still in its infancy. Drawing from the convergence/divergence debate in international human resource management, this study investigates and compares EPM strategies and practices across MNEs from three different country clusters to better understand whether EPM practices tend to converge, diverge, or crossverge (i.e., show aspects of both). Results from surveying 132 Anglo‐Saxon, Germanic, and Japanese MNEs reveal prominent differences (divergence) at the EPM strategic level such that Japanese MNEs tend to pursue more ethnocentric staffing strategies and design EPM systems specifically tailored to expatriates. On the practice level, we found both commonalities and differences between Japanese and Anglo‐Saxon and Germanic MNEs, pointing toward crossvergence. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article on post-Brexit policies for higher education and research suggests that these public policy domains are characterised by their intellectual independence from the state or market. The authors see a legacy of the UK's historical relationship with the EU in its treatment of the two epistemically linked domains, reflecting institutional differences. UK governments have generally been wary of EU involvement in higher education and supportive of research collaboration. Post-Brexit evidence suggests that the UK has been purposively 'de-Europeanising' higher education for the supposed gains of marketised international policy. But the UK is also a victim of its overarching Brexit policy, which risked failing to secure associate status for the UK in the EU's world famous Horizon Europe science programme. The article explores the question of whether Brexit caused divergence in these sectors or whether it provided the opportunity for the UK government to solidify an already semi-autonomous policy trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental movements play an increasingly pivotal role in societal responses to pressing issues, such as climate change. These movements are often multi-scalar, spanning locations, ideological orientations, organisational types, and tactics. We investigate how the UK's anti-fracking movement manages the tension between the necessary convergence of collective actions and this divergence of scale. Based on a frame analysis of press releases, position papers, websites, blogs and 20 semi-structured interviews, the paper shows how heterogeneous environmental movement actors, with diverse framings of fracking, utilised three convergence processes – funnelling, expanding and familiarising – making connections vertically, horizontally and contextually. These processes created a 'web' of resistance that held the environmental movement together while maintaining diversity. Our paper contributes to the environmental movement literature by explaining how movements overcome divergence without establishing homogeneity. This is important in understanding how environmental movements can expand their role within a broader constituency in opposing environmental destruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses Brexit's promise of restoring UK sovereignty and retrieving regulatory autonomy from the EU from the perspective of the UK Parliament. It argues that while the prospects of post-Brexit regulatory alignment remain high, they are to some extent counterbalanced by those of targeted divergence. A twofold argument is put forward to demonstrate this. The first argument builds on the literature on the Brussels effect and argues that the strength of economic interdependence between the UK and the EU and the size and influence of the latter's market generate significant pressures for UK regulatory alignment with EU standards. This is demonstrated through a qualitative empirical examination of the contents of UK parliamentary scrutiny of the projected impact of Brexit on the key UK export industry sectors: automotive, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and financial services. It is shown that select committees in both Houses of Parliament, including the Eurosceptic ones, have consistently advocated close alignment with EU regulatory standards across the export-intensive economic sectors. As such, these findings relativise the prospects of taking back control to the extent that the substance of Westminster's post-Brexit legislative activity may continue to be significantly influenced by EU regulation and policy. This is reinforced by the sanctioning mechanism foreseen in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the economic benefits of adhering to the EU's adequacy and equivalence regimes. These factors therefore facilitate the future Europeanisation of UK law after Brexit. The second argument nuances the first argument by showing that UK legislative and regulatory divergence is not an abstract possibility, but rather a political reality grounded in strong government majority following the 2019 election, the scrutiny approaches that favour assessment of regulatory impacts, and the UK's willingness to take unilateral action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the backdrop of the convergence–divergence debate, the goal of this article is to examine the proliferation of corporate governance codes in the light of a single factor, namely varying corporate ownership structures across countries. While such codes emanated and became popular in the United Kingdom where companies largely display dispersed shareholding, the concept has been disseminated to countries that carry considerably different ownership structures, i.e. mainly concentrated shareholding. This is bound to give rise to incongruities in the implementation of these codes. In order to enunciate the claim made above, the article will consider two aspects that convergence advocates have focused on, namely (i) shareholder empowerment and (ii) self-regulation. For example, corporate governance codes place considerable emphasis on the structure and independence of the boards of directors of companies as a means to ensure shareholder protection. While this approach is meant to produce results in companies with dispersed shareholding, the same cannot be said of companies with concentrated shareholding where the empowerment of shareholders through director independence or other means would only embolden the already dominant controlling shareholders. Moving to self-regulation, a voluntary code operating on a 'comply-or-explain' basis can ensure sufficient adherence only if certain factors are present in the jurisdiction where it is applied. Relying upon available empirical evidence, this article finds that use of self-regulation in voluntary codes of corporate governance may generate different results depending upon the ownership structures of companies, thereby exhibiting signs of divergence on this count. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the discussion on the determinants of diverging life expectancy in high-income countries, with a focus on Germany. To date, much of this discourse has centered around the social determinants of health, issues of healthcare equity, poverty and income inequality, and new epidemics of opioids and violence. Yet despite doing well on all of these metrics and having numerous advantages such as comparatively strong economic performance, generous social security, and an equitable and well-resourced health care system, Germany has been a long-time life expectancy laggard among the high-income countries. Using aggregated population-level mortality data for Germany and selected six high-income countries (Switzerland, France, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States) from the Human Mortality Database and WHO Mortality Database, we find that the German longevity shortfall is mainly explained by a longstanding disadvantage in survival among older adults and adults nearing statutory retirement age, which mainly stems from sustained excess cardiovascular disease mortality, even when compared to other laggard countries such as the US and the UK. Patchy contextual data suggests that the unfavorable pattern of cardiovascular mortality may be driven by underperforming primary care and disease prevention. More systematic and representative data on risk factors are needed to strengthen the evidence base on the determinants of the controversial and long-standing health gap between more successful countries and Germany. The German example calls for broader narratives of population health that embed the variety of epidemiological challenges populations face around the globe., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Reflecting developments in the broader penological realm, accounts have been advanced over the last number of decades about a ‘punitive turn’ in the youth justice systems of Western democracies. Against the background of this work, this project seeks to identify convergent and divergent trends in the youth justice systems of England, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as well as the rationalities and discourses animating these. The results lend support to research emphasising the continued salience of national, regional and local factors on penal outcomes but also suggest the need to steer an analytical path somewhere between nomothetic (convergent) and idiographic (divergent) accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of devolution in the UK on social security is examined in the context of the major powers in the area continuing to be exercised by the Westminster government. Developments and principles involved are described in three perspectives and phases. First, the established model of parity with minor adjustments. Second, parity with enhanced discretion associated with the introduction of welfare reforms. Third, the prospect of the future transformation of the parity principle with increased focus on greater fiscal responsibility and greater devolution and divergence in social security, and with the additional context of the referendum on independence for Scotland. Also discussed are the implications of either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote in the Scottish referendum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers recent company law reform proposals in Hong Kong in relation to the ratification of breaches of directors' duties, and also makes suggestions for further reform. In the course of this discussion, comparisons will be made with the corresponding position under the UK Companies Act 2006. Finally, several wider observations in relation to the consequences of codification of common law principles and the divergence between English and Hong Kong company law will be offered. The aim is to suggest directions for future reform in the important but somewhat inaccessible area of ratification of breaches of directors' duties. While this paper seeks to consider these issues in the light of Hong Kong, the discussion would be of interest to those from other common law jurisdictions who are examining the issue of ratification or looking with interest at the recent United Kingdom company law reform efforts and considering whether to adopt them locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surprisingly, there has been little or no systematic research to date that has explored the significance of UK devolution for youth justice policy and practice. This article explores the extent of differential justice in the United Kingdom, particularly as it is expressed in the myriad action plans, criminal justice reviews, frameworks for action, delivery plans and offending strategies that have surfaced since 1998. In particular, the article considers how far policy convergence and divergence are reflected through the discourses of risk, welfare, restoration and children's rights in the four administrations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For comparative criminology, the United Kingdom offers a unique opportunity to explore how international and national pressures towards convergence and/or divergence can be challenged, rebranded, versioned, adapted or resisted at sub-national and local levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper evaluates and explains the complex relationship between the devolved government in Northern Ireland and social security law and practice. Unlike the situation in Scotland and Wales, social security in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. This opens up the possibility of developing separate policies and practice informed by the regional trends and needs. The paper outlines how and why the principle of parity has so strongly influenced developments and assesses the nature and extent of any divergence to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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O'DONOGHUE D. (2000) Some evidence for the convergence of employment structures in the British urban system from 1978 to 1991, Reg. Studies 34, 159–168. This paper examines a range of empirical evidence regarding the changing employment structures of 150 Job Centre Travel-to-work Areas (JC TTWAs) which make up the British urban system. If the employment structures of all urban areas are changing in a similar fashion, then one would expect a spatial convergence of employment structures. The growth of the service sector, allied with increased numbers of women and part-time workers suggests that employment structures might be expected to converge. The Gini coefficient is utilized as a measure of the diversity of employment structures. The measures of diversity/specialization show that there was a weak convergence of employment structures throughout the urban system but, perhaps more importantly, a distinct divergence of employment structures amongst the largest metropolitan centres. O'DONOGHUE D. (2000) Quelques preuves en faveur de la convergence des structures de l'emploi au sein du système urbain britannique de 1978 à 1991, Reg. Studies 34, 159–168. Cet article cherche à examiner une série de preuves empiriques relatives aux structures de l'emploi de 150 JC TTWA (zones délimitant le trajet au lieu de travail et se situant autour des agences nationales pour l'emploi) qui font le système urbain britannique. Si les structures de l'emploi de toutes les agglomérations évoluent de façon similaire, on pourra s'attendre à une convergence géographique des structures de l'emploi. L'essor du tertiaire, conjointement avec l'augmentation du nombre des femmes au travail et l'accroissement du travail à temps partiel, laissent supposer une convergence anticipée des structures de l'emploi. On emploie le coefficient Gini comme mesure de la diversité des structures de l'emploi. Les mesures de la diversité/spécialisation laissent voir une convergence négligeable des structures de l'emploi dans le système urbain entier mais, et plus important encore, une divergence non-négligeable des structures de l'emploi parmi les agglomérations les plus grandes. O'DONOGHUE D. (2000) Beweise für die Konvergenz der Erwerbstätigkeitsstrukturen im britischen städtischen System des Zeitraums 1978–1991, Reg. Studies 34, 159–168. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht eine Reihe empirischer Beweise hinsichtlich sich wandelnder Erwerbstätigkeitsstrukturen in 150 Gebieten, die unter der Bezeichnung ‘Arbeitsamt – Anfahrt zum Arbeitsplatz’ (Job Centre Travel-to-work Areas=JC TTWAs) das städtische britische System darstellen. Wenn sich die Erwerbstätigkeitsstrukturen aller Stadtgebiete auf ähnliche Weise wandeln, sollte man eine räumliche Konvergenz der Erwerbstätigkeitsstrukturen erwarten. Das Wachstum des Dienstleistungssektors, in Verbindung mit der Zunahme der Anzahl von weiblichen und Teilzeitarbeitern, legt nahe, daß man eine Konvergenz der Erwerbstätigkeitsstrukturen erwarten kann. Der Gini-koeffizient wird als Maßstab der Vielfalt der Erwerbstätigkeitsstrukturen verwendet. Das Ausmaß der Vielfältigkeit/fachlichen Spezialisierung zeigt, daß sich im gesamtstädtisches System eine leichte Konvergenz der Erwerbstätigkeitsstrukturen abzeichnete, doch, was womöglich wichtiger ist, es ausgesprochene Abweichungen bei den Erwerbstätigkeitsstrukturen der größten Großstadtzentren gab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]