A new estimate of transaction costs

Transaction costs are important for a host of empirical analysesfrom market efficiency to international market research. Buttransaction costs estimates are not always available, or whereavailable, are cumbersome to use and expensive to purchase.We present a model that requires only the time series of dailysecurity returns to endogenously estimate the effective transactioncosts for any firm, exchange, or time period. The feature ofthe data that allows for the estimation of transaction costsis the incidence of zero returns. Incorporating zero returnsin the return-generating process, the model provides continuousestimates of average round-trip transaction costs from 1963to 1990 that are 1.2% and 10.3% for large and small decile firms,respectively. These estimates are highly correlated (85%), withthe most commonly used transaction cost estimators.     

河南省制造业存在的问题及对策研究

金融危机之后，河南省制造业增加值的增速严重下滑，凸显出对资源依赖程度高，产业组织松散且配套能力弱等问题。文章分析了河南省制造业发展面临的问题原因，并对河南省制造业的发展提出了政策建议。     

AN EXAMINATION OF EXPLANATION TYPOLOGY ON PERCEIVED INFORMATIONAL FAIRNESS IN THE CONTEXT OF AIR TRAVEL

Given humans' need to understand why things go wrong, “offering an explanation” is a type of service recovery effort that can be essential in the recovery process. Despite the importance of service failure explanations to academics and practitioners, research on this topic is scant. To bridge that gap, this study investigates the impact of various types of failure explanations on customer perceptions of informational fairness in the context of air travel. The results show that the type of explanation and the severity of the failure both result in different levels of perceived informational fairness. Moreover, different levels of perceived informational fairness can influence customer satisfaction through reduced attribution of responsibility for the failure to the service provider.     

Barriers to SME Growth in Slovenia

The paper is based on the findings of a research project which aimed to identify the critical barriers to small business growth and development in Slovenia. The key barriers identified in the research included factors linked to the institutional environment including bureaucracy, and to external financial constraints including the high cost of capital. Internal organisation and resource issues, and social support through local development coalitions were found to be less important. The research was based upon a sample survey of small firms in Slovenia, and on an econometric analysis of the sources of firms' growth. This provided evidence that firms' growth was negatively linked to firms' size, and that growth was reduced by the presence of institutional and financial barriers. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications.     

Can Ethical Behaviour Really Exist in Business

Our soft survey reveals that the assumption underlying much of the business ethics literature -- that the conduct of business can and ought to support the social good -- is not accepted within the workplace. This paper considers an apparent dichotomy, with companies investing in ethical programs whose worth their employees and managers question. We examine the relationship between work, bureaucracy and "the market" and conclude that employees often question the existence of business ethics because there is no good and bad between which to choose. The choice is between success and failure. A common view of success and the "good life" is one determined by hard work in a well-organised company operating in a free market. Analysing the three aspects of this view (the free market, hard work, bureaucracy) we suggest these are mere fictions. A major problem we identify in business is that organisations are designed as profit making mechanisms and have no interest in the good of society. The challenge is to convince such organisations that a direct benefit accrues to them through their own ethical behaviour. In order to do this organisations must first be shown the importance of long termism. Executives, managers and other employees can be expected to attain high ethical standards only when they feel they are a integral part of an organisation and the organisation itself respects those standards. One of the keys to unravelling the undesirable situation of a perceived absence of ethics in business is in encouraging a greater identity community, company and workforce. We provide some examples of ways companies can meet the challenge of encouraging more ethical, long-sighted behaviour. In addition, we highlight ways in which the expectations of the organisations of the organisation can be communicated more strongly through corporate structures that foster ethical action that benefits the long term interests of the individual and the organisation. Overall implementing a successful ethical program is shown to parallel that of the implementation of a quality program.     

大学生党员保持先进性的机制构建

大学生党员是党员队伍的新生力量，是大学生队伍中的先进分子。由于部分大学生党员对“中国共产党的性质”这一根本性的问题缺乏足够深入的认识，以致于在入党动机、政治素养、理想信念、党员意识等方面出现了许多不容忽视的问题。只有正确认识问题本质，通过学习、教育、实践、考评及激励引导机制的构建、创新，才能真正形成让学生党员长期受教育，永葆先进性的长效机制。     

High wage-economy, sloanism and fordism: the American experience during the golden age

This paper provides an interpretation of the pattern of massconsumption in the American economy at the beginning of thelast century centered on 'sloanism' instead of 'fordism'. Thefinancial, product and marketing innovations associated withGeneral Motor's Alfred Sloan are considered the central featuresof the mass production regime. The American economy was a 'highwage' economy (Hobson) which depended mainly on the high productivityin agriculture (not only in industry) and the new politicalcoalitions and institutions that appeared in the 1930s (andnot in the post-war period as the fordists maintain).