Optimal Price and Selling Effort from the Perspectives of the Broker and Seller

This paper uses numerical solutions of a dynamic optimization model to examine the principal-agent relationship between the seller and broker in residential real estate markets. Potential conflict of interest is quantified in two dimensions, the level of selling effort the broker puts forth, and the reservation price for the property. The dynamic optimization model reveals that the use of a finite duration listing contract will induce the broker to increase his or her effort level compared to an unlimited duration contract, and that the broker's optimal effort will increase over time, becoming greater as the listing contract expiration time draws nearer ("rational procrastination"). The numerical analysis indicates that with plausible parameter values, conflict of interest problems regarding broker effort level are minor or nonexistent near the end of the listing contract, but potentially important near the beginning of the contract. In contrast, the conflict of interest regarding reservation price is more severe near the end of the listing contract and is exacerbated by the use of finite duration contracts, the more so the shorter the contract.     

Organizations as learning systems: The case of the Japanese automobile manufacturing industry

This study sought to apply frameworks of organizational learning to companies in the Japanese automobile manufacturing industry and, in the process, to ascertain if Japanese automobile companies exhibit characteristics of high- versus low-learning organizations. Of particular interest are the effects of Japanese culture on organizational behavior. A basis for empirical testing of concepts of organizational learning to establish an explanation as to why some companies are more effective in succeeding in the global market according to accepted measures of success is provided. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

AN ILLUSTRATIVE PRODUCTION FUNCTION FOR LABOUR-MANAGED FIRMS*

An illustration of the ambiguities in the behaviour of a labour-managed firm in the long run when both capital and labour are variable is provided by means of an example which can be completely solved. Input demand and output supply functions are derived from a suggested production function. The special case of a homothetic production function is yielded by one of five parameter sets identified.     

Interpreting the Great Crash of 1987

Professor Norman Barry of the University of Buckingham presents a view of the Crash from the perspective of Austrian economics.     

The next forty years : A reprise

The following paper is a republication of the introductory pages to Norman Macrae's book, The Next Forty Years, published by The Economist in 1972. Each year, Norman Macrae, deputy-editor of The Economist, researched and wrote a lengthy survey on a subject about which he claimed little, if any, expert knowledge. In 1971 Macrae tried to turn himself into a business futurologist. Based on interviews with industrialists and using relevant literature about multinational corporations and business, Macrae attempted to forecast the most logical course for international business trends and organization between 1972 and 2012, and especially 1972–1992. Some of his views were highly unconventional, and deliberately so. More than 20 years later, his views still often seem controversial, but are as relevant as ever.     

Time on the Market and Selling Price

This study is primarily an analysis of tradeoff between selling time and price, both on a nominal and real basis. Sellers are seen as desiring to maximize their discounted real selling price and trading off the nominal selling price with expected selling time. The time a property remains on the market is important, not only because of its reflection on price, but also because of its possible reflection on the issue of submarket equilibrium—an assumption in most urban price studies. The empirical results of this study shed light on how similar studies can easily misinterpret the implications of time on the market on price and how further work may be improved.     

A model of trade and growth for the developing world

This paper describes structure, assumptions and projection results of the SIMLINK model. The purpose of this modelistosimulate the trade linkages between the developed and developing world. By taking the growth expectations of the OECD countries and the price of petroleum as a starting point, the model estimates the price and volume of a series of commodities important in LDC exports. The export earnings for seven LDC regions are estimated from the commodity projections, and combined with a predetermined estimate of capital inflows to calculate import capacity. A simple growth model for each region then determines the import constrained growth rate for that region.