Incorporating vintage differences and forecasts into Markov switching models

This paper incorporates vintage differences and forecasts into the Markov switching models described by Hamilton (1994). The vintage differences and forecasts induce parameter breaks close to the end of the sample, too close for standard maximum likelihood techniques to produce precise parameter estimates. A supplementary procedure estimates the statistical properties of the end-of-sample observations that behave differently from the rest, allowing inferred probabilities to reflect the breaks. Empirical results using real-time data show that these techniques improve the ability of a Markov switching model based on GDP and GDI to recognize the start of the 2001 recession.     

European works councils: the challenge for labour1

Drawing on survey evidence, this paper explores the quality of information and consultation at European works councils and developments in the support infrastructure available to representatives. The paper highlights that European works councils are an institution in process. As such, wide‐ranging developments have been implemented to improve their performance, but many of these will have to be extended in coverage if European work councils are to be exploited to better effect by labour.     

Reflexive Interdisciplinary Research: The Making of a Research Programme on the Rural Economy and Land Use

This paper provides an account of the origins and formation of the UK Research Councils’ Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme and its approach to promoting interdisciplinary working between social and natural scientists. The programme is set in the context of broader developments in science policy, including a policy discourse centred upon sustainable development and the knowledge economy and associated demands for greater accountability in science. Interdisciplinarity promises research that will be more relevant and responsive to public needs and concerns. In describing the provenance of the RELU programme, therefore, the paper seeks to lay out the different stages in its initiation and design to show how, to varying degrees, these were open to external scrutiny and influence. The process of developing the programme illustrates that it is not straightforward to make research agendas and funding more transparent and accountable. It also provides insights into the challenges that interdisciplinarity and accountability present to established science institutions.     

INTRODUCTION: MINING HISTORY IN CONTEXT

This article introduces the theme and the articles in this special issue of the Australian Economic History Review on mining history. It puts the subject of the articles in the context of current changes in the global mining industry and notes the themes that may be explored in further research.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in Management Research: Focus,Nature, Salience and Sources of Influence*

abstract In this paper we investigate the status of corporate social responsibility (CSR) research within the management literature. In particular, we examine the focus and nature of knowledge, the changing salience of this knowledge and the academic influences on the knowledge. We present empirical evidence based on publication and citation analyses of research published from 1992 to 2002. Our results demonstrate that, for CSR research published in management journals, the most popular issues investigated have been environmental and ethics; the empirical research has been overwhelmingly of a quantitative nature; the theoretical research has been primarily non‐normative; the field is driven by agendas in the business environment as well as by continuing scientific engagement; and the single most important source of references for CSR articles was the management literature itself.     

Comment on “Revealing Differences in Willingness to Pay Due to the Dimensionality of Stated Choice Designs: An Initial Assessment”

There are very few studies that quantify the interactions and tradeoffs between statistical and cognitive efficiency in designing stated-choice studies. While a conceptual framework for evaluating cognitive strategies would be desirable, Hensher adopts a strictly empirical approach in this experiment. The success of the study must be evaluated in light of his aggregating attributes rather than controlling the number of attributes, asymmetry in the narrow-range and wide-range attributes, and lack of orthogonality between the number of attributes and number of alternatives. Nevertheless, Hensher challenges uncritical acceptance of any given set of design features and correctly insists that we confirm our experience with rigorous, quantitative experiments.     

Why Do People Join Unions in a Period of Membership Decline?

Drawing on a large survey of new members, this paper examines the reasons why people join unions and the methods of their recruitment. It shows that collective reasons remain central to union membership and that individual services are secondary in the recruitment process. While there is little variation in reasons for joining across industry, occupation and sex, there are marked differences in the methods used to recruit new members. These findings are used to examine existing explanations of membership decline and to assess the efficacy of the different recruitment policy options available to unions.     

Diffusion and management of electronic data interchange: barriers and qpportunities in the uk pharmaceutical and healthciare industries

This paper is based on evidence from a survey, conducted during 1992, investigating the adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI) amog neraly 20 furms in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector within the UK. In particular, it focuses on the factors behind the adoption and diffusion of EDI, and the barriers to its uptake and spread. It also analyzes some of the strategic, organizational and managerial issues behind its implementatio and development. The survey highlights the relatively slow rate of adoption of EDI within this sector and key problems that inhibit its uptake. These include issues of costs, standards and the increasingly fragmented nature of purchasing and logistics that results from reorganization within the UK healthcare system.     

Social identity as a useful perspective for self‐concept–based consumer research

Psychology's study of the self‐concept has generated numerous paradigms with different underlying assumptions. In this article it is argued that these assumptions must be considered before a self‐concept paradigm can be meaningfully applied to consumer research. The major premise in this article is that the recent work on social identity is a particularly meaningful paradigm to adopt for consumer research that implicates the self. This argument is developed with a conceptual discussion of major self‐concept issues, an overview of basic self‐concept paradigms in psychology, and a synthesis of possible factors that may be considered in future theories of social‐identity–based consumption decision making. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.