Free To Choose? Dimensions of Private-Sector Wage Determination, 1979–1994

Deregulation of the system of pay determination in Britain was started in 1979 with the removal of incomes policy. The objective was to give employers the freedom to determine wage increases without the restrictions of pay norms or statutory limits. Instead, companies would be able to link changes in pay to the fortunes of the individual enterprise or establishment. By the mid-1990s, had these attempts to decentralize wage negotiations changed the determinants of wage settlement outcomes in Britain? We address the influence of industrial relations institutions and labour market pressures on wage increases between 1979 and 1994 using evidence from the CBI’s Pay Databank. Despite the direction of the Conservative Government’s policy, the external institutional forces of the labour market, particularly the rate of inflation and comparability, appear to exert an enduring influence, both qualitatively and quantitatively, on pay determination.     

IMF Conditionality as a Screening Device

A theoretical model is developed in which both buybacks and the adoption of an IMF programme can be used as screening devices which enable a creditor to discriminate between debtor countries which are willing to use debt relief in order to invest and repay and countries which are not. Asymmetric information is assumed. This problem can be solved if the country has sufficient resources to engage in a debt buyback and so gain the debt relief. When the country is credit constrained, an alternative screening mechanism is to undertake an IMF programme in return for debt reduction and possibly an IMF loan.     

The robustness of optimal equilibrium among overlapping generations

Summary. We combine and strengthen optimality and robustness theorems for the overlapping-generations model of money. Roughly, we find a Pareto-optimal monetary equilibrium of a generic stationary economy that is near an optimal monetary equilibrium of each nearby non-stationary economy. Since the nearby equilibria are monetary, the general problem of macroeconomic stabilization reduces to maintaining the money supply. And since the nearby equilibria are optimal, stabilization is socially desirable. Received: October 27, 1997; revised version: March 25, 1998     

Protectionism, Export Requirements, and Joint Ventures

Economic distortions often accompany the attempt by lower-income countries to develop. This paper examines the consequences of two such distortions: an export-share requirement whereby foreign capital producing in a local enclave is allowed to sell only a fraction of its output in the local protected market, and some local capital must be allowed into a joint venture in the enclave, even if it must be paid a higher return there than foreign capital earns in its country of origin. The welfare effect of such measures is investigated as well as the effect on local wages of measures that drive out some foreign investment. Such a loss of foreign capital may serve to raise the wage rate.     

Tourism and economic regeneration: the role of skills development

An increasing number of local economic development agencies in the UK are turning to tourism as a means of urban regeneration and employment creation. Although initiatives vary, there is a nationally inspired emphasis on the development of employee skills as a core element of many regeneration strategies. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study of the demand for and utilisation of skills by tourism firms in East London, an area that is the recipient of substantial urban aid funding, a proportion of which has an overt focus on skills enhancement designed to develop the tourism sector. It then examines the processes of skills supply within the locality. The paper concludes by identifying the key issues likely to be important if regeneration programmes are to be effective. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computer‐assisted learning design for reflective practice supporting multiple learning styles for education and training in pre‐hosplital emergency care

This article describes and discusses a unique project in the field of RP, CAL and Learning Styles. Reflective Practice (RP) is a method that can be used to assist the student to learn from experience using a carefully structured framework. This has been shown to result in new learning and improved practice. In PHEC the application of RP is seen as essential for clinical effectiveness and continuing professional development in paramedic practices. Evidence from Canada indicates that while PHEC work would be expected to attract convergers (as categorised by Kolb, 1984), in fact, the data did not support that expectation. No particular learning style was dominant. The teaching process for RP at the University of Hertfordshire normally uses the lecture‐discussion method between teacher/facilitators and students based largely on the presentation of scenarios and case studies with a wide‐ranging, but focused dialogue and discussion. The design problem discussed here was to provide computer–student interaction which offers the students additional opportunities to develop their own preferred styles as well as to achieve the same learning outcomes as the taught content.     

浅谈以财务报告为目的的投资性房地产评估业务

国际会计准则（以下简称IAS）经过长达十余年的修订,逐渐完善了公允价值和投资性房地产的概念．及投资性房地产计量和披露的要求。在世界范围内．各国或各地区会计准则制定机构逐渐认识到．统一或趋同的会计准则将给财务报告使用者带来便利,     

Can interest rate volatility be extracted from the cross section of bond yields?

Most affine models of the term structure with stochastic volatility predict that the variance of the short rate should play a ‘dual role’ in that it should also equal a linear combination of yields. However, we find that estimation of a standard affine three-factor model results in a variance state variable that, while instrumental in explaining the shape of the yield curve, is essentially unrelated to GARCH estimates of the quadratic variation of the spot rate process or to implied variances from options. We then investigate four-factor affine models. Of the models tested, only the model that exhibits ‘unspanned stochastic volatility’ (USV) generates both realistic short rate volatility estimates and a good cross-sectional fit. Our findings suggest that short rate volatility cannot be extracted from the cross-section of bond prices. In particular, short rate volatility and convexity are only weakly correlated.     

Debit or credit?

Empirical consumer payment price sensitivity has implications for theory, optimal regulation of payment card networks, and business strategy. A critical margin is the price of a credit card charge. A revolver who did not pay her most recent balance in full pays interest; other credit card users do not. I find that revolvers are substantially less likely to incur credit card charges and substantially more likely to use a debit card, conditional on several proxies for transaction demand and tastes. Debit use also increases with credit limit constraints and decreases with credit card possession. Additional results suggest that debit is becoming a stronger substitute for credit over time.     

Institutional Investment and the Turn-of-the-Month Effect: Evidence from REITs

Many studies have hypothesized that the turn-of-the-month effect is caused by institutional investment. However, there is little evidence to support this hypothesis. This study provides an empirical test that measures the impact of the level of institutional investment on the turn-of-the-month effect using a sample of REITs over the period 1980 to 2004. We find that a significant change in the turn-of-the-month effect occurred following the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1993 which relaxed the requirements on the level of institutional investment in REITs. The evidence suggests that the dramatic rise in institutional holdings can account for a good part of this change. However, the impact of institutional investment may not be as large as some researchers have suspected. There is no evidence to suggest that institutional investment impacts returns on the day when the turn-of-the-month effect is most pronounced, suggesting that this calendar anomaly is not caused exclusively by institutional investors in the market.