The value of intellectual property rights to firms and society

Economists view intellectual property rights (IPRs) as policytools for encouraging innovation, but they recognize that theycan also inhibit competition. There are many types of IPRs andinstitutions concerned with their administration. We begin byoutlining how these complex and varied rights are supposed towork and how they interact with other characteristics of firmsand markets. We then survey the available literature on patents,trade marks, and copyright to assess the value of these IPRsto firms and the costs to firms of acquiring and defending theirrights. The paper concludes with suggestions for topics requiringfurther research to inform public policy better.     

The perceived benefits of agritourism: The provider’s perspective

This study examines the perceived benefits of agritourism by examining the importance of this activity in accomplishing 16 goals of farmers receiving visitors for recreation on their farms. This study also examines several farm household and business attributes associated with the accomplishment of four goal dimensions driving agritourism development. Data were derived from a survey conducted among 164 agritourism farms in Missouri. Results showed that agritourism mostly serves to capture new farm customers, educate the public about agriculture and enhance the quality of life for the farm family, which represents both, economic and non-economic benefits. Organized by goal dimensions, findings showed that agritourism is perceived as most important for market related goals, suggesting that the economic role of agritourism should not only be measured in terms of increased profits but also as a marketing tool. Four significant regression models showed that several farm business and household attributes are associated to the perceived agritourism benefits within four goal dimensions, suggesting opportunities for tailored promotional messages and policy considerations for the entrepreneurial development of agritourism.     

Employee involvement climate and organizational effectiveness

This study empirically examines the relationship between the perceived employee involvement (EI) climate and organizational effectiveness. Using a sample of insurance companies, results indicate that organizations with high levels of perceived EI climate lead to organizational effectiveness as measured through financial performance, turnover rate, and workforce morale. Implications of the results for research and practice are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Retail change: effects on employees' job demands and home life

Causes and effects of occupational stress have received research attention for several decades, with increasing focus during the 1990s as organizations and individual workers attempt to adapt to economic change. Stress arising from either the work or home domain can have a variety of outcomes in the workplace, and similarly can impact in many ways on relationships and activities at home. This paper reports the first phase of a research study to identify the impact on work and home life of changes in retailing, a sector of the economy which has experienced significant change over the past few years. A qualitative methodology was adopted, using group discussions to allow staff to identify the specific changes in retailing most important for themselves, and then to explore how these changes related to satisfactions and dissatisfactions at work, and their impact on general aspects of home life. The results suggest that the 'spillover' relationship between work and home stress seems to be the most useful in describing the impact of change. This suggests that additional role demands at work brought about by change have an impact on relationships and social life outside work. However, some individuals described instances of 'compensation' between work and home, and independence between the two domains. This suggests that the issue of stress in the home/work interface is complex, and that the demands in each domain may be positively or negatively related depending on characteristics of the demands themselves, or may vary according to individual characteristics of the people in the study.     

Interaktion mit Online-Communities — Spielregeln zur Stärkung der Marke

Zusammenfassung  Innerhalb kürzester Zeit hat sich im Internet eine gro?e Bandbreite von Online-Communities entwickelt, als fester Bestandteil der Beziehungswelt vieler Kunden. Unternehmen k?nnen für die Markenführung der Zukunft das Thema Online-Communities nicht mehr ausklammern, finden sich aber h?ufig im Internetdschungel (noch) nicht zurecht. Um Bewertungsportale, Blogs, Social Networking Sites, Virtual Worlds etc. im Sinne der Marke verstehen und nutzen zu k?nnen müsse Markenmanager eine Reihe von Spielregeln erlernen und beachten. Dr. Claudia Fisher-Buttinger Markenberaterin und Gründerin der Lemontree Brand Strategy mit Sitz in München. Dr. Christine Vallaster Dozentin an der Hochschule Liechtenstein in Vaduz am Institut für Entrepreneurship.     

The new public management and the UK Police Service

This article explores the impact of the introduction of the New Public Management (NPM) within the UK Police Service since the mid-1990s. A specific focus upon individual performance management (one of the central features of NPM) is examined from the perspective of the police sergeant who has primary responsibility for managing performance and ultimately the delivery of policing services within one of the UK's ‘essential’ public services. After a discussion of the literature on individual performance management within the context of the NPM, the article identifies four major research questions relating to: the job role demands of performance management; access to valid and reliable performance management information; the capacity to provide follow-up development and support; and the wider integration of performance management with organization strategy and service objectives. After reporting on interview data collected from role sets in which the sergeant is a focal member, the article concludes with a discussion of the constraints upon effective performance management within the NPM.     

Modelling and Mapping Agricultural Output Values Using Farm Specific Details and Environmental Databases

Ongoing concerns regarding the economic losses associated with the CAP and the negative environmental impacts of present land use have led to calls for land use change and consequent efforts to identify areas which are, from both a financial and social perspective, most appropriate for such conversion. This paper develops and applies an output value modelling methodology in which site-specific biophysical factors are combined with farm level data in order to predict input usage and, subsequently, farm profit. The spatial analytic capabilities of a geographical information system (GIS) are used to combine the variety of data employed to permit analysis of a large study area (the entirety of Wales) and yield models of both the market and shadow value of output from the two principal agricultural sectors of the area: dairying and sheep farming. The GIS is then used to produce readily interpretable maps of these values across the study area. The resulting maps are highly compatible both with value maps of alternative land uses given in the recent literature and with approaches to policy formulation currently under development by a range of UK agencies. Such maps may be used to assist estimation of the extent and location of farming response to land use policy change.     

Bid-Ask Spreads,Information Asymmetry,and Abnormal Investor Sentiment: Evidence from Closed-End Funds

Using a sample of closed-end equity funds listed on the NYSE from 1994 to 1999, we investigate differences in spreads and adverse selection costs between the closed-end funds and a matched sample of common stocks. We find that spreads and adverse selection costs for the closed-end funds are significantly lower than those of control stocks. The results are consistent for the subperiods both before and after the minimum tick size change on NYSE on June 24, 1997. The differences of spreads and adverse selection costs cannot be attributed to the differences in the characteristics of the closed-end funds and the matched sample of common stocks. Lastly, we find that abnormal investor sentiment and adverse selection costs of closed-end funds are positively correlated over time.