The Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia: Problems and Implications

The adoption of the 2007 Indonesian Law No. 40 has created significant debate over the nature of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), namely, whether it is voluntary or mandatory. On the one hand, the adoption of such a law represents a legal recognition of the existence of CSR, and this clarification on the legal nature of a concept is necessary for understanding the obligation and responsibility. On the other hand, it has created much confusion surrounding its substance and procedures. This article tries to analyze the development and consequences of CSR under 2007 Indonesian Law No. 40, through the discussion of mandatory versus voluntary dichotomy. It is argued in this article that the mandatory nature of CSR is legitimate and therefore encouraged; however, in practice, this is problematic, as it not only requires a precise concept of interpretation of CSR and identification of the duty bearer and beneficiaries, but also an effective implementation mechanism and a means of verifying the impact.     

Warum Vertrauen wichtig ist — Der ökonomische Blickwinkel

Die Finanzkrise hat die ?ffentliche Aufmerksamkeit auf eine der Grundstützen des marktwirtschaftlichen Systems gerichtet: das Vertrauen der Marktteilnehmer untereinander. Friedrich L. Sell und Marcus Wiens erl?utern die verschiedenen Sph?ren des Vertrauens (Zweierbeziehung, Gruppe, gesamte Gesellschaft), welche Risiken mit dem Vertrauen verbunden sind und wie diese überwunden werden k?nnen.     

In-store Marketing as a Mode of Discipline

Although the idea of the self-governing consumer has been widely disputed, modern shopping spaces and supermarkets are considered as the key arenas of the sovereign and empowered consumer. Yet, purchasing patterns, which seem predictable over time, can be explained as resulting from consumer routines and habits. Inspired by Foucault’s general thesis that the emergence of individual freedom coincides with new techniques of discipline, this paper explores consumer routines as an outcome of governance structures embedded in modern retail marketing techniques. First, the term embodiment of consumer choice is introduced to describe how shopping in modern supermarkets hinges on various techniques of bodily discipline. Second, by relying on a study of in-store marketing in Norwegian retailing, these promotional activities are examined as techniques normalizing purchasing behaviour. We conclude by saying that power and discipline are underestimated as explanations to the formation of shopping behaviour and consumer routines.     

National Culture,Economic Development,Population Growth and Environmental Performance: The Mediating Role of Education

Literature on ethical behavior has paid little attention to the mechanism between macro- environmental variables and environmental performance. This study aims at constructing a model to examine the␣relationships which link cultural values, population growth, economic development, and environmental performance by incorporating the mediating role of education. The multiple linear regression model was employed to test the hypotheses on a 3-year-pooled sample of 51 countries. Empirical results conclude that national culture, economic development, and population growth would significantly influence environmental performance directly. In addition, through the mediating effect of education, population growth and national culture would significantly affect environmental performance indirectly. These findings provide theoretical and managerial implications for constructing the mechanism of cultural values and ethical behavior in general and environmental management in particular.     

Valuation of Discount Options in Software License Agreements

Many companies increasingly rely on licensed standard software for system software and applications. In addition to the regulation of usage conditions, software licensing agreements increasingly include services, such as software upgrades and user training, as a part of the contract or these are optional for a fee, which can be made use of by the licensee during the term of the contract at a reduced price or as a free service. This benefit entitlement is called a discount option and must be valued during the selection and designing of a contract. This paper describes the basic valuation issues as well as some weaknesses of previous approaches, and subsequently presents a model which, on the basis of the real option theory, enables an assessment of the discount options using mathematical methods. As the value of discount options can in many cases only be estimated by using analytical methods under certain conditions, a practical solution method is explained on the basis of numeric backwards induction. The procedure for applying the model and the achieved advances in knowledge are illustrated with an example.     

Der Wettbewerb im Einzelhandel mit Arzneimitteln

Der Apothekenmarkt wird in Deutschland in vieler Hinsicht reglementiert. Ein Gro?teil der verkauften Produkte unterliegt einer Preisbindung und der Marktzugang ist stark beschr?nkt. Die Autorin pl?diert für eine Liberalisierung des Marktes und macht konkrete Reformvorschl?ge.     

Nadelstichverletzungen: Kleiner Pieks mit großer Wirkung

Arbeitsschutz als Führungsaufgabe - Eine kurze Unachtsamkeit oder unglückliche Verkettung von Ereignissen und schon ist es passiert: Die Kanüle trifft das Pflegepersonal. Aber: Nadelstichverletzungen lassen sich durch die Verwendung sicherer Produkte und Injektionstechniken reduzieren. Dabei ist die Verbesserung des Arbeits- und Gesundheitsschutzes des medizinischen und pflegerischen Personals eine wichtige Aufgabe der Führungskr?fte.     

Dangers of commitment under rational expectations

Within a New Keynesian framework, interest rate rules that respond to public expectations lead to determinate and expectationally stable solutions for any level of commitment, as shown by Waters (Macroecon Dyn 13(4):421–449, 2009). That paper also demonstrates gains to commitment, under least square learning, though over-commitment can lead to some very poor outcomes for some parameter values. This paper shows an identical outcome under rational expectations. The optimal level of commitment is unchanged if there are observation errors in the policymaker’s knowledge of public expectations, which is not the case under learning. However, if there is sufficient policymaker uncertainty about the parameter values, partial commitment is best.