Hierarchical power in personnel negotiations

Hierarchical Power (HP), a model for power asymmetry, is used in conjunction with other principles of personnel management to analyze the behavior of professionals during negotiations in an organization. Hierarchical Power involves the ability of a decision maker to choose in the knowledge of the opponent's choice. The methodology of HP is applied to a representative conflict in which a professional employee prefers to remain in the status quo position, and would rather leave the organization than accept a transfer to another position. An analysis of this conflict using HP is consistent with observed outcomes. HP is then used to study whether and how an alternate plan can help to eliminate the possible deadlock between the decision makers.     

DIMENSIONAL SIMPLIFICATION AND ECONOMIC THEORIES OF LEGISLATIVE BEHAVIOR

In many many places, the political parties and political contests seem to array themselves along a single dimension. If you look at their programs in detail it always turns out that it's much more complicated than that. But it would appear that in the minds of the voters they are literally frequently arrayed on a single continuum which, as a result of the organization of the French chamber of deputies, is usually referred to as a left/right.     

QUANTIFYING THE QUALITY OF TERTIARY EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORTS

Research methods for developing disclosure indices are evaluated in relation to measuring performance for tertiary education bodies. A critique of earlier unweighted, dichotomous studies such as Dixon, Coy and Tower [1991], reveals limitations of such an approach. An alternative method (AD-Score) is advanced using 3-point scales to differentiate for: i) the quality of disclosures and, ii) a weighting of the importance of each item. Annual reports from 33 New Zealand tertiary education bodies (1985-90) were analyzed using both approaches. The results show that the AD-Score is approximately 10 percentage points lower throughout. The AD-Score also changed some of the rankings of the institutions. The scoring systems were found to be significantly different in 1990 (but not 1989). Suggestions for further improvements of the AD-Score are also offered.     

A risk-adjusted approach for assessing factors that determine utilities' allowed returns on equity

This paper demonstrates that, even after adjustment for risk, state utility commissions are sensitive to the return on equity requests of electric utilities. This supports the hypothesis that commissions and utilities implicitly compensate for other ratemaking factors, so as to arrive at a reasonable rate of return. Publicized differences in allowed returns have superficial informational content with regard to regulatory treatment. An implication is that commissions are more efficient in both the performance of their duties and in the allocation of resources than is usually assumed.     

PRODUCTION-ORIENTED INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR AGRICULTURAL SUBSECTORS: PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES

The existence of problems which are peculiar to agricultural subsectors explains the presence of organisations associated with individual commodities or commodity groups. Modern developments in information systems can contribute to meeting organisations' information requirements, but it is necessary to design systems consistent with both the principles and techniques of economic analysis and the general methodology. Following the definition of a subsector, a review of the principles for information systems and the relevant economic concepts shows the formal equivalence of many basic ideas. Despite reservations which have been expressed about the current potential for quantitative techniques, an input/output approach could have an important role as a flexible component of subsector information systems.     

Sources and directions of technological accumulation in France: a statistical comparison with FR Germany and the UK

Technological activities are an important determinant of national economic performance. Data on R&D and on the national origins of patenting in the USA show that, compared to those of FR Germany and the UK, French technological activities have the following characteristics: (1) a relatively high rate of growth over the past 20 years in aggregate activity; (2) concentration of technological strength in sectors dominated by state procurement and related R&D funding, rather than in “core” technologies; (3) stronger performance in fast-growing technologies in defence, electrical products and fine chemicals, than in electronics and motor vehicles; (4) a relatively stable and speialized sectoral pattern of technological strengths and weaknesses; and (5) sectoral patterns of trading strengths and weaknesses that broadly reflect those in technology. These characteristics of France's technological activities cannot be explained by their greater or lesser concentration, which is very similar to that found in both FR Germany and the UK, both in aggregate and in specific sectors. As in the other two countries, a few large firms have a major influence on national technological activities, especially in R&D-intensive sectors and automobiles. These results are on the whole consistent with the recent assessment by INSEE and CEPII of France's competitive position in international markets. However, they do show a strong Franch “niche” in technologies linked to state markets, and they do suggest certain advantages in long-term stability, rather than rapaid change, in technological priorities.     

The Effects of Estimation Period, Industry, and Proxy on the Calculation of the Degree of Operating Leverage

Much diversity exists in the approaches used by finance researchers to estimate a firm's degree of operating leverage (DOL). This diversity is partially attributable to the lack of accessible accounting data suitable for the calculations. As a result, researchers have devised various proxies for the degree of operating leverage from whatever accounting data are externally available. This paper examines the effects of estimation period, industry, and proxy on the calculation of DOL. The analyses indicate that the various proxies for DOL exhibit both conceptual and empirical differences that are generally consistent across industries and over estimation periods.