City of art as a High Culture local system and cultural districtualization processes: the cluster of art restoration in Florence

This article engages in the debate on cultural economics that has recently become more intense in Italy, in order to focus on two particular aspects: the city of art as an autonomous socio‐economic unit of analysis, and the hypothesis of its districtualization as a driving force for culture‐driven and sustainable economic development. In the article we consider the city of art as a typology of a High Culture local system and we test some hypotheses of cultural districtualization in the art city of Florence. Thus, we concentrate on the ‘artistic component’ of the productive factor CANH, taking into account only private firms that operate in the field of art restoration and are localized in the Florence city territory. With this as our aim, we undertook an analysis and integration of the questionnaires collected in research by ARTEX (1998) that accounted for 145 firms in the cluster of art restoration. Our analyses brought to light a few interesting signs that evidence the occurrence of different degrees of cultural districtualization. Cet article participe au débat sur l'économie culturelle qui s'est récemment animé en Italie, et vise deux aspects particuliers: la ville d'art en tant qu'unité d'analyse socio‐économique autonome et l'hypothèse de sa constitution en districts en tant que moteur de développement économique durable propulsé par la culture. La ville d'art est considérée comme une typologie de système local de culture élevée; ainsi, sont testées quelques hypothèses sur les districts culturels dans la cité d'art de Florence. Les travaux se concentrent sur la ‘composante artistique’ du facteur productif (CANH), tenant compte uniquement des entreprises privées qui uvrent dans la restauration d'art et sont implantées sur le territoire urbain de Florence. Etant donné ce but, une analyse a été entreprise, en intégrant des questionnaires collectés par une enquête d'ARTEX (1998) couvrant 145 entreprises dans le secteur de la restauration d'art. L'étude a mis en avant quelques signes intéressants qui montrent l'occurrence de plusieurs degrés de ‘districtualisation’ culturelle.     

The effect of physician board membership on uncompensated care provision

Previous studies indicate that nonprofit and for-profit hospitals provide comparable levels of uncompensated care, when taking into account their sizes. This evidence suggests that for-profit hospitals extract some indirect benefit when providing uncompensated care. Our article investigates how physician board membership affects uncompensated care provision. With data for hospitals in California from 1997 to 2010, we estimate a fixed-effect model where uncompensated care is a function of physician board membership, other board attributes, as well as hospital characteristics. Our results indicate that physician board membership in for-profit hospitals relates positively with uncompensated care provision. Prior evidence, such as Goldstein and Ward (2004) and Molinari et al. (1995), has shown that involving physicians in strategic decisions improves hospitals’ financial performance. Our results reinforce the notion that having physicians in leadership or strategic positions benefits for-profit hospitals. In these hospitals, physicians seem to understand the strategic component of providing uncompensated care, possibly due to their closer assessment of patients’ needs.     

Imoannatori and business angels: two models of informal capital provision

This article compares the role and objectives of informal capital provision in a trust‐based context (such as in industrial districts) and in a market‐based context. An example of the former is given by the activities of impannatori in the Prato (Florence, Tuscany) textile district, while the latter is associated with the activities of business angels. Impannatori are ‘pure entrepreneurs’ acting as final firms; they have two main functions: liaising with the final market and coordinating subcontracting activities. Another typical function of impannatori is to provide informal finance to subcontractors. Pure entrepreneurs, like impannatori in Prato, are typical of industrial districts in general. The article compares impannatori with business angels as both act as informal capital providers to small firms and start‐ups, often replacing and offering finance in parallel to the banking system. Despite the large number of studies on Italian industrial districts, informal capital provision within them has often been neglected. The novelty of the article is therefore to explore the role of impannatori as providers of informal credit to subcontractors for the functioning and the success of the textile district in Prato. It will be argued that a trust‐based context enables credit providers to reduce transaction costs and information asymmetry, therefore reducing the risk associated with informal lending. To do this we compare the impannatori model with business angels, highlighting differences and similarities. In order to assess the importance of impannatori within Prato we draw on ecological theories of organizations and investigate the co‐evolution of impannatori and subcontractors' populations. The empirical evidence we provide is consistent with the hypothesis that the two populations have evolved in symbiosis and that the informal credit provided by impannatori has been crucial for the economic development of Prato. Cet article compare le rôle et les objectifs d'une mise à disposition informelle de capitaux basée sur la confiance (comme dans les districts industriels) et sur le marché. Le premier cas est illustré par les activités des impannatori dans le secteur textile de Prato (près de Florence, Toscane), et le second est associé aux activités des business angels, investisseurs individuels fortunés. Les impannatori sont de véritables chefs d'entreprises du marché; leurs deux fonctions principales sont le lien avec le marché final et la coordination des activités de sous‐traitance. Un autre de leur rôle consiste à financer les sous‐traitants de manière informelle. Les vrais chefs d'entreprise, tels les impannatori de Prato, sont caractéristiques des districts industriels en général. L'article les compare aux business angels, car tous sont des fournisseurs de capitaux non‐institutionnels auprès de petites entreprises et start‐ups, remplaçant souvent le système bancaire ou offrant un financement parallèle. Malgré les multiples études sur les districts industriels italiens, la mise à disposition informelle de capitaux qui y existe a souvent été négligée. L'originalité de l'article est donc d'explorer le rôle des impannatori en tant que fournisseurs de crédit non‐institutionnels auprès des sous‐traitants en vue du fonctionnement et du succès du secteur textile de Prato. Un contexte de confiance permet aux fournisseurs de crédit de réduire le coût des transactions et l'asymétrie de l'information, limitant ainsi le risque associé au prêt informel. C'est pourquoi l'article compare le modèle des impannatori aux business angels, soulignant différences et similitudes. Afin d'évaluer la place des premiers à Prato, il s'inspire des théories écologiques des organisations et examine l'évolution conjointe des impannatori et des sous‐traitants. L'indice empirique ainsi obtenu corrobore l'hypothèse que les deux populations ont évolué en symbiose et que le crédit informel procuré par les impannatori a été essentiel à l'essor économique de Prato.     

Another pragmatic loss reserving method or Bornhuetter-Ferguson revisited

Abstract

The efficiency of an approximate credibility method for predicting outstanding claims in reinsurance, is analysed. The advantage of the approximate method is, that it does not require exact knowledge of the model's second order moments.     

Shedding light on technological development in Brazil

We try to shed some light on the question of why technology-intensive businesses often fail in less-developed countries and under what circumstances they are likely to be a success from the perspective of both domestic and export markets. The answers were drawn from a set of empirical evidences from Brazilian firms applying photonics technologies. Some of the issues faced by them are related to the question of state versus private initiative, entering traditional versus niche market, and technology transfer versus product development management. In overall, we concluded that weakness of the institutions and inadequacy of social and organizational demography play a key role in explaining to a large extent why countries differ in technological development and diffusion. In this context, we point out obstacles, which must be removed in order to make public policies and firm's achievements more efficient.     

Eine Lanze für die Einheit von Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik

Seit langem strebt die Finanzpolitik das Ziel eines ausgeglichenen Haushalts an. Ist dies jeweils mit den übrigen gesamtwirtschaftlichen Zielen vereinbar? Hat es in Deutschland in der Vergangenheit eine Makropolitik aus einem Guss gegeben? Wie sollte eine solche verzahnte Finanzpolitik aussehen? Dr. Walther Otremba, 56, ist Staatssekret?r im Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie. Der Beitrag gibt die pers?nliche Auffassung des Autors wieder.     

Workfare: Eine wirksame Alternative zum Kombilohn

Die hohe Arbeitslosigkeit von Geringqualifizierten ist Gegenstand zahlreicher Vorschl?gen zur L?sung dieses Problems. Worauf beziehen sich die Vorschl?ge im Einzelnen? Welche Besch?ftigungs- und Einkommenseffekte sind mit ihnen verbunden? Wie schneidet das Workfare-Modell im Vergleich dazu ab? Dr. Hilmar Schneider, 49, ist Direktor für Arbeitsmarktpolitik am Institut zur Zukunft der Arbeit in Bonn; Holger Bonin, 38, Dipl.-Volkswirt, ist dort wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter.     

Environmental regulation and love for variety

Using a model of monopolistic competition, we examine the relationship between intra‐industry trade and environmental regulation. The decisions on emission standards set by each country show strong strategic interactions. In closed economies regulations act as strategic substitutes, and in equilibrium there is under‐regulation relative to the cooperative outcome. Trade liberalization may lead to stricter or laxer environmental standards, depending on the consumers’ preference for product variety. In addition, we show that with open trade environmental regulations may act as strategic complements and countries may set environmental standards that are as strict (or stricter) than those in the cooperative outcome.     

Motherhood in migration: schools as acculturation agents

ABSTRACT

Motherhood roles lie at the intersection of gender, professional, family, and social identities and are highly contextualized in culture, making them particularly relevant for acculturation success. We provide an empirical example of how schools act as acculturation agents, using the experiences of career-oriented migrant mothers whose children attend elite private schools in Santiago, Chile. This study contributes to consumer acculturation research and to research on matricentric feminism, which positions mothers’ concerns as the starting point for theories, politics, and practices of empowerment. We employ Turner's notion of root paradigms to discuss how schools maneuver their unique institutional agentic power, acculturating career-oriented migrant mothers and their families into a cultural framework of female domesticity and intensive mothering.     

Give me a two-by-two matrix and I will create the market: Rankings,graphic visualisations and sociomateriality

Scholars have described how rankings can be consequential for the shaping of the economy. The prevailing argument is that they wield influence through encouraging ‘mechanisms of reactivity’ amongst market actors. We ask the question as to whether there are additional agential aspects found within rankings that extend ‘social’ accounts. We suggest that ‘sociomateriality’ is also a significant aspect of a ranking’s influence. Through developing the notion of a ‘ranking device’, we examine how the “format and furniture” of a ranking can mediate and constitute a domain. Drawing on a detailed study of a prominent graphical performance measure from within the information technology (IT) arena, we provide evidence to show that IT markets can be as much a product of the affordances and constraints of ranking devices as any other (non-material) aspects of the ranking. The article integrates literature from Accounting research and Science and Technology Studies to contribute to our understanding of how material things and the economy mutually constitute one another. It also offers one of the first empirical accounts of the sociomaterial construction of a graphical ranking.