Short reviews

Centre for Employment Research, 1990: Ethnic Minority Businesses and Employment in Greater Manchester. Manchester: Greater Manchester Economic Development Officers Ltd, no price stated.

The National Economic Development Council, 1990: Working for Pleasure -Tourism and Leisure Tomorrow. London: NEDO, £15.00 Report, £35.00 Conference Papers.

John Freeman, Frank Gaffikin and Mike Morrissey, 1989: The Irish Economies: A Common Future? Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, Belfast. No price given.

Morrissey, H. 1989: Women in Ireland: The Impact of 1992. The Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union.

Gorman. G. 1989: School-Industry Links. London: Kogan Page.

Brewster, C. and Teague, P. 1989: European Community Social Policy-Its Impact on the UK. Institute of Personnel Management, £30.00 cloth.     

Quality Defined by Public Service Users—The Case of the Avon Probation Service

Avon Probation Service and Bristol Business School have developed a means of assessing user-defined quality of service provision. Building on that work, this article reports on an attempt to involve 'consumers' in devising criteria by which they can judge the performance of a public service. It begins with a review of the debate about quality in public service management, arguing that it is a mistake to import uncritically 'business' approaches to quality into the public services. The impossibility of defining a uniform set of expectations of the probation service's role is a major reason why conventional notions of quality cannot be grafted directly on to public service management. The case study of the probation service suggests broader lessons for public services which wish to involve users in addressing quality issues.     

Do All Foreign Direct Investment Inflows Benefit the Local Economy?

The present study measures the impact of FDI inflows on the local economies of the US states that receive most of the FDI inflows in the country. It appears that FDI inflows in manufacturing have rather weak effects on local employment and wages in most of the states in the sample. However, these results are primarily due to the industry composition of the FDI. FDI inflows in Printing and Publishing, Transportation Equipment and Instruments have positive effects on local employment and wages, while FDI inflows in Leather and Stone/Clay/Glass have detrimental effects on local labour markets in most of the states in the sample. These findings indicate the importance of industry characteristics in evaluating the effects of FDI inflows on local communities. Also, they emphasise the need for US states to selectively target and attract FDI inflows in specific industries.     

DIVERSIFICATION IN THE REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO

This study investigates primarily the relationship between portfolio size and the reduction of return variation in real estate portfolios and attempts to provide some notion of what represents an “adequate” level of naive diversification. The study also examines the proportional components of the total risk in real estate investment. The results provide information on the relative percentage of total risk accounted for by systematic or “market” factors.     

Longevity and the life-cycle of management buy-outs

The longevity debate about buy-outs has hitherto been restricted. By focusing on large highly leveraged transactions, existing research has taken only a partial view of how long buy-outs last and the factors influencing longevity. This paper develops and tests hypotheses concerning the influences on buy-out longevity across the whole spectrum of management buy-out applications. Both quantitative and case study evidence from the U. K. is presented. A heterogeneity view of buy-outs is supported. Tests using quantitative data show that earlier exit is associated with larger buy-outs, and buy-outs arising on privatization from the public sector and from non-U. K. parents. Case study evidence principally supports hypotheses that earlier exit is associated with financing institutions being in a relatively stronger position than management and with more rapidly changing market conditions for the firm.     

“Regional questions”

Publications Reviewed:

Royal Town Planning Institute, 1986: Strategic Planning for Regional Potential. A discussion document.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 1986: Regional Policy-A Fresh Approach.

Armstrong, H. and Taylor, J. 1987: Regional Policy: The Way Forward. The Employment Institute.

Northern Region Councils Association, 1986: The State of the Northern Region.

South East Economic Development Strategy (SEEDS), 1987: South-South Divide. An exposition of the SEEDS project.     

An Empirical Study of Volatility in Seven Southeast Asian Stock Markets Using ARV Models

This paper investigates the volatility persistence, volatility variability from day to day and transmission of volatility in seven Southeast Asian stock markets from 1980 to 1991 using the ARV approach. We found strong evidence that shocks to volatility are persistent in Taiwan. Moreover, the Stock Exchange of Thailand Daily Index has the strongest interday volatility fluctuation. Instantaneous causality of volatility among six of the seven markets (except Seoul) was discovered. Besides, there is significant volatility spillover effect from Hong Kong to Taiwan, Malaysia to Singapore and Singapore to Malaysia in the period 1980 to 1991.