Consumer workers as immaterial labour in the converging media markets: three value‐creation practices

This paper takes a practice‐based approach to consumer studies and focuses on the strategic and productive roles that consumers play as immaterial labour or consumer workers in the converging media markets. Based on a case study of a print media organization and its customers, the aim is to discuss the collaborative practices through which value is created in the market. By means of a textual analysis of online and interview data, three value‐creation practices are abstracted and illustrated: constructing a sense of belonging and collective identity, mutual helping and peer support, and building pride and self‐respect. Overall, the paper suggests that in global media environments, consumer‐customers are playing increasingly significant strategic roles in the practices and processes through which value is co‐created in the market. It is therefore concluded that the idea of consumers, and media audiences in particular, as recipients of communication and targets of marketing activities needs to be problematized and the dynamic strategic roles that consumers currently play in the market need to be acknowledged and actively incorporated into the business praxis of media corporations.     

Geographical location and urbanisation of the Swedish manufacturing industry, 1900–1960: evidence from a new database

Abstract

This article introduces a new database, based on official statistics, of regional manufacturing industries in Sweden. We employ this database to examine the distribution of manufacturing activity across Swedish regions and cities, 1900–1960. Over this period we observe an increasing concentration of manufacturing activities, reaching a peak around 1940, across the northern, southern and western parts (NUTS-I areas) of Sweden. Over the same period, the North-South divide in terms of manufacturing employment grew larger. Across counties (NUTS-III) and cities we, however, observe two shorter periods of convergence of manufacturing activities, in the early twentieth century and in the post-war period, whereas the inter-war period was characterised by divergence. These developments occurred to the backdrop of the urbanisation of industry in Sweden, as the rural share of manufacturing employment declined from roughly 60 to 25% between 1900 and 1960. We also find that the regional patterns of individual industries over time followed different trajectories, suggesting that that the determinants of industry location differed significantly across industries.     

Books and publications received

ABSTRACT

Economic theory predicts that regional wages will converge as transport and communication technologies bring labour markets together. An exploration of this transition from labour market segmentation to unification requires long-term evidence of nominal wages and cost of living by region. This paper presents new evidence of wages for male manufacturing workers and cost-of-living indices across 24 Swedish counties between 1860 and 2009. Our findings indicate that the Swedish regional wage differentials were a great deal larger in the 1860s than in the 2000s. Most of the compression took place between the 1860s and World War I, as well as in the 1930s and during World War II. Differences in expenditures on housing impact on our assessment of convergence in the post-World War II decades: the nominal measure declines, while the real one stays constant. Our concluding discussion engages with the assumption that before World War I, regional wage convergence was associated with labour mobility, spurred by improved communication and transportation technologies as well as by the implementation of modern employment contracts. In the 1930s and 1940s, in contrast, regional wage convergence can be traced to high unionisation and centralised collective bargaining in the labour market, two distinguishing features of the Swedish Model.     

Assessing economic convergence in the EU: is there a perspective for the ‘cohesion countries’?

This article analyses the stochastic income convergence within the EU-15. The empirical analysis uses per capita GDP, in PPP and in constant prices of 2005 for the period 1950 to 2010. Apart from the traditional DF type tests we also account for possible structural changes. In this direction, we employ the Zivot-Andrews (1992) and the Lee-Strazicich (1999, 2003) testing procedures, for one and two breaks, endogenously determined. Furthermore, we apply the Carlino and Mills (1993) methodology proposed for the detection of β-convergence. The overall evidence supports the existence of two discrete clubs, the first by the ‘cohesion countries’ (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) and the second by the remaining members. In particular, there is a clear evidence of convergence within each club, whereas between clubs there is a luck of catching-up effects. Furthermore, investigation of correlation between relative per capita GDP of each country and several factors that are often identified as growth stimulants, namely Total Factor Productivity, FDI, investment and openness confirm, with the exception of Greece, a strong association between these factors and the convergence process. However, progress in the convergence has not been uniform across countries and over time, reflecting the specific interactions between domestic and international factors and their impact on the convergence process of individual countries.     

我国电信行业三网融合问题研究

随着信息技术和我国信息产业的发展,电信网、因特网、有线电视网的三网融合已成必然趋势.文章介绍了国外国家三网融合的经验,分析了我国三网融合的现状与存在的主要问题,提出应打破行业垄断,尽快使单一运营商向综合信息服务商转型.     

违约损害赔偿制度的比较法研究

英关普通法和大陆民法法系在违约救济措施上存在较大的差异。英美法院选择判决损害赔偿，充分发挥金钱的弥补作用；而大陆法系国家更多地是判令违约方实际履行。在司法实践中对违约损害赔偿的归类上，英美法系和大陆法系采纳的标准不同，但基本上可以划分为实际损害和期待利益的丧失两类。在对违约损害赔偿的目的、违约损害赔偿适用的限制上，两大法系在立法及司法上表现出极大的趋同倾向。     

中国农业生产率增长的地区差距与收敛性分析

在利用非参数的DEA曼奎斯特生产率指数方法对中国农业全要素生产率进行求解的基础上，论文运用经济增长收敛理论对农业TFP（Total Factor Productivity）增长在1978～2005年转型期的收敛性情况进行检验，这包括从σ收敛、绝对β收敛到条件β收敛的全面检验。论文基本结论表明，整个转型期中国农业TFP增长并不存在显著的σ收敛和绝对β收敛性，但存在显著的条件β收敛性。论文最终还认为，通过一定政策性措施来实现中国农业TFP增长的绝对收敛是可能的。     

正项级数收敛性的判别法的进一步研究

用初等方法深入研究了正向级数判别法,基于比值判别法和根值判别法判别法思想,研究了更高精度判别法,给出不断提高精度的判别法的构造思想以及一般性定理。