African economic development in a comparative perspective

Conventional explanations of poor African economic performancegenerally fail to pay adequate attention to causal mechanismsof growth, decline and stagnation. Many African countries experiencedinvestment booms after independence but, in contrast to EastAsian newly industrialising economies, these were not sustainedowing to failure to establish a virtuous growth circle involvingcomplementary increases in savings and exports. Structural adjustmentprogrammes dismantled stat-mediated mechanisms of accumulationwithout putting viable alternatives in place, and failed totackle the structural constraints which impede productivitygrowth in agriculture. A new policy approach, drawing on theexperience of both post-colonial and adjustment periods, isnecessary.     

Strategic management perspectives on supply chain

In the second decade of the twenty-first century, supply chain management (SCM) practices have gained an increasingly strategic character. The focus has shifted from an operational perspective to a strategic one, and SCM is repeatedly cited in the literature as a strategic management tool with a profound effect on the survival of the organizations. SCM domain is well-supported to be closely linked with a number of strategic management views and theories. This study investigates the main strategic management views and theories relevant to SCM and their interactions. It reveals how they complementarily explain supply chain management characteristics of being customer-driven, process-oriented, global, strategically coupled, complex, dynamic, adaptive, multi-agent, IT-intensive, value creating, collaborative and networked. Based on a comprehensive literature taxonomy, a mapping of the main supply chain characteristics to these management views and theories is provided. A conceptual clustering of different management perspectives is developed, and their interactions are analyzed.

     

Long-run dynamics between trade liberalization and income inequality in the European Union: a second generation approach

Empirica - The surprisingly limited literature investigating whether there exists a long-run association between trade liberalization and income inequality finds strong evidence for it. We point...