The “Third World” in the 1990s

Given that the developing countries today present a highly differentiated picture, is it appropriate to continue to speak of a “Third World”? If so, how does this group of countries appear to the present-day observer? What is their position within the world economy? What problems and challenges are they facing?     

European and world energy perspectives: the 1980s and 1990s

Substantial successes have been achieved since 1973 in increasing energy efficiency and substituting other fuels for oil. However, reliance on oil and oil imports remains high. The temporary easing on the oil market must not lead to complacency as any relaxation in energy policy efforts may well contribute to provoking the next oil price shock.     

International Cartel Enforcement: Lessons from the 1990s

The enforcement record of the 1990s has demonstrated that international private cartels are neither relics of the past nor do they always fall quickly under the weight of their own incentive problems. Of a sample of forty cartels prosecuted by the United States and European Inion in the 1990s, twenty‐four cartels lasted at least four years. And for the twenty of the cartels in this sample where sales data are available, the annual worldwide sales in the affected products exceeded US$30 billion. Prevailing national competition policies are oriented towards addressing harm done in domestic markets, and in some cases merely prohibit cartels without taking strong enforcement measures. In this paper we propose a sequence of reforms to national policies and to international cooperation that will strengthen the deterrents against international cartels. Furthermore, aggressive prosecution of cartels must be complemented by vigilance in other areas of competition policy. If not, firms will respond to the enhanced deterrents to cartelisation by merging or by taking other measures that lessen competitive pressures.     

Marketing's agenda for the 1990s

Companies must master six specific issues to achieve market leadership in this decade. Successfully applying these six make-or-break issues can shape an organization's marketing strategy and boost its bottom line.     

Technological Innovation and Brand Management: The Japanese Watch Industry since the 1990s

This article discusses the transformation of the Japanese consumer electronics industry since the late 1990s. Based on an analysis of the three largest watch companies (Seiko, Citizen, and Casio), it demonstrates that these firms shifted from technology-driven management to a new model focused on marketing (brand management and distribution) and upper-positioning targeting. The change has been only partial, however, as technological innovation remains the basis of branding and product development. This case study thus contributes to the discourse on the transformation of Japanese manufacturing.     

A Need for Quality Services in the 1990s:

All service organizations need to be concerned about globalization and successful growth in the ever changing economic environment. Service companies in the midwest part of the United States were surveyed to determine how managers and their subordinates actually felt about the concept of "innovation through total quality." A discrepancy between the perception of total quality as a means to achieve sustainable advantage and the actual implementation of such a strategy was perceived. Some conclusions posed were that managers need to invest more in promoting quality by increasing training, measuring the efforts of individuals within the organization more effectively, and rewarding these individuals with higher compensation for superior performance.     

Trade Reform and Inequality: The Case of Mexico and Argentina in the 1990s

This paper provides empirical assessments of one of the leading explanations for the increase in skill premium in Mexico and Argentina during the 1990s: trade liberalisation. We present evidence showing that imports increase skill premium in Mexico, while exports reduce it. In Argentina, trade increased skill premium in the early 1990s (the beginning of trade reforms), although it reduced it later in the decade. These results are helpful for a comparison between South–South integration, FTAA or bilateral FTAs with Northern economies as alternative trade policy options for Latin American countries.     

台湾地区公营银行民营化与我国银行业改革

在台湾地区银行民营化的过程中,公营银行民营化一直是难点和重点。公营银行民营化需要利率、汇率及整个金融制度相配合,借鉴台湾地区公营银行民营化的经验和教训,我国目前还不具备公营银行民营化的条件。     

The development finance challenges facing Latin America in the 1990s

Growth in Latin America in the 1980s was much slower than it had been in previous decades and real resource transfer has been negative since 1983. What are the chances that this situation will change in the nineties? Where can the necessary development finance come from? Can bottlenecks be avoided?     

Brand‐building in the 1990s

This paper argues that now is the time to consider how one should seek to apply marketing principles and practice in an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing environment. In essence, the thesis is that as it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain an objective comparative advantage over one's competitors so it will become increasingly important to position organizations as “brands” in the minds of actual and potential customers.     

Alcohol Advertising Controls in the 1990s

Public health campaigners have criticized the British system for the regulation of alcohol advertising, which relies on several distinct codes of practice governing different media. This paper looks at the options for change, in the light of the economic, political and technological factors that will influence the development of the UK's alcohol advertising policy in the 1990s. The available evidence on the costs and benefits of alternative policies is reviewed, drawing on the Addiction Research Centre's multi-disciplinary programme of work undertaken at the Universities of Hull and York. While there is some evidence that a ban on alcohol advertising would have a marginal effect on overall consumption, it is argued that legislative intervention is no longer feasible. Technological innovation and global pressures for deregulation have made it difficult for national governments to ban the advertising of any one product. At the same time, however, it is feared that commercial pressures resulting from the introduction of satellite broadcasting and the increased competition for advertising revenues could undermine the existing self-regulatory system and exert a downwards pressure on advertising standards. It is suggested that the way forward lies in developing a strong self-regulatory system throughout Europe.     

A development strategy for the 1990s

The United Nations Committee for Development Planning (CDP) in its annual report has attempted to formulate a development strategy for the 1990s. We have asked Udo E. Simonis, a member of the CDP, to summarize the main findings and recommendations of that report. The full report will be issued asOfficial Records of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.     

Japan's Fiscal Policies in the 1990s

This paper first summarises Japan's fiscal policies in the 1990s. Then, we investigate the macroeconomic impact of government debt and the sustainability problem. We find that the Keynesian fiscal policy in the 1990s was not effective and fiscal sustainability may therefore become a serious issue. We also estimate the optimal level of deficits and evaluate fiscal reconstruction movements. It is shown that the actual deficit exceeded the optimal level in the late 1990s. We then inspect fiscal reconstruction movements in the Hashimoto Administration in 1997 and find that the major factor of recession in 1997 was not fiscal consolidation. An important lesson from Japan's fiscal policies in the 1990s is that long‐run structural reform is more important than short‐run Keynesian policy.     

Derivative Ruination in the 1990s: Les Apparences sont Trompeuses

A spectacular financial revolution spanning 20 years created new securities deriving from other securities, which trade in volumes of trillions of dollars in markets, now thought to be the largest and more important in the world. Known as swaps, swaptions, index futures, puttable bonds, collateralized mortgage obligations, stripped bonds, options, and futures, among other exotic names, these financial contracts were designed as a means of laying off risk involving conventional business transactions. This article details massive abuses in the proper use of these insurance products, which resulted in billions of dollars of speculation losses suffered by Procter & Gamble, Gibson Greeting Cards, Orange County California, Metallgesellschaft AG, various‐public employees' retirement funds—and which brought down one of Europe's oldest merchant banks, Barings PLC. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

US Manufacturing in the Early 1990s: the Chase and Challenge

This article, based on a chapter in a forthcoming book, starts by outlining the strengths and weaknesses of US manufacturing processes by comparison with the international competition. It then goes on to discuss the lessons which emerging theory and practice can offer managers in their efforts to improve competitiveness.