Growth Potential for Maritime Trade and Ports in Europe

Global economic development in recent decades has been characterised by a rapidly progressing intensification in world trade and the international division of labour. As a result of the expansive development of international merchandise trade, cargo shipping has been one of the fastest growing economic sectors. The progressive global integration processes, the future reduction in trade barriers and the expected increase in prosperity in numerous regions of the world will also call for a marked expansion in world trade and cargo shipping. This designates maritime logistics as an economic sector with favourable perspectives for development. What growth rates can be expected for EU maritime trade? And what impact will these have on Europe’s ports? This article is based on the HWWI and Berenberg Bank study “Maritime Trade and Transport Logistics” published in 2007.     

Potential economic variables and actual economic policies in Europe

Ignoring for a moment the debate on whether balanced budget rules are a sensible idea from a macroeconomic point of view, there remains a major problem with tying one’s fiscal policy to econometric estimates of potential variables: their notorious unreliability. With every one of its biannual economic forecasts, the EC provides revised estimates of structural parameters that are crucial components of its macroeconometric models and, by extension, its economic policy advice. This article shows that the EC’s econometric estimates of potential growth variables in Europe have been subject to massive revisions since the financial crisis.     

Learning to Be Job Ready: Strategies for Greater Social Inclusion in Public Sector Employment

‘Learning to be job ready’ (L2BJR) was a pilot scheme involving 16 long-term unemployed people from a range of backgrounds being offered a 6-month paid placement within the care department of a city council in Northern England. The project was based on a partnership with the largest college in the city specialising in post-16 education and training for residents and employees. The college targeted people as potential candidates for the programme through their prior attendance on or interest in care courses at the college, rather than the council employing more traditional methods of recruitment. Surveys, focus groups and interviews were utilised to capture the views and experiences of the participants, project workers and line managers, and also evidence of the project’s impact on service delivery in the care department. The article adds to our conceptual and practical knowledge of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the public sector in three distinct ways. From a social and business perspective, the findings of the research highlight a potentially more robust strategy for matching long-term unemployed citizens to training and job opportunities in the public sector than is otherwise possible through the more conventional route of the job centre. Secondly, through this approach and with appropriate pre-training, a greater understanding of and empathy for the service users can be developed in the new organisational members, strengthening the subsequent ethical delivery and quality of the service. Finally, a re-conceptualisation of Carroll’s influential model of CSR, which also specifically incorporates the ethical and social inclusion duties of public sector organisations not only as service providers but also as potential employers, offers a more tailored paradigm for understanding this unique yet under-researched element of CSR theory and practice.     

The Ethics of Discrimination: Organizational Mindsets and Female Employment Disadvantage

Negative gender-role stereotypes con-tinue to pervade the careers of many women. The current study examines the careers of female National Health Service (NHS) nurses in the United Kingdom. The study identifies organizational mindsets which militate against women's career advancement. These mindsets form the basis of the "ethic of discrimination" which both maintains and perpetuates unequal outcomes for women in NHS nursing. We examine the implications for management in promoting non-discriminatory decision making, and the barriers that are faced in overcoming the "ethic of discrimination".     

市场化条件下的妇女就业及其劳动权益保护——对上海非公有制企业女工的调查

根据复旦大学人口研究所2002年的调查资料,介绍上海市非公有制企业女工的工资报酬、她们所享有的一般劳动权益和特殊劳动保护权益.在市场化条件下,现有的法律和法规对妇女劳动权益的保护作用呈现减弱的趋势.呼吁全社会在关心妇女就业的同时,必须以极大的热情关注妇女劳动权益的保护.     

市场化条件下的妇女就业及其劳动权益保护--对上海非公有制企业女工的调查

根据复旦大学人口研究所2002年的调查资料,介绍上海市非公有制企业女工的工资报酬、她们所享有的一般劳动权益和特殊劳动保护权益.在市场化条件下,现有的法律和法规对妇女劳动权益的保护作用呈现减弱的趋势.呼吁全社会在关心妇女就业的同时,必须以极大的热情关注妇女劳动权益的保护.     

Female Representation on Corporate Boards in Europe: The Interplay of Organizational Social Consciousness and Institutions

Journal of Business Ethics - We examine the role of alignment between organizational social consciousness and the informal and formal institutions of a country in increasing female representation...     

The Global Economic Crisis and The Effect of Immigrant Workers on Native‐born Employment in Europe

The debate regarding the economic effects of employing immigrants has attracted renewed interest in European countries since the economic crisis. We provide an approximation of the labour market effects of immigrant workers in four European countries during the global economic crisis after briefly analysing native and foreign‐born worker conditions for the most recent period. Our analysis focuses on the correlation between the stock of immigrant workers and the number of native labour market workers across several segments of the labour market using a simple model approach. Using Eurostat and LFS (Labour Force Survey) data, we estimate a structural dynamic model using the generalised method of moments (GMM) to examine adjustment dynamics in the labour market and labour market segment and worker educational levels, countries of origin and genders. Overall, the empirical results suggest that immigrant labour force effects on native‐born worker employment rates have been persistent and but weak throughout the business cycle. These effects are globally positive, and immigrant origins do not appear to change the nature of their impact. We offer some explanations for these findings related to dual labour markets and to differences in levels of substitution among native and immigrant workers.     

物流从业人员的需求状况及必备素质

<正>随着经济全球化和信息技术的迅速发展以及企业生产资料的获取与产品经营范围的日趋扩大,社会生产、货物流通、商品交易及其管理方式正在发生深刻变革。现代物流作为一种先进的组织方式和管理技术,     

Employment Generation Potential of New, Technology-Based Firms During a Recessionary Period: The Case of Finland

This article analyzes the employment generation potential of new, technology-based firms during a recessionary period. The empirical data is from Finland, a country that was hit particularly hard by the economic recession between years 1990 and 1993. In spite of the recession, the number of NTBFs (new, technology-based firms) rose by 17% from 1986 to 1993. In traditional manufacturing industry branches, the overall employment fell by as much as 33% during the same period. Alternative hypotheses to explain the increase in the importance of NTBFs are presented and discussed in the light of research findings. Both flexible specialization and recession-push hypotheses receive support in the empirical data.     

提高我国化工产业国际竞争力的对策

随着我国国民经济各部门建设的迅猛发展,我国化工产业的生产和对外贸易均有了很大的发展。但是,我国化工产业的外贸一直处于逆差状态。入世在给我国化工产业带来机遇的同时,也带来新的挑战。我国化工产业应尽快调整产业结构,加快技术升级,重视规模经济,调整外贸战略,加强反倾销意识,以提高国际竞争力。     

Ageing in Europe

For many people all over Europe, there is an understanding and an expectation that in old age they will be taken care of by the state. High social security contributions throughout the three or four decades of a working life are rationalised by the prospect of a straightforward transition out of the labour force when the time comes. While this was a reasonable expectation in decades past, a number of factors have combined to cause people all across the continent to feel very anxious about what awaits them once it is time to exit the labour force into retirement. The well-documented demographic transition of many rich European countries is a big factor, as greying populations start to weigh on the sparser younger generations, leading to increasing dependency ratios that would cause any social security system to buckle. The Great Recession has not helped matters, and the austerity measures still crippling many vulnerable European nations will not make anyone in these countries feel optimistic about their post-working lives. The following papers look at different threads of the new reality of ageing in Europe, from pension reform and prolonging the working life to more qualitative aspects such as an analysis of the quality of life of the elderly across Europe. They serve to inform and advise on an important issue that will affect everyone in Europe at some point in their lives.     

Entrepreneurship in Europe

This article focuses on the changes in attitude and venture capital provision that the author believes are necessary to rekindle the spirit of entrepreneurship in Europe. The article goes on to discuss technology clusters and the role of stock markets. It then describes the way the Cambridge-based Amadeus venture capital company sets about the venture capital process. It concludes with a plea for entrepreneurship centres to be set up in each university and for some changes in government policy.     

新时期农民工在就业中的教育问题分析

随着城市化进程的加快,我国农民工群体日益扩大,逐渐成为城市中一个特殊而重要的群体,农民工在流动就业过程中产生的大量需求,催生了一个巨大的就业服务市场,同时也给过去主要面向城市劳动者的就业服务和职业培训工作带来了挑战.正是在这样的背景下,以农民工对象的就业服务和职业培训应运而生.从技术培训的实效性、就业导向的前瞻性和职业精神的思想性等方面分析研究现实情况的各种问题,并提出调整改进措施.为解决好农民工的培训问题提供参考.     

Global mobility orientation and the success of self-initiated expatriates in Greater China

We investigated 640 self-initiated expatriate academics residing in Greater China. We examined whether their inherent demographic characteristics (age/gender) and acquired demographic characteristics (marital status/seniority) differentiated their work outcomes regarding job adjustment, time to proficiency, performance and satisfaction. We also explored the associations between global mobility orientation and these four work outcomes and examined to what extent the demographic characteristics differentiated the relationships. Results support most hypothesized differences. We found that a global mobility orientation was associated with all the work outcomes, except satisfaction. For inherent demographic characteristics, we found support for our hypotheses that for individuals with less successful demographics (younger, male), there was a stronger relationship between global mobility orientation and the work outcomes.     

Europe and the world

Michelle Egan. 2001. Constructing a European Market. Standards, Regulation and Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 362 pages; ISBN 0‐9‐24405‐7. Brigid Gavin. 2001. The European Union and Globalization; Towards Global Democratic Governance. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. 242 pages; ISBN 1‐84064‐005‐7. Patrick A. Messerlin. 2001. Measuring the Costs of Protection in Europe: European Commercial Policies in the 2000s. Washington: Institute for International Economics. 370 pages; ISBN 0‐88132‐273‐3.     

Europe and the crisis

The crises in various emerging markets have affected Europe less than other parts of the world economy. This is largely because intra-regional relations dominate foreign trade and direct investment of EU countries. Yet, ongoing economic turbulences involve risks also for Europe. The author appreciates comments suggestions by Rolf J. Langhammer and Joachim Scheide.