Important Coefficients and Structural Change: A Multi-layer Approach

Important coefficients within input–output matrices have been defined in terms of their so-called ‘tolerable limits’. Such coefficients have been utilized as a means to study economic structures. Important coefficients can also be useful for finding the characteristic production structure, based on endogenous information only. Graph theory provides the analytical methods to interpret the results. By applying the method to a series of matrices for one economy, it is possible to establish the structural evolution of that system.     

THE ROLE OF SUPPLY CONSTRAINTS IN MULTIPLIER ANALYSIS

Multiplier analysis based upon the information contained in Leontief's inverse is undoubtedly part of the core of the input–output methodology and numerous applications and extensions have been developed that exploit its informational content, both at the national and regional levels. Nonetheless there are some implicit theoretical assumptions whose policy implications need to be assessed. This is the case for the ‘excess capacity’ assumption, which implies that resources are available as needed to adjust production to new equilibrium states. In an actual economy, however, new resources are often scarce and always costly. When supply constraints intervene, the assessment of the effects of government demand policies may be substantially different from that of the standard Leontief multiplier matrix. Using a closed general equilibrium model that incorporates supply constraints, we perform some simple numerical exercises and proceed to derive two ‘constrained’ multiplier matrices, based upon the implicit Jacobian matrix, that can be compared with the standard ‘unconstrained’ Leontief matrix.     

Thresholds in pareto sets

We use catastrophe theory to discuss the generic ways in which a system determined by the optimization of several real-valued functions, such as a pure exchange economy, can break its stability and make a transition from ‘slow’ to ‘fast’ movement.     

Management-labour relations in the new Chinese economy

This article sets out to cast greater light on employment practices in an emerging ‘socialist market economy’. It is based on empirical research carried out in a range of Chinese enterprises, which are then examined in terms of their management-labour relations, employment practices and human resources. Although the ‘iron rice bowl’ system of job security and ‘cradle-to-grave’ welfare coverage found mainly in state-owned enterprises is now being phased out, the study concludes that the degree of overlap with Sino-foreign joint ventures which are often portrayed as more likely to implement labour market-driven practices, to be as yet only partial.     

Human resource management and organizational strategies in German- and US-owned companies

The development of the international economy over the past twenty years has bred considerable diversity in the form and substance of employment relations (labour-management relations, human resource management practices) throughout the world. Cases of ‘social partnership’ are today found in the ‘free market’ United States economy; some companies operating in Germany's ‘social’ market economy are rejecting traditional forms of social partnership in the name of more unilateral strategies.

This paper examines (a) the extent to which ‘strategic diversity’ – variation in human resource strategies and policies – is possible within the heavily institutionalized, co-operative and codeterminative German economy, and (b) how managers perceive the effects of different kinds of HR approaches on organizational change and industrial adjustment. It is based on empirical evidence drawn from seven large chemicals companies operating in Germany – three of them US-owned firms and four German-owned.

The main conclusions are that considerable strategic diversity is possible within the German context, and that managers perceive distinct costs and benefits to specific aspects of the typically American ‘unilateral’ style and the more German ‘negotiated’ approach to structuring the relationship with human resources. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these trade-offs for the transferability of HR strategies across international borders, giving special attention to policies to avoid some of these potential costs.     

Some approximate equilibria

It is by now well-known that there exists a system of prices at which decentralized, utility-maximizing behavior by a finite number of agents, each with convex preferences, leads to outcomes which ‘mesh’ in the aggregate. Technically, a competitive equilibrium is said to exist. The question arises as to what happens with non-convex preferences. Using Non-standard Analysis, we show that, provided the economy is ‘large’ enough, there exist various formulations of approximate competitive equilibria. We also relate our results to other work in this area.     

Beyond the Global City Concept and the Myth of ‘Command and Control’

The article argues that the lack of convincing empirical evidence for the global economy as being subject to ‘command and control’ results from that contention being a neo‐Marxist myth. First, imagining the global economy as being subject to ‘highly concentrated command’ through the function of some major cities as ‘strategic sites’ for the production of ‘command and control’ is traced back through several neo‐Marxist authors to narrate its genesis, and to argue that the lack of evidence for that proposition is a consequence of those antecedents envisioning capitalism as a totalizing structure, thus making the assumption that it is subject to control and coordination from a distance. Second, Taylor's interlocking world city network model is forensically examined to explain that it is fallacious because it is a structuralism that, bedevilled by a sorites paradox, contains the further problem of containing no credible evidence for the existence of ‘command centres’. Finally, the article moves beyond neo‐Marxism's key concepts by juxtaposing their assumptions with ethnographic results from social studies of finance, a manoeuvre which forges an understanding of cities as socio‐technical assemblages and eventful multiplicities, beyond, inter alia, the baseless assumption that the global economy is subject to ‘command and control’.     

Welcoming Refugees and the Cultural Wealth of Cities: Intersections of Urban Development and Refugee Humanitarianism

In a context of rising nativism, cities across liberal democracies are enacting agendas to ‘welcome’ migrants and refugees. Existing scholarship examines this contentious political geography as reflecting either accommodative or restrictive responses to local immigrant populations. Through this lens, pro‐immigrant policies and dynamics are seen to recognize and support a set of pre‐defined immigrant ‘interests’, with the pertinent question being which local actors initiate processes of incorporation and why. Drawing on urban scholarship, this article offers an alternative framework through an analysis of resettled refugees’ experiences within the ‘welcoming agenda’ of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I show that this agenda is tethered to postindustrial ideologies of urban development, which see building and promoting ‘diversity’ as an economic exigency. As such, locally resettled refugees are incentivized to participate in a ‘symbolic economy’ valuing images of diversity, cosmopolitanism and immigrant contribution. Refugees gain access to resources, recognition and decision makers through participation in this symbolic economy, a process constituting a previously unexamined form of incorporation. I advance the concept of the ‘welcomed refugee’ to organize thinking about this process and call for critical attention to the forms of incorporation fostered in pro‐immigrant, cosmopolitan, substate settings.     

True and fair in the Czech Republic: a note on local perceptions

With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.     

Cities in Contemporary Capitalism

This article outlines essential concepts of the political economy approach of urban research and offers critical modifications and clarifications to some of its contentions concerning the functioning of cities as ‘strategic places’ of capital accumulation. The interrelations between contemporary capitalism and urban economic development are discussed at the scale of a transnationally extended urban system. Based on the general context of the global economic downturn, I focus on the role of cities in distinct circuits of capital, the switching of capital flows within the urban system and the different functional roles of cities within the world city network that interconnects cities both in the global North and South. I call into question the established focus of urban economic research on the role of cities as financial and service centres, arguing that cities might redirect their economic development trajectories towards ‘real economy’ activities, in contrast to relying on the disastrous development model of finance‐dominated capitalism.     

‘Fog in the Channel,continent isolated’: Britain as a model for EU social and economic policy?

A discourse on British ‘exceptionalism’ is currently developing according to which the UK's apparently ‘flexible’ economy should serve as a model for the rest of the EU. This is explored through two case studies concerning the transmission of regulatory practices from the continent to Britain (working time) and vice versa (takeover regulation). We suggest that a UK model of the firm constructed around shareholder value and untrammeled managerial prerogative is unlikely to have much resonance for other European systems, in which the term ‘flexibility’ has different connotations.     

Safe asset shortages and asset price bubbles

We build a model economy in which a shortage of safe assets can create conditions for intrinsically useless ‘safe’ bubble assets to circulate at a positive price. Our environment features infinitely lived individuals who are not subject to credit constraints but who face uninsurable idiosyncratic production risk. Bubbly equilibria exist when safe assets offer real returns below the growth rate of the economy. Bubble assets circulate at a positive price only if they offer returns which are safe relative to production returns. These ‘safe’ bubbles reduce consumption volatility but exert a contractionary effect on the economy.     

Yugoslav ‘self-management’ and industrial relations in transition

This article attempts to examine the changes taking place in the Yugoslav ‘self-management’ and industrial relations system. It looks at the emerging roles of both management and labour in the context of moves to give market factors greater prominence in the economy.     

Effects of Future Demographic Changes on the US Economy: Evidence from a Long-term Simulation Model

Demographics, especially the size and the age composition of the population, contribute substantially to the growth and structure of any economy. Over the next 55 years, the age composition of the US population will change dramatically, as the post-World War II ‘baby boom’ ages into retirement. In this paper, we use a long-term interindustry macro model of the US economy to examine how the age composition of the US population affects overall economic growth as well as the output/employment structure of the economy. We find that the system of funding government commitments to pension and medical care for the elderly is a primary channel through which demographic effects translate into economic effects.     

Cities,Creativities and Urban Creative Economies: Re-descriptions and Make+Shifts from Sub-Saharan Africa

The aim of this symposium is to examine the situation of the creative economy in cities—specifically cities of sub-Saharan Africa. In this introduction we set out the case for the need to ‘re-describe’ the (much derided) phenomenon of the creative city. This task requires clarification of what is understood in academe and policy communities by the term ‘creative economy’, the pronounced growth of this sector, particularly in the global South, and its particular urban character. Secondly, in the face of conceptual and policy confusion we argue for the actually existing, and growing, importance of the urban creative economy. Thirdly, with this ground clearing achieved, we seek to frame, and focus on, the emergence of new research on the urban creative economy. Finally, we use the evidence from the symposium contributions to argue for a reformulation of the creative economy within African sub-Saharan urbanization.     

East German labour market in transition: segmentation and increasing disparity

The employment system of the former GDR–like that of other socialist countries–could be seen as an aggregation of ‘internal labour markets’ with long term employment, internal promotion and little external mobility. Consequently the rapid integration of the East German economy into the western market economy has led to structural problems of the labour market which combined with and intensified the general effects of the sharp decrease in the demand for labour.     

‘Market failure’ arguments are a poor guide to policy

‘Market failure’ is frequently offered as a justification for government intervention in the economy. Proponents of interventions can point to almost limitless examples of markets which do not meet all the criteria for Pareto optimality and argue that government taxation, subsidies or regulation can perfect them, maximising social welfare. But comparing market outcomes with an unattainable and unidentifiable ideal is not useful in a world of imperfect knowledge and government failure. It is better to compare market outcomes against realistic alternatives. Furthermore, even within the market failure paradigm, concepts such as ‘public goods’ and ‘negative externalities’ are routinely misunderstood and inconsistently applied. This leads to predictably poor policy outcomes.     

Home Truths about Care-less Competitiveness

The literature on city-regionalism can be criticized for neglecting the mundane ways that cities and regions are socially reproduced (and contested) through processes of household decision-making and routine coordination. Moreover, dominant debates on macro-scale governance and economic competitiveness rarely question the way strategic city-regional partnerships equate notions of ‘liveability’ with marketability. However ‘smart’, these initiatives persistently fetishize growth, allowing little scope for collective endeavour or an ethic of care — values which Linda McDowell (2004 ) points out are fundamentally undermined by neoliberalism. This paper challenges the ‘top-down’ discourse of city-regionalism both on the grounds of what it examines (economic efficiency and governance) and how this is viewed (partially and globally). The case is made for raising awareness of the structural inequalities which restrict the ‘choice of choices’ actually available to households competing for public services on the basis of uneven resource entitlement. This calls for an understanding of a ‘whole’ economy, recognizing the full value of unpaid care-giving, volunteering and ‘free’ environmental resources.     

DEBATES AND DEVELOPMENTS. Competitive Cities and Secure Nations: Conflict and Convergence in Urban Waterfront Agendas after 9/11

In this exploratory article we investigate how longstanding ‘competitive city’ projects are actively reshaped by recent national security initiatives in urban waterfronts. We argue that port districts in large waterfront cities are becoming critical sites where actors are struggling to further different agendas. While proponents of competitive city projects appear directly concerned with promoting a particular vision of capitalist urban development in contrast to the national security agenda of port and border securitization, we contend that a simple dichotomy between ‘economy’ and ‘security’ cannot capture their complex intermingling. We examine the emergent public discourses of port (in)security in the US and Canada since 9/11, paying particular attention to the convergences between port security and waterfront gentrification initiatives, while also noting conflicts between these agendas. We identify four key areas of change: relations of power in the governance of port spaces, rationales of urban planning decisions, physical redesign of urban port spaces, and conflicts between ‘economy’ and ‘security’. Post 9/11 port security initiatives are sometimes at odds and other times at ease with the competitive city agendas that are readily apparent in urban waterfront redevelopments. Both projects have disturbing implications for social justice in waterfront cities.     

International pharmaceutical supply prices: Definitions — problems — policy implications

In cases where the buyer and the seller of goods and services are companies belonging to the same group the prices charged for goods and services are called ‘international delivery prices’ or ‘international transfer prices’. The peculiarities of research-based companies are such that attempts to ascertain in practice what constitutes an ‘appropriate’ international delivery price are beset by a number of problems. Any scheme that is devised to solve the problems of international transfer prices should feature general ‘rules’ on how the various countries ought to share in central costs. As international transfer prices are a prerequisite for an efficient world economy based on the division of labour an agreement should be reached on the design and content of suitable delivery price systems for a research-intensive industry.