The climacteric in late victorian Britain and France: A reappraisal of the evidence

The paper investigates the question of whether the trend rate of growth of GDP slowed down in Britain or France in the nineteenth century. We establish that real GDP belongs to the trend-stationary process class of time-series in each case rather than the difference-stationary process and using Kalman filter techniques, analyse trends in a model incorporating time-varying parameters without specifying breakpoints in advance. We find, contrary to the literature, that neither country experienced a climacteric. Our results suggest that economic historians have been prone to exaggerated views of variations in trend economic growth.     

Accident risk,gender, family status and occupational choice in the UK

Many studies show that women are more risk averse than men. In this paper, following DeLeire and Levy [Deleire T. and Levy H. (2004) ‘Worker Sorting and the Risk of Death on the Job’, Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 210–217.] for the US, we use family structure as a proxy for the degree of risk aversion to test the proposition that those with strong aversion to risk will make occupational choices biased towards safer jobs. In line with DeLeire and Levy we find that women are more risk averse than men and those that are single with children are more risk averse than those without. The effect on the degree of gender segregation is somewhat smaller than for the US.     

Human resource malpractice: the deregulation of health and safety at work in the USA and Britain

Business deregulation has been an important and growing component of governmental policy in recent years, and workplace health and safety has not been immune from such pressures. The article analyses the origins and aims of the deregulation campaigns in the USA and Britain, the attitudes of employers and unions, and suggests that the issue is unlikely to disappear.     

Immigration and occupational status: A study of Bangladeshi and Turkish fathers and sons in the London labour market

This paper examines the labour market experience of 300 fathers and 300 of their sons in the Bangladeshi and Turkish immigrant communities in various London boroughs in 1988. Probit estimates are made in relation to employment and unemployment, self-employment and employment, and upward mobility or lack of it. Human capital regressions are also run for each of the four groups and for the combined sample. The evidence is consistent with distinctive labour market experience among the various groups.     

The development of industrial accounting in Britain and France before 1880: a comparative study of accounting literature and practice1

This paper sets out to examine the development, in Britain and France prior to 1880, of industrial accounting, defined for the purposes of this paper as the practice of cost calculation within an accounting system based on double entry bookkeeping. Similarities and differences between the two countries in regard to the development of an appropriate accounting literature and accounting practice are identified, and various explanations for the findings are explored. A close link is found to exist between the timing of the process of industrialization and the development of industrial accounting in each country, but it is suggested that economic factors alone do not provide a full explanation for the similarities and differences observed.     

Britain,EMU and the European economy

In January 1999, 11 member countries of the European Union ‘irrevocably’ locked the foreign exchange values of their currencies to the euro, and they committed themselves to abandon their currencies in favour of the euro in 2002. As a result, these countries ceased to operate independent monetary policies. Monetary policy for the whole euro‐zone became the responsibility of the European Central Bank (ECB), whose primary objective is to maintain a low and stable rate of price inflation for the euro currency. The rules governing Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) were laid down in the treaty of Maastricht in 1992. As conditions for entry to EMU, the treaty specified ‘convergence criteria’ which consisted of upper limits for several macroeconomic aggregates including, notably, a 3 per cent maximum for the ratio of the public sector deficit to GDP and 60 per cent for the ratio of public debt to GDP.1 In February 1998 the 11 applicant countries submitted statistical analyses relating to their satisfaction of these conditions. Despite doubts as to whether some of them had strictly met the conditions, the European Commission deemed them all eligible, and the euro was launched.2 The British government, though more clearly eligible than most other EU countries on the basis of the convergence criteria, decided to defer its decision on entry. In this paper we consider the arguments for and against Economic and Monetary Union, and in particular whether it would be in Britain’s interest to join. We begin with a brief review of the state of the European economy and an analysis of the first year performance of the new Euro currency. 1 Upper limits were also set on the rate of inflation, at 1.5 percentage points above the average inflation rate of the three countries whose inflation was the lowest, and on long term interest rates, at 2 percentage points above the average of the rates prevailing in the three low inflation countries. An additional condition applied to exchange rate stability relative to the EU average for the two years prior to entry.
1 Notable cases were Belgium and Italy with debt to GDP ratios of 122.2 per cent and 121.6 per cent, respectively. Presumably, these countries were allowed membership under Article 104c(2) of the treaty which allows the debt to GDP ratio to be exceeded if ‘. . . the ratio is sufficiently diminishing and approaching 60 per cent at a satisfactory pace’. The reader is left to judge whether Belgium and Italy fell within the ‘spirit’ of this article.
     

Regulation in a political economy: explaining limited commitment and the ratchet effect

Abstract. This paper shows that in a political economy with repeated elections governments that possess full commitment behave as if their commitment is limited. Two different endogenous versions of the ratchet effect obtain: If contracts of previous governments tie newly elected governments, governments are unable to resist renegotiation. If previous contracts do not bind new governments and taxation has a crowding–out effect, a ratchet effect occurs that is similar, but not identical to the standard ratchet effect that is due to intertemporal non–commitment. Social welfare may be higher in the latter case, when the governing party is allowed to use bonds. Received: March 14, 2000     

Britain, the EU and the global economy

Britain should retain a global outlook in its political and economic affairs. Whilst recognising her proximity to and trade relations with Europe, it is argued that in order to compete on the world stage Britain should adopt a more flexible economy along American lines as a contrast to the European model. Importantly, this means retaining economic and political sovereignty.     

Employment flexibility,unions and companies in France

Employment flexibility–eg in relation to easier dismissal and the removal of most restrictions on temporary work–has grown in France during the eighties. This article traces and discusses its consequences for labour relations, collective bargaining and the labour movement.     

Accounting,economics and management in France: the slow emergence of an 'accounting science'

The relationship (or what might be better described as the absence of a relationship) between accounting, economics and management is an important feature of a French tradition built on a society in which accountants have been regarded as the ‘poor relations’ of the business community. This pattern is presented in the second part of the title of this article as ‘the slow emergence of an accounting science’. French business traditions have influenced accounting mainly through the property rights established by the French Revolution. The French bourgeoisie's concern with inheritance gave rise to a form of accounting which emphasized the balance sheet and inventory valuation, rather than cash flow analysis. Throughout the 19th century accounting in France was taught as a technical subject, secondary to the ‘noble’ disciplines such as engineering, law and later, economics. In the mid-20th century, the state, via the ‘Conseil National de la Comptabilité’ (the National Accounting Council) laid down accounting principles under the ‘Plan Comptable’. The separation between financial accounting and cost accounting reflected that between entrepreneurs or owners on the one hand and engineers or administrators on the other. Unlike the Anglo-Saxon countries, France did not recognize accountancy as a profession in its own right until recently. Recent years have seen a radical transformation of French accounting policies and conventions under the combined influence of the emerging requirements of financial markets, the globalization of business and the growing independence of the accountancy profession.     

Entrepreneurial Opportunities of Refugees in Germany,France, and Ireland: Multiple Embeddedness Framework

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - Recently, the entrepreneurial potential of refugees has received growing attention from scholars and policymakers. However, the literature on...     

The role of cash flows and accruals in explaining security returns: evidence for the UK

The assessment of earnings usefulness in returns studies has been at the forefront of accounting research since the seminal work of Ball and Brown (1968). Recently, regulatory bodies worldwide have paid increased attention to cash flow reporting. Empirical research provides evidence that earnings information dominates cash flows in market-based accounting research. This study extends the growing empirical literature on the association of earnings and cash flows with security returns. We hypothesize that the association of cash flows with security returns improves (i) the smaller the absolute magnitude of aggregate accruals, (ii) the longer the measurement interval and (iii) the shorter the firm's operating cycle. The dataset consists of all UK firms included in the Global vantage database for the period 1984–1992. This study provides evidence that cash flows play a more important role in the marketplace when the operating cycle, magnitude of accruals and the measurement interval are taken into consideration. Moreover, results indicate that cash flows have more information content than earnings in explaining security returns.     

Reviving resistance: the Japanese factory floor in Britain

Studies of British-based Japanese manufacturing companies often assume an absence of worker resistance stemming either from high levels of employee commitment or from extensive control systems. This article, based on three case studies of Japanese manufacturing transplants, disputes this assumption, arguing that the control of labour continues to pose a challenge to management     

Japan in Britain: the dynamics of joint consultation

Despite the centrality of Company Councils for Japanese firms in the UK, empirical data on their evolution is rare. In this article consultation methods used by a Japanese manufacturing transplant are analysed using a longitudinal approach. The findings suggest that the development of a ‘consensus culture’ proved to be highly problematic for employees, shop stewards, local managers and Japanese staff, especially at the consultation-bargaining interface.