FINANCIAL REGULATION,THE STATE AND THE MARKET: IS THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY AN UNNECESSARY EVIL?

The most successful stock exchanges developed without detailed regulation by the state. This article examines the role of the FSA in regulating stock market activity and finds that the justification for a statutory regulator is very weak. Indeed, one of the functions of a stock exchange is the development of a safe (private) regulatory environment for those using the exchange. Stock exchanges should be allowed to compete on the basis of the regulatory services they provide as it is only through a process of competition that regulation can be improved.     

REGULATION AND THE NATURAL PROGRESS OF OPULENCE

Adam Smith taught us how government regulation can counteract the market forces that produce economic growth. Here I explore a more complex interplay between regulation and economic growth. Regulation creates behavioural incentives that weaken or offset entirely the goal of the regulation. Growth produces many of the benefits ascribed to regulation while also hiding the costs and failures of regulation.     

THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH: MEASUREMENT AND MODELS

Abstract. Analysts debating the consequences of a policy change for the wealth distribution may come to different conclusions because of different views about how the distribution should be defined and measured, or about the processes determining the distribution. The aim of this survey is to provide an analytical framework within which such conflicts may be assessed. The first part of the paper discusses conceptual issues in the definition of 'wealth', and compares methods of deriving estimates of wealth distribution. The second, and larger, part of the paper surveys lifecycle and intergenerational models of the distribution of wealth, including a discussion of the role played by inheritance. The presentation is largely theoretical. Indeed, one of the paper's conclusions is that empirical modelling of the wealth distribution is under-developed, at least for the purposes of addressing many topical policy issues.     

CHOOSING THE VARIABLES TO ESTIMATE SINGULAR DSGE MODELS

We propose two methods to choose the variables to be used in the estimation of the structural parameters of a singular DSGE model. The first selects the vector of observables that optimizes parameter identification; the second selects the vector that minimizes the informational discrepancy between the singular and non‐singular model. An application to a standard model is discussed and the estimation properties of different setups compared. Practical suggestions for applied researchers are provided. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MANUFACTURING REFORM AND THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR: THE CASE OF THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY*

This research assesses current changes in the nature of the supervisory role in the automobile industry. It locates these changes in the context of a transition from mass production to lean or just-in-time production. the emergence of a supervisory role, with supervisors performing critical functions as effective managers of integrated work areas is explored by focusing on two lean producers, Nissan UK and Mazda's Flat Rock plant in the US. Noting the increased responsibility of the supervisor under lean production, the extent of the supervisors’enhanced status and authority are considered. However, a case study of an established vehicle producer in the UK, involving interviews with a sample of forty supervisors draws out the structural and organizational difficulties faced by existing manufacturers in their attempts to reformulate the role of the supervisor.     

仓储自动化技术的新进展

本文介绍了国内外仓储技术近几年的发展情况,重点介绍了仓储自动化技术的发展,并对其发展提出了建议。