Socio-economic analysis of U.K. home accidents

Abstract

Drowning is the third commonest cause of accidental death of children in the UK and many children drown in domestic swimming pools. Concern has been raised about the design and safety of the covers used on domestic swimming pools since the majority of drowning and near-drowning incidents occur in pools with covers on. Swimming pool covers are a diverse range of products and fulfil a number of functions. This diversity in their design and the associated hazards necessitated a multidisciplinary approach to their evaluation. A study of the epidemiology of drownings was carried out in order to specify the risks of swimming pool covers, together with a study of the market and a survey of pool owners and their attitudes to safety. The risks of swimming pool covers were then evaluated by engineering, materials and ergonomics testing which included simulation of both the user and the products. This study is an example of the need for a mix of test methods and types of simulations in order to provide an overall statement of the safety of some consumer products. Results showed that the floating, heat retaining covers used on the majority of UK domestic pools possibly add to the intrinsic risks of a swimming pool. Winter debris covers, although appearing to seal the pool and considered by the majority of owners to make pools safer, were shown to allow children relatively easy access under the cover.     

香港超市的生鲜经营

香港是一个国际商贸集散地,从香港这一窗口,可以看到世界最新、最前沿的商贸经济发展动向.     

香港超级市场的发展与经验借鉴

作为国际商业中心,零售业在香港特区经济中占有重要的地位.在全面开放的自由经济体制下,香港的零售业呈现出高度的国际化.同时香港也是零售业态齐全、现代业态发展比较成熟的地区.     

Finance for SMEs: A U.K. Perspective

This paper provide an overview of recent trends in the financing of smaller businesses in the U.K. It refers in particular to the findings of a major recent programme of work in this area funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, in which the author participated. This programme included the first national survey to address these issues since the Bolton Report of 1971, as well as a range of projects covering the finance of ethnic businesses and hi-tech firms as well as the market for informal venture capital. On the basis of this work and of the results of more recent follow up surveyors it is concluded that the evidence for general equity or debt gaps in the U.K. is weak. If anything SME funding was too easy in the boom of the late 1980s. It is argued that consideration could be given to the promotion through seedcorn funding of SME co-operative or mutual guarantee schemes to reduce information asymmetry in U.K. credit markets.     

The Rise in Self-Employment Amongst U.K. Males

This paper uses time-series data to attempt to identify the factors responsible for the rise in self-employment amongst UK males, focusing in particular on the period of rapid growth which was experienced during the 1980s. The empirical results suggest that the most significant long-run influence on the growth of self-employment has been the rise in the real value of personal sector liquid wealth, though rising levels of GDP and, to a lesser extent, increases in the real value of housing wealth have also made a significant contribution. There is tentative support for the notion that Mrs Thatcher may have succeeded in ushering in an 'entrepreneurial renaissance' within the UK economy, though the evidence for this is rather crude. There is no evidence for the view that 'recession-push' effects have been significant in accounting for the rise in self-employment.     

Information and Noise in U.K. Futures Markets

This paper examines the extent to which futures price changes are driven by noise and information for three U.K. futures contracts by utilizing T. Andersen's (1996) specification of the mixture of distributions hypothesis. Use of the generalized method of moments approach demonstrates that the link between futures volume and volatility can be attributed to the flow of information. More importantly, it is shown that price movements are dominated by informed rather than noise trading for the FTSE‐100, the Long Gilt, and the Brent Oil futures contracts. The results suggest that further regulation based on the notion that noise traders dominate futures trading is unwarranted. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 24:711–731, 2004     

英国缘何再次放弃搭乘欧元快车?--利乎!弊乎

据英国《BBC新闻》报道，英国财政大臣布朗日前在议会上宣布，英国加入欧洲统一倾向的五项经济测试中四项未完全达标、“条件还不成熟”。等候“Euro(欧元）号”已经很久的英国决定暂不上车。     

Expressions of corporate social responsibility in U.K. firms

This study examines corporate publications of U.K. firms to investigate the nature of corporate social responsibility disclosure. Using a stakeholder approach to corporate social responsibility, our results suggest a hierarchical model of disclosure: from general rhetoric to specific endeavors to implementation and monitoring. Industry differences in attention to specific stakeholder groups are noted. These differences suggest the need to understand the effects on social responsibility disclosure of factors in a firm's immediate operating environment, such as the extent of government regulation and level of competitiveness in the industry. Diana C. Robertson is an Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Business Ethics at the London Business School. She was previously Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. In 1990, she was awarded the University of Pennsylvania Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching, and in 1992 she received a Wharton School Undergraduate Teaching Award. Her research interests include the impact of corporate policy, particularly codes of ethics, and compensation and control systems on employees' ethical behaviour, and the diffusion of ethical practices among corporations. She has published articles in the Sloan Management Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Organization Science, and Business Ethics Quarterly.Professional Nigel Nicholson is Chairman of the Organisational Behaviour Group and Director of the Centre for Organisation Research at London Business School. Previously, he led investigations into Individual and Organisational Change at Sheffield University's Social & Applied Psychology Unit, and has also held visiting appointments at American, Canadian and German universities. He has published eight books and over 65 articles on a wide range of topics, and been honoured with an award from the Academy of Management for his contribution to theory.     

Support for Investor Activism among U.K. Ethical Investors

An important goal of ethical investment is to influence companies to improve their ethical and environmental performance. The principal means that many ethical funds employ is passive market signalling, which may not, on its own, have a significant effect. A much more promising approach may be active engagement. This paper reports on a questionnaire study of a sample of 1146 ethical investors in order to assess whether U.K. ethical investors would support more activist ethical investment and whether they would be prepared to invest in companies which are failing ethically in order to do so. The results show general support for the current practice of passive signalling accompanied by "soft" engagement in the form of lobbying and the development of dialogue in order to improve corporate practice. The "harder" options of investing in companies that err in order to change them is, however, favoured by consistent minorities.     

中国对英国蔬菜出口的实证分析

本文在简介英国农业发展和蔬菜供求特点的基础上,利用蔬菜进出口数量、金额、出口均价以及进口率等指标,分别从中国出口蔬菜和英国进口蔬菜的角度,对两国蔬菜贸易特征进行实证研究,据此提出中国深入开拓英国乃至欧盟蔬菜市场的主要建议蔬菜出口企业应注重提高产品质量;在出口市场定位上考虑发挥中国蔬菜的差异化竞争优势。同时,政府应为蔬菜出口企业提供相应的信息和政策支持等服务。     

英国财长空降上海

英国财长高登·布朗2月初开始了对华经济"整体公关",连发"教育、旅游、体育、金融"合作牌.他在对当地媒体简短得不能再简短的发言中说,希望到2007年,英国对华出口会扩大到现在的2倍,2010年英国对华出口能够比现有的水平翻两番.据中国商务部统计,去年英国对中国的出口额为47.6亿美元,同时与英国在内的主要贸易伙伴国的贸易顺差也在拉大.英国希望在金融、旅游、教育、体育等服务产业上有所突破.     

Social inequalities in injury risk in Wales,U.K.

Road traffic accident data in Nigeria generally lack exact coordinate information. Accident analysis is, therefore, restricted to aggregate data on trends, magnitude and temporal dimensions. This article addresses the road accident problem in Jos between 1995 and 1999 through a road profiling approach. Results show that four gateway routes, seven multilane roadways (including two gateway routes) and seven road intersections accounted for 84% of all traffic accidents, 84% of injured casualties and 88% of fatalities. This approach allows for quantification of impacts of controlling for accidents by deliberate profiling of roads for close monitoring and policing. For example, reducing accident counts and fatalities by 50% each on gateway routes will amount to ～35 and 40% reduction in accident and fatality counts, respectively. Countermeasures must consider these roadways and intersections as important inputs in their accidents and casualty reduction targets.     

Barriers to Marketing Implementation in U.K. Professional Service Firms

This paper focuses upon the critical role that imple- mentation plays in determining the 'success' or 'failure' of the mar- keting function. The authors discuss the particular implementation problems that are faced by marketers in professional service firms in the UK where marketing is still a relatively new function, and pro- pose a number of ways in which marketers may be able to overcome some of these internal barriers.     

Eine Replik zu J. Faik und T. Köhler-Rama

In der Januarausgabe 2011 ver?ffentlichte der Wirtschaftsdienst einen Beitrag von Jürgen Faik und Tim K?hler-Rama zum Thema „Frauen in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung — Wer soll für die unterschiedlichen Lebenserwartungen von Frauen und M?nnern zahlen?”. Roland Eisen setzt sich kritisch mit diesem Beitrag auseinander. Daraufhin erl?utern die Autoren des Beitrags ihre Auffassung in einer Erwiderung.     

Profit Related Pay and the U.K. Small Firm Labour Market

This paper critically examines the relevance of profit related pay (PRP) for the U.K. small firm sector. Since 1986, the U.K. government has actively encouraged PRP, which attracts generous tax breaks, because it believed that PRP would make pay more flexible downwards and would significantly improve employee identification, morale and productivity. An analysis of the theoretical arguments and the assumptions made regarding the nature of the U.K. small firm sector that underlay these claims suggests, however, that the likelihood of achieving either of these alleged benefits is small. An appraisal of the available empirical evidence on the practical implementation and operation of PRP schemes suggests that the tax relief simply encourages firms to introduce cosmetic schemes that have no appreciable impact upon the behaviour of either firms or employees. Moreover, the experience of some firms that adopted PRP schemes indicates that, far from increasing morale and productivity, PRP often creates new tensions and conflict between owners and employees. These and other unintended consequences illustrate the inherent difficulties of government attempts to use the tax system to alter the behaviour of agents engaged in a wide variety of complex and very heterogeneous bargaining situations.     

The role of quality assurance in protecting the U.K. consumer

This paper considers the way in which quality assurance is being used as a tool of consumer protection in the U. K. It examines the way that the legislators and the courts have adopted its principles — whether deliberately or not. Several areas of consumer protection are picked out and the effect of quality assurance principles on them is demonstrated.