Globalization: Economic challenges and the political response

Recently, resistance to the—presumed and actual—consequences of globalization in both developed and developing countries has gained momentum. While the arguments raised against globalization often lack economic substance, it will probably only prevail if a broad majority of the population can be convinced that closer worldwide integration does serve their interests. This can hardly be achieved without a convincing strategy for compensating the potential losers of globalization, given that globalization tends to reduce the national states’ leeway for taxation and redistributive measures through social policies.     

Which Socio-economic Model for Europe?

Disappointing growth rates and high unemployment in Europe have given rise to a debate on whether the European socio-economic model—or which of its variations—has a future in the face of increasing international competition. The following two articles discuss the current challenges facing Europe in this field and the options for meeting these challenges.      

False Promises? A Sociological Critique of the Behavioural Turn in Law and Economics

Economic bestsellers like Freakonomics and Nudge that mainly address outsiders of the economic discipline are also consumed by lawyers. The latter has already become an important reference in the field of consumer law and policy. In principle, this is nothing to complain about but part of law’s encounter with science, namely the social sciences. Notably, the law and economics movement proved successful in importing economic perspectives into legal discourse. However, it would seem questionable if the law followed each trend on the academic book market. While there has been an increasing emphasis on economic perspectives at the expense of sociological perspectives within the field of law, economy, and society, a major shift can now also be observed in the field of law and economics. With the behavioural turn in law and economics, homo oeconomicus seems to be transformed into Homer Economicus, and consumer law prone to be Simpsonized. In this paper, the turn from neoclassical law and economics to behavioural law and economics will be analysed from a third, namely sociological perspective: the economic sociology of law. In this framework, it is possible to compare and confront the “old” homo oeconomicus rationalis and the “new” homo oeconomicus behaviouralis with a third model—homo oeconomicus culturalis—which demonstrates the limits of the previous models, not least with regard to explaining the recent financial crisis. While governance by nudges might look, at first sight, as a tempting idea, I will question the normative side of this project and emphasize its possible effects on our legal culture and, thereby, our human condition.     

Organizational ethics: A stacked deck

The astute manger should be aware that, in organizations, the deck is frequently ‘stacked’ against higher levels of ethical behavior. This deck stacking occurs because of socialization processes, environmental influences, and the organization hierarchy. As a result of bosses using hierarchical leverage to take the ethical dimension of decision-making away from subordinates, the stage is set for a they-made-me-do-it defense of their moral integrity by these subordinates if and when violations of ethical norms come to light. There is also at work, however, an I-made-them-do-it situation in which professionals who prefer to ‘nest’ in the more technical aspects of their work ‘delegate’ — upward — to their bosses ethical decision-making. Understanding these dynamics is crucial in an age which is especially sensitized to the ethical facet of organizational behavior. He has taught at the University of Georgia since World War II, with the exception of a Rockefeller Foundation Year at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, and two years with the Ford Foudation in Cairo, Egypt. He is the author of four books on management and public policy — the co-author of a recent Principles of Management text — and he has written many articles on economics and management in a wide variety of journals. His most important publications are:Business and Society: Managing Corporate Social Performance (Little, Brown, Boston, 1981), ‘A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Social Performance’,Academy of Management Review (Oct., 1979), pp. 497–506, and ‘Business Ethics and the Management Hierarchy’,National Forum: The Phi Kappa Phi Journal (Summer, 1978), pp. 37–40.     

Investigating the Relationship Between Protestant Work Ethic and Confucian Dynamism: An Empirical Test in Mainland China

This study examined the relationship between the Protestant Work Ethic (PWE) and Confucian Dynamism in a sample of 1,757 respondents from several provinces in mainland China. Mirels and Garrett’s (J Consult Clin Psychol 36:40–44, 1971) PWE Scale and Robertson’s (Manag Int Rev 40:253–268, 2000) Confucian Dynamism Scale were used to measure the work ethics. The 16 items of the PWE Scale and eight items of the Confucian Dynamism Scale were initially subjected to a principal components analysis. Factor analysis produced four factors of the PWE, which were labeled as follows: hard work, internal motive, admiration of work itself, and negative attitude to leisure; and three factors of the Confucian Dynamism, which were labeled: long-term orientation, short-term orientation, and guanxi orientation. The results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that all the dimensions of PWE were positively related to Confucian Dynamism, but negatively to guanxi orientation. The results also indicated that three PWE dimensions (“hard work,” “internal motive,” and “admiration of work itself”) were positively and significantly related to long-term orientation, but two of them were related negatively and significantly to the short-term orientation of Confucian Dynamism. In addition, the results showed that the dimension—admiration of work itself—of PWE was significantly and negatively associated with the guanxi orientation, but significantly and positively to the short-term orientation.     

Competitiveness, resources, and capabilities: empirical evidence from retail banking

This research aims to identify and measure bank employee perceptions of the determinants of competitiveness in terms of resources, skills, and capabilities within the retail banking sector. All the 40 branches of a leading Portuguese bank—the Caixa Geral de Depósitos—operating in two Portuguese districts were surveyed. Our results show that bank competitiveness differs according to performance evaluation, human resource (HR) planning, the system of incentives, and managerial motivation. They also demonstrate that human capital is a source of success in the business of banks, which relies heavily on stable and enduring relationships with customers. The study also provides recommendations for retail bank managers seeking to refine their HR strategies as a means of improving their competitiveness.     

Investitionen in neue Energietechnologien: Hemmnisfaktor Finanzierung

Probleme der Finanzierung sind für die Marktdiffusion innovativer Energietechnologien ebenso wichtig wie ihre technischen Eigenschaften oder der erwartete Nutzen aus der Technologieanwendung. Welche Rolle spielt dabei die Eigentümerstruktur des Innovators? Welchen Einfluss hat die Finanzierungsform des Investitionsvorhabens—und damit das finanzielle Risiko—auf die Attraktivit?t einer Energieinvestition?     

Corporate Taxes in the European Union

The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and 2007 by a number of countries with comparatively low corporate tax rates – seen by some as representing an unfair competitive advantage – has refuelled the debate on corporate taxation in Europe. The present Forum highlights a number of pertinent issues and discusses the challenges implied for European corporate tax policy. *The authors are indebted to Andreas Reutter for helpful comments. **The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author. They should not be attributed to the European Commission. The author wishes to thank Anton Jevcav for valuable comments. ? European Communities, 2007.     

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP), a framework for political, economic and social relations between the European Union and its Southern Mediterranean neighbours, saw daylight in Barcelona on 27-29 November 1995. Ten years on, the international conditions in which the EMP operates have been radically altered by events in the Middle East as well as the enlargement of the EU. How well has the partnership performed in this changing environment and what are its prospects for the future?

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* Research Fellow at the United Nations University—Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU—CRIS), Bruges, Belgium.     

Qualitätsbereinigung beim Harmonisierten Verbraucherpreisindex

Bei der Berechnung der Inflationsrate stellt die Qualit?tsbereinigung ein gro?es Problem dar. Welche Methoden sind für die Qualit?tsbereinigung geeignet? Wie sind Produktinnovationen—beispielsweise bei Gütern der Unterhaltungselektronik—zu behandeln? Ist jeder Verbraucherpreisindex von dieser Problematik betroffen? Hans-Albert Leifer*, 55, Dipl.-?konom, ist Leiter der Abteilung „Allgemeine Wirtschaftsstatistik, Kapitalmarktstatistik, Jahresabschlussdatenpool“ der Deutschen Bundesbank. * Der Verfasser gibt seine pers?nliche Auffassung wieder, die nicht unbedingt mit derjenigen der Deutschen Bundesbank übereinstimmen muss.     

Die ökonomischen Konsequenzen der Korruption

Korruption ist ein weltumspannendes Ph?nomen, das—wie die jüngsten F?lle bei BMW, Infineon, Siemens und Volkswagen deutlich machen—auch in Deutschland aktuell ist. Wie ?u?ert sich Korruption, welche Folgen hat sie für die Volkwirtschaft, und wie l?sst sie sich bek?mpfen? Robert Vehrkamp behandelt die ?konomischen Konsequenzen der Korruption, Johann Graf Lambsdorff und Mathias Nell die Reformma?nahmen, die für ihre wirksame Bek?mpfung erforderlich sind.     

Challenges Facing the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference

The continuing deep divisions between developed and developing countries have given rise to concerns that the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference to be held on 13-18 December in Hong Kong will—like its predecessor, the Fifth Ministerial in Cancún—end in failure. The contributions to this Forum explore the key negotiating issues.

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* Lead Economists in the Development Research Group of the World Bank, Washington DC, USA. The authors are grateful for the collaboration of numerous colleagues, especially Dominique van der Mensbrugghe and Tom Hertel, and for research funding from the UK’s Department for International Development. The views expressed are the authors’ alone. More-detailed analysis is contained in the authors’ article “Agricultural Trade Reform and the Doha Development Agenda”, in: The World Economy, Vol. 28, No. 9, September 2005, pp. 1301-27, and in a World Bank book edited by them and published in November 2005 by Palgrave Macmillan called “Agricultural Trade and the Doha Development Agenda”. ** This paper represents the opinions of the author. It is not meant to represent the position or opinions of the Secretariat or the WTO Members. Any errors are the fault of the author. *** See www.evenett.com for other writings on international trade-related matters. I thank Brigitte Cuendet, Bernard Hoekman, Carlos Primo Braga and Susan Prowse for sharing their insights on “aid for trade” matters in various conversations during 2005. All errors in this paper are my own. The “tough love” in the title refers to the fact that, although I am very sympathetic to the broad thrust of the aid for trade proposals, in recent months I have come to believe that not every aspect of these proposals is as well developed as possible. **** Views expressed in this article are those of the author and cannot be attributed to the OECD Secretariat or OECD Member countries.     

Bullying in the U.S. Workplace: Normative and Process-Oriented Ethical Approaches

Bullying is a serious problem in today’s workplace, in that, a large percentage of employees have either been bullied or knows someone who has. There are a variety of ethical concerns dealing with bullying—that is, courses of action to manage the bullying contain serious ethical/legal concerns. The inadequacies of legal protections for bullying in the U.S. workplace also compound the approaches available to deal ethically with bullying. While Schumann (2001, Human Resource Management Review 11, 93–111) does not explicitly examine bullying, the five moral principles that he advocates can be applied to judge the ethics of bullying in the workplace. A possible limitation of this model is that, it is designed to be normative (judgmental), and while it does take into consideration the relationships among the victim, the perpetrator, the groups in the organization, and the organization itself in judging the ethics of bullying, it does not explicitly consider the process by which bullying might develop and persist. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of this process, Nijhof and Rietdijk (1999, Journal of Business Ethics 20(1), 39–50)) suggest applying an A–B–C (antecedents, behaviors, and consequences) model to help understand the dynamics of bullying in the workplace. Formal propositions are offered to guide both academics and practitioners to an enriched understanding of the ethics of workplace bullying.     

Evolving and Taking CATNAPS to Negotiation/Problem Stories

In this GDN 2010 meeting commentary, the author presents an overview of CATNAPS (Connectedness And Technology for Negotiation And Problem Solving)—as a technology framework for evolving “right” problems/solutions in individual and group negotiation and problem solving. Although the focus in this commentary is mostly on humans, negotiators (agents) may be humans or computers. We consider taking CATNAPS to negotiation/problem stories meaning applying CATNAPS to various specific problems, negotiation/problem stories.     

Pflege auf der Stroke Unit

1. Deutscher Schlaganfall-Kongress — Hohe Anforderungen an die Pflege, ohne Konzept für diese komplexe Arbeit – das war lange die Situation an Stroke Units. Inzwischen existiert eine spezifische, standardisierte und zertifizierte Fachweiterbildung für Schwestern und Pfleger, entwickelt am Klinikum Minden. 1. Deutscher Schlaganfall-Kongress, Hannover, 9. und 10. November 2007     

The Discovery of Opportunities: Extending the Economic Theory of the Entrepreneur

Shane (2003) [A General Theory of Entrepreneurship: The Individual-Opportunity Nexus. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar] has shown convincingly that modern theories of entrepreneurship perform reasonably well in explaining the empirical results obtained in different areas of research upon the subject. His book also shows that the cognitive aspects of entrepreneurship in general—and opportunity recognition in particular—are important areas that warrant further research. This paper argues that the concept of opportunity is closely related to the concept of a project, as an opportunity is essentially a project that would prove beneficial if it were exploited. It is suggested that modelling individual search across potential projects, and the screening of projects by the use of symptoms, holds the key to the successful modelling of entrepreneurship in terms of opportunity.      

The taxation of foreign profits — The old view,the new view and a pragmatic view

The increasing importance of multinational firms raises the question as to whether and how governments should tax repatriated profits, i.e. affiliate profits returned to the headquarters. The answer to this question is especially relevant for profit repatriations within the European Union where multinational firm investment is substantial and tax competition is supposed to be of rising intensity. This paper reviews the criticism of the standard view (the “old view”) of foreign profit taxation, which goes back to Peggy Musgrave. The “new view” of international taxation is based on recent empirical studies and favours a system in which foreign profits are exempt from tax. The debate between old view and new view proponents is critically discussed and, finally, the two are confronted with a “pragmatic view” on foreign profit taxation which crucially incorporates compliance and tax administration costs.     

Three Elements of Stakeholder Legitimacy

This paper focuses attention on the stakeholder attribute of legitimacy. Drawing upon institutional and stakeholder theories, I develop a framework of stakeholder legitimacy based on its three aspects—legitimacy of the stakeholder as an entity, legitimacy of the stakeholder’s claim, and legitimacy of the stakeholder’s behavior. I assume that stakeholder legitimacy is socially constructed by management and that each of its three aspects exists in degree in the manager’s perception. I discuss how these aspects interact and change over time, and propose an agenda for future research on stakeholder legitimacy.     

Deindustrialisierung: Eine neue „britische Krankheit“?

In vielen EU-L?ndern ist ein Rückgang der Besch?ftigung im gewerblichen Bereich zu beobachten. Besonders ausgepr?gt ist die „Deindustrialisierung“ jedoch in Gro?britannien—bei gleichzeitiger Ausweitung des Dienstleistungsbereichs. Welches sind die Ursachen dieser Entwicklung? Ist dieser Prozess als neue „britische Krankheit“ zu bezeichnen oder Ausdruck einer relativ dynamischen und flexiblen Wirtschaft? Ist in Deutschland eine ?hnliche Entwicklung zu erwarten? Die Autoren vertreten hier ihre pers?nliche Meinung und nicht notwendigerweise die der Deutschen Bundesbank.     

Modernisation of EC competition law, economy and horizontal cooperation between undertakings

Conclusion  From both the Commission's explanatory comments to the proposal for the new “Regulation 17” and the new approach towards horizontal co-operation agreements as witnessed in the Guidelines and the two group exemption regulations, it seems abundantly clear that the Commission holds the view that the time is not yet ripe for an overall safe harbour approach for horizontal co-operation agreements. That being the case, there would have been no objection—if only for an intermediate step and until the moment that the horizontal market would be ripe for an overall safe harbour approach—to the introduction of a notification system for such horizontal agreements similar to the one applicable for vertical restraints by virtue of Regulation 1216/1999.⁴⁷ This would have considerably alleviated the Commission's workload as far as reducing the number of and dealing with notifications is concerned. If this system had been combined with the sharing of the exemption powers by the Commission with the NCAs—which would have been a truly appropriate and proportional signal regarding the application of the principle of subsidiarity—this would have left the complicated economic assessment under article 81(3) where it belongs, i.e. with the administrative authorities that would be best placed (and trained) to perform this task. The national courts could then continue to concentrate on their tasks as defined by the ECJ in Delimitis, with the result that these institutions would also be doing exactly that for which they are best placed and trained, i.e. the application of the legal norms provided for in article 81(1) and (2) and article 82. The proposals of the Commission are deemed to be premature—at least in the view of this author—in the light of the forthcoming enlargement of the EU, the enforcement puzzles as described above, the monitoring of the cohesion of Community competition law and all the problems of training that come with it. The Commission's workload is likely to increase as a result of all this, and not just for an intermediate period of time but expectedly forever.