Policy borrowing: lessons from European attempts to transfer training practices

Globalisation has provided an impetus to the borrowing of policies and ‘best practices’ between countries. This article looks specifically at such borrowing in the field of Continuing Vocational Training (CVT). Using case study data drawn from a wider evaluation of a European programme, the FORCE programme, it illustrates some of the barriers encountered when attempting to transfer training principles, practices and delivery systems from one country to another, focusing on structural and institutional factors rather than cultural ones. While acknowledging the importance of ‘learning’ at a broader level, the article argues that ET systems are embedded within a wider societal, institutional and cultural context that limits the success of transfer.     

企业惯性及其消除

研究人员曾做过一个实验:将5只猴子放在一个笼子中,并在笼子中间吊一串香蕉。只要有猴子伸手拿香蕉,研究人员就用高压水枪喷所有的猴子,直到全体猴子不敢动那串诱人的香蕉为止。接着,研究人员用一只笼外的猴子替换出笼子中的一只猴子。新来乍到的猴子并不知晓笼中的“游戏规则”,一来便动手去拿香蕉。结果它触怒了笼中的4只“老”猴子。于是,它们代替原先由高压水枪行使的惩罚任务,群起教训新来者,直到它屈从于笼中的规矩。实验人员不断将经历过高压水枪惩戒的猴子换出来,直到笼子中的猴子全为后进入者,但它们同样不敢去碰香蕉。高压水枪浇…     

Inflation inertia and credible disinflation

We develop a model of optimizing forward-looking staggered price setting where even fully credible disinflations display a delayed and gradual inflation response and significant output losses. There is a welfare trade-off between these output losses and the gains from smaller inflationary distortions. For reasonable parameter values disinflation improves welfare, and more so if it is phased in gradually. The pricing assumption of our model yields dynamics that are similar to models of sticky information, but its state space is much simpler, thereby allowing for the application of standard linearization methods.     

Enemies of cloud services usage: inertia and switching costs

This paper examines the direct and mediating role of inertia on the likelihood of adopting cloud services by individual users, and provides the reasons of the inertial behavior. The study is focused on Google Drive cloud services. The results emphasize the importance of inertia and switching costs in explaining the resistance to use cloud services. Furthermore, inertia partially mediates the relationship between switching costs and cloud computing services usage. Finally, it is found that inertia in the use of prior IT is mainly explained by convenience rather than by loyalty. From the point of view of the service provider, these results have implications on its marketing strategy.     

“两岸四地”财务会计政策的比较

“两岸四地”之间在经济方面有着日益密切甚至相互依赖的关系,了解各地的财务会计政策是必要的。本文从各地正在生效的具体会计准则入手,在会计要素中的某些具体项目、某些经济业务或事项以及财务报告方面,详细对比了各地会计政策的差异。由此,分析这些差异,指出在会计协调化的国际背景下,“两岸四地”的会计政策有着共同点,但是差异仍会持续存在,历史、政治、经济、法律、文化和教育等因素对此有着不同程度的影响。     

European monetary policy: Institutional design and policy experience

The following article examines design issues relevant to European monetary policy: central bank independence, and the accountability and transparency of monetary policy strategy. An empirical approach is then applied which allows a comparison between the ECB and other central banks. It also enables an investigation of whether the ECB simply follows the US Federal Reserve Bank, as is sometimes claimed.     

Attitudes to privatization of UK public utilities: Anticipating industrial practice and environmental effects

Attitudes toward the impending privatization of the UK electricity supply and water industries were assessed by means of a questionnaire distributed to 225 visitors to holiday beaches in SW England as part of a broader survey of perceptions of coastal pollution. The water industry was evaluated more negatively than the electricity industry in terms of both its present performance and the changes in its practice anticipated after privatization. The levels of pollutants in the immediate environment were expected to increase, with those individuals most opposed to privatization being especially pessimistic. The results suggest that respondents did not consider privatization to be a corrective for poor previous industrial practice, but rather that it would lead to improvement where an industry was seen as performing well, and deterioration where it was seen as performing badly. At worst, this was seen as likely to involve the privatized industries putting their own financial interests ahead of those of the public and the environment. It is argued that individuals based their attitudes on previous experience and on assumptions about the effects of market forces on behaviour that differed from those implicit in the policy of privatization.

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Einstellungen gegenüber der Privatisierung von öffentlichen Strom- und Wasserlieferanten: erwartetes unternehmerisches Verhalten und erwartete Umweltwirkungen

Zusammenfassung Als in Grossbritannien die Privatisierung der öffentlichen Strom- und Wasserversorger bevorstand, wurde die Einstellung zu diesem Vorgang im Rahmen einer umfassenderen Umfrage zur Wahrnehmung der Küstenverschmutzung anhand eines Fragebogens erhoben, der an 225 Gästen an südenglischen Ferienstränden ausgegeben wurde.Bei einem Vergleich wurden die Wasserversorger weniger gut als die Stromversorger bewertet, und zwar sowohl hinsichtlich ihres gegenwärtigen Leistungsniveaus als auch hinsichtlich der Veränderungen, die als Folge der Privatisierung vermutet wurden. Es wurde erwartet, dass die Schadstoffemission in der unmittelbaren Umbebung zunehmen würde, wobei die Befragten mit der stärksten Vorbehalte gegen die Privatisierung in dieser Hinsicht besonders pessimistischen waren.Nach den Befunden betrachten die Befragten die Privatisierung weniger als Korrektiv bisherigen mangelhaften unternehmerischen Verhaltens als vielmehr als Anlass für eine scherenförmige Entwicklung, nach der bislang schon gut bewertete Anbieter noch besser werden, wogegen bislang schlecht bewertete noch schlechter werden. Schlimmstenfalls wurde angenommen, dass die privatisierten Unternehmen ihre eigenen finanziellen Interessen über allgemeine und Umweltinteressen stellen würden. Dere Beitrag folgert, dass die Befragten ihre Einstellungen auf bisherige Erfahrungen gründeten und auf Annahmen über die Verhaltenswirkungen der Marktkräfte, die von den entsprechenden Annahmen der Privatisierungspolitik abweichen.

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J. Richard Eiser is Professor of Psychology, Steven D. Reicher is Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Tessa J. Podpadec is Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK.This research was supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council, UK, Ref. no. WL104251006.     

我国经济波动与财政政策波动的关联性分析--兼论我国财政政策的相机抉择与自动稳定机制

通过对我国经济与财政政策波动的有效度量,文章利用脉冲响应函数和线性回归模型对两者关联性进行的研究表明:经济与财政政策波动具有很大的相似性和互扰性;经济波动引致的财政收支波动具有明显的不对称性,并成为我国自1994年财政赤字产生的主要原因;经济波动与财政政策波动之间存在不完全的双向因果关系,其中,经济波动引致的财政收支变化对经济波动的反向调节力度较小,并具有明显的时滞,而相机抉择机制引致的财政收支外生变化对经济的反向调节虽然时滞较短,但工具之间存在明显的协调失灵;财政政策波动对经济波动的作用效果具有明显的不对称性,扩张性政策较紧缩性政策好,相机抉择机制较自动稳定机制好.     

Subsidizing Start-Ups: Policy Targeting and Policy Effectiveness

Start-up subsidies are a frequently employed policy instrument, the use of which is justified by alleged market failure resulting from positive external effects and capital market imperfections. This article investigates whether the allocation of subsidies reflects a policy focus on addressing these market failure occurrences. However, using survey data from the East German state of Thuringia, logistic regressions reveal a rather random subsidization of start-ups. Furthermore, propensity score matching suggests that subsidized start-ups would have survived and thrived in any case, an indication of deadweight losses of start-up subsidies. The analysis points to serious information problems arising when subsidies should be allocated to remedy market failure. Making the situation even more problematic is that failure to precisely target start-up subsidies is likely to result in market distortions and ineffectiveness.     

Management buy-outs as an instrument of privatization in Eastern Europe

Privatizing government enterprises is one of the most difficult tasks in the transformation process taking place in the former socialist economies. What contribution do management buy-outs have to make in coping with that task?     

Third sector and co-operative services — An alternative to privatization

There is a growing political and fiscal urgency in Sweden for renewing the public sector and enriching the welfare state. Neither of the protagonists in the current debate about public or private social services takes third sector alternatives nor the potential contribution they could make into account. Three such contributions are empowerment of consumers, renewal and enrichment of working life, and enhancement of goal fulfillment in the public sector through third sector cooperative alternatives. All three of these contributions are also objectives for renewing the public sector and enriching the welfare state. Reasons for failing to consider the contribution of third sector alternatives to these objectives may be partly ideological and partly due to ignorance. But whatever the reason, there are numerous theoretical and practical implications for promoting third sector alternatives for achieving both public and private goals. This article argues that each of the three types of third sector alternatives discussed herein makes a direct contribution to one or more of these objectives, while it also contributes indirectly to the other two. There are also certain disadvantages or trade-offs associated with each alternative and objective, which are discussed herein.

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Zusammenfassung Tertiärer Sektor und gemeinnützige Dienstleistungen — eine Alternative zur Privatisierung. In Schweden gibt es einen wachsenden politischen und fiskalischen Druck für eine Erneuerung des öffentlichen Sektors und für eine Stärkung des Wohlfahrtstaates. Dabei fällt auf, da\ keiner der Protagonisten der derzeitigen Diskussion über öffentliche und private soziale Dienste die besonderen Möglichkeiten des tertiären Sektors und seine potentiellen Beiträge würdigt oder berücksichtigt. Zu diesen Beiträgen gehören die Aufwertung des Verbrauchers, die Erneuerung und Anreicherung des Arbeitslebens oder die bessere Zielerreichung im öffentlichen Sektor. Diese Beiträge sind zugleich aber auch Ziele der Erneuerung des öffentlichen Sektors und der Aufwertung des Wohlfahrtstaates. Grunde dafür, da\ die Möglichkeiten des tertiären Sektors zur Erreichung dieser Ziele übersehen werden, sind teilweise ideologischer Art, teilweise beruhen sie aber auch auf Unkenntnis. Welcher Grund auch immer ma\gebend ist — es gibt zahlreiche theoretische und praktische Gründe dafür, die Aktivitäten des tertiären Sektors zur Erreichung öffentlicher Ziele stärker zu unterstützen. Der Beitrag behandelt nicht nur, welche Aktivitäten des tertiären Sektors in welcher Form zu welchen dieser Ziele beitragen, sondern prüft auch, welche Nachteile oder trade-offs, bestehen können.

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The paper is a revised version of a paper presented at the third International Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, Stockholm, June 16–19, 1991, and at the 10th Colloquium of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), Vienna, July 15–17, 1991.     

Consumers' switching inertia in a fictitious electricity market

Consumers in the deregulated Swedish electricity market do not switch from their incumbent supplier to the extent that would be economically beneficial. To examine potential causes for this switching inertia, a mail survey was administered to 540 Swedish electricity consumers who were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions and a control condition. Survey participants in the experimental conditions first made a choice of a supplier; then, they made choices between this alternative (their ‘incumbent supplier’) and other alternatives that differed from the incumbent supplier on price, quality of information, market share and availability of ‘green’ electricity. The results showed that lower price, higher quality of information, medium–large market share, and availability of green electricity increased switching to the alternatives to the incumbent supplier. A remaining general preference for choosing the incumbent supplier was reduced by instructions that removed feelings of loyalty and informed about the economic benefits of switching for all consumers.     

Power,policy networks and planning: the involvement of major grocery retailers in the formulation of Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 since 1988

This paper explores a neglected issue in the study of retail strategy and store location by considering the nature of policy networks operating at the interface between retailers and central government. It argues that informal networks, coupled with the economic power of retailers and the legitimization of their activities with reference to the 'consumer interest', have served to provide retailers with an influential avenue through which they can exert power over the nature of the regulatory environment within which they operate. The paper considers the limited extant 'evidence' of the operation of such networks before moving on to outline the results of a case study. The case study reflects on new store development in the UK grocery sector since 1988 as a backdrop to an analysis of the form of policy networks operating at the interface between government departments and retail organizations. It also explores the role of other stakeholders in this process. The existence of a number of such networks is described and their role explored with reference to the involvement of retailers in the formulation and evolution of Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 on retail development.     

国家利益冲突与反倾销 --发达国家政策取向与经济学解释的背离

当前中国出口面临着越来越多的反倾销,通过对反倾销的经济学背景的分析,我们发现这是发展中国家在对外贸易发展过程中难以避免的问题,也是发达国家与发展中国家经济结构不能充分协调的结果.通过对国际贸易引起的国家利益冲突的经济学分析,我们认为过度反倾销不利于国际分工、国际贸易发展及世界福利水平的提高,但作为一种愈发普遍的贸易摩擦现象,反倾销对中国的出口贸易造成了很大压力和损失.中国只有采取政府引导,重点培育,重叠发展,渐进优化的产业发展战略和对外贸易战略,实现产业结构的升级和贸易结构的优化,从而扭转当前招致过度反倾销的被动局面,最终实现对外贸易的可持续发展.     

Foreign investors in Taiwan: Their roles and government perspectives

This article describes the financial liberalization process in Taiwan and evaluates the effects of foreign institutional investors on Taiwan's stock market. Gradual liberalization allowed Taiwan to reap the benefits while reducing the harmful impacts of foreign participation during the Asian financial crisis. Overall, the liberalization policies proved to be effective as the stock market has become more stable and efficient. Foreign institutional investors contribute significant growth to the Taiwan stock market, and will continue to play a sizeable role in its future development.