Direct investment in Asia by German small and medium-sized enterprises

The tremendous importance of small and medium-sized enterprises within the German economy is repeatedly stressed in policy discussions. That makes the disproportionately low level of involvement by SMEs in the Asian growth region stand out all the more prominently. What are the factors inhibiting greater involvement? What form ought promotion programmes for SMEs to take?     

Adjustment constraints in developing countries

The debt crisis of the eighties has compelled many developing countries to catch up on a painful adjustment backlog. In addition to traditional stabilization measures sponsored by the IMF, many countries are now acquainted with the structural adjustment programmes of the World Bank. Some have implemented these programmes successfully, others have terminated them after a short period or only partially completed them. What are the reasons for this?     

The New Generation of Structural and Investment Funds–More Than Financial Transfers?

The European Structural and Investment Funds make up more than 40% of the EU budget and are thereby the EU’s most important financial support to growth, employment, investment and structural change. The funds are programmed for (overlapping) seven-year periods, and all programmes for the new 2014-2020 period were adopted by the end of 2015. What can the EU and its taxpayers expect from this new generation of programmes? How do they fit into the EU’s efforts to strengthen its economic governance and performance, and what role do they play in the Juncker Commission’s “Investment Plan for Europe”?     

Aspects of regional rural development

The priority previously given to urban areas by development programmes was replaced in the 1980s by efforts to implement deliberately targeted rural development. These often relatively complex projects showed less sustainable success than had been expected, however. What are the requirements for a regional rural development policy of the 1990s?     

IMF and World Bank structural adjustment policies: Cooperation or conflict?

The adjustment crisis of the oil-importing developing countries has raised the question as to the specific roles of the IMF and the World Bank in the process of structural adjustment and the actual relationship between their different concepts and programmes. What are the areas of cooperation and conflict between these two institutions and what must alternative concepts for structural adjustment and conditionality take into consideration?     

The new challenge in Eastern Europe: Investment and restructuring

The reform programmes of most Eastern European countries have liberalized prices and taken on the task of macroeconomic stabilization, but the formation and implementation of structural policies has largely been neglected so far. What steps should the governments of Eastern Europe take to encourage the necessary restructuring of their economies and to attract the urgently needed foreign investment?     

Effects of world market oriented regional integration on developing countries

The inward-oriented wave of regionalisation in the mid-sixties in the so-called developing countries was judged, twenty years later, to have been a failure almost everywhere. Since the beginning of the nineties a new trend towards regionalisation has been emerging, this time more strongly oriented towards world markets. Do the new regional integration agreements complement the economic and development policy effects aimed at by the structural adjustment programmes of the international financial institutions? What effects do they have on the economic development and the industrialisation of the countries involved?     

Researching the Drivers of Socially Responsible Purchasing: A Cross-National Study of Supplier Diversity Initiatives

What drives organisations to engage in socially responsible purchasing initiatives? To investigate this important question, this article uses a case-study approach to examine the context within which supplier diversity programmes have emerged in both the U.S. and U.K. The analysis identifies legislative and policy developments, economic imperatives, stakeholder pressures and ethical influences as forces shaping organisational responses. It reveals important contextual differences between U.K. and U.S. experience and offers an empirical and theoretical explanation of corporate behaviour.     

The White Stone: Six Choices

What sort of jobs? What sort of companies? What sort of capitalism? What sort of society? What sort of education? What sort of life? Starting with mundane statistics of GDP growth and job creation, this article moves on to explore the relationship between business and some of the major issues of human life. It is based on a speech to London Business School Alumni.     

On the Importance of Education

The role of education in economic growth has been clearly established. This address is concerned with several issues: What are the benefits and costs of education? Where does the United States stand in educational attainment in historical perspective and relative to OECD nations? What can NABE as a group do to improve education of business economists? What can NABE individual members do?     

The integration of Japan into the world economy and its meaning for Germany

Japan is currently still characterized by a low degree of import integration in the field of finished products. What are the reasons behind this? What can be done to remove the existing trade imbalances vis-à-vis Western industrialized countries? What, on the other hand, can be learned from the Japanese?     

Climate policy challenges after the Kyoto Protocol enters into force

The Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can finally come into force now that Russia has signed it. What has been the trend of emissions in the individual industrial countries in recent years? What options do the countries have? What EU strategy should be chosen for the coming negotiations on the climate regime after 2012?     

The Soviet Union in Search of a New Economic Model

Seventy years after the Bolshevik Revolution the Soviet Union is to embark on a new economic path which, according to Mikhail Gorbachev, will again call for revolutionary measures. What form will these measures take? What obstacles stand in the way of the planned reforms? What are their chances of success?     

How to obtain venture capital

What do venture capitalists look for when evaluating proposals? What do they want in return? And how can you increase the likelihood that yours is one of the rare proposals that gets funded?     

Stress—making friends with the enemy

What are the major stressors in business life? What constitutes too much stress? And how can managers transform a liability into an asset?     

National and international developments in technology

Declining R&;D intensities at the national level coincide with growing international technological links. In this context a number of questions arise: Do companies research in the same field of technology abroad as they do at home? Are the fields of technology in which R&;D is concentrated within a country those in which it has a comparative advantage? What drives the process of the internationalisation of technology? What are the implications for host countries and home countries? What are the implications for policy on a national and an international level?     

Social Investing: Mainstream or Backwater?

Social investing, though not yet fully mainstream, has the potential to obtain such status. Questions relating to the future of social investing include the following. (1) What properly falls within the ambit of social investing? Assuming that no single definition of social responsibility is feasible, what then are the limits? (2) What do we need to know about investor psychology concerning social investing? What motivates people to buy socially screened investments and why do they sometimes act inconsistently? (3) How can we improve the measures of social performance? Is it possible to develop GAAP and GAAS equivalents for social reporting? (4) Should social reports by firms be audited? If so, how? (5) What sorts of public policies are necessary to support the social screening of investments?     

Barriers in services trade: The state of negotiations and prospects

Trade in services constitutes one of the still unresolved problems in the Uruguay Round. What progress has been made so far in this field? Which are the remaining points at issue? What are the prospects for agreement on a comprehensive solution?     

The European Union’s Constitutional Crisis—Causes and Consequences

The rejection of the treaty establishing a European constitution by French and Dutch voters has thrown the EU into a deep crisis. What developments in the EU contributed to these referenda results? What consequences are to be drawn for the continuation of integration and the integration goal, the governance of the EU-25 and the further planned enlargements? What flaws are there in the present draft constitution and how can these be dealt with?     

How unions view gainsharing

What is it that unions like about gainsharing? What aspects do they oppose? And why are unions moving from a neutral position to active support of gainsharing plans?