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.     

LAND REFORM AS SOCIAL JUSTICE: THE CASE OF SOUTH AFRICA

Hayek argues that when governments violate people's rights by imposing discriminatory laws it may be necessary to do something to correct the situation. He suggests limiting corrective actions in two ways: only address harms that occurred in the relatively recent past, and impose no new discrimination. As a result of a very long history of discriminatory legislation, black South Africans suffered substantial harms at the hands of past governments. Following the political transition in 1994, the new government implemented land reform policies designed, in part, to satisfy calls for social justice. This paper examines these policies in the context of Hayek's arguments.     

PENSION REFORM,POLITICAL PRESSURE AND PUBLIC CHOICE – THE CASE OF FRANCE

An ageing population and generous public sector pensions have put significant pressure on the funding of the French pension system making a reduction in the scope of state pension schemes imperative. Yet, as public‐choice theory would predict, lobbying by interest groups has made reform difficult to achieve.     

PRIVATIZED HOUSING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONDOMINIUMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: THE CASES OF POLAND, HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA, AND ROMANIA

This paper looks at the housing sector reform in Central and Eastern Europe and examines the progress to date in housing privatization and policies aimed at improving the management and condition of the existing housing stock through the establishment and operation of the condominium form of ownership. The paper compares and analyzes approaches taken in four countries with regard to four issues: (I) the legal framework and implementation strategies; (2) the role of local government housing strategies in supporting the development of viable condominium associations; (3) property management of privatized housing; and (4) financing rehabilitation and capital repair projects for condominiums. Findings include the need for a clear legal framework, competition in the property management market, more supportive local government policies, and public sector support in tackling rehabilitation finance issues.     

SCHOOLING FOR MONEY: SWEDISH EDUCATION REFORM AND THE ROLE OF THE PROFIT MOTIVE

This paper analyses quantitative evidence on the performance of for‐profit schools in Sweden. It finds that school competition improved educational attainment and conditions for teachers. The benefits of competition were enhanced by the high number of for‐profit schools that were established.     

THE MAKE-BUY DECISION AND MANAGING MARKETS: THE CASE OF MANAGEMENT BUY-OUTS

This paper attempts to develop the issue of the internalization of transactions (the make-buy decision). Butler and Carney (1983) have developed the concept of managing markets where under certain conditions transactions will not be internalized. This paper, as well as attempting to complete this picture, also draws attention to a largely ignored aspect of organization theory - the issue of when a transaction which is already internalized will be externalized. In examining the sale of subsidiaries by parent companies an attempt is made to draw the boundaries of Williamson's divisionalized form of organization. The necessary and sufficient conditions for sale to the management are developed in the theoretical discussion, followed in the second section by empirical evidence from a survey of management buy-outs.     

LIFE-CYCLE ANALYSIS AND POLICY OPTIONS: THE CASE OF THE EUROPEAN PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY

As part of the shift in emphasis in environmental policy from clean-up to avoidance, environmental policy instruments that specify preferred technological directions for an industry are increasingly being used. Take-back requirements and mandatory recycling are cases in point. These directly affect the mix of materials and the technologies used by an industry. These effects reverberate throughout the industry and influence market conditions for everyone both up- and downstream in the supplier/client chains. As these chains frequently cross international frontiers, environmental policy-making is becoming increasingly significant in influencing competitive structures and international trade patterns. Concerns are that policy-making may lock in inappropriate technologies and that the policy process may be manipulated for industrial or trading advantage. Using fibre recycling in the European pulp and paper sector as a case study, it is shown how these concerns are manifest and also that materials accounting and operational research techniques exist to mitigate them. It is concluded that there is a need to establish agreed environmental impact evaluation methodologies to provide guidance on the robustness of policy-making and a basis for consistent, predictable and defensible policy-making.     

THE LEGAL AUTONOMY OF THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE: A SCALABLE STRATEGY FOR GLOBAL FREE-MARKET REFORMS

Islamic culture is founded on a deep and pervasive respect for contract, and for contractual relationships as a means of solving diverse social problems. In addition, for more than a thousand years Islamic empires have included Jewish and Christian communities that were allowed to have a substantial degree of legal autonomy. These two facts about Islamic legal culture are used to explain the remarkable phenomenon of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a financial free zone in Dubai in which a British judge administers British common law within the zone while outside the zone UAE law applies. We encourage other nations to consider the flexible and pragmatic approach that has characterised Dubai in the creation of the DIFC.     

LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY CHANGES AND WORKING TIME: THE CASE OF GREECE

In terms of the annual hours worked per employee, Greece ranks first among EU-15 countries and second among OECD countries. In this context, the austerity measures it adopted (as suggested by the EU and IMF) imply, among other things, a reduction in the over-hours. If such reductions were not to be accompanied by increases in labour productivity, output would be reduced considerably. This paper therefore addresses the question: “What change in sectoral labour productivity levels would have been required to deliver the actual change in final demands in Greece between 1995 and 2005, if working hours in each sector had been reduced to their EU averages?” In this framework, we develop a methodology for calculating labour productivity change by sector of economic activity in an input–output context. Next, we apply it to the Greek economy for the time period 1995–2005, the most recent period for which the required data are available. We find that the required productivity changes are the most substantial for the hotels and restaurants sector, followed by machinery manufacturing and the trade sectors.     

COMPETITION LAW AND COMMODITY MARKETS: THE CASE OF WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY

This paper considers some of the challenges that the exercise of market power in commodity markets poses for public policy, focusing on the case of wholesale electricity. The particular economic characteristics of electricity markets can give rise to market conditions where the price elasticities of both demand and supply are very low. Under such conditions, it may not be necessary for a supplier to have control over a large share of available capacity to be able to exercise substantial market power. This paper questions whether the two principal existing forms of supervision of these markets, Competition Law and financial regulation, are sufficient to address the types of problems that can be expected to arise given these characteristics. The answer to that question is in the negative.     

“三旧”改造系列之时代样本：广州：当保障房“邂逅”三旧改造

＂旧城改造＂既是一件＂利在千秋万代＂的大事,又是一道复杂难解的题。 题虽难解,但很多城市却已在用自己的实践与智慧在求解答案。 广州、佛山、成都……在一个个时代样本的背后,是旧城改造的几大强有力的＂法宝＂：规划、法制、民本、市场、保护、创新。     

ECONOMIC RECESSIONS,BANKING REFORM AND THE FUTURE OF CAPITALISM1

In the 2010 London School of Economics and Political Science Hayek Memorial Lecture, the author argues that flaws in the design of the monetary and financial system were responsible for the global financial crisis and the subsequent recession. The crash reflected the unsustainable nature of the bubble induced by artificial credit expansion created by fractional‐reserve banking under the direction of central banks. Such boom–bust cycles will continue until radical reforms are implemented, including a 100% reserve requirement for demand deposits.     

MANAGERIAL AND OWNERSHIP SUCCESSION AND CORPORATE RESTRUCTURING: THE CASE OF MANAGEMENT BUY-INS*

This paper addresses the effects on corporate restructuring of changing management and ownership. First, it synthesises a number of perspectives on corporate restructuring which involve managerial succession, voluntary restructuring, agency theory, incentives and entrepreneurship, to obtain insights into the relative impact of simultaneously changing either, neither or both management and ownership. Second, it uses case study evidence from management buy-ins to examine the effects of changing both management and ownership. the evidence suggests that whilst management may be adequately incentivized, problems may arise in respect of information asymmetries, difficulties in matching entrepreneurs to the context and monitoring by venture capitalists, and implementation of strategies.