Satellite broadcasting to homes: Service options,policy issues and costs

Comsat's proposal to launch a direct-to-home broadcast satellite (DBS) service has stimulated a vigorous policy debate on a wide range of issues. The authors examine briefly the economic and technological factors that seem to favour new DBS services, suggest a panoply of services that could be provided via DBS, and relate the policy issues to specific potential services. They also present a financial analysis of a hypothetical firm's DBS pay-TV service, enabling them to suggest the possible shape of a new DBS industry.     

The influence of US foreign DBS policy on Indian DBS TV: a case study of policy transfer

By and large academics and professional analysts disagree over the efficacy of US Congressional fora to facilitate policy transfer in terms of influencing foreign countries to privatize their local and national markets. This study addresses the issue of policy transfer within the context of the Indian (direct broadcast satellite) DBS television regulatory framework. Specifically, a link is drawn between two particular US Congressional hearings of the early 1980s and a landmark Indian Bill enacted in 1997. The approach to demonstrating the link involves three distinct components. The first offers a brief background on India's DBS policy dynamics. The second presents a number of policy documents and fora which substantiate the strength of the relationship between the two mentioned US Congressional forums and the 1997 Indian Bill. The third offers a discussion of how policy transfer and convergence serve as useful analytical tools to assess why the two US policy fora may have been so effective in the Indian case. Policy transfer and convergence also have strong explanatory value in drawing insights into negotiating dynamics between US and Indian official representatives at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) during the last fifteen years over DBS trade issues.     

Employment Systems in Japan's Financial Industry: Globalization,Growing Divergence and Institutional Change

This article examines growing divergence and change in the employment systems of Japan's financial industry from the early 1990s until shortly after the so‐called Lehman Shock. This was a period which saw accelerated deregulation and globalization strongly impact the country's financial markets, leading to intensified competition over human resources. Foreign multinational corporations introduced into Japan's local product and labour markets new global ‘rules of the game’; in response, some native firms were forced to alter core aspects of a traditional employment model. The result was the emergence of diverging patterns of employment. The present study will demonstrate that the interaction of two key factors — national ownership and variation among core products and services offered — is shaping employment diversification, mediated by firms’ individual policies and practices. This research contributes to the debate on the effects of globalization on the divergence and change of employment systems.     

The Setback in Political Entrepreneurship and Employment Dualization in Japan, 1998–2012

Scholars are mainly concerned about how policy makers in advanced countries have succeeded in dualizing labour market regulations in a way to realize their vision or to represent powerful industrial interests. However, Japan's recent experiences suggest the possibility that this dualization is not such a straightforward outcome. This study argues that as Japan's political entrepreneurs have undergone setbacks in their reform attempt to overcome the tradition of employment dualism, they have improvised to close the reform process by institutionalizing this tradition. This study corroborates the argument by investigating state‐industry conflicts over the revisions of the Worker Dispatch Law in 1999, 2003 and 2012.     

Resisting Japan's Neoliberal Model of Capitalism: Intensification and Change in Contemporary Patterns of Class Struggle

The Japanese model of capitalism has tended to be conceptualized within the extant literature in terms of a transition from a model characterized by coordination towards one in which neoliberal reforms have produced greater levels of instability, competition and inequality. This article argues that these trends raise the question of what patterns of resistance have been part of this transition. The article highlights how the neoliberalization of Japan's model of capitalism has also been accompanied by intensified class antagonism. Although the impact of such contestation on policymaking and actual policies has thus far been limited, Japan's neoliberalization has nevertheless been (and seems likely to remain) far from uncontested.     

The Effects of Decentralization in Strategy‐Making and National Culture on NPD Portfolio Planning

Traditionally, the understanding among scholars and practitioners has been that a portfolio of NPD projects is the expression of a firm's strategy and thus it must support the strategy. In keeping with this view, the current study focuses on new product development (NPD) portfolio planning, which is defined as a firm's effort to formulate portfolio decisions using a defined innovation strategy. Connecting portfolio decisions to a defined innovation strategy has been associated with higher innovation success. Surprisingly, empirical research indicates that portfolio decisions do not always support the company's innovation strategy. Furthermore, during recent years, an increasing number of authors underscore the importance of responsiveness and adaptability in portfolio decision‐making. The current study addresses these two issues by examining a direct effect of decentralization in strategy‐making on NPD portfolio planning, and a moderating effect of decentralization in strategy‐making on the relationship between NPD portfolio planning and NPD program success. The study also examines the influence of national culture on the proposed relationships. The theoretical model was tested using data from the 2012 PDMA Comparative Performance Assessment Study. Findings indicate that NPD portfolio planning positively influences NPD program success. Also, results revealed inverted U‐shaped direct and moderating effects, respectively, of decentralization in strategy‐making on NPD portfolio planning, and of decentralization in strategy‐making on the relationship between NPD portfolio planning and NPD program success. With regard to the moderating effect of national culture, results indicate that uncertainty avoidance does not moderate the relationship between NPD portfolio planning and NPD program success. Nonetheless, we found significant moderating effects of individualism and power distance on the curvilinear relationship between decentralization in strategy‐making and NPD portfolio planning.     

Competition and telecommunications infrastructure in Ireland: A trade union perspective

The Communication Workers' Union is opposed to competition in telecommunications infrastructure on the grounds that such competition would place the national operator, Telecom Eireann, in an impossible position, having regard to the enormous historic cost of developing the existing network and the requirement to invest a further £800 million over the next five years. It also believes that to duplicate investment in infrastructure would be inefficient in national terms and points to the 900 or more airliners parked in the world's deserts as an example of the type of stranded investment that can arise when competition is taken too far.     

The digital divide problem: An economic interpretation of the Japanese experience

This study presents an economic analysis of Japan's attempt to address the geographical digital divide problem for broadband and mobile telephone services. To receive broadband service local inhabitants make voluntary contributions, which are matched by a municipal subsidy. The approach is effective in terms of economic efficiency and equity. Importantly, as fixed broadband service is provided locally the benefits are limited to local inhabitants. By contrast, mobile service is provided via a spectrum user fee system. That is, for mobile telecommunication services, no universal service fund exists. The underlying rationale is that subscribers are beneficiaries and commercial decision-making should be left to mobile operators.     

Japan's agricultural policy failure

Despite Japan's great advances in industry and technology, the country's agricultural policy has not enjoyed the same success. The costs of agricultural products such as rice and beef are much higher in Japan than in other countries. The main reason for this is the low efficiency of Japanese farming methods. This article looks at the reasons for low agricultural productivity, consumer acceptance of high commodity prices, and ways to stimulate reduced production costs and thus improve the situation.     

On tailoring a strategic planning system to its context: Some empirical evidence

Based on a survey of 111 senior executives this study finds that tailoring a firm's strategic planning system to its context is not a popular practice, despite its presumed importance. Moreover, the lack of fit between a firm's strategic planning system and its context appears to be inconsequential to how managers rate their planning systems. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

DBS systems : Perspectives from a profit seeking company

Considerable work has been reported on the tradeoffs associated with direct broadcast satellite (DBS) systems. These studies have considered total investment costs (space segment plus ground segment), but have not dealt with a number of other business-related parameters which affect system design. This article addresses some of these issues from the viewpoint of a commercial entity in the USA. It considers intial financing, short-term v long-term competitive advantages, system features v cost, effects of partially shifting the investment burden to the consumer, technology improvements, satellite constraints and economies of scale, flexibility, commercial alliances, and regulatory constraints. Examples are given to illustrate the tradeoffs involved and the effects of some of the factors.     

Long range planning in the mature corporation

The decade of the seventies has seen a dramatic surge in the acceptance and adoption of long range planning systems by U.S. firms. This paper examines the planning experiences of 86 Fortune 1000 companies, many of them with formal planning systems ten years of age or more. Data collected in this study suggests that planning systems move through different phases in a development cycle. The ability to cope with planning problems, the satisfaction of planning participants, and the extent to which companies formulate explicit policies to recognize managerial contributions to long range planning activities are associated with the age of a company's formal planning system and its phase of planning system development. Mature system companies do a better job in coping with planning problems, are more satisfied with their planning systems, and are more likely to recognize managerial contributions to long range planning.     

Direct broadcasting by satellite in the USA: Interim regulations and implications

Technological advances in satellite communications and changes in regulatory philosophy in the USA came together at the end of the 1970s to foster a new medium — direct broadcasting by satellite (DBS). DBS, similar to other new television distribution systems, holds the promise not only of serving the people who cannot be reached by conventional television systems, but also of offering diverse programming to existing television audiences. However, the potential problems raised by the FCC's interim DBS regulations might jeopardize the economic viability and the development of future DBS systems in the USA, and might affect the interests of DBS audiences.     

Japanese telecommunications policy: New direction and old dilemmas

Recent shifts in telecommunicatiions policy have led to a dramatic restructuring of the Japanese telecommunications industry. A variety of new participants have entered the domestic communications market, and existing vendors have reoriented themselves. These shifts have not occured without trauma. Policy and jurisdictional debates and tension remain; traditional policies and structures conflict with new directions. Japan's experience in adapting new goals, policies and structures in the telecommunications sector warrants careful examination by public and private industry participants.     

Vertical Ownership,Program Network Carriage,and Tier Positioning in Cable Television: An Empirical Study

Using a 2004 cross-sectional database of digital cable systems in the U.S., we provide new evidence that the effects of vertical ownership ties between systems and programming suppliers persist in spite of extensive channel capacity expansion, as well as new competition from direct broadcast satellites. Focusing on four program network groups (basic outdoor entertainment, basic cartoon, basic movie, and premium movie), we generally find that integrated cable systems carry their affiliated networks more frequently and carry unaffiliated rival networks less frequently—a pattern identified by previous studies using data prior to DBS or the capacity expansion effects of digital cable. We also find that integrated systems that do carry rival networks often position them on digital tiers having more limited subscriber access, a pattern not investigated in previous studies.     

The changing face of research anddevelopment in the public sector

This paper examines the changes that have occurred in the management and scale of R & D, in the contextof the'gas industry's experience. As a resultof the discovery o f North Sea gas and new and expanding operations, R & D has become larger, more central, and thus more integrated into and accountable to the organization as a whole. This has resulted in greater centralization and planning administered according to the ‘sponsorship’ principle. These changes have highlighted the problems of R & D choice and the comparison of commercial and non-commercial objectives in a public sector industry. The unique constraints under which nationalized industries operate and their commitment to the ‘public interest’ as well as to commercial goals, are discussed. These bear upon the way in which R & D decisions not amenable to cost/benefit analysis (such as the balance between long and short term work) are made. It is emphasized that these decisions are made by the industry as a whole and that R & D must thus be seen to be complying with industry objectives. The example of British Gas R & D Planning is used to show how ‘sponsorship’ operates and its values for R & D and the restof the industry. Comparison with other public sector industries indicates that there is no one great system for R & D and that its administration is a function of the history, technological characteristics, and present situation of the industry. These imply different procedures appropriate for the innovation process within the Industry. The role of British Gas within a national energy policy is discussed. The separation of the fuel industries affects the assumptions on which R & D plans are made and thus the degree of uncertainty inherent in all R & D planning. This raises interest- ing questions about the degree of flexibility possible in defining each industry's own objectives.     

Fish and nutrition in India

A 1966 survey of possibilities for increasing food production to meet India's minimum nutritional requirements concluded that a national programme could be formulated for making better use of India's vast potential in fisheries. This article gives an account of the current production and disposal of fisheries products in India. The three major phases of fisheries operations are distinguished, and actions are proposed that could be taken in each phase to help alleviate malnutrition in India. Finally the article discusses how such actions could be undertaken within a comprehensive national programme designed to increase the contribution of fisheries to the alleviation of India's malnutrition problem.     

政府土地供应政策、行政调控政策对房价波动的影响——基于中国35个城市的证据

2016年中国面临了新一轮的房价上涨,政府调控对房价调节起着重要的作用。本文从中国35个城市2010～2016年的土地供应政策（土地竞拍过程中的额外规定）和行政调控政策（“限贷”、“限购”和住房规划政策）的变化来研究其对房价波动的影响,得出土地供应调控和“限购”政策对房价的显著正向作用,但“限贷”和住房规划政策对房的作用与预期相反并做了相应的分析,最后提出3个稳定房价的建议：（1）在供给侧的调控仍以增加土地供应为核心,各大城市统筹兼顾,突出重点。（2）在需求侧的调控则以“限贷”、“限购”为抑制房价上涨的短期有效的政策工具。（3）土地制度改革是稳定房价根本措施。     

Telecommunications in Canada: The regulatory crisis

The article highlights the need for a national dimension in Canada's telecommunications systems. But the national dimension is undermined by the country's haphazard regulatory structure, and the consequent barriers to fair and equitable access to telecommunications services. A solution is proposed in the form of a national regulatory body which, without constitutional rearrangement, would yield effective federal authority and simultaneously ensure that valid concerns of a local or intraprovincial nature are taken into account.