Book reviews

Books reviewed: Robert Taylor. Social Democratic Trade Unionism: An Agenda for Action.
Reviewed by Peter Ackers Mark Freedland. The Personal Employment Contract.
Reviewed by Ann Blair J. O’Reilly (ed.), Regulating Working‐time transitions in Europe.
Reviewed by Paul Blyton Huw Beynon, Damian Grimshaw, Jill Rubery and Kevin Ward. Managing Employment Change: The New Realities of Work.
Reviewed by John Purcell Robert Taylor's Series of Reports for the ESRC's Future of Work Programme.
Reviewed by Jason Heyes     

The Effects of local Fair Housing Ordinances on Housing Segregation: Their Impact Is Small, But It's an Important Positive Change Toward Integration

Abstract . State and local fair housing ordinances, patterned after federal legislation, are promoted by federal policy. This study investigates whether these local laws have had any effect on levels of residential segregation between Whites and Blacks, 1970-1980, by comparing changes in segregation for 111 cities characterized by different types of fair housing coverage. Results show average declines of 9 points in the index of dissimilarity, with cities covered by both state and local laws declining slightly more than cities with no fair housing coverage. Declines are not greater in cities with laws that are “substantially equivalent” to Title VIII vs. cities with non-equivalent laws. When changes in segregation were examined by a variety of population, economic and housing variables that may affect segregation change, it was found that local ordinances continue to have a small, but statistically significant effect. This effect varies according to the pattern of segregation change under study; deconcentration of ghetto areas and integration of White areas are not affected by type of local fair housing coverage.     

Minimum kolmogorov distance estimates of parameters and parametrized distributions

Minimum Kolmogorov distance estimates of arbitrary parameters are considered. They are shown to be strongly consistent if the parameter space metric is topologically weaker than the metric induced by the Kolmogorov distance of distributions from the statistical model. If the parameter space metric can be locally uniformly upper-bounded by the induced metric then these estimates are shown to be consistent of ordern ^−1/2. Similar results are proved for minimum Kolmogorov distance estimates of densities from parametrized families where the consistency is considered in theL ₁-norm. The presented conditions for the existence, consistency, and consistency of ordern ^−1/2 are much weaker than those established in the literature for estimates with similar properties. It is shown that these assumptions are satisfied e.g. by all location and scale models with parent distributions different from Dirac, and by all standard exponential models. Supported by the scientific exchange program between the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences, and by GACR grant 201/93/0232.     

Bookshelf 2004

Books reviewed: Ola Bergstrom and Donald Storrie (eds). Contingent Employment in Europe and the United States.
Reviewed by Ian Kirkpatrick Tonia Novitz. International and European Protection of the Right to Strike.
Reviewed by Lord McCarthy Deborah Foster and Peter Scott (eds). Trade Unions in Europe—Meeting the Challenge.
Reviewed by Michael Gold Jeff Kenner. EU Employment Law. From Rome to Amsterdam and Beyond.
Reviewed by Simon Deakin Vladimir Gimpelson and Douglas Lippoldt. The Russian Labour Market: Between Transition and Turmoil.
Reviewed by Gregory Schwartz     

Construction of D-optimal s 1 × s 2 × s 3 factorial designs using graph theory

In this paper, the maximum determinant of the associated 0-1 matrix in D-Optimal saturated main effect plans for 3× s_2 × s_3 factorials, is derived by the use of Graph theory and Combinatorics. The present work is related to a problem suggested by Chatterjee and Narasimhan (2002). Using the theoretical results, we also give the designs for s₃≥s₂ + 1. This research was supported by the State Scholarships Foundation of Greece.     

Structural change and technological development

It is important for our understanding of sectoral and regional structural change to analyze the R & D-activities. In this paper we show that R & D should be analyzed as an endogenous, intermediate, public investment variable rather than as ordinary capital investment. The allocation of resources for R&D cannot be decentralized regionally or sectorally but should preferably be decided on as a problem of optimal taxation. It is shown that the optimal rate of taxation for R&D is determined by possibilities of substitution between ordinary capital investments and R&D, by the propensity to invest and by the productivity of the R&D- producing sector. A dynamic model with accessibility representation of knowledge is finally formulated. This interregional R&D-model also has equilibrium growth properties. The equilibrium rate of growth of all regions of this model can be raised by decreasing any interregional distance or by raising any regional propensity to invest.     

Paradigms,Conventions and the Entrepreneur:

Abstract Criticism of the book by Choi is expressed by Professor Pressman and responded to by the author. Three problems are noted. These deal with ambiguities in the concept of paradigms and conventions, the relationship between them, and how individual feelings of envy and the notion of social conventions fail to provide a good justification for fully supporting entrepreneurship.     

A response to the critiques of DEA by Dmitruk and Koshevoy, and Bol

We here critique the articles by Dmitruk & Koshevoy (1991, J Econ Theory 55:121–144) and by Bol (1986, J Econ Theory 38:380–385) by showing how to solve the examples they erected to show the non-existence of functions for evaluating performance efficiencies in DEA. We also show that functions satisfying these criteria—and other important criteria as well—were already available prior to the publications of D&K and by Bol and have since been greatly extended to increase the power and scope of DEA.

A note on multinomial maximum likelihood estimation under ordered restrictions and the EM algorithm

A frequently occurring problem is to find the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) of p subject to p∈C (C⊂ P the probability vectors in R ^k ). The problem has been discussed by many authors and they mainly focused when p is restricted by linear constraints or log-linear constraints. In this paper, we construct the relationship between the the maximum likelihood estimation of p restricted by p∈C and EM algorithm and demonstrate that the maximum likelihood estimator can be computed through the EM algorithm (Dempster et al. in J R Stat Soc Ser B 39:1–38, 1997). Several examples are analyzed by the proposed method.     

Implementing efficient, anonymous and neutral social choice functions

Implementing a social choice function is to endow the agents involved in a collective decision problem with a privately owned decision power, in such a way that by exercising (noncooperatively) this power the agents eventually select the very outcome recommended by the social choice function.In this paper, we show that the concept of dominance-solvable voting scheme allows the implementation of some of the most desirable social choice functions. Namely our main result is the following: If the number of agents n is a prime integer strictly greater than the number of outcomes p then there exists at least one efficient, anonymous and neutral social choice function, in short eanscf, that can be implemented by a dominance-solvable voting scheme. The result is proved constructively, i.e., by looking at a repeated version of voting by veto that is by itself an appealing voting scheme. The arithmetic condition (n should be prime and greater than p) is very natural (since it does not exist an eanscf unless every prime factor of n is greater than p).     

The Thought of Work: A Review

The Thought of Work makes a vital contribution to industrial relations by offering a fresh examination of the many meanings of work and by clearly illustrating how those different meanings shape our thoughts and actions. The book also shows that work is fundamental to the human experience and highlights work’s complex and textured nature. The volume stops short of tying the different meanings together by means of an integrative framework. But even without such a framework, which can be constructed by integrating The Thought of Work with John R. Commons’s Industrial Goodwill, Budd makes it clear that work is a fully human activity—not merely an economic, psychological, or social endeavor. Accordingly, The Thought of Work deserves a wide audience.     

Meanings of measurement

Abstract

In public domains, performances – also in ambiguous fields like policing – are controlled, by making them transparent, by comparing them, and by linking them to targets. Although this ‘numerical capture' of complex phenomena has been heavily criticized, management by measurement is blossoming and in specific cases, measurements like crime monitoring have played a role in reducing crime. The question, however, is whether such improvements are caused by distinctive measurement methods, or by ‘something else'. This paper will analyze how one particular measurement method, the so-called Rotterdam ‘Safety Index', contributed to safety policies. It will show how this dubious instrument is made meaningful; how, indeed, ‘something else' is at work. Political and administrative key players made certain moves in order to ‘link', ‘store', and ‘advocate' the Safety Index. These acts, moreover, occurred amidst distinctive socio-political conditions. Because of ‘acts in context', the Index became a workable tool, producing tangible effects.     

Moses—Henry George's Inspiration

Abstract . Henry George delivered his famous “Moses” lecture in 1878, just one year prior to the publication of his masterwork. Progress and Poverty. The many parallels in the thinking of both George and Moses suggest that George may have been greatly inspired by Moses. George appreciated Moses’concern with improving this world rather than the hereafter. Moses, like George, advocated a minimum role for government. Moses proposed a thoroughly equitable distribution of the land which would generate fair taxes and avoid the exploitation so denounced by George. Land accumulation by the few would be prevented by requiring the return of ownership to the original owners every fifty years. George, the humanitarian, is also sympathetic with Mosaic reforms restoring human dignity such as the cancellation of oppressive debt every seventh year, and relief from drudgery every sabbath day and sabbatical year.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed: Carol Boyd. Human Resource Management and Occupational Health and Safety.
Reviewed by Geraldine Healy
Queen Mary, University of London Anru Lee. In the Name of Harmony and Prosperity: Labor and Gender Politics in Taiwan's Economic Restructuring.
Reviewed by Peter Ross
University of Economics Prague, Griffith University, Australia Marek Korczynski. Human Resource Management in Service Work.
Reviewed by Joe Wallace
University of Limerick Jane Parker. Women's Groups and Equality in British Trade Unions.
Reviewed by Moira Calveley
University of Hertfordshire     

The Obama effect

Many observers argued that Barack Obama’s candidacy in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 benefited from the financial crisis and recessionary economic conditions which voters blamed on the Republican administration. However, an empirical examination of stock price and public opinion data indicates that improvements in Obama’s electoral prospects led stock price declines and that gains by Obama were more likely to be followed by falling stock prices than by rising prices. This evidence suggests that the poor performance of the stock market in the days leading up to Obama’s victory was partly caused by, rather than causing, Obama’s success.

Antecedents and outcomes of implementing flexibility policies in organizations

This study examines the antecedents of employees' utilization of various flexibility work arrangements (FWA) on the one hand and job-related outcomes due to their implementation in organizations on the other hand. Data are provided by an original survey administered to employees working in private organizations (N = 480). Workers' uptake of the arrangements is enhanced by their family responsibilities, by FWA availability, by supervisors' support and by co-workers' FWA use. Regarding employee outcomes, FWA availability is related to two of the three outcomes studied. Moreover, a favourable work-family culture is related to our three outcomes, employee commitment, turnover intentions and work-to-family conflict.     

Creative Mediations of the City: Contemporary Public Art as Compass of Metro Manila's Urban Conditions

In this article, public art is proposed as creative agency mobilized to form urban imaginaries. These alternate visions are largely facilitated by artists and art collectives using urban communities as performative grounds. These projects promote a view of art as an effective channel for ‘recentering’ — the identification of a multitude of centers that endlessly fracture and shift, very much resembling the nature of cities themselves. An alternate vision of the city through cartography informed by contrast, temporality and ephemerality is proposed alongside dominant representations of the city. Works by artists Alma Quinto, Mark Salvatus and Wire Tuazon are representative examples of such strategies. Diverse in tactics and platforms, defined by site‐specific mediations, the projects facilitated by these artists reveal the uneven conditions that beset Metro Manila and its outlying areas. Quinto's altered Urban Plan/Duyan is the result of her engagement with women in an informal settler community in San Andres Bukid, Manila, while Salvatus's web‐based Neo‐Urban Planner is an astute observation of the obsessive yet futile ordering of people and space by the state. Tuazon's Amphibian installation is a commentary on the encroachment of multinational interests in local communities. These interventions are foils to state‐ and private‐led urban development schemes. Their strength lies in their direct engagement with the sphere of public dialogue and self‐determination. These artistic practices and strategies are shaped by community interaction, revealing that meanings residing in urban forms are relentlessly negotiated by the numerous actors that inhabit the city.     

Common cyclical features analysis in VAR models with cointegration

The paper considers n-dimensional VAR models for variables exhibiting cointegration and common cyclical features. Two specific reduced rank vector error correction models are discussed. In one, named the “strong form” and denoted by SF, the collection of all coefficient matrices of a VECM has rank less than n, in the other, named the “weak form” and denoted by WF, the collection of all coefficient matrices except the matrix of coefficient of error correction terms has rank less than n. The paper explores the theoretical connections between these two forms, suggests asymptotic tests for each form and examines the small sample properties of these tests by Monte Carlo simulations.     

The Irish Sea Fisheries: Development and Curtailment of a Renewable Resource Industry

Abstract . The volume of the sea fish catch in the Republic of Ireland increased by 16 times in the period 1950-82. Influences contributing to development included active promotion by a State agency, government funding, fleet expansion, growth in the labor force, establishment of processing, and development of domestic and export markets.Fish landings became more concentrated in the major ports and along the less developed west coast. Fishery expansion is now curtailed by resource problems. These are partly the result of pressures exerted by foreign fleets, now within the context of the European Economic Community (EEC). Internal conflicts have arisen through competition between Irish fishermen for scarcer resources. The major needs in this new phase of the industry are for restructuring of the fleet, exploitation of new stocks, resource conservation, development of mariculture, more advanced processing and marketing, and comprehensive policy formulation.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed: John T. Addison and Claus Schnabel (eds). International Handbook of Trade Unions
Reviewed by John Kelly Walter Müller‐Jentsch and Hansjörg Weitbrecht (eds). The Changing Contours of German Industrial Relations
Reviewed by Steve French Yonatan Reshef and Sandra Rastin. Unions in the Time of Revolution. Government Restructuring in Alberta and Ontario
Reviewed by Roy J. Adams