Every story tells a picture: Lessons from cartoons on corporate governance

While pictures tell stories, in the case of cartoons, stories also tell pictures. A theory of cartooning suggests that cartoons reflect public sentiment toward issues. As such, cartoons are a useful way of gauging and tracking public sentiment over time. This article uses a historical cartoon analysis to track public sentiment toward issues surrounding corporate governance. Specifically, it compares what cartoons reflected prior to the economic crash of 2008 and what they portrayed after. The criteria of narrative, location, binary struggle, and normative transfer were used as a framework to analyze 258 cartoons. We found that three major changes emerged after the 2008 crash that hold important lessons for those who govern corporations: the public's concern is no longer so much about corporate and individual fraudulent behavior as it is about corporate and individual greed; there is an impression that corporations do not do bad things so much as they do not do any good things; and ordinary people, workers, and taxpayers are those who suffer most when corporations are not governed well.     

Fatal violence among children under 15 years in four cities of South Africa, 2001-2005

Homicide rates for South African children were estimated at double the global average in 2000. This article presents a secondary data analysis of the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS), with full coverage in four major metropolitan cities. Child homicide rates for 2001-2005 were calculated within the 0-4, 5-9 and 10-14 year age groups. The homicide rates were similar to the global pattern, with higher rates for boys, and among children aged 0-4 years than for older children. Poisson regression, accounting for city level clustering, was used to investigate age, sex and period effects in the homicide rate. The model indicated that the gender difference was more marked in the 10-14 year age groups (RR?=?2.17; 95% CI 1.97-2.38) than in the 5-9 year (RR?=?1.43; 95% CI 1.27-1.62) with the 0-4 year age group in-between (RR?=?1.80; 95% CI 1.55-2.10). These data confirm previous observations that fatal violence among children is a public health concern, but, given the high rates of homicide among South African adults and other competing public health problems, it is difficult to motivate for action to address the issue of violence against children. Nonetheless, there are sufficient indications that efforts to reduce childhood violence are urgently needed.     

Global Engagement and Returns Volatility

This paper finds that a greater reliance on foreign market sales increases the volatility of firms’ stock returns, using high‐frequency data for publicly listed Japanese manufacturing firms over the period 2000–10. The two margins of global engagement we consider, namely, exports and sales via foreign affiliates (horizontal foreign direct investment), have both a positive and economically significant effect on firm‐level volatility. We find, however, that increasing the intensity of sales through foreign affiliates has a stronger effect on volatility than a similar change in export intensity. We also uncover evidence consistent with the notion that firms’ need to use external finance to cover the substantial costs involved in reaching foreign consumers can be an important channel through which firms’ participation in international markets increases their exposure to economic uncertainty.     

Gender influences on purchasing negotiation objectives,outcomes and communication patterns

This paper compares the objectives, results obtained and communication patterns used by men and women in 1159 purchasing role plays over a period of 18 years. Results show statistically significant, but weak relationships, which should be considered as tendencies only. Male negotiators set higher objectives than female negotiators, specifically under conditions of high competitiveness. Women on the other hand are more realistic and strive for mid-range objectives. The outcome of the observed negotiations is higher for female negotiators, specifically under conditions of high and slightly less under conditions of medium competitiveness. Male negotiators are more likely to obtain mid-range results. Female negotiators are more likely to reach no deal at all. Although women more and more take on identical roles as men, the observed differences in negotiation results do not seem to diminish over time. Women finally use fewer tactics and more open communication patterns.     

The Rise of the Maquiladoras: A Mixed Blessing

Mexico experienced a tremendous expansion of its export‐processing maquila sector during the 1990s. Since one of the main objectives of the maquiladora program was to promote formal employment, we study how the rapid increase in maquiladora activity has affected labor market outcomes and welfare in Mexico. We develop a heterogeneous‐firm model with imperfect labor markets that captures salient features of the Mexican economy such as the differences between maquila and non‐maquila manufacturing plants and the existence of an informal sector. We calibrate the model's parameters to match key cross‐sectional moments characterizing the Mexican economy. We find that the expansion of the maquila sector during the 1990s was a mixed blessing for Mexico. Our quantitative model indicates that the skill premium decreased by 2.7%, informality increased by 0.9%, and overall welfare decreased by 3.7%.     

Exports, investment and firm-level sales volatility

This paper presents a dynamic model of risk-averse producers??decision to invest in physical capital and to export. The model features irreversible investment, no capital markets and fixed and sunk costs to export. Several features of the distribution of investment rates and export participation patterns observed in firm-level data are closely matched in a calibration exercise. Counterfactual experiments show that large adjustments in total sales associated with entry into foreign markets increase the volatility of total sales for exporting firms.     

Visiting the trenches: Exploring meanings and motivations in battlefield tourism

This paper provides insights into the motivations and experiences of tourists who visit sites associated with war and conflict, specifically 25 individuals who participated in a tour of the World War One battlefields of the Somme and Ypres. The paper discusses the narratives of four of these individuals to illustrate in detail how such battlefield tours offer opportunities for pilgrimage, collective and personal remembrance and event validation. All of the participants had a prior interest in warfare, which was a key influence on their battlefield tour experiences. For the study participants battlefield tours emerge as complex, deeply meaningful and in some cases life-changing experiences.     

Book Reviews

Indonesia: The Transmigration Program in Perspective, Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1988, pp. 227 + xlii. Paper: US$17.00.

William Segers, Changing Economy in Indonesia, Vol. 8, Manufacturing Industry 1870–1942, Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute, 1988, pp. 224. Dfl. 48.00.

Leslie Castle and Christopher Findlay (Eds), Pacific Trade in Services, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1988, pp. 294 + Xiv. Paper: 24.95; Cloth: $39.95.