Problems of Bank Lending in Bulgaria: Information Asymmetry and Institutional Learning

MOCT-MOST: Economic Policy in Transitional Economies -     

Wage Posting in Two-Sided Search and the Minimum Wage

This article focuses on wage formation in an equilibrium (two-sided) model of search with match-specific heterogeneity. Despite a large number (a continuum) of employers, search provides sufficient isolation to generate market power. By posting wages, employers, without collusion, capture most of the surplus that accrues to any match. The equilibrium wage is below that which maximizes employment. An example, using calibrated parameter values, is used to reconcile some recent, otherwise contradictory empirical results on the employment effects of minimum wage adjustments.     

Internationalization and HRM strategies across subsidiaries in multinational corporations from emerging economies—A conceptual framework

The rapid rise of multinational Corporations (MNCs) from emerging economies has led to greater interest and urgency in developing a better understanding of the deployment and diffusion of managerial strategies from their perspective and without assuming the prevailing Western ethnocentric orthodoxy. This paper develops a conceptual framework of global HR strategies and practices in MNCs from emerging economies across their subsidiaries in both developed and developing markets. Using data from a pilot study of an Indian MNC, it provides insights and guidance into the motives, strategic opportunities and constraints in cross-national transfer of HR policies and practices in a multi-polar world.     

Retraining the Unemployed in a Model of Equilibrium Employment

An equilibrium model of search and matching is developed to analyse the effects of retraining the unemployed on the market for skilled (or semi-skilled) workers. Versions of the model with free entry of vacancies and fixed numbers of jobs are considered. The latter environment exhibits multiple equilibria. While subsidized training (and enforced participation) is justified on employment grounds, it cannot be justified on efficiency grounds. Policies that, ceteris paribus , lower unemployment, also reduce the incentive to train. When such policies are introduced to a training economy, training may cease and unemployment can rise.     

La transición de Tailandia en las esferas laboral y sanitaria

La economía de Tailandia ha cambiado rápidamente de la agricultura a la industria manufacturera y el sector de los servicios, pero el ordenamiento del mercado laboral y la representación de los trabajadores son mucho menos consistentes que en los países desarrollados, donde hubo una transición más lenta y gradual hace ya décadas. Los autores estudian el robustecimiento de las políticas y la legislación tailandesas en el ámbito de la seguridad y la salud en el trabajo, que obedece a las normas internacionales y a la nueva Constitución democrática. Por último, identifican los principales retos pendientes, entre ellos el cumplimiento de la ley y una medición mejor de los efectos del trabajo en la salud física y mental.     

Fundraising communications: the role of experience in perceptions of media risk

This paper examines fundraising communications for charities in respect to their use of media. The questions posed were the extent to which knowledge and experience affect the perceptions of risk in media decision-making, and to what extent direct marketing reduces risk owing to its measurability. Based on a mail survey, direct mail was perceived as less risky than advertising. However, less risk was generally perceived when using familiar media. Managerially, the implications are that fundraisers may be lulled into a false sense of security by their familiarity with the media that they are using. The research emphasises the importance of perceptions in risk-taking and the need continually to re-evaluate positions on media choice. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications     

Optimised asset replacement strategy in the presence of lead time uncertainty

This paper develops an optimal replacement strategy for capital intensive equipment with long delivery lead time. The strategy is based on an extended version of the real options approach to repeated replacement decisions, in which the goal is to determine the operating cost and delivery lead-time conditions upon which a replacement should be ordered.The real options approach to capital replacement problems is superior to traditional net present value (NPV) approaches, as it values of the option to adapt decisions based on current (rather than predicted) system conditions. However, previous applications of the real options approach to repeated replacement have not considered the impact of long and uncertain lead times, and have therefore focused on when to replace rather than when to order. Delivery lead times are an important consideration in an expanding mining sector in which demand for heavy mobile equipment (HME) exceeds the capacity of suppliers to provide the equipment in a timely manner.The inclusion of a lead time element results in a decision with an “option” period and an “option-less” period. Simulations are used to demonstrate the improved outcome of real options based replacement strategies compared with those derived using a traditional NPV approach, both with and without lead times. Further the performance of the order placement strategy with different boundary conditions, bounded and reflecting, is explored. No appreciable difference in performance of these strategies was identified. The optimal order placement strategy incorporating delivery lead times is displayed on a simple chart which is accessible to fleet management personnel.     

Analyzing economic market interactions as conflicts: New concepts to assess market-based policy instruments

Complementing market-based policy instruments with conflict analysis approaches provides a wider understanding of market situations and allows to identify minimal requirements regarding needs, power and conflict dynamics. If these are not met, a market cannot be successfully introduced or a liberalization process implemented. Conflict analysis offers a language better suited to the concerns of people negatively affected by new markets. Applying this language helps to counterbalance the predominance of economic concepts. This fosters mutual understanding and enhances the prospect for successful implementation of market-based policies. We illustrate the potential of conflict analysis with examples from water privatization and labeling.     

UK trust fundraising - Learning to say thank you

In the United Kingdom, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) data suggest that grant-making trusts are currently responsible for supplying over 13 per cent of an ‘average’ charity's income (approximately four times the amount committed by corporate donors). Remarkably however, very little is known about the behaviour of such organisations and the contact strategies that are used by charities to solicit their support. This paper reviews the findings of a postal survey of 350 grant-making trusts and identifies the criteria most commonly used to perform an initial sift of proposals and to develop a final short list to appraise for support or rejection. The findings clearly show that charity applications to trusts have increased dramatically over the past three years. Regrettably however, trusts perceive that there has been an accompanying decline in the standards of application being made. Trusts report that they are now frequently subjected to ill-considered ‘blanket’ mailings from charities that often take no account of the specific aims and objectives of the trust. In general, the research also identified that applicants appeared to have undertaken very little research prior to submission of their application and if successful, would be unlikely to thank the trustees, nor to indicate what had been achieved as a result of their generosity.