The Internet,employment and Polish migrant workers: communication,activism and competition in the new organisational spaces

This article discusses the content of Polish community–administered websites and trade union engagement. It is based on three sources of data, firstly, semi‐structured interviews with Polish web administrators and trade union officers in the north of England. Secondly, audits of the location of Polish administered UK websites undertaken in April 2007 and 2008. Lastly, an in‐depth thematic questionnaire was undertaken of websites in November 2008. The key findings are that the Internet is an increasingly systematic feature of new migrant politics and representation. Further the trade union movement is not ‘at odds’ with independent and virtual forms of communication and representation. It does pose questions of how to combine and coordinate these and create a more meaningful and sustainable dialogue based on a politics of empowerment.     

Ageing, Optimal National Saving and Future Living Standards in Australia

Making allowance for the ageing structure of the population, this paper calculates the levels of optimal national saving and future living standards for Australia for the period 1999–2050. For this period, the optimal saving response to the ageing of the Australian population is for national saving to increase from its current level by 2.7 per cent of GDP by the year 2017 and then to decline to the year 2050. The implied growth of living standards is 1.20 per cent per year. Reduced immigration would reduce the rate of growth of living standards but reduced fertility would not.     

Trade and Inequality with Limited Labor Mobility: Theory and Evidence from China

Does globalization increase inequality in developing countries, and if so, how? In a theoretical model of a regionally heterogeneous economy, we show how different regional rates of technical progress due to trade and FDI interact with constraints to unskilled labor mobility. As favored regions benefit more from trade, their growing demand for skills drains skilled workers from disadvantaged areas, and average incomes in the former grow faster than in the latter. Moreover, this unbalanced regional growth may also raise inequality within each region. It could even reduce absolute income per capita in the less favored region. We test these predictions with Chinese data from the Open Door era. Results confirm that different regional growth rates have increased both interregional and intraregional inequality. Moreover, growth of skills‐based export industries in coastal regions is associated, other things equal, with lower incomes for the poor in inland provinces.     

From the Guest Editors: About this Journal of Promotion Management “Down Under” Special Issue

Abstract

The Internet is rapidly becoming an accepted communication/promotion medium for all types and sizes of businesses. It is especially significant in reference to the major marketing functions of advertising and sales. Individual Internet users are rapidly moving from the upper income/educational demographic to a more median level. Needs exist for clearer understanding of the terminology developing around this medium, as well as for a system of advertising effectiveness measurement as related to measuring traditional advertising effectiveness.     

An Evaluation of Collaborative Problem Solving for Learning Economics

The use of student evaluations of courses and professors has been examined by Professor Kelley in an effort to learn more about the factors that appear to be associated with “good” or “poor” ratings. Using student evaluations of the Principles of Economics course at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Kelly investigated two dependent variables: measures of course evaluation and measures of professor evaluation. Eleven independent variables were included in the analysis, and two different regression models were used. The results are tentative, of course, but the study reveals some interesting findings on the impact of teaching assistants, the student's expectation of his course grade, and the professor's propensity to be generous or niggardly in awarding high grades.     

中国新一代务实型消费者

中国消费者的行为方式正与发达国家的消费者越来越相像。与过去相比，他们变得越来越挑剔，也越来越实际，他们的视野更加开阔，超越了对产品功能的基本关注。此外，他们越来越愿意为更高的产品价值和质量而花钱，并且花费更多时间研究产品，以及探究产品之间的细微差别。     

Directed search, unemployment and public policy

Abstract .  We examine the effects of public policy parameters in a simple directed search model of the labour market, and contrast them with those in standard random matching models with Nash bargaining. Both finite and limit versions of the directed search model are considered, and the value of the limit model as an approximation of the finite one is assessed. As with the random matching model, job creation is the key channel through which the policy parameters affect the equilibrium of the directed search model. Both comparative static effects of the policy parameters and optimal configurations are identified.     

Alcohol taxes,tax revenues and the Single European Market

This paper addresses the issue of whether tax revenue from alcohol lost through cross-border shopping could be recouped by cutting excise duties. This in turn depends on the elasticity of demand for alcohol. We use data from the Family Expenditure Survey 1978–96 to estimate own- and cross-price elasticities of demand for beer, wine and spirits before and after completion of the Single Market. We find no evidence of a significant change in elasticities after the Single Market. The tax rates on beer and wine are currently below their revenue-maximising rates, implying that a cut in the duty rate on beer or wine would lead to a decrease in indirect tax revenue from alcohol. We cannot reject that the current tax rate on spirits is at the revenue-maximising rate, implying that further increases in the duty on spirits are likely to cause indirect tax revenue to fall.     

Historic Tourism to New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde 1795–1830. The Evidence of Contemporary Visiting Books and Related Sources

New Lanark and the falls of Clyde, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, show the coincidence of picturesque and industrial tourism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Made famous by Robert Owen (1771–1851), the social reformer, the factory village of New Lanark attracted many visitors from Britain and abroad. This article examines early visitor data, typologies, origins, occupational profiles, motivations, and visitor experiences. A high proportion of visitors, it concludes, were interested in social and educational reform, as well as seeing romantic scenery. It also suggests that in line with Owen's agenda, the interpretation of the site for modern visitors is strongly influenced by similar social, educational, cooperative and environmental concerns.     

Conclusion: Globalization,Work and Employment – Asia Pacific Experiences in Retrospect

In the concluding essay, the authors of this special issue provide a synthesis of the contributions presented in the volume. It is argued that globalization has become a powerful force in the business environment and has a major influence on the labour process, labour markets, the practice of management, and the management of employees in organizations. It is also asserted that both local and global companies are in various ways adjusting to the changes brought about by globalization. The essay comprehensively evaluates the significant number of management issues and variety of outcomes arising from economic globalization in the Asia-Pacific region. The implications of these issues for academic debate by managers, other practitioners, trade unions, employees and governments are critically explored.