Consequences of the shifts in U.S. Research and Development policy

This paper is an edited version of a talk given in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 19, 1984 on a panel on public policy at the 26th international meeting of The Institute of Management Sciences (TIMS). The talk deals with the consequences of the recent marked shifts in the research and development policy of the U.S. government, as seen by the top federal science and technology administrator in three major areas: defence, aeronautics and space, and energy. Collectively they put the shifts into good perspective, see them in the main as being beneficial, and describe certain needed modifications to what in some respects have been evolving policies.     

The Market, Liberty and the Regulatory State

A successful market economy offers the greatest extent of liberty consistent with reasonable security. But in recen times, the legal system has been used to 'improve' on competition and to impose impossibly high safety standards. This will lead to long-term damage to liberty and prosperity.     

No Efficiency without Profit

In Economic Affairs July–September 1985 Peter Kellner argued that socialism was better than capitalism in using markets. Professors Norman Barry (pictured on p. 9), of the University of Buckingham, and David Myddleton (right), of the Cranfield School of Management, offer two contrasting defences of capitalism to reject Mr Kellner.     

No 'Just' Distribution of Property Rights

Professor Barry questions the claim of Samuel Brittan that market liberalism lacks a theory of property distribution. He re-asserts the argument against egalitarianism most forcefully stated by F. A. Hayek (seen here after being made a Companion of Honour by the Queen last autumn).     

New venture departments: Organizing for innovation

A popular approach to managing new business development in a large corporate environment—the New Venture Department— is considered in this article. The author reports on a study of NVDs in 18 companies—discussing why they were, established, ways that they differed and how they evolved over time.     

Reputational cheap talk

We analyze information reporting by a privately informed expert concerned about being perceived to have accurate information. When the expert's reputation is updated on the basis of the report as well as the realized state, the expert typically does not wish to truthfully reveal the signal observed. The incentives to deviate from truth telling are characterized and shown to depend on the information structure. In equilibrium, experts can credibly communicate only part of their information. Our results also hold when experts have private information about their own accuracy and care about their reputation relative to others.     

The ethics of business intelligence

A review of the strategic management, policy, information management, and the marketing literature reveals that many large and medium sized companies now collect and use business intelligence. The number of firms engaging in these activities is increasing rapidly.While the whys and hows of this practice have been discussed in the academic and professional literature, the ethics of intelligence gathering have not been adequately discussed in a public forum. This paper is intended to generate discussion by advancing criteria which could be used as the basis for judging actions of those involved in business intelligence and for creating reasonable policies in this sensitive area of practice.Norm Schultz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Accounting and Taxation at Colorado State University.Allison Collins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Accounting and Taxation at Colorado State University.Mike McCulloch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Colorado State University.     

Post-earnings-announcement Drift: Some Preliminary Evidence for the UK

This paper tests for the presence of post-earnings-announcement drift on the London Stock Exchange using data for seven half-years for a constant sample of 206 quoted companies. Separate results are presented for interim and final earnings announcements and the results are disaggregated by firm size. Overall, we find evidence of significant drift for the earnings announcements of small firms but not for the announcements of large firms.