Productivity Coalitions and the Future of European Corporatism

This paper argues that new technology, the recession, and changing condition in the world market have transformed the ogranization of work and the system of industrial relations in many European countries. Many show a tendency toward decentralized collective bargaining at he firm level. the growing strength of workers' representative at the firm level has weakend the highly centralized bargaining systems (corporatism) which have contributed much to the stability of industrial relations. Case studies, one of west German works councils and one of Italian labormanagement committees, support the argument.     

Low-Wage Youth Employment: A Permanent or Transitory State?*

One of the striking features of the youth wage distribution in the extent to which an individual's relative position in the distribution changes between contiguous years. Formal modelling of these changes using a bivatiate probit model suggests that low-wage employment should not, in general be viewed as a permanent state. Individuals in low-wage jobs in adjacent years are characteried by u lack of human capital Accordingly. remedical action might be directed towards augmenting their skills through supplementary schooling or labour market training.     

Economic Growth and Convergence Across the Seven Colonies of Australasia: 1861–1991*

Have the poor economies of Australasia grown faster than the rich ones? This question is analyzed for the seven colonies of Australasia for the period 1861–1991, and it is found that the levels of per-capita income across the colonies are converging to one another: the initially poor colonies have indeed grown faster. The cross-sectional dispersion of per-capita incomes also declined between 1861–1991, but most of this decline occurred in the pre-Federation 1861–1901 period, as the extent of dispersion in 1991 is very close to that attained in 1901.     

A comparison of the cooking performance of different appliances when following food manufacturers' instructions

The purpose of this research was to measure the temperature achieved in, and the microbiological count of, chicken burgers cooked following the preparation instructions given by the manufacturers. The work investigates the cooking of chicken burgers, manufactured by four different companies, cooked at different positions under a grill. Three appliances were used. Each showed uneven distribution of heat and a hot position and cool position was established for each grill. Differences in the temperature of the burgers cooked at different positions on the grills were also found. The burgers at the cool position attained a much lower cooking temperature and had a higher number of microorganisms surviving the cooking. The grill that produced the highest temperatures in the burgers had the lowest number of organisms surviving in the burgers. Only 24 out of the 72 burgers cooked to the manufacturers' instructions attained temperatures above 70°C. Some of the burgers appeared to be cooked when visibly assessed, but the core temperatures were low and had high microbial counts. The results obtained indicate that not all the cooking instructions were satisfactory and not all the appliances performed satisfactorily.     

Futures-Trading Activity and Stock Price Volatility

We examine whether greater futures-trading activity (volume and open interest) is associated with greater equity volatility. We partition each trading activity series into expected and unexpected components, and document that while equity volatility covaries positively with unexpected futures-trading volume, it is negatively related to forecastable futures-trading activity. Further, though futures-trading activity is systematically related to the futures contract life cycle, we find no evidence of a relation between the futures life cycle and spot equity volatility. These findings are consistent with theories predicting that active futures markets enhance the liquidity and depth of the equity markets.     

Do U.S. Firms Invest Less in Human Resources?: Training in the World Auto Industry

We investigate the common assertion that U.S. firms invest less in human resources than key international competitors, testing four alternative explanations for differences in training effort found in survey data from an international sample of fifty-seven automobile assembly plants. We find the strongest support for the view that the level of training is derived from the requirements of the business/production strategy and the overall “bundle” of human resource policies—beyond training—adopted by the firm.