Ringing the changes? Union recognition and organisation in call centres in the UK finance sector

The massive rise in UK call centre employment in recent years has been closely related to developments in the finance sector. This paper analyses these developments in order to contextualise the organisational experiences of unions in the sector. Recruitment activity in both hostile and compliant employer environments, and findings from the first national survey of call centre employees’ attitudes towards trade unionism, are discussed, and the prospects for union recruitment and organisation are assessed.     

The Metamorphosis of Australian Industrial Relations

This article outlines the current processes of change in Australian industrial relations - processes whose ultimate direction and effects are unforeseeable. The traditional dominance of conciliation and arbitration tribunals is giving way to more devolved arrangements. Some protagonists of change envisage a move towards collective bargaining, with trade unions having a pervasive and secure role; others believe the place of unions is in question. The impulse for change comes partly from market-oriented ideology, but this is not extensively discussed, A second source is the desire of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Labor Government to determine wage policy jointly, with the role of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission being essentially that of implementation. Also important is a widely held view that reform of industrial relations is a path to better productivity performance. The paper discusses the justification for that view. Various questions remain to be answered. These include the possibility for enduring wages policy; the legal framework necessary for bargaining; the nature of the industrial relations system of non-union enterprises; and the congruence of enterprise bargaining with the structure of trade unionism.     

AN OPTIMAL-CONTROL APPROACH TO STABILISING AUSTRALIAN WOOL PRICES*

In this paper, some aspects of the application of optimal-control techniques to wool industry price stabilisation are considered. It is not intended to provide a blueprint for the immediate adoption of optimal-control techniques in the management of wool price stablisation. Rather, the contribution is to the developmental and evaluative process involved in considering these techniques. A new econometric model of wool price and supply is also presented, since none of the existing models satisfied the requirements of the study.     

Consumer brand confusion: A conceptual framework

A definition and theoretical framework for consumer brand confusion are developed. Brand confusion is distinguished from related terms, such as uncertainty, miscomprehension, infringement, and deception. The factors affecting the likelihood of brand confusion are extended beyond stimulus similarity to include individual and situational factors, and propositions regarding the effects of individual and situational factors are developed. The value of a better understanding of consumer brand confusion to managers and policy makers is discussed.     

Keeping up or Falling behind? The Impact of Benefit and Tax Uprating on Incomes and Poverty*

Each year, the government decides how much to raise benefits and tax allowances. In the UK, the basis for these upratings is rarely debated, yet has major long‐term consequences for the relative living standards of different groups as well as for the public finances. This paper considers the medium‐term implications of present uprating policies, which vary across parameters of the tax–benefit system. Continuing these policies for 20 years, other things staying the same, would result in a near doubling of the child poverty rate alongside a substantial gain to the public finances. At the same time, pensioners are largely protected by the earnings indexation of pensioner benefits including, in time, the basic state pension. We show how difficult it will be to meet the UK child poverty targets unless the greater inequality inherent in the current regime for uprating payments and allowances is redressed.     

Response to price and production risk: The case of Australian wheat

A model of Australian wheat grower supply response was specified under the constrainsts of price and yield uncertainty, risk aversion, partial adjustment, and quadratic costs. The model was solved to obtain area planted. The results of estimation indicate that risk arising from prices and climate have had a significant influence on producer decision making. The coefficient of relative risk aversion and short‐run and long‐run elasticities of supply with respect to price were calculated. Wheat growers' risk premium, expected at the start of the season for exposed price and yield risk, was 2.8 percent of revenue or 10.4 percent of profit as measured by producer surplus. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 20: 345–359, 2000.     

Variance of the CTE Estimator

Abstract

The Conditional Tail Expectation (CTE), also called Expected Shortfall or Tail-VaR, is a robust, convenient, practical, and coherent measure for quantifying financial risk exposure. The CTE is quickly becoming the preferred measure for statutory balance sheet valuation whenever real-world stochastic methods are used to set liability provisions. We look at some statistical properties of the methods that are commonly used to estimate the CTE and develop a simple formula for the variance of the CTE estimator that is valid in the large sample limit. We also show that the formula works well for finite sample sizes. Formula results are compared with sample values from realworld Monte Carlo simulations for some common loss distributions, including equity-linked annuities with investment guarantees, whole life insurance and operational risks. We develop the CTE variance formula in the general case using a system of biased weights and explore importance sampling, a form of variance reduction, as a way to improve the quality of the estimators for a given sample size. The paper closes with a discussion of practical applications.     

Financial Institutions and the Estate Agents Industry in the 1980s

The changes which have taken place in the estate agents industry in the 1980s have transformed it from one dominated by small local firms, to one where the major participants are large national financial institutions. Concentration in the industry has increased substantially over the decade and entry conditions are such that it is unlikely to decrease in the coming years. The main reason why the institutions have entered the industry appears to be to market their other services through estate agents. This situation raises problems in terms of whether agents will act in the best interests of their client.