Comparative research in industrial relations: helping the survey cross frontiers

There has been a relative dearth of comparative, cross-national research which has followed a survey-based approach. This partly reflects the difficulty that researchers encounter in collecting such information, either via primary collection or the secondary matching of existing survey material. This paper addresses these difficulties and suggests ways in which their impact can be minimized. It notes that such difficulties are much more severe in the case of secondary matching and are thereby likely to constrain the scope of this approach. They are not totally absent in primary collection and it is suggested that there are limits to what can be achieved during data collection to promote the development of like data-sets across countries. This indicates that great care must be taken in interpreting data so obtained. Despite such limits and cautions, it is nevertheless concluded that the survey approach can be an important adjunct to the process of understanding why the world of work varies across frontiers.     

Your Place in Space: Classroom Experiment on Spatial Location Theory

The authors detail an urban economics experiment that is easily run in the classroom. The experiment has a flexible design that allows the instructor to explore how congestion, zoning, public transportation, and taxation levels determine the bid–rent function. Heterogeneous agents in the experiment compete for land use using a simple auction mechanism. Using the data that is collected, a bid–rent function is derived, and the experimental treatment is altered over the course of three sessions to uncover core concepts in urban economics. Moreover, this provides a tangible experience that can be used to help undergraduates relate to urban issues such as the steep rent gradient found around many larger colleges and universities.     

In Art we trust

Culture is an experience good and has strong externalities. Culture has social value, option value, existence value, innovation value, and intergenerational value. None of these are internalised by the market. One should avoid that culture appeals to a small elite. It is thus crucial to invest in cultural education, to bring culture to places where the people are, and to put a greater emphasis on demand-side rather than supply-side cultural subsidies. One should try to avoid that high culture becomes marginalised in a multicultural society with many demands on leisure time. The government should avoid deadweight losses, but should also minimise the potential for rent seeking and lobbying. It is crucial that the government stays at arm's length and leaves artistic judgements to independent experts and interested laymen.     

The Oxford Handbook of Work & Organization – Edited by Stephen Ackroyd,Rosemary Batt,Paul Thompson and Pamela S.

Books reviewed: The Oxford Handbook of Work & Organization edited by Stephen Ackroyd, Rosemary Batt, Paul Thompson and Pamela S. Tolbert. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005, xiii + 655 pp., ISBN 0 19 926992 0, £75.00.     

Modelling employment durations of NHL head coaches: turnover and post‐succession performance

Match‐level National Hockey League (NHL) data are used to identify factors likely to trigger the departure of a team's coach, and to measure the short‐term impact on subsequent match results. There is a statistically significant link between individual match results and the job departure hazard for up to 15 games prior to the point of departure. The hazard depends on the team's current standing within its conference relative to a pre‐season forecast, recent performance in the Stanley Cup, the coach's age and previous employment with his present team as a player. After controlling for a mean‐reversion effect, teams that changed their coach within‐season are found to perform worse subsequently than those that did not, but the negative effect is short‐lived. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changing images of futures in the 20th century

The 20th century has seen a rise in dystopian images of futures and an apparent decline in imaging capacity. This article considers responses to this ‘imaging dilemma’. They include critique, futures workshops, accessing cultural resources, renegotiating aspects of a worldview and ‘imagining’ a different historical dynamic. It is concluded that there is a substantive basis for informed optimism and empowerment. The keys to each lie in the nature of the human response to what is desired or feared.