The information content of regional employment data for forecasting aggregate conditions

We consider whether disaggregated data enhance the efficiency of aggregate employment forecasts. We find that incorporating spatial interaction into a disaggregated forecasting model lowers the out-of-sample mean squared error from a univariate aggregate model by 70% at a two-year horizon.     

Overcoming underdevelopment in South Africa's second economy

This paper is a synthesis of the July 2005 Development Report published by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Human Sciences Research Council and United Nations Development Programme (DBSA, HSRC and UNDP). The Report asks why, if the origins of economic dualism are rooted in the cheap, forced, migrant labour introduced by the mining industry and reinforced during apartheid, does dualism persist under democracy when all the relevant laws and many of the practices of the past have been abolished? The breakdown of apartheid did not immediately translate into improved material conditions for the majority of South Africans: 300 years of colonialism and 50 of internal colonialism had hard-wired a duality into the system. Two worlds, which may be conceptualised as the first and second economies, coexisted: a globally integrated world of production, exchange and consumption, and a constrained world of informality, poverty and marginalisation. This synthesis sheds light on the origin and nature of the ‘second economy’ metaphor, and suggests solutions.     

Testing Multiple Non-Nested Factor Demand Systems

This article explains how to obtain straightforward extensions of the most popular univariate non‐nested statistics, and of the RESET‐test, to a multivariate context and examines how to use these tests to compare alternative factor demand systems. The empirical application involves the classical Berndt–Khaled KLEM data set. A statistically adequate specification is determined for each competing factor demand system. The empirical results are interpreted for each system, the models are compared on the basis of multivariate paired and joint non‐nested procedures and practical indications about what to expect if these tests are applied to alternative factor demand specifications are provided.     

Highly qualified and highly ambitious: implications for workforce retention of realising the career expectations of graduate nurses in England

Although increasing numbers of graduates now enter the UK labour market, there has been little evaluation of the benefits that this component of the workforce is reported to bring to employing organisations. This study focused on nursing; a profession in which graduate entry is increasing but potential benefits of moving to all‐graduate entry are strongly contested. Career behaviour and expectations of graduate nurses were compared with those of diploma‐qualified nurses. Career behaviours were similar but differences were found in fulfilment of expectations that reflected findings reported for graduates in other employment contexts. Graduates entered nursing with higher expectations than diplomates but these were often unfulfilled. Graduates reported lower levels of satisfaction than diplomates over time and became less likely to intend remaining in nursing. Implications for increasing graduate entry are discussed, together with strategies to facilitate better synchronisation between graduate expectations and opportunities within the NHS and beyond.     

Turnaround strategy: A study of restaurant firms

This paper uses a case study approach to analyze the turnaround actions of two restaurant firms and compares them to the model of Robbins and Pearce [1992. Strategic Management Journal 9, 287–309]. The objective of this study is to scrutinize why these firms were unsuccessful in turning around and identify gaps between the firms’ actions and the empirical model of turnaround proposed by Robbins and Pearce. Two key turnaround measures, i.e., retrenchment and recovery are explored in detail and discussed in the context of the firms. The need for studying turnaround strategies is warranted as the number of hospitality firms that perish because of unsuccessful turnaround strategies is on the increase. Since turnaround strategies have not been pursued vigorously as a stream of research within the hospitality industry context, this approach would provide a framework for hospitality researchers to initiate similar future research efforts, which in turn would help the industry cope with turnaround.     

A note on the Wang and Wang measure of the quality of the compass rose

H. Wang and C. Wang [Visibility of the compass rose in financial asset returns: A quantitative study, J. Bank. Financ. 26 (2002), 1099–1111] derive a measure of the visibility of the radial patterns that appear in a plot of current and past returns, which are more commonly known as the compass rose. In theory, this measure should be positively related to the tick/volatility ratio. In practice however, we find that this relationship does not hold for higher tick/volatility ratios that are common to stock market data. Thus, the use of this measure is limited in real world applications. We propose a correction factor that improves the behaviour of the quality measure over higher tick/volatility ratios, however, further research is required to fully identify and correct the problem.     

Modeling conditional return autocorrelation

Empirical estimates of conditional return autocorrelation are generated over the period 1973 to 2000 for S&P500 index data, as well as for a small selection of individual U.S. stocks. We find that conditional autocorrelation is highly variable, and these dynamics are consistent with changes in point autocorrelation estimates generated in various subperiods. The conditional autocorrelation estimates for some stocks exhibited a pattern of mean reversion, while for others, evidence of long-term trends and structural breaks was found. While we were unable to uncover what characteristics drive the nature of these autocorrelation patterns, our analysis ruled out industry, investor type or degree of internationalisation as explanations.     

Challenges of AACSB international accreditation for business schools in the United States and Europe

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB International) is committed to its role in setting worldwide standards to enhance the quality of management education. The organization is expanding its brand presence in Europe, where business schools are beginning to seek AACSB International accreditation. In the United States, an increase in the number of business schools seeking AACSB International accreditation is also occurring. Business school leaders not only see the transcendent importance of AACSB International accreditation; they also realize the challenges that are involved in the accreditation process. The focus of our discussion is on the challenges confronted by business schools in both the United States and Europe. We compare and contrast the challenges on both continents. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.