Technology,Trade Sensitivity,and Labor Displacement

This study examines the relationship between international trade, technology, and exposure to job displacement, using data on displaced workers as well as those at risk of job dislocation, for the two-year sample periods 1986-1987 and 1990-1991. Workers employed in manufacturing industries with elevated import penetration or high shares of R&D personnel appear to have increased rates of job loss. However, the risk of job loss is materially reduced when a relatively high proportion of employees report working with computers. The opposing effects on displacement probabilities of R&D employment intensity and computer-use carry over to the nonmanufacturing sector.     

The Precarious Fiscal Foundations of EMU

After a brief overview of the fiscal theory of the price level, we consider the insights it provides into monetary policy formation under certain kinds of deflationary and inflationary stress. Then we consider how the institutions of the EMU are equipped – or unequipped – to deal with such stress. The conclusion is that fiscal institutions as yet unspecified will have to arise or be invented in order for EMU to be a long-term success.     

Atypical Work and Pay

Atypical work has long been criticized in popular debate as providing poorly compensated, precarious employment. Yet the empirical evidence is both incomplete and mixed. The main contribution of the present paper is to estimate wage differences for the full set of these alternative work arrangements while simultaneously controlling for observed demographic characteristics and unobserved person-specific fixed effects. The paper also allows for the skewness in atypical worker earnings while retaining the Mincerian human capital earnings function. Our improved estimates are consistent with some of the more optimistic findings reported in the literature, the caveat being that we are examining here only the wage component of the total compensation package.     

How Do Investors Interpret Announcements of Earnings Delays?

Unlike in the case of delays of 10‐K or 10‐Q filings, the SEC does not require managers to disclose delays of earnings announcements to the public. Thus, for companies that are unable to report earnings by their expected date, managers face a decision: remain silent or announce the delay. Prior research has investigated all earnings delays, whether or not they are accompanied by announcements of the delay announcement, and found that the market reaction is slightly negative, on average, for companies that allow their expected earnings dates to pass without disclosing results. It's not clear, however, whether this negative reaction was due to the absence of news or to the information contained in the announcements of the earnings delays. The authors' recent study documents that earnings delay announcements are associated with an average one‐day abnormal stock return of a negative 6%. This statistically as well as economically significant reduction in value is consistent with anecdotal evidence in the popular business press as well as predictions of disclosure theories, in particular the explanation that concerns about legal liability and managerial reputation motivate managers to disclose bad news. The study also shows that almost all managers who announce earnings delays attempt to influence the market reaction by disclosing the underlying cause. Finally, the study shows that the market reaction to earnings delay announcements is positively related to future earnings changes, consistent with the role of these disclosures in providing a signal of deteriorating financial performance.     

First-author conditions: evidence from finance journal coauthorship

We study the trend and the author name-ordering rule in finance publication using the publication records of 21 core finance journals during the period from 1990 to 2004. We empirically model the underlying factors that affect the alphabetical ordering rule among multi-authored finance articles. We find that the choice of alphabetical ordering is based on the quality of the article, institutional heterogeneity, team size and cultural factors. The central argument rests upon the need to signal and the importance of signalling within the context of bargaining behaviour among coauthors. The probability of choosing alphabetical name ordering rule is associated with high article quality, higher ranked institutions, smaller research team and the presence of European authors.     

Has the Chinese currency been undervalued?

China's trade surplus reached a record $102 billion in 2005 while the US trade deficit of $717 billion accounted for 5.8% of US Gross Domestic Product in the same year. US policy makers claim China's currency is undervalued about 25 to 35% against the US dollar and they blame China for holding the value of the RMB weak to keep Chinese products competitive on prices in international markets. Given the unique situation in China, where the capital account is only partially convertible and the economy has been growing at an annual average rate of 10% over the last two decades, this paper empirically examines the magnitude of the exchange rate misalignment of China's RMB against the US dollar by using the Behavioral Equilibrium Exchange Rate (BEER) and Permanent Equilibrium Exchange Rate (PEER) models. Our results show that the RMB was undervalued by approximately 15% from 2002:Q2 to 2003:Q4; however, it is interesting to note that while the RMB was overvalued during 1997:Q4–2002:Q2, China experienced a huge trade surplus during that period.     

Party politics,political economy,and economic development in early eighteenth‐century Britain

Economic growth and change in eighteenth‐century Britain, both the expansion of pre‐industrial commercial society and the industrial revolution itself, have been explored using a variety of approaches. This article highlights a relatively ignored aspect of the problem, arguing that the state, politics, and political economic ideology played a central role. In particular, the early eighteenth‐century political victory of a version of political economy associated with the Whig party, which centred on manufacturing and consumption, was a prerequisite for the economic developments later in the century. The article begins by describing a political economy of manufacturing and its rival, a political economy of re‐exporting associated with the Tory party. It then explains how and why a political economy of manufacturing became dominant, examining both political elites and ordinary voters and petitioners. The growth of manufacturing and consumption must be understood, therefore, as political as much as economic events.     

Market-oriented sustainability: a conceptual framework and propositions

Utilizing Resource-Advantage Theory as the underlying theoretical foundation and drawing on literature from a variety of disciplines, we develop a market-oriented sustainability framework. By incorporating sustainability into market orientation, the goal of strategic alignment of sustainability with marketing strategies is achieved to create a competitive advantage. Three constructs identified in the model are DNA, stakeholder involvement, and performance management. These three constructs are the drivers of sustainability. DNA is used as an extended metaphor to clarify and illustrate the workings of an organization and how sustainability may be implemented. This construct includes core ideology, dynamic capabilities, and societal engagement. The firm’s DNA is communicated to both internal and external stakeholders, and stakeholders’ concerns should be an influence on strategic marketing planning. Performance management is the third major construct in the model and includes corporate social performance and corporate financial performance metrics. Within the model explication, we offer propositions to support market-oriented sustainability research and provide directions for sustainability theory, research, and practice.     

How to arrest the decline of local government

In political terms, the case for abolishing rates and substituting a local income tax has frequently been made, notably by the Layfield Committee of Inquiry into Local Government Finance: political independence of local government can only come through financial independence from central government grant. The financial case, which has so far tended to go by default, is based on the premise that local spending decisions can only be made responsibly if the cost of these decisions is felt on the authorities’ own tax base. With the existing level of government support, that is impossible ‐ at least with a Government which appears reluctant to follow through the logic of its new block grant and make rates take the strain of extra spending. Historically, local government has lost its powers in direct proportion to the decline in its tax base. Only local income tax will allow expansion of local responsibility in the longer term, and provide the basis for proper financial accountability. That should appeal to a Government which has often professed its support for such an expansion, and yet is also concerned with making sure that taxing and spending decisions are taken together.