Technological and economic long waves and their implications for employment

The world economy is currently stuck in a 'long wave' downswing, due largely to the mismatch of a new technological 'style' with established institutions. The article sketches the effects on the level and pattern of employment and discusses the reforms which will be needed to escape from the downswing.     

Believing Is Seeing: Joint Ventures and Organization Learning*

This paper develops a conceptual framework for the study of organization learning and applies it to learning in joint ventures (JVs). the framework presents a multilevel view of the phenomenon, suggesting that learning in organizations occurs at the individual, group and organization levels. the framework integrates behavioural and cognitive perspectives of organization learning and delineates both learning processes and outcomes. Four key elements of organization learning are addressed: the nature of managerial learning experiences, the sharing and integration of managerial learning within an organization, the insti-tutionalization of learning, and the relationship between organization learning and performance. In applying the framework to a study of learning and JVs, we observed firms with explicit learning objectives unable to put into place the appropriate mechanisms and systems to transfer knowledge from the JV to the parent. While individual managers in the JVs were often enthusiastic and positive about their learning experiences, integration of the learning experience at the parent firm level was problematic, limiting the institutionalized learning. the fundamental position in this paper is that a rigid set of managerial beliefs associated with an unwillingness to cast off or unlearn past practices can severely limit the effectiveness of organization learning.     

Uncertainty and the trade union

Uncertainty is introduced into a model of the trade union. The model's qualitative predictions turn out to be unaltered. Increases in risk are also examined and various results derived.     

Theorising South Africa’s Corporate Governance

South Africa’s principal corporate governance report aspires to an ‘inclusive’ approach to corporate governance, in which companies are clearly advised to consider the interests of a variety of stakeholders. Yet, in common with many other countries, there is little discussion of the theoretical foundations and assumptions implicit in the recommended approach to corporate governance. The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of corporate governance and the corporate environment in South Africa in terms of existing theory and models of corporate governance, and to provide a critique based on a consideration of traditional African values and the socio-economic necessities of post-apartheid South Africa. The result is the identification of an incompatibility between the current corporate environment in South Africa and the given exposition of African values. Some prospects for change are then identified.     

An Index of Economic Well–Being for Selected OECD Countries

Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is a poor indicator of economic well–being. It measures effective consumption poorly (ignoring the value of leisure and of longer life spans) and it also ignores the value of accumulation for the benefit of future generations. Since incomes are uncertain and unequally distributed, the average also does not indicate the likelihood that any particular individual will share in prosperity or the degree of anxiety and insecurity with which individuals contemplate their futures. We argue that a better index of economic well–being should consider: current effective per capita consumption flows; net societal accumulation of stocks of productive resources; income distribution; and economic security. The paper develops such an index of economic well–being for the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden for the period 1980 to 1999. It compares trends in economic well–being to trends in GDP per person. In every case, growth in economic well–being was less than growth in GDP per capita, although to different degrees in different countries.     

The rise of Asia and structural change in the world economy

In this article, Andrew Sentance describes the growing economic importance of Asia and discusses the impact on the world economy. He argues that Western economies face a problem of structural adjustment not only to low-cost competition from newly industrialised countries but also because of technological changes. Macroeconomic shocks, Single Market restructuring and labour market inflexibility have made this process more difficult in Europe.     

项目团队:他们的水平到底怎样?

项目团队已经成为现代企业的基本工作单元。满足项目目标、进度和预算的能力将成为未来几年内甄别成功者和学习者的重要标准。但是，取得项目的成功是一项巨大的挑战。2004年斯坦迪什集团（Standish Group）发现他们所调查的51％的IT项目严重超出了进度和预算，并且背离了目标。     

A NEW APPROACH TO ASSET INTEGRATION: METHODOLOGY AND MYSTERY

Abstract. This paper develops a new methodology to test financial market integration. Our technique is based on an intertemporal asset‐pricing model, and relies on estimating and comparing expected discount rates across asset markets. Expected discount rates are allowed to vary freely over time, constrained only by the fact that they are equal across assets. Assets are allowed to have very general risk characteristics, and are constrained only by a linear factor model of covariances with the discount rate over short time periods. We provide a variety of domestic and international empirical illustrations of our technique, and find surprisingly little evidence of integration.     

Are trading bans effective? Exchange regulation and corporate insider transactions around earnings announcements

There is considerable controversy on the role of corporate insider trading in the financial markets. However, there appears to be a consensus view that some form of regulation concerning their activities should be imposed. One such constraint involves a trading ban in periods when corporate insiders are expected to be advantaged vis-à-vis the information flow. This paper directly tests whether constraints of this kind are effective in curtailing insider activity through a study of the trading characteristics of UK company directors. The London Stock Exchange Model Code (1977) imposes a two-month close period prior to company earnings announcements. We find that although the close period affects the timing of director trades, it is unable to affect their performance or distribution. Directors consistently earn abnormal returns irrespective of the period in which they trade. They tend to buy after abnormally bad earnings news and sell after abnormally good earnings news. Moreover, there are systematic differences in the trading patterns of directors surrounding interim and final earnings announcements. It appears that many corporate insiders have private information and exploit this in their trading activities. As a result, one can conclude that trading bans do not impose significant opportunity costs on the trading of corporate insiders.