The Structure of Protection in Indonesia in 1989 1

Around the mid-1980s, Indonesia's protectionist regime supported an industrial structure in which industries were mainly oriented towards producing for the domestic market. Since then, trade policies have shifted to a more outward-looking strategy, stimulating the growth and diversification of non-oil manufactured exports. This paper attempts to quantify the nominal and effective rates of protection resulting from trade policies at the end of the 1980s. After an introduction in which the 1989 trade policies are discussed, estimates of nominal and effective rates of protection are presented. It is shown that though the level of protection has declined since 1987, it still varies widely across economic sectors. Furthermore, despite the more open trade strategy, the paper's findings show that the trade regime remains biased against exports. Finally, by examining some trade policy issues, the paper presents further ways of rationalising the structure of protection in Indonesia's industrial sector.     

REBALANCING EC CEREALS PROTECTION AND THE GATT URUGUAY ROUND

This paper considers the proposals put forward by the EC at the GATT Uruguay Round in December 1990. The EC's objective of rebalancing the Common Agricultural Policy in the context of a partial liberalisation of agricultural support on the world cereals market is assessed, as is the choice of base year from which liberalisation would have been initiated. The US's proposal for more significant reduction in agricultural support is also considered. The results show that the EC would not necessarily have benefited from rebalancing, since the effects would have depended on the choice of base period. For example, with 1986 (1988) as the base year, net welfare changes would have been 20 (50) percent higher (lower) with rebalancing, relative to the case without. Not surprisingly, the more substantial liberalisation proposed by the US would have resulted in greater net welfare gains even if rebalancing was conceded by the US.     

Teams,Teamwork and Absence*

We argue that firms with interdependent worker productivity, team production, have a higher cost of absence and, as a consequence, spend additional resources on monitoring absence. As a result, firms with team production should have lower absence rates. We estimate the determinants of absence for blue‐collar workers using a sample of German manufacturing establishments. Workplace teams are used as a proxy for team production. The estimates reveal that firms with teams have lower absence rates, as do smaller establishments. The size effect, however, is unique to establishments with teams, which fits prior theoretical work that has not been previously tested.     

LOGISTICS SALIENCE IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

The primary purpose of this paper was to empirically explore some of the reasons that logistics has become more important, or salient, in comparison to other functions within the firm. A survey of 296 managers across multiple industries in the U.S. found logistics becomes more important within the firm when the industry increases in uncertainty, when there is an emphasis on time‐based competition, when there is greater adoption of information technology, and when there is an emphasis on cross‐functional integration.     

STRATEGIC ORIENTATION,CAPABILITIES, AND PERFORMANCE IN MANUFACTURER — 3PL RELATIONSHIPS

This study examines how two dimensions of strategic orientation (customer and competitor orientation) influence logistics and market performance. Two capabilities, operational flexibility and collaboration, are studied. Data were collected from manufacturers working with third party logistics providers. The findings suggest that customer and competitor orientations have different influences upon performance when leveraged through the capabilities. Competitor orientation, while having a detrimental direct effect on logistics performance, appears to be the better strategic approach, when supported with operational flexibility since it results in enhanced logistics (efficiency) and market (effectiveness) performance. Customer orientation, on the other hand, greatly improves logistics performance, i.e., internal efficiency.     

Building Brands through Brand Alliances: Does a Second Ally Help?

Several papers have been published demonstrating the positive effects a single, reputable ally has on evaluations of a focal brand. Interestingly, little research has been published examining the effects of multiple brand allies. We examine the effect of an alliance with two, one, or zero well-known brand allies on evaluations of a previously unknown focal brand. The presence of a single brand ally significantly increased perceived quality and hedonic and utilitarian attitudes. While multiple alliances improved focal brand evaluations relative to the no ally condition, the second ally did not increase evaluations relative to the single ally condition.