DEFICIENCIES AND THE PERPETUATION OF POWER: LATENT FUNCTIONS IN MANAGEMENT APPRAISAL

Institutionalized procedures for management appraisal are considered to be necessary and appropriate devices which contribute to and are supported by rational-legal ideologies of organization. The operation of such appraisal systems, however, is frequently regarded as deficient. This article discusses three inter-related propositions. They are that: 1. the rational-legal procedures of appraisal systems contradict the social processes by means of which dominant organizational power groups emerge, cohere and are perpetuated; 2. management appraisal systems consequently come to operate in ways which manifestly are consistent with a rational-legal ideology, but which do not constrain the prerogatives of members of dominant power groups to define reality and manage affairs in their own interests; and that 3. this inconsistency fulfils a latent function of perpetuating deficiency in the operation of management appraisal systems.     

LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF HUMAN GROWTH AND HEALTH: A REVIEW OF RECENT HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Abstract This paper reviews recent literature using stature and weight as measures of human welfare with a particular interest in cliometric or historical research. We begin with an overview of anthropometric evidence of living standards and the new but fast‐growing field of anthropometric history. This literature is always implicitly and often explicitly longitudinal in nature. We then discuss (i) systematic empirical research into the relationship between conditions in early life and later life health and mortality and (ii) historical evidence on the relationship between body mass, morbidity and mortality. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of historical sources and understandings to health economics and population health.     

How did structural reform influence inflation in transition economies?

This paper empirically examines the contribution of structural reforms to reducing inflation using a panel data-set of 25 transition economies. Two econometric methodologies are applied. First, the Blundell and Bond (1998) estimator for panel data incorporating lags of the dependent variable. Second, a panel logit estimator is employed to consider the likelihood of achieving low inflation. Results highlight the importance of price and trade liberalization and the reform of credit allocation for reducing inflation, the latter being especially important for bringing inflation below 10%.     

A real options model to assess the role of flexibility in forestry and agroforestry adoption and disadoption in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Efforts to restore the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley's forests have not achieved desired levels of ecosystem services production. We examined how the variability of returns and the flexibility to change or postpone decisions (option value) affects the economic potential of forestry and agroforestry systems to keep private land in production while still providing ecosystem services. A real options analysis examined the impact of flexibility in decision making under agriculture, forestry, and agroforestry and demonstrated that adoption of forestry or agroforestry systems is less feasible than would be predicted by deterministic capital budgeting models.     

Integration and Task Allocation: Evidence from Patient Care

Using the universe of patient transitions from inpatient hospital care to skilled nursing facilities and home health care in 2005, we show how integration eliminates task misallocation problems between organizations. We find that vertical integration allows hospitals to shift patient recovery tasks downstream to lower‐cost organizations by discharging patients earlier (and in poorer health) and increasing post‐hospitalization service intensity. Although integration facilitates a shift in the allocation of tasks and resources, health outcomes either improved or were unaffected by integration on average. The evidence suggests that integration solves coordination problems that arise in market exchange through improvements in the allocation of tasks across care settings.     

企业价值:动荡环境中的重心?(中)

我们的目的是在变化的环境中,推动行业战略管理理论中“企业价值”的应用研究。借助五个不同行业中具有典型意义的企业,通过考察企业价值对消费者、顾客和客户的不同作用,从四个重要维度量化并分析了市场对企业公开声明的战略的观点,并且说明了在产业效应中考虑到动荡因素的可能性。结论是:特定行业在顾客对不同类型的动荡的感知面前是非常脆弱的,在很多大型企业中也是如此。笔者认为,相对于渐进变化环境中的企业价值,在激进、动荡市场环境或间断均衡中的企业价值更为明显,与顾客和客户的关系也更为紧密。     

PHYSICAL STATURE IN NINETEENTH‐CENTURY NEW ZEALAND: A PRELIMINARY INTERPRETATION

During the late nineteenth century, the physical stature of New Zealand‐born men stagnated, despite an apparently beneficial public health environment and growth in per‐capita incomes. We examine trends and differentials in male stature through World War I enlistment and casualty records. Stature varied by social class, with professionals and men in rural occupations substantially taller than their peers. There is not enough evidence to show that the indigenous Maori population differed in height from men of European descent. Stagnation in stature in late nineteenth‐century New Zealand is consistent with patterns observed in Australia, North America, and Western Europe.