THE ECONOMIC POLITY OF FARM POLICY

A review of the ‘new political economy’ of agricultural policies includes models of social income maximising governments, collective action by ‘pressure groups’, and the interaction between politicians and voters. An alternative explanation for Olson's “social by-product” theory for why farmers received massive subsidies as a large group is also presented. An explanation for various patterns of farm policy interventions is given, including why rich countries subsidise and poor countries tax farmers. Finally, the role of public research expenditures and the interaction with commodity policy is explored.     

Assessing ethics education needs in the MBA program

A methodology for assessing ethics educationneeds in a Masters of Business Administration(MBA) program is proposed and applied at oneinstitution by comparing the ethical judgmentof MBA and MPA (Masters of PublicAdministration) students over a variety ofbusiness scenarios. Implications are discussedfor ethics education and its assessment in thisand other MBA programs. MPAs were chosen asthe comparison group because their education,organizational knowledge, and work experienceare expected to promote reasonable judgments. They were also selected because future negativeconsequences are likely from an ethics gapbetween MBA and MPA graduates. MBAs were lesscritical in the current study, and were alsomore likely to report reliance on egoism, aprinciple strongly associated with greatertolerance of the practices described. Anadditional factor, however, appeared tocontribute to the MBAs' less critical judgment. Ethical decision-making models suggest thisfactor was ethical perception. Suggestions aremade for modifying ethical principles andperceptions where indicated. Decision makersare urged to assess ethics education needs intheir own MBA programs, particularly if theyhave not added significant ethical content totheir curricula.     

The changing consumer in Belgium

Centrally located at the cross-roads of the main European Cultures that constitute its roots, Belgium can in many respects be regarded as a miniature Europe. Indeed, most general economic and consumption tendencies that have a grip over Europe, also reign the Belgian society.Yet, Belgium's macro marketing mix exhibits a number of particular characteristics. The remarkably developed retail apparatus and extensive product assortments are typical of a small but rich consumption society. At the same time, promotional expenditures remain modest, and price competition in major sectors is fierce.In view of the future, the foregoing aspects characterize Belgium as a potentially attractive test market for internationally oriented firms. Conversely, it appears to be an interesting commercial arena only for marketers with high cost efficiency, or with superior targeting skills allowing them to cater to the needs of small market segments with considerable purchasing power.     

Achieving Ethics and Fairness in Hiring: Going Beyond the Law

Since the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and more recent Federal legislation, managers, regulators, and attorneys have been busy in sorting out the legal meaning of fairness in employment. While ethical managers must follow the law in their hiring practices, they cannot be satisfied with legal compliance. In this article, we first briefly summarize what the law requires in terms of fair hiring practices. We subsequently rely on multiple perspectives to explore the ethical meaning of fairness in hiring. Ethical fairness underlies the law and regulations in this area, but goes beyond them as well. We conclude by demonstrating that ethical hiring practices enable managers to make better hiring decisions.G. Stoney Alder is Assistant Professor of Management in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research interests include organizational justice, electronic monitoring, and ethics. Dr. Alder’s work has appeared in a number of journals including Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of High Technology Management Research, among others.Joseph Gilbert is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He teaches in the areas of business strategy and business ethics. His research is primarily in the area of business ethics. Prior to receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, he had extensive management experience in the financial services industry.     

Likelihood Methods for Combining Tables of Data

Often times actuaries, health policy planners and managers must draw conclusions from several related sources of data. Particularly for actuaries, there is often a need to construct a table based on the experience of several blocks of business or on several different tables of data. Although sophisticated methods for using the resulting tables of data have been developed, often that table representing the information combined from several sources is constructed in a relatively ad hoc manner. This paper presents a likelihood method of combining tables of data from several sources. The methods are based on techniques dating at least back to the mid 1940's, but have been made more feasible with advances in computational power. The method presented allows for situations where the data sources have aggregated the data at different levels. In this case questions of estimability are examined using the implicit function theorem. The method is illustrated with an example.     

Addressing Governance Gaps in Global Value Chains: Introducing a Systematic Typology

Journal of Business Ethics - Multinational enterprises (MNEs) dominate the governance of global value chains (GVCs), such that according to the concept of political corporate social responsibility...     

Building and using nonlinear simulations in Excel with an application to the specific factors model

Excel simulation models have become increasingly common in the economics classroom, as their ability to combine numerical and graphical information has proved a useful support to traditional teaching methods. Recent efforts have tended to embed the solution within the Excel sheet, avoiding the need to use the Solver add-in and allowing changes in the exogenous characteristics of the model to be instantly reflected in the numerical solutions and any associated geometry. While this is quite simple in small-scale linear models, it is less straightforward in larger nonlinear models such as those that dominate the theory of international trade. We discuss various methods that can be used in building Excel simulations when it is not possible to solve the underlying model explicitly. We illustrate the ideas and describe our experiences along with a new simulation of the specific factors model.     

Labor‐eliminating technical change in a developing economy

Developing countries face significant challenges arising from automation. While the trade theory literature has tended to focus on factor‐neutral and factor‐augmenting technical change, automation processes suggest another form of technical change is relevant: factor‐eliminating. We explore the impact of a labor‐eliminating technical change in the context of a small developing economy. Unlike labor‐augmenting technical changes, labor‐eliminating technical changes are not necessarily cost‐reducing, and thus will not necessarily be adopted. A manufacturing wage held artificially higher than at the market‐clearing level, as in the Harris–Todaro framework, increases the incentive to automate. We establish the conditions under which firms will adopt a labor‐eliminating technology, and describe the resulting changes in equilibrium outcomes. Under plausible circumstances, automation can actually lower output, and may raise both the rate and level of unemployment. Immiserizing growth becomes a possibility, and can be tied directly to the underlying wage distortion.     

The Analysis of Professional Sports Leagues as Joint Ventures

This paper addresses whether the welfare analysis of the agreements and rules of a professional sports league should depend on the organisational form chosen by the league's participants. Courts have analysed sports leagues both as associations of horizontal competitors and as single entities. The former approach suggests much less tolerance for rules that affect competition. Drawing on the distinction between ex ante and ex post competition that has been found useful in the economic analysis of intellectual property rights, the authors suggest a middle road in the horizontal competitors versus single entity characterisations of professional sports leagues.     

The Impact of Cross‐Listing on the Home Market's Information Environment and Stock Price Efficiency

We empirically examine changes in information asymmetry and informational efficiency of cross‐listed stocks in their home market around a cross‐listing in the United States. We estimate intraday market microstructure measures of information asymmetry and price efficiency, and find that a U.S. cross‐listing significantly improves the quality of a firm's information environment and stock price efficiency in the home market. This improvement is stronger for cross‐listings that take place after the adoption of Sarbanes‐Oxley Act. Our results demonstrate that stricter disclosure from a U.S. cross‐listing is beneficial, in line with the legal and reputational bonding hypotheses.