Employment relations,cost minimisation and inter‐organisational contracting

This article explores and theorises the employment relations consequences of cost minimisation in the management of inter‐organisational contracts for less‐skilled work. Case‐study data reveal that cost minimisation creates and exacerbates employment relations problems, with the ‘success’ of particular tactics dependent on the relative tractability of broader economic conditions and social relationships.     

Energy tourism: An emerging field of study

After conceptualizing the interrelationships between energy and tourism, the authors provide a definition of energy tourism as a new niche of industrial tourism, theorize on how it overlaps with other types of special interest tourism, and discuss specifics concerning its forms, locales, and possible societal impacts. Potential directions, along with research questions, for future research in the field of energy tourism are proposed. Then, the results of an explorative pilot study of energy tourism in the Czech Republic are presented to give a first insight into the proposed questions. Questionnaire surveys completed by tourists and operators of three energy tourism attractions – so-called Coal Safaris (guided tours through surface coal mines, observing minescapes and mining machinery in full operation), a nuclear power plant information centre, and Dragon Kite Festivals under wind turbines – have focused on exploring the motivations and perceived benefits of energy tourism for organizations; tourists' motivations for, and experience from, visiting; and any changes in attitudes towards current energy development dilemmas by visitors afterwards.     

Is a cluster a necessary condition for success? The case of Benidorm

This paper analyses the application of the cluster concept to tourist destinations using Benidorm as a case study. A questionnaire was administered to tourism firms based in Benidorm in order to determine whether this destination currently constitutes a tourism cluster or whether it possesses the ideal characteristics to become a cluster with the private agents' collaboration, that is, whether it is a potential cluster. The results obtained from this research indicate that Benidorm's success is not derived from the presence of a cluster due to a series of elements that prevent its existence. In this destination there is a need to strengthen cooperation between public and private agents (especially in those areas that determine the competitive advantage of the destination) and to design a strategy based on shared goals. Both of these elements are fundamental for the characterisation of a cluster.     

Estimating the equilibrium exchange rate of the Central and Eastern European acceding countries: The challenge of euro adoption

This study estimates the equilibrium real and nominal exchange rates for five Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. A new approach is adopted, which combines the fundamental equilibrium exchange rate (FEER) with the behavioural equilibrium exchange rate (BEER) methodology. In a VAR-based 3-equation cointegration system, we estimate structural equations for internal and external balances and link them to the real exchange rate. The estimated misalignment is used to derive equilibrium nominal exchange rates. The sustainability of an ERM-II-type exchange rate regime is investigated on ex post data, and the credibility problem of fixing the currencies of CEE countries vis-à-vis the single European currency is analysed. JEL no. E31, F31, O11, P17     

Tomato Farmers and Modernising Value Chains in Indonesia

The tomato value chain in Indonesia has transformed in the last two decades. We assess this transformation here, focusing on small tomato farmers in West Java and the determinants of their market-channel choices (as well as the technology correlates of those choices). These farmers sell to traditional village traders, urban and modern wholesalers, and supermarkets, and they have all invested heavily in irrigation and rely on external inputs. We find differences among farmers selling to different market channels. To wit, non-land assets—especially irrigation—are important to farmers participating in the supermarket, or modern, channel, but farm size affects modern-channel participation only in high-level commercial zones (zones dense in infrastructure and near highways). We also find that modern-channel farmers earn more profit than farmers in other channels but do not necessarily use chemicals more intensively. Yet hardly any farmers sell graded tomatoes; the main ‘capture of rents’ goes to specialised and modernising wholesalers.     

Governing the commons: future directions for the Ostrom Project

Now, when longitudinal data are available or soon will be, it is important to carefully consider research strategies for the second phase of the Ostrom Project. I recommend a problem oriented approach aimed at answering questions and solving puzzles that have emerged in the last 25–30 years and a focus on the political dimensions of the commons. Reading Lin’s paper in this issue, I found her proposal valuable but too narrow. I suggest that the longitudinal phase of the Project should deal explicitly with institutions and mechanisms for solving conflicts among local participants over how to divide the costs and benefits of using common resources. I offer, as an illustration, a number of research questions that emphasize institutions in the policy and constitutional spheres rather than in the operational one.     

Inspiration vs. perspiration in economic development of the Former Soviet Union and China (ca. 1920–2010)

Here, we discuss the role of both perspiration factors (physical and human capital) and inspiration factors (Total Factor Productivity) in the economic development of the Former Soviet Union area (FSU) and China, ca. 1920–2010. Using a newly created dataset, we find that during the Socialist central‐planning period, economic growth in both countries was largely driven by physical capital accumulation. This finding follows logically from the development policies in place at that time. During their transition periods, (i.e., starting from the late 1970s in China and the late 1980s in the FSU), China managed to keep technical inefficiency of production factors in check, largely by massively increasing its human capital, thereby lowering the physical‐to‐human capital ratio. In contrast, the FSU accomplished a similar outcome largely through reducing its stock of physical capital. As a result, although there was little difference in technical efficiency between these two economies, China's emphasis on human capital formation made it easier for this country to improve its general productivity and to increase per capita growth. This changed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the FSU began to recover economically, regaining its 1990 levels of output and productivity.     

Patterns of integration

This paper compares the distribution of jobs by complexity and firms' willingness to hire low‐educated labour for jobs of varying complexity in Norway, Italy and Hungary. In investigating how unqualified workers can cope with complex jobs, it compares their involvement in various forms of post‐school skills formation. The countries are also compared in terms of the proportion of small businesses, which, it is assumed, manage and tolerate the losses from functional illiteracy more than large firms do. Unskilled Norwegians benefit from synergies that exist between work in complex jobs, post‐school skills formation and civil integration. Italy has an abundant supply of simple jobs and its small businesses employ unqualified workers even in complex jobs. Inadequate post‐school skills formation and the lack of a sizeable small‐business sector set limits on the inclusion of low‐educated Hungarians.     

Do independent directors protect shareholder value?

The present global financial crisis has revived the notion that competitive markets may lead some directors and executives to behave in opportunistic ways considered unethical and even illegal, through the pursuit of self‐interest. This article proposes and tests an integrated model that offers new insights into the relationship between board structure, independence and firm value. By incorporating the proportion of independent directors on the board as a moderating factor in this relationship, this study contributes to a better understanding of the entrenchment and convergence‐of‐interests hypotheses. Using empirical data obtained from 114 Spanish listed companies in a context of economic crisis, from 2007 to 2010, we conclude that having a board with a greater proportion of independent directors reduces the negative association existing between firm value and a large board size and significant board share ownership.