A FRAMEWORK FOR REGIONAL ACCOUNTS: AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has recently published a set of experimental estimates of gross State product at factor cost and its income components for the States of Australia (1): The regular compilation and publication of the estimates is also commencing. In compiling the estimates, certain conceptual issues were confronted. Others were recognized but have not required final resolution as yet because they are beyond the scope of the estimates presently compiled.
This paper considers the development of a framework for regional accounts for countries with regional characteristics broadly similar to those of the Australian States by starting with the SNA framework that applies at the national Ievel. The difficulties that arise are highlighted and alternative approaches for dealing with specific issues discussed. These alternative approaches can have a significant impact on measured State relativities and performance over time. In some instances the choice between approaches may be narrowed because of practical considerations in the same way that the SNA is a conceptual framework that nevertheless has to take account of practicalities. The issues largely involve consideration as to whether or not to regard certain activities as extra-territorial in nature. If an extra-territorial concept is not adopted choices must be made on how to allocate data items related to such activities by State.     

Managing industrial brand equity: Developing tangible benefits for intangible assets

Young and Rubicam's (Y&R) BrandAsset Valuator® (BAV), commonly used to assess brand equity in consumer markets, was applied to assess the brand health of an industrial B2B supplier. Customers were asked questions about perceived esteem, relevance, knowledge and differentiation of the company to find its strengths and weaknesses. The results were then plotted to reveal the overall customer perception of the company and also its competitors. Through this plot, the strategic direction how to improve the brand equity of the company became clear. Evidence suggests that the BAV can be used in industrial markets to assess the brand equity of the firm.     

Managerial Control of Employees Working at Home

Places of work constitute processes of management by facilitating ‘visibility’ (the possibility for supervisors and others to observe workers) and ‘presence’ (the ability for workers to participate in relations with co‐workers and others). Working at home creates problems for both these aspects of managerial control. We suggest that managers seek to compensate for the relative lack of visibility and presence of home‐located workers by generating a range of devices and social disciplines that together comprise loose networks of control. However, these responses are only partially successful since they are founded on contradictory assumptions and practices.     

Women's occupational status in Britain,France and the USA: explaining the difference

Using directly comparable data this article explores the lower occupational status overall of British employed women indicating the importance of social and employment policies to the amount of part-time working by women and the occupational status of women's part-time jobs in the three societies.     

Some empirical results on “the rationality” of expectations derived from survey data

The purpose in this paper is to examine the properties of time series of expectations data derived from survey data, when explicit allowance is made for the time horizon of the forecasts and the information set which agents possess. Our empirical results suggest that three of the five series examined exhibit ex-post bias.     

Privatizing Waterworks: Learning from the French Experience*

In this pair of articles, the first of which was published almost 25 years ago, two distinguished economists make and then revisit the case for privatizing the water supply. While agreeing with the general assessment that waterworks are “natural monopolies,” the authors show that privatization of such enterprises need not lead to the standard monopoly outcomes of above‐competitive prices, reduced output, or inferior service. As evidence, the authors cite the French experiment with water privatization that began in 1782 with the Perrier brothers' 15‐year contract to provide water for Parisians. Today, an estimated 80% of the French water supply is managed by private firms. And, as the French experience demonstrates, the benefits of large‐scale, single‐firm operations can be obtained at competitive prices by means of a system of franchise bidding in which ownership and/or management rights are awarded to the firm that offers the public the best terms—along with a credible commitment to make good on them.     

Further Reflections on Critical Realism

Abstract

We deal with the main points of Fleetwood's response to our earlier paper and argue that our main contentions remain intact. Critical Realism (CR) remains epistemologically weak; its claims for the usefulness of explanatory power are unconvincing; and, in particular, it provides little help in assessing rival theories. Furthermore, its appreciation of alternative theoretical accounts is underdeveloped because of the tendency to use broad ontological claims to delineate a preferred type of theory. Finally, we argue that the further elaboration of CR by Fleetwood serves to illuminate rather than ameliorate its shortcomings.