The Endless Day: The Political Economy of Women and Work

Few critics will question that the high tide of the influence of American institutional economics was reached during the New Deal. John R. Commons, Thorstein Veblen and their disciples reached the apex of their impact on public policy as sources of doctrine, policy-making and advising. Commons remains an influential figure in the history of institutional economics and progressive social thought. And he resides in the American tradition of empirical collectivism as articulated by Currin V. Shields in 1952. The tradition as understood by Commons finds the ultimate locus of power in democratic majorities, not in hegemonic classes or corporate networks, and it is only by its refinement and replenishment that it can meet the demands thrust upon it. His mature theoretical work, published between 1924 and 1950, is the main source of his empirical collectivism as shown through textual exegesis and biographical extrapolation.     

The future of Scotland's international tourism markets

This paper explains the rationale behind a tourism marketing strategy prepared for Scotland, as an example of a small-nation destination. In 1985, a typical international tourist to Scotland would have been be described as ‘American, over-50 and interested in heritage’, whereas today the typical tourist is ‘European, under-35 and interested in culture’. The change can be explained within the context of global tourism trends, which provide an insightful explanation of this transformation. Looking to the future, the prospects up to 2025 are assessed in this paper, based upon future trends and UN WTO projections. Is that future to be based upon arrivals from North America, European or the Rest of the World? Whatever the scenario, a strategy is presented that captures the essence of Scotland's international tourism expectations based upon key drivers and market prospects. In a highly competitive market, Scotland should focus on markets that it can win and that can contribute towards the industry's ambition to grow the economic value of tourism by 50% by the year 2015 through strong branding and a focused marketing proposition.     

Engines of Liberation

Electricity was born at the dawn of the last century. Households were inundated with a flood of new consumer durables. What was the impact of this consumer durable goods revolution? It is argued here that the consumer goods revolution was conducive to liberating women from the home. To analyse this hypothesis, a Beckerian model of household production is developed. Households must decide whether or not to adopt the new technologies, and whether a married woman should work. Can such a model help to explain the rise in married female labour-force participation that occurred in the last century? Yes.     

Econometrically accounting for identities and restrictions in models of interregional migration: further thoughts

The authors reply to some comments concerning "specification, estimation, and hypothesis testing in models of interregional migration which are internally consistent." They also attempt to clarify some additional conceptual matters in these three areas.     

VENTURE CAPITALIST RELATIONSHIPS IN THE DEAL STRUCTURING AND POST-INVESTMENT STAGES OF NEW FIRM CREATION

Entrepreneurs often turn to outsiders for financial assistance. Venture capitalists represent an outside source of finance that generally takes an active interest in managing the firm. Two common practices within the venture capital industry are co-investing and staged financing. Responding to the call for more process research which examines the deal structuring and post-investment stages of venture capital involvement, this research utilized a case study approach to explore salient features and themes that emerged in a relationship involving entrepreneurs and multiple co-investors in a new firm start-up. Central findings of the study included: penetrating the venture capital network is a significant first step in securing financial resources and, intriguingly, relationships supersede business plans in securing these resources; paradoxically, venture capitalists establish milestones and tight time-lines yet inadvertently contribute to many of the delays experienced by a start-up firm; the operating logic of venture capital networks, constrained by the hierarchical structures of their constituents, may be incompatible with the needs of a start-up firm; activities within the deal structuring and post-investment stages are more dynamic and iterative than current models suggest; and, staged financing, when combined with multiple venture partners, requires a clear understanding of each party's collaborative role in the enterprise.     

Visualizing CSR: A visual framing analysis of US multinational companies

The aim of this research study is to investigate how different levels of corporate social responsibility are visually framed through corporate publications used in marketing communications. Photographs used as visual marketing communication tools in the annual and sustainability reports of top American multinational companies that practice and promote measures of corporate social responsibility were analyzed. Findings indicate the corporations overall emphasize environmental sustainability efforts and visually communicate their practices through depictions of employees while other social responsibility efforts are often communicated through depictions of consumers. A discussion on the patterns of visual frames that communicate corporate social responsibility and the impact of visuals on organizational identity, brand image, and reputation are offered.     

Audit fees and audit adjustments: evidence from Welsh local authorities

This paper exploits the availability of pre-audit financial statements to investigate the scale and incidence of audit adjustments and their impact on audit fees in Welsh local authorities. Adjustments to the politically-sensitive general fund, which represent a significant proportion of all adjustments, are associated with increased audit fees. The authors also found that audit adjustments on average result in more conservative reporting of the surplus/deficit and the balance on the general fund, with the number and value of downward adjustments exceeding those of upward movements.