A Linear Programming Model of the Consumer Price Index Food Component

A bstract A linear programming model is used to measure the rate of inflation in the food component of the consumer price index A diet model to minimize the cost of a diet subject to constraints on nutritive requirements, variety, pal-atabihty, and menu-function is constructed and the rates of increase in a strict minimum cost model and an expanded constraint model are measured for the period 1980-87 Consistent with the consumer utility literature, it is found that the current Laspeyres index approach to measuring the cost of living in fact provides an upper limit on true cost of living increases Results also show that the cost of maintaining a minimum level of subsistence increases more rapidly than the cost of a more palatable diet Finally, the results show that in fact there is very little room for substitution among food items within a reasonable diet model     

Public Spending, Land Taxes and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis of the Adequacy of Land as a Tax Base

Abstract . Site value taxation is often cited as desirable on efficiency grounds, but is all too often dismissed for alleged lack of revenue potential. This paper empirically tests the revenue adequacy of site value taxation. Revenue adequacy in this study is defined as the ability of the tax base to keep pace with community expenditure needs. The paper concludes that communities with higher than average rates of capital growth and with a relatively constrained land area will find land taxes when subsituted for present property taxes, quite adequate for future as well as present needs.     

Life duration of foreign multinational subsidiaries: Evidence from UK northern manufacturing industry 1970–93

Duration analysis is employed to examine the survival of 252 foreign manufacturing plants in the UK Northern region during 1970–93. Contrary to expectations, the hazard function is approximately inverse quadratic rather than monotonic decreasing. Greenfield entrants face a lower risk of failure than acquisition entrants, particularly early in life. Acquisitions of older plants exhibit stronger survival than acquisitions of recently established plants, so that the age of (indigenous) acquired plant at the point of foreign takeover appears to matter to the survival of acquisition entrants. Plant size and industrial concentration also emerge as important. Home country of parent firm and location within region are unimportant. Consistent with the inverse U-shaped hazard function, the lognormal regression model provides a reasonably satisfactory fit to the data, certainly tighter than the Weibull model.     

Ready for round two

The next lobbying fight over health care is about to begin. This time, the key issue is quality of care. Democrats and even many Republicans say the system is broken.     

Emerging issues in theory and research on electronic human resource management (eHRM)

In the past several decades, technology has had a dramatic impact on human resource management (HR) processes and practices. For example, technology, especially the World Wide Web, has helped modify many HR processes including human resource planning, recruitment, selection, performance management, work flow, and compensation. These new systems have enabled HR professionals to provide better service to all of their stakeholders (e.g., applicants, employees, managers), and reduced the administrative burden in the field. Despite the widespread use of these systems, there has been a surprising dearth of theory and research on the topic. As a result, the purpose of this special issue is to (a) advance theory and research on human resource management systems (HRMS) and electronic human resource management (eHRM), (b) offer new directions for research on the topic, and (c) enhance the effectiveness of these systems in organizations. As a result, this article reviews the evolution of HRMS and eHRM, provides a brief overview of the existing literature, and introduces the articles in the special issue.     

Lost cause

Cost containment was supposed to be a major goal of health care reform. Now, it's been all but forgotten--thanks in large measure to aggressive lobbying by health care industry interests.     

The implications of e-commerce for strategy: UK case studies

In this paper, four case studies of retail financial services companies involved in Internet marketing of their services are investigated. The approaches taken range from a fully integrated approach, a stand-alone approach separate from the mainstream of the company's business, an experimental approach and an approach that can only be described as ‘reluctant’. The cases demonstrate the critical role of senior management, the possible limitations of market intelligence as a guide to action, the need to focus on resources and capabilities, and the requirement for creativity in strategy.     

Can Public Service Efficiency Measurement be a Useful Tool of Government? The Lesson of the Spottiswoode Report

This article critically reviews the Spottiswoode Report on 'Improving Police Performance' produced for the Public Services Productivity Panel. The article questions the report's recommendations that Data Envelopment Analysis (supported by Stochastic Frontier Analysis) be used to measure the efficiency of the 43 police forces in England and Wales and that the technique might be extended to other public services. The article gives, as simply as possible, the basic technical details needed for readers to understand the key issues raised by the report.