A note on capital budgeting in the purchase of information

A capital budgeting problem of purchasing perfect information is defined. The relationship between this problem and the Expected Value measure is shown and an illustrative example provided.     

Notes on a possible Bentham manuscript: a mystery unresolved

In the Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo (Volume x)Piero Sraffa noted that the Mill-Ricardo case of the RicardoPapers deposited at Cambridge contained ‘a paper probablyin Bentham's hand-wriring on the effects on profits of cultivatingsuccessive qualities of land'. In 1978 I made a search of theRicardo Papers and no such document was to be found. This notereports the discovery in Trinnity College Library—andprovides a trancription—of a document that may be theelusive item, though it is in James Mill's hand.     

The 1979 US gasoline shortage and its impact on the tourism industry

Owners or managers of 373 businesses on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, were interviewed in summer 1981 to determine whether they were affected by the 1979 gasoline shortage. The results indicate that half the respondents were affected, the majority of whom were adversely affected. More tourism businesses reported being affected than non-tourism businesses. The effects manifested themselves in staff layoffs and unfilled vacancies. Nevertheless, tourism businesses on the Cape did not alter any of their marketing strategies, excluding the lowering of prices.     

Introducing ‘Journeys Home’

Homelessness, despite being a major social policy issue in Australia, is an area that is not well served by data. Most sorely lacking is any large‐scale panel study that follows a broad sample of persons with recent experience of homelessness and unstable housing histories. In 2010, the Australian Government set about rectifying this deficiency when it commissioned the Melbourne Institute to undertake a new panel study, now known as ‘Journeys Home’. This study draws its sample from the population of Centrelink income‐support recipients, targeting persons identified in the administrative data as having recent experience of homelessness, as well as others with similar characteristics who may be vulnerable to housing difficulties in the future. This article summarises the design of this new study and reports on fieldwork outcomes from the first two waves of data collection.     

The political economy of Zimbabwean Urban informality since 2000 – A contemporary governance dilemma

ABSTRACT

The article explores the urban informality dilemma in Harare through the lens of a political economy theory. It examines the typologies of urban informality, the influence of political economy on urban informalities, and informs decision-making to address the urban informality dilemma. A qualitative approach was used where secondary data were collected through document analysis and primary data from interviews with 20 purposively selected key informants. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with 585 individuals engaged in informal activities. It emerged that urban informality in Harare takes on different forms and aside from the economic crisis, politics played a role in the emergence and proliferation of urban informality. The article provides insight into, and raises awareness with regard to key areas of concern on how power influences decision-making relating to urban informality. Therefore, the article provides a basis for policy formulation and institutional reforms for effective measures to curb urban informality.     

The Relationship Among Union Membership, Facets of Satisfaction and Intent to Leave: Further Evidence on the Voice Face of Unions

This study examined the impact of union membership on employees’ intent to leave their jobs across a number of facets of satisfaction, as a further test of unions’ voice face. Among the findings were that there were significant relationships between job, compensation, benefits, working conditions, and immediate supervisor satisfaction and intent to leave one’s job for nonunion employees. In contrast, only the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave was significant for union employees. Finally, over the facets of satisfaction where one would expect unions to have the most influence, the relationship between intent to leave one’s job and satisfaction was greater for nonunion employees than for union employees. These results provide a great deal of support for the effect of unions’ voice face.

Dr. Martin Bronfenbrenner (1914-1997): Scholar, Critic, Cynic, and Comrade-in-Arms

ABSTRACT Professor Martin Bronfenbrenner's mark on the economics profession was significant and worth remembering. He touched the lives of many as a father, cousin, teacher, scholar, expert referee, colleague, and judge of important contemporary debates. Of special interest is his unique personality. He was a specialist in self-effacement, peppered with liberal shakes of cynicism and sarcasm. Despite all this, he managed to win the respect and hearts of individuals on several continents and across several generations. This essay brings a small but diverse part of the story together in one place.     

The effect of globalization on union bargaining and price-cost margins of firms

In recent years, Europe has witnessed an accelerated process of economic integration. This paper analyzes how increased economic integration has affected labor and product markets. We use a panel of Belgian manufacturing firms to estimate price-cost margins and union bargaining power and show how various measures of globalization affect them. Import competition puts pressure on both markups and union bargaining power, especially when there is increased competition from low wage countries. This suggests that increased globalization is associated with a moderation of wage claims in unionized countries, which should be associated with positive effects on employment.