Alcohol Advertising Controls in the 1990s

Public health campaigners have criticized the British system for the regulation of alcohol advertising, which relies on several distinct codes of practice governing different media. This paper looks at the options for change, in the light of the economic, political and technological factors that will influence the development of the UK's alcohol advertising policy in the 1990s. The available evidence on the costs and benefits of alternative policies is reviewed, drawing on the Addiction Research Centre's multi-disciplinary programme of work undertaken at the Universities of Hull and York. While there is some evidence that a ban on alcohol advertising would have a marginal effect on overall consumption, it is argued that legislative intervention is no longer feasible. Technological innovation and global pressures for deregulation have made it difficult for national governments to ban the advertising of any one product. At the same time, however, it is feared that commercial pressures resulting from the introduction of satellite broadcasting and the increased competition for advertising revenues could undermine the existing self-regulatory system and exert a downwards pressure on advertising standards. It is suggested that the way forward lies in developing a strong self-regulatory system throughout Europe.     

From the outside in: Consumer anti-choice and policy implications in the mobile gaming market

Significant growth in mobile media consumption has prompted a call to better understand the socio-cultural and policy dimensions of consumer choices. Contrary to industry and technology led analysis, this study argues that to guide consumer choice and innovation via regulatory policies requires an understanding of both ex-ante as well as in ex-post consumption conditions. This study examines mobile phone gaming to uncover how consumer anti-choice shapes decision-making as a framework for closely interrogating the ways in which policy concerns impact on consumers’ behavior. Through eleven focus groups (n=62), the study empirically identifies voluntary, intentional, and positive consumer anti-choice behaviors all of which impact policy initiatives when consumers, both gamers and non-gamers, self-regulate their behaviors. Findings point to four types of policy implication: regulating the self-regulated, understanding anti-choice, boundary-setting and including the self-excluded.     

Employer Policies and Organizational Commitment in Britain 1992–97

An important current of thinking in the last decade has emphasized the need for a shift from control to commitment as the central objective of management employment policies. This paper is concerned to assess whether there was a significant increase in British employees' commitment to their organizations in the 1990s, using comparative data from two large-scale and nationally representative surveys carried out in 1992 and 1997. It finds that there was no evidence of an increase in commitment over the period. As in the early part of the decade, employees had only a weak level of attachment to their organizations. The analysis examines a number of factors that have been seen as important determinants of such commitment: changes in the level of skill, task discretion, controls over work performance, and forms of employee involvement. While there were changes in some of these factors that encouraged higher commitment, these were largely cancelled out by a notable decline in the discretion that employees were allowed to exercise over their work.     

Stuck on gold: Real exchange rate volatility and the rise and fall of the gold standard, 1875-1939

Did the gold standard diminish macroeconomic volatility? Supporters thought so, critics thought not, and theory offers ambiguous messages. Hard regimes like the gold standard limit monetary shocks by tying policymakers' hands; but exchange-rate inflexibility compromises shock absorption in a world of real disturbances and nominal stickiness. A model shows how lack of flexibility affects the transmission of terms-of-trade shocks. Evidence from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century exposes a dramatic change. The classical gold standard did absorb shocks, but the interwar gold standard did not, supporting the view that the interwar gold standard was a poor regime choice.     

Decision parameters in global R&D management

This paper addresses the question of which variables have what kind of impact on the decision to locate new R&D facilities in countries different from the home country of a corporation. In the first section of the paper we demonstrate the complexity of this question by referring to empirical research, managerial statements and literature. We then develop a conceptual model for the location decision of international R&D activities. This is based on Porter's (1990) framework of the factors constituting the competitive advantage of nations. In the final section of this paper we show how such a model helps us to understand and also to explain a number of management issues related to global R&D activities.     

An Empirical Analysis of Hedonic Regression and Grid-Adjustment Techniques in Real Estate Appraisal

Multiple regression analysis has become increasingly popular when appraising residential properties for tax purposes. Alternatively, most fee appraisers and real estate brokers use the traditional sales comparison approach. This study combines the two techniques and uses multiple regression to generate the adjustment coefficients used in the grid adjustment method. The study compares the combined grid-regression method with ordinary regression and defines the market conditions under which each method is likely to be more effective. The grid-regression method is found to be more accurate for relatively homogeneous housing markets, and the multiplicative percentage adjustment method (MPAM) the preferred approach.     

Nutrition planning is alive and well, thank you

This article is a rejoinder to an article by John Osgood Field which discussed the failure of multisectoral nutrition planning. The author argues that, although nutrition planners may have been overly optimistic in their hopes that political systems could be made responsive to the problems, significant advances have been achieved. He outlines many of the successes of nutrition planning and the importance of multisectoral work. Malnutrition is a problem that escapes all the standard programmes, and cannot be tackled through the health and agriculture sectors alone.     

Going the extra mile: Antecedents of salespeople's discretionary effort

Many sales organizations are scrambling for success in today's intensely competitive environment. An increasing number of firms are finding that tried and true traditional selling strategies are less effective, or not effective at all. Moreover, companies are discovering that what has been an acceptable level of performance no longer is adequate for maintaining or gaining competitive advantage. Consequently, managers need to focus on alternative means through which the organization can be successful. One alternative is for sales forces to engage in discretionary effort-work activities that entail going beyond the call of duty. This paper develops propositions regarding antecedents of salesperson discretionary effort, which provide managerial direction should the propositions be confirmed.     

Reliance on R&D Partnerships: The Influence of Short-Term R&D Bias and The Nature of Competition

Reports indicate that capital markets frequently focus on short-term corporate financial performance. Arguments suggest that the R&D projects of many firms are skewed towards short-term, low-risk projects with relatively modest expected benefits, reflecting both a response by companies to financial market pressure to maintain short-term returns and a short-term R&D bias. Anecdotal evidence suggests that one response to short-term R&D bias by firms is for them to seek R&D partnerships with customers and suppliers. A theory is developed which suggests that when firms compete on the basis of product costs, they are likely to seek partnerships with customers and suppliers in order to respond to short-term R&D pressures. In contrast, when competition is innovation-based, firms are unlikely to pursue R&D partnerships in response to short-term R&D bias. The results of an empirical study provide support for this proposition.     

Semivariance of Property Value Estimates as a Determinant of Default Risk

Standard practice in the residential mortgage underwriting industry is to estimate collateral values via independent appraisals conducted by third parties. This paper empirically examines the role of property value ( i.e. , appraisal) uncertainty as a determinant of default on residential mortgage loans. Based upon an analysis of 1,428 residential loans drawn from the portfolio of a national mortgage lender, we find evidence that semivariance in property value uncertainty is related to default risk. Specifically, subject properties that are valued above the sales price of recently sold "similar and proximate" properties show evidence of greater default risk. Interestingly, a variance (range) measure of property value uncertainty is not significantly related to default risk.