can europe compete post-1992?

Can Europe compete? Andrew Sentance of the CBI suggests the EC may be ill-placed to compete in international markets following the 1992 process; completion of the internal market is no guarantee of a strong recovery.     

Asymmetric business cycles: Theory and time-series evidence

We offer a theory of economic fluctuations based on intertemporal increasing returns: agents who have been active in the past face lower costs of action today. This specification explains the observed persistence in individual and aggregate output fluctuations even in the presence of i.i.d shocks because individuals respond to the same shock differently depending on their recent past experience. The exact process for output, the sharpness of turning points and the degree of asymmetry are determined by the form of heterogeneity. Our general formulation, under certain assumptions, reduces to a number of popular state space (unobserved components) models. We find that on US data our general formulation performs better than many of the existing econometric models, largely because it allows sharper downturns and more pronounced asymmetries than linear models, and is smoother than discrete regime shift models. Our estimates imply that only modest intertemporal returns are needed for our model to explain US GNP, and that heterogeneity across agents plays an important role in the propagation of business cycle shocks.     

Corporate moral responsibility and the moral audit: Challenges for Refuse Relief Inc.

Much debate has occurred as to whether or not moral responsibility should be ascribed to corporate entities. The present study advances the theory that moral responsibility is a self-imposed or attributable aspect of corporate operations which extends beyond the parameters established by law.In this context, the corporation must consciously endeavor to discharge its moral responsibility to avoid, minimize, eliminate and compensate for the potential or actual harm which its operations cause. To achieve this objective, consideration is given to the establishment of a Moral Audit Committee, an internal monitoring mechanism, with a proposed generic structure. The corporate Mission Statement and Code of Ethics play a vital role as well in building an institutional environment which supports this self-appraisal process. With this system in place, the ambit of a Moral Audit is then examined. This study concludes with a case analysis, which partly depicts the Moral Audit process.S. Andrew Ostapski is Assistant Professor of Business Law, University of Miami, School of Business Administration, Coral Gables, Florida. A.B., 1975 Oberlin College; J.D., 1978, Capital University Law School; LL.M. in International Law, 1986, University of Miami School of Law.Camille N. Isaacs is a Foreign Service Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kingston, Jamaica. B.A., 1983, University of the West Indies; M.B.A., 1991, University of Miami, School of Business Administration.The name of the corporation and other data have been altered to preserve the anonymity of the firm, but the essential factual basis has not been materially distorted.     

THE ECONOMIC RETURNS TO AN MBA*

Because MBA programs require work experience before admittance, prior wages can be exploited to disentangle the return to the degree from unobserved productivity. We find that controlling for individual fixed effects generally reduces the estimated returns to an MBA, particularly for those in top programs. However, for full‐time MBA students attending schools outside of the top‐25 the estimated returns are higher when we control for individual fixed effects. We show that there is some evidence that those who take the GMAT but do not obtain an MBA are stronger in dimensions such as workplace skills that are not easily measured.     

Political hazards,experience, and sequential entry strategies: the international expansion of Japanese firms, 1980–1998

We find support for the role of experiential learning in the international expansion process by extending the stages model of internationalization to incorporate a sophisticated consideration of temporal and cross‐national variation in the credibility of the policy environment. Using a sample of 3857 international expansions of 665 Japanese manufacturing firms, we build on the concepts of uncertainty and experiential learning, to show that firms that had gathered relevant types of international experience were less sensitive to the deterring effect of uncertain policy environments on investment. One implication of our results is that research on international strategy should emphasize understanding the political institutions that constrain or enable political actors, just as entry mode research has done. A second implication is that research in the stages model of internationalization should give the same weight to the policy environment as a source of uncertainty to a firm, as it has given to cultural, social and market institutions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

美国著名创业研究专家谢洛德谈:企业家不是天生的(十三)——"动力和精力""你拥有它要求的一切""追逐梦想——而不是彩虹"

一、动力和精力要避免轻率,但充沛的精力和不断的警醒能使我们保持前进的步伐并最终取得胜利。——亚伯拉罕·林肯多数成功创业者都拥有超常的体能     

Performance Incentives within Firms: The Effect of Managerial Responsibility

We show that top management incentives vary by responsibility. For oversight executives, pay‐performance incentives are $1.22 per thousand dollar increase in shareholder wealth higher than for divisional executives. For CEOs, incentives are $5.65 higher than for divisional executives. Incentives for the median top management team are substantial at $32.32. CEOs account for 42 to 58 percent of aggregate team incentives. For divisional executives, the pay–divisional performance sensitivity is positive and increasing in the precision of divisional performance and the pay–firm performance sensitivity is decreasing in the precision of divisional performance. These results support principal–agent models with multiple signals of managerial effort.     

An Efficient Pursuit? Independent Shopkeeping in 1930s Britain

During the 1930s, the small-scale retailer was regarded by manycommentators as being responsible for the apparent inefficienciesof the retail trade in Britain. Using a range of documentaryevidence from the period, this article draws attention to debateon the merits of large- and small-scale retailers, highlightinga concern for the latter’s contribution to wider communitywell-being and to developments in retail trade practices. Therelative inefficiency of the small trader was frequently explainedin relation to a lack of awareness of sound shop management.Consequently, emphasis was placed by commentators on the needfor small traders to enhance their knowledge of retail managementpractices in order to improve their own competitive positionand efficiency in the retail trade more widely. Both the popularand trade press offered small traders a range of advice thatwas intended to improve their fortunes. This article considersthe form and content of such advice.