Corporate financing and macroeconomic volatility in the European union

This paper investigates the impact of corporate financing patterns in the European Union (EU) on macroeconomic volatility. We examine macroeconomic data for eight EU countries. We find that during the period 1990 through 2005 bank financing was positively associated with volatility in GDP, consumption and investment. On the other hand, macroeconomic volatility declined with increased dependence on market-based financing from the equity and bond markets during this period.     

Virtually nothing: re-evaluating the significance of cyberspace

This paper provides a critical analysis of virtual environments made in recent leisure and cultural studies discussions, which claim virtual reality to be the technotopia of post-modern society. Such positions describe virtual realities as worlds of infinite freedom, which transcend human subjectivity and where identity becomes no longer burdened by the prejudices of persons. Arguing that cyberspace offers little more than a token gesture towards such liberation, the paper suggests a shift in focus from the power relations that might change or remain because of virtual environments, to an awareness of their implications for human beings. Such technologies as chat rooms, the Internet and cyber-sex, are used to illustrate the fundamental challenge of virtual leisure to the human condition. This human condition is often presumed to represent ‘reality/actuality’ and, as such, is said to be in contrast to virtual environments. However, this paper extends its critique of virtual reality, by questioning such a distinction and arguing that new cyber-virtual reality is no more or no less than a sophistication of virtualness that has always reflected the human, embodied experience. Consequently, it is argued how cyberspace is more profound for its challenge to identity construction than for its emancipatory function.     

Changes in HRM and job satisfaction, 1998–2004: evidence from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey

This paper examines the relationship between human resource management practices and job satisfaction, drawing on data from the 1998 and 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Surveys. The paper finds significant increases in satisfaction with the sense of achievement from work between 1998 and 2004; a number of other measures of job quality are found to have increased over this period as well. It also finds a decline in the incidence of many formal human resource management practices. The paper reports a weak association between formal human resource management practices and satisfaction with sense of achievement. Improvements in perceptions of job security, the climate of employment relations and managerial responsiveness are the most important factors in explaining the rise in satisfaction with sense of achievement between 1998 and 2004. We infer that the rise in satisfaction with sense of achievement is due in large part to the existence of falling unemployment during the period under study, which has driven employers to make improvements in the quality of work.     

Fine tuning the dinosaur? Environmental product innovation and strategic threat in the automotive industry: A case study of the Volkswagen Audi Group

The environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of the automobile are pronounced. Indeed, many environmentalists suggest that through its lifetime the core product of the automotive industry is the most polluting product on earth. This paper analyses the response to such criticism from one particular automotive manufacturer, the Volkswagen Audi Group. The paper charts the improvements that are being realised by VW throughout the life cycle of the car, particularly in relation to product use and disposal. It is suggests that the efforts of the automotive industry to reduce its environmental impact through incremental improvements in the environmental efficiency of each car are continually undermined by an overall increase in the level of transport. Thus, it is concluded that the ability of the automotive industry to manage the life cycle impact of its product is severely constrained unless it can dramatically influence the demands of its customers, and that potentially this is an issue of fundamental strategic importance for the industry as a whole.     

Trends in Chinese enterprise management, 1978–1982

Economic reforms in relation to industry have passed through three phases, centred on (i) expanded autonomy for experimental enterprises in 1978–1980, (ii) ‘economic responsibility systems’ in 1981–1982, and (iii) ‘consolidation’ particularly of large enterprises from 1982. While limited in scope, the reforms to date have had a significant impact on management practices. In addition there have been moves towards greater industrial democracy, involving the election of managers and workers' congresses. In practice, however, the degree of democracy is limited and varies widely between plants and regions. Another aspect of change has been a greater emphasis on the smaller urban collective enterprises. Overall reform policies face substantial inertia, a half-way house which may lead to worse long-term economic problems than either more rigid planning or further reform.     

Can Consumer Attitudes Forecast Household Spending in the United States? Further Evidence from the Michigan Survey of Consumers

This article examines the usefulness of various measures of consumer confidence in forecasting household spending in the United States. Using the reduced-form equation of Carroll, Fuhrer, and Wilcox (American Economic Review 84:1397-1408, 1994), we find that for the post-World War II period, the Index of Consumer Expectations is incrementally more informative about household spending than the Index of Consumer Sentiment for all categories of consumption examined. A similar conclusion emerges when Carroll, Fuhrer, and Wilcox's data set is used. Our overall results confirm the view that indices of consumer confidence reflect consumers' perception of future economic conditions. Also, the ability of these confidence indices to predict future consumption growth can be construed as a clear rejection of the random walk hypothesis of Hall (Journal of Political Economy 86:971-87, 1978).     

Venture Capital Investors, Capital Markets, Valuation and Information: US, Europe and Asia

This paper uses a large multi-country sample of venture capital firms to compare the approaches to investee valuation and sources of information used by venture capital investors in English, French and German legal systems as well as geographical regions. Different legal systems are significantly associated with the valuation mechanism used. In particular, compared to English-based Common Law systems, VC firms operating in a Germanic legal system are significantly more likely to use DCF based measures and significantly less likely to use PE comparators. This latter result is also the case for VC firms operating in a French legal system who are also significantly more likely to adopt historic cost valuation methods. VC firms in Europe and Asia are significantly less likely than US VC firms to make use of liquidation value methods but significantly more likely to use PE comparators. European firms are significantly less likely to adopt DCF methods compared to US VC firms. VC firms operating under a Germanic legal system are less likely to utilise information from the financial press but significantly more likely to use interviews with entrepreneurs. VC firms operating under a French legal system are more likely to utilise interviews with company personnel as well as sales and marketing information. VC firms in Europe and Asia are significantly more likely than US VC firms to use financial press. VC firms in Asia are significantly less likely to make use of interviews with entrepreneurs or business plan data. VC firms in Europe are significantly more likely to utilise sales and marketing information.