The de-collectivisation of pay setting in Britain 1990–98: incidence,determinants and impact

What were the causes and consequences of declining collective bargaining coverage in Britain? The demise of collective bargaining did not lead to a greater use of individualised payment mechanisms, ‘high-involvement’ practices or productivity gains. Wage inequality rose as a result of the decline. However, workplaces that abandoned bargaining created more jobs. Overall, these results raise questions about Britain’s labour market performance during the 1990s because they suggest that falling unemployment as a result of weaker trade unions came at the price of slower productivity growth and widening male wage inequality.     

Corporate environmentalism: tracing the links between policies and performance using corporate reports and public registers

Within this paper, we consider whether it is possible to trace the links between the procedural and the substantive dimensions of corporate environmentalism using information that is in the public domain – most notably in corporate reports and in pollutant releases and transfer registers (PRTRs) such as the US Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and the EU Polluting Emissions Register (EPER). Based on an analysis of firms in the oil and gas sector, and specifically of the environmental performance of oil refineries, we find that corporate reports are of very limited value when seeking to compare and contrast levels of environmental performance at the site level, but that a significant body of useful information is provided by public registers such as the US TRI and the EU EPER. Drawing upon these data, we find significant variations in corporate environmental performance across the US and the EU, and we note the existence of significant correlations between higher levels of emissions and lower levels of employment and income in the areas where industrial facilities are located. We then discuss the relevance of our findings to broader debates on corporate environmentalism and corporate social responsibility. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Trade Policy Issues in a Small African Economy: The Trade Policy Review of The Gambia 2004

The Gambia displays many of the classic characteristics of a small open economy, with the vulnerabilities that implies. The sum of its imports and exports are around 100 per cent of GDP, with a limited number of export commodities and a wide variety of imports, including some key staple foods. The Trade Policy Review of The Gambia 2004 provides a very helpful review and assessment of current trade patterns and policies. The latter rely predominantly on import and export taxes. While quite substantial trade reform measures have been implemented recently, these have led to only a very small reduction in the average tariff rate, and trade policy displays a substantial anti‐export bias. Other important issues highlighted by the Trade Policy Review include serious capacity constraints relating to trade policy, and a failure to discuss connections between trade policy and growth and poverty reduction – again common characteristics of many small economies.     

On Mixed Strategies for Development

The paper investigates whether mixed trade strategies of import substitution and export promotion, if permanently or temporarily applied, can generate pro-tradables movements in the real exchange rate. Static and dynamic general-equilibrium modeling with a nontradables sector and alternative types of tradables is used to explore real exchange rate responses to uniform and nonuniform trade policy interventions. The paper shows that uniform, permanent interventions are neutral, having no impact on the equilibrium real exchange rate. The real exchange rate effect of temporary uniform interventions is, however, in general ambiguous when prices and incomes are fully endogenized. The breakdown of Lerner symmetry or of neutrality following uniform temporary interventions does not mean that intended promotion of tradables necessarily results in a pro-tradables movement in the real exchange rate.     

Activeworlds: geography and social interaction in virtual reality

This paper examines the interrelation between the geographical and social aspects of virtual worlds. We examine the main geographical features of Activeworlds, a multi-user virtual environment available over the Internet. Activeworlds is not only one of the most popular virtual environments, it is also the only publicly accessible one in which users can build themselves, and thus shape their geographical and social environment. We examine, among other features, transportation, mobility, and property appropriation in this virtual worlds system. Further, we describe some of the influences, both from urban planning and science fiction, on the geography of Activeworlds. We also examine the social relations that arise from these geographical conditions, including the ‘rough and ready’ mentality of this ‘cyberspace frontier’. Finally, we consider the implications of this virtual worlds system for theories of the emerging geographical and social relations in virtual environments.     

OHSAS 18001 certification and operating performance: The role of complexity and coupling

Today, manufacturing firms encounter pressure from multiple stakeholders to manage occupational health and safety issues properly, systematically and transparently. While manufacturing firms commonly use internally developed Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, there is growing pressure to adopt externally certified system such as OHSAS 18001. However, there are conflicting views and little empirical evidence that examines the linkage between OHSAS 18001 certification and operating performance. Hence, this paper examines the impact of OHSAS 18001 on operational performance through three theoretical lenses: Institutional Theory, Normal Accident Theory, and High Reliability Theory. We also investigate how complexity and coupling moderate the relationship between OHSAS 18001 and operational performance. Based on a sample of 211 U.S. listed manufacturing firms with OHSAS 18001 certification, we find that certification leads to significant increases in abnormal performance on safety, sales growth, labor productivity, and profitability and that these benefits increase as complexity and coupling increase.     

Geographic diversification in real estate investment trusts

Whether geographic diversification within property portfolios is ideal remains an open question, with most studies finding either a diversification discount or no evidence of benefits. Using a sample of equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) from 2010 to 2016, we find a nonlinear relation between geographic diversification and firm value. Specifically, geographic diversification is associated with higher REIT values for firms that can be described as being more transparent (i.e., they have high levels of institutional ownership or invest in core property types). Whereas, geographic concentration is associated with higher REIT values for firms that can be described as being less transparent (i.e., they have low levels of institutional ownership or invest in noncore property types). Operating efficiency, at both the property‐ and firm‐levels, are the means by which the diversification value is realized. Operations improve as property portfolios become more geographically diversified for more transparent firms. When the improvements are decomposed into revenue generation and expense efficiency portions, we find revenue generation to be the main operational channel through which the benefits are obtained.