The measurement and trend of inequality: An amendment to a basic revision

A variety of revisions and adjustments to our standard measures of inequality have been proposed in recent years. This note corrects a serious error in that work which could reverse conclusions in instances of great inequality.     

Productivity in manufacturing and the length of the working day: evidence from the 1880 census of manufactures

Using micro-level data from the 1880 Census of Manufacturing, we estimate the elasticity of annual output with respect to the length of the working day. Holding labor and capital inputs constant and controlling for days of operation per month and months per year, this elasticity was positive but less than one, indicating diminishing returns. We also find diminishing returns to days per month and months per year, but these elasticities were significantly larger. Thus, decreases in daily hours coupled with an offsetting rise in annual days of operation would increase productive efficiency—precisely the kinds of changes then actually taking place.     

Environmental strategies as automorphic patterns of behaviour

This article is based on a study of three companies, i.e. Volvo, The Body Shop and Tarkett, focusing on their development of environmental strategies. Using a drama metaphor, the empirical case indicates in detail how Tarkett has been strategically able to handle increasing environmental demands. The study also demonstrates that Tarkett depends on itself in its relationship with other actors in its organizational field, and that this influences the interplay between the actors. The article concludes that the three studied companies have adopted different strategies for managing environmental demands, and that the strategy each has used involves a specific sense of ‘dependency’. The strategies are explained by institutional automorphism, which means that the companies imitate themselves, employing strategies similar to those they have previously used when tackling other changes in their organization fields. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

An Institution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Multi-National Corporations (MNCs): Form and Implications

This article investigates corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an institution within UK multi-national corporations (MNCs). In the context of the literature on the institutionalization of CSR and on critical CSR, it presents two main findings. First, it contributes to the CSR mainstream literature by confirming that CSR has not only become institutionalized in society but that a form of this institution is also present within MNCs. Secondly, it contributes to the critical CSR literature by suggesting that unlike broader notions of CSR shared between multiple stakeholders, MNCs practise a form of CSR that undermines the broader stakeholder concept. By increasingly focusing on strategic forms of CSR activity, MNCs are moving away from a societal understanding of CSR that focuses on redressing the impacts of their operations through stakeholder concerns, back to any activity that supports traditional business imperatives. The implications of this shift are considered using institutional theory to evaluate macro-institutional pressures for CSR activity and the agency of powerful incumbents in the contested field of CSR.     

Valuation and Efficiency in the Market for Creatively Financed Houses

This paper examines two alternative approaches to valuing the impact of creative financing on housing prices. The cash equivalence adjustment which is the generally accepted approach is compared to an approach known as the financed fee valuation adjustment which is argued to be theoretically superior. A sample of 45 matched pairs of condominium sales in which one of the units is creatively financed and the other is conventionally financed is employed to test which model is most effective at explaining the market adjustment for creative financing. The authors are unable to reject the hypothesis that the housing market being examined is efficient and that the financed fee valuation adjustment is a superior model for valuing the impact of creative financing.     

Airway Industrial Partners: A Case Study for Seller Financing

This study provides a survey of the housing and mortgage market policies applied between 1976 and 1994 in Chile.