Gendered paths to technology leadership

Results indicate that more than men, women aspiring technology leaders are heeding expert advice by assuming roles that focus less on technology and more on business and change management. The stereotype that women are better at working with people may be working in their favour in preparing them for advancement.     

The political economy of Reconstruction Finance Corporation assistance during the Great Depression

This paper analyzes the role of political rent-seeking in New Deal expenditures focusing on the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). Unlike other New Deal agencies, the RFC was not financed by government appropriations, it devolved assistance decisions, and primarily offered loans rather than grants. Although the RFC was subject to pressures for political favor during the Great Depression, the geographic distribution of RFC funds across states is not associated with standard political measures used to examine rent-seeking behavior in other studies of the New Deal.     

THE PROS AND CONS OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION

Regulation of human behaviour and human social interaction is a universal feature of both traditional and modern societies. In the latter, on account of their complex structure, regulation inevitably takes place at different levels, albeit within a framework set by government. Consequently, these societies are characterised by a web of formal as well as informal regulation and self-regulation, in other words by a plurality of regulatory systems. And this plurality of regulatory systems is an important source of tensions and conflicts in society.     

POST-CARTEL PRICING DURING LITIGATION

Standard methods in the U.S. for calculating antitrust damages in price-fixing cases are shown to create a strategic incentive for firms to price above the non-collusive price after the cartel has been dissolved. This results in an overestimate of the but for price and an underestimate of the level of damages. The extent of this upward bias in the but for price is greater, the longer the cartel was in place and the more concentrated the industry.     

Board Characteristics and Audit Fees*

This paper examines the relations between three board characteristics (independence, diligence, and expertise) and Big 6 audit fees for Fortune 1000 companies. To protect its reputation capital, avoid legal liability, and promote shareholder interests, a more independent, diligent, and expert board may demand differentially higher audit quality (greater assurance, which requires more audit work) than the Big 6 audit firms normally provide. The audit fee increases as the auditor's additional costs are passed on to the client, such that we expect positive relations between audit fees and the board characteristics examined. We find significant positive relations between audit fees and board independence, diligence, and expertise. The results persist when similar measures of audit committee “quality” are included in the model. The results add to the growing body of literature documenting relations between corporate governance mechanisms and various facets of the financial reporting and audit processes, as well as to our understanding of the determinants of audit fees.     

Partial information and volatility in a two-bloc world

This paper examines the effects of partial information on volatility and on the design of simple feedback rules in a rational expectations context. Previous studies have investigated these effects using small analytical models. Here we employ an empirical two-bloc model derived from the OECD Interlink model. The main conclusions are that when current asset prices are observed, but GDP is observed with a delay, then the effect on volatility is small, compared to the full information case. Likewise the choice of simple feedback rules is little affected, although a non-optimal use of information in their design may lead to a deterioration in performance.     

Short reviews

Lawless, P. 1989: Britain's Inner Cities. London: Paul Chapman, £9.95 paper.

Leedale, M. and Beaumont, B. 1989: City Grants-Application Appraisal and Evaluation. Oxford Polytechnic School of Planning, Working Paper No. 117, £3.50 + 85p postage and packing.

Leo Klaassen, Leo van den Berg and Jan van der Meer (eds) 1989: The City: Engine behind Economic Recovery. Gower, £35.00 cloth.

Cross, D. and Whitehead, C. (eds), 1989: Development and Planning 1989. Newbury, Berks.: Policy Journals, £19.50 (plus £2.50 p).

Phil Blackburn and Richard Sharpe (eds), 1988: Britain's Industrial Renaissance? The Development Manufacture and Use of Information Technology. London: A Comedia Book, Published by Routledge.