Measuring Labour Market Flexibility in the OECD Countries

This paper investigates the adjustment of employment to population shocks in 22 OECD countries over the period 1960–1997. Most of the countries have experienced significant population shocks during that period – due to migration and other reasons. We estimate the speed of adjustment parameter which is used as a measure of the functioning of the labour market. If the OECD countries are compared using this measure, it turns out that the Anglo Saxon countries clearly outperform the other (European) countries in terms of labour market adjustment. In the case of the Nordic countries, the results presented are the most extreme. In practically all OECD countries, the functioning of the labour market seems to have deteriorated over time. These observations seem to be helpful in explaining the behaviour of unemployment rates in the OECD area.     

How exposure to policy tools transforms the mechanisms behind public acceptability and acceptance—The case of the Gothenburg congestion tax

An increasing body of literature suggests that acceptance of environmental policy instruments tends to change along with increased experience of the same. Among the more popular examples of this is the growing number of congestion pricing initiatives emerging around the world. In several cases, the acceptability of these projects among the public has been relatively low before implementation, but then acceptance has increased as experience of the project has grown. The question is just how, and in particular, why? That is, what is it really that experience does to people's propensity to accept initially quite unpopular measures? In this article, we analyze how the relationship between political trust, policy-specific beliefs (PSBs), and public support for policy tools is moderated or affected by people's personal experiences of those policy tools. On the basis of the experience of previous research, we test the way in which PSBs, institutional trust, and the legitimacy of the political decision-making process affect public attitudes toward a policy tool. In addition—and consistent with other studies—we expect these effects to be significantly reduced post-implementation, as people gain first-hand experience of a policy tool. More specifically, we theorize that the often emphasized process legitimacy is only valid as a factor driving support before implementation, and that the effect of general institutional trust is replaced by the level of trust specific to the implementing institutions after the introduction of the policy tool. We tested these hypotheses using a natural experiment; that is, by studying public attitudes toward the introduction of congestion fees in the Swedish city of Gothenburg both before and after their introduction. By doing so, we were able to comprehensively analyze both the drivers behind public sentiments toward congestion charges and how these mechanisms transform as people are exposed to the costs and benefits of the policy tool in practice. Among other things, we found that with regard to fairness and environmental effectiveness, there is a clear symmetry in our results. The level of acceptance increased most noticeably among those who experienced that the environment was improved by the implemented tax, or that the system turned out to be fairer than expected. However, the opposite is also the case. Thus, among those experiencing that the environment was not improved, or that the system appeared to be less fair than expected, the level of acceptance decreased significantly after implementation. These results may have important policy implications.     

Perceived Product Benefits and the Project Management Performance: The Role of the Perceived Supplier Ranking

The aim of this article is to understand customers’ perceptions regarding the project management performance and the perceived benefits if the customers perceived the supplier to be the best or the second-best systems delivery project supplier. This research investigates 2,191 system delivery projects in the facilities management industry. Exploratory factor analysis was employed on the project management variables. The testing of the hypotheses was done with partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) with SmartPLS. The findings show a significant relationship between the commissioning and the perceived benefits, independent of whether the company was perceived to be best or second best in the industry. The proposal stage was perceived to be significantly related to perceived benefits provided by the outcome of the project (the product) when the company was the second-best supplier. Inherent structure in systems delivery projects included three phases, consisting of the proposal, installation, and commissioning. Also, the perceived project management performance in the commissioning stage was significantly related to the perceived benefits provided by the outcome of the project (the product) when the supplier was perceived to be the best and the second best in the industry. Contrary to expectations, this was not the case with all project management phases.     

Public–Private Partnerships and the Design Process: Consequences for Architects and City Building

Governments are increasingly using public–private partnerships (PPPs) to deliver public infrastructures and facilities. The prime motivation to embark on these partnerships is often to deliver products and services on time and on budget. It is generally assumed that by transferring project risks and responsibilities to private‐sector actors, governments can achieve better value for money. This article provides a novel perspective on the standards applied in PPP endeavors as it examines the tensions between the public management rationale behind value for money on the one hand, and conceptions of design and city building on the other. We focus on planning practice in the Canadian province of Ontario to show that governments apply different understandings of value in PPPs which, in turn, affect the way the design process is run. Architects, who are used to playing the role of master builder in a traditional public infrastructure project, are shifted into a less influential position and struggle with their new role. Furthermore, a different set of priorities applies in the new procurement process. The increasing use of PPPs can thus have significant consequences for city building.     

Management priorities of digital health service start-ups in California

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - Digitalisation has revolutionised health service delivery, which has provided global business opportunities for start-ups that specialise in...     

Mind the gap? Business cycles and subjective well-being

We examine the relationship between output fluctuations and within-country variation in subjective well-being using country panels. We show that the deviation of output from trend, unlike trend growth, is positively associated with well-being. The explanatory power of the business cycle is found to be better than that of the level of output.     

Patent citations as determinants of grant and opposition: case of European wind power industry

The grant of a patent and filing of an opposition are important events in the lifecycle of a patent. This paper tests the influence of backward citations on the likelihood of a patent grant and, if any, an opposition. Since all citations are not alike, detailed analysis is done by assessing type, nature and origin of citations in European search reports and, where needed, international search reports. The nature of citations, blocking or non-blocking, is found to have a significant impact on the likelihood of a patent being granted. The effect of citations originating during different stages of patent pendency is also explored in this study. For practitioners, the study provides a landscape of the European wind industry that is characterised by popularity of the PCT route, dearth of non-patent citations and dominance of bigger actors. For academics, the study offers novel opportunities to utilise citation based indicators.     

Speculative capital and currency carry trades

In this paper, we study a two-country general equilibrium model with partially segmented financial markets, where hedge funds emerge endogenously. Empirically, we show that the hedge fund investment strategy predicted by our model, which we call the “risk-adjusted carry trade” strategy, explains more than 16% of the overall hedge fund index returns and more than 33% of the fixed income arbitrage sub-index returns. The flow of new money to hedge funds affects market interest rates, exchange rates, and both the hedge funds’ contemporaneous and expected future returns as predicted by the model.