Money and the production function: A case study of France

Zusammenfassung Geld in der Produktionsfunktion: Eine Fallstudie für Frankreich. — Dieser Aufsatz benutzt Daten für Frankreich (1950–1973), um zu prüfen, ob (a) reale Geldbest?nde eine Grenzproduktivit?t haben, die mit der physischer Inputs vergleichbar ist, und ob (b) die Einführung von Geld in die Produktionsfunktion aufgrund einer Vielzahl von Strukturver?nderungen zu einer Instabilit?t der Produktionsbeziehungen führt. Die Autoren ermitteln eine Zeitreihe für das Grenzprodukt des Geldes. Indem sie die Technik zeitlich variierender Parameter in ihrer Regressionsanalyse verwenden, finden sie heraus, da\ die Einführung von Geld in die aggregierte Produktionsfunktion keine Instabilit?t der Produktionsbeziehungen mit sich gebracht hat.

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Résumé La monnaie dans la fonction de production: une étude de cas pour la France. — En utilisant les données pour la France, 1950–1973, cet article essaie de tester (a) si les balances de monnaie réelle ont une productivité marginale qui est similaire à celle des inputs physiques, et (b) si l’introduction de la monnaie dans la fonction de production mène à l’instabilité dans les relations de production due à toutes sortes des changements structurels. Les auteurs présentent une série chronologique du produit marginal de monnaie. En utilisant une technique des paramètres variants sur le temps ils trouvent aussi que l’introduction de la monnaie dans une fonction agrégée de production ne mène pas à une instabilité dans les relations de production.

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Resumen Dinero en la función de producción: un estudio del caso de Francia. — Usando datos de Francia para el periódo 1958–1973, en este artículo se intenta someter a prueba, (a) si los balances de dinero real tienen una productividad similar a la de insumos fisicos y, (b) si la introducci?n de dinero en la función de producción lleva a una inestabilidad en las relaciones de producción debido a una variedad de cambios estructurales. Los autores presentan una serie temporal del producto marginal del dinero. Usando una técnica de paràmetros variables en el tiempo también descubren que la introducción del dinero en la función de producción agregada no imparte inestabilidad en las relaciones de producción.

     

International Insurance Society Roundtable on Risk Management After the Crisis

In this roundtable, an adviser to several central banks and founding member of the Group of 30 discusses regulatory reform and corporate risk management strategies with senior executives from three of the world's largest insurance companies. Much of the discussion attempts to explain why insurance and reinsurance companies have proven less vulnerable to the crisis than commercial and investment banks. Part of the explanation has to do with their financial conservatism, which is attributed to a habitual tendency to decision‐making that gives heavy weight to long‐term probabilities and risks. But along with this “actuarial” cast of mind is a growing willingness to accept and make use of risk‐based capital requirements—a decision‐making framework that is, in some respects, in conflict with the accounting and regulatory capital conventions that still prevail in the industry. In particular, “Solvency II”—the risk‐based capital guidelines that are set for adoption in 2012 by insurers in the European Union—is held up as a possible model for global use.     

Anomalies in the Foundations of Ridge Regression: Some Clarifications

Several anomalies in the foundations of ridge regression from the perspective of constrained least-square (LS) problems were pointed out in Jensen & Ramirez. Some of these so-called anomalies, attributed to the non-monotonic behaviour of the norm of unconstrained ridge estimators and the consequent lack of sufficiency of Lagrange's principle, are shown to be incorrect. It is noted in this paper that, for a fixed Y , norms of unconstrained ridge estimators corresponding to the given basis are indeed strictly monotone. Furthermore, the conditions for sufficiency of Lagrange's principle are valid for a suitable range of the constraint parameter. The discrepancy arose in the context of one data set due to confusion between estimates of the parameter vector, β , corresponding to different parametrization (choice of bases) and/or constraint norms. In order to avoid such confusion, it is suggested that the parameter β corresponding to each basis be labelled appropriately.     

Integrating Experiential Learning and Cases in International Business

In no other discipline is experiential learning more important than in the complex field of International Business (IB), which aims to prepare students to work and manage across political, economic, national, and sociocultural boundaries. This paper discusses various types of experiential learning activities and approaches to IB teaching, and expands on how the case method can be more effectively used to facilitate student learning and increase engagement. Leveraging class diversity and providing opportunities for “virtual exchanges” in the case-based approach can significantly enhance the development of intercultural competence. Resources for finding cases, developing one's own cases, and publishing them in peer-reviewed outlets are also provided.     

A Rejoinder to ‘Professionalizing Claims and the State of UK Professional Accounting Education: Some Evidence’

Abstract

In response to the nine Commentaries on our original paper (Sikka et al., this issue Sikka, P. this issue. Professionalizing claims and the state of UK professional accounting education: some evidence. Accounting Education: an international journal, 16(1): 3–21.  [Google Scholar]), this Rejoinder responds to two themes: the politics of professional education, and accounting ethics. We argue that the contents of accounting education are shaped by a particular kind of politics, which privileges technicist rationality. In addition, we pose some questions about the accountancy profession's claims to be advancing ethical conduct by briefly focusing upon its own domestic and foreign interventions.     

Johannesburg's strategic plan for municipal service partnerships

While many local authorities have been slow to make the transition from traditional methods of service delivery to internationally proven alternative approaches, this is not the case for the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council, which is pioneering initiatives around municipal service partnerships (MSPs) in many different areas. This article traces the processes embarked upon by Johannesburg, with a view to examining how and why the private sector became involved in municipal service provision. Given that Johannesburg is the largest and perhaps the most important city in the country, it is expected that the lessons learned from the experiments with MSPs there will be profoundly important for similar efforts by local governments in other parts of the country.     

Accountability of the accountancy bodies: the peculiarities of a British accountancy body

The UK accountancy bodies, enjoying Royal Charters, exercise considerable social power. They act as statutory regulators for the auditing and the insolvency sector. Their regulatory activities (e.g. disciplining members) have a potential to blemish the name and reputation of their members and can bring the accountancy bodies into dispute with their members. In liberal societies, a common understanding is that the aggrieved individuals may be able to take legal action to correct perceived injustices. However, as this paper shows, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has asserted, and the courts accepted that they themselves have no powers to intervene in the internal affairs of the ACCA. Such powers, the ACCA established, are reserved for an official known as the ‘Visitor’, who may be appointed by the Lord Chancellor's Department on behalf of the Sovereign/Crown. The ACCA has relied upon this legal precedent, which it helped to create, to prevent an aggrieved member from airing his grievances in courts. However, eventually the legal precedent became problematic for the ACCA, as it had the potential to directly enmesh the state in the governance of the ACCA. At this point, the ACCA sought reversal of the legal precedent. The case illuminates the politics of accountability and shows the manner in which one of the UK accountancy bodies mobilised its resources to enact a very particular kind of accountability.     

Do Anglo countries still form a values cluster? Evidence of the complexity of value change

To what extent does the Anglo Cluster remains a cultural cluster in today's managerial and professional workforce? Across six Anglo countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, U.K., and U.S.), we found significant differences in values orientations (openness to change, conservation, self-enhancement, and self-transcendence values) that challenge the concept of a cohesive Anglo cluster. We also explored the influence of micro-level factors on values orientations and found consistent life-stage and gender differences across countries. We conclude that, even within a group of countries perceived as similar, multi-level analyses are needed to fully capture the essence of values differences across and within countries.