UNDERSTANDING PER‐CAPITA INCOME GROWTH IN PREINDUSTRIAL EUROPE

In a Malthusian environment, per‐capita incomes are stagnant, meaning they cannot exhibit sustained growth. However, they can still display volatility and persistence when hit by shocks. This article simulates a Malthusian model with realistic life‐cycle structure and stochastic and accelerating growth in land productivity. We find that differences across simulated economies are quantitatively similar to those found in recently compiled data over GDP per capita for several European countries before 1800. This speaks to the relevance of the Malthusian model for understanding preindustrial development in Europe, contrasting with contentions to the contrary in some of the existing literature.     

Seasonality in macroeconomic time series

Recently, the seasonal characteristics of macroeconomic time series have drawn a lot of attention. It has been argued that the seasonal component of many macroeconomic time series constitutes a major part of the series measured as a proportion of the variance. In addition it has been found that the seasonal component of most macroeconomic time series is constant and best “explained” by seasonal dummies. Specifically it is often found that a Christmas boom is followed by a beginning of the year trough. Based on quarterly and monthly macroeconomic time series from a large number of countries this paper shows that many macroeconomic time series have seasonal components that are changing over time. Furthermore, the Christmas boom and especially the 1st quarter trough is not found nearly as often as one might expect.     

Reviews

“URBAN ECONOMIC CHANGE” Victor A. Hausner and members of the ESRC Inner Cities Research Programme, 1987: Urban Economic Change: Five City Studies. Clarendon Press, Oxford, £25.00.

“ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY” Robinson, F., Wren, C. and Goddard, J., 1987: Economic Development Policies-An Evaluative Study of the Newcastle Metropolitan Region. Oxford: Clarendon Press, £8.95 paper.

'URBAN REGENERATION ISSUES” London Strategic Policy Unit, 1987: Land for Industry: The need for industrial land in London until 1990. London: LSPU, no price stated.

Department of the Environment, 1987: Re-using Redundant Buildings: Case Studies of Good Practice in Urban Regeneration. HMSO £11.95.

Department of the Environment, 1987: Managing Workspaces: Case Studies of Good Practice in Urban Regeneration. HMSO £11.95.

Department of the Environment, 1987: Greening Crty Sites: Case Studies in Good Practice in Urban Re-generation. HMSO £11.95.

“VIEWS FROM THE DISTRICTS” Association of District Councils, 1987: A Blueprint for Urban Areas, Volumes 1 and 2. London: £12.00.

Association of District Councils, 1987: Economic Development Initiatives and Innovations: Best Practice Paper No. 6 (Revised). London: £4.00.     

Politicization and 'company-ization'—on institutional affiliation and confusion in the organizational world

The complexity of formal organizations in modern societies is explored by making reference to two institutionalized organizational types: The 'political organization' and the 'company'. These types differ to how organizational environments and inner workings are constructed. They regulate how actual organizations can be formed. But the regulation is far from perfect: many organizations contain elements from both types. Organizations are politicized and 'company-ized'. This 'institutional confusion' may arise by processes in which organizations imitate individual features of other organizations, in which they unsuccessfully try to realize one of the types or in which they adapt to changing external conditions.     

Risk Shifts Following Sarbanes‐Oxley: Influences of Disclosure and Governance

The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) aimed to improve financial reporting by enhancing corporate disclosure and governance. We find statistically significant increases, from before to after the passage of SOX, in total return variance, market risk and idiosyncratic risk. The risk increases are consistent with predictions that the legislation would cause firms to disclose more negative information, resulting in increased investment risk. However, in cross‐sectional tests, post‐SOX improvements in information certainty, board independence and monitoring are associated with smaller increases or greater decreases in risk. If SOX is responsible for these improvements, its effects are consistent with its purpose.     

Executive Compensation in UK Property Companies

We study the drivers of executive compensation in the listed UK property sector. The UK provides an excellent opportunity to analyze executive compensation due to high transparency in the different components of executive compensation. We show that company size is the most important variable in explaining the level of executive compensation. We find that absolute and relative share performance significantly explains long-term compensation, that management style has a distinct influence on the level of executive compensation, and that using alternative monitoring mechanisms (institutional shareholders, debtholders, and outside directors) leads to higher levels of long-term incentives. We find only weak evidence of pay-performance sensitivity for both cash and long-term compensation. Executive shareholdings provide a much stronger link between pay and performance than does executive compensation.

Strategische Steuerung der betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung mit Strategy Maps

Zusammenfassung  Der vorliegende Beitrag widmet sich der Steuerung und Bewertung von Ma?nahmen der betrieblichen Gesundheitsf?rderung. Gesellschaftliche Ver?nderungen wie bspw. die Globalisierung oder der demografische Wandel führen dazu, dass die Gesundheit der Mitarbeiter in vielen Bereichen zu einem Engpassfaktor der Leistungserstellung geworden ist. Eine zentrale Rolle zur gezielten unternehmerischen Beeinflussung der personellen Ressourcen eines Unternehmens und damit auch der Gesundheit der Mitarbeiter spielt das Wissen über Ursache-Wirkungsbeziehungen im Bereich der betrieblichen Gesundheitsf?rderung und deren Einfluss auf den Erfolg der Leistungserstellung. Zur gezielten Steuerung der betrieblichen Gesundheitsf?rderung wird ein Rahmenkonzept vorgestellt, das aus der Logik der Balanced Scorecard und Strategy Maps abgeleitet wird und auf Ursache-Wirkungsbeziehungen basiert.