Integration of U.S. Macroeconomic Accounts: A Progress Report

This article reviews the results of this joint agency effort to provide complete and integrated U.S. accounts. It discusses the new data prepared as a result of this effort and the proposed work plan to eliminate some of the major differences within the U.S. accounts and between the U.S. accounts and the new international guidelines.JEL Classification E010     

Modelling Regional House Prices in the UK

Maximum likelihood cointegration methods are used to analyse the determinants of house prices in each of the eleven regions of the UK. Broad similarities in the structure of house price equations are found across regions in England and Wales (but not Scotland or Northern Ireland), indicating that the source of differences in English and Welsh regional house prices should probably be sought in different regional incomes, opportunity costs, and housing starts. Tests of spatial dependence in regional house prices cast doubt on the well-known 'ripple effect' hypothesis.     

Instructional telecommunications in Alaska

In May 1979, the Alaska State Legislature passed Senate Concurrent Resolution No 35 which directed the Legislative Council to conduct a feasibility study relating to educational television. This resolution was another major step in the efforts by the State of Alaska during the past decade to bring a wide range of educational and social services to its people, especially the 60 000 people that lie scattered across the state in some 258 small communities ranging in population from 25 to 3 000.     

Fish farming in Europe: Commercial and political dimensions

The author argues that, because of considerable scope for increased production efficiency, farmed fish will provide strong competition for caught fish, and eventually for animal protein from land agriculture. Demand response will be tempered by low price elasticities, while certain other factors (such as the wider choice offered by the growing range of farmed fish species) will stimulate consumption. In all countries, governments have a role to play-eg undertaking basic biological research. This role for government, together with the challenge presented by fish farming to its competitors, explains why politics will be important in determining the rate at which the new industry will expand.     

International joint ventures in the United States: An examination of factors related to their effectiveness

The increasing popularity of international joint ventures (IJVs) and their high failure rate prompted this examination of pre- and postincorporation factors related to IJV effectiveness. Interviews with IJV CEOs, and the findings from a questionnaire administered to CEOs of 81 IJVs in the United States, suggest which pre- and postincorporation factors can be important to IJVs' effectiveness. Why these factors are important, and how they interact with other factors in the general context of IJV experiences are also explored in this article. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Hotel executive microcomputer use in the United States

With the advent of the microcomputer revolution in the United States, the lodging industry is taking advantage of the new technology. Computerized property management systems for small properties are available at reasonable cost using microcomputers. Both large hotel corporation applications of microcomputers and individual property uses are given. Models for management use of electronic spreadsheet programs for budgeting as well as financial and operational control are shown. The examples use VisiCalc and Lotus 1–2–3. Management training for microcomputer use by the large hotel corporations is also examined. The new technology will hasten the computerization of the lodging industry.     

Dimensions of Performance Effectiveness In High-Involvement Work Organisations

Sharon Parker, Sean Mullarkely and Paul Jackson, who are researchers in the MRC/ESRC Social and Applied Pyschology Unit at the University of Sheffield, draw on detailed case study evidence to consider the substantial changes to the shop floor roles entailed in high involvement work organisations. They argue that specification of the performance requirements of such roles will facilitate employees taking on appropriate behaviours, reduce role confusion, and enable consistency in human resource practices. They discuss the use of repertory grids to explore the models of effective performance held by production managers and derive nine critical dimensions of shop floor employee performance from the analysis. These contain specific behavioural examples and are grouped around four higher-order dimensions: ‘process ownership’, ‘social skills’, ‘personal style’, and loss prevention’. These dimensions form the basis of a broader specification of the skills, knowledge and general orientations required by shopfloor employees in high involvement roles.