Local authorities and the expansion of credit unions, 1991-93

This paper outlines the contribution made by metropolitan authorities to the establishment of credit unions. It reviews the reasons for establishing credit unions, the assistance provided to them, the problems faced in setting them up and the changes required to make credit unions more effective instruments of community regeneration.     

The Alien Past: Consumer Culture in Historical Perspective

The profound transformations in everyday life that have accompanied the advent of a global consumer culture have rendered the past as alien; our own ancestors occupied a realm as foreign as those we encounter when we travel. As virtually everything has become a commodity, modern values – labor-saving, convenience, cleanliness, fashion, and newness itself – have become primary considerations for purchasing. Those values were transmitted in the initial advertising for mass-produced consumer goods. They contributed to the altered relationships with our bodies and with the material world that accompanied the shift from production-driven to consumption-driven cultures. Historicizing these issues – understanding and embracing the concept of change over time – fosters the development of a critical perspective. That perspective is intrinsically complicated, since describing change in these arenas requires acknowledging that new ways have always coexisted with old.     

THE UNDERPINNINGS OF COUNTRY RISK ASSESSMENT

Abstract.  This paper surveys the history and current status of country risk assessment. The motivation is to understand why it is that country risk assessors have such a poor track record in anticipating the onset of financial crises. The development of the field reflects changes in the composition of international capital flows. These changes have confounded a definition of country risk, especially if a definition is centered on a particular event. It is then argued that the field has reached an impasse, and this impasse is related to the methods of abstraction and the current crisis of vision within the science of economics. This crisis of vision, as it pertains to theories of financial crises, has led to increased reliance on quantitative methods in the field of country risk. The paper concludes by proposing a new direction for the field, the first step towards which is to recognize that the object of country risk assessment is not to monitor for a particular event or symptom of financial crisis, but, rather, to monitor for a particular state of the economy.     

Sports sponsorship perceptions: An exploration

This study examines how consumers perceive sports sponsorship by a financial services organisation. Current literature provides information on the advantages and objectives of sponsorship to an organisation. However, it is evident that there is little on how consumers react to sponsorship and in particular how the differences in brand and event involvement (EI) affect response. Data was collected from two audiences of a sponsored sports event, those who attended the game and those who did not. The research findings indicate that, in the context of sponsorship activity, brand involvement is a direct positive influence on brand attractiveness and brand meaningfulness. This study also shows that EI has a direct negative influence on brand trustworthiness. Those who were classed as involved spectators considered the brand to be less trustworthy. Limitations of the study include the economic environment, type of research method and sample size. Areas of further research are recommended.     

Editor's introduction: Distributional consequences of emerging technologies

Emerging technologies have a great potential to exacerbate inequalities. The papers in this special section represent case studies of the ways five different technologies interacted with particular national contexts to produce distributional effects. A central hypothesis of the study was that the same technological project would have different distributional consequences under different national conditions; this was confirmed. Public interventions shaped the trajectories of the technological project through intellectual property and anti-trust provisions as well as regulations, much more than through the research agenda itself. These technologies were not associated with large gains or losses in jobs, but rather with modest shifts downward in numbers and upwards in skill requirements. Price was not the only determinant of how far the technologies diffused; skills and infrastructure were also important. In sum, distributional consequences take many forms. “Diffusion” consists of both push and pull, need and absorptive capacity. The relevant decision makers are in both the public and private sectors, and a broad range of policies affects this process, not just science, technology, and innovation policies. There are many options for public intervention, but no one size fits all countries.¹     

Nurturing nursing's future through nurse executive partnerships

At a time when nurses are becoming an endangered species, nurse executives have a unique opportunity to respond by forging new and responsive relationships with graduate students who express interest in nursing administration and leadership as a preferred career choice. In this article, a case example demonstrates how a senior faculty member and a graduate student formed a partnership, conducted research, and nurtured an appreciation of the nurse educator role. Using this experience, senior nurse executives can too form partnerships with graduate students as a way to recruit into nursing leadership roles.     

Preventing premature death: tobacco treatment services for employees

This article presents a summary of current information concerning the health and financial costs of workplace smoking, with special emphasis on the costs to union workers and multiemployer health and welfare funds. It describes the potential savings from investing in tobacco cessation for workers and members, provides an overview of scientific evidence concerning the efficacy of different approaches to tobacco cessation, including behavioral services and medications, and discusses some of the benefit design and management issues involved in offering tobacco cessation services to employees and members.     

An economic analysis of patient simulators clinical training in nursing education

Patient simulators have become widely used in medical education including increasing use in nursing education. Research suggests their usefulness in developing nursing competence. Little research to date, however, has examined the financial feasibility of the use of patient simulators as an educational tool. The extent to which a simulation lab comprising six Laerdal SimMan high-fidelity patient simulators and a staff of nurse educators is a financially feasible alternative to classroom-based education is examined.