Performance appraisal and culture: practice and attitudes in Hong Kong and Great Britain

This article compares the practice of and attitudes towards performance appraisal for managerial and professional staff in Hong Kong and Britain, and considers the extent to which actual practice and employee preferences are in alignment. Findings suggest that appraisal may be more widespread in Hong Kong than in Britain. However, British appraisal tends to be more participative and to place greater emphasis on discussing objectives, development and career plans. Hong Kong appraisals appear to be more directive and Hong Kong respondents perceive a higher level of 'negative' appraiser behaviour. In spite of this, Hong Kong respondents show if anything slightly more confidence in the utility of appraisal than do British respondents. They show stronger support for appraisal's use for reward and punishment and less support for the objectives-setting and training and development uses than do the British sample. Hong Kong respondents are more likely than their British counterparts to favour involving a more senior manager in appraisal, and they are less likely to prefer more frequent appraisals. There was little evidence that Hong Kong respondents had a stronger preference for group-based appraisal criteria, although they did show more support than the British sample for the use of personality as a basis for appraisal. Overall, the suggestion is that appraisal has been adopted in Hong Kong organizations but that the practice of appraisal has been adapted to suit the cultural characteristics of the society.     

Labor skills and factor proportions trade in the gulf cooperation council

A new measure of factor intensity and abundance from trade theory is utilized to predict potential trade and income redistribution between traditional and modern economies in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Differences in labor skill intensity and abundance suggest there will be substantial trade between the modern (Bahrain, Qatar, UAE) and traditional (Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia) economies in the GCC. Due to the limited data, the UAE and Kuwait are taken to represent the modern and traditional economies.     

Process Versus Product Innovation: Do Consumption Data Contain Any Information?

In a model of endogenous growth in which product and process innovations are the joint outputs of an unspecified research program, we show that if quality growth is not captured by official price indices the usual isomorphism of product and process innovations breaks down. We derive and estimate a Euler equation for a representative consumer under the assumption of measurement error. Unobserved quality improvements account for at least half of growth, and real productivity growth in postwar United States was two to five times greater than measured total factor productivity (TFP) growth. We also find that at least 15% of the measured slowdown in TFP growth can be attributed to unobserved increases in the relative importance of product innovations.     

An Overview of Normal Theory Structural Measurement Error Models

This paper gives an introduction and overview to the often under‐used measurement error model. The purpose is to provide a simple summary of problems that arise from measurement error and of the solutions that have been proposed. We start by describing how measurement error models occur in real‐world situations. Then we proceed with defining the measurement error model, initially introducing the multivariate form of the model, and then, starting with the simplest form of the model thoroughly discuss its features and solutions to the problems introduced due to measurement error. We discuss higher‐dimensional and more advanced forms of the model and give a brief numerical illustration.     

Worker Cooperatives in the Theory of the Firm: Marx and Veblen on Technological Determinism

This article contends that, in their treatments of worker cooperatives, the predominant theories of the firm adhere to the logic of technological determinism, and can accordingly be evaluated using the ideas of Thorstein Veblen and Karl Marx. Invoking these patriarchs’ respective distinctions between instrumental and ceremonial institutions and between the technical and social relations of production, the article argues that, contrary to contemporary theories of the firm, worker cooperatives possess an inherent but often latent advantage in implementing bureaucratic organizational structures, enjoying their instrumental/technical benefits for technology and coordination without incurring their ceremonial/social drawbacks for behavior and cooperation.     

Do Codes Make a Difference? The Case of Bank Lending and the Environment

Codes of conduct are a conspicuous feature of modern business organization, but doubts have been raised regarding their efficacy in ensuring high standards of behavior. Although some of the issues involved have been discussed at some length in the business ethics literature, the amount of systematic empirical evidence on the impact of codes is very limited. This paper seeks to make a contribution to that body of knowledge by studying the policies and procedures of a sample of banks which have signed a statement on banking and the environment promulgated by the United Nations Development Programme. Although some differences are found when compared with a sample of banks which did not sign the Statement, they are not extensive. The implications of the findings, for codes of conduct and for future empirical studies, are then discussed.     

保持现金的流动——管理系统透视

经济衰退时期经常会出现变化.许多人发现自己没有了工作,或者工作的时间与收入相继减少.人们力图使收支相抵以避免入不敷出,他们正竭尽全力以小博大.     

The Survival Rate of Defined-Benefit Plans, 1987-1995

We look at the survival rate of defined-benefit pension plans with at least 500 participants over the period 1987–1995. We find that termination in favor of defined-contribution plans is a rare event and that the vast majority of these plans survive, albeit often under a different plan sponsor or in a new merged plan. Indeed, the frequency of mergers is an important feature in the pension market and partially explains the growing number of large defined-benefit plans.     

Rate structures in nuclear and non-nuclear US electric utility jurisdictions

This study investigates whether the structure of customer rates for US electric utilities with nuclear power generation is significantly different from the rate structure of non-nuclear utilities. Using previous estimates of the marginal costs of generation by nuclear and fossil-fuel plants, and of transmission and distribution, tests are made to determine if pricing practices are similar in nuclear and non-nuclear jurisdictions. The results show that the rate structure for the nuclear utilities is inefficient, with industrial rates significantly higher than first-best or second-best pricing criteria allow, whereas the rates for non-nuclear utilities are second-best efficient, with a slight favouritism toward the industrial class.