Rural–Urban Impacts of CAP Measures in Greece: An Inter‐regional SAM Approach

This paper evaluates the inter‐regional impacts of CAP measures implemented in the rural town of Archanes (Crete, Greece), an area which received considerable EU Agricultural Guarantee and rural development funds during the 1990s. A hybrid, three‐area Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) with three groups of households defined by income level is constructed to describe inter‐linkages between three rural–urban localities, namely the rural area of Archanes, the less‐developed, agriculturally dependent, neighbouring rural area of N. Kazantzakis, and the adjacent urban centre of Heraklion. Results are reported on the diffusion patterns of economic impacts generated by three types of CAP measure: farm income support; aids to increased agricultural productivity; aids to economic diversification. These show that the diffusion of policy‐induced economic impacts from Archanes is lower than might be expected for a small open local economy, and that benefits leak primarily to Heraklion and marginally to rural N. Kazantzakis. Finally, generated income benefits seem to accrue mostly in favour of high‐income households, especially in the case of Guarantee subsidies.     

Loan sales, implicit contracts, and bank structure

We document some recent changes in the market for loan sales. We then test the main implications of several prevailing theories, using a Tobit model to relate loan sales and purchases to bank size, capital, risk, and funding mode. The results, though not definitive, broadly confirm the Pennacchi funding cost model of sales. Other data cast doubt on the importance of mergers and acquisitions for this market and on the comparability of different data sources.     

On the Fairness Literature: Comment

We offer a guide to the recent literature on the problem of fair allocation, and we present various concepts that have been developed in this literature and the various economic environments in the context of which they have been analyzed.     

On the existence of consistent rules to adjudicate conflicting claims: a constructive geometric approach

For the problem of adjudicating conflicting claims, a rule is consistent if the choice it makes for each problem is always in agreement with the choice it makes for each “reduced problem” obtained by imagining that some claimants leave with their awards and reassessing the situation from the viewpoint of the remaining claimants. We develop a general technique to determine whether a given two-claimant rule admits a consistent extension to general populations, and to identify this extension if it exists. We apply the technique to a succession of examples. I gratefully acknowledge support from NSF under grant SBR-9731431 and SES 0214691, and the comments of Carmen Bevia, Rodrigo Velez, Chun-Hsien Yeh, and a referee.     

Children Crying at Birthday Parties. Why?

We consider the problem of dividing a non-homogeneous one-dimensional continuum whose endpoints are topologically identified. Examples are the division of a birthday cake, the partition of a circular market, the assignment of sentry duty or medical call. We study the existence of rules satisfying requirements of efficiency, fairness (no-envy), and immunity to misrepresentation of preferences (strategy-proofness). This work, supported by NSF under grant SES. 0214691, was presented at Laval University, at the May 2004 Israeli-Turkish Conference on Economic Design at Bilgi University, at the July 2004 Meeting of the Society for Economic Design at the University of Mallorca, and at the July 2004 Seventh International Meeting of the Society for Social Choice and Welfare at Osaka University. I thank Julius Barbanel, Steven Brams, Youngsub Chun, Bettina Klaus, Toyotaka Sakai, and Chun-Hsien Yeh for their comments.     

A retrospective and prospective analysis of HRM research in Chinese firms: Implications and directions for future study

Based on an extensive review and analysis of 182 articles published in the field of human resource management that focus on China since its economic reform, this article discusses the major reasons for the growth in this area of research. We identify five major categories spanning research and practice, ownership type, and research method. Further, we examine issues and deficiencies in the research literature. Based on our analysis of each research category, we present a substantial series of research questions and implications for future research on HRM in China. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Applying a Universal Content and Structure of Values in Construction Management

There has recently been a reappraisal of value in UK construction and calls from a wide range of influential individuals, professional institutions and government bodies for the industry to exceed stakeholders’ expectations and develop integrated teams that can deliver world class products and services. As such value is certainly topical, but the importance of values as a separate but related concept is less well understood. Most construction firms have well-defined and well-articulated values, expressed in annual reports and on websites; however, the lack of rigorous and structured approaches published within construction management research and the practical, unsupported advice on construction institution websites may indicate a shortfall in the approaches used. This article reviews and compares the content and␣structure of some of the most widely used values approaches, and discusses their application within the construction sector. One of the most advanced and empirically tested theories of human values is appraised, and subsequently adopted as a suitable approach to eliciting and defining shared organisational values. Three studies within six construction organisations demonstrate the potential application of this individually grounded approach to reveal and align the relative values priorities of individuals and organisations to understand the strength of their similarity and difference. The results of these case studies show that this new universal values structure can be used along with more qualitative elicitation techniques to understand organisational cultures.     

Resources,household decision making and organisation of labour in food production among small-scale farmers in southern Zambia

This article examines the production context of small-scale farm households in the Choma District in southern Zambia. Factors associated with differential access to production assets among the households are analysed. In addition to this, patterns of household decision making and the social organisation of labour in agricultural production are documented. The study findings show that farm size, a proxy for wealth or social status, accounted for significant differences in the level of ownership and access to production assets. The study also highlights the importance of labour and livestock in the production strategies of small-scale farmers. The data from this study on decision making and the social organisation of labour confirm the importance of gender roles in agricultural production.     

Recognition versus Disclosure: An Investigation of the Impact on Equity Risk Using UK Operating Lease Disclosures

This study examines the equivalency of accounting recognition versus disclosure. OLS regression analysis is used to determine whether there is an association between equity risk and an adjustment to financial risk for off-balance sheet operating leases. Two methods of adjustment are considered: constructive capitalisation and a simple factor method. The observation of a reliably positive association suggests that UK investors/analysts view operating leases from a property rights perspective rather than an ownership perspective. This supports the argument for recognition of all lease rights and obligations 'on-balance sheet', as proposed in the recent G4+1 discussion paper ASB (1999).