Worker Cooperatives and the Business Cycle: Are Cooperatives the Answer to Unemployment?

A bstract . The effects of the business cycle on organizational founding and failure rates In the complete population of worker cooperatives in Maritime Canada from 1900 to 1987 are examined. The empirical results, consistent with findings from previous research on worker cooperatives in the United States and Israel, indicate that cooperatives evolved independently of the business cycle. The findings, interpreted within a population ecology framework, challenge the popular argument that a growing cooperative sector is the answer to the problem of unemployment.     

Least developed countries—Newly defined

The United Nations Committee for Development Planning (CDP) in its annual report 1991 has attempted to redefine and update the list of countries classified as least developed in order to give guidance to donor agencies and countries about an equitable allocation of foreign assistance. We have asked Professor Udo E. Simonis, a member of the CDP, to summarize the main findings and recommendations of that report.     

The firm under uncertainty: real and financial decisions

This paper examines the interplay between the real and financial decisions of the competitive firm under output price uncertainty. The firm faces additional sources of uncertainty that are aggregated into a background risk. We show that the firm always chooses its optimal debt–equity ratio to minimize the weighted average cost of capital, irrespective of the risk attitude of the firm and the incidence of the underlying uncertainty. We further show that the firm’s optimal input mix depends on its optimal debt–equity ratio, thereby rendering the interdependence of the real and financial decisions of the firm. When the background risk is either additive or multiplicative, we provide reasonable restrictions on the firm’s preferences so as to ensure that the firm’s optimal output is adversely affected upon the introduction of the background risk.     

Some considerations on the external public debt of LDCs

The Federal Republic of Germany, together with the United States of America, is one of the most determined opponents to the developing countries’ demand for a general debt moratorium (and also the UNCTAD integrated programme on commodities). However, the outcome of recent international conferences will not be without consequences for the actual relationship between Germany and the developing countries. At least the necessity of reconsidering possible arrangements has become clear, if a further isolation of the Federal Republic of Germany in the North-South dialogue is to be prevented.     

Human resource strategies: some ecological cracks?

This article examines conventional models of human resource management from an ecological perspective, emphasizing the dynamic interrelationship between generalist and specialist organizational forms at the level of business populations.     

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Die Aversionselastizität und ihr Einfluss auf die Portefeuilleentscheidung

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