Profit-Sharing in OECD Countries: a Review and Some Evidence

This article starts by describing the extent of profit-sharing schemes in OECD countries. It suggests that firms have increasingly introduced profit-sharing schemes not only because of the tax breaks they involve, but also because of accumulating information on the link between profit-sharing and productivity. It concludes with a summary of new research among UK manufacturing companies, which shows a productivity improvement of about 6% in cases where profit-sharing bonuses were of order 5–10% of market wages.     

Formal versus informal knowledge networks in R&D: a case study using social network analysis

The existence of informal social networks within organizations has long been recognized as important and the unique working relationships among scientific and technical personnel have been well documented by both academics and practitioners. The growing interest in knowledge management practices has led to increased attention being paid to social network analysis as a tool for mapping the nature and membership of informal networks. However, despite the knowledge-intensive nature of research and development (R&D) activities, social network analyses of the R&D function remain relatively rare. This paper discusses the role of informal networks in the development, exchange and dissemination of knowledge within the R&D function. A case study using social network analysis is used to compare and contrast formal and informal knowledge networks within ICI. Marked differences between the informal organization and ICI's formal structures for knowledge exchange are revealed and a series of insights into the working habits of technical staff are presented. The implications for managers are clear: through a better understanding of the informal organization of R&D staff, they can more successfully capture and exploit new ideas; more efficiently disseminate information throughout the function; and more effectively understand the working habits and activities of employees.     

How Corporate Parents Add Value to The Stand-Alone Performance of Their Businesses

Corporate parents have the potential to add value to their businesses through their influence on the stand-alone performance of the businesses, but for a variety of reasons, including what we call the 10% versus 100% paradox, they more often destroy value instead. This article examines four companies, Dover, BTR, Emerson and RTZ, which succeed in creating value through stand-alone parenting influence, and draws out the conditions necessary to do so. These are that (1) there should be a genuine parenting opportunity to improve the performance of the business, (2) the parent should have skills, management processes, and other characteristics that are suitable for realising the opportunity, and (3) the parent should have sufficient feel for the critical success factors in the business to avoid inadvertently destroying value through inappropriate influences.     

增设“诺贝尔管理学奖”的可行性

从最狭隘的意义上来说,答案是肯定的。诺贝尔当初指定了5个奖项物理、化学、生理和医学、文学和和平奖。但在1968年,瑞典央行设立了新的经济学奖,为增设诺贝尔奖开创了先河。而且设立管理学奖也将是对诺贝尔自己在创新、企业家精神和创业方面的才能的一种认可。诺贝尔的遗嘱明确表示,奖项必须“授予那些……对人类做出重大贡献的人”。     

THE EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF FISCAL ILLUSION

Abstract. This paper examines the empirical analysis of the five main hypotheses subsumed under the generic term fiscal illusion. After placing these hypotheses within a common theoretical framework, the paper attempts to evaluate empirical research into the revenue-complexity hypothesis, the revenue-elasticity hypothesis, the flypaper effect, renter illusion, and debt illusion.     

Shortages and economic policy

In this paper, we use an input-output framework to model an economy experiencing a shortage of a primary product or intermediate good. We show that when a shortage is combined with factor price rigidities, the reduction in consumption and employment will be larger than is necessary. In such cases, there is a need for government intervention, to manage the shortage and make the best of a bad situation. We show that the impact of a shortage can be ameliorated by changes in the composition of output, brought about by direct allocation of the scarce input or by differential sales taxes. The traditional instruments of monetary and fiscal policy are shown to be of little use in dealing with shortages.     

Getting Feedback on Defined Contribution Pension Plans

With the growth of private and public defined contribution (DC) pension plans around the world, market rates of return should increasingly play a large role in the retirement patterns of individuals. The reverse could, however, also be true—i.e., a country's population demographics could influence the financial markets. In this article, we model the potential impact of aggregate retirement patterns on macroeconomic variables with the goal of further understanding the implications of a traditional DC pension becoming the predominant source of retirement income for an entire society. We find that the economic-system feedback dampens fluctuations in the size of the working population.