Static profitability as a measure of deviations from the competitive norm

Recently, several industrial-organization economists have claimed that the rate of return on sales (II/S) is superior to the rate or return on assets (II/K) as a measure of monopoly power. This paper argues that there is no reason to prefer one index over the other. To make the point, an oligopoly model of optimizing agents is derived that yields II/K as a performance measure. The derivation leads to natural interpretations of the two indices and therefore to clarification of the circumstances under which each might be preferred.     

Associations between workers' health,and non-standard hours and insecurity: the case of home care workers in Ontario,Canada

This article examines associations between home care workers' health, and non-standard hours and insecurity. Health refers to symptoms of stress and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), non-standard hours refer to part-time and casual hours, and insecurity refers to job and employability insecurity. Data come from our 2002 survey of 532 home care workers (nurses, therapists and personal support workers) in a medium-sized city in Ontario, Canada. Path analysis regression results for the conceptual model show that (1) part-time and casual hours and job insecurity are positively and significantly associated with symptoms of stress, (2) the associations between part-time and casual hours and MSDs are mediated by symptoms of stress, and (3) job and employability insecurity are directly associated with MSDs. Results provide evidence that non-standard hours and insecurity must be addressed in order to improve home care workers' health. We show the detrimental effects of non-standard hours and insecurity on workers' health, and the results have implications for employers, human resource managers, trade unionists and government policy-makers.     

mortgage interest tax relief reform

Mortgage interest tax relief is unjustified, say Professor Roy Wilkinson, of the Sheffield University School of Management, and Margaret Wilkinson. They argue that it should be phased out.     

Constructing trident, reinforcing the network

This paper draws upon the traditions of social construction of technology and actol-net work theory, in an attempt to show that just as these approaches have been used to expose the contingent nature of 'technical' change, they can also be adapted to show the contingency of the 'social' aspects of technology, such as redundancy and technological unemployment, which have in recent years assumed an almost unassailable sense of inevitability. This process is begun when technology is viewed as a social network. Then focusing on the production phase in the life cycle of a technical system, it is argued here that the,jettisoning of both people and technical resources from the network may get presented as part of technology's 'natural' trajectoly, but is often part of the (socio-technical) 'heterogenous engineering' necessary for the stabilization of that technology. and consequently need not be seen as inevitable.     

The role of firm characteristics in pharmaceutical product launches

I examine the determinants of new pharmaceutical launches since 1980 in G7 nations. Both market and firm characteristics, and their interaction, are important in explaining entry. New drugs are 1.5 times more likely to be launched in markets that share a border or a language of a drug company's country of headquarters. The effect of competition depends on the characteristics of both the potential entrant and incumbents: domestic entrants prefer to compete with domestic incumbents. Despite the potential for licensing and low transportation costs, the match between the innovating firm and market conditions remains an important determinant of entry.