Filling the Empty Shell. The Public Debate on CSR in Austria as a Paradigmatic Example of a Political Discourse

Instead of essentializing and defining what CSR “is”, we analyze CSR as a political discourse in which different actors struggle to fill the empty shell of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with a legitimate interpretation. In this paper we take the current debate on CSR in Austria as an example to demonstrate how this debate is shaped by changes in the greater socio-economic environment. We suggest that this debate might be paradigmatic for the development of CSR in the European/International context. We argue that the debate and the political moves concerning an implicit or an explicit concept of CSR are rooted in a more fundamental question: the societal (re-)embedding or disembedding of companies.     

EU enlargement and governance of the Common Agricultural Policy

The requirements for the implementation, administration and control of the application of the current CAP are much higher than they were 15 years ago. The governance problems caused in the present EU by today’s higher regulation density are already severe. The new member countries are even less well equipped than the present ones to deal with these problems. What political consequences should be drawn?     

Sortimentsmanagement in der Fashion-Branche — Was in zweistufigen Systemen von vertikal integrierten Unternehmen zu lernen ist

Das Sortimentsmanagement weist in der Fashion-Branche eine von anderen Konsumgüterbranchen abweichende Bedeutung auf. Der Artikel verdeutlicht die Eckpunkte vertikaler Sortimentssteuerung und formuliert daraus Anforderungen an Handel und Industrie in zweistufigen, klassischen Systemen, wobei für eine st?rkere schnittstellenübergreifende Vernetzung bei der Sortimentsbestimmung auf den Handelsfl?chen, im Einkauf des Handels bzw. im Verkauf der Industrie und bei der Steuerung der Best?nde pl?diert wird.     

Controlling-Schwerpunkte prozessorientierter Unternehmen

Zur Beurteilung von Prozessen werden von Unternehmen unterschiedliche Kriterien herangezogen. Die beschriebene Untersuchung zeigt u.a., dass die Kundenzufriedenheit am h?ufigsten als Beurteilungskriterium verwendet wird. Oft gebraucht werden auch Prozesskosten und die Prozesszeit.     

Economic implications of better information in a dynamic framework

Summary. We consider an OLG model with accumulation in human capital and analyze the economic implications of information about individual skills. Agents in each period differ by the random innate ability assigned to each individual. When young, all agents are screened for their abilities and this screening process (signal) constitutes a public information which is used in choosing the level of private investment in education. We demonstrate that in the presence of risk sharing markets better information may be harmful for all in equilibrium, and find conditions under which better information either enhances growth or reduces growth.Received: 8 September 2003, Revised: 3 March 2004, JEL Classification Numbers: D80, J24.Correspondence to: Bernhard EckwertWe are pleased to acknowledge the useful comments and suggestions of R. Benabou, Z. Eckstein, E. Helpman, B. Ravikumar and D. Tsiddon. Also, special thanks are given to two anonymous referees. This research was supported by a Grant from G.I.F., the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development.     

„Infotainment“ in der Presse

This paper answers, by means of a content analysis of three regional daily papers, the question of whether political journalism in regional newspapers is more entertaining today than it was in 1980. On the level of articles, increased entertainment can consist of using specific design elements. On the thematic level, topics that are entertaining per se (e. g. human interest topics) can take the place of or occur in addition to political information. In all the papers that were examined, political articles possess a larger potential for entertainment today than they did in 1980. Additionally, the percentage of political information has decreased, while the number of articles on human interest topics has increased. Finally, this paper discusses how that result is to be evaluated from the point of view of the theory of democracy: “Infotainment” can be beneficial in some circumstances. Therefore, entertainment should not be disparaged in general; one needs to be careful when assessing it normatively.     

Gestaltung von Monatsberichten in deutschen Großunternehmen

Ohne Zusammenfassung Dr. Anne Paefgen war Doktorandin und wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Lehrstuhl für Controlling und Telekommunikation von Prof. Dr.Dr.h.c. Dr. Sven Schaier ist Mitarbeiter im Department of Professional Practice Audit & Accounting, der fachlichen Grundsatzabteilung der KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft.     

Migration in the world economy of 1870–1914

The period form 1870 to the First World War was a period in which the international movement of people was less restricted than in any other period of modern times. Large income differential led to large and sustained rates of migration from resource-poor to resource-rich countries. High rates of natural population growth and a respective increase in population-related costs enforced this migration to an extent never seen before or thereafter. In addition, migration was strengthened by large decreases in transportation costs. During the first four decades of this period, transportation costs decreased to one sixth, but then rose substantially in the course of World War I.