Hierarchies and markets: An empirical test of the multidivisional hypothesis in West Germany

Whereas previous empirical studies have found performance gains from the adoption of multidivisional organization in U.S. and U.K. companies, this paper reports a reduction in profitability for German M-form firms for several years following reorganization, with no sign of an eventual positive gain. These results emerge from a cross-section analysis of 48 among the top 100 German companies. We suggest the constrasting results may flow from certain legal and institutional features, not present in the U.S. and U.K., attenuating potential gains and enlarging short-run transactions costs. These include the role of the banks, the relative concentration of shareholdings and the dual system of company boards.     

Pot of gold or winner's curse? An event study of the auctions of 3G mobile telephone licences in the UK

Commentators have suggested that the winning companies in the UK 3G mobile telephone auction overpaid for their licences. However, event‐study method using the market model under ordinary least squares (OLS), robust and structural time‐series estimation yields no systematic evidence of the ‘winner's curse’. Positive as well as negative one‐day wealth effects are observed amongst both winners and losers, and there is no lasting adverse market reaction to the winners, taken as a group. We conclude there is no case for easing the regulatory stance in the industry on grounds that the winners paid too much.     

Unions,wages and productivity: some evidence from UK engineering firms

Estimates of union wage and productivity effects are derived using primary micro-level panel data for a sample of firms in the UK engineering industry. Union wage differentials of the order of 10% are suggested from the results, whereas union productivity impacts appear to be non-linear with respect to union density.