Book briefs

Food policy: Integrating supply, distribution and consumption, EDI series in economic development, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 1987

Food poverty and consumption patterns in Kenya, International Labour Office, Geneva, 1986     

Who is she and who are we? A reflexive journey in research into the rarity of women in the highest ranks of accountancy

This paper proposes a reflexive examination of research into the rarity of women at the highest hierarchical levels of accountancy, with the aim of contributing to the transformation of gendered structures of domination.We practice reflexivity in two ways. First, we provide an analysis of the relationships between research objects, research design, and the implications of research findings, based on a sample of papers dealing with the rarity of women at the highest levels of accountancy. We show that self-proclaimed “neutral” research that rejects any form of prediction is adopting an illusory position which is detrimental to the situation of women. We also point out the risks associated with taking a subjective stance, which can be involuntarily detrimental to the cause it intends to serve.Second, we draw on our various experiences at conferences. We show that our intention to transform the structures of domination has led us to adapt our own discourses, seeking to convince reluctant audiences by adopting a pragmatic style. We also discuss how conferences have shaped our research choices and interests, while making us aware of our own potential tendency towards universalism and a biased standpoint as Western scholars.     

Dirty work and the construction of identity. An ethnographic study of management accounting practices

This paper examines the processes by which identity work influences accounting and organisational practices. Analysing ethnographic material, we study how accountants engage in a struggle for recognition in a context where tensions emerge from the confrontation between idealised occupational aspirations and situated possibilities. To theorise this struggle we draw on Everett Hughes’s conceptualisation of a moral division of labour. Building on his concept of “dirty work”, we differentiate between the “unclean” and the “polluted”. Accountants have to perform tasks that are incompatible with the aspirational identities they claim; more than “boring”, these tasks become symbols of misrecognition. We call these unclean tasks. Yet even tasks that, in a more favourable context, would be associated with prestigious aspects of the job, can become degrading in specific situations. We call them polluted work. We highlight how trying to comply with a positively-anticipated role transition can help avoid unclean work yet generate more polluted work. Our analysis suggests that paying greater attention to symbolic differentiations between prestigious and shameful aspects of work can improve our understanding of accounting, identity work and organisational practices.     

New Approaches in Reward: Their Relevance to the Public Sector

Relationships between the NHS and social care services over the Past 25 years have a poor history. This article examines the strategies that have been used by central government and by local NHS and social care organizations to overcome difficulties of service co-ordination. The authors conclude that policies reflecting ‘networked’ modes of governance may stand the best chance of success, although evidence of improved impact and outcomes still remains scarce.     

Delivering Flexibility: Contrasting Patterns in the French and the UK Food Processing Industry

This article provides a comparative analysis of changes in numerical and functional labour flexibility in the French and the UK food processing industry. Based upon case study data, it explores the interaction between competitive pressures and institutional and regulatory structures and their impact on workplace practices. The findings indicate that, faced with a similar competitive environment, firms in both countries have sought to increase labour flexibility. However, the predominant forms of flexibility vary across the two countries, partly reflecting the characteristics of national labour market institutions. Numerical flexibility dominates in the UK, with high levels of paid overtime and temporary agency work. In contrast, French workplaces rely more on internal functional flexibility while also achieving numerical flexibility through seasonal variations in work schedules and a wide range of short‐term employment contracts.     

Antitrust Policy: The Impact of Revenue Penalties on Price

The paper examines the impact on a firm’s price when it faces the possibility of an antitrust investigation and associated potential revenue penalty. As well as presenting a general model of antitrust intervention, an illustrative example reflecting the provisions of the 1998 UK Competition Act is offered, the example being developed to explore the implications of the probability of antitrust intervention and punishment increasing non-linearly as a firm’s profit rises.     

European gas imports from North Africa

The uprising and military confrontation in Libya that began in February 2011 has led to a disruption of the country’s gas exports to Europe. An analysis of how Europe has compensated for these missing gas volumes shows that the disruption has not affected security of supply. However, this situation would change if the North African uprising were to spread to Algeria.     

An empirical test of the inequality trap concept

The paper uses a GMM estimation to prove the impact of equity on inequality persistence which suggests the presence of inequality trap, and underline the significant influence of the credit market, wealth and education access initial levels.     

How algorithmic cultural recommendation influence the marketing of cultural collections

Museums make their collections available online to keep pace with developments in how people access and share information. While museums have traditionally understood the notion of public access as part of their institutional remit, in this paper I draw on policy documents and qualitative interviews with Australasian cultural professionals, to examine how the discourse of access might account for the museum’s transformation from a community space to a resource that is beneficial to marketers. I use Google Arts & Culture as a case study, to suggest the terms of public access have altered to adapt to the needs of commercial “digital enclosures.” When people engage with the museum in virtual spaces data are collected. Algorithms work as a set of instructions that make it possible to search, sort and organise the data, linking together people and their online practices in order to enact a form of algorithmic cultural recommendation.