Valuing Internet Business

Is there a bubble in internet stock prices, has the new economy changed the rules of stock valuation? In this article, the authors argue that the old rules still apply. The only way to test the reasonableness of new economy stock prices is to model the company's ability to generate cash in the future. This analysis also allows the development of a view about the performance that would be needed to justify current valuations. The analysis suggests that many internet valuations are stretched. Investors are focused on growth prospects for the firms, but realistic analysis about future profitability has been neglected in what will be an increasingly competitive world. Further, investors' assumptions that the new economy businesses will not require assets are unrealistic in many cases. Finally, because some new economy stocks are overvalued, there is a risk of misdirection of productive resources.     

Honesty in negotiation

It is often suggested that deceptive behaviour in negotiation is ethical. A number of academic writers have put that view, and several have even suggested that a contrary approach is naÝve. Writers argue either that deceptive behaviour is generally expected or else that such behaviour is necessary to enable us to guard ourselves against exploitation. But in fact participants in the negotiating process differ in what they expect, and we can be careful without being deceptive. That is how we ought to proceed, if we want to treat others as responsible decision-makers. Our obligations in business negotiation are the same as elsewhere. Business is not a distinct game with defined rules, like poker. Neither 'business' nor 'negotiation' are by their nature set apart from other situations. The behaviour which is appropriate in negotiation depends on the circumstances. As in other situations, we have an obligation to pay attention to others to ascertain their actual expectations and intentions, and then act accordingly.     

Single versus multiple channel strategies: typologies and drivers

Companies across every industry are increasingly relying on multiple channels to make their services available to consumers. Despite the popularity of multiple channel strategies, little is known about these distribution structures. In fact, the determinants of multiple channel strategies have remained virtually unexplored. The purpose of this article is to look at various approaches to classifying single versus multiple channel strategies, to look at some of the drivers of multichannel usage and to propose a new classification of single/multiple channels. Using data from the retail financial services sector, the article demonstrates that research into the drivers of multi-channels is sensitive to the classification used.     

Dominion or Republic? Migrants to North America from the United Kingdom, 1870–1910

Late nineteenth–century Canada attracted a large number of immigrants from the UK, despite far lower average income per head there than in the US. While urban labour markets in the northern US were much larger than those in Canada, differences in outcomes between UK immigrants in Canadian and in northern US cities were small. Average annual real earnings by occupation group were only 10 to 15 per cent lower in Canadian cities. Individual–level census data indicate that the occupational distribution of UK immigrants in Canada was quite similar to that of their peers in the US.     

Switching to the policy mode: Incentives by the OECD jobs study to change our mindset

I would like to thank Simon Kuipers and Joan Muysken for their critical comments on an earlier draft of the article.     

Old Wine in a New Bottle: Growth Convergence Dynamics in the EU

In this paper, we explore convergence of real per capita output across the European Union (EU) countries, as well as the transitional behavior of possible underlying factors that are responsible for any convergence or divergence pattern. The new panel convergence methodology developed by Phillips and Sul (2007) is employed in a production function growth accounting approach and data from the Total Economy Database and the Total Economy Growth Accounting Database. The empirical findings suggest that the EU countries form two distinct convergent clubs, exhibiting considerable heterogeneity in the underlying growth factors. These findings should help policy makers in designing appropriate growth-oriented programs as well as in setting priorities in their implementation.