La importancia del empleo para reactivar el crecimiento y reducir la desigualdad

La crisis económica mundial ha frenado el crecimiento y aún más la creación de empleo. El deterioro de las condiciones de trabajo exacerba la tendencia a la desigualdad. El crecimiento sin empleo obstaculiza el crecimiento de la producción debido a una peor distribución del ingreso. Los salarios son costos para la oferta, pero también ingresos que sostienen la demanda; el crecimiento impulsado por los salarios es pues complementario del impulsado por los beneficios. Crecimiento y empleo se retroalimentan. Con más empleo y de mejor calidad disminuirá también la desigualdad. Si las políticas macroeconómicas se centran en crear empleo y no en los precios y los presupuestos, el empleo reavivará el crecimiento y reducirá la desigualdad.     

Experienced and Novice Investors: Does Environmental Information Influence Investment Allocation Decisions?

Economic Value Added (EVA) is a performance measure that is being used by an increasing number of companies, but academic research on EVA is limited. In addition, all prior empirical academic studies on EVA have used the firm as the unit of analysis. In this study, we examine the effect of EVA on the performance of individual managers. Specifically, we examine whether managers on EVA-based bonus plans outperform managers on traditional accounting-based bonus plans. We are able to test this because we have access to an EVA-focused company that has managers on both EVA and traditional bonus plans. Our results suggest that managers on EVA bonus plans who understand the EVA concept perform better than managers on traditional bonus plans. However, we find some evidence that the increase in performance results from increased consistency or congruence in the manager's evaluation–reward process rather than from superiority of EVA as a performance measure. Also, we find that the effect of EVA bonuses and EVA understanding differs depending on the area of the firm in which the manager is employed. This suggests that EVA may not be a universally appropriate base for reward systems. *Mohan Lal passed away 24 July 2002. This paper is dedicated to him.     

The Political Economy of Economic Liberalization

Two of the major policy problems facing governments of developingcountries in the 1980s have been unsustainable external andinternal disequilibria, and implementation of politically feasiblestabilization cum liberalization programs which become necessaryto correct these imbalances. This article discusses these "crises"and subsequent policy reform. The analysis suggests that balanceof payments and fiscal deficits are frequently the result ofuse of an incorrect accounting system in a fixed exchange rateeconomy, and of public sector expansion beyond its economicallyfeasible size; that governments usually seek to liberalize theireconomies during a crisis to regain control when the growthof the "transfer State" has led to generalized tax resistance,avoidance, or evasion; that reduction of the government rolewill be required to alleviate these crises; that sharp departuresfrom past policies rather than gradual reform may be politicallynecessary; and that, contrary to the current technocratic opinionon this matter, the sequencing of a consistent and crediblepackage of reforms which will most effectively reduce the costsof adjustment is initial liberalization of domestic capitalmarkets simultaneous with cuts in the fiscal deficit, followedby floating the exchange rate and then commodity market liberalization.     

Endogenous Growth Cycles in Continuous Time

The endogenous dynamics of a closed constant returns multi-market economy are examined in which agents face downward sloping demand. The trigger for growth in this model is a technological change that warrants costly adjustment in input quantities by agents. In the resulting dynamic game, relative prices within markets remain constant. Consequently, all own price elasticities are constant. In markets characterized by lower cost of capital the unique outcome is collusion in which agents do not incur adjustment cost and there is no adoption of new technology. But in other markets a unique non-cooperative equilibrium exists in which agents do incur the cost of adopting the new technology. Only three specifications of adjustment costs are feasible. Output increases along an S-shaped time path with or without a non-explosive cyclical component.     

Linking Order Fulfillment Performance to Referrals in Online Retailing: An Empirical Analysis

Referral management for online retailers is a strategically important activity, as referrals offer a highly cost‐effective method of customer acquisition. In fact, online customers mention referrals as the second‐most common reason for choosing to shop at a particular retailer, second only to search engine suggestions. However, while online retailers are able to improve their visibility on search engines through focused keyword insertions, they are often unable to pinpoint the drivers of referral behavior among their customers. The current research examines the relationship between two key dimensions of online retailing: order fulfillment cycle times and referral behavior. Employing a theory of customer appraisal and empirically testing the ensuing model using structural equation modeling, we find that excellent order fulfillment is instrumental in generating referrals for the online retailer, even after factoring in product quality.     

A study of auditor-client relationships and problems in the Bahraini audit environment

We report on a survey study of auditor-client relationship problems in an under-developed audit market in Bahrain. The study investigates client perspectives and views on important auditing process issues, value added audit activities for client organizations, and auditor rotation. Clients viewed high fees, excessive audit time requirements, difficulty in meeting auditor's requests, and audit personnel difficulties in understanding the business due to a lack of adequate audit professionals' experience as problems. From the audit firm perspective, the study explores audit client acceptance factors, independence issues, and common problems encountered with the clients. Auditor respondents indicated the major process problems to be associated with the client's culture, lack of access to information, and poor accounting systems. Auditors reported problems in collecting evidence. The audit process and evidence problems reported indicate possible audit quality problems faced by audit firms in Bahraini environment when conducting external audits, indicating the need for future research on auditor-client relationships in emerging economies.     

Population and Long Run Economic Growth in India

Was Malthus right? Professor Deepak Lal, of University College London, argues on the contrary that population growth has been a prime cause of increased agricultural production in India.