Trade, Skills and Adjustment Costs: A Study of Intra-Sectoral Labor Mobility

The relationship between the ability of workers to change job, sector or industry and the short‐run adjustment costs associated with a reallocation of labor is the subject of lively debate among academics. This paper examines recent sector and industry level labor market adjustment in the UK using data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey. We explore the link between the nature of UK trade patterns and labor adjustment within the manufacturing sector and employ a multinomial logit approach to examine the determinants of “within” and “between” industry mobility. By controlling for individual skill specificity we find some evidence of a link between intra‐industry trade and intra‐industry labor adjustment.     

Twin Engines of Growth: Skills and Technology as Equal Partners in Balanced Growth

We develop an endogenous growth model in which skill acquisition by households and innovation by firms make distinct contributions to productivity growth. Nevertheless, the incentives faced by firms and households are inextricably linked because skills are required to implement new technologies. Skills and technologies are dynamic complements but, because their production complementarity is inherently bounded, they are equal partners in driving growth: neither can generate sustained growth alone. Our model has important implications for the effectiveness of alternative growth-promoting policies, for interpretating the empirical relationship between growth and schooling, and the relationship between growth and intergenerational wage dispersion.     

Equity‐based incentives and collaboration in the modern multibusiness firm

Research summary : This paper examines the role of equity‐based incentives in fostering cross‐business‐unit collaboration in multibusiness firms. We develop a formal agency model in which headquarters offers equity and profit incentives to business‐unit managers with the objective of maximizing total expected firm returns. The resulting compensation contract provides a rich mechanism for aggregating value from collaborative interactions across business units, aligning managers' efforts with the firm's growth prospects and organization structure and managing the dual risks in profits and firm market value. The inclusion of equity incentives elicits higher levels of own‐unit and collaborative efforts over the profits‐only contract. Our results suggest that equity‐based incentives are most beneficial when profitability is uncertain relative to long‐term growth prospects, in firms pursuing related diversification strategies, and in periods of rising equity markets. Managerial summary : Equity‐based compensation such as restricted stock grants and options are increasingly common, not only for CEOs and other top executives, but also for business unit managers and other non‐C‐suite employees. The paper studies the role of such “global” incentives in enabling multibusiness firms to benefit from cross‐unit collaboration. Results from our model show that managerial contracts that include appropriate levels of equity incentives, in addition to profit‐based incentives, generate higher own‐unit and collaborative efforts. We also find that equity incentives are likely to be most beneficial for large firms in high‐growth sectors, for firms pursuing a related diversification strategy, and in periods of rising stock markets. The model can also provide useful guidance on designing return‐maximizing compensation contracts for business unit managers in different firm, organizational, and industry contexts. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SpinalHeal Ltd.: Planning the Financial Statement Audit

This instructional audit case places the student in the role of an audit manager and requires preparation of an audit planning memo that addresses significant risks at SpinalHeal Ltd.—a private Canadian company, with international operations, that develops and distributes medical implants for spinal surgery. This year's audit is particularly challenging. There appear to be significant control deficiencies and potential noncompliance with laws and regulations, as well as several complex accounting issues (revenue recognition, intangible assets, and contingent liabilities) which must be addressed. In addition to drafting the planning memo, the audit manager must resolve how to deal with a partner request and prepare a memo to the client that explains the financial reporting implications of crowdfunding.     

Film tourism – Evolution,progress and prospects

Film tourism has emerged as a major growth sector for research in tourism and it is widely recognised as a driver of tourism development for many destinations. To date, there has been a relatively substantial literature on the subject, little of which has sought to synthesise and engage with the wider social science paradigm of culture, film and media research. The aim of this Progress Review is to critically evaluate film tourism as a subject of cross-disciplinary academic study, highlighting the major research themes, issues and contributing conceptual frameworks, critiquing existing and developing perspectives and addressing critical gaps in knowledge. This review is particularly timely as the literature on film tourism has not been synthesised from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Accordingly, this paper seeks to provide a road map of the exponential growth in social science literature associated with the cognate areas that study, or contribute to, film tourism.     

Precarious Professionals: (in)Secure Identities and Moral Agency in Neocolonial Context

We contribute to the literature on ethics in the professions by theorizing how global mobility precipitates professional insecurity and constrained moral agency. We present our findings of a study of accountants migrating to Canada. Using postcolonial theory and relational/poststructuralist theories of identity and ethics, we contrast the experiences of marginalized and privileged migrant accountants to show how those with “diverse” social identities are not recognized by professionals in Canada and must seek recognition from Canadian colleagues, employers, and clients to reconstitute their professional identities and moral agency. We discuss the implications of the exclusion and marginalization of professionals for migrants, the profession, and society more generally.     

The music industry ＆ its consumers： A potential divorce through technology and shifting market linkages？

A large market exists of online users who desire online video and music content. However, recent developments have shown that some industries, such as music and videos are not fully utilising the market benefits that disruptive technologies can bring to organisations despite the change of value drivers. According to Christensen et al （2004）, and based on RPV theory, organisations may decide not to pursue disruptive innovative ideas for a variety of reasons, such as their values are set in another direction, processes do not support the new technology and resources may become under-utilised or even obsolete. Trying to pursue partly aggressive strategies, partly defence or avoidance strategies, it is suggested that the music industry has missed to reengineer its business so far. At the same time, music consumers have found various peer-to-peer models to execute their own avoidance strategies, i.e., avoiding to buy music but to share it. Various consumption platforms for music, such as, pandora, hulu or spotify, emerged, which themselves show significant innovative power. As scholars＇ research tested, innovation has two beams, technology and market linkages. While the technological part is inevitably developing further, the music industry erects legal barriers to bloc those sites by applying the presently unclear DRM, since the new ways of music consumption threaten their established ways of content distribution. At the same time, barriers are placed that those consumers being online specialists find ways to circumvent them. The proposition is that by the salient marketing concept of CRM such behaviour increases the pressure on incumbents since risking market linkages with their customers. This paper will contrast technology and market linkages, discussing how online innovations may alter the status quo of the music industry, especially its record business. Research provides evidence that technological implications are supporting a sustainable shift of consumers＇ behaviour and the ways, by which consumers are able to overcome the legal and technological barriers for accessing P2P sites despite industrial prevention. It is suggested that there is further significance this paper addresses, since what affects the music industry today, will likely have an impact on the movie, games, software and other industries in the near future： Disruption of existing resources, processes and values and threatening market linkages by redefined ways of content distribution.     

Combining research and design: a methodological view of the path to sustainable development

This essay sketches a conceptual framework of a method for investigations into sustainable development issues by combining a method for scientific research with a method for designing. These kinds of investigation should not only focus on the development of a new theory explaining what sustainable development is, it also needs to focus on how sustainable development can be realized. Firstly, the two methods are described separately. After a comparison of the methods, the conceptual framework is sketched as a phase model and finally a translation of this conceptual framework into a more practical guideline is given. In practice, the practitioner does not follow a given phase model. The practitioner needs building blocks to build his own pattern. To guide the practitioner in building his own structure, some ‘rules’ or guidelines are needed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.