The President Versus the Senate: Appointments in the American System of Separated Powers and the Federal Reserve

For politicians, appointments are an instrument of policy influence.By installing their representatives in an institution, politicianscan count on policy influence for the duration of their appointees'terms. Given the stakes, the occasional controversy regardingnominees is understandable. On the whole, however, nominationsare not controversial; in fact, Senate confirmation votes areoften unanimous. Nevertheless, the Senate can have substantialinfluence in the appointment process. Using a formal model,this article examines how the president and Senate strategicallybargain with one another within the confines of the FederalReserve appointment process to influence monetary policy. Witha new way to estimate monetary policy preferences, this articleshows empirically that policy influence occurs via appointments.     

EVIDENCE ON ADJUSTMENTS IN MAJOR NATIONAL STOCK MARKET LINKAGES OVER THE 1980S

This paper measures the alterations that have occurred in equity market correlations for six major internationally active stock exchanges between 1980 and 1987. The markets are chosen so as to allow for geographical diversity while still accounting for almost ninety percent of total worldwide equity market capitalization. The VAR variance decomposition technique is used to measure intermarket linkage patterns. We find substantial alterations in intermarket linkage patterns occurring over the 1980s. While the US market (the New York Stock Exchange) is still the dominant financial force in world equities trading, other markets (particularly those in the Pacific Basin region) now account for an increasing impact on observed index correlations in the system. This paper suggests that world financial integration is, in part, responsible for the altered linkage patterns observed over the 1980s.     

Labour utilisation and industrial relations at Scott-Lithgow 1967–87

This article, a case study of a Scottish shipbuilding and offshore construction company, examines the impact of management style and organisational structure on labour utilisation and industrial relations