Which State Policies Lead to U.S. Firm Exits? Analysis with the Economic Freedom Index

This research investigates the relationship between public policy and firm deaths in the U.S. states. Policies that promote firm births may increase or decrease firm deaths. We use components of the Economic Freedom of North America index as a metric to evaluate the relationship between increased government size and firm deaths for the 50 states during 1989–2004. Elements of economic freedom are significantly related to firm deaths but in conflicting directions. We find that in the relevant range, some increases in state policy lead to firm death more than others. The paper also discusses our results and the implications for both future academic research and public policy.     

Assessing the effectiveness of a Marine Environmental Protection Program

The Marine Environmental Protection (MEP) Program of the United States Coast Guard has a responsibility for improving the quality of our oceans and waterways. This paper describes the analytical construct developed for measuring the effectiveness of the program's activities. It discusses how the overall objective was translated into subobjectives, called program elements. Measures of the resources utilized by the program, the activities performed, and the results of those activities are presented. The applicability of regression analysis in relating the resources utilized to performance measures on the program elements is discussed and evaluated in the light of the multi-mission nature of Coast Guard activities.     

Multinational corporations and economic nationalism: Conflict over resource development in Canada

Faced with rising Third World nationalism, multinational corporations engaged in resource exploitation are turning back to higher cost but apparently politically more secure investments in the industrialized states. To what extent does the dynamic of government– resource industry relations in an industrialized setting differ from the pattern observed in the Third World? To answer this question the article analyses the decision to nationalize the potash industry in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan using models of host government–MNC conflict developed by Vernon, Mikesell and Moran to study Third World cases. The research suggests that the dynamic logic of government-industry conflict in a developed country setting is very similar to the pattern observed in the Third World. The decentralized Canadian federation, the ideology of the party in power in Saskatchewan and the nature of the potash industry combine to structure a situation in which coercive nationalization of a resource industry was seen as the only policy option.     

The return of Malthus?: The global demographic future,2000–2050

The Western world, with its demographic explosion completed and increasing living standards, should not forget the warnings of Malthus. By 2001, at expected growth rates, the world is on track for 8000 million population by 2023, increasing the chance of global conflict, hardship and disorganization. A key issue for the developing world is that of government control v individual choice and whether, following the example of the socialist societies, feelings of national and community interest will be encouraged in attempts to reduce fertility levels.     

Workplace Transformation and Worker Upskilling: The Perspective of Individual Workers

How common is workplace transformation in the American economy? What are its implications for work force skill requirements and training investments? The existing literature addressing these questions is based on firm-reported survey data. Using new data available in the 1993 wave of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), this article examines the same questions from the perspective of individual workers. Our empirical results suggest that workplace transformation is commonplace. Fully 40 percent of private-sector workers surveyed report that in the space of just one year, a change occurred at work that required them to learn new job skills. About 23 percent of all respondents reported experiencing a workplace change we term anorganizational transformation. Incidence of formal training is positively related to indicators of organizational transformation, but the effect of these indicators is found to be sensitive to the inclusion of other important workplace change variables (namely, new products, new equipment, and new government regulations). While we expected to find strong positive relationships with product development and physical capital investment, government regulation has a surprisingly large impact on formal training.     

Environmental Values and Response to Ecolabels Among International Visitors to New Zealand

This paper explores the extent to which the UK tourism industry has accepted the increased standards of performance under the new Disability Discrimination Act. The research utilises the mystery shopper technique to request basic information from 210 randomly selected companies from various sectors of the tourism industry. The request stated that the mystery shopper is visually impaired and would like to use the services provided by the company. Results show generally an extremely low ability of organisations to meet the simple requests made, although some sectors of the industry were more able to comply than others.