Manufacturing Industries in the UK: Was there Convergence during the 1968–1992 Period?

This paper uses detailed industry level time-series data for the UK regions which suggests that convergence (at least in terms of output-per-employee) was not occurring during the period 1968–92. Based on testing for unit roots, it is found that in a majority of industries and regions growth was divergent, and consequently there is little empirical support for the neoclassical 'long‐run catch up' model.     

Paternalism, Limited Paternalism and the Pontius Pilate Plight When Researching Children

Recognizing the immense purchasing power of children, marketing researchers often gather information from them. Given the vulnerability of these children as research subjects, this paper explores the different ethical standards that marketing researchers could adopt in their research efforts. The Paternalistic Ethical Standard and the Limited Paternalistic Ethical Standard are discussed and the ethical quandary known as the Pontius Pilate Plight is identified in the context of the latter standard. An enhanced version of the Limited Paternalistic Standard is suggested as an ethical guide for marketing researchers. Based on interviews with professional marketing researchers to gauge the applicability of the proposed standard, managerial implications are identified.     

Reforming the Labour Market: An Assessment of the UK Policies of the Thatcher Era

Under Thatcher the United Kingdom introduced a major program of labour market deregulation, claimed to have made the United Kingdom one of the least regulated labour markets in the OECD. This paper reviews the measures implemented and assesses their impact. Trade union membership declined steeply, and collective bargaining was curtailed even more sharply. The impact of the legislation curbing unions can be exaggerated, given that it coincided with wider developments. At the microeconomic level there is some evidence that the decline of unions contributed to productivity gains, but no clear evidence on employment, investment, profitability or wage premia. UK macroeconomic performance improved, but not dramatically. The most marked features of the more flexible labour markets are the growth of part-time and temporary work, while job insecurity has become a common perception. The most striking development is the growth in earnings inequality, in part reflecting the weakening of collective bargaining. The evolution and consequences of inequality will be a major criterion in assessing the moves to labour market flexibility.     

Hedonic prices and cost/benefit analysis

Hedonic prices have been used to evaluate the willingness to pay for attributes. We reformulate the notion of hedonic price from a composite price on housing to a unit price on traded quantities, in conformity with long run competitive equilibrium theory. This formulation was suggested (but not developed) by Rosen (J. Polit. Econ.82, No. 1 (1974), 34–35). By first characterizing an efficient allocation of consumers to space, we show that hedonic unit prices can be understood as a bid-rent function which supports the efficient allocation. This is despite the fact that the lots over which consumers bid are themselves endogenous. We show that unit hedonic prices reveal preferences in a manner different from composite hedonic expenditures.     

Using “Rapid Response” as a competitive tool

New technology allows companies to respond quickly to customer demands that differ from country to country. In the international arena, time and flexibility are competitive weapons.     

Backlash Hits Business Ethics: Finding Effective Strategies for Communicating the Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility

Recently, several articles have asserted that corporate social responsibility programs have gone too far and need to be reigned in. These critics have charged that corporate social responsibility is to be regarded with skepticism and that any changes in corporate accountability should be superficial at best. I will examine a␣number of these objections; I conclude that these critiques are largely ill founded, but that their increasing frequency in popular media is a cause for concern. I argue that these purported objections are better understood as one part of a long-term cycle that generally accompanies positive moral change in institutions. Using the feminist movement as a touchstone, I examine the similarities between backlash against the movement for corporate accountability as compared to backlash against feminists. I␣also suggest ways in which successful strategies adopted by feminists could be used effectively to communicate the aims of those working to increase awareness of business accountability.     

Paradigm,paradox, paralysis: An epistemic process

The potential of the transformative capacity of education requires critique of a dominant paradigm, in order to apprehend the unconscious acceptance of capital markets as solutions to societies’ woes. We engaged with media texts as practicum which advocated carbon markets to mitigate carbon pollution: a contemporary issues in society. We found that although we critique the dominant paradigms upheld by the media texts which we chose, our engagement had the potential to reinforce the status quo. Once this paradox is evident, it precipitates a paralysis of the educative process. However, this is not an end state but the struggle to overcome the paralysis mobilises a reconsideration of the paradigm and opens new possibilities. We argue that the collision of the concepts of paradigm, paradox and paralysis demonstrates an epistemic process which has emancipatory possibilities.