Farewell to HRM? Personnel practices in Japanese manufacturing plants in the UK

While Japanese manufacturing investment burgeoned in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, its relative size remained small. Nevertheless, its impact was greater than its size. At its extreme it was championed by the 'new right' as the way forward for industrial practices, while manufacturing organizations in the UK were quick to attempt to emulate Japanese management practices. Core to these practices was the management of human resources. Coincidentally in the 1980s a new model of personnel management was being championed, namely human resource management (HRM). This was eagerly embraced by UK academics and was translated into two distinct forms, 'hard and soft'. Despite appearing mutually incompatible, the hard and soft forms were forged into a unified model. This paper, drawing on an empirical analysis of personnel practices in Japanese manufacturing plants in the UK, searches for a conjuncture between the HRM model and 'Japanese' models. It concludes that, while there are similarities between the two, there are also distinct differences. Moreover, where similarities exist they are with the hard variety of HRM.     

La Configuration Stratégique de l'entreprise mixte: pour la distinction public vs privé au plan organisationnel

The present document attempts to provide a global understanding of the ways in which the mixed corporation differs from public and private firms. Its main objectives are to: 1) identify how organizational theory specialists distinguish mixed firms from those which are purely public or private; 2) redefine the lines of thought which can serve to classify public, mixed and private firms from an organizational perspective; 3) formulate research proposals related to the functioning and survival of mixed firms operating alongside public and private firms.
This document aims to constitute a synthesis of the ideas and empirical knowledge already acquired about the nature and functioning of mixed firms, in order to identify the means by which this type of firm can become specific and distinct from public and private firms as an object of study. Specifically, our review of the literature is intended to lead to the development of an organizational approach which will distinguish between public, mixed and private enterprises.
We undertake the integration of hybrid, resource dependence, strategic choice, organizational ecology and institutionalism theories in order to develop criteria of distinction between the public, mixed and private categories, as well as between sub-categories of mixed firms, so as to arrive at a strategic configuration perspective of the organization.
Use of the model is illustrated by examples taken from observation of a number of mixed Western European and Canadian firms. Research proposals on the distinctive character and variety of mixed firms are also outlined in view of future empirical verification.     

Optimal convergence rates,Bahadur representation,and asymptotic normality of partitioning estimators

This paper studies the asymptotic properties of partitioning estimators of the conditional expectation function and its derivatives. Mean-square and uniform convergence rates are established and shown to be optimal under simple and intuitive conditions. The uniform rate explicitly accounts for the effect of moment assumptions, which is useful in semiparametric inference. A general asymptotic integrated mean-square error approximation is obtained and used to derive an optimal plug-in tuning parameter selector. A uniform Bahadur representation is developed for linear functionals of the estimator. Using this representation, asymptotic normality is established, along with consistency of a standard-error estimator. The finite-sample performance of the partitioning estimator is examined and compared to other nonparametric techniques in an extensive simulation study.     

Asian Economic Problems and Prospects for Foreign Direct Investment: Local Evidence from the UK

This paper explores the implications of the Asian crises and economic problems in the Japanese economy on a UK region with a high dependence on employment in Asian manufacturing transplants. The paper examines the development of the Asian transplant sector in the case region (Wales), and maps out the economic significance of the sector on the local economy. Following a review of the potential impacts of economic problems in Asia on the local transplant sector, the paper uses local case evidence to explore recent changes in the Asian manufacturing base in Wales. Recent reversals in the transplant sector have largely been caused more by "local" manufacturing conditions. The paper concludes with a discussion of factors that are most likely to affect the trajectory of the Asian transplant sector in the case region in the new millennium.     

Schuldenkrise in der Europäischen Union

Die Krise Griechenlands w?chst sich zu einer Gefahr für den gesamten Euroraum aus. Wie soll die Europ?ische Union darauf reagieren? Sie befindet sich im Dilemma zwischen Bailout und Bestrafung des „Defizitsünders“. Das erste scheint für den Bestand der W?hrungsunion unvermeidlich, das zweite ist erforderlich, um einen Moral Hazard zu vermeiden.     

A golden rule of public finance or a fixed deficit regime?: Growth and welfare effects of budget rules

In this paper, we compare growth and welfare effects of various budget rules within an endogenous growth model with productive public capital, utility enhancing public consumption and public debt. We find that introducing a fixed deficit regime does not affect the long run growth rate compared to a balanced budget while establishing a golden rule results in higher growth. Simulations of welfare effects indicate that a golden rule leads to highest welfare followed by a balanced budget and a fixed deficit regime. A maximum fraction of deficit financed public investment is derived. Varying the intertemporal elasticity of substitution shows that economies populated by households who have a strong tendency to smooth consumption should adhere to a balanced budget from a welfare point of view.     

The Effect of Measurement Subjectivity Classifications on Analysts' Use of Persistence Classifications When Forecasting Earnings Items

Earnings items are typically classified in financial reports based on their persistence and measurement subjectivity. Archival research examines investors' use of persistence and measurement subjectivity classifications for forecasting and valuation. However, this research typically examines only one of these classifications at a time and ignores the potential interactive implications of an earnings item's persistence and measurement subjectivity classifications. We recruited experienced financial analysts to participate in two experiments that examined the effect of measurement subjectivity classifications on analysts' use of persistence classifications when forecasting earnings items. We find that analysts rely less on an earnings item's persistence classification when measurement subjectivity is high relative to when measurement subjectivity is low. We also find that presentation format affects analysts' use of these two classifications. Specifically, we find that the matrix format (i.e., rows display persistence classifications and columns display measurement subjectivity classifications) facilitates analysts' combined use of persistence and measurement subjectivity classifications relative to the sequential format (i.e., the classifications are displayed separately). These findings suggest that archival research could improve its examination of market participants' use of earnings classifications for forecasting and valuation by recognizing that the implications of an earnings item's persistence classification can vary according to the item's measurement subjectivity classification. By also demonstrating how presentation format affects analysts' use of earnings classifications, our study provides further insights into this fundamental issue in accounting research and standard setting.     

Dutch Disease in Australia: Policy Options for a Three‐Speed Economy

‘Dutch Disease’ refers to the adverse effects through real exchange rate appreciation that the mining boom can have on various export‐ and import‐competing industries. The distinction is made between the booming sector (mining), the lagging sector (exports not part of the booming sector and import‐competing goods and services) and the non‐tradeable sector. What should the government do to reduce this Dutch ‘disease’? The principal options are: do nothing, piecemeal protectionism, moderate exchange rate effects by running a fiscal surplus, combined with lowering the interest rate, and possibly establishing a sovereign wealth fund. The costs of the latter measures may be considerable.