Wohlstand — keine Alternative zum BIP

In der Dezemberausgabe 2009 ver?ffentlichte der Wirtschaftsdienst ein Zeitgespr?ch mit dem Thema „Wie l?sst sich Wohlstand messen?“. Dazu ?u?ern sich Peter Michael von der Lippe und Claus Christian Breuer kritisch. Roland Zieschank und Hans Diefenbacher sowie Hans Wolfgang Brachinger stellen ihre Sichtweisen jeweils in einer Erwiderung dar.     

The Spatial Effects of Wage or Property Tax Differentials, and Local Government Choice between Tax Instruments

This paper considers the spatial effects (on wages, employment, and business capital as functions of location) of a localized differential in source-based wage tax rates or business property tax rates between (for example) a central city and the surrounding suburbs. A simple model is used in which business production uses only labor and capital inputs. Consumers have fixed residential locations but may commute to work. Wage and property tax differentials have effects that are similar in some ways but different in other ways. If given a choice, a local government would choose to set its business property tax rate equal to zero and use only a wage tax.     

The science of complexity: An alternative perspective for strategic change processes

The two perspectives of strategy process most firmly established in the literature—strategic choice and ecology—assume the same about system dynamics: negative feedback processes driving successful systems (individual organizations or populations of organizations) toward predictable equilibrium states of adaptation to the environment. This paper proposes a third perspective, that of complex adaptive systems. The framework is provided by the modern science of complexity: the study of nonlinear and network feedback systems, incorporating theories of chaos, artificial life, self-organization and emergent order. Here system dynamics are characterized by positive and negative feedback as systems coevolve far from equilibrium, in a self-organizing manner, toward unpredictable long-term outcomes.     

The Legal, Ethical, and Managerial Implications of the Neutral Employment Reference Policy

The litigious environment surrounding employers today has caused them to be overly fearful of providing candid yet adverse employment references. Their attempts to minimize litigation risk created by the dismissal of a vindictive employee have clouded their judgment when asked to assist in the dissemination of employee information. This is alarmingly illustrated by the growing number of employers who have blindly adopted a neutral reference policy. Unfortunately, indiscriminate application of this policy will not necessarily preclude litigation, but, rather, foster it. It is imperative that employers carefully weigh the tangible and intangible costs of a reference defamation suit against their duty legally, ethically, and managerially to disclose vital information about a former employee.     

Professional ethics: Business students' perceptions

Professional ethics, a contemporary topic of conversation among business professionals, is discussed using the perceptions of college business students as the focal point. This research relates to the issues of college instruction in professional ethics, differences in perceptions of ethical behavior attributed to gender, and whether or not students' perceptions of ethical behavior can be modified. After presenting a review of the more important historical developments and research related to professional ethics, this paper focuses on the results of a study that compared a set of ethical responses of various groups of college students with each other. The results of hypotheses testing show an ethics maturation process from students' initial exposure to business courses through the graduate level. These tests also show that formal ethics training, i.e., a separate professional ethics course or unit is an existing course, is not a significant factor in this process. However, one may conclude that the students' perceptions of proper ethical behavior matures toward society's expectations during college life.James R. Davis is a Professor of Accountancy at Clemson University. He has published articles on professional ethics and made several presentations on the subject at professional meetings. Currently he is evaluating the different attitudes toward professional ethics of students in different international environments.Ralph E. Welton, Jr. is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Clemson University. He teaches a graduate course on the accounting environment which includes units on professional ethics and legal responsibilities of accounting professionals. His research interests include comparative international perceptions of business ethics and the individual's longitudinal ethics development.