Has a quarter-trillion-dollar settlement helped the tobacco industry?

This paper builds on a growing body of literature analyzing the economic effects of the so-called Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) between the “big four” tobacco companies and the State Attorneys General. Because the marginal cost imposed by the settlement is a function of the market sales of the original four participants, subsequent participating firms will most likely be at a disadvantage. Consistent with increased market power for the original signers, the data since the settlement show increased price overshifting of taxes. Additionally, price undershifting is shown to have occurred prior to the MSA, which would be a rational response of a firm facing a settlement that imposes marginal costs inversely related to sales volume at the time of the agreement. These results suggest that efficiency evaluations may overstate the social benefits of the agreement and the persistent profitability of the industry may be due to the MSA.     

Credit and default amongst young adults: An agenda of issues

This paper is concerned to develop a framework of analysis for the use of credit and experience of default amongst young adults. The framework proposed draws together a concern with both the supply and demand for credit, and recognises some of the wider social and economic processes that may shape young adults' patterns of use. The category young adult, as used in existing studies, is discussed critically, and attention drawn to the evidence that suggests that those aged 18–21 form a distinct sub-group. Taking this group as a focus, the paper explores a series of issues concerning knowledge about credit, reasons for credit use and the sources used, attitudes and beliefs, and credit breakdown. As contextual material the paper also provides an overview of the development and characteristics of the credit market in Britain.

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Kredit und Zahlungsverzug bei jungen Erwachsenen: Eine Zusammenstellung wichtiger Punkte

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag möchte einen Bezugsrahmen für die Untersuchung der Inanspruchnahme von Kredit durch junge Erwachsene und ihre Erfahrungen mit Zahlungsverzug entwickeln. Der vorgeschlagene Bezugsrahmen berücksichtigt beides, das Angebot von und die Nachfrage nach Kredit, und betrachtet allgemeinere soziale und ökonomische Prozesse, die die Inanspruchnahme von Krediten durch junge Erwachsene beeinflussen.Die Kategorie junger Erwachsener, so wie sie in voliegenden Studien verwendet wird, wird kritisch diskutiert; dabei wird besondere Aufmerksamkeit den Befunden beigemessen, nach denen die 18- bis 21-jährigen eine besondere Subgruppe bilden. Der Beitrag engt den Blickwinkel auf diese besondere Gruppe ein und setzt sich auseinander mit Fragen der Kenntnis über Kredite, der Gründe für Kreditnahme, der benutzten Kreditmöglichkeiten, der relevanten Einstellungen und Überzeugungen sowie der Zahlungsunfähigkeit. Im Zusammenhang mit diesen Überlegungen wird ein Überblick über die Entwicklung und die Besonderheit des britischen Kreditmarktes gegeben.

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Janet Ford is Principal Research Fellow, Institute of Employment Research, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.The paper was written while the author was Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Loughborough University.     

Price-Quality Tradeoffs and Welfare Effects in Cable Television Markets

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 reduced restrictions on the cable TV industry, providing completely deregulated rates in March 1999. Prior to that time the cable industry was generally allowed to increase rates so long as additional channels were supplied. In this paper we develop a simple tradeoff between price and quality in order to calculate the welfare tradeoff to consumers of the provision of one additional satellite channel. Gauging the impact of this quality change on consumers alone, we conclude that the increase in consumer gains due to an extra channel provision are almost exactly counterbalanced by reductions due to price increases. This ceteris paribus calculation does not mean, of course, that dynamic supply effects from the provision and availability of more channels will not increase future competition and potential consumer benefits.     

Housing price variability: national and local impacts

This article examines the influence of national and local forces on housing prices in 20 local US real estate markets during the recent housing price run-up and decline. We use reduced-form panel data fixed-effects models with robust SEs to determine the impact of national and local effects on housing prices in 20 US cities across time. A national home price index and mortgage rate are used to measure national impacts on the local markets. A mix of socio-economic variables estimates local impacts. We find no results indicating that national trends lack relevance in local markets; however, we find wide support for the additional inclusion of local socio-economic factors in all markets. The findings are consistent with an environment in which national polices and trends influence all markets; however local policymakers and investors can continue to expect geographic differences in market outcomes.     

Managerial ties, strategic initiatives, and firm performance in Central Asia and the Caucasus

Managerial ties are an area commanding managers’ attention in emerging economies. However, no previous study has drawn on cross-country data to address a crucial question: Are more developed market-supporting institutions associated with less use of managerial ties in emerging economies? Further, to strive for better performance, firms also need to develop market-based strategic initiatives. How do these initiatives impact performance? What role do managerial ties play in the relationship? Addressing these questions, this article extends research on managerial ties in emerging economies to an underexplored region—Central Asia and the Caucasus.     

A Multilevel Perspective of Tensions Between Knowledge Management and Social Media

In this article, we discuss the tensions that are perceived in organizations as the use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter challenge past approaches to knowledge management initiatives in organizations. We address these perceived tensions using a three-level conceptual framework: the macro- (organizational) level, the meso- (group) level, and the micro- (individual) level. In our discussion, we posit that perceived tensions arise when managers seek to maintain their traditional roles at the macro- (organization) level, yet social media affordances enable these roles to be performed at the micro- (individual level) and mesolevels. Shifts in the extent of the meso-level connections beyond the immediate organizational boundaries enable a wider community of practice than before. As a consequence, traditional management roles may give way to more flexible roles, with greater individual responsibilities for control and more sense-making and knowledge access taking place at the mesolevel. Our contribution is three-fold. In our article, we examine four key organizational factors (roles, ownership, control, and value) using a three-level conceptual model; associate the perceived tensions that arise in organizations with implicit shifts in these variables that accompany the use of social media; and suggest that shifts in emphasis in roles and control at each level can be instrumental in resolving perceived tensions as knowledge management efforts encompass social media.     

Labour NGOs: An Alternative Form of Labour Organizing in Indonesia, 1991–1998

Although Indonesia's labour non-government organizations (NGOs) are in many ways unique, they are in fact part of a global surge in non-traditional labour activism, in which international and indigenous labour NGOs have played an important role. This contribution examines the contribution of labour NGOs to the reconstruction of the Indonesian labour movement in the 1990s and its implications for our understanding of the contemporary labour movement more generally. It argues that the Indonesian experience suggests theorists and unionists should broaden their understanding of the labour movement to make room for non-traditional forms of labour movement organizations, such as labour NGOs, that have the potential to (and do) contribute to that movement.     

Evidence on the Growing Profit Disconnect between the Public's Views of Corporate America

We provide preliminary evidence of a disconnect between Corporate America and a sample of college students that indicates a strong negative view of corporate profits. Our results suggest this disconnect is not gender specific, but resonates strongly among business students. Overall, we conclude this disconnect requires a deeper analysis to understand its effects on capital markets and the general economy.     

Scale effects found!

A key feature of early endogenous growth models is their prediction of scale effects – the larger the economy, as measured by population, the number of firms or employment, the faster the economy should grow. However, empirical work has failed to support the existence of scale effects. As a result, much human capital has been expended in order to ‘fix’ this problem by eliminating scale effects in endogenous growth models. We contend that econometric techniques used in the empirical search for scale effects are inconsistent with growth theory. Using data from US states and an econometric technique that better matches growth theory by allowing each economy to have its own steady state, we provide empirical support for the existence of scale effects. Results call into question the need to reformulate the first models of endogenous growth.