Bringing Ecosystem Services into the Real World: An Operational Framework for Assessing the Economic Consequences of Losing Wild Nature

Policy action to halt the global loss of biodiversity and ecosystems is hindered by the perception that it would be so costly as to compromise economic development, yet this assumption needs testing. Inspired by the recent Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, the leaders of the G8+5 nations commissioned a similar assessment of the economics of losing biodiversity, under the Potsdam Initiative on Biodiversity. Here, we propose a conceptual framework for such a global assessment which emphasizes several critical insights from the environmental economics and valuation literature: contrasting counterfactual scenarios which differ solely in whether they include specific conservation policies; identifying non-overlapping benefits; modeling the production, flow, use and value of benefits in a spatially-explicit way; and incorporating the likely costs as well as possible benefits of policy interventions. Tackling these challenges, we argue, will significantly enhance our ability to quantify how the loss of benefits derived from ecosystems and biodiversity compares with the costs incurred in retaining them. We also summarise a review of the current state of knowledge, in order to assess how quickly this framework could be operationalized for some key ecosystem services.     

Handing Over the Keys: A Perspective on Mortgage Default Research

This paper is the text of the 1992 Presidential Address for the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association. A comparative evaluation of mortgage default research finds that both the residential and commercial markets evolved from informal underwriting rules, to formalized (though unvalidated) ratios and rules of thumb, to early risk ratings based upon empirical evidence, to gener-alizable econometric models of default, to option-based pricing models. The commercial market lagged the residential market by about 10 to 20 years at first but is now only about five years behind. The survey finds that research and progress in understanding mortgage credit risk has been precipitated by a public policy need or mandate, data availability, and adequate technology. The absence of any one of these factors has hindered progress in the past. Finally, six emerging issues in default research are identified and discussed: (1) the degree of "ruth-lessness" with which default is exercised, (2) loan recourse, (3) the magnitude and timing of revenues and losses associated with default, (4) loan modification, (5) default in a portfolio context, and (6) leasehold default. Progress in these areas will enhance the efficiency of both the residential and commercial markets.     

Economic growth—meritorious or meretricious: A review of social limits to growth

The recent literature on economic growth has seen a reemergence of the questioning of the value of economic growth. Prominent among this new literature is a set of contributions which seek to evaluate the social implications of the pattern of economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to review an important component of this literature—Hirsch's recent book Social Limits to Growth. The central arguments of Hirsch's analysis are evaluated from a general perspective and compared to the balance of the literature. All of the recent additions in this area seem to question the role of markets and values derived based on consumer sovereignty to establish the end results of economic activity and to evaluate the alternative possible resource allocations to obtain them.     

Human resource management in the public sector

This article charts the currents in public sector reform and examines how contemporary HRM articulates to the change agenda pursued in the public sector. It notes the differences between the traditional bureaucratic model and the new management approach of public sector operation and activity. It explores how the institutional, policy and organizational changes delivered a new paradigm of managing members of public service organizations.     

Making Sense of Social Practice: Theoretical Pluralism in Public Sector Accounting Research

Abstract: This paper explores the use of theory in public sector accounting research. The aim of this paper is to offer a critical review of the various approaches adopted and a way forward for researchers in this area. The paper also explores the debate between theoretical purity and theoretical pluralism. It presents an analysis of the different theoretical approaches used over the last sixteen years in public sector accounting research. While around a third of the papers did not adopt an explicit theoretical framework, nearly half of the papers did. The two most popular theoretical approaches were neo‐institutional and economic theory. Theoretical insights have been drawn from organisational and political theory while sociological approaches from Habermas, Foucault, Latour, Giddens and Bourdieu are all evident. In conclusion many of the papers blend theoretical insights from different authors in an attempt to better make sense of the complexity of public sector activity and support an argument for theoretical pluralism.     

Day Trader Behavior and Performance: Evidence from Taiwan Futures Market

By using a unique data from the Taiwan futures market to identify each trader’s trading records and focusing on the high-frequency day traders who trade at least 90 days over the sample year, this study closely examines their behaviors and performance. Day traders’ performances are “risk-adjusted” and analyzed to identify behavioral biases and the resulting impact on performance. There is no evidence found that trading too much is detrimental to investment performance. The high-frequency day traders are more aware of the danger of behavioral biases and are as a result less prone to the disposition effect. Contrary to expectations, day traders in my study are shown to be non-loss averse. Most of our sample except for the highest performance quintile follow a momentum strategy.     

Interactions Between Organizational Culture,Trustworthiness, and Mechanisms for Inter‐Project Knowledge Sharing

This research used a multiple‐case study approach to empirically investigate the complex relationship between factors influencing inter‐project knowledge sharing—trustworthiness, organizational culture, and knowledge‐sharing mechanisms. Adopting a competing values framework, we found evidence of patterns existing between the type of culture, on the project management unit level, and project managers’ perceptions of valuing trustworthy behaviors and the way they share knowledge, on the individual level. We also found evidence for mutually reinforcing the effect of trust and clan culture, which shape tacit knowledge‐sharing behaviors.