The Depositor Behind the Discipline: A Micro-Level Case Study of Hamilton Bank

Though uninsured depositors are recognized as a source of market discipline, the possible disciplinary effect of decisions made by fully insured depositors have gone largely unexamined. Using proprietary administrative deposit data at the account level, this paper analyzes depositor behavior at a recently failed institution. The results suggest that although uninsured deposits exited at a greater rate than insured deposits, the vast majority of deposits withdrawn were fully insured. Among types of deposit accounts, the rates of withdrawal for fully insured individual, joint, and trust accounts were relatively high. Uninsured business account owners were highly sensitive to the bank's deteriorating condition. In contrast, owners of uninsured individual retirement accounts effectively exerted no market discipline. The opinions expressed in this paper are ours and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. All errors are our own.     

Managing knowledge transfer in international alliances

Although managing knowledge assets is critical for firm success, organizational knowledge is hard to capture, transfer, and make useable. Because knowledge is embedded in organizational structures, processes, procedures, and routines, it is not easy to separate knowledge from the context in which it has been created. In addition, when knowledge is highly tacit, it is difficult to transfer without moving the people who have the knowledge. Thus, even though many studies have argued that the ability to transfer knowledge is a primary source for a firm's competitive advantage, relatively little is known about how to transfer knowledge within and across organizational boundaries. This article explores organizational knowledge transfer and illustrates the discussion with two cases of successful knowledge transfer. Two related and fundamental premises anchor the article: (1) knowledge‐transfer effectiveness can be actively managed and improved upon and (2) it is possible to design organizational strategies and structures to support and enhance knowledge sharing. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Assessing the contribution of flagship projects to city image change: a quasi‐experimental technique

The aim of this paper is to identify a simple technique that can be used to indicate whether flagship urban projects contribute to city image change. The quasi‐experiment outlined is grounded in established marketing efficacy measures and involves establishing the relationship between awareness levels of projects and image change. After an explanation of the proposed technique, it is applied to projects in Birmingham, Manchester and Sheffield to demonstrate its potential value. Despite raising some concerns, the paper concludes that the technique provides a useful indicator of the effects of flagship projects, particularly when longitudinal research is not possible. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Britain and the euro

Britain's possible entry into the Eurozone has proved highly controversial, both on economic and political grounds. The British government has set up a series of tests to be satisfied before entry. Besides being vaguely defined, these tests are time dependent. This paper attempts to evaluate the case for British entry on more general Optimal Currency Area criteria, and argues that the failure of some of these criteria would provide a logical explanation of the British reluctance to join.     

Assessment of transport quality of life as an alternative transport appraisal technique

In the United Kingdom the New Approach to Transport Appraisal (NATA) is used to appraise the economic, environmental and social impacts of transport projects. This analytical tool has recently been updated, but still fails to fully evaluate individual’s experiences of transport. It is important to understand more about passengers current journey quality for an informed judgement on the impact of future schemes. This paper presents findings of a methodological tool that can appraise Transport quality of life (TQoL) on all modes of transport in one city. Quality of life (QoL) techniques were applied to the transport networks of Glasgow and Manchester to determine if this is a valuable alternative in transport appraisal. Effective assessment confirmed the validity of the method highlighting in both locations that fixed modes, particularly Light Rapid Transport, are providing a significantly better quality of life compared to the bus.     

Investigating the immediate and long-term effects of job stressors on frontline service employees

Two studies investigate the immediate and long-term effects of job stressors on frontline service employees (FSEs). Using cognitive appraisal theory, we develop and test a conceptual model of two job stressors (crowding and emotional labor) that affect coping strategies and job outcomes. Study 1, which is a field experiment, investigates the immediate effects of crowding in a single firm. Study 2 extends the findings of Study 1 and investigates the long-term effects of emotional labor and crowding on FSEs across multiple firms. The results show that crowding has a negative impact on coping strategies and job-related outcomes. In addition, emotional labor can lead to long-term negative outcomes, such as emotional exhaustion and decreased job retention, for some FSEs. Consequently, service organizations should consider strategies or tactics that prevent high levels of customer crowding and help FSEs deal with emotional labor.     

Interaction between feasibility and desirability in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions

The literature argues that entrepreneurial intentions depend on perceptions of desirability and perceptions of feasibility. Research in other fields suggests that there will be an interaction effect between these two main antecedents of intentions, but such interaction has not been investigated in the context of entrepreneurial intentions. In this paper we explore this interaction effect in an expectancy framework, hypothesizing a negative interaction effect between perceived desirability and perceived feasibility based on regulatory focus theory. A large multi-country sample confirms this negative interaction, and suggests a novel typology of nascent entrepreneurs as natural entrepreneurs, accidental entrepreneurs, and inevitable entrepreneurs.     

Alternative Approaches to Compensation and Producer Rights

When policies are changed, it is not uncommon for losers to be compensated. Economic theory and quantitative analysis are useful in determining the efficiency gains/losses associated with a policy change, but are little help in deciding what the approach to compensation should be. The amount of compensation varies, depending on, in part, the political clout of the parties being negatively affected by a policy change—compensation is what politicians and the sector demanding compensation can agree on. We formulate four approaches to producer compensation within the context of the Ontario Tobacco Transition Program, where producers would have suffered losses in the absence of compensation. The approaches range from providing zero compensation to providing compensation based on the entire value of the tobacco quota. The Canadian government chose the latter and compensated producers for the termination of the tobacco quota program based on an approach that far exceeded other possible compensation approaches.