Episodes of unemployment reduction in rich,middle-income and transition economies

This paper studies the incidence and determinants of episodes of drastic unemployment reduction, defined as swift, substantial, and sustained declines in unemployment. We identify 43 episodes over a period of nearly 3 decades in 94 rich, middle-income and transition countries. Unemployment reductions often coincide with an acceleration of growth and an improvement in macroeconomic conditions. Episodes are much more prevalent in countries with higher levels of unemployment and, given unemployment, are more likely in countries with better regulation. An efficient legal system that enforces contracts expeditiously is particularly important for reducing unemployment. The results imply that while employment is largely related to the business cycle, better regulation reduces likelihood of high unemployment and facilitates a more rapid recovery in the event unemployment builds up.     

Campaigning against poverty: The local authority role

The Record increase in income inequality and poverty over the last 15 years have major implications for local government. Yet an anti-poverty agenda has been conspicuous by its absence until recently in local authority strategies and debates. A national political campaign with all party local authority support is now underway, linked to a growing awareness of the need for local authorities to adopt a truly strategic approach in addressing issues of poverty and social justice at the local level.     

Hours of work - who controls and how?

Flexible hours systems are traditionally regarded as shifting control towards employees although British Rail's ‘flexible rostering’ is correctly seen as increasing management control of the pattern of hours worked. This article discusses such systems in their industrial relations context and considers the potential for a ‘split control’ approach.     

Trade union attitudes to flexible working hours

This paper describes a study of trade union involvement with flexible working hours or ‘flexitime’. This system is now viewed far more positively but ‘blue collar’ unions have more reservations than their ‘white collar’ counterparts.     

Trends and developments in east central European industrial relations

This article overviews developments in industrial relations in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland since the fall of the communist regimes in 1989, and assesses the extent to which key developments in these countries reflect both change and continuity from the communist period. We explore the four main institutions through which industrial relations have been conducted: trades unions, workers’ councils, employer organisations, and the tripartite arrangements involving representatives of unions and employers with the state.     

The path of least resistance: Regulatory resource depletion and the effectiveness of social influence techniques

Two experiments examine the role of regulatory resource depletion in the effectiveness of social influence techniques aimed at inducing consumer compliance. They test the two-step hypothesis that a) responding to the initial request stage of an influence technique requires self-control, thereby depleting one's limited resource of self-regulatory energy, and b) a state of regulatory resource depletion fosters the use of heuristics present in the persuasion context, which increases the odds of compliance with the target request of an influence technique. A first field experiment shows that yielding to initial requests (answering a series of questions) induces resource depletion. Experiment 2 demonstrates that a lower level of self-regulatory resources increases the extent of compliance with a request through the employment of the heuristic principle of authority. Together these results provide support for the prediction that regulatory resource depletion is important in explaining the effectiveness of social influence techniques.     

Reviews

Planning in diverse societies. Healey, P. 1997: COLLABORATIVE PLANNING: SHAPING PLACES IN FRAGMENTED SOCIETIES. Basingstoke: Macmillan, £14.99 paper.

Transforming “problem” housing estates. Power, A. 1997: ESTATES ON THE EDGE. London: Macmillan, £57.50 cased.

Contested communities. Hoggett, P. (ed) 1997: CONTESTED COMMUNITIES: EXPERIENCES, STRUGGLES, POLICIES. Bristol, The Policy Press, £15.95 paper.

A planner's view of regeneration in Manchester. Kitchen, T., 1997: PEOPLE, POLITICS, POLICIES AND PLANS: THE CITY PLANNING PROCESS IN BRITAIN. London: Paul Chapman Publishing, £16.95 paper.

Urban design. Parfect, M. and Power, G. 1997: PLANNING FOR URBAN QUALITY: URBAN DESIGN IN TOWNS AND CITIES. London: Routledge, £65.00 cased, £22.50 paper.

Regional impact of the EU Structural Funds. Bachtler, J. and Turok, I. (eds) 1997: THE COHERENCE OF EU REGIONAL POLICY: CONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES ON THE STRUCTURAL FUNDS. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, £25.00 paper.

Development trusts. Ward M. and Watson, S. 1997: HERE TO STAY: A PUBLIC POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR COMMUNITY-BASED REGENERATION. London: Development Trusts Association, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, £10.95 paper.

Hart, L. 1997: ASSET BASE DEVELOPMENT FOR COMMUNITY-BASED REGENERATION ORGANISATIONS. London: Development Trusts Association, £6,50 paper.

Community visioning. Burton, B. 1997: COMMUNITY VISIONING: AN EVALUATION OF THE “CHOICES FOR BRISTOL” PROJECT. Bristol: Policy Press, £11.95 paper.     

Advertising as a cause of bias in American juries: an exploratory study

This study explores the concept of jury bias based on exposure to lawyer advertising. Attitudinal and demographic differences are identified which distinguish respondents who felt they might be biased due to exposure to advertising. Legal precedents and implications for jury selection are discussed.