Regulated Efficiency, World Trade Organization Accession, and the Motor Vehicle Sector in China

This article is concerned with the interaction of regulatedefficiency and World Trade Organization (WTO) accession andits impact on China's motor vehicle sector. The analysis isconducted using a 23 sector–25 region computable generalequilibrium model. Regulatory reform and internal restructuringare found to be critical. Restructuring is represented by acost reduction following from consolidation and rationalizationthat moves costs toward global norms. Without restructuring,WTO accession means a surge of final imports, though importsof parts could well fall as production moves offshore. However,with restructuring, the final assembly industry can be madecompetitive by world standards, with a strengthened positionfor the industry.     

Sequential American Exchange Property Options

Property development activities often occur in stages, which are appropriately modeled as sequential American exchange property options, where there are interim expenditures required in order to keep the property development options “alive”. Normally American exchange options require a numerical solution, but herein there is a new closed-form approximate solution, which is computationally efficient and accurate. This method combines repeats of Margrabe European exchange and Geske compound option solutions with tight upper boundaries of either American perpetuities or European exchange options with a high volatility. Illustrations are provided of the sensitivity of the real sequential options and optimal timing to changes in several parameters, which provide a framework for property policy (tax, subsidy and regulatory) guidelines and for property development strategy evaluation. There are several plausible applications of these real option models in commercial and residential property development, within commercial property leases, with regard to switching tenants, and agricultural alternatives.     

A Profile of Poverty in Egypt

This paper presents a profile of poverty in Egypt for 1997. It assesses the magnitude of poverty and its distribution across geographic and socioeconomic groups, provides information on the characteristics of the poor, illustrates the heterogeneity amongst the poor, and helps identify empirical correlates of poverty. This poverty profile is constructed using data from the Egypt Integrated Household Survey (EIHS), which is a nationwide, multiple‐topic household survey. One of the more striking set of findings relates to the differences between the poor and the non‐poor in their educational attainments. Our results indicate a significant literacy and schooling gap between the poor and the non‐poor. On average the poor have 2.6 fewer years of schooling than the non‐poor, and their literacy rate is 27 percent lower than the non‐poor. Our results also indicate that augmenting educational attainment of the poor does not require building more schools, but reducing the poor’s opportunity cost of attending schools and increasing their returns from extra schooling, both suggesting the importance of income generating activities as a policy instrument.     

Grief recovery from the loss of a family business: A multi- and meso-level theory

In this article I develop a multi- and meso-level theory of grief recovery time from the loss of a family business. The multi-level aspect of the model suggests how primarily micro theories of grief and sense-making can help explain grief recovery time at the family group level. The meso-level aspect of the model provides insight into recovery from the loss of a family business by proposing how grief dynamics interact at the individual level through emotional intelligence and the family group level through emotional capability. By supplementing theories of grief with those of sense-making, the model provides a deeper understanding of the grief recovery process. This model has implications for scholars and practical implications for family business members and the family unit.     

Diversity in organizations: Where are we now and where are we going?

A great deal of research has focused on workforce diversity. Despite an increasing number of studies, few consistent conclusions have yet to be reached about the antecedents and outcomes of diversity. Likewise, research on different dimensions of diversity (e.g., age, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and culture) has mostly evolved independently. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to examine each of these dimensions of diversity to describe common themes across dimensions and to develop an integrative model of diversity.