SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT: THE MOBILE HYDROGEN FUEL CELL

Sustainable technology development implies large changes in technological systems. The illustrative process ‘hydrogen fuel cell in a boat’ is used here as an example of a learning process concerning a transition towards a hydrogen economy. Theoretically the concepts of constructive technology assessment, back-casting and social niche management are combined in this approach.     

The value of tax benefits and the cost of liquidating versus selling failed thrift institutions

This paper examines the 205 insolvent thrifts that were resolved in 1988 and assesses the cost savings obtained by selling 179 of the institutions through assisted acquisitions rather than liquidating them. It is hypothesized that the cost savings were determined by factors related both to the future viability of the acquired institution and the particulars of the deal arranged by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. The added value by selling a thrift is determined primarily by the level of core deposits obtained by the acquired thrift. However, the branch structure and purchased mortgage-servicing rights should also add franchise value to the firm. In addition to these factors, the analysis accounts for the tax benefits and other regulator forbearances associated with the deals. Other characteristics of the deals are also considered. It is found that core deposits, tax benefits, purchased mortgage-servicing rights, average branch size, and type of acquirer, as well as some other factors, were significant determinants of the cost savings obtained through selling an institution rather than liquidating it.     

Should utopians have perfect bodies?

Is one who imagines a “perfect” (or vastly improved) society also obliged or inclined to imagine a “perfect” (or vastly improved) body as part of her project? If there is in fact a utopian tradition imagining perfect bodies, what new alternatives are conceivable? Should utopian writers pursue any or all of them? Attempts to provide an answer provide critics with perhaps their most penetrating objections to the utopian project since imagining and reproducing perfect bodies entails an intrusiveness even greater than political or economic perfection. But the very intimacy of the body as a site also offers insights into the utopian imagination. Just as certain practices are excised in utopias (private property or money, for instance) and certain ones enhanced (education), so too are utopian bodies, which can be imagined as liberated prisons or improved forms. The utopian body, itself a complex site, becomes the most vivid focus for imaging the nature of perfection itself. New bodies, dramatically enhanced ones such as cyborgs or dramatically reduced ones such as cyber bodies, offer an intense examination of what perfection means and what lengths are worth pursuing to achieve it.     

Shades of Gray: An empirical examination of Gray's model of culture and income measurement practices using 20-F data

Gray (1988) developed a theory linking accounting values and systems to Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions. To date, no studies have used actual reported data to test the Gray model. This study addresses this shortcoming by using data from the SEC Form 20-F to test proposed relationships between Gray's (1988) accounting value of conservatism (in income measurement practices) and Hofstede's (1980) cultural values. It also tests three other non-cultural environmental variables (tax rates, relative size of capital markets, and influence of the European Union) proposed by Gray (1988) and Salter and Niswander (1995) as modifiers to cultural effects. The results of this study suggest that, as theorized by Gray (1988), the cultural variable individualism is significantly and positively related to differences in income measurement practices between countries. This study also finds that a country's membership in the EU and corporate tax rate is related to income measurement practice differences. However, unlike previous studies, this study does not find that the source of equity is related to income measurement practices.     

Real Estate Rental Payments: Application of Stock-Inventory Modeling

This paper analyzes the rental term structure taking into account the opportunity costs faced by the tenant for varying lease lengths. The analysis involves the application of a multi-period stock inventory model. The implication of the model is that the term structure of rents is determined by a clientele effect that can bias the occupancy value derived from using rational-expectations in the term structure relationship. The model does, however, reveal the characteristic stock-inventory U-shaped function that will determine the optimal lease length for a given tenant.     

British union renewal: does salvation really lie beyond the workplace?

The paper examines a union initiative to recruit among migrant workers through the provision of individual services outside of the workplace. While the initiative is shown to have initially generated new members, questions are raised about the viability of such an approach in the absence of mutually supportive access to workplace representation.