Becoming a high-performance work organization: the role of security,employee involvement and training

The emerging employment system characterized by a high degree of employment security with flexible job assignments, employee involvement in problem solving and continuous improvement, and continuous training of employees is discussed. This model is called the SET system (for Security, Employee involvement and Training) and it is examined by means of case studies of five US firms that are attempting to establish or maintain a SET system. It is found that SET systems are difficult to implement in a gradual and partial manner. The three elements of SET reinforce one another and firms that are successful in adopting SET have made an investment to implement all three SET elements simultaneously. Four factors that impede implementation of a SET system are then identified.     

Editorial announcement

In this paper we develop a general equilibrium model of the Mexican economy in which unemployment and government deficits play important roles. The unemployment rate depends on a downwardly rigid real wage in the urban sector. The government runs a deficit simply by selling bonds that consumers consider perfect substitutes for physical capital as savings instruments. The model is used to analyze the impact of the 1980 fiscal reform. The presence of the rigid real wage and alternative specifications of government policies regarding the size of the deficit are found to have significant effects on the comparative statics results. Whether or not the reform improves the welfare of rural households compared to urban households, for example, depends on whether government policy is to keep the deficit constant or keep expenditures constant in response to changes in tax revenues.     

Sectoral effects of reductions in NATO military expenditures in the major industrialized and developing countries

We use the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade to assess the sectoral effects of (1) a 25 percent unilateral reduction of military expenditures in the individual NATO countries and (2) a 25 percent multilateral reduction of military expenditures in all of the NATO countries combined. Our principal findings suggest that the overall effects of the unilateral and multilateral reductions are not substantial and that the results of the two reductions are qualitatively similar. The sectoral results, which are also broadly similar in the two experiments, suggest that sectors such as basic metals and metal products, durable goods, and community, social, and personal services might be in need of transitional adjustment assistance for displaced workers in the event that the reductions in military expenditures would in fact be carried out.     

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Instilling activism in trustees

One of the great challenges in America today is the stewardship of its not-for-profit institutions. While the profit motive may be absent in the running of such organizations, the demand for thoughtful budgeting, cost accounting, and financial skills still exists. Voluntary community hospitals in particular--given the economic realities of the day--need leadership, reciprocal education, and future planning. Speaking from his own experience, the author presents an activist's perspective on hospital boards; but service to other types of not-for-profit institutions involves similar demands for change.     

Federal Income Taxes, Inflation and Holding Periods for Income-Producing Property

This paper investigates the question of tax-induced holding periods for income-producing property, and whether such periods are influenced by selection of depreciation methods and inflation. Also, given that selection of depreciation methods are a function of holding periods, the magnitudes of benefits associated with selection of depreciation methods are examined. These issues are considered for investors affected by the regular minimum tax and the maximum tax as well as those unaffected by such provisions.     

Estimates of the elasticities of substitution between imports and home goods for the United States

Zusammenfassung Sch?tzungen der Substitutionselastizit?t zwischen Importen und heimischen Gütern für die Vereinigten Staaten. - Dieser Aufsatz enth?lt Sch?tzungen der Importnachfrage- und Substitutionselastizit?ten für 122 dreistellige SIC-Industrien der USA, wobei j?hrliche Daten der Periode 1962–1978 und eine Variante der zweistufigen Methode der kleinsten Quadrate benutzt werden. Sch?tzungen aufgrund einer Variante der dreistufigen Methode der kleinsten Quadrate, die simultan für eine Untergruppe dieser Industrien vorgenommen werden, liefern einige Hinweise auf eine Korrelation der Residuen aus den Importfunktionen für die verschiedenen Industriezweige. Obwohl auch sie mit Ungenauigkeiten behaftet sind, bieten die gesch?tzten Elastizit?ten doch einen wertvollen Anhaltspunkt für einzelne Industrien und für die Wahl von Parametern in Computermodellen und anderen Analysen des Au\enhandels mit hoher Disaggregation.

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Résumé Estimations des élasticités de substitution entre des importations et des produits locaux pour les Etats Unis. - Dans cet article les auteurs présentent des estimations des élasticités de demande importatrice et de substitution pour 122 3-digit SIC industries dans les Etats Unis en utilisant des données annuelles pour 1962–1978 et une variante des moindres carrés à deux degrés. Des estimations basées sur une variante des moindres carrés à trois degrés et obtenues simultanément pour un sous-groupe de ces industries révèlent quelque évidence de corrélation entre les perturbances des différentes équations. Bienque soumises à l’imprécision les élasticités estimées donnent un point de repère pour des industries individuelles et pour le choix des paramètres à l’usage en modèles de commerce computables et en autres analyses de commerce extérieur au niveau désagrégé.

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Resumen Estimaciones de las elasticidades de sustitución entre importaciones y bienes nacionales no comerciados para los Estados Unidos. - Este trabajo présenta estimaciones de elasticidades de demanda de importaciones y de sustitución para 122 ramas industriales al nivel de très dígitos de la CIUU para los EEUU, utilizando datos anuales para 1962–1978 y una variante del método de cuadrados mínimos de dos etapas. Estimaciones basades en una variante del método de très etapas, obtenidas para un subgrupo de estas ramas, dieron evidencia de correlacion entre los residuos de las ecuaciones del modelo. A pesar de estar sujetas a imprecisiones, las elasticidades estimadas constituyen un dato útil para las ramas industriales y para la electión de parámètres para modelos computacionales de comercio internacional y otros análisis del comercio a nivel desagregado.