Trends in household saving don't justify tax incentives to boost saving

Despite diverse trends in household saving in OECD countries, many governments are introducing tax incentives designed to boost saving by particular groups. Such schemes have been justified by many trends, including increasing income inequality, ageing populations, and greater cross-border competition. It is dangerous, however, to base policy on what is happening to aggregate household saving alone. First, personal saving should be viewed within a lifecycle context. Saving may look inadequate today, but households may already have made plans to redress this in future. Second, data on aggregate saving conceal significant differences between different household groups. Only disaggregation yields reliable inferences on which policy can be based. In particular, it is impossible to assess the consequences of demographic changes without analysis that distinguishes between different generations.
We reassess household saving by computing the evolution of lifetime profiles of consumption, income and saving of different cohorts over time, and then analyse the effect of demographic and other changes. We find little evidence for the assertion that tax incentives to promote national saving are needed now to stave off a future drought in household saving.     

Regenerating Neighbourhoods: A Critical Look at the Role of Community Capacity Building

This paper offers a critical analysis of the concept of 'community capacity building' identifying two approaches to practice: the strategic and developmental. Examples of these two approaches to the practice of capacity building by Groundwork Trusts in villages in South Yorkshire and County Durham are then discussed and some conclusions drawn as to the value of each.     

UK universities and the state: A Faustian bargain?

The universities are now 'one of the last semi-nationalised sectors of the British economy, ' used by government as an instrument of social policy. This situation represents a 'Faustian bargain ' which threatens both the quality and the prosperity of universities. One solution would be privatisation of some universities through public flotation. These universities could then contract with government to take state-funded students. Two objections are that the scheme would promote elitism and that it would encourage greater inequality between universities, but the relevant question is whether it would offer an improvement on the present regime.     

Dominance Effects from Local Competitors: Setting Institutional Parameters for Employment Relations in Multinational Subsidiaries; a Case from the Spanish Supermarket Sector

Dominance effects are normally associated with multinational corporations (MNCs). However, we argue that a strong local competitor can create ‘dominance effects’ setting the institutional parameters for employment relations in multinational subsidiaries. Moreover such an effect can be persistent. In this case the Spanish‐owned El Corte Inglés (ECI) used its power and influence to establish an employer's federation and two ‘yellow unions’. These yellow unions infiltrated the French‐owned MNC Carrefour and most of the Spanish supermarket sector by the early 1980s and continue to dominate collective bargaining rounds and works council elections, marginalizing the main independent trade unions. This has resulted in poor pay and working conditions and a lack of effective employee representation across most of the Spanish supermarket sector. The fact that Carrefour established an international framework agreement to observe union rights in 2001 has as yet not changed this situation.     

未来犹在——关于共建能源未来的七点建议

编者按:2009年2月10日,在剑桥能源研究协会主办的剑桥能源周暨第28届剑桥能源高层年会(28th CERA Executive Conference)上,BP集团首席执行官唐熙华博士应邀发表了题为"未来犹在"的开幕词.他认为,能源的问题不在地下而在于人,保障未来稳定的能源供应需要政府和企业携手合作.他就共建能源未来提出了七点建议,本刊特整理如下,以飨读者.     

“Right Time,Right Place,and Right People” and Chinese Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of Taiwan’s Din Tai Fung Dumpling House

In examining corporate success, many scholars overlook an important contributing factor, namely entrepreneurship. However, Chinese wisdom believes that the “right time, right place, and right people” (Three R’s) are crucial for business success. This study utilizes theories of entrepreneurship from the Austrian School of Economics to reinterpret the three factors for business success. This new interpretation is then applied to explain the success of a famous dumpling house in Taiwan, Din Tai Fung. This study argues that although favorable timing is critical to business success, it requires an entrepreneur to grasp the opportunity when it comes. The seizure of a golden chance requires alertness and preparation. More importantly, this study argues that even during an adverse period, a crisis can be turned into a profit opportunity. Whereas a favorable location is also regarded as a key factor, this study goes beyond sheer spatial dimensions. Location also encompasses culture, social customs, norms and traditional folklores. This paper argues that an entrepreneur transplants culture and social customs from one location to another, thus, gaining pure entrepreneurial profit. Finally, the “right people” in an entrepreneurial sense involves a harmonious social network and good personal relationship (Guanxi). By maintaining a harmonious relationship with staff members, partners, customers, and suppliers, entrepreneurs can “get things done.” This case study provides a new insight into Chinese entrepreneurship in East Asia.     

Spatial data constraints: Implications for measuring broadband

The accurate determination of where broadband telecommunication services are available in the United States continues to be a significant challenge. Existing data regarding broadband provision, such as that provided by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) simply designate ZIP codes with at least one high-speed Internet subscriber. As ZIP code areas vary greatly in size and shape, the lack of geographic specificity as to exactly where broadband is available, particularly within ZIP code areas, confounds communications policymaking. Further, there are a number of additional geographic nuances concerning broadband availability that also inhibit empirical examination and policy generation, including the spatial limitations of digital subscriber line services. The purpose of this paper is to briefly review the issues concerning broadband measurement in the United States and provide an empirical analysis of several spatial data constraints that must be accounted for when interpreting and constructing public telecommunications policy.     

Hospitals and reengineering

One of the key success factors for reengineering in hospitals will be the ability of health care leaders to redefine their organizations in terms of process. Hospital managers are responding with anything from mergers to minor shifts in strategic thinking. Some hospital leaders answering the call for significant change are faced without dated models that are complex and inflexible.