MATCHING MODELS UNDER SCRUTINY: AN APPRAISAL OF THE SHIMER PUZZLE

Abstract Two papers have recently questioned the quantitative consistency of the search and matching model. Shimer has argued that a textbook matching model is unable to explain the cyclical variation of unemployment and vacancies in the US economy. Costain and Reiter have found the existence of a trade‐off in the model's performance: any attempt to change the calibrated values to improve the model's ability to predict the business cycle jeopardizes its predictions of the impact of unemployment benefits on unemployment. In surveying the literature originating in these findings, I distinguish three different avenues that have been followed to correct the model: change in wage formation, change in the calibration and changes in the model specification. The last approach seems to achieve the best results both from a business cycle and from a microeconomic viewpoint.     

桂越边境贸易关系探析

本文首先重点分析了桂越边境贸易的现状及双方进出口产品的竞争力,并总结了双边贸易中所存在的问题;然后探寻了对其产生影响的具体因素;在此基础上,最后提出了相应的改进措施,以期促进桂越边境贸易的进一步发展。     

A Case Study of the Grey Oaks Community and Club: Creation of a High-Performance Culture Through the Innovative Use of a Data-Driven Business Plan

ABSTRACT

Grey Oaks, a premier country club and gated residential community established in Naples, Florida, developed and used a collaborative and highly feedback-driven system to build adaptive capacity and foster proactive change. Special attention has been given to the unique use and refinement of its business plan and planning process through the feedback management received from club members. This highly adaptive business plan helped Grey Oaks to endure the economic downturn that began in 2008, and the company’s ability to thrive in the midst of economic instability has demonstrated the effectiveness of the plan as a model capable of sustaining the cultural and financial health of the club and community. The Grey Oaks planning model has been an innovation in its industry, and other organizations can greatly benefit by studying the implementation and utilization of this evidence-driven model.     

Costly external finance and labor market dynamics

We study the role of agency frictions and costly external finance in cyclical labor market dynamics, with a focus on how credit-market frictions may amplify aggregate TFP shocks. The main result is that aggregate TFP shocks lead to large fluctuations of labor market quantities if the model is calibrated to the empirically observed countercyclicality of the finance premium. A financial accelerator mechanism thus amplifies labor market fluctuations by rendering rigidity in real wage dynamics. In contrast, if the finance premium is procyclical, which the model can be parameterized to accommodate, amplification is absent, and labor-market fluctuations display the Shimer (2005) puzzle.     

The making and remaking of HRM: the practice of managing people in the Eastern Cape Province,South Africa

This paper explores the nature of human resource management (HRM) practice in the Border region of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, located within contemporary local and international debates regarding the content and nature thereof. Four distinct patterns of practice were identified. The first represented a simple changing in nomenclature of the relevant personnel sections, with, in several cases, staff being seen not as managers, but rather as a distinct, and somewhat junior, category of employee. In the second category, the traditional personnel function was broadened to encompass clearly delineated areas such as training and development. In the third category, while HRM practitioners did play an important strategic role, this was more in terms of facilitating the adoption of progressive industrial relations policies, than in developing a vision for managing human resources across the organization. In all cases, what human resource practitioners did seemed somewhat removed from the 'conventional wisdom' definition of HRM. In part this was a result of the persistence of effective and militant trade unions, necessitating the adoption of hybrid HR-industrial relations practices. However, it also represented a product of particular managerial traditions, and the fact that HRM represents a complex package of concepts and practices, which, inevitably, are subject to adjustment in the light of prevailing realities. This study sheds further light on the diverse and multi-faceted area of HRM practice, and underscores the need for flexibility and pragmatism in both transitional, and, indeed, mature economic contexts.     

Lending constraints,real estate prices and business cycles in emerging economies

We investigate a small open economy with constraints in both the domestic and the international credit market. The informational opaqueness of the domestic market hinders foreign lenders' activity, so that entrepreneurs face looser borrowing constraints vis-à-vis domestic financiers. However, limited capitalization constrains domestic lenders. Calibrating the model to data from Argentina, we find that the interaction between lending and borrowing constraints is a channel through which real interest rate shocks generate fluctuations in output, real estate prices and consumption. External financial liberalization increases volatility and affects welfare more than domestic liberalization but also mitigates the destabilizing impact of domestic deregulation.     

Social capital, ICT use and company performance: Findings from the Medicon Valley Biotech Cluster

This study explores how some uses of ICTs, as well as having social capital and other means of access to knowledge resources, are related to company performance in a knowledge-intensive business cluster. Data were collected through a survey of companies in the Medicon Valley biotech region located in Denmark and Southern Sweden. Responding companies included established producers of biotechnology-related products as well as small biotechnology start-up firms emphasizing research and development. The results suggest that when ICT use was aimed at accessing and enhancing human and intellectual capital, such as use of online databases for recruitment, intranets to enhance employee access to information and education, and collaborative tools to connect with off-premise researchers, companies reported better performance outcomes. Social capital in the form of connections to people who can provide access to information and opportunity predicted company performance, particularly for small start-up companies. The pattern of results complements prior work that establishes the importance of social capital in regional business clusters by demonstrating how certain ICT uses complement personal relationships to enhance the likelihood of success among companies in the region.     

21世纪大型商场的前景展望

本文分析了我国大型商场经营困难的现状及成因 ,认为 ,2 1世纪大型商场要摆脱困境再创辉煌 ,需要正确定位自己的目标市场 ,提高服务质量 ,创立服务品牌 ,塑造良好的企业形象 ;立足商业 ,实行多业态经营和跨国经营 ,充分发挥规模优势     

外国商会在中国的发展与治理模式比较

进入新世纪以来,外国商会在中国发展迅速,1989年的《外国商会管理暂行条例》已明显不能满足现实之需。文章对以美国商会为代表的英美模式、以德国商会为代表的欧洲大陆模式以及以日韩商会为代表的混合模式进行描述和分析,发现不仅中国政府的监管乏力,外国商会的健康发展也遇到了挑战。文章认为,更新现有条例以及建立分级管理、登记与备案等新的规范机制成为当务之急。     

Toward a theory of managing context in Six Sigma process-improvement projects: An action research investigation

In this paper, field studies, extant literature, and domain knowledge are used to develop a theory of managing context in Six Sigma process-improvement projects. By means of a participatory action research investigation involving ten projects in manufacturing and service firms, this paper examines the interrelationship among project context, elements, and success. Rich text-based information for each project was analyzed for the underlying patterns and relationships using the NVIVO 8 qualitative data analysis software package. The insights gained from this in-depth field investigation are presented in the form of 12 inductively derived research propositions that, when taken together, uniquely contribute to context-based theory-building in this area.