Working days in a London construction team in the eighteenth century: evidence from St Paul's Cathedral

This article provides new information and data on the work and pay of skilled and semi-skilled men on a large London construction project in the early 1700s. It offers firm-level evidence on the employment relation in the construction industry at the time and sheds some light on the number of days worked per year and per week, showing that employment was more irregular and seasonal than current estimates of income infer. The patterns are considered in the context of new debates about industriousness and economic growth.     

LEADERSHIP IN CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: CONSEQUENCES AND INCENTIVES

Initiatives in favor of unilateral action on climate change are frequently challenged by concerns over free riding. Nevertheless, we observe an increasing number of unilateral efforts at different administrative levels and in different parts of the world. Previous academic literature described various individual mechanisms where emissions abroad may increase or decrease as a reaction to unilateral emission reductions. In this paper, we collect a comprehensive set of both positive and negative reactions and analyze them in stylized models. This allows us to identify the most important characteristics that determine the potential of a leader to boost mitigation efforts abroad. We find that this potential depends on (i) a strong ability to generate knowledge through leadership, (ii) a high degree of credibility in the international community, and (iii) a similar economic structure to the most important emitters. While most effects are difficult to quantify, this comprehensive assessment suggests that leakage effects resulting from unilateral mitigation may well be outweighed by positive reactions.     

Exploring the interaction between incubators and industrial clusters: the case of the itri incubator in Taiwan

This article aims to explore the interaction between incubators and industrial clusters, which is an important linkage for local development but has not been analyzed in the literature. A model is proposed to describe this interaction. The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) Incubator within the Hsinchu industrial cluster, the core of Taiwan's technology industries, is considered to be an empirical case. This case is investigated with the proposed model and methods including data analysis, in–depth interviews, manager surveys and stakeholder analysis. It was found that the clustering effect in the Hsinchu industrial cluster is main factor in the ITRI Incubator's development. The ITRI Incubator in turn reinforces the cluster in some aspects as feedback. This result confirms the existence and importance of this interaction in local development. It is recommended that government officials and incubator managers take account of this interaction in operating an incubator program and utilize the proposed model to analyze the incubator's contributions to its industrial cluster.     

Varietal Licensing Standards and Canadian Wheat Exports

Canada's wheat grading system is largely based on visual criteria and it is based on relatively high quality standards. A strict varieties licensing system exists to maintain the integrity of the grade standards. One of the consequences of the licensing system is that higher yielding, lower or different quality wheats have not been grown in Canada until recently. The basic objective of this paper is to examine some of the consequences of the regulatory strategy of limiting wheat production to the traditional high quality wheats. This question is analyzed in the context of important changes in the international grain markets. Using a partial equilibrium trade model this paper estimates that if higher yielding wheats were permitted to be grown, annual producer gains would be 5 to 17 percent of current net farm income.
Le classement des blés au Canada est basé sur des critères visuels qui sont de hautes qualités. Le système actuel d'homologation des variétés est tel que l'intégrité de ce système est maintenue. En conséquent, ce système n'a pas encouragé la cultivation des blés de hauts rendements ou des varietés différentes que tout récemment. L'objectif principal de cette étude est d'examiner quelques unes des conséquences de la stratégic de la réglementation visant à limiter la production du blé aux variétés de hautes qualités. Cette question est adressée dans le contexte des changements importants qui ont eu lieu dans le marché international des grains. A l'aide d'un modèle d'équilibre partiel des échanges, la présente étude démontre gu'en permettant la production des blés de hauts rendements, le gain annuel aux producteurs serait de 5 à 17 pourcent du revenue agricole net.     

The Organization of Organized Discontent: The Case of the Postal Workers in Britain

The case of the postal workers in Britain is examined in order to develop our knowledge of intra‐union oppositional groupings. Such groupings within the postal workers are shown to have influence as the result of the 'strategy' of a small number of activists within largely conducive circumstances of internal strife and worker combativity. However, they do not accord to our normal understanding of factions, being better characterized as shifting and temporary networks and alliances.     

Principles for a European Union''s Public Debt

The EU has neither the power to tax nor the right to run a public debt. We analyze if the EU should receive the right for public indebtedness. We make use of the normative theory of public indebtedness and of positive political economy analysis. Our normative analysis identified specific cases for an appropriate use of public indebtedness. According to the political economy analysis, a misuse of public debt may be possible. As the implementation of strict constitutional constraints can limit this misuse, we propose the assignment of a right to public borrowing to the EU within tight constitutional restrictions.     

Long- and short-term interest rates in 19 countries: Tests of cointegration and parameter instability

This paper examines the long-run relationship between short-term and long-term interest rates (both nominal and real) in 19 countries, and explores the possibility that the relationship is statistically stable using Lc, MeanF, and SupF statistics suggested by Hansen [1992]. Empirical results obtained from various cointegration techniques (Johansen, Phillips and Hansen, Stock and Watson, and Park) and quarterly data (1973–1998) show considerable support for the expectations hypothesis in all countries (except the United Kingdom). In a majority of cases, it is also found that a stable relationship exists between the short-term and long-term interest rates.     

Trade Union Derecognition in Britain, 1988–1994

Since the initial studies of derecognition, many articles have focused on the issue, by and large pointing to a slow increase in derecognition. However, a small number have indicated it is actually much larger. This paper shows that derecognition is even greater than these suggest and that its nature has changed. The paper looks at the contexts of this rise but argues that derecognition should not yet be seen as a major problem facing the unions.