In support of the new working class thesis: the case of the Irish white collar worker

This study, using data collected from 325 Irish white-collar employees in the private sector, examines the extent to which white-collar trade unionism may be regarded as a response to concern about the lack of achievement of desired levels of self-expression at work.     

Industrial Concentration,Output, and Trade: An Empirical Exploration

This paper explores the relationship between concentration, output and trade usingtheory and empirical analysis of matched data on 82 manufacturing industries in seven countries. It finds that the higher is domestic concentration in an industry compared to international concentration, the lower is the domestic share of world output and thesmaller are net exports. This relationship persists even when industries with high levelsof concentration are excluded.     

A precautionary tale:

In the wake of the minimal disruption to computer systems arising from the Y2K Millennium Bug, there has been a notable lack of discussion about whether the huge expenditures devoted to solving the problem were justified. The most common response was that they were worth it ‘just to be on the safe side’. Furthermore, there were many related benefits in upgraded infrastructure and improved systems. We argue that in fact Y2K activity is an important if unexpected example of the ‘precautionary principle’ at work, i.e. acting in advance to ward off potential danger despite a lack of full scientific certainty about the extent of danger. It was unexpected because it was championed by corporations and governments who routinely oppose precautionary policies directed at environmental issues such as global warming. The paper outlines several reasons why Y2K was acted upon so swiftly while environmental issues are not, and explores what lessons may be learnt from the Y2K episode in terms of future strategies for dealing with environmental danger.     

Encouraging group skills in accountancy students: an innovative apporach

This paper evalutes a three year programme in a UK university which recently won the Partnership Award from Cooper & Lybrand, Deloitte for innovation in higher education. The programme aims to encourage student to work in groups and to reflect upon the processes and the group dynamics involved. The first part of the paper provides the context for the paper and the context in which the programme runs. n example of a case study used in the programme is described in detail and the way in which it draws together subject areas within the degree is illustrated. Finally the programme is evaluted in terms of its successes and its problem areas.     

Global Insights Into Essential Elements Food Safety: The Chinese Example

This article brings together insights on the global challenges of achieving a safe food system. Through looking at examples of food safety initiatives, relevant success factors are identified and then distilled into five essential elements for developing a robust and safe food system. While much of the work in this area looks at government initiatives, this article looks particularly at industry-led initiatives. The article includes a brief look at the importance of food in Chinese culture and the current structure of the Chinese food chain. Specific initiatives from other markets are reviewed, and the five elements are outlined.     

Can Banks Self‐Regulate? Voluntary Agreements,Intrinsic Motivation and Games

This article argues that lessons on how to achieve a sustainable financial system can be learnt from the work done on sustainable commons (on common‐pool resources – CPRs – where there is no ‘tragedy of the commons’). Existing approaches to financial regulation may not give proper attention to available solutions. The article proposes that innovative solutions could be tested using experimental methods commonly used in CPRs: repeat run, feedback driven games.     

The role of clustering in the growth of new technology-based firms

This study analyses the relationship between clusters and the growth performance of new U.S. technology-based firms. It is argued that firms benefit because clustering provides access to specialized resources that cannot be developed internally. The empirical results indicate that distance from a cluster is negatively related to growth, but clustering has a greater positive impact on biotech firms. Proximity to a cluster within a diverse metropolitan area is associated with superior growth performance only for firms that rely heavily on broad, downstream supply chain effects (that is, for information and communications technology firms).     

Food for Thought? A Rejoinder on Peer-review and RAE2008 Evidence

This Rejoinder responds to criticisms made by Simon Hussain (2011) Hussain, S. 2011. Food for thought on the ABS Academic Journal Quality Guide. Accounting Education: an international journal, 20(6), : 545–559. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar] about the construction and operation of the Association of Business Schools' (ABS) Academic Journal Quality Guide. In this paper the broad purposes of journal lists and guides are outlined before an account is given of the long history and multiple forms of these lists, particularly in the field of Accounting. Having described the main features of different types of journal list, the advantages and benefits of the approach adopted in the compilation of the ABS Journal Quality Guide is outlined. The paper then ends by noting that one of the copy-editing mistakes identified by Dr Hussain has been rectified, but the remaining concerns about the rating of accounting education and accounting history journals reflect the absence of these titles from journal citation reports and international journal lists. Furthermore, the lower rating of Accounting & Finance research in the RAE2008 in comparison with Business & Management Studies research in the same year and Accounting & Finance research in 2001, has more to do with the way in which the Accounting & Finance Panel calibrated and normalized its judgements than with the ratings contained within the ABS Guide.