Working-time reduction and employment: experiences in Europe and economic policy recommendations

The paper seeks to evaluate the evidence on the employment effectsof the collective working-time reductions in Europe over thepast 20 years. While theoretical analyses produce contradictoryassessments, most empirical studies show positive employmenteffects but take insufficient account of these conditions underwhich the reductions in working time were implemented. Theseconditions for the success of collective working-time reductionsinclude an active training policy designed to minimise skillshortages in the labour market, the modernisation of work organisation,wage increases in conjunction with productivity gains and amore equal income distribution.     

Project Evaluation and Uncertainty in Practice: A Statistical Analysis of Rate-of-Return Divergences of 1,015 World Bank Projects

This article analyzes the World Bank's experience with projectevaluation for a sample of 1,015 projects by comparing estimatedrates of return at appraisal with reestimated rates of returnwhen construction works are completed, usually 5 to 10 yearsafter appraisal. The analysis highlights the high degree ofuncertainty in project analysis. A wide range of variables hasbeen introduced to explain the observed divergence in appraisaland reestimated rates of return, but only a relatively smallpart of the divergence can be explained, even with the benefitof hindsight. Project analysis thus has to cope with a largedegree of uncertainty, which the traditional methods of projectevaluation and selection have not been able to reduce.     

The short-term responsiveness of consumer expenditures in the Austrian economy

Zusammenfassung Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die kurzfristige Reagibilität von verschiedenen Konsumentenausgaben innerhalb eines theoretischen Rahmens, der alle Ausgabenkategorien symmetrisch behandelt, zu schätzen. Angesichts der Beschränkungen, die von den Daten her auferlegt werden, werden nicht alle Ausgabenkategorien in der Analyse berücksichtigt, aber die Parameter der Gleichungen der vernachlässigten Kategorien können kraft der Eigenschaften des Modells als Restgrößen bestimmt werden.Die Parameter der Gleichung für die Ausgaben für nichtdauerhafte Konsumgüter und Dienstleistungen sind konsistent mit der Auffassung, wie sie in der Life-Cycle Hypothese und der Permanenten-Einkommenshypothese formuliert wird, daß diese Konsumausgaben eher vom Vermögen als von der Liquidität beschränkt sind, und dem langfristigen Trend des verfügbaren Einkommens folgen. Dagegen reagieren die Ausgaben für dauerhafte Konsumgüter und die Aufnahme von Konsumkrediten sehr stark auf Erhöhungen der laufenden Einkommen.Die gesamten Konsumausgaben reagieren jedoch eher zögernd auf Einkommensänderungen, auch wenn diese als permanent betrachtet werden. Ein Anstieg der Einkommen um 1% bewirkt im Durchschnitt der folgenden vier Quartale eine Veränderung der Konsumausgaben um etwa 1/2%. Die Möglichkeit, die Wirtschaft durch eine flexible Handhabung von Änderungen in den Einkommensteuersätzen und in den Transfereinkommen zu stabilisieren, sind daher relativ beschränkt.     

A Diagnostic Tool for Identifying Disharmonies Within Corporate Innovation Networks

In an article in the previous issue of JPIM , Vasudevan Ramanujam and Gerhard Mensch introduced the concept of mismatches in the perceptions and priorities of various functional specialists, staff and line managers, and senior managers. These mismatches highlight lack of agreement among key participants in the innovation management process within a given company and indicate problems that could hinder performance of the whole management interaction system. Here Mensch and Ramanujam explore the use of a new managerial instrument that can help technology driven companies that are caught in a stalemate in technology. The technique is designed to improve new product development and commercialization of new technology by diagnosing discrepancies in awareness, sense of urgency, and opinions on technological choices which may exist within the organization.     

A theory of operational cash holding,endogenous financial constraints,and credit rationing

This paper develops a theory of operational cash holding. Liquidity shocks due to delayed payments must be financed using cash or short-term debt. Debt holders provide an irrevocable credit line given a firm's expected insolvency risk, and equity holders select optimum cash holding. The model demonstrates the trade-off between cash holding and investing in fixed assets. Introducing uncertain cash flows leads to precautionary cash holding if debt holders impose financial constraints. Precautionary cash holding, in turn, reduces insolvency risk enhancing access to short-term finance. The theory shows that credit rationing can occur in the absence of market frictions. Using U.S. data from 1998 to 2012, empirical findings suggest that the decline in credit lines has contributed to the increase in cash holding in line with theoretical predictions.     

Marion G. Müller,International University Bremen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Cross-channel integration – is it valued by customers?

It has been common for retail companies to use multiple channels simultaneously. However, simultaneous use is only the first step in creating a customer-centric multichannel system that demands channel synergies rather than parallel retail formats. Therefore, the perceived integration of customer-related functions and processes between the channels of multichannel systems is analyzed with respect to its significance for customer loyalty and usage of a multichannel system. Drawing on a sample (n) of 981 customers, the results indicate that linkages between retail channels positively affect customer loyalty and verify the importance of establishing a well-integrated – ‘seamless’ as perceived by the customer – multichannel system.