Trajectories of Internationalization: Knowledge and National Business Styles in the Making of Two Dutch Publishing Multinationals, 1950-1990

The internationalization of business is the subject of an extensivetheoretical literature as well as a growing number of historicalstudies. Historians have paid relatively little attention tothe development of multinationals in the service sector, andstudies about international publishing are especially scarce.This article discusses the early internationalization of twoDutch publishing firms, Kluwer (now Wolters Kluwer) and Elsevier(now Reed Elsevier) and confronts these case histories withthe evolutionary theory of internationalization. The Dutch casesunderline the important role of experience, knowledge and learningas well as of the national context in which companies develop.They also show that these factors allow for very different trajectoriesof internationalization within the same branch of business andthe same country.     

Defining Markets for Ex Ante Regulation using the Hypothetical Monopoly Test

The EU is gradually systematizing its approach to ex ante regulation (notably with the publication of the recent regulatory framework for Electronic communications). Market definition is viewed as an essential first step in this, with the ‘Hypothetical Monopoly Test’ a useful conceptual tool for use in the assessment. This paper examines the use of this test for market definition when there are several differentiated goods or services under consideration. It sets out an analytic framework, discusses the pros and cons of using the test and illustrates its use in a Telecom context.     

Jan Luiten van Zanden and Arthur van Riel. The Strictures of Inheritance: The Dutch Economy in the Nineteenth Century. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004. xv + 377 pp. ISBN 0-691-11438-2, $55.00 (cloth).

The economic history of the Netherlands during the nineteenthcentury demonstrates some remarkable features when comparedwith other countries such as the United Kingdom or Belgium.Dutch industrialization is "slow," "late," and even "different,"often attributed to a lack of natural resources (like coal andore) and/or entrepreneurial spirit. This protracted developmentgenerated some debate between Dutch historians, but no consensuswas reached until the publication in 1968 of J. A. de Jonge’sbook on Dutch industrialization between 1850 and     

Budgeting and governing for deficit reduction in the UK public sector: act three ‘accountability and audit arrangements’

This paper explains how the UK central government has changed accountability and audit arrangements for local government in England, while retaining its approach to setting annual budgets within the context of multi-year spending reviews. It highlights how dismantling the institutions and processes that monitored outputs and outcomes for spending, such as public service agreements and comprehensive area assessment, meant that top-down accountability became focused overwhelmingly on financial conformance rather than organizational performance for local government. Supplementary reforms to increase the transparency or ‘visibility’ of public administration, and thereby enable greater bottom-up accountability, have resulted in a performance assessment system that is neither rigorous nor standardized. The overall result is a weakening of local accountability arrangements.     

Able,willing, and knowing: the effects of HR practices on commitment and effort in 26 European countries

This study extends previous studies of human resource (HR) practices by examining how organizational commitment and work effort are related to the use of HR practices enhancing discretion and skills based on international comparative survey data from 26 European countries. By analyzing individual level data instead of the organizational level data that are examined in prior studies, this article allows investigating whether and how employee perceptions of HR practices are related to their attitudes and behavior. The multilevel analyses largely support the hypotheses that both the intensity and the consistency of these HR practices contribute to organizational commitment and work effort since they enhance the ability of employees and their willingness to cooperate and inform them about the expectations of the organization.     

Shadow prices,consistency and the value of life

This paper examines the consequences of inconsistent shadow pricing. The principal example of such inconsistency is the value of life/safety. Second-best shadow pricing policy is shown to depend upon how public sector budgets are allocated and the principle that public sector decision-makers should agree to a consistent shadow price is shown to require information unlikely to be available. A weaker consistency principle requiring minimal information is then developed.     

Decoupling from China: an economic analysis of the impact on the U.S. economy of a permanent tariff on Chinese imports

Business Economics - America’s pursuit of low-cost overseas production and China’s thirst for export markets have resulted in industrial decline in the U.S. and raised serious questions...