Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Business Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 31

Full-Text Articles in Business

High Speed Rail: Strategic Information For The Australian Context, Tania Von Der Heidt, Pat Gillett, Chris Hale, Philip Laird, Alex Wardrop, Robert Weatherby, Charles Waingold, Michael Charles, Ian Rossow, Dale Coleman, Bala Ramasokeran, Rocco Zito, Michael Taylor, Adrian Pollock Dec 2012

High Speed Rail: Strategic Information For The Australian Context, Tania Von Der Heidt, Pat Gillett, Chris Hale, Philip Laird, Alex Wardrop, Robert Weatherby, Charles Waingold, Michael Charles, Ian Rossow, Dale Coleman, Bala Ramasokeran, Rocco Zito, Michael Taylor, Adrian Pollock

Dr Philip Laird

No abstract provided.


Fai La Macroeconomia Giusta. Le Molte Ragioni Del Libro Di Paul Krugman Fuori Da Questa Crisi, Adesso!, Mario Pianta Nov 2012

Fai La Macroeconomia Giusta. Le Molte Ragioni Del Libro Di Paul Krugman Fuori Da Questa Crisi, Adesso!, Mario Pianta

Mario Pianta

L’analisi della crisi e le proposte di politica economica avanzate nel nuovo libro di Paul Krugman sono esaminate sul piano delle idee e del ruolo dei governi. Il volume riprende l’approccio di Keynes, arricchito dei contributi di economisti come Fisher, Kalecki e Minsky, e offre un quadro convincente degli aspetti macroeconomici. Si affrontano le questioni della domanda, della politica monetaria e le misure di austerità che hanno aggravato la depressione in Usa ed Europa. L’analisi di Krugman, tuttavia, trascura i problemi dell’apertura internazionale, del sistema produttivo e della distribuzione del reddito. Sono discusse infine le lezioni che si possono trarre …


A Strategy For Rural Financial Market Reform: Applying The Financial Systems Approach In Ghana, Harlan M. Smith Ii, Abor Yeboah Aug 2012

A Strategy For Rural Financial Market Reform: Applying The Financial Systems Approach In Ghana, Harlan M. Smith Ii, Abor Yeboah

Harlan M. Smith

We construct, using methods advocated in one strand of the Financial Systems Approach literature, a reform-and-renewal program for one of Ghana’s struggling Rural Banks--the Kaaseman Rural Bank. Questionnaire results, local informal financial practices, recent institutional innovations in Ghanaian finance, the experiences of successful “Nontraditional” rural finance institutions in developing countries, and the operating structure of the Rural Bank program indicate that this bank can implement a group-lending scheme that will reduce significantly its transaction costs and those of its customers. We thus demonstrate how the Financial Systems Approach can be employed to promote sustainable rural financial intermediation in a specific …


Occupy Europe! Proposte Concrete Per Uscire Dalla Crisi, Mario Pianta, Salvatore Bragantini, Emiliano Brancaccio Jul 2012

Occupy Europe! Proposte Concrete Per Uscire Dalla Crisi, Mario Pianta, Salvatore Bragantini, Emiliano Brancaccio

Mario Pianta

Cambiano i governi, si susseguono i vertici, ma l’Europa non sembra ancora scorgere la luce in fondo al lungo tunnel della recessione nel quale è entrata ormai da quattro anni. Le politiche fin qui messe in campo dagli Stati si dimostrano sempre più inefficaci, se non addirittura dannose. Perché? Esistono ricette alternative capaci di favorire la ripresa dell’economia, la lotta alla disoccupazione e la sconfitta della speculazione finanziaria? Un dialogo a tre voci.


Il Professor Monti Bocciato In Economia, Mario Pianta Mar 2012

Il Professor Monti Bocciato In Economia, Mario Pianta

Mario Pianta

La politica economica del governo Monti è tutta interna all’ideologia liberista che ci ha portato dentro la crisi: anziché procedere ad una grande redistribuzione della ricchezza che possa rilanciare la domanda interna, l’esecutivo dei tecnici si barcamena fra un’austerità imposta dalla Germania e liberalizzazioni che non avranno alcun impatto sulla crescita. Ecco perché l’equilibrista liberista Monti perderà la sua scommessa.


Beach And Surf Tourism And Recreation In Australia: Vulnerability And Adaptation, Dan Ware, Michael Raybould, Neil Lazarow, David Anning Mar 2012

Beach And Surf Tourism And Recreation In Australia: Vulnerability And Adaptation, Dan Ware, Michael Raybould, Neil Lazarow, David Anning

Michael Raybould

No abstract provided.


Labor Economics, George R. Boyer, Robert Smith Feb 2012

Labor Economics, George R. Boyer, Robert Smith

George R. Boyer

The authors hypothesize that most labor economists "sooner or later had to incorporate at least the appearance of institutional concerns in their papers to avoid indigestion whenever lunching with colleagues outside the field of economics" They add: "If the new interests of modern labor economics are in fact driven by the imperatives of science, then the institutionalist and the neoclassical approaches may well synthesize".


The Union Wage Effect In Late Nineteenth Century Britain, Timothy J. Hatton, George R. Boyer, Roy E. Bailey Feb 2012

The Union Wage Effect In Late Nineteenth Century Britain, Timothy J. Hatton, George R. Boyer, Roy E. Bailey

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] This paper offers an historical dimension to the impact of trade unions on earnings by estimating the union wage effect in Britain in 1889-90 using data from the US Commissioner of Labor survey conducted at that time. The determinants of union status are also investigated in terms of a probit estimation using individual characteristics which may be correlated with union membership. The results of this first step are used in the computation of selectivity corrected estimates of the union wage effect. It is found that the effect of union membership on earnings at this time was of the order …


Poor Relief, Informal Assistance, And Short Time During The Lancashire Cotton Famine, George R. Boyer Feb 2012

Poor Relief, Informal Assistance, And Short Time During The Lancashire Cotton Famine, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] This paper presents new evidence concerning the importance of poor relief as a source of income assistance for unemployed operatives during the Lancashire cotton famine. My comparison of weekly data on the number of relief recipients in 23 distressed poor law unions with estimates of weekly cotton consumption for the period November 1861 to December 1862 suggests that the average length of time between becoming unemployed and receiving poor relief was less than 2 months. This result is shown to be consistent with available evidence on working class saving. Given the meager amount of informal assistance available to them, …


The Influence Of London On Labor Markets In Southern England, 1830-1914, George R. Boyer Feb 2012

The Influence Of London On Labor Markets In Southern England, 1830-1914, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] Historians have long acknowledged that London, because of its enormous size and rapidly growing demand for labor, acted as a powerful magnet for migrants from throughout southern England. However, while there is a large literature documenting the flow of migrants to London, there have been surprisingly few attempts to determine the consequences of this migration for southern labor markets. This article attempts to redress the imbalance in the literature by examining the influence of London on agricultural labor markets during the nineteenth century. In particular, the article examines the effect of distance from London on wage rates in southern …


Migration And Labour Market Integration In Late Nineteenth-Century England And Wales, George R. Boyer Feb 2012

Migration And Labour Market Integration In Late Nineteenth-Century England And Wales, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] There is a long and well established tradition of studies analysing the pattern and causes of internal migration and assessing the degree of labour market integration in late nineteenth-century Britain. Some studies document the flows of migrants from one area to another and describe migrant characteristics and the directions of the predominant streams of migration. Others analyse the determinants of gross or net migration flows at the region or county level. The questions implicit in these studies are: How mobile was the labour force? What were the major factors which determined individual decisions to migrate? How are these factors …


Autorità Pubbliche E Capitali Privati. Recensione A "Potenze Economiche Emergenti. Cina E India A Confronto", Mario Pianta Jan 2012

Autorità Pubbliche E Capitali Privati. Recensione A "Potenze Economiche Emergenti. Cina E India A Confronto", Mario Pianta

Mario Pianta

No abstract provided.


Editor's Introduction (Review Symposium On Converging Divergences: Worldwide Changes In Employment Systems), George R. Boyer Jan 2012

Editor's Introduction (Review Symposium On Converging Divergences: Worldwide Changes In Employment Systems), George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] During the past two decades there have been significant changes in employment systems across industrialized countries. Converging Divergences: Worldwide Changes in Employment Systems, by Harry C. Katz and Owen Darbishire, examines changes since 1980 in employment practices in seven industrialized countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and Italy—with a focus on the automotive and telecommunications industries. Katz and Darbishire find that variations in employment patterns within these countries have been increasing over the past two decades. The increase in variation is not simply a result of a decline in union strength in some sectors of …


Comments On Geraghty, Márquez, And Vizcarra, George R. Boyer Jan 2012

Comments On Geraghty, Márquez, And Vizcarra, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

Professor Boyer reviews and comments upon the three dissertations that were finalists for the Alexander Gerschenkron Prize in 2002.


[Review Of The Book Growing Public: Social Spending And Economic Growth Since The Eighteenth Century], George R. Boyer Jan 2012

[Review Of The Book Growing Public: Social Spending And Economic Growth Since The Eighteenth Century], George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] Lindert’s discussion of the costs and benefits of the welfare state is only one part, albeit the most eye-catching part, of this wide-ranging work in comparative economic history. Volume 1, written for non-specialists, presents “The Story”; it is tailor-made for upper-level undergraduate courses in economic and social history, public policy, and welfare economics. Volume 2 presents “Further Evidence,” including the regression results that underlie the findings presented in the first volume, and eighty pages of appendices. Graduate students and scholars studying the welfare state will want to read this volume in conjunction with Volume 1. For those who want …


The Economic Role Of The English Poor Law, 1780-1834, George R. Boyer Jan 2012

The Economic Role Of The English Poor Law, 1780-1834, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] Over the 85-year period from 1748/50 to 1832/34, real per capita expenditures on poor relief increased at an average rate of approximately 1 percent per year. There were also important changes in the administration of relief with respect to able-bodied laborers during the period. Policies providing relief outside of workhouses to unemployed and under-employed able-bodied laborers became widespread during the 1770s and 1780s in the grain-producing South and East of England. The so-called Speenhamland system of outdoor relief flourished until 1834, when it was abolished by the Poor Law Amendment Act. The aim of the thesis is to provide …


Governance-Default Risk Relationship And The Demand For Intermediated And Non-Intermediated Debt, Safdar Khan Dec 2011

Governance-Default Risk Relationship And The Demand For Intermediated And Non-Intermediated Debt, Safdar Khan

Safdar Khan

No abstract provided.


Maestros To Multipliers: Exploring The Evolution Of Public Sector Innovation Intermediation And Governance (A Case Study Of Greater Manchester, 2003-2011), Martin Wain Dec 2011

Maestros To Multipliers: Exploring The Evolution Of Public Sector Innovation Intermediation And Governance (A Case Study Of Greater Manchester, 2003-2011), Martin Wain

Martin Wain

There has been a trend within the last decade, observable to economic development practitioners, for innovation becoming increasingly integrated into and central to mainstream economic development. To date it can be seen across all areas of economic development, including factors of competitiveness and competitive advantage, to the attraction and retention of talent. Arguably, this extends the policy recommendations and implications of innovation from competitiveness and growth to the perceived dynamicity and attractiveness of a locale to potential inward investors and upwardly mobile entrepreneurs.

This dissertation explores the evolution of innovation policy, through design and implementation, over a nine-year period. The …


Debt Relief And Trade Justice In Italy, Paolo Gerbaudo, Mario Pianta Dec 2011

Debt Relief And Trade Justice In Italy, Paolo Gerbaudo, Mario Pianta

Mario Pianta

No abstract provided.


How Can Activism Make Change Happen?, Mario Pianta, Anne Ellersiek, Peter Utting Dec 2011

How Can Activism Make Change Happen?, Mario Pianta, Anne Ellersiek, Peter Utting

Mario Pianta

No abstract provided.


Global Justice Activism And Policy Reform In Europe. Understanding When Change Happens, Peter Utting, Mario Pianta, Anne Ellersiek Dec 2011

Global Justice Activism And Policy Reform In Europe. Understanding When Change Happens, Peter Utting, Mario Pianta, Anne Ellersiek

Mario Pianta

No abstract provided.


Innovation And Employment In Economic Cycles, Matteo Lucchese, Mario Pianta Dec 2011

Innovation And Employment In Economic Cycles, Matteo Lucchese, Mario Pianta

Mario Pianta

This article explores the way economic cycles influence the relationship between innovation and employment in manufacturing industries. We investigate whether the ups and downs of cycles alter the possibility of exploiting technological opportunities and affecting patterns of job creation. A model that explains industries’ employment change by combining technology and demand is proposed; the empirical test is based on data on 21 manufacturing sectors from 1995 to 2007 for Germany, France, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain. Results show that, in upswings, employment change is affected by new products, exports and wage growth, while during downswings new processes contribute …


Industrial And Innovation Policies In The European Union, Matteo Lucchese, Mario Pianta Dec 2011

Industrial And Innovation Policies In The European Union, Matteo Lucchese, Mario Pianta

Mario Pianta

The chapter argues for the need of an industrial and innovation policy and assesses theactivities of the European Union in these fields


Introduction: Understanding The Activism–Policy Nexus, Anne Ellersiek, Mario Pianta, Peter Utting Dec 2011

Introduction: Understanding The Activism–Policy Nexus, Anne Ellersiek, Mario Pianta, Peter Utting

Mario Pianta

No abstract provided.


Global Social Movement Networks And The Politics Of Change, Mario Pianta, Raffaele Marchetti Dec 2011

Global Social Movement Networks And The Politics Of Change, Mario Pianta, Raffaele Marchetti

Mario Pianta

No abstract provided.


Regional Industrial Structure And Agglomeration Economies: An Analysis Of Productivity In Three Manufacturing Industries., Joshua Drucker, Edward Feser Dec 2011

Regional Industrial Structure And Agglomeration Economies: An Analysis Of Productivity In Three Manufacturing Industries., Joshua Drucker, Edward Feser

Joshua Drucker

We investigate whether a more concentrated regional industrial structure – the dominance of a few large firms in a given industry in a region – limits agglomeration economies and ultimately diminishes the economic performance of firms in that industry, especially small ones. In an application to three industries using establishment-level production functions and a combination of confidential and publicly available data sources, we find a consistently negative and substantial direct productivity effect associated with regional industrial structure concentration and only mixed and relatively weak evidence that agglomeration economies are a mediating factor in that effect.


Explaining The Persistence Of The Informal Economy In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Explaining The Persistence Of The Informal Economy In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

To evaluate critically the competing explanations for the persistence of the informal economy that variously represent this sphere as a residue, by-product, alternative and/or complement to the formal economy, this paper reports a survey of livelihood practices in 313 Moscow households. The finding is that the majority of households primarily depend on informal work to secure their livelihood and that although each and every theorisation is wholly valid with regard to particular types of informal work and/or specific population groups, no one articulation fully captures the diverse nature and multiple meanings of the informal economy in contemporary Moscow. The paper …


Theorizing The Self-Service Economy: A Case Study Of Do-It-Yourself (Diy) Activity, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Theorizing The Self-Service Economy: A Case Study Of Do-It-Yourself (Diy) Activity, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Recently, it has become increasingly recognised that self-servicing is a growing rather than declining phenomenon. To explain this, a range of competing theories have emerged which variously portray those engaged in self-servicing either as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. This paper evaluates critically the validity of these rival explanations. To do this, the extent of, and reasons for, self-servicing in the domestic realm is empirically evaluated through an internet survey of 5,500 people living in the city of Sheffield in England. This resulted in 418 valid responses (a 7.6 …


Enabling Enterprise: Tackling The Barriers To Formalisation, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Enabling Enterprise: Tackling The Barriers To Formalisation, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.


From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Drawing inspiration from a burgeoning corpus of scholars who have begun to question the narrative of impending market hegemony, this paper seeks to further advance this emergent ‘diverse economies’ literature by constructing a conceptual framework for representing the multiple labour practices in economies. Transcending the simplistic market/non-market dichotomy, this conceptualises multiple kinds of labour existing along a spectrum from market-oriented to non-market oriented practices, which is cross-cut by another spectrum ranging from wholly monetised to wholly non-monetised practices. The resultant portrayal of a plurality of labour practices that seamlessly merge into each other is then applied to understanding the types …