Business Commons^™

Corporate Disclosure: A Symposium, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

Asia Vs América Latina, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Unemployment Relief In Great Britain, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] Relatively little has been written about unemployment relief during the period between the passage of the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834 and the adoption of national unemployment insurance in 1911. This study is an attempt to help fill the gap in the literature. It examines the changing roles played by poor relief, private charity, trade unions, and public employment in the lives of the urban unemployed during cyclical downturns from 1834 to 1911. The story that emerges offers no support for a "Whig theory of welfare." Public assistance for the unemployed was more generous, and more certain, from …

The Development Of The Neoclassical Tradition In Labor Economics, George R. Boyer, Robert S. Smith

George R. Boyer

This essay on labor economics examines neoclassical theory's rise to ascendancy following the second World War, with a secondary focus on the relative decline but continued influence of institutionalist economic theory. The authors describe the evolution of institutional and neoclassical theory from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, examine some early intellectual debates between the two camps, briefly describe the work of neoclassical labor economics pioneers, and look at major developments over the past 30 years. They argue that neoclassical economists' increasing intellectual breadth and influence in public policy have led them to pay closer attention to issues that have …

The Historical Background Of The Communist Manifesto, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] The Manifesto of the Communist Party, published 150 years ago in London in February 1848, is one of the most influential and widely-read documents of the past two centuries. The historian A. J. P. Taylor (1967, p. 7) has called it a "holy book," and contends that because of it, "everyone thinks differently about politics and society." And yet, despite its enormous influence in the 20th century, the Manifesto is very much a period piece, a document of what was called the "hungry" 1840s. It is hard to imagine it being written in any other decade of the 19th …

Malthus Was Right After All: Poor Relief And Birth Rates In Southeastern England, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

The payment of child allowances to laborers with large families was widespread in early nineteenth-century England. This paper tests Thomas Malthus's hypothesis that child allowances caused the birth rate to increase. A cross-sectional regression model is estimated to explain variations in birth rates across parishes in 1826-30. Birth rates are found to be related to child allowances, income, and the availability of housing, as Malthus contended. The paper concludes by examining the role played by the adoption of child allowances after 1795 in the fertility increase of the early nineteenth century.

The Poor Law, Migration, And Economic Growth, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

The loss to the English economy caused by decreased migration resulting from relief payments to agricultural laborers is estimated. I conclude that, at worst, the Poor Law had a small negative impact on national product. If poor relief and wages were substitutes, the Poor Law may have had a positive impact on capital formation and economic growth.

What Did Unions Do In Nineteenth-Century Britain?, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

The article examines the development of the insurance function of trade unions. It analyzes how such policies worked, and why union benefit packages differed across occupations. It also addresses the impact of insurance policies on union organization. Insurance benefits increased the ability of unions to attract and retain members. They did not, however, significantly increase the power of union leaders relative to employers or union rank and file.

Unemployment And The Uk Labour Market Before, During And After The Golden Age, Timothy J. Hatton, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

During the ‘golden age’ of the 1950s and 1960s unemployment in Britain averaged 2 per cent. This was far lower than ever before or since and a number of hypotheses have been put forward to account for this unique period in labour market history. But there has been little attempt to isolate precisely how the determinants of wage setting and unemployment differed before, during and after the golden age. We estimate a two-equation model over the whole period from 1872 to 1999 using a newly constructed set of long-run labour market data. We find that the structure of real wage …

Labour Migration In Southern And Eastern England, 1861-1901, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

This paper examines the determinants of migration from 19 southern counties to six major destinations in England and Wales from 1861-70 to 1891-1900. I find that, while the size of origin-destination wage gaps and the distance between origin and destination areas were important determinants of migration flows, as expected, migration was also strongly influenced by the number of previous migrants from an origin county living in a destination. The assistance provided by previous migrants to friends and relatives contemplating migration led to a perpetuation of earlier migration patterns, and helps to explain the continued dominance of London as a destination …

New Estimates Of British Unemployment, 1870-1913, George R. Boyer, Timothy J. Hatton

George R. Boyer

We present new estimates of the British industrial unemployment rate for 1870- 1913, which improve on the Board of Trade's prior estimates. We use similar sources, but our series includes additional industrial sectors, allows for short-time working, and aggregates the various sectors using appropriate labor-force weights from the census. The resulting index suggests a rate of industrial unemployment that was generally higher, but less volatile, than the board's index. We then adjust our series to an economywide basis, and construct a consistent time series of overall unemployment for 1870-1999.

Film And Television Production In Massachusetts: The Beginning Of Hollywood East?, Pacey C. Foster, David Terkla

David G. Terkla

After declining in the 1990s (laubacher, 2006), the Massachusetts film and television industry reached a nadir with the closing of the Massachusetts film office in 2002. To revitalize this once-thriving local creative industry, in 2005 the state legislature passed a tax incentive plan that provided a bankable tax credit for qualifying motion picture and television productions in Massachusetts. As updated in 2007, the Massachusetts film tax credit (FTC) provides a refundable/transferrable tax credit for 25% of qualifying wage and non-wage production expenses and a sales tax exemption for qualifying in-state spending. Massachusetts joined, at the maximum, 43 other states in …

Technology Enhanced Learning: Students' Views, Eileen O'Donnell, Mary Sharp

Eileen O'Donnell

User feedback is very important in all areas of computer science especially in the development of computer applications. Hence, student feedback on the use of technology enhanced learning in higher education in Ireland is relevant to the quality of the learning resources to be created by learning designers and academics in the future. The book “Student Reactions to Learning with Technologies: Perceptions and Outcomes” (Moyle & Wijngaards, 2012) was published by IGI Global in October 2011. This book includes contributions from various authors who are interested in students’ feedback regarding how technology has impacted on their educational experience. This book …

Film And Television Production In Massachusetts: Industry Overview And Analysis, Pacey C. Foster, David G. Terkla, Robert Laubacher

David G. Terkla

This report describes the structure and recent growth of the film and television industry in Massachusetts. We begin with a discussion of national trends in this industry and find that Massachusetts is one of the fastest growing locations for film and television production in the United States. We then discuss recent employment trends in this sector and find that there has been significant recent growth in the total number of local film and television production jobs, particularly among the unionized crew and actors that staff local productions. Examination of federal data reveals that between 2005 and 2008 there has been …

Spreadsheet-Based Gis Models, Roger Blake, Jeffrey Keisler, Janet Wagner

Jeffrey Keisler

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which are computer-based systems that allow decision makers to incorporate geographically based data into their analyses, are widespread and powerful tools in many business and scientific settings today. In this paper, we present a tutorial discussing ways in which GIS functionality can be implemented within the spreadsheet environment. We show the straightforward and natural analogy between several GIS functions with spreadsheet functions, particularly for raster based data. We present two realistic examples meshing OR/MS methods with GIS methods --- an integration which is greatly enhanced by the “remarkable development platform” provided by spreadsheets. We discuss the …

The Value Of Refining Buy-Up Alternatives For Portfolio Decision Analysis, Jeffrey Keisler

Jeffrey Keisler

Portfolio project selection and in particular portfolio decision analysis (DA) approaches at their most basic rely on a simple economic notion – rank investments in order of value gained per dollar spent and fund them in this order until the budget is spent. But the quality of the recommendations generated by such an approach is only as good as the quality of the assumptions about projects that are used. In this paper we consider how much effort is worth expending to improve definition of alternatives at the project level.

When To Consider Synergies In Project Portfolio Decisions, Jeffrey Keisler

Jeffrey Keisler

Portfolio decision analysis often evaluates R&D projects one at a time and uses these evaluations as the basis for profit-maximizing funding decisions. This approach can overlook strategic fit between projects. In theory, it is possible to identify synergies between projects and then fund the set of projects that maximize profit. In practice, the time and attention required to identify all such synergies may be prohibitive. Several analytic strategies are applied to simulated project portfolios with varying characteristics, using a matrix representation of interdependent portfolio elements. The results illustrate the potential impact on portfolio profit accruing from various means of considering …

Uncertainty, Technical Change, And Policy Models, Erin Baker, Leon Clarke, Jeffrey Keisler, Ekundayo Shittu

Jeffrey Keisler

Both climate change and technical change are uncertain. In this paper we show the importance of including both uncertainties when modeling for policy analysis. We then develop an approach for incorporating uncertainty of technical change into climate change policy analysis. We define and demonstrate a protocol for bottom-up expert assessments about prospects for technologies. We then describe a method for using such assessments to derive a probability distribution over future abatement curves, and to estimate random return functions for technological investment in different areas. Finally, we show how these analytic results could be used in a variety of energy-economic models …

Cae Otro Muro Socialista, Guillermo Arosemena

Guillermo Arosemena

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Comparative Income Taxation: A Structured Analysis, Hugh J. Ault, Brian J. Arnold

Hugh J. Ault

This work presents a comparative analysis of some of the structural and design issues which are involved in mature income tax systems. Countries selected for the study are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each of the systems has evolved its own particular set of approaches and principles, outlined in Part One. Ensuing Parts deal with Basic Income Taxation, Taxation of Business Organizations and International Taxation. There is much to learn in the tax field from a comparative analysis of common problems. One need not believe in the existence of a …

Corporate Integration, Tax Treaties, And The Division Of The International Tax Base: Principles And Practices., Hugh J. Ault

Hugh J. Ault

In this Article, Professor Ault begins with an examination of the evolution of treaty principles for the allocation of and restrictions on international taxing jurisdiction. He then focuses on how economically based principles dealing with the taxation of international income affect treaty policy and presents the basic structural provisions involving the taxation of foreign income and foreign investors that emerge from domestically enacted or proposed integration systems. The technical aspects of the actual treaty practices that have been implemented with respect to integration systems are then related to the theoretical discussion. Professor Ault concludes with an examination of the implications …

[Review Of The Book Jobs And Incomes In A Globalizing World], Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This is a timely book about the labour market effects of globalization – specifically, the effects of globalization on jobs, wages and incomes in industrialized and developing countries. Ajit Ghose defines globalization as “a process of integration of national markets into a global market.” Globalization, he writes, is of such great concern now because of a new development: trade between developed and developing countries in competing products.

[Review Of The Book Beneath The Miracle: Labor Subordination In The New Asian Industrialism], Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] Have workers in the newly industrializing countries (NIC's) of Asia benefited from the rapid economic growth in their economies? In this important book, Frederic Deyo contends that "beneath the miracle" of economic growth is the "extreme political subordination and exclusion of workers" in the economic development of Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. He sees the inability of East Asian workers to "influence the political and economic decisions that have shaped their lives" as the "dark underside" of Asian economic growth. The main body of the book is an examination of why this subordination has taken place.

[Review Of The Book Technology Choice And Employment Generation By Multinational Corporations In Developing Countries], Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] The present volume, by addressing technology choice and employment in multinational enterprises (MNEs), adds to our understanding of the determinants of demand for labor in developing countries. The book synthesizes results from case studies of MNEs in Singapore, Nigeria, Brazil, India, and Kenya, and it does so in such a way that the main conclusions can easily be identified.

[Review Of The Book Studies Of Urban Labour Market Behaviour In Developing Areas], Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] In the 1970s social scientists from all disciplines became aware that an understanding of how labor markets function is central to determining who benefits from economic growth. Only a few researchers concerned with the economic development of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, however, have examined labor markets in any serious way. Hence, a compendium entitled Studies of Urban Labour Market Behavior in Developing Areas is particularly welcome.

[Review Of The Book Bridging The Gap: Four Newly Industrialising Countries And The Changing International Division Of Labour], Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] The central focus of this book is the labor force in the context of structural change. Its title, "Bridging the Gap," signifies a concern with drawing the NICs closer to the developed world. The author, a senior economist and staff member of the International Labour Organisation, argues that "the experience of these four NICs also holds lessons for OECD countries, as it deals with such now universal issues as the role of government in the promotion of new ventures; how new growth areas can be identified; how foreign investors are attracted; and what the costs and benefits of government …

Paradox Of Writing Clear Rules: Interplay Of Financial Reporting Standards And Engineering, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

Not Every Risk Manager Needs To Become An Erm, Zachary S. Finn

Zachary S. Finn

The author reflects on the responsibilities of risk managers in fulfilling their important role in insurance companies. He asserts that traditional risk managers needs to be part adjuster, part attorney, part underwriter, part risk-finance professional and part loss-control engineer. With such profound task, he contends that risk managers can perform their vital role in the organization without the need of becoming an enterprise risk manager.

What Do You Charge? It Depends., Zachary S. Finn

Zachary S. Finn

Explores pricing variables for risk management service fees. Client's risk management service needs; Level of investment needed to meet the clients' risk management needs; Measurement of the return on investment.

Why Not Rms In In Insurance Agencies?, Zachary S. Finn

Zachary S. Finn

Comments on the significant role played by risk managers in the insurance industry as well as in companies which have limited or no knowledge as to what risk management is.