bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Conceptual Framework for Corporate Governance Reform in South Korea
Authors: Solomon Jill , Solomon Aris , Park Chang–Young
Published: March 2003

South Korea is currently undergoing reform of its corporate governance (CG) system, reflecting attempts to harmonise at a global level. Since the financial crisis in 1997, the need for reform has been emphasised and the Government is leading a policy which targets the traditional structure of the chaebol, as well as the system of corporate ownership and control in South Korea. In this paper, we outline the traditional system of CG in South Korea and review the broad agenda for CG reform which is currently taking place. From our review, we develop a conceptual framework which makes the implicit CG reforms in South Korea explicit. The framework comprises two inter–related models which represent the forces driving reform, the need for reform and the specific initiatives instrumental to reform. On the basis of our review and conceptual framework, we conclude by making a number of policy recommendations for the future direction of CG reform in South Korea. Specifically, we suggest a policy of corporate governance awareness involving a more penetrating policy of reform and incorporating the establishment of a CG forum. Our recommended policy should result in the reforms working from within the chaebol and CG system, rather than from without. For reform to have a permanent effect, the policies need to address the business culture, traditions and internal structure of the system. We suggest that this can only be achieved by increasing general awareness of the need for CG and the reasons underlying the current policy as well as by nurturing mutual trust and understanding between the parties involved.
An Examination of the Role of Audit Committees in the Saudi Arabian Corporate Sector
Authors: Al–Twaijry 1 Abdulrahman A. M. , Brierley John A. , Gwilliam David R.
Published: March 2003

Based on a series of research interviews with academics and external and internal auditors, this paper examines the role of audit committees in the Saudi Arabian corporate sector. The interviewees expressed concerns about the terms of reference of audit committees and the scope of work undertaken. The independence of audit committees was called into question, as was the expertise of audit committee members. Audit committees had failed to establish close working relationships with either internal or external auditors. A particular criticism was that the requirements for audit committees as set out in Ministerial Resolve 903 lacked clarity. It was suggested that the Ministry of Commerce should issue further regulations and guidance in order to improve the effectiveness of audit committees and to enhance corporate governance in Saudi Arabia.
Managing Collaborative Quality: A Challenging Innovation
Authors: Rura‐Polley Thekla , Clegg Stewart
Published: March 2003

This paper investigates the theoretical challenges involved in developing an administrative innovation: managing collaborative quality. The emergence of new collaborative organizational forms has left managers in a quandary: how can they manage quality where several organizations come together to produce a product or deliver a service? In the past most quality definitions and techniques focused exclusively on intra‐organizational quality. In strategic alliances, networks, project organizations and other collaborative arrangements, such an intra‐organizational focus leads to severe limitations. This paper shows how the current status of collaboration and quality research poses serious challenges for companies that want to develop innovative approaches to managing collaborative quality.
‘A or B’ to ‘A and B’
Authors: Mann Darrell
Published: March 2003

nal responses to such situations predominantly involve trade–off and compromise. This either/or thinking style almost invariably leads to lose–lose outcomes. This in turn despite the inordinate amount of literature and methodology available for ‘optimising’ those outcomes. Highly fashionable talk of ‘third ways’ or ‘win–win’ or ‘A and B’ solutions are an emerging counter to such thinking. Unfortunately, the literature–base for such approaches is largely non–existent, and hence win–win remains as precisely fashionable talk to most observers. This paper discusses the positive role TRIZ may be expected to play in beginning the task of turning win–win from nice idea to practical reality. Mass–customization is used as an exemplar contradiction problem.
Communication and Context: Collective Tacit Knowledge and Practice in Japan’s Workplace ba
Authors: Ray Tim , Little Steve
Published: March 2003

In contrast to Schumpeter’s “perennial gale of creative destruction” (Schumpeter 1976: 84), government–coordinated economic development in post–1945 Japan has owed more to informal (but binding) “rules of the game” (North 1990) that situate working, learning and innovation within the spaces delineated by tightly bounded company–as–family workplace organisations or ‘ba’ (which roughly means ‘place’ or ‘interaction field’). Horizontal keiretsu groupings, together with fixed trading–patterns in supply and distribution chains, continue to support an interlocking ‘steady state’ economic structure in which new technologies tend to emerge from existing organisations. Shared experience within workplace ba generates tacit knowledge that is held in common by colleagues and retained as a potent tool for shaping future practice. It plays a vital role in facilitating ‘friction free’ communication amongst insiders, who can act as a group to ostracise and retaliate against agents who break their code. Long–term obligations link salaried male employees to their workplace ba. Consequently, autonomous boundary–spanning communities of practice, together with industry–university collaboration and other transient associations with outsiders, lack legitimacy. Cook and Brown’s (1999) pluralist epistemology is used to compare Western interpretations of Mode 1 and Mode 2 knowledge (Gibbons et al 1994) with the privileged role that Japan’s workplace ba accord to insider collective–tacit knowledge, which we tentatively call ‘Mode 3’ knowledge.
Enterprise Resource Planning as the Trojan Horse for New Rules of Operations Management
Authors: Jenkins Roger
Published: March 2003

The control of operations, for example; the flow of materials, the scheduling of production, the planning of capacity – these are central problem in operations management. A substantial body of technique, with attendant technologies, has been developed to facilitate the problem of control of operations. One such technique is Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP). This technique has developed in power and scope in concert with the development of power in computer based technology. From the perspective of the operations management literature, MRP has evolved into MRP II, and now into Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). MRP, and MRP II are systems that are embedded within the operations function, and can be controlled legitimately by the operations function; ERP is fundamentally different. ERP systems in their model implementation are enterprise wide, integrated systems. As an enterprise wide system, ERP has created an opportunity to distance the power to influence operations actions from the location of the function. This change has significant implications for the companies adopting the technology, and more specifically, for the profession of operations management. This paper develops a framework of analysis for this change, presents a set of small cases, and discusses some implications that can be drawn from the analysis. The “three arenas of information use – sense making, knowledge creating, and decision making” (Choo 1998, p.3) must be allowed to energize each other and this can only happen if organization wide information systems, such as ERP, respect and empower situated action, enable ambiguity, and allow the use of multiple interpretive frames as managers interact with the situations of operations management.
Research and Development as a Competence Creating Business in a Business
Authors: Fisscher Olaf A.M. , Visscher Klaasjan , Pearson Alan , Weisenfeld Ursula
Published: March 2003

Research and development departments in industrial firms may not take it for granted anymore that they are the only preferred supplier of research and development to the company of which they are a part. The growing need to be innovative and the increasing availability of innovative competencies on the market result in a pressure on these departments to become more business–like and to reconsider their sources of competitive advantage over other (potential) suppliers of research and development. Traditionally, scientific and technological knowledge and skills concerning the product were the prime source. Nowadays, managerial competencies and the ability to work for and with your clients and suppliers are becoming more important. To become a competitive business in a business, research and development departments should create the competencies that enable them to create value for their clients. This calls for good competence management, comprising management of human resources, information technology, and internal and external interfaces. In this paper we explore what it means and what it takes for research and development departments to implement competence management, elaborating it theoretically and describing a case of competence management in the research and development department of a European car company.
Creativity in Multidisciplinary New Product Development Teams
Authors: Vissers Geert , Dankbaar Ben
Published: March 2003

New product development is usually teamwork. Product development teams are created that are cross–functional, representing different functional units, or multidisciplinary, involving several disciplines, or both. In any case, conceiving and developing new products is a joint effort, which means that the traditional view of creativity may not apply. This view, characterized by a focus on individuals as agents of creativity and by the assumption that creativity is a unilateral quality, not a reciprocal or interactive phenomenon, continues to be influential. As a result, much of the dynamics of ‘newness–generation’ and ‘newness–reception’ in organizations remains to be studied. This paper describes the organization of new product development in a number of medium–sized companies. It will discuss the theoretical issues of newness generation in multidisciplinary new product development teams and newness reception in the larger organization, and present the results of a series of exploratory interviews.
The Neuropsychological Bases of Category Learning
Authors: Ashby F. Gregory , Waldron Elliott M.
Published: March 2003

There is a long history of research into how people learn new categories of objects or events. Recent advances have led to new insights about the neuropsychological basis of this critically important cognitive process. In particular, there is now good evidence that the frontal cortex and basal ganglia contribute to category learning, that medial temporal lobe structures make a more minor contribution, and that categorization rules are not represented in visual cortex. There is also strong evidence that normal category learning is mediated by at least two separate systems. A recent neuropsychological theory of category learning that is consistent with these data is described.
Pabiku and Ga Ti Ga
Authors: Marcus Gary F.
Published: March 2003

Some of the things that adults learn about language, and about the world, are very specific, whereas others are more abstract or rulelike. This article reviews evidence showing that infants, too, can very rapidly acquire both specific and abstract information, and considers the mechanisms that infants might use in doing so.
Behaviorism and Unity in Psychology
Authors: Kimble Gregory A.
Published: March 2003

The defining feature of behaviorism is that it works with publicly observable stimuli and responses. One version, stimulus-response behaviorism, predicts responses from stimuli or situations. Another version, response-response behaviorism, predicts targeted responses from other responses. Unobservable mental states are intervening variables—hypothetical constructs if they have postulated material existence—that mediate these relationships. Cognition, affect, and reaction tendency are the major conceptual categories in this psychology. Its basic axioms state that behavior is (a) a function of enduring potentials for and temporary instigation to action, (b) controlled by excitation and inhibition, and (c) a blend of coping in situations in which organisms have control and adaptation in situations in which control is lacking. This view offers the hope of bringing unity to psychology.
Causal Learning: Association Versus Computation
Authors: Dickinson Anthony
Published: March 2003

Causal learning enables humans and other animals not only to predict important events or outcomes, but also to control their occurrence in the service of needs and desires. Computational theories assume that causal judgments are based on an estimate of the contingency between a causal cue and an outcome. However, human causal learning exhibits many of the characteristics of the associative learning processes thought to underlie animal conditioning. One problem for associative theory arises from the finding that judgments of the causal power of a cue can be revalued retrospectively after learning episodes when that cue is not present. However, if retrieved representations of cues can support learning, retrospective revaluation is anticipated by modified versions of standard associative theories.
Music: A Link Between Cognition and Emotion
Authors: Krumhansl Carol L.
Published: March 2003

Cognition and emotion are closely linked in music. The interplay between expectations and the sounded events is hypothesized to play a central role in creating musical tension and relaxation. The research summarized here is part of an ongoing program investigating how this dynamic aspect of musical emotion relates to the cognition of musical structure. Musical emotions change over time in intensity and quality, and these emotional changes covary with changes in psychophysiological measures. Perceptual studies support music-theoretic descriptions of musical structures that underlie listeners’ expectations. Cross-cultural comparisons suggest that certain psychological principles of expectation are quite general, but that musical cultures emphasize these differentially. A schema of temporal organization that relates episodes of tension and relaxation to musical form and expressive aspects of musical performance is described. Finally, some results suggest that the expression of emotion in music shares properties with the expression of emotion in speech and dance.
Psychological Adjustment to Breast Cancer
Authors: Compas Bruce E. , Luecken Linda
Published: March 2003

Breast cancer remains a highly prevalent and extraordinarily stressful experience for hundreds of thousands of women each year in the United States and around the world. Psychological research has provided a picture of the emotional and social impact of breast cancer on patients’ lives, and of factors associated with better versus worse adjustment. Psychosocial interventions have been beneficial in decreasing patients’ distress and enhancing their quality of life. Recent research also suggests that psychological factors may be related to potentially important biological disease-related processes. In addition to providing an understanding of the psychological factors in breast cancer, research in this area has provided a framework for research on adaptation to health-related stress in general.
Long–Term Recall Memory: Behavioral and Neuro–Developmental Changes in the First 2 Years of Life
Authors: Bauer Patricia J.
Published: March 2003

Until not long ago, psychologists conceptually and methodologically linked the capacity for recall of the past to developments in language. With the advent of a nonverbal measure of recall, this association has been challenged. It now is apparent that the capacity for long–term recall emerges well before the verbal ability to describe past experiences. Long–term recall is newly (or recently) emergent late in the 1st year of life; over the 2nd year, it consolidates and becomes reliable. The course of age–related changes in mnemonic behavior is consistent with current understanding of developments in the neural substrate implicated in recall memory.
Enhancing the Cognitive Vitality of Older Adults
Authors: Kramer Arthur F. , Willis Sherry L.
Published: March 2003

Aging is associated with decline in a multitude of cognitive processes and brain functions. However, a growing body of literature suggests that age-related decline in cognition can sometimes be reduced through experience, cognitive training, and other interventions such as fitness training. Research on cognitive training and expertise has suggested that age-related cognitive sparing is often quite narrow, being observed only on tasks and skills similar to those on which individuals have been trained. Furthermore, training and expertise benefits are often realized only after extensive practice with specific training strategies. Like cognitive training, fitness training has narrow effects on cognitive processes, but in the case of fitness training, the most substantial effects are observed for executive-control processes.
Memorializing Gregory the Great: the origin and transmission of a papal cult in the seventh and early eighth centuries
Authors: Thacker Alan
Published: March 2003

This article examines the origins and early development of the cult of Pope Gregory the Great (590–604) in Rome, England, Gaul and Ireland. A first section analyses the earliest Life of the pope, written between 704 and 714 at the Northumbrian monastery of Whitby, arguing that it depended not upon oral tradition but upon early writings originating among Gregory’s disciples in Rome and in part at least recorded by John Moschus. A second section relates this material to the development of Gregory’s cult in the seventh and early eighth centuries, highlighting the activity of Archbishop Theodore in England. Although clerical rather than popular, the cult thus promoted established Gregory’s reputation as a pastor, evangelist and father of the Latin liturgy.
Trade Boards and minimum wages, 1909‐39
Authors: Hatton Timothy J.
Published: March 2003

Trade Boards were first established in 1909 principally to protect workers in the sweated trades’but were vastly extended under new criteria in 1918. Although the interwar Trade Boards set wage minima which were‘tough’by modern standards there has been little analysis of their effects on employment. But in one sector, agriculture, there is clear evidence that minimum wage setting cost jobs. If similar effects occurred in other sectors covered by minimum wages then this could have added significantly to the burden of unemployment during the interwar years.
Competing for quality in defence
Authors: Pickard Clive R.
Published: March 2003

A revamped marketing testing initiative known as Competing for Quality (CFQ) was introduced to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Services in 1992. It hailed a new approach to a partnership between the defence industry and the MoD in terms of the management of defence business. The CFQ programme opened up £2.2 billion of military activities to competition. This paper examines whether this government initiative has realised its potential or not.
Trust and economic organisation
Authors: Ricketts Martin
Published: March 2003

Markets induce trust through repeat dealing and the development of reputation. Organisations economise on the use of trust through the appropriate assignment of ownership rights. Trust is not therefore simply a useful‘outside’entity which economic analysis takes for granted. The production and‘allocation’of trust are, at least partially, an outcome of the operation of the economic system. An important‘unintended consequence’of government regulation which does not attract sufficient study and comment is the implicit undermining of trust‐inducing market mechanisms and organisational structures.
Investing in private higher education in developing countries: Recent experiences of the International Finance Corporation
Authors: Van Lutsenburg Maas Jacob
Published: March 2003

Higher education, which provides mainly ‘private goods,’ is being opened to private investment in many parts of the world. The paper describes the pioneering efforts of the International Finance Corporation in this field. The IFC has approved investments in nine universities, two specialised training centres and two student loan programmes. It is too early to draw firm conclusions about the case for this form of investment, but the paper deals with some of the issues which have arisen and provides some ‘guideposts’ for evaluating future investments.
An Investigation of the Female–Male Wage Gap During the Industrial Revolution in Britain
Authors: Burnette Joyce
Published: March 2003

During the industrial revolution women's wages were substantially lower than men’s. This article documents the wage gap and shows that in most cases it can be explained without reference to wage discrimination. First, the wage data we have overestimate the wage gap; correcting for biases due to measurement error reduces the size of the wage gap. Second, because differences in productivity were substantial, the corrected wage gap is consistent with these.
The Machine–Building Industry and Austria’s Great Depression after 1873
Authors: Schulze Max‐Stephan
Published: March 2003

Adopting a sectoral perspective, this article is concerned with the pattern of economic growth in the late nineteenth‐century Habsburg empire. The timing and extent of changes in machinery output and investment support the notion of a great depression in Austria after the 1873 stock market crash and match with the direction of capital flows. The post‐1873 outflow of capital from Austria to Hungary, which was eventually reversed in the early 1890s, hampered industrial investment in the western part of the empire, and stimulated expansion in the eastern part. The evidence casts doubt on the revisionist view which postulates steady and uninterrupted growth of the Austrian economy between 1870 and 1913.
Before the National Health Service: Financing theVoluntary Hospitals, 1900–1939
Authors: Cherry Steven
Published: March 2003

This article draws upon extensive data to illustrate changes in the financing of English provincial, Scottish, and London voluntary hospitals. Traditional sources of funds other than investment earnings declined, although `windfalls' and major benefactions remained important. Among new sources, central and local government aid was limited. Workplace collections, contributory schemes, and patient payments secured the hospitals' financial position more firmly than is generally recognized, but they could not resolve longer‐term problems. These new sources illustrated the changed character of voluntary hospitals, as their original philanthropic focus upon the sick poor was largely replaced by quasi‐insurance arrangements and forms of payment from a wider social clientele.
Prices and structural response in English agriculture, 1873–1896
Authors: Hunt E.H. , Pam S.J.
Published: March 2003

This article examines an agricultural dimension of the `entrepreneurial failure' debate. It is often claimed that structural change in agriculture was retarded by the conservatism of agriculturalists in the south east who, allegedly, persisted with corn when price changes signalled a switch to meat and dairying. Existing price series and the price evidence as it appeared to farmers and landlords at the time are re‐examined and shown to be neither clear nor consistent. The evidence suggests that contrasts in the fortunes of livestock and arable farmers have been exaggerated and that in this respect, even if not others, arable farmers were less irrational than their critics suppose.
Nazi economic imperialism and the exploitation of the small: evidence from Germany’s secret foreign exchange balances, 1938‐1940
Authors: Ritschl A.O.
Published: March 2003

This article re‐examines the hypothesis of Hirschman and Child that Nazi trade policy before the Second World War exploited the smaller European countries. Archival evidence on foreign exchange balances for 1938‐40 shows that trade policies alone had only a small effect. Earlier dependence of south‐eastern Europe on Germany was caused partly by the collapse of south‐east European trade with the Soviet Union. Adjusted figures reveal a regional pattern similar to that of 1913. Generally, exploitation began with military occupation, but was then on a massive scale. Results again confirm Milward's findings on the westward orientation of the German war economy.
The wholesale and retail markets of London, 1660–1840
Authors: Smith Colin
Published: March 2003

Markets and marketing are perennial themes in English economic and social history. Yet they remain largely unexplored in relation to London during a period of remarkable growth and change, the long eighteenth century. This article begins to fill that void, by surveying over 70 London produce markets that existed during the period, and identifying patterns in their collective development. It concludes that the physical market place, though ancient in origin, evolved through the ‘commercial revolution’ as a highly dynamic and diverse institution that played a significant role in London's distribution.
Macroeconomic Implications of Cash Limits in the Public Sector
Authors: Holmlund Bertil
Published: March 2003

A cash limit is a fixed amount of money available for pay prior to the wage negotiations in the public sector. This paper examines the macroeconomic implications of cash limits in a unionized economy with decentralized wage bargaining in both private and public sectors. I focus in particular on the linkages between changes in the cash limit, wage‐setting, and employment in public and private sectors. Equilibrium unemployment is independent of the size of the public sector if there are no sectoral differences in the unions’ relative bargaining power. In general, unemployment may rise or fall by public‐sector expansion accomplished by means of an increase in the cash limit; unemployment increases if unions are relatively more powerful in the public than in the private sector.
Big‐Bank Mergers in Europe: An Analysis of the Cost Implications
Authors: Altunbarş Yener , Molyneux Philip , Thornton John
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the cost implications from hypothetical cross‐border bank mergers in the EU in light of recent claims that substantial cost savings could be expected as the result of the EU’s Single Market Programme for financial services. In fact, our results suggest only limited opportunities for costs saving from big‐bank mergers and indicate that such mergers are more likely to result in an increase in total costs. While there is a large variation in the simulated cost outcomes, the greatest opportunities for cost savings would appear to be generated by mergers between German and Italian banks. In contrast, mergers between French and German banks appear likely to result in substantial cost increases. Although the overall findings suggest limited benefits from cross‐border mergers between large banks, this may be a reflection of the methodology. Merger simulations are carried out hypothetically, ignoring any prior information about the pairings. We assume no premiums or merger costs and no further synergies resulting from such things as branch closures or a restructuring of the product mix. These assumptions may cause us to understate the potential reduction in total costs resulting from large bank mergers, and therefore our estimates provide the most pessimistic of total cost reduction outcomes. In conclusion, the substantial variation of cost outcomes generated suggests that large banks seeking economies through cross‐border mergers should select potential partners with great care.
Domestic Taxes and the External Debt Laffer Curve
Authors: Husain Aasim M.
Published: March 2003

This paper highlights the role of the domestic tax system in determining the economic consequences of an external debt overhang. The analysis indicates that fairly strong, and probably unrealistic, assumptions about the domestic tax system are needed to argue that the investment disincentives associated with the debt overhang are large enough to place a country on the wrong side of the debt Laffer curve. A simple taxation scheme is specified, and it is shown that a country can be on the ‘wrong side’ of its debt Laffer curve only if it is on the wrong side of its tax Laffer curve.
Monetary Integration, Uncertainty and the Role of Money Finance
Authors: Voss G. M.
Published: March 2003

This paper considers the positive theory of monetary integration in a general equilibrium monetary model. A role for money finance is presented which optimally reduces consumption variability when asset markets are incomplete. Importantly, this role is independent of the aggregate money stock and so does not restrict inflation policy.
The Microeconomic Analysis of the External Costs of Road Accidents
Authors: Peirson John , Skinner Ian , Vickerman Roger
Published: March 2003

A disaggregated model of the marginal external costs of road accidents imposed by different road users is developed. The model explicitly specifies the adjustment of road users to increases in accident risks imposed by additional road use and is used to estimate the marginal external costs of road accidents. The results, under certain assumptions, are up to 50% less than those obtained using the methods of previous studies. However, the adjustment to the increased risks of accidents leads to other costs, such as congestion and reduced pedestrian mobility. These costs should be included in a comprehensive analysis.
Risk Aversion, Foreign Exchange Speculation and Gambler’s Ruin
Authors: Carlson John A.
Published: March 2003

The apparent persistence of unexploited opportunities for expected profits in foreign exchange markets suggests highly risk‐averse market participants. Financial institutions put tight limits on the foreign‐exchange positions they may have at risk at any time, despite beliefs that the odds are favourable that the positions will be profitable. This ‘safety‐first’ practice is consistent with keeping the probability of ruin low enough to be of no practical concern. The setting of a very low probability of ruin for prudential reasons provides a rationale for traders behaving as if they have a degree of risk aversion that might otherwise seem implausibly high.
The Distribution of Income in the Presence of Appropriative Activities
Authors: Skaperdas Stergios , Syropoulos Constantinos
Published: March 2003

We examine the distribution of income when agents allocate their initial endowments between production and appropriation (arms investments, influence or rent‐seeking activities). Final output depends on the productive contributions of the agents but is divided between them according to their relative contributions in appropriation. Various possible improvements in an agent’s useful productivity reduce the agent’s equilibrium share of income, but increases in initial endowments increase an agent’s share. We contrast our results to those that would obtain in the competitive counterpart to our model and discuss its relevance both for history and for the present. The results extend to a class of models where distribution is determined between two groups of agents, with agents within each group behaving non‐cooperatively but without exhibiting the free‐rider problem.
Rational Partisan Theory: Evidence for Seven OECD Economies
Authors: Carlsen Fredrik , Pedersen Elin F.
Published: March 2003

According to the Rational Partisan Theory of business cycles (“RPT”), ex ante uncertainty about the outcome of elections will generate post‐election output growth fluctuations. This paper employs vote prediction equations and opinion polls to compute election win probability estimates for 62 elections in seven OECD economies. The probability estimates are used to calibrate partisan intervention terms entered in output growth regressions. For the UK and, to some extent, Canada and Australia, our results are supportive of the RPT. For the US, the calibrated intervention terms are dominated by a partisan dummy variable turned on after each election.
Campaign Contributions and the Desirability of Full Disclosure Laws
Authors: Sloof Randolph
Published: March 2003

In a signaling game model of costly political campaigning in which a candidate is dependent on a donor for campaign funds it is verified whether the electorate may benefit from campaign contributions being directly observed. By purely focusing on the informational role of campaign contributions the model seems somewhat biased against the potential benefits of direct observation. Still, the conclusion can be drawn that directly observable contributions allow for more information being revealed in equilibrium. Using this result, from an informational perspective a case can be built for the desirability of full disclosure laws.
Election Surprises and Exchange Rate Uncertainty
Authors: Garfinkel M. R. , Glazer A. , Lee J.
Published: March 2003

This papers shows that unexpected election results explain some of the unexpected variation in foreign exchange rates. The result is based on an event study which examines the behavior of the size of forecast errors implied by futures contracts for exchange rates around elections. Though elections can produce large unexpected effects on exchange rates, the effects on forecast errors are short‐lived. [ JEL codes: D72, F31.]
Spending Growth With Vertical Fiscal Imbalance: Decentralized Government Spending In Norway, 1880–1990
Authors: Borge Lars–Erik , Rattsø Jørn
Published: March 2003

Vertical fiscal imbalance, decentralized responsibility of spending with centralized financing, creates a common pool problem with spending pressure towards central funds. A model of decentralized government spending under vertical fiscal imbalance is developed, and the importance of national political characteristics for internalization of costs and spending level is investigated in an econometric analysis of Norway during 1880–1990. We argue that in a parliamentary democracy, the internalization of costs is influenced by the party fragmentation of parliament. This is confirmed by the econometric analysis using a Herfindahl index as a measure of fragmentation and political strength.
The political economy of land reform choices in Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Swinnen Johan F. M.
Published: March 2003

In all Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) land reform has been a key part of the overall agrarian reforms and land reform procedures differ significantly among CEECs. This paper, by focusing on distributional effects and political economy implications, explains why thirteen CEEC governments chose particular reform procedures. Key factors in their choices are the history of the land ownership, including the post‐collectivization ownership status, length of Communist rule, the ethnicity of pre‐collectivization owners, and the equality of pre‐collectivization asset distribution. These factors influence the distributional consequences of the land reform, including the (potential) conflicts between efficiency, social equity, and historical justice, and thus the political economy equilibrium.
The First Wave of Mass Privatization in Bulgaria and its Immediate Aftermath
Authors: Miller Jeffrey B. , Petranov Stefan
Published: March 2003

In January 1995, a Socialist government came to power in Bulgaria and initiated a mass privatization programme. In the first wave of this programme, which was completed in June 1997, about one‐fourth of Bulgaria's state‐owned enterprises were partially privatized through the programme. Patterned after the Czech mass privatization programme, an important outcome of the Bulgarian programme is that investment funds have become important agents in the private sector of the economy. It is too early to determine whether enterprise restructuring will now occur, but initial market signals suggest that Bulgaria may soon suffer from many problems that now confront the Czech economy unless new corporate laws supporting ownership rights and better capital market regulations are enacted.
The credit squeeze during Russia's early transition: A bank‐based view
Authors: Schoors Koen
Published: March 2003

This paper asks whether Russia's protracted inflation stabilization might have caused a credit squeeze and hence might have contributed to the output collapse in the first three years of the Russian transition. Russian monetary policy was not restrictive as a whole. Still, the occurrence of a credit crunch is not excluded, because of the Russian central bank's heavy reliance on required reserves to curb the inflationary effects of monetized budget deficits. Due to methodological limitations, we are forced to concentrate on a cross‐sectional analysis of bank liquidity in 1994, in order to find possible indications about Russia's monetary stance from the point of view of the lending channel. We cannot reject that the huge excess reserves of Russian banks in 1994 were at least partially due to excess liquidity. This suggests that there is no direct relation between the monetary policy of high required reserves and the observed credit crunch. The question of why banks preferred to hold excess liquidity deserves further attention. This question is still relevant, because Russian commercial banks have again accumulated excess reserves in 1999, in the aftermath of the banking crisis, triggered by the August‐1998 crisis.
Pricing and Hedging of Contingent Claims in Term Structure Models with Exogenous Issuing of New Bonds
Authors: Sommer Daniel
Published: March 2003

If calibrated to an observed term structure of interest rates that only covers a finite range of times‐to‐maturity an HJM‐model of the term structure of interest rates will eventually die out in finite time as bonds reach maturity. This poses problems for the pricing and hedging of certain contingent claims. Therefore, we extend the HJM‐model in such a way that it lives on an arbitrary time horizon and possesses term structures that cover a constant finite interval of times‐to‐maturity. We consider the pricing and hedging of contingent claims in this framework.
The Determinants of the Leasing Decision of Small and Large Companies
Authors: Lasfer M.Ameziane , Levis Mario
Published: March 2003

We analyse the leasing decision of more than 3000 UK quoted and unquoted companies over the sample period 1982–1996. We show that, for the sample as a whole, companies that use leasing are more likely to have tax losses, high fixed capital investment, high debt‐to‐equity ratio and to be larger than companies that do not use leasing. We show, however, that the determinants of leasing are not homogeneous across firms of different size. For large companies, leasing, profitability, leverage and taxation are positively correlated. In contrast, for small companies, the leasing decision is not driven by taxation or by profitability, but by growth opportunities. We show that small firms with high Tobin's q and those that are less profitable are more likely to use leasing.
Determinants of Swap Spreads in a Developing Financial Market: Evidence from Finland
Authors: Suhonen Antti
Published: March 2003

This paper presents empirical evidence on the determinants of swap spreads in Finland using four years of data. Spreads exhibit a significant negative relationship with the amount of fixed rate deposits with banks, which reflects the importance of banks in the Finnish capital markets. Spreads are positively linked to business cycle and market risk factors such as the slope of the yield curve and the volatility of interest rates. The influence of hedging costs has become increasingly important over time, especially in longer dated swaps. A relationship is also observed between swap spreads and the external value of the currency.
A currency index global capital asset pricing model
Authors: O’Brien Thomas J. , Dolde Walter
Published: March 2003

The application of an international capital asset pricing relationship with two factors, the global market portfolio and a currency index, is described and illustrated. The model and illustration help demonstrate a problem with the common practice of adjusting an asset’s expected rate of return across currencies via nominal riskless interest rate differentials.
The Pricing of French Unit Seasoned Equity Offerings
Authors: Chollet Pierre , Ginglinger Edith
Published: March 2003

Units are bundles of common stock and warrants. By issuing units, firms precommit to a future and uncertain seasoned offering at the exercise price of the warrants. This study shows that the issuance of units seasoned offerings in France is accompanied by significant abnormal returns of on average 9–12%, depending on the computing methods. Underpricing increases with the risk of the issuer and the relative size of the future seasoned equity issue linked to warrant exercises. Our results are consistent with our signaling hypothesis.
The Structure of Banking Systems in Developed and Transition Economies
Authors: Jaffee Dwight , Levonian Mark
Published: March 2003

The paper empirically analyses the determinants of banking system structure (as measured by bank assets, number, branches and employees) for 26 developed OECD countries. The estimated regressions are then applied to 23 transition economies, to obtain benchmarks for the efficient structure of their banking systems. The actual and benchmark measures of banking structure are compared to evaluate the state of banking system development, including the computation of a measure of ‘banking system convergence’. The results are objective and replicable multidimensional measures of banking system development for the transition economies.
European Managerial Perceptions of the Net Benefits of Foreign Stock Listings
Authors: Bancel Franck , Mittoo Cusha
Published: March 2003

This study surveys the European managers on the costs, benefits, and net benefits of foreign listing. Increase in prestige and visibility, and growth in shareholders are perceived as the major benefits, and the costs of public relations and legal fees are cited as the major costs by the managers. While a majority of managers (60%) perceive that benefits outweigh the costs of foreign listing, about 30% also view the net benefits to be negative. Perceived net benefits are positively related to the increase in the total trading volume after foreign listing, the financial disclosure levels of the firm, and the dual listing on both the US and European foreign exchanges. Without the influence of these factors, the perceived net benefits are negative.
Competition on the London Stock Exchange
Authors: Taylor Nicholas
Published: March 2003

This paper investigates the determinants of the level of competition on the order–driven market organised by the London Stock Exchange. In contrast to previous empirical market microstructure studies, we treat the level of competition as an endogenous variable. The statistical nature of the measures of competitive activity used in this paper necessitate use of a count regression model. Using a sample 50 stocks, we find that users of the system tend to follow the lead of other users (termed the ‘herding effect’) and that competition is greater during the period when the US exchanges are open (termed the ‘US effect’). In addition, the level of competition is positively related to the bid–ask spread pertaining to a particular stock (termed the ‘spread effect’). The latter result is most likely due to traders following a strategy where trade immediacy is traded off against price advantage. Finally, we find that the magnitude of the herding effect, the spread effect, and the fit of the count regression models (termed the ‘fit effect’) vary in a predictable manner across the liquidity of stocks.
How Do We Know Necessary Truths? Kant's Answer
Authors: Hanna Robert
Published: March 2003

It is traditionally held that our knowledge of necessity is a priori; but the familiar theories of a priori knowledge – platonism and conventionalism – have now been discredited, and replaced by either modal skepticism or a posteriori essentialism. The main thesis of this paper is that Kant's theory of a priori knowledge, when detached from his transcendental idealism, offers a genuine alternative to these unpalatable options. According to Kant's doctrine, all epistemic necessity (which he calls “conviction” (Ueberzeugung) is grounded directly or indirectly on our capacity for clear and distinct rational intuition (which he calls “insight” (Einsicht). Insight, in turn, depends upon functions of the imagination for creating “mental models” of necessary truths. This doctrine is well exemplified by Kant's account of our knowledge of simple analytic truths.
Consequences of Ethical Relativism
Authors: Tasioulas John
Published: March 2003

Various disastrous consequences have been attributed to ethical relativism, ranging from increased crime rates to the decline of Western cultural values. While sceptical about such empirical claims, this article contends that relativism has subv ersive interpretative consequences, i.e. those pertaining to the viability of our ethical self‐understanding. The main such consequence is its subversion of the idea of ethical critique, which in turn undermines (i) the distinction between reason and power and (ii) the idea of ethical progress. In defending consequence (i), a critique is offered by Ronald Dworkin's arguments to the effect that no meta‐ethical view can have subversive practical implications. In defending consequence (ii), anti‐relativism is distinguished from historicism, chauvinism and ethical monism. Doubts are then raised about various strategies for re‐investing relativism with critical power. The article concludes with the suggestion that relativism's consequences warrant a presumption against its acceptance.
Reforming the Market or the State? Article 30 and the European Constitution: Economic Freedom and Political Rights
Authors: Maduro Miguel Poiares
Published: March 2003

This article takes as its starting‐point the relationship between Article 30 of 30 of the EC Treaty (general rule on the free movement of goods) and the European Constitution. On the one hand, it examines Article 30 in the context of the constitutional dilemmas facing the European Union, particularly the balance of powers to be defined between Member States and the Union, between public power and the market, and between the legitimacy of Community law vis à vis that of national law. On the other hand, it reviews different conceptions of the European Economic Constitution by analysing the role of Article 30 in the review of market regulation.
Legal Consequences of EU Accession for Central and Eastern European Health Care Systems
Authors: Den Exter A. P.
Published: March 2003

Since the ratification of the Europe agreements, Eastern European accession countries are transposing community law into their national legal framework. The law approximation process in the field of health concerns three themes, viz public health, health–related issues, and the internal market. Although the health acquis has been largely focused on public–health issues, it is increasingly becoming clear that internal market treaty provisions may also affect health–related rights. For candidate member states this means that the common market has important consequences for health and their health–care systems. Therefore, this paper will examine the impact of relevant treaty provisions on acceding countries’ (public) health legal framework.