bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Recent Developments and Frustrations in the Corporate Reporting Process
Authors: Courtis John K.
Published: October 2006

The communication process between publicly‐listed companies and their constituents continues to change, often stimulated by the concern of regulators to make markets more efficient. The paper examines six areas where development is occurring within the North American reporting environment: summary reporting, management discussion and analysis, risk and uncertainty, interim reporting, continuous information disclosure, and financial statement reporting. The paper also identifies areas where significant reporting frustrations remain. These areas may signal the direction of financial reporting research and change that will be experienced outside of the North American environment during the next decade.
The Voting Framework: A Comparative Study of Voting Behaviour of Institutional Investors in the U.S. and the U.K.
Authors: Mallin Chris A.
Published: October 2006

Institutional investors are estimated to own between 65%‐75% of shares of quoted companies in the U.K., and 47%‐50% of U.S. equities, although for many large corporations in the U.S., institutional ownership far exceeds 50%.

Institutional investors have the potential to exert significant influence on companies via their voting rights, and this has clear implications for corporate governance, especially in terms of the standards of corporate governance and issues concerned with enforcement. In the U.K. institutional shareholders are encouraged to exercise their voting rights. In the U.S. the Department of Labor has stated clearly that it considers that the exercise of the vote is a fiduciary duty of shareholders, and it has expressed the view that U.S. institutional shareholders should vote their stock both in the U.S. and overseas.

In this paper the frameworks that influence institutional investors to exercise their proxies are examined for both the U.S. and the U.K. The characteristics of each are discussed and models developed for the U.S. and U.K. The implications for voting, and for corporate governance generally, are discussed. The internationalisation of institutional portfolios results in a cross‐border interest in corporate governance which makes this a particularly interesting area to analyse.
The Tied Entrepreneur: On the Theory and Practice of Institutionalisation of Creativity and Innovation in Service Firms
Authors: Sundbo Jon
Published: October 2006

An empirical study in service firms was used to explore in‐company entrepreneurs. The results support the contention that entrepreneurship in large organisations is increasingly a role which is partially created by structured conditions, and by the firm's strategic actions. As such the entrepreneurial behaviour is constrained or tied.
Implementing Information Systems: Some Practical Advice and a Richer Model
Authors: Brown Andrew D. , Roberts Hilary
Published: October 2006

Recent research suggests that implementing information systems presents considerable difficulties and that many implementations are total or partial failures. This paper argues that what both practitioners and students require are richer and more acceptable models of information systems implementation. Accordingly, case study data concerning the introduction of manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) are used to illustrate five patterns of behaviour (rites) which capture important social actions; and four components of changing psychological orientation. It is argued that appreciation of the rites and psychological developments identified here will support effective change programmes. Guidelines based on our model are provided for practitioners.
Value Management or Being Able to Do More than One Can
Authors: Fløistad Guttorm
Published: October 2006

Professor Fløistad, the distinguished Norwegian philosopher, argues for reappraisal in understanding of the nature of leadership. He contends that organisations need to permit transcendence of professional roles, within an ethical set of values. Leadership becomes ‘goal‐directed co‐operation development’.
Biotechnology — An Innovator's Dream
Authors: Jones Ken
Published: October 2006

Biotechnology is an open‐ended scientific challenge in extremis. The generalised term ‘biotechnology’ encompasses an immense range of disparate sectors, all of which are natural outlets for entrepreneurs. Innovators will reign supreme. Fortunes will be made ‐ and lost. There is, however, a hidden agenda. Biotechnology is set to have the most profound effect on mankind, ranging from health, environment and longevity. The latter, for example, has major direct effects on social issues such as retirement, age and pensions. These issues will have major effects on virtually every question of public interest. The hidden agenda needs to be disclosed, and it is incumbent upon the scientific fraternity to provide better and more understandable descriptions of the technologies involved. Better forms of publicity are required that will maximise knowledge. Above all, global benefits need to be stressed. In that way, the public can better judge whether they are beneficial ‐ or have more sinister undertones.
Graduates as Entrepreneurs*
Authors: Lithgow William
Published: October 2006

When the private Scott‐Lithgow shipbuilding business was nationalized, Sir William Lithgow set to work to develop his estate in Ormsary, Argyllshire, as well as a new industrial group. This has resulted in a vertically integrated business of which a core is the largest juvenile salmon farm in Europe. The Scottish Salmon industry now annually earns more revenue and employs more people in Scotland than both British Steel and British Coal. Industries which interact with this new activity within Lithgows include trawler‐building, precision engineering, electronics and also brick manufacture.
Letter from America: Visions for future work in the field of creativity and innovation
Authors: Isaksen Scott G.
Published: October 2006

There is no time like the present to witness the flourishing of the field of creativity and innovation. Given the rapid pace of change, the existence of ever more complexity, and the increasing competition for information and quality resources, it is no surprise that we are very interested in finding improved and new ways of performing needed and useful tasks. The challenges facing all kinds of organizations around the world seem very related to improving our understanding and recognition of human creative talents so that we might better nurture, develop and release them to meet the wide array of challenges and opportunities we face.
The Antecedents of Personal Creativity
Authors: Goodman Edward N.
Published: October 2006

Creativity development requires attention to value systems as well as attention to techniques and personal behaviours. A well‐received development programme has been carried out with more than a thousand participants from a variety of disciplines. The basis of the programme, and an overview of relavant research, is provided. Four key elements raise the questions: ‘Who is in control?’ What do you value? What do you truly want?, and ‘Where is the opportunity?’.
Planning for Entrepreneurial Innovation: Field Studies in USA, France, Mexico, and Lessons Learned
Authors: Abetti Pier A.
Published: October 2006

Technological innovation and entrepreneurship can promote regional economic development through the creation of new business ventures. The main critical factor of success is the presence of an infrastructure for entrepreneurial innovation, including New Business Incubators and Technology Parks. The paper discusses the basic elements of the infrastructure and how they can be planned and implemented. An illustrative example is the case history of work done in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The lessons learned from this project and similar projects in the USA and France are summarized and emphasis is given to the key role of an executive champion.
Rules of Thumb that Help Innovators: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs
Authors: Manimala Mathew J.
Published: October 2006

The research reported in this paper was provoked by the author's experience with two entrepreneurs operating in the same industry in the same city in India during the same period. Ironically, the one with better resources and institutional support (call him Entrepreneur‐A) could not succeed, while the other (Entrepreneur‐B) with little resources and institutional support now presides over a fast‐growing business.
Entrepreneurship in an Unstable Environment: The Experience of the Occupied Territories
Authors: Shahwan Usamah Salim
Published: October 2006

The research aims at exploring the relationship between small business enterprises and their environments through an empirical investigation of the methods and strategies adopted by a number of industrial firms operating in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in response to the exigencies and challenges of the uprising in the occupied territories in order to survive. Though the problems faced by the industrial sector as a result of the unique situation in the areas are almost unparalleled in other parts of the world, it has been possible to gain fresh insight into the dynamics of the environmental factors and their impact on organizational structure and function. Despite innumerable obstacles, the industrial sector has achieved a reasonable degree of growth.
Organizational Unlearning
Authors: Johannessen Jon‐Arild , Hauan Arnulf
Published: October 2006

To change, organizations need to learn new methods of action. To change, old organizations also need to unlearn old models of action. In this article, we use the concept of organizational unlearning to make some sense of a process of change studied at a shipyard in Western Norway. New models of action emerged as alliances were formed, creating a change in communicative practices. These practices reshaped the way people defined their situations, in turn changing their behaviours. This made them relate to each other differently.

A description of the circumstances surrounding a productivity campaign is used as a starting point to discuss the role of organizational unlearning in organizational learning and change. The following types of question are addressed: How were the alliances formed? Why was it imperative to change communicative practices? How did they change behaviour? What consequences did it bring about for new models of action in the organization? What lessons from organizational unlearning can be seen as valuable in accomplishing change in settings like this?
Enhancing the Climate for Creativity for Software Designers
Authors: Couger J. Daniel
Published: October 2006

Measurement of the degree to which company climate is supportive of creativity is becoming increasingly important. Tight economic conditions worldwide make it imperative for companies to find ways to generate more innovative products and services. This paper provides data on measurement of degree of creativity in climates of business organizations in general, then data specific to one profession, the Information Systems profession. It also discusses ways the climate for creativity can be enhanced to improve both creativity and productivity. However, the information is not only important to managers of IS, but also to the clients of IS. The departments for whom IS is designing software are equally concerned that software developers have a climate supportive of creative efforts. Therefore, this survey of programmers and analysts should be of interest across the company, not just to IS management.
Information, Innovation and Organisational Learning
Authors: Johannessen J‐A. , Hauan A.
Published: October 2006

This paper adds to and develops Argyris and Schön's notions of double‐loop and singleloop learning. On the basis of investigations made at a Norwegian shipyard, a distinction is made between single‐loop, double‐loop and deutero‐learning. The primary contribution of this paper is to argue that deutero‐learning goes beyond single‐loop and double‐loop learning, and justifies an extension of Argyris and Schön's Model II, which we characterise as Model III.
Electronic Brainstorming: Asking the Right Question
Authors: Rickards Tudor
Published: October 2006

Substantial advantages are being claimed for electronic brainstorming over traditional procedures. In practice the more important question is‘how might brainstorming be used within the electronic decision‐support systems of today's organizations?’The answer is highly contingent on the nature of the organization, its core tasks, and personnel. In practice a hybrid of electronic and traditional brainstorming methods may prove more effective than either system used exclusively.
Experts and Novices in Innovative, Unstructured Tasks: The Case of Strategy Formulation
Authors: Grønhaug Kjell , Haukedal Willy
Published: October 2006

Little is known about how managers interpret and elaborate strategic stimuli into further decision‐making activities in novel, unstructured situations. Protocol analysis was conducted among a small sample of experienced managers and novices (managers to be) exposed to unstructured, strategic stimuli situations. The observed activities were found to partly deviate from decision making as portrayed in the research literature. Remarkable differences were also found between experts and novices in their interpretations and elaborations of strategic stimuli. Managerial and theoretical implications of the reported findings are highlighted.
Innovation and Competition: Survival Skills Through Stress Reduction
Authors: Zich Michael C.
Published: October 2006

As the world economy begins to shift from the industrial states of the past toward marketable service orientations, the need for those adults under highly stressful circumstances to reduce their stress levels becomes imperative. The peak performer, whether in business and industry, education and teaching or any other field, should regard, accept and anticipate stress indicators by using appropriate methods to alleviate that stress before it becomes highly detrimental to employment and personal performance. The utilization of those activities we played as children can become modified tools and techniques for the stressed personality.
TRIZ: Inventive Creativity Based On The Laws of Systems Development
Authors: Dung Phan
Published: October 2006

Different problem solving methodologies drawing on various philosophical and practical approaches are in use all over the world. This paper gives details of the TRIZ method, created by G. A. Altshuller in the former Soviet Union in 1946. TRIZ uses systems thinking concepts to structure problem solving and encourages the user to discover the objective laws of evolution and development in the field of inventive creativity. Examples of the use of the system and reflections on its impact are given by the author.
Slovak Entrepreneurs — Pioneers
Authors: Jurčová Marta
Published: October 2006

Entrepreneurship, which after many years is emerging again in Slovakia, brings a new challenge to psychological research. In our study we have concentrated on revealing proentrepreneurial attitudes and characteristics and on identifying barriers which act against the application and utilization of these attitudes and characteristics. Two basic sources are the starting point of our approach: the psychology of creativity and the psychological characteristics of an entrepreneur. We have concentrated on social relationships in particular, to investigate the prevailing attitudes of the Slovak sample.
Technology‐Based Small Firms: Current Debates, Future Directions
Authors: Mukhtar Syeda Masooda
Published: October 2006

The aim of this paper is to highlight critical issues facing Technology‐Based Small Firms by drawing attention to the latest research in this field. In the main, the discussion is based on selected papers presented at the Third High Technology Small Firms Conference held at Manchester Business School in September 19951. However, the author does draw upon other literature also in order to place conference findings in a wider context. An overview of current research indicates that securing external funding and formation of external alliances remain at top of the agenda for both Technology‐Based Small Firms as well as policy makers.
THE ECONOMICS OF ILLUSION*
Authors: Akerlof George A.
Published: October 2006

When individuals choose not only goods, but also how to process information, there is a bias: people tend to process information so that they feel good about themselves. This bias is particularly important in voting behavior, where agents have almost no individual effect on public choice outcomes, and therefore almost no incentive for unbiased use of information. Two examples are given. In one example, an adaptation of the classic overdepletion problem, the public chooses not to counteract externalities by appropriate tax policy. In the second example public policy follows the choices of experts, contrary to the interest of the public.
THE CARE AND HANDLING OF MONETARY AUTHORITIES*
Authors: O'Flaherty Brendan
Published: October 2006

Sometimes a group of people want to hire some agent (a monetary authority, for instance) to force them to cooperate with one another. This can cause problems, not only of the standard principal‐agent type, but also of inconsistency, which appears here as renegotiation. The group faces a conflict between controlling the agent – the agency problem – and controlling themselves – the inconsistency problem. Terms of office are a good way to resolve this problem, and in fact, for people patient enough, the renegotiation problem disappears. This model provides insights into why the public dislikes inflation, why the market for presidents does not clear in Walrasian fashion, and why the controversy about “rules versus discretion” provides no policy guidance.
THE ECONOMICS OF SECTION 301: A GAME‐THEORETIC GUIDE*
Authors: McMillan John
Published: October 2006

Extrapolating from some simple game‐theoretic models, this paper suggests that invoking Section 301 will tend to shift the terms of agreement in the US's favor. This shift will be larger (a) the greater the harm to the targeted country from having its access to the US market limited; (b) the smaller the targeted country's ability to harm the US in retaliation; (c) the smaller the costs within the targeted country of complying with the US demands; and (d) the greater the benefit to the US – in the US negotiators' perception – from the demanded liberalization. But these determinants of the success of a Section 301 action do not identify the areas where the social gains from freer trade are largest. Thus there is a tendency to direct Section 301 actions at the wrong targets. Section 301 increases bargaining frictions: attempts to exploit the bargaining power that comes from either private information or commitments can lead to costly delays to agreement or even the possibility of a complete breakdown in the negotiations. And the use of retaliatory strategies can upset an existing global equilibrium and lead to counter‐retaliation.
WHY ARE THERE DEMOCRACIES? A PRINCIPAL AGENT ANSWER*
Authors: O'Flaherty Brendan
Published: October 2006

Many organizations operate by majority rule. Why? I consider elections as ways to aggregate information rather than ways to reconcile preferences. This is a principal‐agent problem with many principals.

Only mechanisms that minimize the weighted sum of type 1 errors (neglecting a deserving agent) and type 2 errors (rewarding an undeserving agent) can escape manipulation. Majority rule uniquely minimizes the sum of errors. Thus majority rule is a very good way to aggregate information.
ON BUYING LEGISLATURES*
Authors: Snyder James M.
Published: October 2006

This paper analyzes a simple spatial voting model that includes lobbyists who are able to buy votes on bills to change the status quo. The key results are: (i) if lobbyists can discriminate across legislators when buying votes, then they will pay the largest bribes to legislators who are slightly opposed to the proposed change, rather than to legislators who strongly support or strongly oppose the change; (ii) equilibrium policies exist, and with quadratic preferences these equilibria always lie between the average of the lobbyists' ideal points and the median of the legislators' ideal points; and (iii) “moderate” lobbyists, whose positions on a policy issue are close to the median of the legislators' ideal points, will prefer the issue to be salient, while more extreme lobbyists will generally prefer the issue to be obscure.
THE SPREAD OF KEYNESIANISM
Authors: Streeten Paul
Published: October 2006

Peter Hall, Editor, The Poitical Power of Economic Ideas; Keynesianism across Nations, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1989, 406 pp. Cloth $49.50. Paper $16.50.
QUID PRO QUO FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND VERS: A NASH BARGAINING APPROACH*
Authors: Dinopoulos Elias
Published: October 2006

We construct a two‐period model of industry‐specific quid pro quo direct foreign investment (DFI) which occurs with the view to increasing the level of a future voluntary export restraint (VER). The wage and the VER are determined through Nash bargaining.

We identify the conditions which generate quid pro quo DFI and examine its effects on profits, the utility of the union and welfare. In the absence of political‐economy considerations, more DFI increases the degree of endogenous protection.
RENT‐SEEKING FIRMS AND CONSUMERS: AN EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS*
Authors: SCHMIDT TORSTEN
Published: October 2006

This paper examines the probability of success in a rent‐seeking contest as a general function of the resources that both firms and consumers devote to lobbying the government. The object of lobbying is a possible restriction of market supply, where the likelihood that supply will be restricted to a given extent depends on everyone's lobbying efforts. In equilibrium the expected social loss due to rent‐seeking activities is at most equal to the size of the contested rent, and this upper bound does not depend on the active participation of consumers in the contest. Markets in which supply is not restricted may also be associated with rent‐seeking waste. Finally, consumers' rent‐seeking efforts are shown to be socially productive, both on the margin and in total.
PRUDENCE AND SUCCESS IN POLITICS
Authors: CADOT OLIVIER , SINCLAIR‐DESGAGNÉ BERNARD
Published: October 2006

The paper considers a repeated election game between an infinitely‐lived representative voter and finitely‐lived, heterogeneous politicians. The voter's prior belief about the incumbent's competency is updated during the incumbent's first term in office. The voter's problem is to find a rule that simultaneously selects and controls politicians. We show that the simple performance rule, standard in the literature, is justified as a time‐consistent rule for a forward‐looking voter. The outcome of a large class of perfect equilibria is “strategic caution”: incumbent politicians slow down the voter's Bayesian learning by taking only weakly informative actions.
THE MARKET FOR CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS: EVIDENCE FOR THE U.S. SENATE 1980–1986*
Authors: SNYDER JAMES M.
Published: October 2006

This paper tests a simple asset market model of campaign contributions, using data from recent U.S. Senate races. When applied to “investor” PACs, the model performs surprisingly well, and suggests that the contributions market is relatively efficient. When applied to “ideological” PACs, political parties, and individuals, the model is rejected. The results not only provide empirical support for the model, but also point out important differences in the apparent motives behind different types of contributions.
AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF COMPETING EXPLANATIONS FOR THE MIDTERM GAP IN THE U.S. HOUSE*
Authors: LEVITT STEVEN D.
Published: October 2006

Previous empirical analyses of the midterm gap have been unreliable for two reasons: the limited degrees of freedom inherent in national‐level time series data, and the failure to adequately control for competing explanations. By using district‐level panel data, this paper is able to circumvent those weaknesses. Both withdrawn coattails and systematic presidential punishment at the midterm play an important role in explaining the observed midterm gap. Economic factors have a somewhat smaller impact. Evidence of systematic punishment of incumbent presidents in on‐year elections is also observed.
WINNER‐HELP‐LOSER GROUP FORMATION IN RENT‐SEEKING CONTESTS*
Authors: Baik Kyung Hwan
Published: October 2006

We define a winner‐help‐loser group in a rent‐seeking contest as follows: (a) the member players compete noncooperatively to win the rent, and (b) if a member player wins the rent, he helps the losing member players according to the previously written agreement. We demonstrate that one and only one winner‐help‐loser group is formed voluntarily. One important consequence of such group formation is that rent dissipation is small relative to individual rent seeking. Therefore, such group formation decreases the social cost associated with rent seeking and thus decreases the economic inefficiency of rent seeking.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT CONGRESSIONAL POLITICS FROM DIMENSIONAL STUDIES OF ROLL‐CALL VOTING?
Authors: Koford Kenneth
Published: October 2006

How many dimensions are there in Congressional roll‐call votes? What do dimensions tell us about Congressional politics? Poole and Rosenthal have found one or a very few dimensions. Earlier work has identified problems with Poole and Rosenthal's dimensional fitting method. This paper finds additional problems, showing that when legislators’relative intensity of preferences varies across issues, the Poole and Rosenthal approach will fail. Specifically, while redistributive issues fit their model, distributive and regulative issues allow gains from trade, and thus vote‐trading and coalition‐building. Roll‐call data show voting patterns inconsistent with the Poole and Rosenthal model.
SEARCH BEHAVIOR OF ASYMMETRICALLY INFORMED VOTERS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY*
Authors: Dasgupta Sugato , Williams Kenneth C.
Published: October 2006

This paper experimentally investigates individual level search within a spatial election model. In our model the voter is required to cast a ballot for one of two candidates. However, the voter's task is made non‐trivial since, even though the location of one candidate is known, the location of a second candidate is unknown. To reduce uncertainty regarding the unknown candidate's location, the voter may undertake an information search. We find that search in this environment is a function of the cost of search, the quality of information, and the voter's location on the issue space.
FOMC VOTING BEHAVIOR AND ELECTORAL CYCLES: PARTISAN IDEOLOGY AND PARTISAN LOYALTY
Authors: McGregor Rob Roy
Published: October 2006

The influence of partisan and electoral considerations on the monetary policy voting behavior of Federal Reserve Governors is investigated in the context of a model permitting the estimation of reaction functions on the basis of FOMC voting records. The results suggest that once we have controlled for the state of the economy and for the prevailing stance of monetary policy, both partisan ideologies and partisan loyalties appear to play an important role in the Governors’voting calculus.
THE COMPLEMENTARITY BETWEEN ENDOGENOUS PROTECTION AND DIRECT FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Authors: Zhao Laixun
Published: October 2006

This paper studies the endogenous relationship between direct foreign investgment (DFI) and trade restriction. A domestic labor union interested in both employment and wages bargains with a foreign firm and lobbies against foreign imports. By endogeneizing the wage rate and incorporating resource‐using lobbying, we show that more DFI results in higher lobbying efforts and lower imports under fairly general conditions, i.e. a reversal of quid pro quo DFI. We also conduct comparative statics analysis on wages and lobbying efforts.
THE POLITICS OF PRECOMMITMENT WITH ELECTORAL UNCERTAINTY AND TRANSACTION COSTS
Authors: Gradstein Mark
Published: October 2006

Despite the lack of legal channels through which binding commitments can be made by the government, economic and political factors enable it to affect future outcomes. In practice, large transaction costs are associated with any significant change of policy, and therefore the current government can adopt policies so that certain outcomes are more likely to be realized by its successor. In this paper it is argued that transaction costs combined with electoral uncertainty are likely to drive the current government to adopt a policy which is extreme relative to the preferences of the existing political parties. This policy is adopted in order to ensure that due to transaction costs, the future government will not depart radically from the most preferred policy of the current government. If the current policy is likely to affect the election outcome, then, in addition to the above considerations, the electorate attitudes would have to be taken into account by the government. Hence, the current government confronts two factors in choosing its policies: the behavior of the future government and the behavior of the electorate. The interplay between the two factors determines the choice of the current policy.
URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY: THE INTRODUCTION OF AN
Authors: Yabuuchi Shigemi
Published: October 2006

This work explicitly introduces the government activity to collect and transfer unemployment allowances into the Harris–Todaro model. It examines both the effectiveness of various policy tools and the effect this activity has on welfare. The findings with certain qualifications are that the Harris–Todaro policy prescriptions hold, even if we allow for the resource‐using activity to resolve the unemployment problem. Furthermore, an increase in the level of such an activity may improve welfare.
Measuring macroeconomic exposure: The case of Volvo Cars*
Authors: Oxelheim Lars , Wihlborg Clas
Published: October 2006

Volvo Cars' economic exposure to exchange rates and other macroeconomic variables is estimated using quarterly cash flows as the firm's target variable. We discuss first several issues relating to management's view of the macroeconomic environment, as well as the firm's objective and structure. These issues must be addressed before multiple regression analysis can be implemented with the purpose of estimating exposures. the use of cash flow exposure coefficients for evaluating exposure and choosing currency denomination of liabilities is illustrated, and an out‐of‐sample analysis of the estimated exposure coefficients is carried out.
Determinants of the components of bid‐ask spreads on stocks
Authors: Kim Sung‐Hun , Ogden Joseph P.
Published: October 2006

In this paper we show that George et al. (GKN, 1991) estimators of the adverse selection and order processing cost components of the bid‐ask spread are biased due to intertemporal variations in the bid‐ask spread. We use alternative estimators that correct this bias and that are applicable to individual securities, and estimate these cost components empirically using data on NYSE/AMEX stocks. As expected, our results indicate that on average adverse selection costs account for approximately 50% of the bid‐ask spread, sharply higher than the estimates of 8‐10% obtained by GKN for NASDAQ stocks and 21% that we obtain for NYSE/AMEX stocks using GKN's estimators. We then conduct cross‐sectional regressions designed primarily to determine whether adverse selection costs vary across specialists after controlling for firm size and other factors. Consistent with previously established hypotheses, we find that adverse‐selection costs vary across specialists, and that this variation is related to the number of securities that the specialist handles.
Corporate performance and firm perception: The British experience
Authors: Nanda Sudhir , Schneeweis Thomas , Eneroth Kristina
Published: October 2006

Previous academic research has presented a theoretical basis for a relationship between attributes of a firm's reputation and its financial performance. For the United States, researchers have analysed the correspondence between market and accounting based measures of US firm performance and external evaluators' perceptions of the qualitative attributes of US firms. In this study, expert surveys on the qualitative performance of British firms conducted by the British publication, the Economist, which are similar in content to surveys conducted by Fortune magazine for US firms, are used to determine the correspondence between qualitative and quantitative measures of British firms' performance. Results indicate that differences may exist between US and Britain in the use of qualitative survey data on a firm's strategic attributes as a forecast of a firm's future quantitative performance measures. Results also indicate that for small firms, certain qualitative factors (e.g. capacity to innovate) may be of greater importance in forecasting accounting and security market returns.
European banking integration, ten years after
Authors: Dermine Jean
Published: October 2006

Ten years ago, the White Paper on the Completion of the Single Market announced the integration of European banking markets. the purpose of this essay is to identify four public issues that remain to be addressed. Home country control of international banks need to be complemented by host country control. the deposit guarantee schemes should be modified by rendering insured deposits ‘first order claim’. A European authority is needed to ensure that banks do not exploit domestic rents to subsidise international activities. Finally, tax evasion is a fourth issue that remains to be addressed.
Major pyrolysis and thermoxidative products from certain polyamides
Authors: Michal Jasn , Mitera Jiří , Kubát Jaroslav
Published: October 2006

The nature of the pyrolysis and thermoxidative decomposition products of a number of polyamides was investigated using thermogravimetry, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The degree of potential toxic effect has been assessed from qualitative evaluation of the results.
EVALUATING LOCAL MANAGEMENT OF SCHOOLS: METHODOLOGY AND PRACTICE
Authors: Levačić Rosalind
Published: October 2006

Under the Education Reform Act 1988, Local Education Authorities are required to delegate financial management to schools and are expected to evaluate their schemes. This paper reviews the continuing debate between positivist and naturalist evaluation methodologies. A taxonomy of evaluation methodologies is proposed and two LEAs' evaluations of school financial delegation schemes which predated the 1988 Act are assessed. These evaluations were weak in relation to both the positivist and naturalist techniques employed. The use of positivist and naturalist approaches in formative and summative evaluations of the ‘merit’ and ‘worth’ of LMS schemes is discussed.
RECENT FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTABILITY CHANGES IN GENERAL PRACTICE: AN UNHEALTHY INTRUSION INTO MEDICAL AUTONOMY?
Authors: Laughlin Richard , Broadbent Jane , Shearn David
Published: October 2006

Recently General Medical Practice has been inundated with a range of financial and accountability changes. These imposed changes have been welcomed with considerable resentment by General Practitioners (GPs hereafter). This paper explores some of the key historical and contextual reasons for this resentment. The conclusion is that it is traceable to firstly, the nature of these reforms, which are seen as irrelevant at best or, at worst, run counter to the values and concerns of GPs, and secondly, and related to this, to the perceived inappropriate intrusion into medical autonomy by a Government whose forbears were previously enabling such freedom.
ESTABLISHING A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR REGULATED INDUSTRIES’ACCOUNTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Authors: Vass Peter
Published: October 2006

The regulation of monopoly utilities represents one of the‘new frontiers’between the state and the private sector. Conceptual frameworks developed for profit‐making companies are relevant to several of the central issues facing regulatory accounting. However, the role of regulation as a surrogate for the market place brings with it additional complexities for the clear attribution of accountability between the regulated company and the regulator with regard to the investor and the public. This means that key issues on procedures, confidentiality and public access to financial information on the regulated companies, and on the basis of regulatory decisions, must also be addressed within a conceptual framework for regulated industries. Without a general clarification of these issues, the process of regulation will increasingly be judged to be simply discretionary, rather than as publicly accountable.
UNCERTAIN LIFETIME AND INTERTEMPORAL CHOICE: RISK AVERSION AS A RATIONALE FOR TIME DISCOUNTING*
Authors: Bommier Antoine
Published: October 2006

This article makes explicit the links between preferences over lotteries on length of life and intertemporal choice. It shows that the approach used by traditional life cycle models to account for uncertain survival corresponds to a strong assumption of risk neutrality with respect to length of life. Relaxing such an assumption leads us to develop a more general formulation of lifetime utility in which time discounting is directly related to preferences over length of life. Exponential and hyperbolic discounting are found to result, in a first approximation, from constant and hyperbolic risk aversion with respect to length of life.
THE WELFARE EFFECTS OF UPSTREAM MERGERS IN THE PRESENCE OF DOWNSTREAM ENTRY BARRIERS*
Authors: Antelo Manel , Bru Lluís
Published: October 2006

We examine the incentives for upstream firms to consolidate horizontally and the impact of this process on industry performance, when there are downstream entry barriers and firms negotiate bilaterally. In the short run, consumers are not worse off with upstream mergers, since consolidation only results in a redistribution of industry rents. In the long run, consumers are better off after upstream mergers, since they induce more entry into that segment. When social welfare is evaluated, a limit on upstream consolidation may prevent excessive entry; but upstream entry can be sometimes insufficient, if the retailers' intrinsic bargaining power is excessive.
Identifying the Cultural Causes of Disasters: An Analysis of the Hillsborough Football Stadium Disaster
Authors: Richardson William
Published: October 2006

This essay seeks to help stimulate greater effectiveness in dealing with disasters as a problem area. The concern is with those disasters which, arguably, are created by organizations themselves. The essay proceeds, first, by suggesting that many of the deep‐seated beliefs which prevail in the UK over the nature of organizations and their management are based on a view of reality which is not in accord with the reality of disaster situations. Thus, it is suggested, organization culture, generally in the UK, is founded on beliefs which are inappropriate for dealing with the disaster phenomenon and which are likely to actually promote ‘organizationally‐induced’ disasters.
From Disaster to Crisis: The Failed Turnaround of Pan American Airlines
Authors: Sipika Chris , Smith Denis
Published: October 2006

The academic and corporate analysis of crisis management achieved considerable impetus during the latter part of the 1980s with the occurrence of a number of major incidents which captured media attention. The terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988 was one of the largest loss‐of‐life transport incidents of the decade and had serious implications for the integrity of the corporation. The bombing, whilst a discrete crisis event in itself, was part of a longer history of crisis through which the company had passed. The purpose of this paper is to explore the managerial response to crisis events within Pan Am and offer an assessment of the factors that ultimately led to the collapse of the corporation in 1991. Throughout the paper, attempts will also be made to set the events within the context of current thinking in crisis management and, in particular, to examine the demise of Pan Am within the context of a number of models of turnaround management developed within the literature.
The Evolution of Research on Technological Crises in the US
Authors: Shrivastava Paul
Published: October 2006

Technological crises and disasters are becoming an increasingly important menace to society. Over the past three decades these crises have received significant research attention in the United States. This paper examines the evolution of this research.

This research emerged from a specific social‐historical context of the environmental movement and the critique of progressive technological development and industrialization. Its key evolutionary characteristics are discussed in terms of the way in which research issues are framed; the expansion in the domain of research concerns; the explanatory content of studies; the proliferation of research models and frameworks; the emerging methodological pluralism and the fragmented cumulation of knowledge.

The field now needs a unifying focus and anticipatory policies for crisis prevention and management. The paper proposes‘ecologically sustainable economic development’ as a general framework for synthesizing understanding of technological crises. It cautions against unreflexive transfer of knowledge from the US setting to other countries.
Product Risks and Reputation: Opportunities and Challenges
Authors: Bezuyen Michel J.
Published: October 2006

Product Risk Management, Howard Abbott, Pitman Publishing, London (1992), 276 pp.

Managing Product Recall, Howard Abbott, Pitman Publishing, London (1992), 274 pp.

Reputation Risk Management, Peter Sheldon Green, Pitman Publishing, London (1992), 204 pp.
Real‐Time Decision Support for Emergency Management: An Integration of Advanced Computer and Communications Technology
Authors: Beroggi Giampiero E.G. , Wallace William A.
Published: October 2006

Responses to emergencies are typically based on contingency plans. However, unexpected events can occur during the operation that affect safety and/or effectiveness of the activated response plan. Latest advances in communications and information technology can collect and transfer a large amount of data to the on‐scene commander in real‐time. The commander can then assess the potential impact of such events and decide if and how to revise the planned course of action to maintain safety and efficiency of the operation.

This paper proposes a new paradigm for real‐time decision support for emergency response ‐ operational risk management. Emergency response is modelled as a large‐scale operational system, including a human‐machine real‐time controller. The decision model is based on a topological graph structure, where the nodes are decisions and the arcs the activities. The attributes of the activities are expressed as ordinal preference values. The optimal course of action is the sequence of activities with the highest preference for resolving the emergency situation. The implementation of the decision model into a prototype decision support system is discussed.
Business Strategy and the Boyd Cycle
Authors: Thompson Fred
Published: October 2006

Business competition takes place in real time. Success often depends upon the ability to perform a series of steps or a cycle faster than one's opponent. In this essay, I explain the Boyd or OODA (Observation‐Orientation‐Decision‐Action) cycle and its relevance. I show why the ability to perform the Boyd cycle faster and more appropriately than one's competitors is often of paramount importance to profitability. Finally, I show how to organize the firm to speed up the Boyd cycle.
Peaceful Termination of Unsuccessful Coup Attempts in the Philippines
Authors: Montiel Cristina J.
Published: October 2006

This research identifies context factors that contributed to the peaceful termination of failing Philippine coup attempts. It also looked at some social and psychological processes of endgame bargaining. The adversarial parties were the Aquino government versus anti‐government military forces. The right combination of context factors produced a favorable bargaining outcome – the proper mix of external pressure variables and availability of acceptable third parties. Situational factors that pushed the rebels to the bargaining table included their strategic military failure, depleted resources and a government ultimatum. Teams of local peace intermediaries consisted of politically biased mediators and neutral church representatives. The go‐betweens’acceptability to the rebels depended on the latters’perceived trustworthiness and political potency. Other social and psychological dimensions covered by this study were the affective states, messages, and interpersonal communication processes during various bargaining stages.
Communication in Chemical Emergencies
Authors: Amendola Aniello , De Marchi Bruna
Published: October 2006

In the case of chemical emergencies, public information must be given high priority in both planning and management. The public information requirement concerning major accident hazards has been incorporated into Community legislation since 1982 as a relevant component of the control of major accident hazards. During an emergency, communication is to be recognised as the most critical factor that determines the success of the response. However, during an emergency, while the dynamics of events and processes may be partially obscure, people must still be warned of impending danger. The management of ‘in the event’ information is quite diverse from that of ‘prior’ information.
Effect of native and exotic leaf litter on macroinvertebrate communities and decomposition in a western Montana stream
Authors: Reinhart Kurt O. , VandeVoort Rachel
Published: October 2006

Invasion by exotic trees into riparian areas has the potential to impact terrestrial and aquatic systems. To test the effect of different streamside tree species on the aquatic food web in a stream in Montana, we compared decomposition rates of leaf litter and invertebrate assemblages associated with the leaf litter of the exoticAcer platanoidesand the dominant nativePopulus trichocarpatrees. Macroinvertebrate family richness, evenness, and diversity increased with days of aquatic processing; however, there was no effect of leaf species. Leaves of theA. platanoideswere associated with 70% greater density of macroinvertebrates of the family Nemouridae. This family consists primarily of detritivores and had the greatest overall density and frequency of occurrence relative to other macroinvertebrate families. The density of a family of predatory macroinvertebrates (Rhyacophilidae) was also generally (73%) greater in association withA. platanoidesthanP. trichocarpaleaves. The density of Ephemerellidae and Rhyacophilidae increased over time. In contrast to studies comparing leaves of exotic vs. native trees, we observed no difference in leaf decomposition rates; however, the amount of leaf inputs are likely to differ between native and invaded forests. The results indicate that replacement of native riparian trees with exotics affected the most common family of macroinvertebrates and possibly a common family of predatory macroinvertebrates (Rhyacophilidae), which may affect the detrital food web.