bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Introducing Students to the Generic Terminology of Social Research
Authors: Grix Jonathan
Published: March 2003

The aim of this article is twofold: first, to present an accessible way of introducing students to the key generic terms of social science research. There is an obvious need for clarifying the generic tools and terminology of the social sciences across the disciplines, as academics argue past each other, using identical terms but attaching different meanings to them. Secondly, this article presents the interrelationship between the core concepts of social science (ontology, epistemology, methodology, methods and sources). This ‘directional’ and logical relationship needs to be understood, if students – and academics – are to engage in constructive dialogue and criticism of each others' work.
A Natural Centre-Left Majority?
Authors: Gray Robin
Published: March 2003

This article concerns the relationship between policy and voter elasticity on either side of the political spectrum as an explanation of the left's post-war political failure. The core contention is that left-oriented voters are more responsive to slight deviations in policy. This is used to explain partially Labour's post-war failure to dominate power even when the ‘left's vote’ was over 50 per cent.
Democracy or Civil Society?
Authors: Pietrzyk Dorota I.
Published: March 2003

The aim of this article is, first, to provide a justification for the continued usefulness of the historical term ‘civil society’, and second, to examine in this context the challenges arising ahead in the postcommunist European societies which, after the collapse of communism, have adopted the model of liberal democracy. One of their crucial goals is the renewal of civil society, which is one of the main conditions of a properly functioning democratic order. I argue that the development of civil society in postcommunist countries is one of the major pre-conditions for their political stability. It should be stressed that civil society is not only a descriptive category but also a normative one for it presupposes a certain level of civic culture and civic consciousness. Historically, if we look at the theories of Smith, Hegel or Marx, civil society was understood as a bourgeois society. At present, what is at stake in the debates animating political and social theory in both East and West, is the question of what version of civil society should prevail. I shall argue that the development of civil society and the democratisation of the social and political spheres should be seen as a mutual process leading to political and economic stability. The actual experience of postcommunist societies in East-Central Europe, attempting liberalisation and democratisation, shows that this mutual process needs a more comprehensive understanding and theoretical explanation.
What is Politics? The Approach of Radical Pluralism
Authors: Wenman Mark Anthony
Published: March 2003

In this article I evaluate the conceptions of politics and of ‘the political’ characteristic of ‘radical pluralism’. I argue that in order to comprehend the radically pluralist conception of politics it is necessary to grasp the post-structuralist critique of the philosophical principle of identity. The concern with the interface between politics and ethics – which is typical of the radical pluralist approach – is also explored. Throughout the article contrast is made with the conventional pluralism of American political science. I conclude with a consideration of the importance of radical pluralism, with reference to the difficulties this may present for the methods and suppositions of political science traditionally understood.
Negotiating False Memories: Interviewer and Rememberer Characteristics Relate to Memory Distortion
Authors: Porter Stephen , Birt Angela R. , Yuille John C. , Lehman Darrin R.
Published: March 2003

In a recent study, more than half of the participants were led to create a partial or complete false memory for an emotional childhood event (e.g., serious animal attack). Using a subsample from that study, we examined the hypothesis that memory distortion is related to characteristics of interviewers and rememberers. The relations between susceptibility to memory distortion and (a) dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale) and (b) personality traits (NEO-Five Factor Inventory) were investigated. Results indicated that participants who exhibited memory distortion scored significantly higher on the dissociative scale than their counterparts who did not exhibit memory distortion. Further, susceptibility to memory distortion was associated with higher extraversion scores in interviewers and lower extraversion scores in participants. This pattern of findings suggests that false memories may derive from a social negotiation between particular interviewers and rememberers.
Identical Words are Read Differently in Different Languages
Authors: Ziegler Johannes C. , Perry Conrad , Jacobs Arthur M. , Braun Mario
Published: March 2003

It is hypothesized that written languages differ in the preferred grain size of units that emerge during reading acquisition. Smaller units (graphemes, phonemes) are thought to play a dominant role in relatively consistent orthographies (e.g., German), whereas larger units (bodies, rhymes) are thought to be more important in relatively inconsistent orthographies (e.g., English). This hypothesis was tested by having native English and German speakers read identical words and nonwords in their respective languages (zoo-Zoo, sand-Sand, etc.). Although the English participants exhibited stronger body-rhyme effects, the German participants exhibited a stronger length effect for words and nonwords. Thus, identical items were processed differently in different orthographies. These results suggest that orthographic consistency determines not only the relative contribution of orthographic versus phonological codes within a given orthography, but also the preferred grain size of units that are likely to be functional during reading.
The Secret Life of Pronouns
Authors: Campbell R. Sherlock , Pennebaker James W.
Published: March 2003

Numerous disclosure studies have demonstrated that individuals randomly assigned to write about emotional topics evidence improved physical health compared with those who write about superficial topics. The writing samples from three previously published studies of 74 first-year students, 50 upper-division students, and 59 maximum-security prisoners were reanalyzed using Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to explore possible relationships of writing content and style to changes in frequency of physician visits following the disclosure intervention. LSA revealed that flexibility in the use of common words—particularly personal pronouns—when writing about traumatic memories was related to positive health outcomes. The findings point to the importance of the role of discussing the self and social relationships in writing and, at the same time, to the remarkable potential of techniques such as LSA.
Reinventing the Treasury: Economic Rationalism or an Econocrat’s Fallacy of Control?
Authors: Parry Richard , Hood Christopher , James Oliver
Published: March 2003

The 1994 Fundamental Expenditure Review (FER) of the UK Treasury was a radical overhaul of organization that had major implications for the way the Treasury conducts its business. This article examines the origins and implications of FER, paying particular attention to the ‘strategic’ philosophy of controlling public expenditure encapsulated within it. Ostensibly an expression of modern economic rationalism overturning outmoded administrative practices, the FER approach to public spending control might alternatively be interpreted as a manifestation of a recurring ‘econocrat’s fallacy of control’ which aims to remove redundancy, random search mechanisms and external veto points from control systems.
Dancing To Whose Tune? Change And Investigations In Hm Customs And Excise
Authors: Doig Alan , Graham Mike
Published: March 2003

The public sector has been subject to significant organizational and cultural change in the past two decades. The purpose of change has been the cost‐efficient and cost‐effective delivery of public services and functions. The process of change has been concerned with the best means to do this, whether in structural, cultural and procedural terms. Without careful determination of the services and functions from the onset, the process, however, can become an end in itself, reflecting the comments of the Head of the Civil Service when he said that he did not know the final shape of the civil service on the grounds that ‘it is not unusual . . . for an organisation in the process of evolution not to know what its final state will be’ (Dynes and Walker 1995, p. 99).

Where an organization has assumed its core functions are clearly defined and understood but where they are not explicitly used to provide the purpose to shape and direct the process of change, that process may be influenced more by generic external imperatives on structural, cultural and managerial reform that developed from the 1988 Next Steps report than by the organization’s core functions. The article questions assumptions that, by itself, an emphasis on the former will facilitate the performance of the latter. It suggests that the process of challenging culture and structure may have adverse consequences until the purpose of change and the functions of the organization are used to shape and inform the process. It looks at the impact of the process of change on a core organizational function in one large government department that has undergone significant change – major investigations within HM Customs and Excise. It considers that change may be, to use the idiom of earlier research into change and the department, partly about teaching organizations to dance the Next Steps, and partly about ensuring that they keep dancing, but it is also about teaching departments that dancing is best done to tunes that inform the steps.
Changing Forms of Accountability in Education? A Case Study of LEAs in Wales
Authors: Farrell Catherine M. , Law Jennifer
Published: March 2003

Political mechanisms of accountability were marginalized by Conservative government reforms during the 1980s and 1990s which sought a more market‐oriented approach within the public sector in order to enhance ‘consumerism’. In education, parents were given more choice between schools and were provided with more information on school performance. The promotion of market accountability has involved a reduction in the powers of local education authorities (LEAs) which had been central to the operation of political accountability. However, whilst market‐based forms of accountability were firmly enhanced in principle by the legislation, to what extent have the forms of accountability operating within LEAs changed in practice? Interviews with Chief Officers and the Chair of the Education Committee are used to identify changing perceptions and practices of accountability in LEAs in Wales. The findings indicate that although local politicians and officials have been forced to operate within the legislative framework of market accountability, they have sought to impede its successful implementation. The policy community in Wales facilitated the LEAs’ capacity to respond in this way. The market‐based reforms conflicted with fundamental values held in Wales, which remain those of professional accountability.
Food Safety Regulation and the Conflict of Interest: The Case of MeatSafety and E. Coli 0157
Authors: Schofield Richard , Shaoul Jean
Published: March 2003

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) aims to remove the longstanding conflict of interest between producers and consumers which is thought to lie at the heart of the rising number of food safety problems of recent years, to restore consumer confidence, and to protect public health. This paper sets out firstly to understand what the conflicts are, how they arise and their implications for food safety, and secondly to provide some means of evaluating the proposals for the Food Standards Agency. It does this by examining the current food safety regulatory regime as it relates to e. coli 0157, one of the problems that gave rise to the FSA and an exemplar of the problems of meat safety, and places it in its wider economic context.

The results show that the financial pressures on the food industry were such that food hygiene was largely dependent upon external regulation and enforcement. But the deficiencies in the conception, design and implementation of the Food Safety Act, which was fundamentally deregulatory and privileged producer interests, permitted the food safety problems to grow. The case also, by illustrating how the interests of big business predominate in the formulation of public policy at the expense of the public, reveals how the class nature of the state affects public policy and social relations. Without addressing these issues, the problems they give rise to will remain. While the case is based on experiences in Britain, the problem of food safety and the issues raised have an international significance.
The New Governance of French Education?
Authors: Cole Alistair
Published: March 2003

This article contributes to ongoing debates in comparative public administration through exploring the governance paradigm in the unfavourable empirical terrain of French education. After identifying potentially relevant features of governance, we investigate changing patterns of policy‐making in French education at macro, meso and micro levels. Extrapolating research findings from extensive interviews and participant observation at ministerial meetings, we conclude the existence of a French‐style governance that operates within distinctive ideational and institutional environments and interest structures. The article emphasizes the importance of historical and institutional traditions in framing the available pathways of governance.
Privatization, Chinese‐style: economic reform and the state‐owned enterprises
Authors: Morris Jonathan , Hassard John , Sheehan Jackie
Published: March 2003

This article reviews ‘corporatization’ and ‘marketization’, shorthands for privatization, in the Chinese economy. In particular it concentrates upon the most recent round of state‐owned enterprise reforms, the Modern Enterprise System and Group Company System, aimed at transforming China’s largest state‐owned enterprises into internationally competitive corporations. This represents a partial privatization, given that the state will retain majority ownership, while acquiring domestic and foreign capital via sharelistings and foreign and domestic joint ventures.

Drawing upon interview material from a five‐year study of state‐owned enterprises, the authors will indicate that such part privatization has been pragmatic and relatively slow. It has been constrained and circumscribed by broader economic and social reform programmes and accompanied by political decentralization and reforms. Ultimately, the reform and pace of reform is shaped by the desire to avoid political and social unrest which could, potentially, threaten the harmony of the Chinese central state apparatus.
Policy networks and policy change in organic agriculture: a comparative analysis of the UK and Ireland
Authors: Greer Alan
Published: March 2003

This paper takes a comparative case–study approach, located within the literature on policy networks, to organic agriculture policy in the United Kingdom and Ireland since the late 1980s. An examination of policy development for the organic sector focuses primarily on regulatory arrangements. The core of the analysis applies some prominent themes in the policy network literature to the organic sector: the debate about sectoral and sub–sectoral networks, the relationship between networks, context and outcomes, and the role of the state and ideas in promoting policy change.
Knowledge management and communities of practice in the private sector: lessons for modernizing the National Health Service in England and Wales
Authors: Bate S.P. , Robert G.
Published: March 2003

The National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales has embarked upon a radical and far–reaching programme of change and reform. However, to date the results of organizational quality and service improvement initiatives in the public sector have been mixed, if not to say disappointing, with anticipated gains often failing to materialize or to be sustained in the longer term. This paper draws on the authors’ recent extensive research into one of the principal methodologies for bringing about the sought after step change in the quality of health care in England and Wales. It explores how private sector knowledge management (KM) concepts and practices might contribute to the further development of public sector quality improvement initiatives in general and to the reform of the NHS in particular. Our analysis suggests there have been a number of problems and challenges in practice, not least a considerable naïvety around the issue of knowledge transfer and ‘knowledge into practice’ within health care organizations. We suggest four broad areas for possible development which also have important implications for other public sector organizations.
Quality measurement as a basis for resource allocation: research assessment exercises in United Kingdom universities
Authors: Ball Derrick F.
Published: March 2003

The research assessment exercises covering universities in the United Kingdom aim to produce quality ratings as a basis for the allocation of much of the research funding from central government. For each subject area a panel drawn from higher education and research users awards a grade to each university department. Each subject is allocated a predetermined share of the total research fund. The sum each university then receives is determined by the number of active research workers and the grades awarded.

The first research assessment exercises were carried out in 1986 and 1989. By the time of the 1992 exercise the number of universities in the United Kingdom had increased dramatically with the conferment of university status on all the former polytechnics and a small number of other institutions. This paper describes the way in which quality was assessed and the results of the 1992 exercise together with the changes made for the next exercise taking place in March 1996.

The research assessment exercises have required the new universities (principally the former polytechnics) to compete on an equal footing with the established universities for research funding and thus for their staff to engage more fully in research. The result is a major change in the environment, particularly in the new universities. This paper offers a preliminary examination of the attempts by universities to this change with the consequential effect upon the labour market.
Membership and management of a ‘virtual’ team: the perspectives of a research manager
Authors: Lewis Robert
Published: March 2003

Many sectors of human activity are growing increasingly dependent on information and its contextual processing in the creation of knowledge. Nowhere is this process more crucial than in distributed R&D communities. This paper draws on experience of working in such communities and on investigations into the role of information and communications technologies. This work may have begun to uncover a framework on which to base the effective application of IT in this context.

A recent research study, supported by the EC Human Capital and Mobility Programme, was undertaken by a team which was itself distributed and comprised those with background disciplines in management science, developmental psychology and information technology. It focused on the communications channels (the media) used by international R&D communities and an analysis of the case study data revealed three significant dimensions:

• individuals and their engagement in the community;

• the nature and stages of R&D tasks;

• management and organization of distributed teams.

This paper focuses on the last of these themes whilst drawing upon the others. It reviews the dynamics of R&D tasks and the way that this requires changing organizational styles which establish, support and maintain each individual's contribution to the collective goal as the task passes through the phases of intention, procedure and operation. It begins to address the issue concerned with capitalizing on diversity rather than the more usual approach of always seeking a unifying consensus.
The needs of R&D professionals in their first and second managerial appointments: are they being met?
Authors: Ball Derrick F.
Published: March 2003

This study sets out to examine the practices of research professionals who are undertaking a research management role for the first or second time. Most of these managers are in their late twenties to middle thirties and are usually employed as team leaders.

R&D personnel early in their managerial career are served badly by the innovation literature. Much of this literature focuses on describing the behaviour of the participants rather than providing information with the potential to contribute to their managerial practice. A major objective of this study is to provide some messages for academics and others of how they may contribute better to the managerial function of first and second time R&D managers in the 21st century.
Managing ‘green’ product innovation in small firms
Authors: Noci Giuliano , Verganti Roberto
Published: March 2003

The growing social and regulatory concern for the environment is leading an increasing number of companies to considering ‘green’ issues as a major source of strategic change. In particular, this trend has major and complex implications on the technological strategy of a company and on its product innovations. Indeed, most authors acknowledge that eco‐efficiency will be one of the major challenges for R&D practice and theory in the next decade. Unfortunately, studies usually focus on large corporations. There is a debate as to whether this factor will affect R&D practices and product innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). A superficial glimpse at the problem could lead one to think that SMEs will not be major green innovators, especially as far as product technologies are concerned, and that they will simply try to comply with environmental regulations (mainly on production processes).

This paper shows that ‘green’ product innovation may occur and may also have strategic implications in SMEs. Starting from the analysis of four selected case studies and using a Precursors Events methodology, this paper illustrates why ‘green’ product innovation cannot be considered a marginal issue for most SMEs, even for those that are not directly affected by environmental regulations. Hence, the paper suggests a contingent framework to support SMEs in the analysis of the drivers of ‘green’ product innovation and in the choice of a proper R&D strategy that explicitly accounts for the eco‐efficiency of product technologies.
Portfolio management for new product development: results of an industry practices study
Authors: Cooper Robert , Edgett Scott , Kleinschmidt Elko
Published: March 2003

Portfolio management for product innovation – picking the right set of development projects – is critical to new product success. This article reports on the new product portfolio practices and performance of a large sample of firms in North America. Reasons why portfolio management is important are identified, followed by the relative popularity of the different portfolio techniques: financial methods are first, followed by business strategy methods, bubble diagrams and scoring models. Next, how the various portfolio methods fare in terms of six performance metrics is probed. Financial methods, although the most popular and rigorous, yield the worst results overall, while top performing firms rely more on non‐financial approaches – strategic and scoring methods. The details of how some of these more popular methods are employed by firms to rate and rank development projects are also provided. Finally, managerial implications, including suggestions for making portfolio management more effective in industry, are outlined.
Radical innovation: triggering initiation of opportunity recognition and evaluation
Authors: Rice Mark , Kelley Donna , Peters Lois , Colarelli O’Connor Gina
Published: March 2003

The gap between a firm’s reservoir of technical knowledge and the formation of a project to explore the commercial potential of a breakthrough technical insight or discovery is the first major discontinuity in the radical innovation lifecycle. The first step toward bridging that gap occurs when the researcher with the technical insight recognizes that it might have commercial potential and decides to alert a research manager. In our longitudinal study of eight radical innovation projects in six large, multi‐national, R&D‐intensive firms, the initiation of a radical innovation project was neither frequent nor routine. In fact the participants in the study indicated that the initiation of a project – in their terminology, the ‘fuzzy front end of innovation’– was the most challenging and uncertain part of the lifecycle. In this paper we explore the case data to illuminate the nature of the initiation gap. In addition we present an assessment framework that can help researchers decide whether or not to bring their technical idea to the attention of management. If the decision is positive, the assessment tool can help them prepare for the discussion with management and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the case to submitted for evaluation.
Risk management, project success, and technological uncertainty
Authors: Raz Tzvi , Shenhar Aaron J. , Dvir Dov
Published: March 2003

In times of increased competition and globalization, project success becomes even more critical to business performance, and yet many projects still suffer delays, overruns, and even failure. Ironically, however, risk management tools and techniques, which have been developed to improve project success, are used too little, and many still wonder how helpful they are. In this paper we present the results of an empirical study devoted to this question. Based on data collected on over 100 projects performed in Israel in a variety of industries, we examine the extent of usage of some risk management practices, such as risk identification, probabilistic risk analysis, planning for uncertainty and trade‐off analysis, the difference in application across different types of projects, and their impact on various project success dimensions. Our findings suggest that risk management practices are still not widely used. Only a limited number of projects in our study have used any kind of risk management practices and many have only used some, but not all the available tools. When used, risk management practices seem to be working, and appear to be related to project success. We also found that risk management practices were more applicable to higher risk projects. The impact of risk management is mainly on better meeting time and budget goals and less on product performance and specification. In this case, we also found some differences according levels of technological uncertainty. Our conclusion is that risk management is still at its infancy and that at this time, more awareness to the application, training, tool development, and research on risk management is needed.
mixing Matters
Authors: Fine Kit
Published: March 2003

Aristotle raised a puzzle about the possibility of mixing whose solution is by no means obvious. I here explicate his solution to the puzzle and attempt to make it plausible within the context of his thought. Although we now know that his specific views on mixing were mistaken, his discussion of the topic raises questions concerning the role of capacities and the relationship of part to whole that are still of interest.
Chekov and the Egalitarian
Authors: O'Neill John
Published: March 2003

What is it for a situation to be worse or better for someone? This paper considers an answer to that question which draws on a distinction implicit in a work of Chekhov between a happy and a worthwhile life. It examines the implications of that answer for recent debates about equality, outlining the virtues of a virtues‐based egalitarianism.
The Presumption of Nothingness
Authors: Carlson Erik , Olsson Erik J.
Published: March 2003

Several distinguished philosophers have argued that since the state of affairs where nothing exists is the simplest and least arbitrary of all cosmological possibilities, we have reason to be surprised that there is in fact a non‐empty universe. We review this traditional argument, and defend it against two recent criticisms put forward by Peter van Inwagen and Derek Parfit. Finally, we argue that the traditional argument nevertheless needs reformulation, and that the cogency of the reformulated argument depends partly on whether there are certain conceptual limitations to what a person can hypothetically doubt.
Toleration and Recognition
Authors: Lukes Steven
Published: March 2003

The author asks: Is there a case for redefining toleration as the recognition of excluded identities? He is inclined to answer no. Liberal democratic states, should of course recognise disfavoured groups by registering the normality of their members and the justice of their claims but must resist recognition in any stronger sense. Appropriate recognition consists in confronting the live contemporary issues of exclusion and of ethnic and national injustice by compensatory policies and constitutional innovations.
Tolerance and the Law
Authors: Broglio Francesco Margiotta
Published: March 2003

Analyzing the legal dimension of tolerance in the field of international law (especially in international U.N. Declarations and Covenants on human rights), the author emphasizes how the principle of tolerance implies not merely a legal system “agnostic” to religious truth but also the development of minorities and the principle of non‐discrimination in a democratic system. Non‐discrimination appears to be particularly important in the face of the current phenomena of religious extremism and intolerance; development of a multicultural society is recognized in the U.N. Declaration against Intolerance and Discrimination of 1981.
Ask the Children
Authors: Beresford John
Published: March 2003

Actively canvassing the views of pupils on aspects of their learning is rapidly becoming accepted as an important part of a teacher’s planning and evaluation. In this article, John Beresford shows how the views of nursery, reception and infant children in a Barking infants’ school helped inform staff about the effectiveness of the school’s reading policy.
Monopsony and Time–Consistency: Sustainable Pricing Policies for Perennial Crops
Authors: Besley Timothy
Published: March 2003

Since farmers in developing countries must make sunk investments to produce perennial crops, governments, in the guise of state‐run marketing boards, face constraints on maximal sustinable price which can be charged by a marketing board assuming that “punishments” involve reversion to subsistence by untrusting farmers. This maximal price balances concerns about revenue extraction against the incentive of governments to cheat by capitalizing on sunk investments.
Population Density and Infrastructure Development
Authors: Chu C.Y. Cyrus
Published: March 2003

A model is proposed with the following features: (1) there is a publicly accessible transport technology, which is more advanced when there is more specialized labor in it; (2) a high population density facilitates the development of the transport technology; (3) an improved transport technology facilitates a finer division of labor, which in turn increases per capita income. These features are compatible with the phenomena of economic development described by Boserup in 1981. It is also shown that, provided the infrastructure sector can charge the users, and individuals are free to choose jobs, the competitive equilibrium will be Pareto‐optimal.
Aid and Public Sector Behavior in Developing Countries
Authors: McGillivray Mark
Published: March 2003

This paper analyzes developing‐country public‐sector fiscal behavior. It is concerned specifically with how aid inflows affect various categories of revenue and expenditure. An econometric model is developed, which differs from those used in previous studies by allowing domestic borrowing to finance both capital and recurrent expenditure. Structural and reduced‐form equations are derived and estimated using 1956–95 time‐series data for Pakistan. Results indicate that aid is allocated mainly to investment, is positively associated with both investment and consumption expenditure, and has no final impact on taxation.
Forecasting Errors in the Absence of a Futures Market: The Seasonal Allocation of Wheat Supplies in India
Authors: Ramaswami Bharat
Published: March 2003

Agricultural policy in developing countries is strongly shaped by views about speculation in the foodgrain markets. The central issue is whether speculative expectations are rational. Yet, data availability and the absence of futures markets rarely permits a direct examination of this hypothesis. However, the government intervenes in the Indian wheat market in a manner that allows speculative expectations to be inferred from government purchase of grain. The application of standard tests of rational expectations is complicated by measurement errors. Results show systematic biases in forecasting errors of a form that would not be sustainable in the presence of a futures market.
Factor Price Equalization when the World Equilibrium is not Unique
Authors: Kemp Murray C.
Published: March 2003

It is shown that, whatever the multiplicity of the integrated world equilibrium, (i) factor prices are equalized if and only if the distribution of primary factors between trading countries can be represented by a point in or on the boundary of a certain convex subset of Rm, where m is the number of primary factors, and (ii) the likelihood of factor price equalization is independent of the multiplicity of the equilibrium.
Specialization Pattern and Multistaged Growth: Korea and Taiwan Compared
Authors: Kato Toshiyasu , Wan, Jr Henry
Published: March 2003

The sustained rapid growth of Korea and Taiwan represent two alternative paths of successful development. The difference between these two paths is reflected in industrial concentration, macroeconomic management, and export mix. During the 1997 crisis, Korea absorbed severe shocks and then scored a quick recovery, while Taiwan proceeded at a more or less constant pace. Taiwan has followed a “usual progression” experienced by Netherlands or Switzerland before; Korea has struck out on a different path, under a more active government policy. Before the current, ongoing reform, the development policy of Korea dates back to President Park, and fits his style of personal management over the economy. It has its own rationale, but also entails greater financial risks. The different roles played by the small and medium enterprises in the two economies provide food for thought in development economics.
Gender Differences in Labor Market Decisions in Rural Guatemala
Authors: Pagán José A.
Published: March 2003

This study analyzes male–female differences in workforce participation and self‐employment in rural Guatemala. Gender differences in rural labor market outcomes are examined using the 1997 Survey of Rural Entrepreneurs and Financial Services, conducted in the rural areas of the departments of San Marcos, Quezaltenango, Huehuetenango, Alta Verapaz, Petén, and Chimiquimula. There are substantial differences in the labor force participation rates of men and women (86.5 vs 24.0 percent) and in self‐employment (49.8 vs 31.9 percent). The empirical results suggest that external constraints explain almost all of the observed gender gap in employment. Gender differences in individual endowments and human capital contribute to increase the male–female self‐employment gap; however, structural factors help to reduce gender differences in rural entrepreneurship.
Conflict and Trade in a Predator/Prey Economy
Authors: Anderton Charles H.
Published: March 2003

Predatory possibilities are integrated with production and trade in a hawk/dove model. The model shows how mutually beneficial exchange can subdue hawk playing. It also identifies conditions under which predatory possibilities are so large that hawks dominate the economy. One of the unusual results of the model is nullifying productivity growth, whereby increases in the productivity of each agent, in its area of comparative advantage, causes production and per capita welfare to fall under certain conditions. Productivity increases that lead to nullifying growth occur just before a transition cusp that, if reached, vaults the economy to a dramatically improved state.
Transitional Dynamics and Indeterminacy of Equilibria in an Endogenous Growth Model with a Public Input
Authors: Palivos Theodore , Yip Chong K. , Zhang Junxi
Published: March 2003

The authors analyze an endogenous growth model with economy–wide increasing returns, in which a public input is essential for private production. Within such a framework, it is shown that a continuum of equilibria and global indeterminacy can arise for reasonable parameter values, simply due to the presence of endogenous public policy. This can potentially account for “leapfrogging” or retroceding growth experiences. It is demonstrated how fiscal policy can serve as a selection device among different convergent paths.
Interactions between Agriculture and Industry: Theoretical Analysis of the Consequences of Discriminating Agriculture in Sub–Saharan Africa
Authors: Rattsø Jørn , Torvik Ragnar
Published: March 2003

Many countries in sub–Saharan Africa discriminated against agriculture to promote industry after independence. The domestic terms of trade were turned against agriculture by the price fixing of monopoly marketing boards. This policy was assumed to reduce labor costs of industry and was combined with overvaluation of the currency, protectionism, and priority rationing of imported inputs to industry. The region got the worst of both worlds—stagnation in both agriculture and industry. What went wrong? In a dual model designed to represent characteristics of the region, discrimination of agriculture is shown to contract industry through trade linkages. Export–oriented agriculture has been held back, and import–dependent industries have suffered because of the foreign exchange constraint. In a dynamic extension assuming learning–by–doing in industry and catching–up in agriculture, it is shown that discrimination against agriculture may reduce the growth rate of the economy and the technological advantage of industry.
The Canadian Dollar and Purchasing Power Parity during the Recent Float
Authors: Kouretas Georgios P.
Published: March 2003

This paper re‐examines the purchasing power parity (PPP) concept for five bilateral Canadian dollar exchange rates. The Johansen cointegration technique is employed. Evidence is found in favor of PPP when wholesale prices are used but not when consumer prices are utilized; whereas, in all but one case, it is not possible to reject the symmetry and proportionality hypotheses. Furthermore, it is shown that the dimension of the cointegration space may exhibit sample dependency, but the estimated coefficients are stable in recursive estimations. Finally, by implementing the multivariate KPSS test for the null hypothesis of cointegration, Johansen’s results are overturned.
A Band Spectral Analysis of Exports and Economic Growth in the United States
Authors: Atesoglu H. Sonmez , Vilasuso Jon
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the role of exports in aggregate economic growth in the United States using band spectral regression. The findings reveal a predictable relationship between long‐run frequency components of real export growth and real GDP growth over the post‐Bretton Woods period of flexible exchange rates. The study fails to uncover a significant relationship between long‐run frequency components of the terms of trade and real output. Overall, the findings support the export‐led growth hypothesis, and dismiss long‐run movements in the terms of trade as an important determinant of real output growth.
Terms‐of‐Trade Shocks, Labor‐Market Adjustment, and Safeguard Measures
Authors: Gaisford James D. , Leger Lawrence A.
Published: March 2003

This paper explores a simple model of labor‐market adjustment where intersectoral transfer in response to terms‐of‐trade shocks involves both sector‐specific skill acquisition and workplace disruption. Externalities arise because the marginal migrant does not consider the congestion costs imposed on intramarginal migrants or the disruption costs imposed on the incumbent workers in both sectors. While these externalities give rise to a case for temporary adjustment assistance, the analysis does not support the use of trade measures such as tariffs.
Endogenous Growth and Trade Liberalization Between Small and Large Countries
Authors: Kind Hans Jarle
Published: March 2003

The paper combines insight from new trade theory and R&D‐based endogenous growth models to argue that there are ambiguous growth effects of trade liberalization between countries that differ in terms of the size of their home markets. In particular, trade liberalization may reduce R&D incentives in countries with low purchasing power without invoking parallel increases in countries with high purchasing power. The paper also considers the case of imperfect international knowledge spillovers, and demonstrates that complete trade liberalization may affect the growth rate negatively.
Inflation and Productivity: Empirical Evidence from Europe
Authors: Tsionas Efthymios
Published: March 2003

The paper investigates the empirical association between inflation and productivity in 15 European countries over the period 1960–97. Modern econometric techniques based on integration and cointegra– tion analysis are used to test for the existence of a long–run relationship between inflation and productivity. Recently developed causality tests for possibly cointegrated VAR models are also applied instead of relying on standard Granger causality tests which are inappropriate in the presence of nonstationary variables.
Transport Infrastructure and Industrial Location: The Case of Thailand
Authors: Buurman Joost , Rietveld Piet
Published: March 2003

This paper addresses the impact of transport infrastructure projects of manufacturing employment in Thai regions. After a theoretical review we consider the impact of various transport modes: road, rail and ports. We find that roads and ports have a positive impact on industrial location, although the size of the impact is modest. Labor appears to be a more important location factor in Thailand. For the analysis of the data, geographical information systems (GIS) appear to be a quite useful tool.
Foreign Participation in Housing Development in Mainland China: Legal Concerns on Property Ownership
Authors: Chan Edwin H. W. , Kwok Gilbert
Published: March 2003

Since the economic reform in the 198Os, real property development, especially in the housing sector, has become one of the major economic activities in mainland China. Housing development was commercialized initially for the overseas market, particularly for the Chinese emigrants, as foreign capital was much needed. Under the new socialist market economy, a clear legal definition is still to be established for ownership of real property, which is a crucial issue for any real property development. This paper critically reviews the evolving concept of property ownership and evaluates the major pieces of legislation that govern participation of foreign investors in “commodity units” housing development. A critical evaluation highlights the legal concerns that hinder foreign involvement in “commodity unit” housing development.
Involuntary Unemployment and Environmental Policy: The Double Dividend Hypothesis
Authors: Schneider Kerstin
Published: March 2003

An environmental tax reform might bring about gains over and above improved environmental quality. In particular, if tax revenues from environmental taxes are used to reduce the tax on wage income, positive employment effects can result in second‐best economies. An efficiency wage model is used to analyze the impact of an ecological tax reform on involuntary unemployment. The government controls emissions by selling emission permits. Employment of labor and wages are determined endogenously. Conditions are identified under which an environmental tax reform reduces unemployment and increases welfare.
Emission Taxes versus Other Environmental Policies
Authors: Hoel Michael
Published: March 2003

In the environmental policy of most countries, various forms of quotas and direct regulation are more important than environmental taxes. This paper addresses four arguments which are often given against the use of emission taxes. The three arguments related to information asymmetries and non‐convexities are valid in the sense that they point to complications in the use of environmental taxes. The fourth argument is related to the employment effects of different types of environmental policies in economies with unemployment. Although this argument is frequently used by politicians, the analysis provides no justification for it. On the contrary: in the model used, employment is higher with environmental taxes than with non‐revenue‐raising environmental policies.
An Overlapping Generations Model of Climate‐Economy Interactions
Authors: Howarth Richard B.
Published: March 2003

A numerically calibrated overlapping generations model of climate change and the world econommy is examined in this paper. In the absence of intergenerational transfers, efficient rates of greenhouse gas emissions abatement rise from 16% in the present to 25% in the long run, while mean global temperature increases by 7.4°C relative to the preindustrial norm. A utilitarian optimum, which attaches equal weight to each generation's life‐cycle utility, yields abatement rates that rise from 48% to 89%, with a long‐run temperature increase of 3.4°C. A second‐best utilitarian path, in which intergenerational transfers are by assumption institutionally infeasible, also supports stringent abatement measures.
Tax Reform, Structural Unemployment and the Environment
Authors: Bovenberg A. Lans , Van Der Ploeg Frederick
Published: March 2003

The effects of environmental tax reform, i.e., using the proceeds of a higher energy tax rate to lower the labour tax rate, on wage formation, employment and environmental quality are analysed in the context of a small open economy with structural unemployment caused by hiring costs. We find that such a reform may boost employment if it shifts the tax burden away from workers towards those without employment in the formal sector. Environmental tax reform succeeds in shifting the tax burden away from workers in the formal sector if higher energy taxes reduce earnings in the informal sector by reducing labour productivity.
Residential Mobility and the Housing Market in a Two‐sector Neoclassical Growth Model
Authors: Hardman Anna M. , Ioannides Yannis M.
Published: March 2003

The impact of residential mobility and competitive housing markets on long run growth is examined using a two‐sector general equilibrium overlapping‐generations model in continuous time. There is an infinity of agents with finite lives who adjust their housing consumption by moving, which is costly. We explore the model's steady‐state properties, first with a free housing market, then under rent control when the market clears through restrictions on the frequency of moves. Rent controls do not just reduce welfare; they may increase the steady‐state capital‐labor ratio.