ALBERT

Notes: The advent of National Vocational Qualifications represents an important change in British Government policy from attempting to secure appropriate training inputs to a system driven by the aim of stimulating the attainment of learning outcomes assessed against national standards. This article presents a case study of the implications of this policy for intermediate skills in engineering, a major industry subject to rapid technological change.

Notes: This article examines the relationship between technology, entrepreneurial human capital and company performance in a sample of textile and clothing SMEs in Great Britain. General conclusions suggest that firms with a computer network are more likely to have a formal management team. Networked firms appear to be larger: smaller companies are making increasing use of computer networks.

Notes: This article examines two issues: first how Japanese companies recruit, train and utilise engineers in their UK transplants; secondly, how technology transfer between British and Japanese engineers is affected by career structures. It draws on questionnaire responses from 88 companies and interviews at a small number of sites.

Notes: From the 1980s, the paper and board industry in Britain, in response to the pressures of strong foreign competition, sought the fuller utilisation of new and existing technology through changing work practices. This particularly involved the extensive introduction of annualised hours arrangements with national bargaining arrangements playing a major role in their introduction.

Notes: Research that questions the general validity of flexible specialisation can be supplemented by an example that is, paradoxically, frequently used as a supporting example: ceramic tile production. This article examines some comparative evidence and concludes that support is illusory and all too often based on the same weak original data, while there are actually more robust indications of moves towards classical mass production.

Notes: Book Reviewed in this article:Expertise and Innovation: Information Technology Strategies in the Financial Services SectorEthics of Information ManagementAcquiring, Adapting and Developing Technologies: Lessons from the Japanese ExperienceTeleworking ExplainedTime Pioneers: Flexible Working Time and New LifestylesThe Future of Industrial RelationsEnterprise Without UnionsThe Electronic Eye: the rise of surveillance societyManaging Production—Engineering Change and StabilityBusiness Reengineering: The Survival GuideISO 9000—Quality Systems Handbook

Notes: This article argues that studies of the introduction of new technology have tended to ignore the contributions of pre-Braverman approaches. However, in some cases, they have implicitly rediscovered the findings of an older industrial sociology.

Notes: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for communication between different corporate computer systems was expected to transform relationships between firms. However, this detailed study of three sectors of the UK publishing industry—the book trade; the magazine and newspaper trade; and newsprint supply to newspapers—found that EDI developed in a slow and incremental manner. This calls into question the radical visions of proponents of business network redesign.

Notes: This article examines job knowledge and skill in clerical work drawing on five case studies from the area of credit management. The cognitive, social and ‘tacit’ skills necessary for clerical effectiveness in this sector are identified and examined. Feminist approaches to skills analysis are used to examine how and why this type of work is under-valued.

Notes: Utilising a typology based on the previous occupational background of owner-managers within technology-based organizations, this article analyses the previous management and technical experiences of a sample of technical entrepreneurs in the UK. Overall, the study concludes that management and technical experience will differ according to occupational background, which may have implications for support provided to small technology-based firms.

Notes: This article explores management's strategic decision making in relation to Total Quality Management (TQM). It demonstrates that management's strategies are fraught with politics and power relations, which influence the ‘choice’ of strategy and the way in which such strategies are ‘implemented’. Hence, management's strategic decision making may not be planned and rational, and their behaviour is often contradictory which may undermine TQM or render its outcomes uncertain and contestable.

Notes: This article examines the role which elite MNC employers play in the process of qualification inflation within the Irish Republic. While these employers do not contribute towards inflation across technical occupations the tendency to select the most qualified within individual occupations has led to the emergence of a ‘graduate barrier’ between technicians and engineers/scientists.

Notes: Book Reviewed in this article:Enriching Production: Perspectives on Volvo's Uddevalla Plant as an Alternative to Lean Production Ake Sandberg (Ed.)Breaking from Taylorism: Changing Forms of Work in the Automobile Industry Ulrich Jurgens, Thomas Malsch and Knuth Dohse Cambridge University Press

Notes: This article takes the view that BPR in the dominant form in which it is presently characterised, is a re-expression of industrial age classical administration. As such it is oblivious of organization as a political entity or as a set of ‘human resources' . What is needed is a new model of BPR for the information age.

Notes: Here the author examines continuities and tensions between the discourses of Business Process Re-engineering and Human Resource Management. Addressing their respective assumptions and claims, especially with regard to the organization of ‘human resources', critical attention is focused upon their shared advocacy of employee empowerment and strong leadership from senior managers.

Notes: This article examines the hype surrounding BPR from a historical, theoretical and empirical perspective. It delineates three ways in which politics are critical to understanding BPR and uses findings on BPR practice, including from case study work and a 1994/5 UK survey conducted by the authors, to locate and explain BPR's appeal and also the less radical outcomes of BPR practice.

Notes: Capitalism is currently undergoing an epochal change. The associated corporate change is sticky for reasons of institutional inertia. Business process re-engineering is a corporate response which should be understood in technical, social and political terms. Core elements of BPR are identified, illustrated, and critiqued, partly through a BPR case researched by the authors.

Notes: This article examines the emergence of BPR from the literature on the strategic use of IT. Two case studies of BPR are then presented. Analysis of this material suggests that there is a tension between strategic re-orientation and cost-saving in many BPR projects which is difficult to resolve. This tension is explored further using a historical analysis of ‘frameworks' of computing.

Notes: This article explores the relevance of ideas emerging from business process re-engineering (BPR) for the information systems profession. The marginal role of this profession in conceiving and leading organizational change is examined. Against this background, current interest in BPR is seen as reasserting the challenge of incorporating an active engagement with organizational design into professional practices.

Notes: This article looks at the experiences, warts and all of BPR at The Post Office. In so doing it also reflects upon the nature of good practice.

Notes: Here the author examines the extent of BPR practice across UK government, reaching conclusions about overcoming impediments which arise in organizational change processes.

Notes: The world economy is currently stuck in a ‘long wave’ downswing, due largely to the mismatch of a new technological 'style’ with established institutions. The article sketches the effects on the level and pattern of employment and discusses the reforms which will be needed to escape from the downswing.

Notes: Here the authors examine the unions' experience of building-related sickness among their members and argue that we can no longer treat the built working environment as a neutral factor when analysing the labour process.

Notes: Book reviews in this article:Tools for Change and Progress: A Socio-Technical Approach to Business Process Re-engineering Enid Mumfordm, Geert Jan BeekmanReengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution Michael Hammer and James ChampyThe Essence of Business Process Re-Engineering Joe Peppard, Philip RowlandSoftware Assistance for Business Re-Engineering K Spurr, P Layzell, N Richards (Eds.)Re-Engineering the Networked Enterprise Y Jayachandra with Raul Medina-More Gita J Melkote Fernando FloresReengineering Information Technology: Success Through Empowerment Stephen, Baxter, David LisburnManagers Divided: Organisation Politics and Information Technology Management David Knights, Fergus MurrayBusiness Process Reengineering: Breakpoint Strategies for Market Dominance Henry J. Johansson, Patrick McHugh, A. John Pendlebury & William A. Wheeler IIIBeyond Business Process Reengineering: Towards the Holonic Enterprise Patrick McHugh, Giorgio Merli & William A. Wheeler III

Notes: This article examines the introduction of centralized processing. It looks at the multiple objectives underlying the initiative and how these were managed in implementation. Drawing on empirical data gathered at three similar sites a comparative analysis of the outcomes of centralization is presented and the variances are explained.

Notes: There are conflicting tendencies among recent developments in bargaining and participation at the workplace level in Europe. While there is an emphasis on decentralisation of bargaining structures in many countries, there is considerable variance. Similarly, there is a diversity of approaches to both direct and indirect forms of participation. Despite attempts by the European Community to integrate policies on these matters among member countries, external influences such as the globalisation of economies and technologies are leading to diverse outcomes.

Notes: Book reviews in this article:The Volvo Experience: alternatives to lean production in the Swedish auto industry Christian BerggrenPrices, Quality and Trust Mari SakoTechnology and Innovation in the International Economy Charles Cooper, EditorHi-Tech For Industrial Development: Lessons from the Brazilian Experience in Electronics and Automation Hubert Schmitz Jose Cassiolato (eds)Development, Technology and Flexibility: Brazil Faces the Industrial Divide Joao Carlos Ferraz Howard Rush Ian MilesTelecommunications and Politics: the decentralised alternative Andrew DaviesTelecommunications Services: negotiating structural and technological change B. Bolton et al., EditorsIn Search of Management Tony J. WatsonOther publications received

Notes: This article identifies three models that imply different views of the ‘impact’ of the use of computer based information systems for managers' work. Using case study evidence it argues that the ‘impact’ is not a stable and predictable outcome but a non-linear ongoing process that changes and evolves over time.

Notes: Everyone is aware of the federal income tax. What many do not realize is that federal estate tax may have a bigger impact than the income tax. While the income tax decreases take-home pay, the estate tax threatens job creation, business growth, and family harmony. This article examines the impact of the federal estate taxes and reviews several studies which indicate that the estate tax has a deleterious impact on capital accumulation, business growth, job creation, and federal tax revenues.

Notes: Closely held businesses differ from their publicly held counterparts in the relative importance assigned to planning for estate taxes. When faced with the prospect of an estate taxes liability, owners of closely held businesses may alter their investment behavior. This essay presents a simple model of the investment decision in a closely held business. While finance theory prescribes that firms maximize their value through funding capital projects with positive net present values, this model suggests that the presence of estate taxes may induce the firm to reject projects which, if funded, would add value to the firm. Further, the propensity to pass on value-adding projects increases with both the estate tax rate and the age of the business owner.

Notes: This paper questions the effectiveness of economic development policies and programs which fail to differentiate family from non-family enterprises in the UK small and medium-sized firms sector. Published evidence is reviewed and findings from workshops and interviews with 10 Scottish family enterprises demonstrate that family enterprises differ, and in some economically significant ways, from non-family enterprises. It is suggested that the lack of provision for family enterprises hinders their business activity. The aim is to begin an argument for recognition of a “family business sector” in the UK in order to promote business activity in this economically significant group of firms, and to achieve a better payoff for governments from investment in economic development in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Notes: Family business studies have focused on succession because of the incidence of family business failure and the importance of family businesses within the US economy. This study furthers the understanding of family business failure by making the distinction between succession planning (the management task of transitioning leadership) and estate planning (the task of transitioning financial assets and managing federal estate tax obligations) and using this distinction to better understand family business discontinuance. This study of 749 heirs of failed family businesses demonstrates that inadequate estate planning is more often associated-with family business failure than is poor succession planning.

Notes: Although family-owned and managed firms are the predominant form of business organization in the world today, little systematic research exists on these companies. This paper builds upon insights found in the emerging literature on these enterprises and upon our own observations to provide a conceptual frame-work to better understand these complex organizations. We introduce the concept of the Bivalent Attributes–a unique, inherent feature of an organization that is the source of both advantages and disadvantages–to explain the dynamics of the family firm.

Notes: This paper is meant to answer the question whether the CMEA countries trade flows have been able to catch up with their trade potential. The gravity equations estimated over a panel of 14 years show that there is a room for an increase in trade, which could compensate for the huge regional trade losses. But, if one takes into account the higher than average transportation costs in East Europe, this potential increase may only he reached through the reduction of these transportation costs and through further liberalisation of regional trade flows. How costly has been the disintegration process? The computation of gross trade destruction (GTD) versus trade creation (TC) minus external trade diversion (ETD) in the framework of the Viner model reflects the decreasing costs of the CMEA break-up: a dramatic trade reorientation has taken place, and it is welfare improving.〈section xml:id="abs1-2"〉〈title type="main"〉ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDieser Artikel untersucht, ob der Aussenhandel der ehemaligen COMECON-Länder sein potentielles Niveau bereits erreicht hat. Ein Gravitltsmodel über einen Zeitraum von 14 Jahren zeigt, dass es noch ein Potential für zusätzlichen internationalen Handel giht, das den Zusammenbruch des regionalen Handels kompensieren könnte. Wenn jedoch die höheren Transportkosten in Mittel- und Osteuropa in Betracht gezogen werden, dürfte dieses Potential nur durch eine Reduzierung dieser Kosten und eine weitergehende Handelsliberalisierung ausgeschöpft werden können. Der Artikel heschäftigt sich ebenfalls mit den Kosten des Zusammenbruchs des COMECON-Handels. Die Berechnung der Bruttohandelszerstörung versus neu entstandenem Handel abzuglich der Handelsahlenkung im Modell von Viner zeigt, dass diese Kosten positiv und ahnehmend sind. Die starke Reorientierung des Aussenhandels hat eine erhöhte Wohlfahrt in der Region zur Folge.〈section xml:id="abs1-3"〉〈title type="main"〉RESUMECet article tente de répondre è la question de savoir si le commerce des pays ex-memhres du CAEM a rattrapé son niveau potentiel. L'équation de gravité estimée sur un panel de 14 ans montre qu'il existe un potentiel d'échanges qui pourrait compenser l'effondrement du commerce régional. Mais la prise en compte des coǔts de transport qui sont plus élevés en Europe de l'Est suggère que ce potentiel ne peut ěre exploité qu' è travers la réduction de ces coǔts en Europe de l'Est et è travers une libéralisation plus poussée des échanges. Le processus de désintégration a t'il été coǔteux? Le calcul de la destruction de commerce (DC) versus création (CC) et destruction extérieure de commerce (DEC) dans le modèle de Viner montre que le coǔt est positif mais décroissant. L'importante réorientation des échanges tend è améliorer le bien-ětre dans la région.

Notes: Alvesson Mats (1993): Cultural Perspectives on OrganizationsAtkinson, Anthony B. (ed.) (1993): Alternatives to CapitalismAyres, Robert U. (1994): Information, Entropy, and ProgressBaranzini, Mauro and Geoffrey S. Harcourt (eds.) (1993): The Dynamics ofthe Wealth of NationsCaprio, Gerard; David Folkerts-Landau and Timothy D. Lane (1994): Building Sound Finance in Emerging Market EconomiesCastles, Stephen and Mark J. Miller (1993): The Age of MigrationChow, Peter Y. and Mitchell H. Kellman (1993): Trade – the Engine of Growth in East AsiaCooper, Charles (ed.) (1994): Technology and Innovation in the International EconomyFransman, Martin (1993): The Market and BeyondGalbraith, John Kenneth (1993): A Journey Through Economic TimeHayes, J.P. (1993): Making Trade Policy in the European CommunityHodgson, Geoffrey M.; J. Warren J. Samuels and Marc R. Tool (1994): The Elgar Companion to Institutional and Evolutionary EconomicsHoffmann, Lutz (1993): Warten auf den AufschwungLibecap, Gary D. (1994): Contracting for Property RightsOates, Wallace E. (ed.) (1993): The Economics of the EnvironmentPerelman, Michael (1993): The Pathology of the US. Economy

Notes: Austrian business cycle policy was unconventional but rather successful in the last three decades and especially since the oil crisis. The unconventional conception was developed by trial and error, only ex post it got the name Austro-Keynesianism. Nevertheless it has a theoretical basis, a rather radical interpretation of KEYNES, which bases economic instability on a deep-rooted uncertainty of entrepreneurs. According to this interpretation economic policy tried to stabilize the data most important for entrepreneurial decisions, especially wage increase, exchange rates and investment promotion. This lightened the burden of the traditional instruments of stabilization policy. In addition these instruments were assigned differently: Exchange rate policy was primarily used to stabilize prices in the short run, incomes policy to equilibrate the current account in the medium and longer run, fiscal policy to stabilize employment. While the new assignation proved useful for stabilization policy, some structural problems remained unsolved.

Notes: Aulin, Asvid (1997). The Origins of Economic Growth. Berlin/Heidelberg/New York.Bretschger, Lucas (1996). Wachstumstheorie. München/Wien: Oldenbourg.Canzoneri, Matthew B., Wilfred J. Ethier and Vittorio Grilli (eds.) (1996). The New Transatlantic Economy. Cambridge/New York/Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.Costanza, Robert, John Cumberland, Herman Daly, Robert Goodland and Richard Norgaard (1997). An Introduction to Ecological Economics. Boca Raton, USA: St. Lucie Press.Dragun, Andrew K. and Kristin M. Jakobson (eds.) (1997). Sustainability and Global Environmental Policy. New Perspectives. Cheltenham, UK/Lyme, USA: Edward Elgar.Francois. Joseph F. and Kenneth A. Reinert (eds.) (1997). Applied Methods for Trade Policy Analysis. A Handbook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Kolb, Gerhard (1997). Geschiclite der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Dogmenhistorische Positionen des ökonomischen Denkens. München: Vahlen.Komlos, John and Scott Eddie (eds.) (1997). Selected Cliometric Studies on German Economic History. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.Meyer-Abich. Klaus Michael (1997). Praktische Naturphilosophie. Erinnerung an einen vergessenen Traum.Mizen, Paul and Eric J. Pentecost (eds.) (1996). The Macroeconomics of International Currencies. Theory, Policy and Evidence.Pies, Ingo und Martin Leschke (Hrsg.) (1997). Mancur Olsoizs Logik kollektiven Handelns. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck).Weimer, David L. (ed.) (1997). The Political Economy of Property Rights. Institutional Change and Credibility in the Reform of Centrally Planned Economies. Cambridge/New York/Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.Wendner, Ronald (1997). C02-Reduktionspolitik und Pensionssicherung. Hintergründe, Modellinerung und Simulationen. Heidelberg: Physica.Williamson, Jeffrey G. (1997). Industrialization, Inequality and Economic Growth. Cheltenham, UK/Brookfield, USA: Edward Elgar.

Notes: Levels of participation in organized religion differ markedly across countries, a stylized fact which has resisted a general theoretical explanation. The claim of this paper is that the international variation in religious attendance can be understood in terms of systematic differences in socio-economic variables. In particular, national religious participation is modelled as a function of investment in religious human capital, social interactions and religious market structure. Using data for eighteen countries derived from the religious questionnaire of the International Social Survey Programme, the empirical significance of these variables is demonstrated by estimating simple regression equations.〈section xml:id="abs1-2"〉〈title type="main"〉ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEs wird allgemein angenommen, dass sich die Teilnahme an kirchlichen Aktivitäten von Land zu Land unterscheidet. Für diese Annahme gibt es gegenwärtig keine überzeugende theoretische Erklärung. Dieser Artikel analysiert die Unterschiede in der Teilnahme an kirchlichen Aktivitäten anhand sozio-ökonomischer Variablen. Nationale Unterschiede in der Religionspartizipation können vor allem durch unterschiedliche Investitionen in das religiöse Humankapital, unterschiedliche soziale Interaktionen und Unterschiede in der Struktur des Religionsmarktes erklärt werden. Mit Hilfe von einfachen Regressionsmodellen werden Daten aus 18 Ländern, die aus Fragebögen des International Social Survey Programme stammen, ausgewertet, um die empirische Signifikanz dieser Variablen zu untermauern.〈section xml:id="abs1-3"〉〈title type="main"〉RÉSUMÉLes niveaux de participation è une religion organisée different de fçon marquée entre lea pays, fait particulier qui échappe è des explications théoriques d'ordre général. Cette étude aboutit è la conclusion que les variations internationales en matière de participation religieuse peuvent se comprendre en termes des différences systématiques qui existent dans les variables socio-économiques. En particulier, la participation religieuse nationale est modelée comme étant une fonction de l'investissement dans le capital humain religieu, les interactions sociales et la structure du marché religieu. A partir d'informations provenant de dix-huit pays, tirées du questionnaire religieu élaboré par le Programme international d'ttude sociale, la signification empirique de ces variables est démontrée en estimant de simples équations de régression.

Notes: Increasingly, commentators have argued that provision of welfare services is better left to the private sector, In the UK, the ‘Thatcher years’ were associated with a philosophy that greater decision making should be left to individuals and that, if state provision of welfare were ‘rolled back’, the voluntary charitable sector would become more active in meeting the needs of the disadvantaged. While ‘standard’ economic theory suggests that cutting public expenditure ‘crowds in’ private giving and that tax inducements to donate to charities can prove effective, there are reasons to dispute the proposition that such a mix of fiscal policy will cause individuals to behave more altruistically. An appraisal of public policy changes, which includes the impact of policy changes on individuals' preferences, calls in question the assertion that private charitable giving will provide an adequate substitute for public expenditure. The same analytical framework proves effective in predicting a range of policy outcomes.〈section xml:id="abs1-2"〉〈title type="main"〉ZUSAMMENFASSUNGIn zunehmendem Masse wird von Experten behauptet, die Bereitstellung von Wohlfdhrtseinrichtungen sei besser dem privaten Sektor zu überlassen. Die Thatcher-Jahre in Grossbritannien waren mit der Philosophie verhunden, die Verantwortung vom Staat auf den Einzelnen zu verlagern. Zöge sich der Staat aus der Bereitstellung von Wohlfahrtseinrichtungen zurück, würde sich der karitative Sektor aktiver in die Versorgung Bedürftiger einschalten. Laut der ökonomischen Standardtheorie führen Kürzungen öffentlicher Ausgaben zu einem Anstieg privater Spenden und macht sich die steuerliche Absetzbarkeit von Spenden bezahlt. Die Annahme, dass dieser fiskalpolitische Mix zu einem altruistischeren Verhalten der Individuen führt, lässt sich allerdings aus mehreren Gründen hinterfragen. Eine Beurteilung eines Kurswechsels des öffentlichen Sektors, die die Auswirkungen auf die individuellen Präferenzen beinhaltet, stellt die Behauptung in Frage, dass private Spendengelder öffentliche Ausgaben in ausreichendem Masse ersetzen könnten. Der gleiche analytische Rahmen ist ein wirksames Instrument, um weitere politische Ergebnisse vorherzusagen.〈section xml:id="abs1-3"〉〈title type="main"〉RÉSUMÉDe plus en plus souvent, les experts ont soutenu que les services sociaux devaient plutǒt ětre fournis par le secteur privé. Au Royaume Uni, les ‘années Thatcher’étaient associées avec une philosophie prévoyant une plus grand liberté de détcision laissée a l'individu et que, au cas où l'état reduisait la provision des services sociaux, les institutions charitables volontaires deviendraient plus actives pour satisfaire les besoins des ‘marginaux’. Tandis que la théorie economique normale suggère que les réductions des dépenses publiques font augmenter les contributions privées et que les encouragements fiscaux è contribuer è des institutions charitables peuvent se montrer efficaces, des raisons existent pourtant qui contestent le constat qu'une telle combinaison de politiques fiscales ménerait è un comportement individuel pluis altruiste. Une évaluation des changements dans la politique sociale, comprenant l'impacte de ces changements sur les pétférences des individus, met en question le constat que les contributions charitables privées remplacent convenablement les dépenses publiques. Le méme cadre analytique se montre efficace é la prévision d'une gamme d'issus de politique.

Notes: This paper reconsiders different questions related to the transfer of central bank profits to the government. We arrive at three main conclusions: I) The extent to which central bank profits are transferred is irrelevant, economically speaking, as long as fiscal spending is independent of the size of the transfers; 2) The asset structure should reflect the needs of the central bank to ensure the credibility of its money. Portfolio return is of secondaly importance; 3) In order to minimize the spending response of the fiscal authority, transfers of central bank profits should evolve at a constant rate which reflects an average of previous profits.〈section xml:id="abs1-2"〉〈title type="main"〉ZUSAMMENFASSUNGIn diesem Aufsatz werden verschiedene Fragen im Zusammenhang mit der Überweisung von Zentralbankgewinnen an die Fiskalbehörde diskutiert. Es können drei Hauptschlussfolgerungen gezogen werden: I) Das Ausmasq der Gewinnüberweisung ist irrelevant, solange das Ausgabever-halten der Fiskalbehörde davon unabhängig ist: 2) Die Aktivenstruktur sollte dem Bedürfnis der Zentralbank dienen, die Glaubwüdigkeit ihres Geldes zu garantieren. Die Rentabilität hat eine zweitrangige Bedeutung; 3) Um die Reaktion des Ausgabeverhaltens der Fiskalbehörde zu mini-mieren, sollten die Überweisungen uber längere Zeit konstant gehalten werden und einem Durchschnitt aus früheren Gewinnen entsprechen.〈section xml:id="abs1-3"〉〈title type="main"〉RÉSUMÉCet article considi-re des questions différentes concernant le transfert des bénéfices de la banque centrale au gouvernement. II y a trois conclusions principales: I) L'étendue des bénétkes transférés n'a pas d'importance si les dépenses fiscales n'en dépendent pas: 2) La structure des actifs devrait retléter le besoin de la banque centrale d'assurer la crédibilité de sa monnaie. La rentabilité n'a qu'une importance secondaire; 3) Pour réduire I'augmentation des dépenses du gouvernement, le transfert des bénéfices de la banque centrale devrait évoluer d'une façon constante et refléter la moyenne des bénéfices précédents

Notes: The term digital money refers to various proposed electronic payment mechanisms designed to use by consumers to make retail payments. These mechanism are based either on wart cards or on network money. Smart cards could potentially replace currency as the predominant means to pay for retail purchases. Software-based digital money products (network money) bring cheap electronic funds transfers to individuals and small firms. This paper examines how digital money affects the demand for money and how this process, in turn, affects the demand for reserves, monetary control, and the monetary transmission mechanism.〈section xml:id="abs1-2"〉〈title type="main"〉ZUSAMMENFASSGNGDer Begriff ‘Digitales Geld’ bezieht sich auf verschiedene Vorschläge fur elektronische Zahlung-ssysteme, die von den Konsuinenten zur Bezahlung von Einkäufen im Einzelhandel verwendet werden können. Diese Zahlungssysteme basieren entweder auf ‘smart cards’ oder auf ‘Netzwerk-geld’. Smart cards können möglicherweise Bargeld als vorherrschendes Zahlungsmittel im Einzelhandel ersetzen. Software-basierte digitale Geldprodukte (Netzwerkgeld) ermöglichen demgegenüber einen billigen Transfer von Geld an Einzelpersonen und kleine Unternehmen. Dieses Papier untersucht, wie digitales Geld die Geldnachfrage beeinflusst und welche Auswirkungen dies wiederum auf die Nachfrage nach Reserven. die Kontrolle der Geldmenge und die montären Transmissionsinechanisinen hat.〈section xml:id="abs1-3"〉〈title type="main"〉RÉSUMÉLe terme monnaie digitale se refère à différents méchanismes de payment, ayant été proposées pour étre utilisés par les consomateurs pour effectuer leurs payments quotidiens. Ces méchanismens sont basés sur le principe de la ‘smart card’ ou du ‘network money’. Les ‘smart cards’ pourraient remplacer la inonnaie comme méchanism de payment prédominant pour I'achat quotidien. Par contre, le ‘network money’, monnaie digitale basée sur des logiciels, apporte une méthode peu coǔteuse pour les personnes particulières et les petites entreprises pour effectuer leurs transfers monétaires. Cet article examine comment la monnaie digitale influence la demande de la monnaie, et comment ce processus influence la demande pour les reserves monétaires, le contrǒle monétaire. ainsi que les méchanisines de transfers monétaires.

Notes: Al-Faris, Abdul-Razak F. (1994). OPEC and the Market. A Study of Oil Price Rigidity, Determination, and Differentials, Boulder, USAArthur, W. Brian (1994). Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy, Ann ArborBode, Eckhardt; Christiane Krieger-Boden and Konrad Lammers (1994). Cross-Border Activities, Taxation and the European Single Market, KielBracewell-Milnes, Barry (1994). Will to Succeed. Inheritance without Taxation, LondonBracewell-Milnes, Barry (1994). A House Divided. UK and European Alcohol Taxes, LondonBuchanan, James M. (1994). Ethics and Economic Progress, OklahomaCho, Soon (1994). The Dynamics of Korean Economic Development, Washington, D.C.Danaher, Kevin (ed.) (1994). 50 Years is Enough. The Case Against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, BostonDiamond, Peter A. (1994). On Time. Lectures on Models of Equilibrium, Cambridge/New York/MelbourneDutt, Amitava Krishna; Kwan S. Kim and Ajit Singh (eds.) (1994). The State, Markets and Development. Beyond the Neoclassical Dichotomy, Aldershot, UK/Brookfield, USAHausman, Daniel M. (ed.) (1994). The Philosophy of Economics. An Anthology, Cambridge/New York/MelbourneKresge, Stephen and Leif Wenar (eds.)(1994). Hayek on Hayek. An Autobiographical Dialogue, LondonMurphy, Craig N. (1994). International Organization and Industrial Change, Cambridge/OxfordSapsford, David and Wyn Morgan (eds.)(1994). The Economics of Primary Commodities. Models, Analysis and Policy, Aldershot, UK/Bookfield, USAStark, Oded (1993). The Migration of Labor, Cambridge/OxfordTakayama, Akira (1994). Analytical Methods in Economics, New York/London/TorontoTaylor, Lance (ed.) (1993). The Rocky Road to Reform. Adjustment, Income Distribution, and Growth in the Developing World, Cambridge, USA/LondonTullock, Gordon (1994). The Economics of Non-Human Societies, TucsonVinten, Gerald (ed.) (1994). Whistleblowing. Subversion or Corporate Citizenship?, London

Notes: The author, born in 1953, is professor of Economics of Art and Culture at Erasmus University, Amsterdam and Research Professor of Economics at George Washington University. After getting his M.A. at the University of Amsterdam he went to the U.S. where he spent 17 years at Duke University, Wellesley College, University of Iowa and George Washington University.

Notes: The author, born in 1922, is Honorary Professor of Public Finance at the Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He previously taught at the London School of Economics, the universities of Edinburgh, York, and Buckingham. He was Vice Chancellor (President) of the University of Buckingham and Chief Economic Adviser at the UK Department of Trade and Industry.

Notes: The author, born in 1956, is currently professor of economics at Bocconi University, Milan (Italy). He previously taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (where he also got his Ph.D.), Stanford University, University of Cagliari and University of Brescia (both in Italy). He has acted as consultant to the World Bank and held visiting positions in several international research and policy institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Carnegie Mellon University, Tel Aviv University, and the University of Stockholm.

Notes: This paper reports the results of laboratory investigations of individual and group decision making regarding willingness to pay to reduce risks when more than one risk is present. It is found that group decision making environments improve the overall decisions when the consequence of the decision is common to all members of the group. When the consequences are individual, group decisions are less likely to improve upon individual decisions. The latter effect appears to be due to the unwillingness of individuals to engage in communication when they are not bound by a group decision. The conclusion is that both discussion and common outcomes are necessary for group decisions to be superior to individual decisions.〈section xml:id="abs1-2"〉〈title type="main"〉ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDiese Studie enthält die Ergebnisse einer experimentellen Untersuchung des Entscheidungs-prozesses von Gruppen und Individuen über die Zahlungsbereitschaft, Risiken zu reduzieren, wenn mehrere Risiken gleichzeitig auftreten. Dabei wird festgestellt, dass Gruppenentscheidungen Einzelentscheidungen überlegen sind, wenn die Konsequenzen der Entscheidung für alle Mitglieder der Gruppe identisch sind. Wenn die Konsequenzen der Entscheidung nur einzelne betreffen, verrin-gert sich die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass Gruppenentscheidungen besser als Einzelentscheidungen sind. Dies lässt sich vermudich auf die mangelnde Bereitschaft einzelner zurückführen, am Kommunikationsprozess teilzunehmen, wenn sie selbst nicht von der Gruppenentscheidung betroffen sind. Wir kommen zu dem Ergebnis, dass sowohl eine gemeinsame Diskussion als auch ein gemeinsames Ergebnis vorhanden sein miissen, damit Gruppenentscheidungen individuellen Ent-scheidungen überlegen sind.〈section xml:id="abs1-3"〉〈title type="main"〉RÉSUMÉCet article présente les résultats ďanalyses de laboratoire consacrées au rǒle joué par la décision collective ou individuelle dans la détermination du prix susceptible ďětre payé pour réduire ľexposition aux risques quand ceux-ci sont nombreux. Les résultats montrent que le cadre de décision collective améliore les décisions prises globalement lorsque leurs conséquences sont partagées par tous les membres du groupe. En outre, dans le cas des conséquences individuelles, les décisions collectives ne semblent pas affecter les décisions prises individuellement. Ce dernier résultat paraǐtt ětre du au refus des individus ďéchanger ľinformation surtout lorsqu'ils ne sont pas contraints par la décision collective. Ľétude conclue que la communication ainsi que les conséquences communes sont nécessaires pour que les décisions collectives soient préférables aux décisions individuelles.

Notes: Implications of inefficiency in theories of market failure reveal a flawed methodology. Behavior which is apparently inefficient is actually the symptom of an inappropriate analytical model. The standard examples of market failure, monopoly power and external effects, are forthcoming only from models which omit transactions costs as explanatory variables. The unfortunate consequence of this conclusion is that complete and appropriate economic models, which incorporate all relevant variables, will always certify any behavior as efficient. This poses the ‘Panglossian dilemma’, that whatever is, is optimal. This dilemma is resolved by an analytical approach which compares behavior under alternative economic institutions. This analysis depends on two propositions: that transactions costs are affected by alternative institutional environments; and that institutions are themselves responses to the existence of transactions costs. These propositions are used to predict behavior under alternative institutions, and to explain the long run evolution of the institutions.

Notes: Empirical evidence does not agree with the investment-model of the demand for education: out of pocket costs have another impact than earnings foregone. This difference can be explained by consumption motives. The demand for education is then greater, the full price of education exceeds discounted future incremental earnings, net discounted wealth is not maximum and the rate of return to marginal investments in education is smaller than the interest rate.

Notes: At the turn of this century WESLEY C. MITCHELL argued that the velocity of money could be influenced by a noneconomic variable that he called ‘confidence’; but the idea has received little attention since then. This study uses events in the long Vietnam war for statistically demonstrating the MITCHELL hypothesis. U. S. troop presence in South Vietnam boosted the peoples' confidence in their country's future thereby stabilizing the demand for fiat money and income velocity. Only two variables - the previous year's rate of inflation and U. S. troop strength, which serves as a proxy for battlefield victories - are needed to explain movements in velocity.

Notes: Ahmad Jaleel: Import Substitution, Trade and Development.Berendsen B. S. M.: Regional Models of Trade and Development.Binswanger Hans P., Ruttan Vernon W., and others: Induced Innovation.Arndt Helmut: Irrwege der Politischen Ökonomie.Barry Thomas and Deaton David: Labour Shortage and Economic Analysis.BÉziade Monique: La monnaie.Coulbois Paul: Finance Internationale.Deiss Joseph: Monnaie et Prix internationaux.Brooks John and Evans Robert W.: Macroeconomic Policy in Theory and Practice.Cook S. T. and Jackson P. M. (Eds.): Current Issues in Fiscal Policy.Eckstein Otto: The Great Recession.Fraenkel Gioachino: Elementi di teoria e di politica monetaria.Freeman A. Myrick, III: The Benefits of Environmental Improvement.Guindey Guillaume: Mythes et Réaltiés de la Crise Monétaire Internationale.Hazari Bharat R.: The Pure Theory of International Trade and Distortions.Hettlage Robert: Genossenschaftstheorie und Partizipationsdiskussion.Hicks John: Economic Perspectives.Johansen Leif: Lectures on Macroeconomic Planning.Major Robin (Ed.): Britain's Trade and Exchange-Rate Policy.Passet RenÉ: L'économique et le vivant.Roll Eric (Ed.): The Uses and Abuses of EconomicsRostow W. W.: Getting from Here to There.Teighmann Ulrich: Wirtschaftspolitik.Vane Howard R. and Thompson John L.: Monetarism.Williams Ph. L.: The Emergence of the Theory of the Firm.Woll Artur (Hrsg.): Inflation.

Notes: An otherwise conventional Keynesian macro model is modified to include inventories of final goods by (1) drawing a distinction between production and final sales, and (2) allowing for a negative effect of the level of inventories on production. Two models are presented: one in which the labor market clears and one in which it does not. Both models are stable only if the negative effect of inventories on production is ‘large enough’. Both models also imply that real wages move procyclically - in direct contrast to the usual implication of Keynesian models. Detailed analysis of the market-clearing model shows that there should be negative correlation between the levels of inventories and output, and between changes in inventories and changes in output, over the business cycle. However, inventory change should be positively correlated with the level of output.

Notes: This paper examines the effects of rising oil prices and dependence upon imported oil on inflation. For the United States, Japan, the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Australia, it is found that the price of imported oil is a significant cause of inflation. Dependence upon imported oil also is an important cause of inflation in Japan, the United States, and West Germany.

Notes: Für drei zentrale Ansätze der ökonomischen Theorie, den der walrasianischen Gleichgewichtstheorie, den der walrasianischen Unglcichgewichtstheorie und den der Neuen Mikroökonomie, werden die Komponenten der disziplinären Matrix, wie sie in dem von T. S. KUHN entwickelten wissenschaftstheoretischen Raster definiert sind, identifiziert. Ein exakter Vergleich dieser einzelnen Komponenten (das heisst der symbolischen Verallgemeinerungen, der metaphysischen Bestandteile, der Wertvorstellungen und der Beispiele) zeigt, dass sie sich so grundsatzlich unterscheiden, dass man von drei verschiedenen Paradigmata sprechen muss. In KuHNscher Terminologie zeichnen sich die Wirtschaftswissenschaften also (noch?) aus durch verschiedene Schulen, wie dies charakteristisch ist fur eine relativ friihe Phase der wissenschaftlichen Entwicklung.〈section xml:id="abs1-2"〉〈title type="main"〉SUMMARYFor three central branches of economic theory, the walrasian equilibrium theory, the walrasian disequilibrium theory and the New Microeconomics, the components of the disciplinary matrix, as they have been defined by the epistemological screen developed hy T. S. KUHN, are identified. An exact comparison of these specific components (i.e. the symbolic generalizations, the metaphysicaI parts, the values and the exemplars) shows that they differ so fundamentally that we must speak of three different paradigms. In KuHNian terminology, economics (still?) is featured by distinct schools, as it is characteristic for a relatively early staze of scientific development.

Notes: Allen T. Harrell: New Methods in Social Science Research.Bawa Vijay S., Brown Stephen J., and Klein Roger W.: Estimation Risk and Optimal Portfolio Choice.Bigksler James L. (Ed.): Handbook of Financial Economics.BlÜmle Gerold: Wirtschaftskreislauf, Beschäftigung und Inflation.Buomberger Peter : Theorie und Strategic der Geldpolitik in einer kleinen offenen Volkswirtschaft.Cipolla C. M. und Borchardt K. (Hrsg.): Sechzehntes und Siebzehnles Jahrhundert.CsikÓs-Nagy B.: Towards a New Price Revolution.Fine Ben and Harris Laurence: Rereading Marx.Hey John D.: Uncertainty in Microeconomics.Hunt E. K.: History of Economic Thought: A Critical Perspective.Lavigne Marie: Les relations économiquesMÜller JÜrgen und Vogelsang Ingo: Staatliche Regulierung.Mulvey Charles : The Economic Analysis of Trade Unions.Negishi Takashi : Microeconornic Foundations of Keynesian Macroeconomics.Paul Ellen Frankelm:Mo ral Revolution and Economic Science.Sargent Thomas J.: Macroeconomic Theory.SchÖnbÄck Wilfried : Subjektive Unsicherheit als Gegenstand staatlicher Intervention.Schrenk Martin, Ardalan Cyrus, and EL Tataway NawaL A.: Yugoslavia—Self-Management Socialism and the Challenge of Development.Siebert Horst: Ökonomische Theorie der Umwelt.Spatz Heinrich: Die Allgemeine Gleichgewichtstheorie.Whynes David K.: The Economics of Third World Military Expenditure.Wolfson Dirk J.: Public Finance and Development Strategy.

Notes: This paper is a survey of the most important contributions to the development of a theory of ‘long waves’ in capitalist development. From the early forerunners of the discussion, via Kondratieff and Schumpeter, to the economists of today, the debate on the long-wave phenomenon is being surveyed and assessed. The result is rather negative. No one has been able to empirically verify the existence of the long waves. Secular wave-like fluctuations in prices and certain related time series have been found - but these are quite compatible with explanations based exclusively on exogenous factors. In physical time series of production or other time series that are not directly correlated with prices, there has been no evidence of long waves. Nor has anyone been able to give a satisfying explanation of why the secular rate of growth or level of economic activity would fluctuate in a self-generating cyclical pattern. Therefore, we must draw the conclusion that those turning-points and successive trend periods which undeniably exist in the development of capitalism cannot be regarded as manifestations of some kind of long wave or cycle; instead, they are specific, historical occurrences, each one characterized by its own specific features. The task of the social scientist is, thus, to study the actual historical dynamics of the economic system - without trying to squeeze it into a general pattern of secular cyclical swings.

Notes: The starting point is the model of individual behaviour used by modern economic theory. The individualistically oriented branch of modern sociological theory is based on the same behavioural model, but stresses different aspects than economic theory does. While economic theory holds preferences constant and investigates how changes in the restrictions placed on individuals produce changes in their behaviour, sociological theory investigates how different social conditions give rise to different preferences (‘attitudes’) which then result in different ways of behaving. The theory of voting behaviour is given as an example to show how economic and sociological theory can gain from supplement each other. While sociological theory explains mainly long-term developments in voting behaviour as reactions to long-term changes in the society's basic social structure, economic theory mainly explains short-term variations in voting behaviour resulting from changes in economic and political factors. We conclude by discussing some misunderstandings held by sociologists concerning the economic approach. It is shown that once these misunderstandings are cleared up, economics not only can learn from sociology, but sociology can learn from economics as well.

Notes: This paper examines the Friedman-Phelps‘expectational (dis)equilibrium’ and the Clower-Leijonhufvud‘non-market-clearing’ paradigms as alternative disequilibrium theories, and draws their respective policy implications. Then, these paradigms are taken as complementary to each other, as containing necessary ingredients for a synthetic disequilibrium theory, whose policy implications can only tentatively be explored. A general disequilibrium theory is founded on the notion of ‘disequilibrium consciousness’ and on a detailed characterization of ‘conjectural’ price and/or quantity responses to non-market-clearing, whose quasi-equilibrium outcome is conditioned by both expectations and the intra-market spillover effect.

Notes: The paper identifies the disturbances in the balance of payments of the non-oil less developed countries responsible for the rapid growth in their external debt between 1972 and 1977. It also examines prospects for the future. It finds that the sharp growth in the current account deficits in the years 1974 and 1975 was due primarily to adverse movements in the terms of trade. But trade terms were reversed in 1976 and 1977 and the deficit was reduced. Still overall inflation, slow export growth, and large interest payments kept the deficit substantially above the 1972 and earlier levels. In part II the paper examines how the debt to GNP ratio of the LDC's could be affected by four factors: export growth, changes in real interest rates, terms of trade, and credit rationing. A model is developed which shows that certain combinations of the four factors could lead to rapid accumulation of debt relative to GNP.