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Market Forces (market + force)
Selected AbstractsFrom Licence Raj to Market Forces: The Determinants of Industrial Structure in India after ReformECONOMICA, Issue 298 2008KWOK TONG SOO This paper explores the relationship between factor endowments, technology and industrial structure, using a panel data-set of Indian industries across states, industries and time. Factor endowments and technology are found to be significantly related to industry shares, and this is robust to controlling for the slow adjustment of industrial structure. I also consider the impact of the liberalization of the Indian economy beginning in 1985 and 1991 on the relationship between these variables. While industrial structure is always positively related to technological advantage, factor endowments play an increasingly significant role after liberalization. [source] Toward a New Corporate Reorganization ParadigmJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 4 2007Donald S. Bernstein Chapter 11 is becoming an increasingly flexible, market-driven forum for determining who will become the owners of financially troubled enterprises. With increasing frequency, distressed companies are sold in Chapter 11 as going concerns. At the same time, distressed investors, including hedge funds and private equity investors, are actively trading the debt of such companies in much the same way that equity investors trade the stock of solvent companies. Market forces drive the troubled company's debt obligations into the hands of those investors who value the enterprise most highly and who want to decide whether to reorganize or to sell it. One way or the other, the Chapter 11 process is used to effect an orderly transfer of control of the enterprise into new hands, whether the creditors themselves or a third party. But if the market-oriented elements of this new reorganization process promise to increase creditor recoveries and preserve the values of corporate assets, other recent developments could present obstacles to achieving these goals. In particular, the increased complexity of corporate capital structures and investment patterns,including the issuance of second-lien debt and the dispersion of investment risks among numerous parties through the use of derivatives and other instruments,threatens to increase inter-creditor conflicts and reduce transparency in the restructuring process. These factors, coupled with provisions added to the Bankruptcy Code that selectively permit "opt-out" behavior by favored constituencies, could interfere with the ability of troubled companies to reorganize as the next cycle of defaults unfolds. [source] Northeast Asian Energy Cooperation: The Irkutsk Pipeline Project,PACIFIC FOCUS, Issue 2 2004Euikon Kim Northeast Asia is a cluster of countries with wide differences in political systems, stages of economic development, levels of technology, and natural resource endowments. In addition, infrastructures of national economies are mutually complementary: Japan and Korea have capital and technology on the one hand and Russia and China enjoy abundant resources and cheap labor. Yet many socio-political elements have so far barred active economic cooperation among Northeast Asian national economies from becoming a reality, such as, North Korean nuclear issues, different ideologies, unstable political systems, and anti-Japanese sentiments. The Irkutsk Pipeline Projects can be a litmus test for the future economic cooperation in the region. Market forces in Russia, Japan, South Korea and China increasingly tend to jump national boundaries and to escape political control, seeking for economic profits, whereas socio-political factors have tendency to restrict and channel the economic activities. Thus, problems of the Irkutsk Pipeline Projects lie in how and where those positive and negative factors are reconciled. [source] Construction of consumer choice in the market: challenges for environmental policyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 1 2010Johanna Moisander Abstract Drawing from the literature on the analytics of government, the paper discusses marketing as a form of government, elaborating and illustrating the many ways in which consumer choice is shaped, modified and directed in the market through practices and techniques of consumer marketing. The aim is to critically reflect upon and render problematic the individualistic ideas of the green consumer as a powerful market force and to provoke discussion on the conceptualization , and construction , of consumer subjectivity and social problems in marketing. Taking examples particularly from the fashion and clothing industry, the paper discusses the ways in which marketing activities come to shape consumer conduct by operating through the choice of individuals who freely pursue their needs and desires, and by working on the environment within which this freedom of choice is exercised. The paper contributes to the literature on green consumerism by systematically interrogating and elaborating on the modes and practices of marketing thought and expertise through which consumers and consumption are rendered intelligible and actionable in the market. [source] INDUSTRIAL SHIFT, POLARIZED LABOR MARKETS AND URBAN VIOLENCE: MODELING THE DYNAMICS BETWEEN THE ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION AND DISAGGREGATED HOMICIDE,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2004KAREN F. PARKER Industrial restructuring marks the removal of a manufacturing and production-based economy in urban areas, which had served as a catalyst in concentrating disadvantage and polarizing labor markets since the 1970s. Although scholars have established a relationship between concentrated disadvantage , poverty, joblessness, racial residential segregation , and urban violence in cross-sectional studies, this literature has yet to estimate whether economic restructuring contributed to the change in urban homicide over time. Modeling this relationship requires an analytical strategy that incorporates specific indicators of (race and gender) polarized labor markets, separate from indicators of urban disadvantage, on disaggregated homicides while taking into account the growing dependency of urban cities on formal social control (via police presence and rise in incarceration). In this study I provide a theoretical rationale for linking industrial restructuring to urban homicide. Using a multivariate strategy to capture the shift in labor market forces and disaggregated homicides from 1980 to 1990, I also estimate the impact of this relationship. The results provide evidence of the industrial ship and documents both the decline in Manufacturing jobs for black males and black females and a growth in the service sector opportunities for white males only. I also find that industrial restructuring had a unique impact on disaggregated homicide beyond what has previously been established in cross-sectional studies. [source] Global use of alcohol, drugs and tobaccoDRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 6 2006PETER ANDERSON Abstract Humans have always used drugs, probably as part of their evolutionary and nutritional heritage. However, this previous biological adaptation is unlikely to be so in the modern world, in which 2 billion adults (48% of the adult population) are current users of alcohol, 1.1 billion adults (29% of the adult population) are current smokers of cigarettes and 185 million adults (4.5% of the adult population) are current users of illicit drugs. The use of drugs is determined largely by market forces, with increases in affordability and availability increasing use. People with socio-economic deprivation, however measured, are at increased risk of harmful drug use, as are those with a disadvantaged family environment, and those who live in a community with higher levels of substance use. Substance use is on the increase in low-income countries which, in the coming decades, will bear a disproportionate burden of substance-related disability and premature death. [source] MARKETS, INSTITUTIONS AND MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 2 2007Mwangi S. Kimenyi The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may have noble objectives but there are concerns that the associated transfer of resources from wealthy to poor countries could be counter-productive in terms of long-term economic performance. Reforming the institutions of governance and removing barriers that hinder the efficient functioning of markets are the most effective ways for poor countries to achieve MDGs. Poor countries can also improve living standards by relying on market forces rather than monopolistic public agencies for the delivery of services. [source] Villein rents in thirteenth,century England: an analysis of the Hundred Rolls of 1279,1280ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 4 2002Junichi Kanzaka What factors played the principal role in determining the level of villein rents in thirteenth,century England? Historians have assumed three factors: economic and demographic forces, seigneurial power, and custom. This analysis of the Hundred Rolls of 1279,80 for Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Oxfordshire, and Warwickshire indicates that community custom was the most important factor. It is only on ecclesiastical estates in Huntingdonshire that seigneurial power had a decisive influence in imposing heavy labour services on villeins. Furthermore, since villeins were protected by custom, the level of their rents was usually lower than that of competitive freehold rents, which reflected market forces. [source] SURVEYING UNIVERSITY STUDENT STANDARDS IN ECONOMICSECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 2 2005Peter Abelson In late 2003 and early 2004 the Economic Society of Australia surveyed the Heads of Economics Departments in Australia to determine their views on three main issues: student standards; major factors affecting these standards; and policy implications. This paper describes the main results of the survey, reviews the conduct and value of this kind of survey, and discusses policy implications for economics in universities. Most respondents considered that student standards have declined and that the main causes include lower entry standards, high student/staff ratios, and a declining culture of study. However, some respondents argued that standards are multi-dimensional and that people may properly attach different weights to different attributes. Strong precautions assuring anonymity to respondents minimised strategic responses, but may not have eliminated them entirely. However, the respondents' views were based largely on experience rather than evidence and a major finding of this paper is the need for more evidence on standards and on the factors that influence them. Most respondents favoured a decentralised university-based approach to dealing with these issues, contending that centralised accreditation is inappropriate and that market forces would promote quality issues. In the writer's view, externally set and assessed exams as part of university examination procedures would lift standards and send out improved market signals. [source] Transport and environment: policy directions for europeENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2001Robert Tinch Transport externalities are among the most important environmental problems affecting quality of life in Europe. Forecasts suggest that past environmental improvements may now be rolled back by traffic growth, and current traffic trends are not sustainable. The theory of environmental policy proposes pricing external costs at their marginal social costs as one solution. Although full marginal social cost pricing is impracticable, advances in tolling technology and environmental valuation mean that it is now a viable option to approximate such charging. There are signs that the European Commission and other bodies are starting to favour pricing over regulatory instruments. However, often overlooked is the potential for non-convexities in the transport sector or between transport and the rest of the economy. For example it may be that small increases in resources for public transport would not result in welfare gains, whereas large increases would. Non-convexities would mean that market forces under marginal social cost pricing might lead away from the optimal transport system. This is one reason why pricing instruments cannot in themselves be a panacea for transport externalities or bring about a sustainable transport system. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [source] Liability Risk for Outside Directors: a Cross-Border AnalysisEUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2005Bernard Black G34; G38 Abstract Much has been said recently about the risky legal environment in which outside directors of public companies operate, especially in the USA, but increasingly elsewhere as well. Our research on outside director liability suggests, however, that directors' fears are largely unjustified. We examine the law and lawsuit outcomes in four common law countries (Australia, Canada, Britain, and the USA) and three civil law countries (France, Germany, and Japan). The legal terrain and the risk of ,nominal liability'(a court finds liability or the defendants agree to a settlement) differ greatly depending on the jurisdiction. But nominal liability rarely turns into ,out-of-pocket liability,' in which the directors pay personally damages or legal fees. Instead, damages and legal fees are paid by the company, directors' and officers'(D&O) insurance, or both. The bottom line: outside directors of public companies face a very low risk of out-of-pocket liability. We sketch the political and market forces that produce functional convergence in outcomes across countries, despite large differences in law, and suggest reasons to think that this outcome might reflect sensible policy. [source] Impact of earnings performance on price-sensitive disclosures under the Australian continuous disclosure regimeACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 2 2009Grace Chia-Man Hsu M40; M48 Abstract This study examines the relation between accounting earnings and the frequency of price-sensitive corporate disclosure under Australia's statutory continuous disclosure requirements. Despite low litigation threats and excepting loss-making firms, results show that firms with earnings declines (bad news) are more likely to make continuous disclosure than firms with earnings increases (good news). This suggests that market forces and regulators' scrutiny are sufficient to induce a ,bad news' disclosure bias. This study also examines the ,materiality' requirement under the continuous disclosure requirements and finds a positive relation between disclosure frequency and the magnitude of earnings news. The earnings,return correlation is positively associated with disclosure frequency for the financial services industry. [source] Quality safeguards and regulation of online pharmaciesHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2004Benito ArruñadaArticle first published online: 25 JUN 200 Abstract Using econometric evidence, this article confirms that distribution of medicines online is split into two market segments of very diverse quality, and identifies the factors that drive quality and quality assurance in this activity. Unlike fraudulent, ,rogue,' websites, which offer scant guarantees and usually sell just a few medicines without prescription, online pharmacies offering insurance coverage and linked to conventional pharmacies typically sell a whole range of drugs, require third-party medical prescriptions and provide abundant information to patients. It is shown that, where online pharmacies are allowed to act legally, market forces enhance quality, as private insurers require professional standards, and specialized third parties make a business of certifying them. Furthermore, older online pharmacies and those running conventional operations offer higher quality, probably because of reputational investments. Overall, this evidence supports licensing online pharmacies, especially considering that prohibiting them is ineffective against fraudulent sites. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Towards a ,Post-Public Era'?HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1-2 2008Australian Higher Education Policy, Shifting Frames in German Higher education in Germany and Australia is being subject to pressures of market forces, internationalisation and financial constraints. This had led to both systems experiencing significant crisis and change over the past 20 years. In this paper, frame analysis is used to compare the changing policies in each nation and examine the extent to which the landscapes of each system have been transformed. It is found that higher education policy in both nations underwent significant change in the late 1980s and again in the early 2000s, impacting on system structures and institutional forms. There is now evidence of further change occurring in both nations that may mark a transition to a ,post-public era' in higher education. This analysis reveals a degree of convergence in the neo-liberal policy trajectories of both nations but differences in the rate and nature of the transitions taking place. [source] The Changing Nexus: Tertiary Education Institutions, the Marketplace and the StateHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2003Francis A. Steier This article examines the evolving relationship between the marketplace, the state and tertiary education institutions. The context of these relations has evolved strikingly in recent years, which have seen three major developments: growing system differentiation, changing governance patterns and diminished direct involvement of governments in the funding and provision of tertiary education. This article first describes the key dimensions of the rise of market forces in tertiary education throughout the world and the main implications of this phenomenon. It then articulates the rationale for continuing public intervention in the sector and, in conclusion, outlines the nature of an appropriate enabling framework for the further development of tertiary education. [source] Challenges ahead for food scienceINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DAIRY TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2006A C JURIAANSE Over the last decades, market forces have pushed many food companies into a process of continuous cost cutting and rationalization. The only way to escape this ,spiral of death' is to innovate. This presents new challenges to food technologists: they have to connect the right functional benefits to the emotional benefits to support brand strengths. To achieve the desired speed to market, companies should build skills to utilize the latest technology and learn to work in an open innovation environment. [source] Institutional Structure and Immigrant Integration: A Comparative Study of Immigrants' Labor Market Attainment in Canada and Israel,INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW, Issue 2 2003Noah Lewin-Epstein The present study focuses on the incorporation of immigrants from the former Soviet Union in two receiving societies, Israel and Canada, during the first half of the 1990s. Both countries conducted national censuses in 1995 (Israel) and 1996 (Canada), making it possible to identify a large enough sample of immigrants and provide information on their demographic characteristics and their labor market activity. While both Canada and Israel are immigrant societies, their institutional contexts of immigrant reception differ considerably. Israel maintains no economic selection of the Jewish immigrants and provides substantial support for newcomers, who are viewed as a returning Diaspora. Canada employs multiple criteria for selecting immigrants, and the immigrants' social and economic incorporation is patterned primarily by market forces. The analysis first examines the characteristics of immigrants who arrived in the two countries and evaluates the extent of selectivity. Consistent with our hypotheses, Russian immigrants to Canada were more immediately suitable for the labor market, but experienced greater difficulty finding and maintaining employment. Nevertheless, immigrants to Canada attained higher-status occupations and higher earnings than their compatriots in Israel did, although the Israeli labor market was more likely to reward their investments in education. [source] Social Policymaking and Its Institutional Basis: Transition of The Chinese Social Security SystemINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 2 2006Ka Lin This article discusses Chinese social policy development in response to the growth of the market economy. It provides a general overview of the system's evolution in three stages: (1) the pre-reform period when a system of enterprise welfare was in operation; (2) a period of system transition; (3) the stage when state welfare began to take shape. These developmental trends are interpreted on the basis of three types of institutional relations: the State-enterprise relation, the enterprise- (or employer-) employee relation, and the individual/worker-State relation. Moreover, the discussion deals with policy perceptions at each stage of the developmental process. Based on these analyses, it illustrates the transformation of the Chinese social security system in a broad socioeconomic and political context, where China struggled to establish a modern, market-based enterprise system. The paper thus expounds issues of socialism, market forces and the power of organized labour. [source] Non-Mandatory Approaches to Environmental ProtectionJOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 3 2001Madhu Khanna The approach to environmental protection has been evolving from a regulation-driven, adversarial ,government-push' approach to a more proactive approach involving voluntary and often ,business-led' initiatives to self-regulate their environmental performance. This has been accompanied by increasing provision of environmental information about firms and products to enlist market forces and communities in creating a demand for corporate environmental self-regulation by signaling their preferences for environmentally friendly firms. This paper provides an overview of the non-mandatory approaches being used for environmental protection and surveys the existing theoretical literature analyzing the economic efficiency of such approaches relative to mandatory approaches. It also discusses empirical findings on the factors motivating self-regulation by firms and its implications for their economic and environmental performance. It examines the existing evidence on the extent to which information disclosure is effective in generating pressures from investors and communities on firms to improve their environmental performance. [source] A historical review of research on the weaver ant Oecophylla in biological controlAGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 1 2008Paul Van Mele Abstract 1,Although the weaver ant Oecophylla is the first written record of biological control, dating from 304 ad, there have been fewer than 70 scientific publications on this predator as a biological control agent in Asia, from the early 1970s onwards, and fewer than 25 in Africa. 2,Apart from crop-specific ecological and perceptual factors, a historical review shows that political and market forces have also determined the extent to which Oecophylla was incorporated into research and development programmes. 3,In Africa, research on weaver ants in biological control concentrated on export crops, such as coconut and cocoa, whereas, in Asia and Australia, research focused on fruit and nut crops, primarily destined for domestic markets. 4,Increased evidence of pesticide inefficiency under tropical smallholder conditions, changing paradigm shifts in participatory research and a growing scientific interest in local knowledge in the early 1990s opened up new avenues for research on conservation biological control. 5,Lobbying and advocacy have been needed to ensure that Oecophylla was recognized as an effective biological control agent. 6,With an increased market demand for organic produce, holistic approaches such as conservation biological control, particularly the use of Oecophylla, are increasing in importance. 7,Multi-stakeholder strategies for collaborative learning are proposed for a better control of major fruit, nut and timber tree pests in Africa, Asia and Australia. [source] ,Care': Moral concept or merely an organisational suffix?JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 7 2008J. Clapton Abstract Background Over recent decades, a couple of interesting trends have occurred in regard to human services practices in Australia. First, there has been a significant shift from practices that previously have intentionally responded to emerging and continuing human need within communities to practices that are now managed within a context of managerialism and influenced by market forces. Second, in such a changing context, increasingly, organisations have added the suffix ,care' to their organisational name. One is therefore left to consider why this latter change has occurred, and how is care being considered, particularly in organisations supporting people with intellectual disability (ID). Method A conceptual-theoretical analysis is undertaken to explore the characteristics of human services that embrace managerialism. The moral constructions of personhood in regard to people with ID within this service context are investigated; and the implications of how care is practised are considered. Results An immoral-amoral binary of personhood within an underpinning neo-liberal context is identified and analysed. Further analysis reveals a more insidious independent,dependent binary for people with an ID linked to a dominating Ethic of Normalcy. This latter binary suggests that care seemingly becomes neither ethically relevant nor legitimate for people with ID in managerialist service contexts. Conclusions Ethical transformation in regard to care is needed for contemporary human services practice for people with ID. The underpinning Ethic of Normalcy is challenged for an Ethic of Engagement; whereby a deep understanding of care as a moral concept needs to be at the core of practice, rather than merely attached in an organisational name. [source] Sharing Wealth: Evidence from Financial Ratios in SpainJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTING, Issue 3 2002José L. Gallizo Firms are managed on the basis of relationships between mutually involved groups, not only because of market forces, but also due to the influence that each group can exert over distribution decisions at a given moment in time. On the basis of a value added statement, it is possible to analyse the ability a firm has to reward all agents and to consider how the residual income is to be distributed. In this paper we set out to establish the tensions that arise between productive agents in the distribution of generated wealth. We carry out a time analysis of the movements between relationships that provide information on the distribution of that wealth, using data drawn from the Spanish Transport Equipment Manufacturing Industry. We propose a new multivariate dynamic linear model that is capable of analysing the joint evolution of the value added distribution ratios, with our particular objective being to throw light on the factors underlying this evolution. This analysis results in one single factor that explains 92.88 per cent of the total variation present in the residuals of the model. [source] THE EMERGENCE OF CENTRALITY IN A TRANSITION ECONOMY: COMPARING LAND MARKET DYNAMICS MEASURED UNDER MONOCENTRIC AND SEMIPARAMETRIC MODELS,JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 5 2006Christian L. Redfearn ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the emergence of Krakow's historic core as the city's economic center after Poland's economic reforms of 1989,reforms that introduced market forces into land markets. Using a semiparametric approach to identify pricing centers, an evolving and polycentric price surface is revealed. While the traditional city center emerges as the dominant node, the evolution of the price surface is far more complex than that found using alternative approaches. Accordingly, it yields superior explanatory power compared to simpler monocentric models and should caution against their use in metropolitan areas in transition or those that are polycentric. [source] Groundwater Banking in Aquifers that Interact With Surface Water: Aquifer Response Functions and Double-Entry Accounting,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 6 2009Bryce A. Contor Contor, Bryce A., 2009. Groundwater Banking in Aquifers That Interact With Surface Water: Aquifer Response Functions and Double-Entry Accounting. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 45(6):1465-1474. Abstract:, Increasing worldwide demands for water call for mechanisms to facilitate storage of seasonal supplies and mechanisms to facilitate reallocation of water. Markets are economically efficient reallocation and incentive mechanisms when market conditions prevail, but special hydrologic and administrative conditions of water use and allocation interfere with required market conditions. Water banking in general can bring market forces to bear on water storage and reallocation, improving economic efficiency and therefore the welfare of society as a whole. Groundwater banking can utilize advantages of aquifers as storage vessels with vast capacity, low construction cost, and protection of stored water. For groundwater banking in aquifers that interact with surface water, an accounting system is needed that addresses the depletion of stored volumes of water as water migrates to surface water. Constructing such a system requires integration of hydrologic, economic, and legal principles with principles of financial accounting. Simple mass-balance accounting, even with allowances for depletion, is not adequate in these aquifers. Aquifer response functions are mathematical descriptions of the impact that aquifer pumping or recharge events have upon hydraulically connected surface water bodies. Double-entry accounting is a financial accounting methodology for tracking asset inventories and ownership claims upon assets. The powerful innovation of linking aquifer response functions with double-entry accounting technologies allows application of groundwater banking to aquifers where deposits can be depleted by migration to hydraulically connected surface water. It honors the hydrologic realities of groundwater/surface water interaction, the legal requirements of prior appropriation water law, and the economic requirements for equitable and efficient allocation of resources. [source] Managed socialization: how smart companies leverage global knowledgeKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 3 2007Deependra Moitra Driven by economic and market forces, the last 2 decades have witnessed a phenomenal acceleration in the pace of globalization. Today, globalization, and particularly globalization of knowledge work, has emerged as a business necessity. In their quest for competitiveness, more and more companies are leveraging global resources by distributing knowledge work across borders and essentially establishing around-the-clock innovation engines. Yet, managing knowledge,the most valuable resource of the new economy enterprises,remains to be a formidable business challenge to deal with. This challenge assumes even greater complexity in the context of globalization, characterized by distance, language barriers, cultural diversity, and a host of other socio-political factors. Whilst there have been considerable developments in the discipline of knowledge management, much of that does not quite alleviate the struggle companies face in effectively harnessing global knowledge. Specifically, while much progress has been made in managing explicit knowledge, firms find it hard to capture and leverage the tacit knowledge, which holds the key to knowledge-based competition. This paper argues that this inability to capitalize on the tacit knowledge stems from a missing ,social' dimension in the design of knowledge management strategies, which when addressed leads to unleashing the valuable tacit knowledge. Drawing on real-world research spanning 12 leading companies, in this paper we discuss Managed Socialization,the most vital management process for harnessing global knowledge. We argue that only by instituting managed socialization firms can truly succeed in leveraging global knowledge. Toward that, we describe the various elements that constitute managed socialization and based on case studies distil actionable insights that firms can capitalize on to fuel their quest for global dominance. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Potentials and constraints of the farmer-to-farmer programme for environmental protection in NicaraguaLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2003S. Hawkesworth Abstract The natural environment in Nicaragua has been damaged by rural development policies geared for the export of cash crops, by uneven land distribution and the near absence of concerns about the environmental effects of the prevailing model of development. The demands made by market forces for the export of primary materials have been reasons for land degradation in the big farms, and the need to survive a poverty stricken existence has forced the peasantry to damage the marginal and fragile land they worked. Successive governments did not address these underlying causes of environmental degradation, and even the opportunities afforded by the environment programme that resulted from the 1979 Sandinista revolution, did not result in significant environmental improvements. The paper briefly considers the constraints faced by the Sandinista administration and how the farmer-to-farmer programme (Campesino-a-Campesino) was brought about as a result of the impacts of the Sandinista era. The substantive part of the paper considers PCAC's significance as an agroecological programme and its advantages and limitations for improving peasants' livelihoods via dissemination of land-protective measures. The viability of the programme is assessed by field work carried out examining in detail the case of three communities, and the paper concludes that the gains made in environmental protection and conservation are in jeopardy without structural policy changes. The paper proposes that for the programme to improve its potential, adequate political will, power and organization are necessary to facilitate greater access to secure land tenure among the peasantry. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Enhancing the quality of teaching: An Australian perspectiveNEW DIRECTIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Issue 133 2006John M. Dearn In Australia a major national reform of universities is currently under way that is resulting in tension between government control and market forces. [source] Grounding displacement: Uncivil urban spaces in postreform South ChinaAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 2 2007HELEN F. SIU This historical,ethnographic study of village enclaves in Guangzhou explores the intensified entrenchment of villagers in a Maoist past when they faced market fluidities of a postreform present. It underscores a rural,urban spatiality and a cultural divide between villagers, migrants, and urbanites that are simultaneously transgressed and reinforced. It highlights discursive categories and institutional practices that incarcerate the residents, who juggle lingering socialist parameters with compelling market forces and state development priorities. Connectivity and exclusion, agency and victimization, groundedness and dislocation as lived experience are captured by the historically thick social ethos in the enclaves. This article rethinks issues of emplacement and displacement, dichotomy, and process. [source] Erfordernisse und Grenzen staatlicher Risikoübernahme in der MarktwirtschaftPERSPEKTIVEN DER WIRTSCHAFTSPOLITIK, Issue 4 2005Georg Milbradt Firstly, we shall explore to what extent the state should cover private risks through its social security system. Secondly, we discuss the situation in Germany, with special regard to the question whether Germany's current economic problems , stagnation and high unemployment , are caused by the growth of benefits provided by Social Security and the pay-as-you-go funding method. Thirdly, we look at risk coverage from the perspective of political economics. Polls show that the Germans increasingly mistrust the market mechanism. How, then, can the state reduce its coverage of individual risks and harness market forces instead of providing a minimum of social security? [source] Do markets enhance convergence on international standards?REGULATION & GOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2007The case of financial regulation Abstract Why do countries that did not participate in the establishment of international standards converge on them in the absence of external coercion? The market-based perspective asserts that market forces enhance cross-national convergence on international standards. This paper challenges the market-based perspective, focusing on compliance with the 1988 Basel Capital Accord in South Korea and Taiwan. First, it argues that adoption of the Basel Capital Accord by these countries was mainly driven by their regulatory authorities' concern about the potential risk of foreign market closure to noncompliant banks. Second, it demonstrates that enforcement by the two countries' regulatory authorities was crucial in ensuring compliance. These findings suggest that national regulatory authorities are still key actors in voluntary convergence on international standards. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||