Labour Surplus,Worker Rights and Productivity Growth: A Comparative Analysis of Asia and Latin America

How do labour market conditions, trade union rights and job security regulations affect labour productivity? This paper is the first attempt at an empirical analysis of this important question for a large sample of Asian and Latin American countries. We provide new estimates of the rates of surplus labour in 20 countries, as well as detailed tables summarizing their key regulations governing certain aspects of union activity and layoffs. Then we exploit these and other data in an econometric analysis of intercountry differentials in the growth rate of labour productivity in manufacturing during the 1980s. Among the principal results, we find that, while all else remains the same, productivity growth rates are significantly higher in countries with relatively larger labour surpluses, the effects of excess of labour on productivity growth are affected by the strength or weakness of union rights. We also find that the impacts of union rights and job security protections on productivity trends may be either positive or negative, depending on the labour market situation.     

Intermediate Performance Impacts of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Systems: An Empirical Investigation*

A large-scale random sample is used to empirically examine the relationships between implementation of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and three organization-level measures that have historically been attributed to AMT, but not fully tested along the AMT spectrum: market-oriented flexibility of the production process, organizational integration of production processes, and administrative intensity of the organization. Results indicate that as an organization moves along the technology scale from stand-alone AMT (e.g., CNC machines) through functionally oriented AMT (FMS and CAM) toward CIM, not only do its production processes become more integrated with each other, but those processes become more integrated with other functional systems of the organization, and the quality and timeliness of production information increase. Furthermore, this relationship becomes stronger as companies increase their level of implementation for the latter two technologies. Conversely, market-oriented flexibility decreases and administrative intensity is not observed to change as companies move along the technology spectrum. Future research should examine how organizational redesign and implementation strategies that accompany AMT implementation can concomitantly enhance organizational integration of the production process and market-oriented flexibility.     

THE INDUCE VERSUS PURCHASE DECISION: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIAL R&D*

With the recent slowdown in productivity growth within the economy, R&D has come under scrutiny as a policy target variable. If such targeting is to be effective, it must be realized that not all innovations employed within a firm are induced by the firm through its own R&D: many innovations are purchased through technological licensing or in the form of new capital equipment. Here, interfirm differences in this “make” versus “buy” strategy are analyzed within the context of the Utterback-Abernathy production process lifecycle. Our findings suggest that (1) alternative sources to a firm's R&D for stimulating innovation may prove a viable strategy for federal targeting and (2) extrapolating the Utterback-Abernathy model to an industry formulation has empirical validity.     

Story-building and narrative in social workers' case-talk: A model of social work sensemaking

Despite the importance of decision-making in child and family social work, how social workers make sense of information in undertaking assessments and making decisions has received limited attention. Drawing on an ethnographic study of four child and family social work teams across two English local authorities, this article demonstrates how social workers make sense of the lives of children and families through a story-building process. Data comprise interviews with social workers and supervisors (n = 22), recordings of one-to-one supervision (n = 17) and observations of everyday case-talk (n = 21). A model of social work sensemaking is offered, consisting of three stages: (1) initial formulations, (2) developing the narrative and (3) adopted account. Across these stages, social workers engage in different forms of sensemaking activity, such as case framing, testing and weighing information, and generating hypotheses. Collegial and supervisory case-talk provide opportunities for social workers to scrutinize their developing narratives; however, some forms of case-talk can limit or shortcut sensemaking. This model has applications for practitioners and organizations as a tool to promote reflection on how social workers make sense of their cases. Further recommendations include social workers having access to formal and informal reflective spaces where sensemaking case-talk can take place.     

WHAT MEASURE OF INFLATION SHOULD A CENTRAL BANK TARGET?

This paper assumes that a central bank commits itself to maintaining an inflation target and then asks what measure of the inflation rate the central bank should use if it wants to maximize economic stability. The paper first formalizes this problem and examines its microeconomic foundations. It then shows how the weight of a sector in the stability price index depends on the sector's characteristics, including size, cyclical sensitivity, sluggishness of price adjustment, and magnitude of sectoral shocks. When a numerical illustration of the problem is calibrated to U.S. data, one tentative conclusion is that a central bank that wants to achieve maximum stability of economic activity should use a price index that gives substantial weight to the level of nominal wages. (JEL: E42, E52, E58)