Performance measurement systems and time-based manufacturing

Today's production environment is often undermined by control mechanisms that were designed for another era. Specifically, most organizations control manufacturing wholly or in part using cost-based performance measurement systems. Depending upon the firm's objectives and key manufacturing task(s), too much attention upon cost considerations can have devastating effects upon overall performance. This paper discusses this issue in the context of corporations that increasingly find themselves competing for business on the dimension of time. A case study is presented to illustrate how time-based companies can be adversely affected by an overemphasis upon cost.     

Equitable Taxation and the Provision of Health Insurance Subsidies

Current U.S. income tax laws allow many taxpayers to exclude from taxable income part or all of the cost of acquiring health insurance through an employer‐sponsored benefit plan. This favorable tax treatment generally applies regardless of whether the employer or employee actually pays the health insurance premiums. We describe the effects of this tax policy on the U.S. tax system's horizontal and vertical equity. We also explain how taxpayers covered by employer‐sponsored plans are significantly subsidized by the government in acquiring health insurance, whereas taxpayers who acquire health insurance by other means or who are not covered by health insurance at all receive no such government assistance. We conclude that any prospective health‐care policy initiatives, including modifications to the 2010 health‐care reforms, should contemplate both the horizontal and vertical equity of the tax treatment of health insurance premiums.     

PURCHASING POWER PARITY AND BLACK-MARKET EXCHANGE RATES

This paper develops a theory of black-market exchange rate determination as a function of the market-clearing rate, the official rate and changes in official reserve levels. The model is tested for three countries over the period 1952–1971 by using purchasing-power-parity calculations as approximations of the equilibrium rate. The results indicate that relative rates of inflation are the dominant forces influencing equilibrium exchange rates.     

ACADEMIC UNIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: IMPACTS ON FACULTY SALARY, COMPENSATION AND PROMOTIONS

This paper provides an empirical evaluation of collective bargaining's impacts on salary, compensation (salary plus fringe benefits) and promotion for faculty at unionized four-year colleges and universities during the 1970's. The results suggest that there have been no general economic gains associated with the adoption of collective bargaining by college and university faculty.