Colin C. Williams

Bio: Colin C. Williams is an academic researcher from University of Sheffield. The author has contributed to research in topics: Informal sector & Entrepreneurship. The author has an hindex of 65, co-authored 796 publications receiving 18973 citations. Previous affiliations of Colin C. Williams include University of Leicester & Leeds Beckett University.

The shadow economy

Abstract: Measurement of the shadow economy is notoriously difficult as it requires estimation of economic activity that is deliberately hidden from official transactions. Surveys typically understate the size of the shadow economy but econometric techniques can now be used to obtain a much better understanding of its size. The shadow economy constitutes approximately 10 per cent of GDP in the UK; about 14 per cent in Nordic countries and about 20 - 30 per cent in many southern European countries. The main drivers of the shadow economy are (in order): tax and social security burdens, tax morale, the quality of state institutions and labour market regulation. A reduction in the tax burden is therefore likely to lead to a reduction in the size of the shadow economy. Indeed, a virtuous circle can be created of lower tax rates, less shadow work, higher tax morale, a higher tax take and the opportunity for lower rates. Of course, a vicious circle in the other direction can also be created.

Informal Employment in Advanced Economies: Implications for Work and Welfare

Abstract: 1. Introduction Part I: Examining informal employment: methods and theory 2. Methods of researching informal employment 3. Theorising informal employment Part II: Socio-spatial divisions of informal employment 4. Employment Status and Informal employment 5. Gender and informal employment 6. Ethnicity, immigration and informal employment 7. Spatial divisions of informal employment 8. Informal employment in developing nations Part III: What is to be done about informal employment? Evaluating the policy options 9. Regulating informal employment 10. De-regulating formal employment 11. Informal employment and the New economics 12. Conclusions: Re-placing informal employment in the advanced economies

The diverse and contested meanings of sustainable development

Abstract: We provide a heuristic framework that can be used as a lens for understanding the arguments being presented in the papers which comprise this special issue on sustainable development and environmental issues in Great Britain. This framework can also be used as an introduction to the wider literature on sustainable development because it is designed to bring greater clarity to this large, diverse and rapidly expanding field of enquiry populated by heterogeneous discourses, multiple approaches and a variety of recommendations as to the ways forward.

The diverse and contested meanings of sustainable development

Abstract: We provide a heuristic framework that can be used as a lens for understanding the arguments being presented in the papers which comprise this special issue on sustainable development and environmental issues in Great Britain. This framework can also be used as an introduction to the wider literature on sustainable development because it is designed to bring greater clarity to this large, diverse and rapidly expanding field of enquiry populated by heterogeneous discourses, multiple approaches and a variety of recommendations as to the ways forward.

Cash-in-hand work : the underground sector and the hidden economy of favours

Abstract: Introduction PART I: EXAMINING CASH-IN-HAND WORK: THEORY AND METHODS Theorising Cash-in-Hand Work Methodologies for Measuring Cash-in-Hand Work PART II: SOCIO-SPATIAL VARIATIONS IN THE NATURE OF CASH-IN-HAND WORK Employment Status and Cash-in-Hand Work Gender and Cash-in-Hand Work Geographical Variations in Cash-in-Hand Work PART III: EVALUATING THE IMPLICATIONS OFTHE POLICY OPTIONS Deterring Cash-in-Hand Work A Laissez-Faire Approach Harnessing Cash-in-Hand Work Conclusions

Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community

Abstract: The present historical moment may seem a particularly inopportune time to review Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam's latest exploration of civic decline in America. After all, the outpouring of volunteerism, solidarity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice displayed by Americans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks appears to fly in the face of Putnam's central argument: that \"social capital\" -defined as \"social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them\" (p. 19)'has declined to dangerously low levels in America over the last three decades. However, Putnam is not fazed in the least by the recent effusion of solidarity. Quite the contrary, he sees in it the potential to \"reverse what has been a 30to 40-year steady decline in most measures of connectedness or community.\"' As an example of how the current \"war on terrorism\" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says \"permanently marked\" the generation that lived through it and had a \"terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century.\" 3 If Americans can follow this example and channel their current civic

The European commission

Abstract: 2 1 The innovative transport systems and the CityMobil project 10 1.1 The research questions 10 2 The state of art in the field of automatic transport systems 12 2.1 Case studies and demand studies for innovative transport systems 12 3 The design and implementation of surveys 14 3.1 Definition of experimental design 14 3.2 Questionnaire design and delivery 16 3.3 First analyses on the collected sample 18 4 Calibration of Logit Multionomial demand models 21 4.1 Methodology 21 4.2 Calibration of the “full” model. 22 4.3 Calibration of the “final” model 24 4.4 The demand analysis through the final Multinomial Logit model 25 5 The analysis of interaction between the demand and socioeconomic attributes 31 5.1 Methodology 31 5.2 Application of Mixed Logit models to the demand 31 5.3 Analysis of the interactions between demand and socioeconomic attributes through Mixed Logit models 32 5.4 Mixed Logit model and interaction between age and the demand for the CTS 38 5.5 Demand analysis with Mixed Logit model 39 6 Final analyses and conclusions 45 6.1 Comparison between the results of the analyses 45 6.2 Conclusions 48 6.3 Answers to the research questions and future developments 52

The knowledge-creating company

Abstract: How have Japanese companies become world leaders in the automotive and electronics industries, among others? What is the secret of their success? Two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, are the first to tie the success of Japanese companies to their ability to create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. In The Knowledge-Creating Company, Nonaka and Takeuchi provide an inside look at how Japanese companies go about creating this new knowledge organizationally. The authors point out that there are two types of knowledge: explicit knowledge, contained in manuals and procedures, and tacit knowledge, learned only by experience, and communicated only indirectly, through metaphor and analogy. U.S. managers focus on explicit knowledge. The Japanese, on the other hand, focus on tacit knowledge. And this, the authors argue, is the key to their success--the Japanese have learned how to transform tacit into explicit knowledge. To explain how this is done--and illuminate Japanese business practices as they do so--the authors range from Greek philosophy to Zen Buddhism, from classical economists to modern management gurus, illustrating the theory of organizational knowledge creation with case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, Nissan, 3M, GE, and even the U.S. Marines. For instance, using Matsushita's development of the Home Bakery (the world's first fully automated bread-baking machine for home use), they show how tacit knowledge can be converted to explicit knowledge: when the designers couldn't perfect the dough kneading mechanism, a software programmer apprenticed herself withthe master baker at Osaka International Hotel, gained a tacit understanding of kneading, and then conveyed this information to the engineers. In addition, the authors show that, to create knowledge, the best management style is neither top-down nor bottom-up, but rather what they call "middle-up-down," in which the middle managers form a bridge between the ideals of top management and the chaotic realities of the frontline. As we make the turn into the 21st century, a new society is emerging. Peter Drucker calls it the "knowledge society," one that is drastically different from the "industrial society," and one in which acquiring and applying knowledge will become key competitive factors. Nonaka and Takeuchi go a step further, arguing that creating knowledge will become the key to sustaining a competitive advantage in the future. Because the competitive environment and customer preferences changes constantly, knowledge perishes quickly. With The Knowledge-Creating Company, managers have at their fingertips years of insight from Japanese firms that reveal how to create knowledge continuously, and how to exploit it to make successful new products, services, and systems.