David Finegold

Bio: David Finegold is an academic researcher from Rutgers University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Government & German. The author has an hindex of 28, co-authored 73 publications receiving 4519 citations. Previous affiliations of David Finegold include RAND Corporation & Pomona College.

The failure of training in britain: analysis and prescription

Abstract: In the last decade, education and training (ET) reform has become a major issue in many of the world's industrial powers. One theme which runs throughout these reform initiatives is the need to adapt ET systems to the changing economic environment. These changes include: the increasing integration of world markets, the shift in mass manufacturing towards newly developed nations and the rapid development of new technologies, most notably information technologies. Education and training are seen to play a crucial role in restoring or maintaining international competitiveness, both on the macro-level by easing the transition of the workforce into new industries, and at the micro-level, where firms producing high quality, specialized goods and services require a well-qualified workforce capable of rapid adjustment in the work process and continual product innovation. This paper will highlight the need for policy-makers and academics to take account of the two-way nature of the relationship between ET and the economy.

How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan

Abstract: How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan. By Kathleen Thelen. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 352p. $75.00 cloth, $29.99 paper. The theory of evolution is under attack. In this case, however, the attacker, Kathleen Thelen, comes armed with far more plausible evidence than the proponents of “intelligent design,” and the creatures being analyzed are not plants and animals but key economic institutions, such as vocational training systems, organized labor, and employer organizations.

Are Skills the Answer

Abstract: This study of vocational education in advanced industrial countries contributes to two different areas of debate. The first is the study of the diversity of institutional forms taken by modern capitalism, and the difficulties currently surrounding the survival of that diversity. Rather than analysing economic institutions and governance in general, the authors specifically focus upon the key area of skill creation. The second theme is that of vocational education and training in its own right. While sharing the consensus that the advanced countries must secure competitive advantage in a global economy by developing highly-skilled work forces, the authors draw attention to certain awkward aspects of this approach that are often glossed over in general debate: 1. The employment-generating power of improvements in skill levels is limited: employment policy cannot depend fully on education policies; 2. While the acquisition of skills has become a major public need, there is increasing dependence for their provision on individual firms, with government action being restricted to residual care for the unemployed, rather than contributing at the leading edge of advanced skills policy. Covering France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, the UK, and the USA, this book provides a unique approach to education and training within the broader political and economic environment. As such, it will appeal to students, teachers, and practitioners concerned with vocational training, human resource management, industrial relations, and the sociology of the economy.

You Paid for the Skills, Now Keep Them: Tuition Reimbursement and Voluntary Turnover

Abstract: Does investing in employees' marketable skills reduce turnover? This study uses insights from human capital theory to explain how general skill development and promotion relate to voluntary turnover. Data from 9,439 salaried employees of a large manufacturer show that participation in tuition reimbursement reduces turnover while employees are in school. Voluntary turnover increases when individuals earn graduate degrees but is significantly reduced if they are subsequently promoted.

Corporate Boards and Company Performance: review of research in light of recent reforms

Abstract: Recent US corporate governance reforms introduced extensive regulations and guidelines for public corporations, particularly corporate boards. This article evaluates the extent to which empirical research on corporate boards and firm performance supports these reforms. Building on the meta-analysis conducted by Zahra and Pearce (1989), we review 105 studies published between 1989 and 2005. We find most of the practices mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and the regulations issued by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ, had not been subject to prior study. Where board characteristics have been studied, we find limited guidance for policymakers on identifying governance practices that result in more effective firm performance. In an effort to increase the relevance of future research on boards and firm performance, we provide a framework on corporate boards.

The Essential Impact of Context on Organizational Behavior

Abstract: I argue that the impact of context on organizational behavior is not sufficiently recognized or appreciated by researchers. I define context as situational opportunities and constraints that affect the occurrence and meaning of organizational behavior as well as functional relationships between variables, and I propose two levels of analysis for thinking about context–one grounded in journalistic practice and the other in classic social psychology. Several means of contextualizing research are considered.

An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism

Abstract: Political economists have always been interested in the differences in economic and political institutions that occur across countries. Some regard these differences as deviations from 'best practice' that will dissolve as nations catch up to a technological or organizational leader. Others see them as the distillation of more durable historical choices for a specific kind of society, since economic institutions condition levels of social protection, the distribution of income, and the availability of collective goods — features of the social solidarity of a nation. In each case, comparative political economy revolves around the conceptual frameworks used to understand institutional variation across nations. On such frameworks depend the answers to a range of important questions. Some are policy-related. What kind of economic policies will improve the performance of the economy? What will governments do in the face of economic challenges? What defines a state's capacities to meet such challenges? Other questions are firm-related. Do companies located in different nations display systematic differences in their structure and strategies? If so, what inspires such differences? How can national differences in the pace or character of innovation be explained? Some are issues about economic performance. Do some sets of institutions provide lower rates of inflation and unemployment or higher rates of growth than others? What are the trade-offs in terms of economic performance to developing one type of political economy rather than another? Finally, second-order questions about institutional change and stability are of special significance today. Can we expect technological progress and the competitive pressures of globalization to inspire institutional conver-gence? What factors condition the adjustment paths a political economy takes in the face of such challenges? The object of this book is to elaborate a new framework for understanding the institutional similarities and differences among the developed economies, one that offers a new and intriguing set of answers to 1111 211 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111 1 211 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 such questions. 1 We outline the basic approach in this Introduction. Subsequent chapters extend and apply it to a wide range of issues. In many respects, this approach is still a work-in-progress. We see it as a set of contentions that open up new research agendas rather than settled wisdom to be accepted …

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Abstract: What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.