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Showing papers by "London School of Economics and Political Science published in 1997"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop an approach to the study of democratic policy-making where politicians are selected by the people from those citizens who present themselves as candidates for public office.
Abstract: This paper develops an approach to the study of democratic policy-making where politicians are selected by the people from those citizens who present themselves as candidates for public office. The approach has a number of attractive features. First, it is a conceptualization of a pure form of representative democracy in which government is by, as well as of, the people. Second, the model is analytically tractable, being able to handle multidimensional issue and policy spaces very naturally. Third, it provides a vehicle for answering normative questions about the performance of representative democracy.

1,635 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper studied cross-country patterns of economic growth from the viewpoint of income distribution dynamics and found that the profound empirical regularity is an emerging twin peaks in the cross-sectional distribution, not simple patterns of convergence or divergence.
Abstract: This paper studies cross-country patterns of economicgrowth from the viewpoint of income distribution dynamics. Sucha perspective raises new empirical and theoretical issues ingrowth analysis: the profound empirical regularity is an “emergingtwin peaks” in the cross-sectional distribution, not simplepatterns of convergence or divergence. The theoretical problemsraised concern interaction patterns among subgroups of economies,not only problems of a single economy's accumulating factor inputsand technology for growth.

1,289 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The stylized facts surveyed in this paper shed new light on the market structure that appears composed of heterogeneous agents and poses several challenges such as the definition of price and of the time-scale, the concepts of risk and efficiency, the modeling of the markets and the learning process.
Abstract: This paper presents stylized facts concerning the spot intra-daily for- eign exchange markets. It first describes intra-daily data and proposes a set of definitions for the variables of interest. Empirical regularities of the foreign ex- change intra-daily data are then grouped under three major topics: the distribution of price changes, the process of price formation and the heterogeneous structure of the market. The stylized facts surveyed in this paper shed new light on the market structure that appears composed of heterogeneous agents. It also poses several challenges such as the definition of price and of the time-scale, the con- cepts of risk and efficiency, the modeling of the markets and the learning process.

566 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that for many common machine learning problems, although in general the authors do not know the true (objective) prior for the problem, they do have some idea of a set of possible priors to which the true prior belongs.
Abstract: A Bayesian model of learning to learn by sampling from multiple tasks is presented. The multiple tasks are themselves generated by sampling from a distribution over an environment of related tasks. Such an environment is shown to be naturally modelled within a Bayesian context by the concept of an objective prior distribution. It is argued that for many common machine learning problems, although in general we do not know the true (objective) prior for the problem, we do have some idea of a set of possible priors to which the true prior belongs. It is shown that under these circumstances a learner can use Bayesian inference to learn the true prior by learning sufficiently many tasks from the environment. In addition, bounds are given on the amount of information required to learn a task when it is simultaneously learnt with several other tasks. The bounds show that if the learner has little knowledge of the true prior, but the dimensionality of the true prior is small, then sampling multiple tasks is highly advantageous. The theory is applied to the problem of learning a common feature set or equivalently a low-dimensional-representation (LDR) for an environment of related tasks.

496 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Monte Carlo simulation is used to obtain an approximation to the loglikelihood for observations with non-Gaussian distributions, where the observations have a Poisson distribution and the observation errors have a t-distribution.
Abstract: State space models are considered for observations which have non-Gaussian distributions. We obtain accurate approximations to the loglikelihood for such models by Monte Carlo simulation. Devices are introduced which improve the accuracy of the approximations and which increase computational efficiency. The loglikelihood function is maximised numerically to obtain estimates of the unknown hyperparameters. Standard errors of the estimates due to simulation are calculated. Details are given for the important special cases where the observations come from an exponential family distribution and where the observation equation is linear but the observation errors are non-Gaussian. The techniques are illustrated with a series for which the observations have a Poisson distribution and a series for which the observation errors have a t-distribution.

462 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors set out some of the many important issues connected with the use, analysis, and application of high-frequency data sets, including the effect of market structure on the availability and interpretation of the data, methodological issues such as the treatment of time, the effects of intra-day seasonals, and the effects on time-varying volatility, and information content of various market data.

460 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors applied the tests for unit root and other nonstationarity of Robinson (1994a) to an extended version of the data set used by Nelson and Plosser (1982).

435 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that because these assumptions are so divergent, they cannot both properly be incorporated within a single model of human resource management and conclude that the rhetoric adopted by companies frequendy embraces the tenets of the soft, commitment model, while the reality experienced by employees is more concerned with strategic control, similar to the hard model.
Abstract: Two of the most widely adopted models of human resource management are the hard and soft versions. These are based on opposing views of human nature and managerial control strategies. The hard model is based on notions of tight strategic control, and an economic model of man according to Theory X, while the soft model is based on control through commitment and Theory Y. We argue that because these assumptions are so divergent, they cannot both properly be incorporated within a single model of human resource management. Eight in-depth case studies were carried out, involving questionnaires, interviews and focus groups in order to find out whether organizations were practising either form of HRM. We found that no pure examples of either form existed. The paper concludes that the rhetoric adopted by Ae companies frequendy embraces the tenets of the soft, commitment model, while the reaUty experienced by employees is more concerned with strategic control, similar to the hard model. This distinction between rhetoric and reality needs to be taken into account in conceptualizations of human resource management.

376 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The paper examines the way in which the construction of masculine identities renders miners particularly vulnerable to HIV, and the implications of these findings for HIV educational interventions are discussed.

357 citations


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: Most mature social studies include both qualitative and quantitative methods in the normal course of research activities as mentioned in this paper, and scholars may gain reputations based on one or the other, or in some cases on the combination of both.
Abstract: Most mature social studies include both qualitative and quantitative methods in the normal course of research activities. Scholars may gain reputations based on one or the other, or in some cases on the combination of both. In fields such as sociology, psychology, history, political science, and even anthropology the balance has been struck; the rules are accepted. Business studies in general, and information systems in particular, have had a much harder time coming to terms with the balance. With so many colleagues using exclusively quantitative methods in business economics, in marketing, in accounting and even in organizational behavior, and other colleagues sticking strictly to formal methods in computer science and software engineering, we have had to fight an uphill battle at times. This volume is evidence of the maturing of information systems as a discipline which can recognize the place of qualitative along with quantitative research methods.

340 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the work of Robert Putnam and other institutional theorists and suggest that a misguided attempt to locate a singular framework to explain both economic and political performance fails to recognize that the conditions underpinning successful capitalist development may not always be congruous with those favouring democratic politics.
Abstract: Recent theoretical work employing the concept of ‘social capital’ in the study of democratization remains plagued by conceptual confusion and a curious neglect of politics. This paper critically examines the work of Robert Putnam and other institutional theorists and suggests that a misguided attempt to locate a singular framework to explain both economic and political performance fails to recognize that the conditions underpinning successful capitalist development may not always be congruous with those favouring democratic politics. The work on social capital is coloured by an idealization of the role of the family and of the American political past, influenced by current communitarian thinking. Finally, an uncritical acceptance of the determinist notion of ‘path dependence’ eclipses the role of political action and ideas in the assessment of political outcomes and prospects for democratization. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe an approach to explore the views of stakeholders through the use of stakeholder analysis and examine the perceptions of a number of stakeholders in the drug use management field in the UK.
Abstract: Inter-organizational systems operate in an area where there are many interested parties. If the views of these interested parties are not explored and taken into consideration before and during the development of an inter-organizational system, it is likely that the implementation of this system will be disappointing. This paper describes one approach to exploring these views through the use of stakeholder analysis. More specifically, it describes how to identify the stakeholders, a process that has been overlooked in the stakeholder analysis and inter-organizational systems literature, and examines the perceptions of a number of stakeholders in the drug use management field in the UK.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the link between employee commitment and organizational performance in terms of sales targets met and change in profits, and found that employee commitment is significantly related to the financial success of bank branches.
Abstract: The branch network of a bank was used toinvestigate the link between employee commitment andorganizational performance in terms of sales targets metand change in profits. Commitment was measured by the conventional Organizational CommitmentQuestionnaire (OCQ) and different variations of aspecifically designed new commitment scale. The approachtaken involved the application of multiple regressionanalysis. That way a variety of factors assumed tocontribute to performance, apart from commitment, couldbe included in the model and held constant. It emergedthat employee commitment is significantly related to the financial success of bank branches. Theresults varied depending on how commitment andperformance were measured. Supervisory commitmentappears to have a particularly strong impact on theoutcome indicators.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the interrelationship between religious and ethnic identities maintained by young British Pakistanis, and address the question of why religion is a more significant source of social identity for these young people than ethnicity.
Abstract: This article considers the interrelationship between religious and ethnic identities maintained by young British Pakistanis, and addresses the question of why religion is a more significant source of social identity for these young people than ethnicity. There are two basic manifestations of this greater significance of religion. First, it is manifest in the nature of the fundamental distinction made by many young British Pakistanis between religion and ethnicity as sources of identity. This distinction rests on the assumption that whereas Pakistani ethnicity relates to a particular place and its people, Islam has universal relevance. The greater significance of religion is manifest, secondly, in the contrast between the essential characteristics of the social boundaries delineating the two forms of social identity. The social boundaries which encompass expressions of religious identity among young British Pakistanis are pervasive and clear‐cut in comparison to increasingly permeable ethnic bound...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A motley collection of ideas from several areas of mathematics, including, in no particular order, random walks, the Picard group, exchange rate networks, chip-firing games, cohomology, and the conductance of an electrical network, have been discussed in this paper.
Abstract: This paper encompasses a motley collection of ideas from several areas of mathematics, including, in no particular order, random walks, the Picard group, exchange rate networks, chip-firing games, cohomology, and the conductance of an electrical network. The linking threads are the discrete Laplacian on a graph and the solution of the associated Dirichlet problem. Thirty years ago, this subject was dismissed by many as a trivial specialisation of cohomology theory, but it has now been shown to have hidden depths. Plumbing these depths leads to new theoretical advances, many of which throw light on the diverse applications of the theory. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 05C50.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the prospects for devolving HR activities to the line and found that line managers' practices tend to be inconsistent in implementation and uneven in quality, and argued that the quality of line management practice may distort the overall impact of HR policies.
Abstract: The prospects for devolving HR activities to the line are examined in this article. Evidence drawn from a wider study of HRM in practice suggests that, while line manager involvement is possible, their practices tend to be inconsistent in implementation and uneven in quality. A number of constraints on line management practice were identified. First, there is limited reinforcement of practice through institutional forces. Secondly, the short-term nature of managerial activity means that a greater priority is placed on the achievement of the numbers rather than the achievement of numbers through people. Finally, downsizing and delayering place tremendous pressures on the time which line managers could allow for people matters generally. These findings challenge much of the rhetoric associated with the idea of giving HRM back to the line by arguing that the quality of line management practice may distort the overall impact of HR policies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, accountants have begun to compete for work in the environmental auditing field and describe the strategies by which they have attempted to represent themselves as relevant experts, and draw attention to the construction of an overlap between the skills required for financial and environmental audging, such as in the field of the applied sciences, must be subordinated within an audit process which is controlled by the accountant.
Abstract: Some accountants have begun to compete for work in the environmental auditing field and this essay describes the strategies by which they have attempted to represent themselves as relevant experts. A shift in regulatory style has stimulated experimentation with new instruments of control, including voluntary schemes for environmental auditing which emphasise a management control system. Subsequent attempts to define the relevant knowledge base of environmental auditing and to accredit verifiers have created a stage on which accountants can promote their claims. The essay draws attention to the construction of an overlap between the skills required for financial and environmental auditing. In turn, this strategy requires that other forms of expertise, such as in the field of the applied sciences, must be subordinated within an audit process which is controlled by the accountant.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The cultural industries sector employed 4.5% of all employees in Britain in 1991, which was equal in size to the construction industry, or to the combined employment in the agricultural, and the extractive industries as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The cultural industries sector employed 4.5% of all employees in Britain in 1991; that is, it was equal in size to the construction industry, or to the combined employment in the agricultural, and the extractive industries. However, this sector has remained relatively underanalysed both in the geographical and in the planning literature. The author begins by defining the cultural industries production system (CIPS). In the second part he operationalises this definition with respect to secondary sources on employment in the CIPS in Britain. In the third part he considers the change in the employment structure of the CIPS between 1984 and 1991, and goes on to address the regional patterns of employment in the CIPS with particular emphasis upon London and the South East.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A substantial review of the ways in which the concept of social capital has been used in the recent theoretical and policy literatures can be found in this paper, where it is concluded that policy arguments which pose civil society against the state, or which rest on the view that rich endowment in social capital is a precondition for good government, are almost certainly misconceived.
Abstract: This paper offers a substantial review of the ways in which the concept of ‘social capital’ has been used in the recent theoretical and policy literatures. Attention is drawn to the significant difference between the way in which the term has been defined by its two major proponents, James Coleman and Robert Putnam. Putnam's usage, which is the one which has been taken over in development policy thinking by some in the World Bank, is subjected to substantial critique. It is concluded that policy arguments which pose civil society against the state, or which rest on the view that rich endowment in ‘social capital’ is a precondition for ‘good government’, are almost certainly misconceived. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the locational effects of geographically discriminatory trade policy are considered and it is shown that a preferential move towards a free trade area pulls industry into the integrating countries and, when trade barriers fall below some critical level, may lead to agglomeration with some member countries gaining industry at the expense of others.

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a theory of the allocation of formal and real authority within organizations, where real authority is determined by the structure of information, which in turn depends on the assignment of formal authority.
Abstract: This paper develops a theory of the allocation of formal and real authority within organizations. Real authority is determined by the structure of information, which in turn depends on the allocation of formal authority. An increase in an agent's real authority promotes initiative but results in a loss of control for the principal. The paper analyzes the allocation of formal authority as well as some determinants of the subordinates' real authority: overload, lenient rules, urgency of decision, reputation, performance measurement, and multiplicity of superiors. Finally, the amount of communication in an organization is shown to depend on the allocation of formal authority.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the effect of dynamic hedging strategies on the equilibrium price of the underlying asset and derived an explicit expression for the transformation of market volatility under the impact of such strategies.
Abstract: In this paper we analyze the manner in which the demand generated by dynamic hedging strategies affects the equilibrium price of the underlying asset. We derive an explicit expression for the transformation of market volatility under the impact of such strategies. It turns out that volatility increases and becomes time and price dependent. The strength of these effects however depends not only on the share of total demand that is due to hedging, but also significantly on the heterogeneity of the distribution of hedged payoffs. We finally discuss in what sense hedging strategies derived from the assumption of constant volatility may still be appropriate even though their implementation obviously violates this assumption.

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the role of campaign advertising and the opportunity of legal restrictions on it is investigated and a separating equilibrium exists in which the group contributes to a candidate only if the insider information about that candidate is positive.
Abstract: This paper investigates the role of campaign advertising and the opportunity of legal restrictions on it. An electoral race is modeled as a signalling game with three classes of players: a continuum of voters, two candidates, and one interest group. The group has non-verifiable insider information on the candidates' valence and, on the basis of this information, offers a contribution to each candidate in exchange for a favorable policy position. Candidates spend the contributions they receive on non-directly informative advertising. This paper shows that: (1) A separating equilibrium exists in which the group contributes to a candidate only if the insider information about that candidate is positive; (2) Although voters are fully rational, a ban on campaign advertising can be welfare-improving; and (3) Split contributions may arise in equilibrium (and should be prohibited).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Although the costs of schizophrenia are considerable, there are treatments and care arrangements which can reduce this aggregate burden while maintaining or improving effectiveness, and a body of evidence on cost-effective community care arrangements, antipsychotic drugs and psychological interventions is reviewed.
Abstract: BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is a common and burdensome illness, with implications not only for the health service but for a host of other care agencies--public and private--as well as for patients, families and the wider society. METHOD The paper reviews available UK evidence on the cost of schizophrenia (broadly defined) and on the cost-effectiveness of treatment options and alternative care arrangements. New evidence potentially alters our view of the costs of this illness. RESULTS Aggregating the identifiable direct and indirect costs of schizophrenia for England suggests an annual cost of 2.6 billion pounds, but even this sum omits some indirect impacts which cannot currently be costed. Just over half the identified total is accounted for by the direct costs falling to the NHS, local authorities, charities and the criminal justice system. In helping to tackle this cost burden, there is now a body of evidence on cost-effective community care arrangements, antipsychotic drugs and psychological interventions. CONCLUSIONS Although the costs of schizophrenia are considerable, there are treatments and care arrangements which can reduce this aggregate burden while maintaining or improving effectiveness.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the notion of commitment to customer service (CCS) is defined as a non-calculative phenomenon driven above all by affective normative altruistic concerns, rather than by overtly instrumental considerations.
Abstract: This paper provides a first attempt at conceptualizing and operationalizing the notion of commitment to customer service (CCS) as part of a broader concern to explore the determinants of key aspects of service quality and of individual-level performance in service organizations. Based on an explicitly behavioral definition of commitment to customer service, we first set out a model of the antecedents of CCS. We then test it using data from a representative sample of 717 employees of a major food-retailing organization in the UK. The results suggest that commitment to customer service is primarily a non-calculative phenomenon driven above all by affective. normative altruistic concerns, rather than by overtly instrumental considerations. Additional significant determinants of CCS were job pressure, job routinization. job competence and employees' understanding of customer service requirements. Research and policy implications of the study are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared measures of the Human Development Index and growth rates of real GDP/person adjusted for changes in mortality and leisure for 16 advanced economies since 1870 and concluded that conventional measures of economic growth seriously understate the rate of improvement in living standards since 1870.
Abstract: The article compiles measures of the Human Development Index and also growth rates of real GDP/person adjusted for changes in mortality and leisure for 16 advanced economies since 1870. It is argued that relatively low life expectancy implies that the high income countries of 1870 had lower living standards than most of today's Third World but that since 1870 imputations for reductions in market work time have added more to growth than decreases in mortality. Overall, it seems clear that conventional measures of economic growth seriously understate the rate of improvement in living standards since 1870.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that the organizational commitment questionnaire (OCQ) is not homogeneous, but consists of three separate concepts: identification, desire to stay and extra effort.
Abstract: Much of commitment research is based on the belief that the concept consists of three different aspects: identification, desire to stay and extra effort. Shows that the three‐dimensional concept is misleading. Confirmatory factor analysis suggests that the organizational commitment questionnaire (OCQ) is not homogenous, but consists of three separate concepts. This is confirmed by correlational analysis with theoretically relevant variables which reveals that identification, desire to stay and extra effort are associated with different antecedents. The poor research output to date on organizational commitment can be explained by reference to the small weight given to discretionary effort in the OCQ, the most widely used commitment scale. Discusses implications for research and management policies.

Posted Content
TL;DR: This article examined unintended effects of air quality regulation on decisions of major polluters, using plant data for 1963 to 1992, and found that, in later years of regulation, non-attainment status reduces expected births in polluting industries by 40-50%, resulting in a shift of polluting activity to cleaner, less populated attainment areas.
Abstract: This paper examines unintended effects of air quality regulation on decisions of major polluters, using plant data for 1963 to 1992. A key regulatory tool since 1978 is the annual designation of county air quality attainment status, where non-attainment status triggers specific equipment requirements for" new and existing plants. We find, in the later years of regulation, that, ceteris paribus, non-attainment status reduces expected births in polluting industries by 40-50%, resulting in a shift of polluting activity to cleaner, less populated attainment areas. Starting in the 1970s effects appear first for industries with bigger plant sizes and then, within industries, first for corporate plants relative to the much smaller non-affiliate, or single plant firm sector. In all industries, non-affiliates face less regulation than the bigger corporate plants, resulting in a permanent shift away from corporate plant production in some industries. Older plants benefit from grandfathering provisions greatly enhancing survival probabilities. Finally, the negotiation and permitting process under regulation appears to induce much greater up-front investments by new plants, so that, in non-attainment areas, regulation induces 50-100% increases in initial plant sizes compared to attainment areas. But for plants over 10 years of age there are no size differences.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper argued that trade increases technology transfers from industrial to developing countries and that the transfer technology is biased in favor of skilled labor, and the relative demand for skilled labor increases during the transition following liberalization, and so the gains enjoyed by skilled labor are temporary.
Abstract: Recent evidence shows that the returns to labor and the skill premium both increase in developing countries after trade liberalization, despite the low skill content of their exports. The author explains this apparent puzzle by arguing that trade increases technology transfers from industrial to developing countries and that the transfer technology is biased in favor of skilled labor. The relative demand for skilled labor increases during the transition following liberalization, and so the gains enjoyed by skilled labor are temporary, even in the absence of supply responses. The gains become longer lasting when the transferred technology is also skill based.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There to be striking variations in the probabilities of becoming young parents but not with respect to whether the child was born within or outside marriage.
Abstract: Teenage fertility rates in the UK are amongst the highest in Europe and have not altered significantly in the last 15 years, but the proportion of births outside marriage has risen rapidly. In this study we used longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS) to investigate the social, economic and educational backgrounds of young parents. The analysis showed there to be striking variations in the probabilities of becoming young parents but not with respect to whether the child was born within or outside marriage. Young mothers and fathers were more likely to come from economically disadvantaged families and to have lower educational attainment. Teenage mothers were more likely to have mothers who had a child in her teens and were more likely to have exhibited higher levels of emotional problems particularly in adolescence. Young women whose educational attainment scores deteriorated between childhood and adolescence had particularly high probabilities of becoming young mothers. For some teenage motherhood was unintended and the result of unprotected intercourse whilst other men and women who subsequently become young parents had expressed a preference for early parenthood whilst still at school.