Showing papers in "Cambridge Journal of Economics in 2003"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors take the theoretical point of departure in recent work in organisational economics on systems of human resource management (HRM) practices and develop the argument that complementarities between new HRM practices influence financial performance positively, there are theoretical reasons for expecting them also to influence innovation performance positively.
Abstract: In this paper, we take our theoretical point of departure in recent work in organisational economics on systems of human resource management (HRM) practices We develop the argument that just as complementarities between new HRM practices influence financial performance positively, there are theoretical reasons for expecting them also to influence innovation performance positively We examine this overall hypothesis by estimating an empirical model of innovation performance, using data from a Danish survey of 1,900 business firms Using principal component analysis, we identify two HRM systems which are conducive to innovation In the first one, seven of our nine HRM variables matter (almost) equally for the ability to innovate The second system is dominated by firm-internal and firm-external training Of the total of nine sectors that we consider, we find that the four manufacturing sectors correlate with the first system Firms belonging to wholesale trade and to the ICT intensive service sectors tend to be associated with the second system
886 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between firms' use of various flexible work practices, human resource management techniques, and industrial relations systems and the innovative activities of those firms, and found that the sort of "low road" labour flexibility practices encouraged by labour market deregulation, such as short-term and temporary contracts, a lack of employer commitment to job security, low levels of training, and so on, are negatively correlated with innovation.
Abstract: Labour ‘flexibility’ is often portrayed as important to competitive success. Using evidence from an original survey of UK firms, this paper investigates the relationships between firms' use of, on the one hand, various flexible work practices, human resource management techniques, and industrial relations systems and, on the other hand, the innovative activities of those firms. Our results suggest that the sort of ‘low road’ labour flexibility practices encouraged by labour market deregulation—short-term and temporary contracts, a lack of employer commitment to job security, low levels of training, and so on—are negatively correlated with innovation.
365 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a concept of "reconstitutive downward causation" is proposed, in which institutions act upon individual habits and dispositions, and the mechanisms involved do not fall foul of past critiques of holism or methodological collectivism.
Abstract: In his classic book The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard claimed that large corporations manipulated consumers, using advertising techniques. John Kenneth Galbraith and others have repeated a similar view. Against this, Gary Becker and George Stigler have claimed that advertising is essentially informative rather than manipulative. In contrast, it is argued here that both of these opposed accounts of human agency neglect the more subtle and undesigned processes by which institutions bear upon and mould individuals. This paper proposes a concept of ‘reconstitutive downward causation’ in which institutions act upon individual habits and dispositions. The mechanisms involved do not fall foul of past critiques of ‘holism’ or methodological collectivism. This argument involves a rehabilitation of the concept of habit in social science, with far-reaching implications.
311 citations
TL;DR: The authors analyzed the correlations between technological change, organisational change and skill change using a survey on organizational change in manufacturing firms conducted in 1993 and found that changes in the required skills and in the occupational structure of firms are more closely connected to organisational than to technological change.
Abstract: This paper analyses the correlations between technological change, organisational change and skill change using a survey on organisational change in manufacturing firms conducted in 1993. Considerable diversity is allowed for in terms of the measure of technological and organisational change, and the analysis shows a positive correlation between technological change and reorganisations, whatever their types. The paper then analyses the relationships between these changes and the employment behaviour of firms. It shows that changes in the required skills and in the occupational structure of firms are more closely connected to organisational than to technological change. Although organisational change affects the work content and skill requirements of blue collar workers, it is mainly indirect workers that are affected in terms of the number employed. Finally, the analysis shows that technology tends to stabilise the workforce whereas the move towards the model of 'flexible enterprise' favours its renewal. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
182 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that both micro and macro processes drive economic change and that macroeconomic change cannot be explained by micro-level optimising alone, and they show that debates in biology about group selection and punctuated equilibrium are relevant to understanding economic evolution.
Abstract: We consider the microfoundations controversy from the perspective of economic evolution. Although the analogy between biology and economics has been noted before, it has rarely focused on clarifying the micro‐macro distinction in economic theory and modelling. The micro‐macro debate is more developed in biology than in economics owing to a greater degree of specialisation and a greater degree of interaction between various sub-disciplines. The task for economists is to distinguish between insights directly relevant for economic theory and ones that hinge on unique features of biological systems. We argue that both micro and macro processes drive economic change and that macroeconomic change cannot be explained by microlevel optimising alone. We show that debates in biology about group selection and punctuated equilibria are relevant to understanding economic evolution. The opposition of reductionism and holism is of little use and, in its place, a hierarchical approach is proposed. This allows for both upward and downward causation and interaction between levels.
118 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a demand-led growth model is presented in which the distribution of income is fully endogenised. But the model does not consider the effects of exogenous and induced technical progress.
Abstract: Following the Kaleckian tradition, this paper presents a demand-led growth model in which the distribution of income is fully endogenised. This is done by introducing claims on income by workers and firms. The bargaining power of these two groups affects, through distribution, the patterns of accumulation and inflation. In turn, the bargaining power of workers is affected by the rate of change of employment. The paper discusses the model's static and dynamic implications, including the effects of exogenous and induced technical progress. The model confirms all the typical Kaleckian results, including the fact that increases in real wages may lead to accelerating accumulation as well as inflation. It also produces a new result: it is possible that an increase in the rate of change of labour productivity may not lead to an increase in the rate of change of employment.
118 citations
TL;DR: The Asian crisis provides heterodox economists with the opportunity to investigate counterfactually whether the financial policies they have proposed would have averted the crisis as discussed by the authors, and whether they could have prevented the Asian crisis and the transmission thereof.
Abstract: The Asian crisis provides heterodox economists with the opportunity to investigate counterfactually whether the financial policies they have proposed would have averted the crisis. The paper argues that neo-liberal financial integration introduces distinct risks to emerging economies--currency, flight, fragility, contagion and sovereignty risks. The paper presents the financial policies endorsed by the heterodoxy--transactions taxes, trip wires and-or speed bumps, convertibility restrictions, the Chilean model and a publicly managed mutual fund. The paper considers whether these policies mitigate risks, and whether they could have prevented the Asian crisis (and the transmission thereof). The paper concludes with policies to avert future crises. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
115 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide further insights on the relationship between home country employment and foreign direct investment (FDI) undertaken by national firms, and find that the impact of outward FDI on the labour intensity of domestic production is negative in the case of vertical investment undertaken by smaller firms in less developed countries, and positive for horizontal and market-seeking investments in advanced countries.
Abstract: The present paper provides further insights on the relationship between home country employment and foreign direct investment (FDI) undertaken by national firms. The unit of analysis is each ensemble of firms operating in the same industrial sector and localised in the same geographical region. That allows us to capture both direct and indirect effects of foreign production on the parent's environment, which arise through the generation of linkages and externalities. Empirical evidence has been provided with reference to the Italian case in the decade 1985--95. Results suggest that the impact of outward FDI on the labour intensity of domestic production is negative in the case of vertical investment undertaken--especially by smaller firms--in less developed countries, and positive for horizontal and market-seeking investments in advanced countries. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
105 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the incidence and determinants of overlapping activities among 3,966 adult male and female household members in the 1992 National Australian Time Use Survey (NATS).
Abstract: The overlapping of activities is an important dimension of time use that has previously received little attention in economic analysis. Most time-use studies have looked only at primary activities, ignoring the fact that individuals often perform two or more activities simultaneously. This seriously underestimates the time spent on several economic activities such as childcare and housework which are also performed as secondary activities. Using a two-adult household sub-sample from the 1992 National Australian Time Use Survey, this paper examines the incidence and determinants of overlapping activities among 3,966 adult male and female household members. It first shows that inclusion of overlapping activities in time-use measurements provides a better estimation of the economic contribution of individuals, especially in non-market production. Tobit models are then estimated to examine the effects of economic, social and demographic factors on the incidence of overlapped work activity. The findings, which are found to be robust, showed that gender, household life cycle and composition, education, cultural norms, employment status and level of income earnings influence the extent to which individuals, particularly women, perform secondary work activities. Conclusions are drawn in the final section of the paper. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
97 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the importance of sectoral diversity in the innovative process and in the relation between technology and world market share dynamics is investigated in a selected number of OECD countries and manufacturing sectors.
Abstract: This paper focuses on a selected number of OECD countries and manufacturing sectors and shows the importance of sectoral diversity in the innovative process and in the relation between technology and world market share dynamics. The econometric exercise confirms the importance of technological variables in the relation with world market shares in two ways: first they are, in general, statistically significant, second the taxonomy of technological classes in terms of R&D intensity seems to be meaningful in disentangling the role played by sectoral diversity in the relation between embodied and disembodied investment and competitiveness. Sectoral diversity emerges in the statistical significance of the coefficients and in the time lag structure. Moreover, the values of estimated R&D parameters are correlated with the sectoral R&D intensity.
79 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the recent controversy over the sources of economic growth in East Asia and explain why both analyses and interpretations of the notion of total factor productivity growth as the rate of technical progress are problematical.
Abstract: This paper discusses the recent controversy over the sources of economic growth in East Asia. This empirical work has either used growth accounting or estimated econometrically aggregate production functions. It is shown that it is possible to approximate the value-added accounting identity (i.e., value added equals labour's compensation plus total profits) by a mathematical expression that has all the properties of a well-behaved neoclassical aggregate production function. This implies that statistical estimations of putative aggregate production functions can provide no independent evidence as to whether they accurately describe the production technology of the economy or, indeed, whether the aggregate production function actually exists. A corollary is that the conventional measures of the growth of total factor productivity cannot be unambiguously interpreted as an estimate of the rate of technical progress. The paper reviews the works of Kim and Lau and Young and, in the light of this, explains why both analyses and interpretations of the notion of total factor productivity growth as the rate of technical progress are problematical. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of change in the profit share and capital intensity, as well as structural change, on movements in the rate of profit between 1947 and 1997.
Abstract: Profitability in the US has been rising since the early 1980s and by 1997 was at its highest level since its post-World War II peak in the mid-1960s, and the profit share, by one definition, at its highest point. In this paper, I examine the role of the change in the profit share and capital intensity, as well as structural change, on movements in the rate of profit between 1947 and 1997. Its recent recovery is traced to a rise in the profit share in national income, a slowdown in capital--labour growth at the industry level, and employment shifts to relatively labour-intensive industries. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors adopt Pasinetti's approach of vertically integrated sectors in order to disaggregate pollution into its most significant components, and obtain five components corresponding to each sector and each type of pollution.
Abstract: In this paper, we adopt Pasinetti's approach of vertically integrated sectors in order to disaggregate pollution into its most significant components. Vertical integration allows us to obtain five components (and at least five measurement indices) corresponding to each sector and each type of pollution. These indices overcome some of the deficiencies of the traditional Rasmussen-type coefficients. The empirical application is carried out by reference to the water sector in Aragon, a region which lies in north-eastern Spain, for five polluting factors, namely: water returns, biological oxygen demand at five days (BOD5), suspended solids (SS), nitrates and phosphates. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: The authors argue that a break must be made from contemporary mainstream economics at the level of ontology (i.e., about the nature of reality) to become a more adequate discipline, furthering of survival and flourishing.
Abstract: What changes must economics undergo, if it is to become a more adequate discipline, furthering of survival and flourishing? This essay argues that a break must be made from contemporary mainstream economics at the level of ontology (i.e., about the nature of reality). Drawing on neglected traditions of pragmatist philosophy and process metaphysics, some elements of 'old' institutionalist economics, and late-twentieth century natural science, it demonstrates that ample argument exists for a view of the world as open, evolving and permeated with value. Furthermore, feminist scholarship offers an explanation for why such a worldview faces an uphill battle for acceptance. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this paper, a no-growth policy determines consumption and investment so that they and capital would remain constant over time if the latter's expected return were realized with certainty, and simulation is used to arrive at the probability of bankruptcy by the end of t periods and the expected values of capital and money, for relevant combinations of time and uncertainty under successively more realistic models of a nogrowth firm in a competitive market.
Abstract: A capitalist firm operating in a competitive market is subject to a growth imperative, because uncertainty about the profit rate under a no-growth policy makes the firm’s prospects highly unattractive in finite time and bankruptcy practically certain in the long run. A no-growth policy determines consumption and investment so that they and capital would remain constant over time if the latter's expected return were realized with certainty. Simulation is used to arrive at the probability of bankruptcy by the end of t periods and the expected values of capital and money, for relevant combinations of time and uncertainty under successively more realistic models of a no-growth firm in a competitive market. The sensitivity of the results to variation in the parameters in each of the models is evaluated. Finally, we consider what firms might actually do to achieve the benefits of growth and more attractive prospects of survival.
TL;DR: The Tobin tax has been criticised by as discussed by the authors, who argue that a significant proportion of currency transactions have money market characteristics and that these trades play an important role in the day-to-day operation of the global financial system.
Abstract: This paper presents a radical critique of the Tobin tax—a tax on currency transactions—by undercutting certain assumptions about the size and character of the world's foreign exchange markets which furnish the tax with its basic rationale. While it is acknowledged that only a fraction of the massive volumes of FX transactions relate directly to trade in goods and services or to cross border investments, it is denied that all the residual transactions are motivated purely by exchange rate considerations (speculative or hedging activities). Rather, the argument is that a significant proportion of FX trades have money market characteristics and that these trades, together with domestic money market transactions, play an important role in the day to day operation of the global financial system. This perspective is used to show that the imposition of a Tobin tax would cause extensive material damage to the system, with consequences that may run counter to the expectations of supporters of the tax.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw on surveys and case studies of management practices in Japanese transplants in the US, the UK and France to study possible impediments to introducing high-performance work practices.
Abstract: This paper draws on surveys and case studies of management practices in Japanese transplants in the US, the UK and France to study possible impediments to introducing high-performance work practices. It shows significant national differences in the adoption of specific practices and in their clustering. While the exercise of power by labour and management and public policy result in nationally specific hybrid arrangements, the results demonstrate a common pattern in types of traditional practices that survive and of Japanese practices transferred. The most commonly adopted practices (such as teamwork and quality circles) relate directly to management interests in productive efficiency, while the retained traditional practices most often relate to worker compensation and internal labour market structures. National industrial relations systems appear to be important in the balancing of efficiency gains for managers and economic benefits for workers. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: The authors discusses empirical evidence for interdependent preferences from the point of view of the neurosciences, of heritability studies, and of cross-cultural and developmental psychology: it shows how interdependent preference are determined to a significant degree by environmental factors.
Abstract: This paper discusses empirical evidence for interdependent preferences from the point of view of the neurosciences, of heritability studies, and of cross-cultural and developmental psychology: it shows how interdependent preferences are determined to a significant degree by environmental factors. This result has meaningful implications for economic theory, policy and experimentation. A theory of interdependent preferences should also be a theory of their endogenous determination. Normative analyses ignore the endogeneity of interdependent preferences at their own peril. Caution is required in experimental analyses attempting to measure the distribution of interdependent preferences in the population.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply the Hirschmanian exit-voice approach to the development of industrial districts to make explicit how the industrial district competitive advantage can be reproduced over time during periods of regular development.
Abstract: In this paper, the Hirschmanian exit‐voice approach is applied to the development of industrial districts. The analysis of the post-World War II evolution of the Prato district helps to make explicit how the industrial district competitive advantage can be reproduced over time during periods of regular development. In addition, the exit‐voice polarity helps in understanding also the specific difficulties that industrial districts face in responding to major changes in their external circumstances. In particular, the case examined sheds light on the role that conscious collective action has in permitting the successful adjustment of a local system.
TL;DR: In economics, there is a general consensus that Adam Smith is, in the words of Jevons, the ‘father of the science’ as discussed by the authors and it has been argued that neoclassical and modern mainstream economics carry through the methodological impetus brought into the discipline by Smith.
Abstract: There is general consensus that in economics Adam Smith is, in the words of Jevons, the ‘father of the science’. In this setting it has regularly been argued that neoclassical and modern mainstream economics carry through the methodological impetus brought into the discipline by Smith. Moreover, economists conventionally take it for granted that Smith applied Newton’s method to political economy. Because Newton’s method is thought to be similar to that of modern mainstream economics, the association of Smith with Newton is taken to further bolster the claim that modern mainstream economics continues the Smithian tradition. Support for this commonly accepted view is gathered from Smith’s panegyric attitude to Newton’s conception of philosophy. This shared conviction among economists underpins some interpretations of the ‘invisible hand’ and of the intention behind the controversial chapter 7 of Book I of the WN, baptising Smith as a forerunner, if not the founder, of theories of general economic equilibrium (e.g. Robbins, 1962 [1932]; Schumpeter, 1994 [1954]; Arrow-Hahn, 1971; Jaffe, 1977; Hollander, 1973, 1987; Samuelson, 1977, 1992). As an offspring of the same tradition Walras, the architect of the ‘equilibrium system’, has been set alongside Newton, the discoverer of the ‘world system’ (Samuelson, 1952, p. 61).
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the idea that a major determinant of employment elasticity is the way the fruits of output growth are divided between employment growth and wage growth.
Abstract: Employment growth in manufacturing is limited by output growth in this sector, but the elasticity of employment with respect to output has varied widely in different regions and economies. This paper focuses attention on the idea that a major determinant of employment elasticity is the way the fruits of output growth are divided between employment growth and wage growth. But before we are able to determine the quantitative dimension of the trade-off, we have to allow for two other factors which affect the size of the cake available to labour in real terms. These are: (i) the elasticity of the wage bill with respect to output, which determines the trend in the share of labour; and (ii) the price effect, depending partly on the rate of inflation and partly on the movements of producer prices relative to consumer prices. A simple decomposition procedure is outlined in the paper which allows us to quantify the relative importance of these factors, and hence give a clearer idea of the labour market outcome leaning to one or other of the two interests, employment growth and real wage growth. The empirical analysis for different regions of the world is carried out on time series data for the manufacturing sector collected by UNIDO from the national surveys of member countries for the decades of the 1970s and the 1980s. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a time series on South African tertiary education, and show that strong quality differentials exist both within and between different parts of the education system.
Abstract: This paper presents time series on South African tertiary education. The data series presented cover inputs and outputs for the university, technical training and teacher training systems. Modern growth theory has emphasised the importance of human capital, though empirical studies have attempted to isolate human capital impacts through single aggregate measures that capture only a quantity of human capital dimension. While data analysis in the present study is exploratory in nature, we show that strong quality differentials exist both within and between different parts of the tertiary education system. The methodological implication for growth studies is that fully accounting for both the quantity and quality of human capital in aggregate human capital measures thus faces significant measurement difficulties. The data also establish that discrimination in the South African tertiary education was not simply a question of underresourcing of Black institutions. Quality of output was low, but attaining it was frequently very expensive. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors incorporated the analysis of a dual economy effective demand as a problem of generation of agricultural surplus and its realisation into purchasing power for industrial goods, and showed how one obtains empirical predictions about uneven sectoral growth rates, as well as an effect of the movement in the terms of trade on long-term industrial growth.
Abstract: Along the line suggested by Nicholas Kaldor, the paper incorporates into the analysis of a dual economy effective demand as a problem of generation of agricultural surplus and its realisation into purchasing power for industrial goods. Through this approach, it is shown how one obtains empirical predictions about uneven sectoral growth rates, as well as an effect of the movement in the terms of trade on long-term industrial growth which is contrary to that suggested by Lewis. The paper also specifies the process of dynamic adjustment of industrial growth in a self-reinforcing circular flow under conditions of sufficiently high agricultural growth, extending the effective demand argument in a dual economy. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show how Gellner can find a stimulating analysis of the institutional equilibria that characterise agrarian and industrial society and the conditions that make possible institutional change from one equilibrium to another.
Abstract: In this paper, we show how in Gellner we can find a stimulating analysis of the institutional equilibria that characterise agrarian and industrial society and the conditions that make possible institutional change from one equilibrium to another. This allows a convincing account of the reasons why some countries industrialised before others and why nationalism had such an uneven impact on the development of market economies. We consider the relation between Gellner’s analysis and other theories of organisation and point out how Gellner can help to solve some paradoxes that arise in these theories. We also argue that joining Gellner’s contribution to the analysis of the positional nature of status and power reinforces his conclusion about the necessary stagnation of agrarian societies and the necessary (over)accumulation of different forms of capitalism. We conclude by examining the implications of his analysis for the process of globalisation and its challenge to national states.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate whether companies can use acquisition as a strategy to reduce their probability of being taken over and whether such a strategy has any impact on their subsequent probability of bankruptcy.
Abstract: The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate whether companies can use acquisition as a strategy to reduce their probability of takeover. A subsidiary issue is whether such a strategy has any impact on their subsequent probability of bankruptcy. The determinants of making an acquisition, being taken over, and bankruptcy are modelled within a competing risks framework using two large samples of UK manufacturing companies. Our results indicate that, ceteris paribus, companies which make acquisitions can significantly reduce their conditional probability of being taken over, largely through the impact that acquisition has on corporate size. In this sense, attack, through acquisition, is the best form of defence, against takeover.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare Coase's methodological position with other economists in terms of their differing research programmes informed by their methodological stances and outline the new institutional economics, a research program inspired by Coase methodology.
Abstract: Recent writings on Coase's methodology largely focus on method, at the risk of underappreciating his substantive view of economics. That economics has as its subject matter the working of the real world economic system is Coase's main methodological message and is also the key to understanding Coase's other methodological concerns. Coase's methodological position is illustrated in this paper by comparing him with other economists in terms of their differing research programmes informed by their methodological stances. Along the way, this paper outlines the new institutional economics, a research programme inspired by Coase's methodology. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this article, it is shown that the simple labour theory of value must be systematically in error as a predictor of actual sectoral aggregate prices, and that there is a substantial and statistically significant negative association between organic composition and profit rate across sectors.
Abstract: It is widely believed that the rate of profit across industrial sectors, while not in fact uniform as stipulated in the theory of prices of production, is independent of the sectoral organic composition of capital. It follows that the simple labour theory of value must be systematically in error as a predictor of actual sectoral aggregate prices. We offer empirical evidence from the US economy (1987 input--output table) suggesting that this is not soc there is a substantial and statistically significant negative association between organic composition and profit rate across sectors. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: The Netherlands experienced employment growth higher than that in the US and achieved an unemployment rate of less than 3% but Germany's unemployment rate remained at high levels as discussed by the authors, and the reasons for this seem instead to be rooted in coordinated monetary, wage and fiscal policies in the Netherlands while these are incompatible policies in Germany.
Abstract: The Netherlands experienced employment growth higher than that in the US and achieved an unemployment rate of less than 3%, but Germany's unemployment rate remained at high levels. A widely held view regards a distorted incentive structure in welfare states as the 'root of the European unemployment problem', but welfare state institutions in the Netherlands are more generous than the German ones. Therefore, differences in the incentive structures between the two economies cannot explain the differences in employment success. The reasons for this seem instead to be rooted in coordinated monetary, wage and fiscal policies in the Netherlands while these are incompatible policies in Germany. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this paper, the relative merits and drawbacks of two recent models of market socialism proposed by Bardhan and Roemer are examined, by putting these models into the perspective of the history of economic thought.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine the relative merits and drawbacks of two recent models of market socialism proposed by Bardhan and Roemer. This is done, first, by putting these models into the perspective of the history of economic thought. Thus, after presenting the basic elements of the early Lange model as well as the Austrian and 'new information economics' critiques, the necessary comparisons and contrasts are made to see what new light these new models bring into this debate. In addition, the internal consistency and coherence of these models is checked in terms of their own proclaimed goals. Last, a more radical methodological critique is provided. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess the manifestation of contract-like features in recent government policy toward young offenders and workfare participants and provide a detailed application of the illiberal argument in respect of the contractual arrangement promoted in the UK Government's New Deal programme and Jobseekers' Allowance.
Abstract: This paper considers the significance, as a matter both of political and of legal analysis, of the considerable and growing use in the UK of ostensibly contractual or contract-like arrangements between public authorities and members of society whose behaviour it is judged necessary to manage and control We argue that these new arrangements often amount to instruments of illiberal policy, both in procedure and implementation Drawing on a model of contractual relations found in social work policy, we assess the manifestation of contract-like features in recent government policy toward young offenders and workfare participants We then provide a detailed application of the illiberal argument in respect of the contractual arrangement promoted in the UK Government's New Deal programme and Jobseekers' Allowance We conclude that illiberal tendencies in these workfare schemes may have unintended but nonetheless significant brutalising effects upon both participants and administrators Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press