Showing papers on "Public policy published in 1991"

Integrating Positivist and Interpretive Approaches to Organizational Research

Abstract: The interpretive approach to organizational research has been gaining increasing attention as a legitimate alternative to the more traditional positivist approach. The organizational literature has already provided thorough descriptions of each approach, and clarified the differences between them. Indeed, it often appears that the two approaches are opposed, with the differences irreconcilable. This paper will go beyond the differences and establish an integrated framework for the two approaches. An actual, published organizational study will be used as an exemplar for the integrated framework (Nardulli 1978, 1979).

Policies and strategies to promote social equity in health. Background document to WHO - Strategy paper for Europe

Abstract: This is the second in a series of discussion papers from the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The first covers concepts and principes of equity in relation to health, and should be read in conjunction with this paper (Whitehead 1990). The present paper sets out to develop the discussion further by outlining a strategic approach to promote greater equity in health between different social and occupational groups. This draws on the work of WHO advisory groups and associated litterature listed at the back, together with practical examples from industrialized countries where strategies have been put into action. The first part (section 1-9) of the paper outlines why equity is seen as a priority and distinguishes different policy levels for interventions. Specific equity aspects related to each policy level are then highlighted as well as some case studies. The second part of the paper (section 10-14) deals with putting policy into practice. Special attention is then paid to the need for comprehensive approaches to combat social and occupational inequities in health as illustrated in terms of a strategy matrix. Furthermore the democratice process within which healthy public policies are to be discussed and determined is discussed as well as organizational aspects as regards the implementation of an equity oriented health policy. Finally checklists are presented focusing upon how to make things happen.

Agenda Dynamics and Policy Subsystems

Abstract: Rapid change in public policy outcomes often occurs, but most theories of pluralism emphasize only incrementalism. Yet from a historical view, it can easily be seen that many policies go through lo...

Disability in America : toward a national agenda for prevention

Abstract: Disability in America presents a five-prong strategy for reducing the incidence and prevalence of disability as well as its personal, social, and economic consequences. Although the preferred goal is to avoid potentially disabling conditions, the authoring committee focuses on the need to prevent or reverse the progression that leads to disability and reduced quality of life in persons with potentially disabling conditions. Calling for a coherent national program to focus on prevention, the committee sets forth specific recommendations for federal agencies, state and local programs, and the private sector. This comprehensive agenda addresses the need for improved methods for collecting disability data, specific research questions, directions for university training, reform in insurance coverage, prenatal care, vocational training, and a host of other arenas for action.

Public Choices and Policy Change: The Political Economy of Reform in Developing Countries

Abstract: Information and Public ChoiceThe Political Economy of Democratic InstitutionsManaging Public ServicesMarkets, State, and People: Economics for Public PolicyKnowing PovertySmall Economies and Global EconomicsPublic Choices and Policy ChangeThe Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and SocietyThe Freedom to ReadThe Oxford Handbook of Public Choice, Volume 1Policy-making for Education Reform in Developing CountriesDemocracy in ChainsStudies in Public OpinionAffluence and InfluenceClimate Crisis and the Global Green New DealPublic PolicyPublic Choices & Policy Change: the Political EconomyBehavioral Science and Public PolicyFrom Macroeconomic Correction to Public Sector ReformComparing Public PoliciesDemocracy and Public Policy in the Post-COVID-19 WorldThe Oxford Handbook of Public ChoiceThe Oxford Handbook of Public ChoiceEvidence, Policy and PracticePublic PolicyDemocracy at RiskPoliticians and Economic Reform in New DemocraciesUnderstanding Environmental Policy ProcessesInheritance in Public PolicyHandbook of Public Policy AnalysisAsian Economic and Political IssuesIdeas and InstitutionsPublic Choices & Policy ChangeCommunities in ActionLobbying and Policy ChangeExit, Voice, and LoyaltyShutdownEscaping PaternalismA Unified Theory of Collective Action and Social ChangeDealing with Losers A powerful critique of nudge theory and the paternalist policies of behavioral economics, and an argument for a more inclusive form of rationality.The first book in a two-volume series designed to help those working, or preparing to work, as education change agents in developing countries, this volume will help change agents acquire a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the policy process and how it can be influenced."This two-volume collection provides a comprehensive overview of the past seventy years of public choice research, written by experts in the fields surveyed. The individual chapters are more than simple surveys, but provide readers with both a sense of the progress made and puzzles that remain. Most are written with upper level undergraduate and graduate students in economics and political science in mind, but many are completely accessible to non-expert readers who are interested in Public Choice research. The two-volume set will be of broad interest to social scientists, policy analysts, and historians"--Behavioral science is playing an increasing role in public policy, and it is raising new questions about fundamental issues the role of government, freedom of choice, paternalism, and human welfare. In diverse nations, public officials are using behavioral findings to combat serious problems poverty, air pollution, highway safety, COVID-19, discrimination, employment, climate change, and occupational health. Exploring theory and practice, this Element attempts to provide one-stop shopping for those who are new to the area and for those who are familiar with it. With reference to nudges, taxes, mandates, and bans, it offers concrete examples of behaviorally informed policies. It also engages the fundamental questions, include the proper analysis of human welfare in light of behavioral findings. It offers a plea for respecting freedom of choice so long as people's choices are adequately informed and free from behavioral biases.It is predicted by some observers that the 21st century will be remembered as the Asian Century. Many of the countries in the region seem to be able to take the economic and trade baton when one of the others experiences problems. the region, in general, continues to grow economically, politically and militarily. The articles presented in this book examine the current political and economic situations in nations across Asia, particularly focusing on economic developments.

The economics of smoking

Abstract: 1. Tobacco Warfare In America: An Overview.- A Battlefield Tour.- American Principles, Public Policy, and Tobacco Warfare.- Organization of this Book.- 2. Welfare Economics, Public Policy, And Smoking.- Smoking, the Market Process, and a Free Society.- Taxation and Regulation in a Market Economy.- Welfare Economics and Tobacco Policy.- Tobacco Taxation as Corrective Taxation.- Tobacco Taxation: An Overview.- 3. The Taxation And Regulation of Smoking: Principle vs. Expediency.- Realistic Politics and Tobacco Policy.- Knowledge and the Improbability of Corrective Taxation.- Political Incentive and Actual Tobacco Taxation.- Rationale, Reality, and Tobacco Regulation.- Tobacco Policy in Constitutional Perspective.- 4. Smoking And The Economic Cost Of Lost Production.- Smoking and Health: The Method of "Attributable Risk".- How Accurate are Measures of Attributable Risk?.- Economic Measurement of Indirect Costs.- Joint Costs and Improper Cost Attribution.- Who Loses Lost Production: Smokers or Nonsmokers?.- What about the Benefits of Smoking?.- 5. Markets, Insurance, And The Medical Costs Of Smokers.- Attribution of "Medical Costs" to Smoking.- Medical Costs, Personal Responsibility, and Insurance.- Life Insurance and Nonsmoker Discounts.- Health Insurance and Smoker-Nonsmoker Parity.- Smoking and Fire Costs.- Moral Hazard and Insurance Costs.- 6. Medicare, Medicaid, And The Social Cost Of Smoking.- Smokers and the Cost of Medicare.- Transfers and Social Costs: A Clarification.- Proposals for Earmarked Cigarette Taxes.- Principle, Expediency, and Wealth Transfers.- 7. Smoking, Business Costs, And Social Cost.- Smoking and the Efficiency of Team Production.- Smoking and Workplace Efficiency.- Workplace Costs: A Further Consideration.- Smoking and Economic Productivity: A Conceptual Framework.- Smoking and Productivity: Discussion of the Data.- 8. ETS And Governmental Protection Of Consumers And Workers.- The Economics of Clean Indoor Air Acts.- The Coase Theorem, Ownership Rights, and Markets.- An Alternative Explanation.- Tobacco and "Public Health".- 9. Advertising, "Addiction," And The Denial Of True Choice.- Separating Advertising Myth from Advertising Reality.- Impact of Cigarette Advertising on Smoking by Youth.- Cigarette Advertising is a Firm-Specific Investment.- International Evidence: Cigarette Advertising Bans do not Work.- The Constitution and the Protection of Commercial Speech.- Advertising and Addiction.- The New Economics of Addiction.- Consumer Sovereignty or Health Fascism?.- 10. Self Interest, Public Interest, And Legislation.- Corrective Cigarette Taxation: An Analytical Unicorn.- An Economic Approach to Legislation and Regulation.- Democratic Politics and Tax Policy.- Rent Seeking, Tax Resistance, and Social Waste.- The Social Cost of Tobacco Taxation: A Recalculation.- Economic Principles and the Anti-Cancer Bureaucracy.- Tobacco Taxation and Regulation: A Realistic Approach.- 11. Interest Groups And The Public's Health.- Overview.- Market Processes and Personal Health.- Is Health Research a Public Good?.- Public Health and the Collective Interests of Physicians.- Self Interest in Public Interest Organizations.- 12. Principle And Expediency In Public Policy.- Principles of Constitutional Political Economy.- The Self-Ownership Foundations of a Democratic Polity.- Considerations from the Economic Theory of Legislation.- Implications for Public Policy Toward Tobacco.- Implications for Public Policy More Broadly Considered.- References.

Toward Better Theories of the Policy Process

Abstract: Any theory of the manner in which governmental policies get formulated and implemented, as well as the effects of those actions on the world, requires an understanding of the behavior of major types of governmental institutions (legislatures, courts, administrative agencies, chief executives), as well as the behavior of interest groups, the general public, and the media. The dominant paradigm of the policy process, the stages heuristic popularized by Jones (1970), Anderson (1975), and Peters (1986), has outlived its usefulness and must be replaced, in large part because it is not a causal theory. In the course of their empirical work, policy scholars have highlighted a number of phenomena that need to be incorporated into theories of the policy process. The development of such theories requires an integration ‘of both political scientists’ knowledge of specific institutions and behavior and policy scholars' attention to policy communities, substantive policy information, etc.Innovations by Policy Scholars in Understanding the Policy ProcessAt least since World War II, most political scientists have tended to focus on either a specific type of institution (legislatures, the presidency, courts, interest groups, administrative agencies, local governments, political parties) or on specific types of political behavior outside those institutions (public opinion, voting, political socialization). These have become the standard subfields within the discipline.In contrast, scholars interested in public policy have not been able to stay within these subfields because the policy process spans all of them. In the course of empirical work, policy scholars have highlighted a number of phenomena often neglected by political scientists without a policy focus:a) The importance of policy communities/networks/subsystems involving actors from numerous public and private institutions and from multiple levels of government;b) The importance of substantive policy information;c) The critical role of policy elites vis-a-vis the general public;d) The desirability of longitudinal studies of a decade or more;e) Differences in political behavior across policy types.

Public Opinion, Domestic Structure, and Foreign Policy in Liberal Democracies

Abstract: The paper discusses the role of public opinion in the foreign policy-making process of liberal democracies. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, public opinion matters. However, the impact of public opinion is determined not so much by the specific issues involved or by the particular pattern of public attitudes as by the domestic structure and the coalition-building processes among the elites in the respective country. The paper analyzes the public impact on the foreign policy-making process in four liberal democracies with distinct domestic structures: the United States, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Japan. Under the same international conditions and despite similar patterns of public attitudes, variances in foreign policy outcomes nevertheless occur; these have to be explained by differences in political institutions, policy networks, and societal structures. Thus, the four countries responded differently to Soviet policies during the 1980s despite more or less comparable trends in mass public opinion.

Drawing the Line: Alternative Poverty Measures and Their Implications for Public Policy

Abstract: The official U.S. poverty measures were adopted in the late 1960s and were based on data from the mid-1950s. This book argues for a reevaluation of the experts' consensus on where we draw the poverty line.

Constituency opinion and congressional policy making: the reagan defense buildup

Abstract: Representatives' votes on a series of defense budget roll calls in the first year of the Reagan administration's Pentagon buildup are related to constituency opinions on defense spending during the 1980 election campaign. The strong aggregate constituency demand for increased defense spending in 1980 is estimated to have added almost $17 billion (about 10%) to the total fiscal year 1982 Pentagon appropriation. The impact of constituency opinion was largely independent of specific political circumstances: differential responsiveness in districts with partisan turnover, intense districtlevel competition, and strong presidential coattails together accounted for less than $1 billion in additional appropriations, with the remaining $16 billion attributable to across-the-board responsiveness by even the most safely incumbent representatives. T he appeal of representative democracy hinges on the responsiveness of elected politicians to the preferences and interests of their constituents. Given the theoretical and practical significance of the connection between constituents' opinions and their representatives' legislative activities, it is remarkable that the large and in some ways quite sophisticated empirical literature addressing this connection includes so few direct estimates of the relationship between constituency opinion and specific legislative outcomes.1 My aim here is to provide one such estimate. The policy issue I have chosen to examine is the level of total Pentagon spending in the first (FY 1982) defense appropriations bill of the Reagan administration. That bill, the first in a series of annual appropriations resulting in a 40% real increase in defense spending during Reagan's first five years in office, is of obvious political significance. But the issue of defense spending is also especially interesting from a broader theoretical perspective because the strong public demand for a defense spending increase at the beginning of the Reagan era provides unusual analytical leverage for assessing the potential impact of public opinion on the making of public policy. I shall describe some alternative mechanisms of congressional responsiveness to constituency opinion; briefly characterize the politics of defense at the beginning of the Reagan era; present my analysis of representatives' preferences regarding FY 1982 defense appropriations, relating those preferences to constituency opinions on the defense spending issue and to other political characteristics of the representatives and their districts; extend the analysis of FY 1982 defense appropriations from the individual to the aggregate level in an attempt to estimate the impact of congressional responsiveness on the total level of Pentagon appropriations; and finally, touch upon some of the implications of my analysis for the study of linkages between public opinion and public policy.

Free Market Environmentalism

Abstract: Free Market Environmentalism by Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal is a call to action rather than an empirical study. These authors argue that the environment and the market are inextricably connected in a positive rather than negative way. In their view, individual property owners, who are in a position and have an incentive to obtain time- and place-specific information about their resource endowments, are better suited than centralized bureaucracies to manage resources. Government should strive as much as possible to encourage and facilitate the working of the market through the enforcement of property rights, including clearly specified titles, strict liability rules and adjudication of disputed property rights in court. Markets could then be created in a variety of environmental policy domains. For example, Yellowstone National park currently has a problem with migrating bison who wander off the park premises and infect the cattle of adjoining ranches with deadly viruses. To Anderson and Leal, this problem could be solved if park officials owned the bison and could be sued for damages. Overfishing could be solved through the allocation of property rights to specific people who would be allowed to trade their rights. This property rights model is applied tomore » a wide variety of environmental circumstances and problems including land policy, outdoor recreation, energy development, groundwater pollution, garbage disposal, and global warming.« less

Liberal Purposes: Goods, Virtues, and Diversity in the Liberal State

Abstract: This book is a major contribution to the current theory of liberalism by an eminent political theorist. It challenges the views of such theorists as Rawls, Dworkin, and Ackerman who believe that the essence of liberalism is that it should remain neutral concerning different ways of life and individual conceptions of what is good or valuable. Professor Galston argues that the modern liberal state is committed to a distinctive conception of the human good, and to that end has developed characteristic institutions and practices - representative governments, diverse societies, market economies, and zones of private action - in the pursuit of specific public purposes that give unity to the liberal state. These purposes guide liberal public policy, shape liberal justice, require the practice of liberal virtues, and rest on a liberal public culture. Consequently the diversity characteristic of liberal societies is limited by their institutional, personal, and cultural preconditions.

Privacy: Recognition of a Consumer Right:

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of consumer privacy that integrates the public policy and behavioral literatures. Consumer privacy is defined in terms of control over information disclosure and the...

Social Entrepreneurs and Catalytic Change.

Abstract: In the past few years, U.S. society has witnessed the proliferation of an increasing number of initiatives that have extensively used the media to capture public attention about an issue of social concern in the hope that social action and changes in public policy would ensue. Examples include Hands Across America's efforts to raise money for and awareness about the problem of hunger and homelessness in the United States, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's ad campaign to change public attitudes toward drug abuse, Earth Day 1990's re-emphasis on environmentalism, and The Business Enterprise Trust's attempts to improve corporate social performance by seeking out and publicizing good corporate citizenship. Each of these initiatives was headed by an individual that we call a catalytic social entrepreneur. A brief description will highlight the roles that catalytic social entrepreneurs played in the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Hands Across America.

Race, Class, and Education: The Politics of Second-Generation Discrimination.

Abstract: While most school systems have undergone some formal desegregation to eliminate inequities in access to education, inequities and discrimination nonetheless remain. In this study covering 170 major school districts during the years between 1968 and 1984, the authors discuss the remaining obstacles to equal opportunity in education. Clustering of students into separate classes or groups of classes based on perceived learning potential is one form of discrimination that remains; disciplinary policy resulting in suspension or expulsion is the other. Based on their findings, Meier, Stewart, and England argue that the single most important factor in improving the access of black students to equal educational opportunities is having black teachers in the classroom, a goal attainable through use of the political system. In a very concise book, Meier, Stewart, and England . . . build a damning case against standard education policies as contributors to the resegregation of our schools. . . . In the process, they give us an excellent example of what good policy analysis is by carefully blending empirical documentation with evaluation and prescription. Mary Kweit, "Public Administration Review""

The Japanese Economy

Abstract: A comparative perspective and an analytic approach grounded in mainstream economics distinguish this broad, accessible introduction to the Japanese economy. Throughout, Ito utilizes standard economic concepts in comparing Japan with the United States in terms of economic performances, underlying institutions, and government policies. Referring to cultural factors where appropriate, Ito subjects the basic facts about the Japanese economy to modern theoretical and empirical scrutiny, discussing macroeconomic growth, business cycles, monetary and fiscal policies, industrial structures and policies, the labor market, saving and investment, and international trade and finance. Ito reviews relevant aspects of Japan's history before launching into a broad analysis of the country's markets and its economic policies. He concludes with a look at such contemporary economic issues as the Japanese distribution system, Japanese asset prices, and US-Japan trade conflicts.

The Japanese Economy

Abstract: A comparative perspective and an analytic approach grounded in mainstream economics distinguish this broad, accessible introduction to the Japanese economy. Throughout, Ito utilizes standard economic concepts in comparing Japan with the United States in terms of economic performances, underlying institutions, and government policies. Referring to cultural factors where appropriate, Ito subjects the basic facts about the Japanese economy to modern theoretical and empirical scrutiny, discussing macroeconomic growth, business cycles, monetary and fiscal policies, industrial structures and policies, the labor market, saving and investment, and international trade and finance. Ito reviews relevant aspects of Japan's history before launching into a broad analysis of the country's markets and its economic policies. He concludes with a look at such contemporary economic issues as the Japanese distribution system, Japanese asset prices, and US-Japan trade conflicts.

Family-Oriented Early Intervention Policies and Practices: Family-Centered or Not?:

Abstract: This article includes a multimethod, multisource analysis and synthesis of the degree to which contemporary family-oriented early intervention policies and practices are family centered. Federal laws and legislation, state-level policy positions, and the viewpoints of service providers and consumers were analyzed as part of the study. The findings, taken together, indicate a movement toward adoption of family-centered early intervention policies and practices at the different levels of analysis. There are, however, discrepancies between what state-level policymakers and "street-level" providers and consumers see as current beliefs and practices within states.

Efficiency Wages: Models of Unemployment, Layoffs, and Wage Dispersion

Abstract: Known for his seminal work in efficiency-wage theory, Andrew Weiss surveys recent research in the field and presents new results. He shows how wage schedules affect the kinds of workers a firm employs and how well those workers perform on the job. Using straightforward examples, he demonstrates how efficiency-wage theory can explain labor market outcomes and guide government policy. There is a separate section of applications to less developed countries. "Efficiency-wage models represent one of the most important developments in economic theory of recent years. They have, at last, provided integrated explanations both of macroeconomic phenomena, such as unemployment and wage rigidity, and microeconomic phenomena, such as wage dispersion. Weiss--one of the pioneers of efficiency-wage theory--provides here a masterful survey, a lucid and systematic and yet critical account of this rapidly developing branch of economics. This book should be required reading in all courses in macroeconomics."--Joseph Stiglitz, Stanford University "Efficiency Wages should be on the bookshelf of all labor and macroeconomists."--Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard University "A splendid monograph ... most readable... I will put it on my reading list."--Partha Dasgupta, Stanford University Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A practitioner's guide to meta-analysis

Abstract: Meta-analysis can be a powerful and useful technique. In the short term, the results of meta-analysis can increase understanding and influence the future endeavors of researchers interested in a particular field. Over the long term, meta-analysis provides a vehicle by which large bodies of research can be integrated and focused on public policy issues. Administrative structures currently exist to foster the relationship between research findings and public policy. As one example, Saxe (1986) has described the activities of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) established by Congress to provide lawmakers with scientific information in such a way as to be useful for policy decision-making. OTA is commissioned by Congress to provide assessments of scientific findings, and meta-analyses are an ideal resource in this regard. Saxe (1986) notes “In almost all cases, the emphasis is on making sense of already collected data, thus literature reviews and methods for synthesizing research results are relied upon” (pp. 61–62). Whether meta-analysis actually plays an important role in public policy depends on many factors, not the least of which is the care with which meta-analyses are conducted. Hopefully, our comments here will help investigators conduct methodologically rigorous meta-analyses of research relevant to the field of community psychology.

The Technology Pork Barrel

Abstract: American public policy has had a long history of technological optimism. The success of the United States in research and development contributes to this optimism and leads many to assume that there is a technological fix for significant national problems. Since World War II the federal government has been the major supporter of commercial research and development efforts in a wide variety of industries. But how successful are these projects? And equally important, how do economic and policy factors influence performance and are these influences predictable and controllable? Linda Cohen, Roger Noll, and three other economists address these questions while focusing on the importance of R& D to the national economy. They examine the codependency between technological progress and economic growth and explain such matters as why the private sector often fails to fund commercially applicable research adequately and why the government should focus support on some industries and not others. They also analyze political incentives facing officials who enact and implement programs and the subsequent forces affecting decisions to continue, terminate, or redirect them. The central part of this book presents detailed case histories of six programs: the supersonic transport, communications satellites, the space shuttle, the breeder reactor, photovoltaics, and synthetic fuels. The authors conclude with recommendations for program restructuring to minimize the conflict between economic objectives and political constraints.

The S&L debacle : public policy lessons for bank and thrift regulation

Abstract: This book describes the period of failures of savings and loan associations and sets out a program of policies to prevent future debacles. It explains the regulatory actions, and inactions, that created the incentives for large numbers of thrifts to make excessively risky and ill-conceived - and in some cases, fraudulent and criminal - investments. It describes the failure of the accounting system to provide adequate information to regulators (and, in many cases, even to the managers of the thrifts themselves) concerning the health and riskiness of individual thrifts. It also discusses how the regulatory system that had been conceived in an earlier and highly regulated era was overwhelmed in the deregulated environment of the early 1980s. It shows how the reforms that were made in response to the growing crisis were too little and too late. And, finally, it offers a set of policy reforms that could prevent future crises in the savings and loan industry. This work should be of interest to political and financial economists.

Behavioral economics of drug self-administration and drug abuse policy.

Abstract: The concepts of behavioral economics have proven useful for understanding the environmental control of overall levels of responding for a variety of commodities, including reinforcement by drug self-administration. These general concepts are summarized for application to the analysis of drug-reinforced behavior and proposed as the basis for future applications. This behavioral agenda includes the assessment of abuse liability, the assay of drug-reinforcer interactions, the design of drug abuse interventions, and the formulation of drug abuse public policy. These separate domains of investigation are described as part of an overall strategy for designing model projects to control drug use and testing public policy initiatives.

Enhancing citizen participation: Panel designs, perspectives, and policy formation

Abstract: Even though a citizen participation component is included in nearly every major local government planning and policy initiative, most citizen participation techniques have been judged to be less than adequate tools for informing policy makers about the people's will. Recently, having planners or policy analysts work closely with long-standing citizen panels composed of a randomly selected sample of community members has been proposed as one appropriate response to many of the inadequacies of traditional techniques. In this article, staff from a municipal government policy analysis unit describe and critique a yearlong citizen panel project focused on developing a transportation master plan in a university community. They argue that panels can overcome many of the limitations to effective citizen participation. The authors also suggest that panels can work well, but only if policy analysts assume more pro-active and advocacy roles than those routinely found in local government.

The Handbook of Industrial Organization

Abstract: Industrial organization is as old as economics. Many of the best-remembered parts of the Wealth of Nations concern the central subject matter of the field: the effects of monopoly and collusion, the determinants of the size and structure of firms, and so forth. Much contemporary analytical work in the field remains energized by Cournot's contribution of over 150 years ago. However, the field did not flourish as a recognizable specialty in American universities until the 1930s. For much of the period since then, the work of American industrial organization economists was heavily colored by public policy issues. The question, sometimes explicit but almost always lurking close to the surface of this research, was "Big business: is it good or bad?" In part, this question was stimulated by the predilection for competition and the suspicion of monopoly and cooperation among sellers that marked the development of Anglo-Saxon economics. Peculiarly American concerns also helped shape this research agenda. The antitrust laws provide the obvious example, and much early work in the field was explicitly responsive to the policy issues arising from this American legal innovation. Antitrust was, however, only one manifestation of a deep populist strain running through American political history. And populist suspicions about the utility of large business organization provided a stimulus to early industrial organization research. It is accordingly no accident that the field should have grown to

Liberation Linguistics and the Quirk Concern.

Abstract: A reply to ‘Language varieties and standard language’ by Sir Randolph Quirk in ET21 (Jan 90)

Strategic Management and the Straightjacket: An Editorial Essay

Abstract: Research output in strategic management has enjoyed enormous growth over the last two decades. As a scholar in strategic management, I find growth of the field to be gratifying. However, as a frequent field observer of large firms, I am often struck by the sense that most of this research is irrelevant to what is going on in such firms today. This is most troubling when I reflect on the seeming modest impact research in strategic management has had on either practice or government policy. By contrast, financial economists have significantly influenced the national debate on U.S. firms and international competitiveness in the 1980's, and much of their research has found ready application on Wall Street. This is likely due to their willingness to both address issues of relevance today and make forceful prescriptive recommendations. In this regard topics such as LBO's, hostile takeovers, junk bonds, executive compensation, corporate governance, acquisitions, divestitures, and government intervention in security markets come to mind. I believe that scholars in strategic management could have had much of great value to say about many of these topics in the 1980's, especially international competitiveness. Furthermore, these largely unheard voices disagreed substantially with the recommendations of financial economists. Why has the proliferation of research in strategic management not been accompanied by increasing impact? Like the editors of this journal (Daft and Lewin 1990) have observed about organization studies generally, I feel that much research in strategic management seems increasingly and prematurely stuck in a "normal science straightjacket." As Daft and Dr. Buenger (1990) put it, "strategic management has been ensnared by the rituals and paraphernalia of normal science" (p. 82). The purpose of this essay is to discuss some specific aspects of this evolving "straightjacket" for strategic management and make some pragmatic proposals for breaking free. It is intended as editorial comment (i.e., opinion) not scholarly analysis. Certainly some, and perhaps many, in the field will disagree with what I say. At the same time, I know that many will agree. Hopefully, the essay will help stimulate further reflective thinking in the field. If it does this it will have achieved its goal. I accept the assertion that research in strategic management should have relevance to understanding actual managers, actual strategic decisions, actual businesses units, actual firms, and actual industries as they exist today or are likely to exist in the future. I further believe that the results of this research should ultimately find important application in both industry and government. There are several aspects of research in strategic management that seem to contribute to what Daft and Lewin call a "sense of irrelevance" and "incremental, footnote-on-footnote research." Much current research is based on concepts developed decades ago on the basis of studies of firms as they and their environments were