Search results

Economics can be defined as the study of economies, i.e., the ways in which people earn a living. On this definition economic activities occupy a large proportion of most individual's lives and their outcome determines living standards and social status. Therefore it seems axiomatic that indifference to economic matters will be rare and that acquired positions of power will be used to influence their result. Within an economy, individuals and groups possess widely varying degrees of power; few would deny that the directors of ICI possess a greater influence over the parameters within which they operate than does a one‐man business or that the National Union of Mineworkers exerts a greater impact than the National Union of Agricultural Workers. Power can be defined in a general sense as the ability to get one's own way and in economic terms as the ability of an individual or group to fix or alter the conditions of exchange in its own favour. However, power is inherent in anonymous social institutions as well as in identifiable groups and individuals, and it derives more from the routine application of effectively unchallenged assumptions than from domination after public conflict.

Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover specific articles devoted to certain topics. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume III, in addition to the annotated list of articles as the two previous volumes, contains further features to help the reader. Each entry within has been indexed according to the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus and thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid information retrieval. Each article has its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. The first Volume of the Bibliography covered seven journals published by MCB University Press. This Volume now indexes 25 journals, indicating the greater depth, coverage and expansion of the subject areas concerned.

This article attempts to unravel the ways in which New Labour's economic and social policies differ from those of previous Conservative and Labour administrations.

The article analyses Treasury documents, which outline the philosophy underpinning the Government's measures.

Gordon Brown has adopted a third‐way strategy between Monetarism and Keynesianism, which seeks to maintain stability whilst adapting to shocks. It is based neither upon fixed rules nor complete flexibility, but upon constrained discretion, i.e. the belief that long‐term stability requires a comprehensive framework, which constrains policy to achieve sustainable goals, but provides discretion to respond to shocks. If policy‐makers possess a sufficiently credible commitment to overall stability, they can exercise discretion in response to shocks without damaging long‐run expectations.

Founded upon the concept of ‘constrained discretion, the paper argues that New Labour is neither abolishing nor extending the welfare state, but rather is changing its character. Further empirical research in particular sectors is indicated.

Reports on the findings of a study to delineate trading catchment areas in the West Yorkshire conurbation of England. Delineates the associated areas of shopping influence of the seven major urban centres of the area and attempts to measure the degree of dependence of the constituent local government areas on these centres. Analyses frequency of journeys and means of travel to shop, also examines the social and economic class structure of the catchments. Concludes that this study provides a measure of each centre's shopping pull and an indication of the urban hierarchy of the area addressed.

A feature of twentieth century development has been the decline in the proportion of resources whose use is determined by the market mechanism and a corresponding increase in the significance of central planning. The decline of the market constitutes a paradigm crisis for the majority of non‐Marxist economists, who analyse market allocation intensively yet barely consider the political decision‐making process. An attempt to explain both the level and distribution of government expenditure has been made in the last decade through an “economic theory of politics” which is part of a wider attempt centred on the University of Chicago to unify the social sciences around the concept of individual optimising behaviour, extended from market consumption to such spheres as crime, education, marriage, religion and suicide as well as politics.

This article will attempt to argue and demonstrate that the existing and extensive literature on bargaining power in industrial relations focuses almost exclusively on two central aspects of power. Whilst both these approaches throw valuable light on some aspects of power, we shall seek to argue that the predominance of these constrained perspectives has resulted in the relative neglect of other important aspects. Thus we shall identify several lacunae in the literature and seek to raise some hitherto unexamined questions. We shall also argue that, because of the partial nature of the existing literature, there is a need to develop a more coherent and comprehensive model of power which is capable of integrating the multiple facets and incorporating the existing insights.

A much quoted observation of Phelps Brown in the late 1950s was that “when British industrial relations are compared with those of the other democracies they stand out because they are so little regulated by law”. However, the position has changed so substantially since then that Lewis was able to comment that “in 1975 it would seem that the one indubitably fundamental and irreversible trend is the ever‐increasing extent of the legal regulation of the British system of industrial relations”. In view of this substantially changed state of affairs a fundamental task for industrial relations researchers to undertake is that of explaining variation in the impact of industrial relations legislation at the level of the individual employment establishment.

Introduction There have recently been a number of articles arguing that the status of personnel management within the management hierarchy of many firms in Britain is increasing quite considerably. These articles have then gone on to discuss some of the general factors, such as the extensive programme of industrial relations legislation of the previous Labour Government, responsible for this change. However, beyond these fairly general statements on the status of personnel management our “hard evidence” on the subject is very much confined to single industry studies (i.e. engineering, chemicals) that have been almost solely concerned with the influence of one variable, that of establishment size, on the development of the personnel management function.

Analyses the economic influences that led to the development of the proposal to introduce employee investment funds into Sweden in 1976. Discusses the proposed objectives of the funds and describes the controversy, both political and economic, which surrounded them. Outlines the modified form in which employee investment funds were eventually implemented in 1983 and considers the influence they exerted on the Swedish economy and the extent to which they achieved their aims. Assesses their possible evolution in the future.

Assessment, care management and service planning for people with challenging needs should be sensitive to gender and ethnicity for equitable and appropriate service provision. This paper explores the relevant literature to map and identify the issues, and profiles a exploratory study of special schools, adult residential services and community support teams, to identify the gender and ethnic characteristics of people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviours. The findings suggest that gender stereotypes contribute to the attribution of maladaptive behaviour in boys, significant in severe and moderate learning disabilities in schools. The findings on ethnicity are discussed with reference to staff training and the implications of providing gender‐sensitive and culturally appropriate service responses and support.