This paper considers the problems of "hollowing out" using a Case Study of Japan's machinery sector. In doing so, it explores the roots of the present crisis by focusing upon the role played by Japan's large transnational corporations. This is important because these corporations are the...

Americans are working much longer hours in the paid labour market than workers in Western Europe. Much of the debate focuses on whether this is the result of voluntary worker choice or whether this is a decision imposed on workers by their employers. This paper shows that American hours of work...

The recent Green Paper, A Review of Monopolies and Mergers Policy : A Consultative Document (1978), after presenting the theoretical arguments and the empirical evidence relating to monopoly and merger, comes to the conclusion that only minor adjustments in policy are required. On mergers it...

A theory of the firm based on strategic decision-making highlights governance as a central issue. Preferences vary over strategy but not all interests are currently being represented, resulting in a failure to govern in the public interest. As solutions, we consider the design of company law and...

We now live in an era where production and markets are controlled by giant corporations with a trans-national base. We also live in an era where national and international controls over trade and capital flows have been progressively reduced. The resulting combination of unified international...

This paper examines the evolution of Courtaulds into its dominant position in the U.K. market for rayon and textiles and the ensuing consequences in terms of market power and efficiency. The first part of the paper deals with the emergence of the U.K. rayon monopoly, paying particular attention...

Whilst a considerable amount of empirical work has been done on the relationship between wage levels, the degree of industrial concentration and unionism very little has been done on wage share. This is a rather surprising state of affairs given that a positive relationship between wage levels...

For a long period in the twentieth century, the development of the Japanese corporation appeared congruent with the development of the Japanese economy. The growth maximising behaviour of the Japanese corporation and the preference for internal growth over acquisitions (see Odagiri, 1992)...