This paper presents an empirical investigation of the hypothesis that increased R&D expenditure by companies generates a subsequent increase in fixed capital investment both within the same companies and in the companies which they supply. We use an investment framework which involves modelling...

How does monetary policy work? While one aspect of the investigation has focused on the behaviour of consumers, another has concentrated on the behaviour of companies faced with the kind of financial pressures associated with tight monetary policy. The general focus in this area is on the impact...

Empirical analyses of longitudinal data on some 66 manufacturing companies on Britain lead us to the following three conclusions. First, agreed reductions in restrictive work practices lead to increases in productivity. Second, controlling for such agreed reductions, there is some weak evidence...

Finegold and Soskice (1998) argue that Britain is trapped in a 'low-skills' equilibrium. In Redding (1996), this notion is formalised in a dynamic model which relies on strategic complementaries between firms' investments in R & D and workers' investments in human capital. In this paper, we...

In this paper, we investigate the role of three external factors in generating improved productivity performance in companies. These are product market competition, financial market pressure and shareholder control. We have found, using data from around 580 UK manufacturing companies, that all...