The characterisation of a security interest as 'fixed' or 'floating' has generated much litigation in English courts. This is because a floating charge is subordinated by statute to other claims in the debtor's insolvency, whereas a fixed charge is not. This paper uses the example of the...

This study was inspired by the observation that foreign financial service firms operating in the City of London do not suffer the liability of foreignness to the extent suggested by theory. To examine the reasons for this departure from theory, the study advances a theoretical framework that...

This paper considers the Greenspan/Summers/IMF (GSI) argument that the Asian way of doing business was the deep cause of the Asian crisis. The IMF reform programme for the crisis-affected Asian countries suggested they should abandon the Asian business model and adopt the US corporate model. The...

The overseas assets and liabilities of UK banks account for over 50% of the overseas assets and liabilities of all UK residents and almost 50% of UK banks' total assets and liabilities. They are much larger than the overseas assets of banks in other developed countries. This paper adopts an...

The first part of this paper examines the theoretical and empirical case for full capital account liberalisation in developing countries(DCs) and finds it unconvincing. Indeed, analysis and evidence presented here point to a compelling case against it. The second part considers the...

The EU Working Time Directive has so far had little impact on an ingrained culture of long-hours working in the UK. Case studies suggest that the use of individual opt-outs from the 48-hour limit on weekly working time is a principal reason for this. However, removal of the individual opt-out...

The last decade has seen a growing body of research on information-intensive business service firms. These are companies that supply expertise and knowledge which are considered to add value to the output of their clients. This paper explores the impact of business service expertise provided via...

Maternity units have been expected to achieve, within constrained resources, significant improvements in the quality and continuity of care as required by government policy. While significant advances have been made, these have been achieved by drawing upon the professionalism and vocational...

The recent emphasis by some business scholars on processes taking place within locally-embedded production systems seems to undervalue the dynamics of global competition and the role played by TNCs in mobilising tangible and intangible assets across localised clusters. Using the external...

Cross-national regulatory differences in safety, price and intellectual property protection are an inherent feature of the operating environment of the global pharmaceutical firm. Institutional, transaction cost and more recent ‘race to the bottom’ theories assume that regulation represents...