We use data from REPONSE 2004 and WERS 2004 to analyse whether approaches to HRM differ according to whether an establishment is part of a company with a stock exchange listing. In both countries we find that listing is positively associated with teamworking and performance-related pay, while in...

This paper assesses the extent of use of external business advice by SMEs using new survey evidence from the Cambridge ESRC Centre for Business Research Survey of 1997. It analyses external advice by source and by main field. The chief focus is on the fields of advice sought which are shown to...

In this paper, we sought to extend the theory of the location determinants of MNEs by challenging one of the fundamental assumptions underlying it, namely that location advantages are absolutes whose values are identical for different MNEs. We explicitly acknowledge the relative value of...

Across Europe those who create and run high-tech SMEs have become a primary focus of industrial policy. Part of the rationale for the focus on small high-tech firms lies in the desire to emulate the experience of the US, particularly Silicon Valley and Boston in which spinning off new ventures...

This paper argues that in order to facilitate informed debate and to develop a coherent social and employment policy in Europe, it is necessary to clarify the different meanings of the term 'labour market flexibility'. It questions whether the deregulation of the labour market is an inherent...

Business Link in Britain is one of the main recent government initiatives to support SMEs in the EU. The paper uses a 1997 survey of SMEs to determine how Business Link use, impact and satisfaction are influenced by firm characteristics, local partnership characteristics, local geographical...

This essay argues that the Enron affair has been misunderstood as a failure of monitoring, with adverse consequences for the drafting of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Higgs report. Where Enron’s board failed was in underestimating the risks that were inherent in the company’s business plan...

The use of reflexive forms of regulation is growing within the EU, in particular as the open method of coordination ('OMC') is applied to a growing number of contexts including employment policy, social inclusion, enterprise promotion, environmental protection, energy policy, and fundamental...

During the last two decades many countries have liberalised their financial markets. They have attempted to eliminate government intervention in setting interest rate ceilings, erecting entry barriers, interfering in credit allocation decisions, and have begun to privatise their financial...

There is growing evidence of the importance of co-operation between managers and workers for improving industrial performance. One manifestation of this is the growing use of human resource management (HRM) strategies to increase the involvement of employees. The survey of small and medium sized...