One of the most striking features of European labour markets is the high incidence of long-term unemployment. In this paper we review the literature on its causes and consequences. Our main conclusions are that: the rise in the incidence of long-term unemployment has been ''caused'' by a...

This paper examines the evolution of a skew distribution of firm sizes from the viewpoint of the 'Bounds' approach to market structure. It confines attention to the role played by non-strategic factors (statistical independence, and cost sideeffects). A model is proposed, which leads to a...

Fredrick Hayek wrote frequently on the consequences of trade unions, usually highly critical, making large claims about their very adverse economic and social impact. A close analysis of his work demonstrates that his judgments do not rest on a theory of trade unions which is clearly different...

For-profit organisations recognise the importance of a strong brand. The world all have brand values over $1 billion. A brand, a distinct image and idecompanies to differentiate themselves from their competition. In contrast, non-profit organisations (NPOs) have not seen branding as essential....

In this paper we apply earnings equations for UK regions over 1982-1997. We find strong evidence of rapid convergence across regions regarding the determinants of individual wages (ie regional fixed-effects, gender gaps and returns to education and experience). Data on average regional earnings,...

This paper compares the supply of specialist ICT skills in Britain and Germany from higher education and from apprenticeship and assesses the relative impact on companies in the two countries. In contrast to Britain, where numbers of ICT graduates have expanded rapidly, the supply of university...

This paper provides an overview of the Japanese third sector with a particular focus on organisational issues. It begins with background information on the third sector in Japan and offers reasons why the sector has remained relatively underdeveloped. It then discusses recent changes in Japan...

This paper represents a first attempt to examine empirically the comparative extensiveness of low pay in the third sector against the theoretical backdrop of both the generic labour market literature and the newly emerging specialist third sector literature. It shows that the third sector...