The impact of European economic integration on business associations: The UK case

This article presents the results of new survey research that assesses the routes and activities used by UK business associations in gathering and exchanging information with European institutions. All major UK business associations are covered, ranging from trade and professional associations to associations of the self‐employed and federations. A representative sampling framework allows general conclusions for the whole association sector to be drawn. The chief findings are that there are multiple routes for European activities employed by most associations. The most important route for all categories (except federations) is the national route, using meetings with UK ministers, officials or agencies as an attempt to get them to influence the EU. The second most important route is through European associations (which is the chief route for federations), which are also seen as the most open to influence. A ‘Brussels strategy’ of direct lobbying, or a Brussels office, is the third most important route. It is the main route for 16 per cent of respondents, which is surprising given its costs but demonstrates the increasingly important light in which the European institutions are seen. The use by associations of individual member companies to lobby for them is also surprisingly high (for 10 per cent it is the main route). Association size, resources and sectoral circumstances are shown to be important influences on an association's European strategy.     

Capital united? Business unity in regulatory politics and the special place of finance

While organized business is a key actor in regulatory politics, its influence is often conditional on the level of unity or conflict occurring within the business community at any given time. Most contemporary regulatory policy interventions put pressure on the normal mechanisms of business unity, as they are highly targeted and sector‐specific. This raises the question of how business unity operates across a highly variegated economic terrain in which costs are asymmetric and free‐riding incentives are high. In this paper, we empirically assess patterns of business unity within regulatory policymaking across different regulated sectors. Our analysis utilizes data from hundreds of regulatory policy proposals and business community reactions to them in the telecommunications, energy, agriculture, pharmaceutical, and financial sectors over a variety of institutional contexts. We find considerable empirical support for the “finance capital unity” hypothesis – the notion that the financial sector enjoys more business unity than other regulated sectors of the economy. When the financial sector is faced with new regulations, business groups from other sectors frequently come to its aid.     

European companies between globalization and localization: a comparison of internationalization strategies of British and German MNCs

This paper assesses the extent of which British and German multinational companies have moved on a continuum between nationally embedded MNCs and globally oriented TNCs. Degree of national embeddedness and implantation into national economic and policy networks is held to influence the internationalization strategy of companies - the degree of FDI undertaken, the kind of competitive advantage they seek to derive from it and the way in which they combine nationally based and globally focused activities. It is shown that the different national business systems of Britain and Germany influence the responses of MNCs in their management of the tensions between pressures for globalization and established, nationally shaped business strategies and patterns of activities. In both cases, however, exaggerated claims about globalization of company activities and assets are shown to be misguided. But the paper also recognizes that some more globalized structures and strategies have begun to emerge in the second half of the 1990s. The study is based on a small number of case studies of British and German companies, complemented by official statistics and secondary data.     

The long‐term development of organised business and its implications for corporatism: A cross‐national comparison of membership,activities and governing capacities of business interest associations, 1980–2003

Internationalisation of markets and the demise of Keynesianism have made business more independent of associational action. Membership density and ‘corporatist’ involvement in wage bargaining and public policy have declined only modestly, while the capacity to govern members has dwindled significantly. This development is driven by the way in which large firms and the state relate to business associations. Large firms still have a vital interest not only in associational action, but also in integrating their smaller counterparts. Stated‐based support for multi‐employer bargaining, as established in most countries, buttresses business associations. By equipping the associations with an encompassing grip on the labour market, this support prompts governments to involve them in public policy. Since encompassing labour market regulation enables the associations to impose negative externalities on unaffiliated businesses, it provides them with a strong selective incentive for membership. The significant decline of the associations' governing capacity emanates from pressures of their large members to reduce costs of association. The implications of this development for interest intermediation are twofold. Given the strong decay of union power, the resilience of corporatism strongly hinges on the continued strength of organised business and on its state‐sponsored engagement in bargaining. At the same time, leeway for compromising has been restrained by the significant decline in the governing capacity of organised business. This decline echoes an ever‐growing predominance of large firms in business associations, while economic internationalisation exacerbates interest conflicts between larger and smaller firms. To the extent that this configuration of interest and power weakens the ability of business associations to integrate the mass of small firms, it develops into the new Achilles heel of corporatism.     

How Can Business Share Responsibility for Disaster Resilience?

This paper contributes to knowledge of disaster resilience policy implementation in Australia and proposes measures to strengthen partnerships between government and the business sector to enhance national disaster resilience capacity. In Australia, business makes a significant contribution to disaster relief and recovery. Even so, there are unexplored opportunities to enhance the role of business in disaster resilience, particularly through partnerships with government. The extent that state, regional and local‐level disaster plans engage business in disaster relief and recovery is described and their relatively less prominent involvement in disaster resilience is discussed. Examples of disaster resilience policies and their capacity to influence business practices to support disaster resilience are introduced with suggestions for how they can be enhanced. Some potential benefits and pitfalls of public–private sector collaboration are explored and it is noted that, in disaster resilience settings, these risks can be ameliorated through appropriate implementation.     

The influence of direct democracy on the shadow economy

We analyze, both theoretically and empirically, the influence of direct democratic institutions on the size and development of shadow economies. Our model suggests that, as the extent of direct democracy increases, implemented fiscal policies more nearly reflect the preferences of citizens and so reduce their incentives to operate in the informal sector. This theory implies a negative relationship between the extent of direct democracy and the size of the country’s shadow economy. We also theorize that direct democracy has a greater effect in reducing the informal sector when the former is at low or intermediate values and when the electoral system is characterized by a larger district magnitude. An empirical investigation of a sample of 57 democracies confirms our model’s predictions.     

Virtual Government: What Will Remain Inside the Public Sector?

Around the world, the public sector is changing in ways which challenge the Weberian or bureaucratic paradigm. If we are to comprehend these changes, we must abandon the binary model of public and private sectors and better understand the non-state public sector. Looking to historical and international examples, this article asks what has to remain inside the state. While acknowledging that there are significant drivers for reform, it argues that the size of government — large or small — should not be a matter of ideology.     

Comparing Affective Commitment in the Public and Private Sectors: A Comprehensive Test of Multiple Mediation Effects

Employees’ organizational commitment is associated with a number of positive outcomes, such as employee motivation, job satisfaction, productivity, and retention. But previous research has suggested that there may be important sector differences in both commitment and its explanations, yet results are very mixed. We study sector differences in affective organizational commitment among 1,043 public and private office workers who perform very similar tasks across sectors, testing the influence of factors thought to explain commitment and expected to vary between the sectors. We propose that the mixed results are due to different variables mediating the relationship between sector and organizational commitment. Conducting a multiple mediation analysis, we find that more hierarchy negatively mediates the relationship between public sector employment and organizational commitment. On the other hand, the relationship between public sector employment and organizational commitment is positively mediated by public service motivation and participatory management. This highlights the importance of not only studying simple sector differences, but also including relevant individual and organizational-level variables that can explain the mechanisms behind such differences.     

The Chilean big business lobby: a long-standing and major influence on public policy

Elements of the business lobby, particular sectors of big business and its peak associations, have been a continual influence, sometimes a dominant force, in Chilean politics since the second half of the 19th century. This prominence and sustained influence is particularly noteworthy since the 1930s, given the various forms of democracy experienced in Chile, the harsh military dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s, and because the return to democracy in 1990 has meant increasing competition among interest groups. This article offers an explanation of the political significance of the big business community by reference to both common factors that shape the influence of business across political systems and especially the developments in Chile's political economy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Planning and conducting federally funded scientific research in Nigeria

During the past two decades Nigeria has invested heavily in scientific research, by developing country standards. Yet these investments at best have had only marginal impacts on the activities of the production and service sectors even though there are many priority development activities which could benefit from inputs from Nigerian researchers. At the national level efforts to direct or even co-ordinate the planning and budgeting of research have been seriously hampered by frequent changes in organizational responsibilities and by repeated budget cuts. Historically, the activities of the federal research institutes have been poorly tuned to the interests and capabilities of the potential users of their research products. Neither these institutes nor the universities with research activities are in a position to develop products or processes which can compete with imported technologies that are saturating the economy. However, the research institutes, and to a lesser extent the universities, should make greater contributions in applying science to improved use of the nation's natural resource endowments, although significant changes in research management at the project level are needed if this objective is to be realized. The Government should provide incentives to the multinational companies operating in Nigeria to develop joint programmes with the research institutes and universities as one mechanism for diffusing the administrative and technical capabilities of the companies. Meanwhile, selected public sector enterprises should be encouraged to expand technological innovation efforts which could be directly applied to their production activities.     

Chinese State-owned Enterprise Investments in Uganda: Findings from a Recent Survey of Chinese Firms in Kampala

Within the large body of China-Africa literature, there is a growing body of literature that differentiates between China’s various economic actors, more specifically between its state-owned and private enterprises. This paper intends to contribute to this literature by comparing Chinese state-owned enterprises and hybrid (mixed owned) enterprises with private enterprises in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. An air of mystery often surrounds Chinese companies in Africa, this paper will provide some clarity concerning companies in Kampala. To do this we first look at the governmental assistance given to these companies, then the kind of assistance they potentially receive. Next we investigate what motivated these companies to come to Uganda, and how they established themselves, whether it is after a Chinese aid project or construction job, or some other route. We further investigate the size, employment policy and markets of these Chinese state-owned enterprises in Kampala. Finally we look at the employment of Ugandan labour and management, the problems faced by the enterprises and the environmental challenges, as well as how these are dealt with. We conclude that Chinese SOEs and mixed ownership companies in Uganda are involved in a small range of sectors, often capital-intensive sectors such as oil and construction, and are therefore also larger than the majority of the Chinese private enterprises. SOEs and mixed ownership enterprises tend to have arrived in Uganda earlier than most private enterprises, face slightly different problems, and are more interested in the Ugandan market as whole than their privately owned counterparts. More importantly, they have greater proportions of local employees and are more interested in indigenizing their workforces.     

Registered Traveler Program: The Financial Value of Registering the Good Guys

We discuss how the Registered Traveler (RT) program can enhance simultaneously aviation security and passenger convenience. We point out some of the potential weaknesses in the program from both a security and civil liberty perspective. The RT program is a public–private partnership between the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and the private sector. As in any partnership between private enterprises and the public sector, there are tensions that must be monitored, managed, and resolved. We note that financial distress of a RT service provider will place increased pressure on TSA resources. We review the resources allocated by the public and private sectors and the natural tensions that exist between companies investing capital with the expectation of earning a market rate of return and an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, the TSA, with one of its responsibilities being to assure the safety and security of air travel.     

Gaining access or going public? Interest group strategies in five European countries

Interest groups differ in the strategies they use to influence public policy. Some mainly try to gain access (i.e., have direct contact with decision makers), whereas others tend to ‘go public’ by launching campaigns that aim to mobilise the broader public. In this article it is argued that group type – namely the distinction between business associations, professional associations and citizen groups – is a major determinant of the choice of strategy. The effect of group type, however, is conditional on the group's endowment with material resources and the issue context: the differences across group types are largest for resource‐rich associations and associations active in distributive policy fields. Original data from surveys of national associations in five European countries (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Latvia and Spain) enable the assessment of this argument. The theoretical expectations are supported, with the results having relevance for the normative evaluation of political systems and the positive study of interest group influence.     

Political strategies of large companies and their significance for the implementation of the European single electricity market: the examples of France and Germany

Electricity supply in the European member states has been a closed national public sector service without competition for a long time. Currently, the European electricity industry is subject to radical change resulting from the European directive establishing common rules for the internal market in electricity, which came into force in 1997. This paper attempts to explain the varying forms of implementation of the internal electricity market in France and Germany. First, it clarifies the special characteristics of electricity supply and European electricity policy. Secondly, the paper shows the divergent sectoral arrangements of the French and German electricity industries. Thirdly, it points out that the different degrees of linkage between the public players and the electricity companies in France and Germany produce different political strategies which are followed by the companies at the European level, especially those strategies which seek direct influence on the European Commission. Finally, the paper reveals the significance of these strategies in Brussels in terms of the implementation of the single electricity market in both member states. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

Collaborative Innovation: A Viable Alternative to Market Competition and Organizational Entrepreneurship

There are growing pressures for the public sector to be more innovative but considerable disagreement about how to achieve it. This article uses institutional and organizational analysis to compare three major public innovation strategies. The article confronts the myth that the market‐driven private sector is more innovative than the public sector by showing that both sectors have a number of drivers of as well as barriers to innovation, some of which are similar, while others are sector specific. The article then systematically analyzes three strategies for innovation: New Public Management, which emphasizes market competition; the neo‐Weberian state, which emphasizes organizational entrepreneurship; and collaborative governance, which emphasizes multiactor engagement across organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. The authors conclude that the choice of strategies for enhancing public innovation is contingent rather than absolute. Some contingencies for each strategy are outlined.     

Comparing Accountability in the Public and Private Sectors

Analysis of public accountability tends to concentrate on public sector institutions. However, increasing use of the private sector in the provision of public services suggests the need to compare accountability in the two sectors. While private sector (for-profit) companies are more accountable in terms of their 'bottom line', accountability requirements in the public sector are generally more stringent, particularly with regard to process and general policy.     

Institutional Reforms and Voluntary Associations

This article explores the changing relationship between the public and voluntary sectors. In 2007, a local government reform reduced the number of Danish municipalities from 271 to 98 and assigned new tasks to these. Consequently, the reform resulted in major local political and administrative changes, thereby giving a unique opportunity to examine how institutional changes affect the voluntary sector. Based on data from qualitative case studies and two questionnaire surveys (2004 and 2010) the article examines how the local government reform affects the relationship between the two sectors. The findings indicate that the political and administrative changes in the local political system have influenced municipality collaboration, contact and interaction with local associations. While some associations experience a decline in personal contact, there is an increase in formalization of the relationship and an increased degree of collaboration between the voluntary and public sectors.     

Re-evaluation of the Importance of the Public Service: Tasmania's Collaborative Program

In considering what should be the role of government in a community like Tasmania we need to understand the context within which we are working. We are a small population that is almost without exception a branch economy. No major corporations are based here – we have branch offices or divisions of major companies. We lack a managerial class – headquarters and management staff are based elsewhere – decisions made by the level of management based in our state do not take the welfare of the state into account. Our private sector does not have the capital and quite clearly the capacity to take up the challenge posed by a reduction of government services or a contraction of services. When public sector jobs are cut in Tasmania they stay cut. The private sector does not step into the breach and create jobs. Tasmania has always relied, to a large extent, on the public sector for its economic viability – with the contraction of public sector funding, the viability of the state's economy has been seriously eroded.     

Loan delinquency in community lending organizations: Case studies of neighborworks organizations

Abstract

This article reports on qualitative data gathered through interviews conducted in 1996 with key leadership and staff from 13 community lending organizations. Loan servicing and collection procedures within the organizations were examined. Findings suggest that several organizational factors of nonprofit lenders are related to their loan delinquency rates: social networks, business culture, funding sources, composition of the board and loan committees, staff structure, loan intake, and collection tools.

The study also finds that the nonprofit sector's institutional environment and its partnership with the private sector in a mutually beneficial process influence the loan delinquency rate. More specifically, active participation of local bankers in NeighborWorks¹ loan committees, diverse funding sources (from both the public and private sectors), and a diffusion of business practices through dense social networks are related to NeighborWorks’ loan servicing and collection policy and procedures. These factors in turn influence NeighborWorks’ rehabilitation loan delinquency rates.     

Is Private Delivery of Public Services Really Cheaper? Evidence from Public Road Maintenance in Denmark

It is a general finding that cost savings may be obtainedby involving the private sector in publicservice production. This fact should be ofparticular interest to countries with largepublic sectors, such as the Scandinaviancountries, where private involvement has alarge potential. This paper investigatesthis potential by focusing on the Danishroad sector. 275 municipalities areresponsible for the maintenance ofapproximately 60,000 km of Denmark's70,000 km public roads. The analysisconfirms the international evidence:Involving the private sector also seems tomake it possible for the public sector toobtain large cost savings in theScandinavian countries.