Women,family, and small business in late nineteenth century Sweden

In Sweden, unmarried women and widows had a long historical tradition of involvement in the retail trades and in handicrafts. They supervised enterprises between the death of their husbands and another male heir, and poor women had the right to become hawkers or innkeepers. During the second half of the nineteenth century, the number of unmarried women increased, and the authorities wanted to open new trades in which women could earn their own living and not become an economic burden on local government. Given these new possibilities, women developed several different strategies, which can be seen in the three Swedish towns of Sundsvall, Härnösand, and Umeå when their business history of the later part of the nineteenth century is examined. Women's business involvements exhibit the older patterns of family survival, but now add motives having to do with status maintenance and emancipation.     

情势变更原则在建设工程合同中的适用——德国建筑私法实践及其对我国的启示

交易基础障碍制度在德国民法学说史上历经百余年的发展锤炼,渐以成熟完善,并于2002年债法改革后法典化。其相比于我国的情势变更原则具有更加广泛的内涵与外延,在适用标准的界定上殊值借鉴。具体到建设工程施工合同领域中,需要首先通过合同解释规则确定合同约定的内容,其次要将合同约定的风险承担和法定的风险划分进行剥离,再次需要个案判断情势的变化是否"重大",最后要严格把握"不可苛求"、"牺牲临界"的标准。当事人主张适用交易基础障碍制度,首先须提出调整方案,调整的目的并非在于重置合同当事人之间的等价关系,而仅在于结束一方当事人"不可苛求"的履行状态;调整不成或债权人拒绝调整的,遭受不利益的一方当事人有权请求解除合同。     

New capitalist processes,interdependence and the Asia–US private equity relationship

Abstract

Private equity has had a short but eventful history in East Asia, characterized first by US firm dominance and then by a nationalistic backlash. This article charts these earlier patterns, but argues that significant developments have taken place since the early 2000s, which have strengthened the position of private equity capital in the Asian political economy. As private equity deal-making has returned to Asia, new linkages have been formed between US private equity funds and local private equity players. Of particular importance have been US–Asian joint ventures, Asian nationals returning to domestic firms from US private equity houses and supportive local elites in the banking and pension fund sectors. The significance is two-fold. First, the spread of private equity has been founded on interdependent relationships between US actors and local actors, which have more successfully grounded the private equity industry in national political economies than its origins in the Asian crisis period. Second, despite the relative localization of Asian private equity, industry practices are still largely shaped by the US model of private equity and the merger and acquisition activity that it entails, rather than a distinct Asian private equity model. The findings of the article contribute to calls that have been made for research on the changing global economy that comprehensively integrates domestic and international levels of analysis.     

French capitalism ­transformed,yet still a third variety of capitalism

Rather than one or two varieties of capitalism, this paper argues that there are still at least three in Europe, following along lines of development from the three post-war models: market capitalism, characteristic of Britain; managed capitalism, typical of Germany; and state capitalism, epitomized by France. While France’s state capitalism has been transformed through market-oriented reforms, it has become neither market capitalist nor managed capitalist. Rather, it has moved from ‘state-led’ capitalism to a kind of ‘state-enhanced’ capitalism, in which the state still plays an active albeit much reduced role, where CEOs exercise much greater autonomy, and labour relations have become much more market-reliant.     

Effects of Strategic Management Accounting Techniques on Perceived Performance of Businesses

The present study was carried out to examine the compliance of medium and large-size enterprises in Kayseri, Turkey with strategic management accounting techniques （SMAT） and to determine the effects of SMAT on the perceived performance of businesses. The sub-dimensions of SMAT were specified as cost-oriented, customer-oriented, and competitor-oriented techniques. The effects of SMAT and sub-dimension usages on the perceived performance of businesses were investigated by hypotheses. The data gathered from 202 accounting managers in Kayseri were used to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that the participating businesses had a usage intensity of above average for 16 out of 17 SMAT and they had over 50% compliance with 12 of these techniques. Although SMAT and cost, customer and competitor-oriented sub-dimensions had significantly weak impacts on perceived performance, the positive relationships and effects were found to be sufficient to accept the hypotheses.     

Following the Grain: State Formation and Trans-local Grain-trading Networks in the Philippines

With respect to the major approaches of state-society relations and Chinese business networks in Southeast Asia, two knowledge gaps are identified. First, little is known about how two sets of dualistic conceptual entities may be connected in the often-contentious state formation process between: (1) the ruling minority and ruled majority; and (2) the nationalising state and grain-producing frontiers. Second, very little is known about the role that the Chinese business networks played and how they contributed to the state formation processes. Using a Philippine trans-local grain-trading network as a site of investigation, the paper seeks to fill these knowledge gaps by delineating an integrative approach – designated as rhizomatic political economy – which argues that Southeast Asian state formation may hinge on the instrumentalisation of Chinese business networks and what is identified as their rhizomatic power/knowledge system. They are not just business-brokers in the trans-local grain trade that connects the national capital and grain-producing locales, but also serve as political brokers to implement state measures in regards to food and interior security affairs.     

Impediments to the implementation of voluntary codes of conduct in production factories of the Global South: so much to do,so little done

A common consequence of the fragmented supply practices of multinational corporations are unfair and exploitative working conditions in the global South. Many corporations face this, and the resulting reputational damage, by installing voluntary codes of conduct in their supplier factories, leading to a vast range of implementation practices by the factory managers. Despite this effort, the literature shows that the positive impact of these codes on labour conditions in such factories remains insufficient. This article argues that this insufficiency is rooted in the exclusiveness and eurocentrism of codes of conduct and elaborates on why corporations tend to prefer influencing certain labour conditions over others. It concludes by briefly discussing multi-stakeholder organisations as a possible solution to these predicaments, and points the way to further research on the topic.     

从代际更替的角度看潜在的新生代浙商培育

浙商转型与浙商的代际更替紧密联系,老一代浙商创业者将在今后的一二十年时间内完全退出历史舞台,文章提出接替他们的新浙商群体的主体部分不是“富二代”,而是崛起中的草根创业者。潜在的新生代浙商群体具有明显的“代特征”,即生活条件优越化,人力资本知识化,自我定位主流化。与老一代浙商相比,潜在的新生代浙商成长环境发生了巨大的变迁,在物质环境方面发生了从“山多地少”、“条件恶劣”到“衣食无忧”、“分层明显”的变化;知识环境方面发生了从“农民出身”、“艺工起家”到“读书学习”、“知识经济”的变化;群体意识环境方面发生了从“边缘生存”、“模仿创新”到“融入主流”、“网络时代”的变化。潜在的新生代浙商培育需要在变化的环境中因势利导。     

当前非公经济发展面临的六个转折点

当前非公经济面临六大转折点:二次创业;新旧经营模式转换;人员新老更替;参与世界经济循环;经营竞争升级;增长模式转变。完成六大转折,对非公经济乃至我国经济的健康发展均有重要意义。     

The Organisation of Drug Supply: South Asian Criminal Enterprise in the UK

This paper examines the structure and modus operandi of South Asian criminal organisations operating in the UK. It is based on empirical research conducted between 2005 and 2006 among prisoners sentenced for drug offences, a number of drug distributors operating in the market, and observers with a knowledge of the drugs business working for the police force or for rehabilitation services. First, the paper offers an overview of the debate on organised crime, and after a methodological note, the research findings are utilised to propose a typology. Hypotheses are formulated around the illicit drug enterprises involved in British markets. Finally, the implications for law enforcement with respect to these enterprises are discussed.