Financial Structure and Aggregate Economic Activity: An Overview

This paper surveys literature which explores the possible links between the financial system and aggregate economic behavior. The survey is in two parts: The first reviews the traditional work and the second discusses new research.

Institutional transplant and American corporate governance: the case of Ferodyn

This paper examines the relationship between employment relations and American corporate governance using the case of Ferodyn*. In response to difficult industry conditions and sagging performance, American-owned Landis* Steel Corporation and Japanese-owned Daiichi* Steel Corporation jointly financed and built Ferodyn, a state-of-the-art high quality steel finishing facility. Although the joint venture was extremely successful in terms of quality, productivity and industrial relations, it came under severe stress from both external and internal pressures. Ferodyn’s success was moderated by the market in that it was never able to extract a price premium for the quality of steel it produced. At the same time, pressures in the form of corporate governance and the parent / subsidiary relationship were substantial. Institutional investor demands for improvements in short run shareholder value ultimately resulted in the sale of Landis to Maxi-metal*, a global steel conglomerate, committed to a strategy of minimising costs. In this case, the organ transplant provides a useful metaphor: Ferodyn was like a strong and healthy ‘organ transplant’ in a weak and ailing corporate ‘body.’ So long as there were buffers in place to protect it from rejection by its host, Ferodyn could prosper, giving rise to exceptionally high labour standards and quality of life for its employees. In effect, the American system of corporate governance and the nature of power relations in the corporation created antigens that weakened both Landis’s ability to support the joint venture and Ferodyn’s ability to survive in an alien and hostile corporate, industry and macro-economic environment. * Ferodyn, Landis, Daiichi and Maxi-metal are fictitious names

The Scope and Scale of Clinical Research Accomplished by Rheumatologists Early in Their Careers

[Excerpt] The scope and scale of clinical research is unknown for any medical or surgical specialty beyond snap shots of the broad aims and expenditures of research programs sponsored by federal agencies or the pharmaceutical industry. As a consequence, the workforce and workplace for clinical investigation is enigmatic and unexamined even after explicit warnings that an essential arm for advancing clinical practice is disabled. The present study was designed to examine the nature and extent of investigative activity prevailing among rheumatologists early in their careers. This assessment provides a lens on: i) the fraction of early career rheumatologists who engage in investigative rheumatology, ii) the scope and scale of research in musculoskeletal diseases, iii) funding available for investigative work, iv) the impact of research-intensive institutions, and NIH-K-series awards on research, and v) the demographic backgrounds of early career rheumatologists. The results provide important new insights about the early career workforce for discovery and innovation in rheumatology. The findings integrate demographic, normative, and predictive data to provide the first estimate of the scope and scale of clinical investigation within rheumatology. The results also justify interventions for promoting investigative work, and ultimately advancing the clinical practice of rheumatology