Varieties of capitalism and varieties of macroeconomic policy. Are some economies more procyclical than others?

The role of macroeconomic policy in the different varieties of capitalism has been largely ignored. Recent contributions to the literature have argued that nonliberal economies should be expected to have less accommodating (i.e., less countercyclical) macroeconomic policies than liberal varieties. Using time-series cross-section data on 18 OECD countries between 1980 and 2002, this paper tests that hypothesis and, more particularly, whether the reaction of discretionary fiscal policy to macroeconomic shocks is conditioned by variables that differentiate liberal from nonliberal varieties of capitalism: the degree of generosity of the social protection system, the degree of coordination of wage bargaining, and the fragmentation of the political party system. The test results do not support the conclusion that nonliberal economies' macroeconomic policy would be less countercyclical than that of liberal economies. On the contrary, discretionary fiscal policy has been more countercyclical in countries with a fragmented political system or a generous social protection system. -- Die Rolle makroökonomischer Politik in unterschiedlichen kapitalistischen Systemen wurde bisher nur selten eingehend untersucht. Eine neuere Argumentation vertritt die These, dass die makroökonomische Politik in nichtliberalen Ökonomien weniger antizyklisch ausfällt als in liberalen Ökonomien. Das Papier prüft diese These anhand einer gekreuzten Längs- und Querschnittanalyse für 18 OECD-Länder im Zeitraum von 1980 bis 2002. Dabei widmet es sich im Besonderen der Frage, inwieweit finanzpolitische Reaktionen auf makroökonomische Schocks von jenen Variablen beeinflusst werden, die liberale von nichtliberalen Ökonomien unterscheiden: die Generosität des Wohlfahrtssystems, das Ausmaß der Koordinierung von Lohnverhandlungen und der Grad der Fragmentierung des Parteiensystems. Das Ergebnis bestätigt die These nicht, sondern zeigt, dass eine diskretionäre Fiskalpolitik in jenen Ländern antizyklischer ausfällt, die über ein fragmentiertes Parteiensystem oder ein generöses Wohlfahrtssystem verfügen.

Inégalités et clubs de convergence : les résultats d'un modèle à seuil

Cet article examine l'éventualité d'un phénomène de convergence locale en mettant notamment l'accent sur une variable d'inégalité dans la distribution des revenus et richesses. A l'aide d'un modèle à seuil, deux variables de transition (stock de capital humain et inégalités) sont identifiées. Trois régimes sont mis en évidence. Pour deux d'entre eux, la relation entre inégalités et croissance est négative. En outre, au sein de ces clubs, les économies ne convergent pas. En revanche, pour le dernier régime, la relation entre inégalités et croissance n'est pas significative et on observe un phénomène de convergence absolue. Plus généralement, nous concluons à l'existence d'équilibres multiples. Ce résultat permet d'expliquer les conclusions antinomiques présentes dans la littérature, selon lesquelles la relation entre inégalités et croissance serait tantôt croissante et tantôt décroissante.Inégalités, clubs de convergence, modèle à seuil.

Total Quality Management (TQM) in Iranian primary schools teachers

This paper aims to present the perception of primary school teachers in Shiraz city (Iran) regarding Total Quality Management (TQM) in education. It is an attempt to understand how these perceptions vary by demographic variable such as, gender & subject specialization (Arts and Sciences). Data were collected from 156 primary school teachers in Shiraz city (Iran) on the Bonstingle’s conceptualization of Deming’s 14 points Total Quality Management (TQM) in Education (2011) and were analyzed using SPSS version 18.0. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed to find out the significance of difference between variables subscales. Significant difference was found between male and female teachers in the perception of total quality management. Female teachers had higher mean score than male teachers. There is no significant difference between Arts and Sciences primary school teachers in the perception of TQM in education

E-Tourism: The role of ICT In tourism industry

One of the major limitations of all of the information distribution channels in tourism industry is that they, for the most part, all ultimately flow through the GDSs. Of course, this has several implications in terms of cost, audience and information content. As a result, many tourism suppliers would like to bypass the GDS route and use electronic distribution to sell directly to the consumer. With the phenomenal growth in the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web both in the home and in the workplace, and the opportunities presented by falling hardware and communications costs, the potential now exists for tourism suppliers to both distribute information to and process reservations from customers directly. In his paper by considering some of the trends shaping modern business strategies such as the mass customization of services, the interactive design of products with customers, the service envelope around the most basic products and the increasing information intensity of products, we illustrated how such trends apply to the tourism industry and describes the way ICT can support or enable such strategies. Then, we analysed the role of ICT in tourism industry by introducing a framework to classify and analyze related organisations around three dimensions, distinguishing what happens (1) at the boundary of the firms, (2) in their relations with their customers and suppliers and (3) on the markets they reach. The actors that we primarily considered were the following: (1) the service providers (hotels, airlines, congress organizers, etc.), the travel agencies, and other intermediaries, (2) the final customers (both corporate and individual), and (3) the countries (often represented by their tourism offices). Finally, we described some innovative ways of using ICT, among others, to expand an actor's business

E-Tourism: The role of ICT In tourism industry

One of the major limitations of all of the information distribution channels in tourism industry is that they, for the most part, all ultimately flow through the GDSs. Of course, this has several implications in terms of cost, audience and information content. As a result, many tourism suppliers would like to bypass the GDS route and use electronic distribution to sell directly to the consumer. With the phenomenal growth in the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web both in the home and in the workplace, and the opportunities presented by falling hardware and communications costs, the potential now exists for tourism suppliers to both distribute information to and process reservations from customers directly. In his paper by considering some of the trends shaping modern business strategies such as the mass customization of services, the interactive design of products with customers, the service envelope around the most basic products and the increasing information intensity of products, we illustrated how such trends apply to the tourism industry and describes the way ICT can support or enable such strategies. Then, we analysed the role of ICT in tourism industry by introducing a framework to classify and analyze related organisations around three dimensions, distinguishing what happens (1) at the boundary of the firms, (2) in their relations with their customers and suppliers and (3) on the markets they reach. The actors that we primarily considered were the following: (1) the service providers (hotels, airlines, congress organizers, etc.), the travel agencies, and other intermediaries, (2) the final customers (both corporate and individual), and (3) the countries (often represented by their tourism offices). Finally, we described some innovative ways of using ICT, among others, to expand an actor's business

Total Quality Management (TQM) in Iranian primary schools teachers

This paper aims to present the perception of primary school teachers in Shiraz city (Iran) regarding Total Quality Management (TQM) in education. It is an attempt to understand how these perceptions vary by demographic variable such as, gender & subject specialization (Arts and Sciences). Data were collected from 156 primary school teachers in Shiraz city (Iran) on the Bonstingle’s conceptualization of Deming’s 14 points Total Quality Management (TQM) in Education (2011) and were analyzed using SPSS version 18.0. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed to find out the significance of difference between variables subscales. Significant difference was found between male and female teachers in the perception of total quality management. Female teachers had higher mean score than male teachers. There is no significant difference between Arts and Sciences primary school teachers in the perception of TQM in education

Are the determinants of the progression to type 2 diabetes and regression to normoglycemia in the populations with pre-diabetes the same?

Funding The main project has been funded by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effect of tropical climate to compressive strength of high performance fibre reinforced concrete

High performance fibre reinforced concrete (HPFRC) is relatively an advance fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) material, which is made of more than 2% volume fraction of fibres. This research focuses on the effect of tropical climate on the compressive strength of HPFRC. Total of 56 HPFRC cubes made of 3%, 4% and 5% of hooked-end fibres and grade 80 slurry were prepared. Half of which were exposed to tropical climate condition (80% humidity at 35°C) for 30 days which the other half are placed in room temperature. After which, the compression test was carried out. The highest compressive strength of 152.2 MPa was recorded from samples made of 5% fibre volume and being exposed to tropical climate, which is 90% higher than the control sample