The Threat of Capital Drain: A Rationale for Public Banks?

This paper yields a rationale for why subsidized public banks may be desirable from a regional perspective in a financially integrated economy. We present a model with credit rationing and heterogeneous regions in which public banks prevent a capital drain from poorer to richer regions by subsidizing local depositors, for example, through a public guarantee. Under some conditions, cooperative banks can perform the same function without any subsidization; however, they may be crowded out by public banks. We also discuss the impact of the political structure on the emergence of public banks in a political-economy setting and the role of interregional mobility

Drama and discounting in the relational dynamics of corporate social responsibility

Employing theoretical resources from Transactional Analysis (TA) and drawing from interviews with managers dealing with social or environmental issues in their role, we explain how CSR activity provides a context for dramas in which actors may ignore, or discount aspects of self, others, and the contexts of their work as they maintain and reproduce the roles of Rescuers, Persecutors and Victims. In doing so, we add to knowledge about CSR by providing an explanation for how the contradictions of CSR are avoided in practice even when actors may be aware of them. Specifically, we theorise how CSR work can produce dramatic stories where adversity is apparently overcome, whilst little is actually achieved at the social level. We also add to the range of psychoanalytic tools used to account for organisational behaviours, emphasising how TA can explain the relational dynamics of CSR

A falling of the veils: turning points and momentous turning points in leadership and the creation of CSR

This article uses the life stories approach to leadership and leadership development. Using exploratory, qualitative data from a Forbes Global 2000 and FTSE 100 company, we discuss the role of the turning point (TP) as an important antecedent of leadership in corporate social responsibility. We argue that TPs are causally efficacious, linking them to the development of life narratives concerned with an evolving sense of personal identity. Using both a multi-disciplinary perspective and a multi-level focus on CSR leadership, we identify four narrative cases. We propose that they helped to re-define individuals’ sense of self and in some extreme cases completely transformed their self-identity as leaders of CSR. Hence we also distinguish the momentous turning point (MTP) that created a seismic shift in personality, through re-evaluation of the individuals’ personal values. We argue that whilst TPs are developmental experiences that can produce responsible leadership, the MTP changes the individuals’ personal priorities in life to produce responsible leadership that perhaps did not exist previously. Thus we appropriate Maslow’s (1976, p. 77) metaphorical phrase ‘A falling of the veils’ from his discussion of peak and desolation experiences that produce personal growth. Using a multi-disciplinary literature from social theory (Archer, 2012) moral psychology (Narvaez, 2009) and social psychology (Schwartz, 2010), we present a theoretical model that illustrates the psychological process of the (M)TP, thus contributing to the growing literature on the microfoundations of CSR

Toward a “constitution” for behavioral policy-making

Behavioral policy interventions aimed at redirecting individuals’ behavior toward optimal choices are characterized by an important issue which is often overlooked: the lack of an instrument to define what “optimal” means. If agents are subject to behavioral biases leading them to make “wrong” choices, the policy-maker can no longer rely on the revealed preferences approach (e.g., what people choose is what people prefer) for defining a welfare criterion. In this article, we reiterate the argument put forward by some scholars that choosing a suitable welfare criterion once the link between observed choices and individuals’ preferences is broken becomes a problematic task. We review the state of the art in the literature and the possible approaches proposed to overcome the problem, concluding that a solution has not yet been reached. Moreover, we argue that the lack of an established welfare criterion characterizing behavioral policy-making could pave the way to government wanting to restrict individual freedom. In the absence of any legislative constraint for the executive, stating that what individuals choose is not what they prefer in principle justifies any freedom-reducing government intervention, since choices can be arbitrarily labeled “sub-optimal” or “welfare-reducing.” To avoid this risk without turning down the potential of behavioral policy-making, we propose that an independent committee establishes ex ante procedural rules and domains where behavioral policy-making can be implemented. The article suggests some possible examples of normative provisions characterizing this constitution-type document, such as the selective identification of the only sectors where behavioral policies could be effectively applied, the periodic evaluation of policy effects, and the use of sunset clauses

Anticipating critique and occasional reason: modes of reasoning in face of a radically open future

In this paper we have argued for a new conceptualisation of strategic foresight. The existing approaches are largely based on too simple a concept of future. It is usually assumed that one is able to conceptualise already in the present all possible future developments. We contrast this with the concept of a 'radically open' future, which might develop in ways which go beyond of what our cognitive categories allow us to conceptualise. Drawing on linguistic philosophy it is shown how our thinking and communicating is limited by our linguistic categories. Strategic foresight from this perspective is largely concerned with the adjustment of the linguistic system to novel developments of the world. This requires openness towards new linguistic categories. Drawing on the philosophical concepts of 'anticipating critique' by Paul Feyerabend and 'occasional reason' by Helmut Spinner we try to show how such openness can be accomplished

Unternehmensführung. Eine evolutionäre Perspektive

Die Unternehmenspraxis ist nicht nur durch Vertragsgestaltungen, monetäre Anreizsysteme und erst recht nicht durch optimale Entscheidungen im Sinne der Entscheidungslogik geprägt. Wenn man einen realistischen Eindruck von der Praxis der Unternehmen und der Unternehmensführung vermitteln will, rückt die Politik in und von Unternehmen, die begrenzten Informationskapazitäten der Entscheider, die vielfältigen Wirkungszusammenhänge zwischen Strategien, Zielen, Strukturen und Personen in den Vordergrund. Davon handelt dieses Buch. Die Autoren beschreiben eine Führungslehre, welche systematisch die Offenheit der Zukunft in den Mittelpunkt rückt und zugleich auf eine Vielzahl wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen zurückgreift. Der dadurch ermöglichte differenzierte Blick hilft den Akteuren, sich in der Unternehmenspraxis besser zurechtzufinden

Inside the Arbitrator\u27s Mind

Arbitrators are lead actors in global dispute resolution. They are to global dispute resolution what judges are to domestic dispute resolution. Despite its global significance, arbitral decision making is a black box. This Article is the first to use original experimental research to explore how international arbitrators decide cases. We find that arbitrators often make intuitive and impressionistic decisions, rather than fully deliberative decisions. We also find evidence that casts doubt on the conventional wisdom that arbitrators render “split the baby” decisions. Although direct comparisons are difficult, we find that arbitrators generally perform at least as well as, but never demonstrably worse than, national judges analyzed in earlier research. There may be reasons to prefer judges to international arbitrators, but the quality of judgment and decision making, at least as measured in these experimental studies, is not one of them. Thus, normative debates about global dispute resolution should focus on using structural safeguards and legal protections to enhance quality decision-making, regardless of decision maker identity or title

Screw impingement on the extensor tendons in distal radius fractures treated by volar plating: sonographic appearance.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to analyze the sonography examinations of nine consecutive patients with a history of distal radius fracture treated by open reduction and internal fixation of the volar plate who were referred by hand surgeons for sonography of the dorsal aspect of the wrist. CONCLUSION: We postulate that impingement of the extensor tendons in patients with distal radius fracture treated by volar plating starts with local hyperemia and is followed by tenosynovitis and, finally, by partial and complete tendon tears. Sonography is an effective, dynamic, and noninvasive technique with which to diagnose and evaluate damage to the extensor tendons and their synovial sheaths