Peter Navarro

Why Do Corporations Give to Charity

This paper explores whether corporate contributions should be tax dedu ctible within the more general context of an examination of the profi t and utility maximization motives driving contributions. The theoret ical section develops a formal structural model of the contributions process, illustrates comparative statics, and derives a set of empiri cally-testable hypotheses. Using a new source of firm data, the empir ical results indicate that profit maximization is an important motive driving contributions. This finding supports the current tax-deducti ble status of contributions (up to a seldom-encoun-tered ceiling) and favors a reform that allows firms to treat contributions as ordinary business expenses. Copyright 1988 by the University of Chicago.

Performance and perceptions of distance learners in cyberspace

Abstract This study compared the performance and perception of cyber‐learners to that of traditional learners. A study of several hundred undergraduate students taking an introductory economics course at the University of California suggests that cyberlearners learn as well as, or better than, traditional learners regardless of characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, academic background, computer skills, and academic aptitude and that they do so with a high degree of satisfaction. CD‐ROM‐based lectures, electronic testing, threaded electronic bulletin boards, and online discussion rooms all appear to be effective instructional technologies. The CD‐ROM‐based lectures that simulated the traditional classroom experience were regarded as being both the most essential and most enjoyable instructional medium.

On the theory of growth controls

Numerous empirical studies have examined the effect of growth controls on housing prices.’ These studies have used many different techniques ranging from hedonic price model estimation to paired comparisons but have all come to the same conclusion: growth controls raise the price of housing. In theory, there are both demand and supply side explanations (which need not be mutually exclusive) for these observed price differences. On the supply side, housing caps, zoning restrictions, limitations on the amount of developable land, and other forms of growth control may reduce the supply of housing over time. This, in turn, may produce scarcity effects which manifest as shifts (or other changes) in the housing supply curve and attendant price increases. On the demand side, to the extent that growth controls may reduce or internalize expected negative externalities and/or congestion costs associated with growth, controls may also produce amenity effects. Such amenity effects manifest as changes in the demand curve and likewise may be capitalized in land values (and wages), e.g., the price of a house rises as commute time falls.

The power of cyberlearning: An empirical test

THE CONTROVERSY OVER CYBERLEARNING, as an integral part of the teaching and learning process in higher education, is growing almost as fast as the technology itself. Unfortunately, there are relatively few empirical studies that provide a comprehensive test of the effectiveness of cyberlearning. This exploratory study compares Cyberlearners with Traditional Learners in a graduate-level MBA course in introductory macroeconomics. The findings appear to provide evidence that cyberlearning can be as effective as traditional classroom learning.

Growth controls: policy analysis for the second generation

The 1970s spawned a ‘first generation’ of growth controls which featured explicit (or implicit) restrictions on residential housing construction. These restrictions were typically implemented in small, affluent, and predominantly white suburban communities. Policy analysis responded by focusing almost singlemindedly on how such supply-side restrictions might increase housing prices and drive out the poor. The 1980s and 1990s have, however, given birth to a more comprehensive ‘second generation’ of controls which many major cities and metropolitan areas are considering. This generation ties commercial and industrial as well as residential development to the reduction of the negative externalities and congestion costs associated with growth. To fully evaluate this second generation, policy analysis must take into account not only housing price effects and the rate of job creation but also the full range of ‘amenity effects’ associated with differing rates of growth and attendant levels of traffic congestion, air pollution, and other ‘public bads.’ We develop a framework for such ‘second generation’ growth control analysis using San Diego as an example.

Strategic business cycle management and organizational performance: a great unexplored research stream

This lament is as true today as it was almost 20 years ago. Indeed, most scholars continue to ignore one of the most important, but least developed, research streams in all of management strategy and organizational science – strategic business cycle management (BCM). BCM involves the application of a set of typically countercyclical prescriptive behaviors that, when applied in a timely way over the course of the business cycle, can improve the performance of an organization relative to rivals. For example, countercyclical advertising in a recession may help increase market share and build brand identity (Dhalla, 1980), countercyclical hiring during a recession may help build a lower-cost, higher-quality workforce (Greer, 1984) and an organization that cuts production and inventories in anticipation of a recession may cut costs relative to rivals that do not (Navarro, 2004). Despite the performance claims of the prescriptive BCM literature, BCM research remains relatively rare, Balkanized in its treatment by functional silo, significantly lacking in empirical testing and considerably hampered by the lack of any unified general theory that explains observed BCM heterogeneity across organizations. After more than five years of case work and empirical study in which we have identified and tested potential causal links between prescriptive BCM and organizational performance (Navarro, 2004, 2005, 2006; Navarro et al., 2006), we find this lack of scholarly attention to BCM both puzzling and exciting. It is puzzling because BCM involves all functions of the organization; thus, it should STRATEGIC ORGANIZATION Vol 6(2): 207–219 DOI: 10.1177/1476127008090011 Copyright ©2008 Sage Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore) http://so.sagepub.com

Business cycle management and firm performance: Tying the empirical knot

Purpose – Business cycles strongly influence corporate sales and profits, yet strategy research largely ignores the possibility that corporate management practices related to the business cycle influence profitability. This paper aims to offer initial empirical support for the view that high peformance firms use a variety of business cycle management (BCM) practices that low performance firms do not.Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory study examines the association of firm performance with business cycle management behaviors identified in the prescriptive literature and further developed from a set of case analyses. The empirical analysis uses a matched sample of 35 pairs of high vs low performers from the S&P 500.Findings – Discriminant and conditional logit analyses provide preliminary evidence that business cycle‐sensitive behaviors such as countercyclical hiring and investment associate positively with firm performance.Research limitations/implications – Future research should use larger da...

Aftershocks--And Essential Lessons--From the California Electricity Debacle

Abstract Without question, the crisis exacted enormous financial costs. But the longer-term impact may well be how it affects both the pace and direction of the broader electricity deregulation movement. That’s why it is essential to distill the important lessons from the experience.

Union Bargaining Power in the Coal Industry, 1945–1981

In examining the bargaining record of the coal industry since the mid-19405, this paper demonstrates that union power in this industry has fluctuated considerably over the years and then describes the reasons for that fluctuation. The author argues that the level of coal consumption has had a consistently strong effect on the balance of bargaining power throughout the postwar period and that industry profits have also influenced settlements, but to a lesser extent. In recent negotiations, the most important power factor has been the sharp decline in the percentage of coal produced by mines covered by UMW contracts. In addition, not only has pre-strike stockpiling by major consumers blunted the unions strike weapon, but also the weakness of union leadership in recent years has helped to precipitate and prolong strikes. Only the evidence on the unions democratic contract ratification procedure, adopted in 1973, is mixed: although providing a slight strategic advantage to the union on occasion, it has also led to confusion at the bargaining table and contributed to the weakness of the leadership. The author also illustrates the importance of including rule changes in measuring union power.

Natural Wastewater Treatment: An Unfulfilled Potential

Natural wastewater treatment methods may, in some cases, represent a potentially viable economic and environmental alternative to traditional, highly capital intensive mechanical-chemical methods. However, the market failures of imperfect information and incomplete markets coupled with a collective risk aversion on the part of decision makers may be making it more difficult for natural wastewater treatment methods to fully realize their market potential. This is unfortunate, because local communities throughout the United States are facing a significant, multi-billion-dollar funding gap between their available capital and the capital requirements of needed wastewater treatment expansion. A course of policy action is examined.