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Channels of Distribution

Sharan Jagpal

in Fusion for Profit: How Marketing and Finance Can Work Together to Create Value

This chapter shows how the firm should choose marketing policies when its products are sold by distributors. It distinguishes between exclusive and nonexclusive distributors, show how the firm can ... More

This chapter shows how the firm should choose marketing policies when its products are sold by distributors. It distinguishes between exclusive and nonexclusive distributors, show how the firm can coordinate its bricks-and-mortar and Internet pricing strategies to maximize performance, show how the firm should coordinate its price and advertising strategies when it sells through distributors, and discuss when the firm should use vertical integration strategies. In particular, it shows how the multiproduct firm should coordinate its channel strategy when the distributor also sells multiple products.Less

Assessing and Managing Risk in Global Banking

Roy C. Smith, Ingo Walter, and Gayle Delong

in Global Banking

Future cash flows can be impaired by economic or political events. This chapter discusses the two components of country or cross-border risk, namely economic and political risk. Evaluating country ... More

Future cash flows can be impaired by economic or political events. This chapter discusses the two components of country or cross-border risk, namely economic and political risk. Evaluating country risk is difficult, but building country assessments into the design of international exposure portfolios that are in some sense “efficient” is even more complicated. Neither the risks nor the returns are clearly definable, and even exposure measurement is a difficult task. Portfolio ideas can contribute importantly in clarifying the overall risks. The development of informational and assessment capabilities as part of the country evaluation process can itself lead to improved international exposure decisions that implicitly embody portfolio concepts. The application of these concepts also helps pin down the link between risks and pricing of international loans and bonds.Less

The Social Risks of the Dot-Com Era

Gina Neff

in Venture Labor: Work and the Burden of Risk in Innovative Industries

This chapter addresses the social component in the economic risks. The discourses of risk during the dot-com boom encouraged people to take risks and not to fear failure. The chapter also argues that ... More

This chapter addresses the social component in the economic risks. The discourses of risk during the dot-com boom encouraged people to take risks and not to fear failure. The chapter also argues that the dot-com boom occurred at a moment of transition in U.S. economic history toward riskier work, and that the entrepreneurial spirit which people enacted during the boom was a response to this economic transition. It shows that the dot-com boom helped glorify risks. The chapter also contends that people can invest their social capital in the companies where they work by tapping their personal connections for information and other resources which frequently offer crucial support for their companies. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in the book is given.Less

Corporate Governance: The Decline of Germany Inc.

Wolfgang Streeck

in Re-Forming Capitalism: Institutional Change in the German Political Economy

Germany Inc., which was composed of financial institutions like Deutsche Bank and Allianz, and which can be informally associated with the government and the state, presented firms with protection ... More

Germany Inc., which was composed of financial institutions like Deutsche Bank and Allianz, and which can be informally associated with the government and the state, presented firms with protection against various political and economic risks such as minority shareholder pressure, potential takeovers, and socialist and trade union demands for economic planning or nationalization. This network of German firms provided the government with the ability to deal not just with German business as a whole but to separate it from collective commitments that concerned issues in the public interest. As large German banks gradually abandoned the notion of making cheap credit available and discontinuing to serve as semi-public financial infrastructure, the decline of German Inc. began. This chapter attempts to illustrate first the role of Germany Inc. in Germany's economy and how this company slowly disintegrated because of the transformation of the roles of banks.Less

The Basic Economics of Pensions

Nicholas Barr and Peter Diamond

in Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices

The setting for the analysis of pensions includes the central role of output, and the facts that imperfect consumer information and decision making are widespread, pension systems face large risks, ... More

The setting for the analysis of pensions includes the central role of output, and the facts that imperfect consumer information and decision making are widespread, pension systems face large risks, including economic, demographic, and political risks, and potentially administrative costs can be very high.Less

The Crucial Meso Link: Social Capital in Social and Symbolic Ties

Thomas Faist

in The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social Spaces

Once the broader opportunities are set, the familiar story about evolving migration dynamics goes like this: as migration flows develop, potential migrants who have stayed at home can move in ... More

Once the broader opportunities are set, the familiar story about evolving migration dynamics goes like this: as migration flows develop, potential migrants who have stayed at home can move in increasing numbers. For this to occur, migrant networks need to form: With the existence of migration networks and the support they carry, it becomes easier to travel abroad, to find work and housing, to get adjusted to new types of work, to change jobs, to find child care, to keep in touch with the country of origin, and to consummate communal and spiritual needs. Information then flows through personal contacts, such as recurrent, transilient, and return migrants, and within immigrant clusters, such as manifold Landsmannschaften. In short, migrant networks, reduce the economic and psychological risks and costs associated with international long-distance migration.Less

Obligations on Users

Christopher Hodges

in European Regulation of Consumer Product Safety

The way in which a product is used can affect its level of safety, as discussed in relation to the need for controls on design and on instructions for use. Indeed, the evidence is that accidents are ... More

The way in which a product is used can affect its level of safety, as discussed in relation to the need for controls on design and on instructions for use. Indeed, the evidence is that accidents are predominantly caused by the incorrect use of products. Regulatory controls exist on virtually all commercial actors in the distribution chain, but not systematically on users. On one view, this might be irrational, in that the objective is to ensure safe use. As a consequence under private law, causing an accident to oneself will mean that compensation is not claimable from the producer or supplier absent a product defect or negligence, or the compensation is reduced because of contributory negligence, so the economic risk is allocated to the user in those circumstances. However, in the regulatory context, manufacturers are sometimes required to take into account known or foreseeable risks when designing or labelling their products.Less

Being Venture Labor: Strategies for Managing Risk

Gina Neff

in Venture Labor: Work and the Burden of Risk in Innovative Industries

This chapter concentrates on the strategies that people in Silicon Alley used for managing the economic risks they felt they faced. It utilizes the interview data to build a typology of venture labor ... More

This chapter concentrates on the strategies that people in Silicon Alley used for managing the economic risks they felt they faced. It utilizes the interview data to build a typology of venture labor strategies that is rooted in the valuation process, and describes how people talked about the risks they faced and what communicative frameworks they used to manage these risks. The chapter also discusses in detail the strategies for managing risk among Silicon Alley workers—financial, creative, and actuarial—and shows that they are coconstitutive of the industrial space of Silicon Alley. These strategies also emphasize the different approaches to economic uncertainty undertaken by people who worked within the industry. Moreover, people are adapting to a new, generalized work insecurity.Less

Sharing Risk and Responsibility in a New Economic Era

Jacob S. Hacker

in Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk: Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

This chapter focuses on the “Great Risk Shift”, the transformation of the U.S. economy and society that has increased the economic insecurity of the nation's workers and their families. It attributes ... More

This chapter focuses on the “Great Risk Shift”, the transformation of the U.S. economy and society that has increased the economic insecurity of the nation's workers and their families. It attributes this transformation to the erosion of America's distinctive framework of economic security over the last generation due to growing economic pressures on employers, together with rising political resistance to the ideal of economic security itself. The chapter then turns to the job market and the family as sources of economic risk, along with the rising instability of family incomes and the American family's growing debt. It also examines what can be done to address the Great Risk Shift, citing President Barack Obama's legislative landmarks of 2009 and 2010, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as a major step forward. Finally, it proposes policy initiatives to enhance economic security as well as economic opportunity.Less

The Risks of Political Authority: Trust, Knowledge, and Political Agency in Locke’s Politics and Economy

Emily C. Nacol

in An Age of Risk: Politics and Economy in Early Modern Britain

This chapter explains how John Locke's work on epistemology, politics, and economy can be read as a sustained meditation on the relationship of risk and trust. The extensive literature on trust and ... More

This chapter explains how John Locke's work on epistemology, politics, and economy can be read as a sustained meditation on the relationship of risk and trust. The extensive literature on trust and authority in Locke's work establishes that he thinks citizens' trust in the state helps them organize and survive in the face of uncertainty, as well as manage the risks they might find in the future. This chapter argues that Lockean political trust is actually more closely related to risk than it appears at first glance. Political trust, Locke theorizes, is actually underwritten by the perpetual work of risk calculation and probabilistic reasoning by citizens. His work shows that if a strong central state is the institution that manages political and economic risk for subjects, then those subjects still must scrutinize the state as a new risk, using whatever cognitive tools they have at their disposal.Less

“The Arms of Democracy”: Economic Security in the Nation’s Broader National Security Agenda

Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar and Connor Raso

in Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk: Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

This chapter examines the relationship between economic security and the broader national security agenda in the United States. It begins by outlining some of the common features of economic policy ... More

This chapter examines the relationship between economic security and the broader national security agenda in the United States. It begins by outlining some of the common features of economic policy and national security, focusing on how politicians balance the domestic regulation of economic risk with the external defense of the nation. It then considers the implications of fiscal constraints for elements of economic security such as health insurance and social security, and for the resources available for national security. The chapter also discusses the effect of social capital on national security, how the concept of state institutional capacity links national security to the management of economic risks, and how economic security affects the long-term viability of a nation-state. Finally, it assesses the implications of the relationship between economic security and national security for modern states and their citizens.Less

America’s Next Social Contract: Lessons from the Past, Prospects for the Future

Ann O’Leary

Jacob S. Hacker (ed.)

in Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk: Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

This chapter discusses lessons from the past and prospects for the future with regards to sharing economic risks, with particular reference to the so-called Great Risk Shift and the government's role ... More

This chapter discusses lessons from the past and prospects for the future with regards to sharing economic risks, with particular reference to the so-called Great Risk Shift and the government's role as risk managers. It highlights the political nature of economic security as well as public opinion with regards to government and its role in the economy. It also looks at the history of risk management and trends in risk management in the United States before discussing the need to rethink the way economic risk is managed. More specifically, it envisions a new kind of social contract between employers and the government to protect workers against certain risks, particularly those involving retirement, long-term care, and home ownership. Furthermore, the chapter argues that the government needs to reconsider its agreements with workers and families about how they use existing programs and incentives, such as those relating to taxes and social insurance. Finally, it examines U.S. fiscal policy and assesses future prospects for economic security.Less

Disability Risk and the Value of Disability Insurance

Amitabh Chandra and Andrew A. Samwick (eds)

in Health at Older Ages: The Causes and Consequences of Declining Disability Among the Elderly

This chapter evaluates the economic risk associated with a work disability. It specifically covers the magnitude of the disability risk, the extent of precautionary saving for potential disability, ... More

This chapter evaluates the economic risk associated with a work disability. It specifically covers the magnitude of the disability risk, the extent of precautionary saving for potential disability, and the value of disability insurance. The chapter shows that disability risk is addressed much more effectively through disability insurance. Only small differences across cohorts in disability through the age of fifty-four are observed. Disability rates between older and younger men, and older and younger women, are becoming more similar. A decline in disability for men over the age of fifty-five in the past twenty years is also found. Additionally, the prevalence of a work-limiting disability at a typical age of retirement, across all demographic groups and for the average year in the sample, is 15 percent. The age-disability profile is fairly stable across time and demographic groups.Less

Explaining the Rise of Anti-System Parties: Inequality, Debt, and the Crisis

Jonathan Hopkin

in Anti-System Politics: The Crisis of Market Liberalism in Rich Democracies

This chapter analyzes the electoral successes of anti-system forces, looking at how differences in the social, economic, and political institutions in rich democracies determine the extent and nature ... More

This chapter analyzes the electoral successes of anti-system forces, looking at how differences in the social, economic, and political institutions in rich democracies determine the extent and nature of anti-system support. Anti-system politics is stronger in countries that are structurally prone to run trade deficits, have weak or badly designed welfare states, and have electoral rules that artificially suppress the range of political options voters can choose from. The chapter also shows that the ways in which welfare systems distribute exposure to economic risks predict whether anti-system politics takes a predominantly left-wing or right-wing direction. Right-wing anti-system politics is successful in creditor countries with very inclusive welfare states. Meanwhile, left-wing anti-system politics is stronger in debtor countries with “dualistic” welfare states.Less

Seeing, Bearing, and Sharing Risk: Social Policy Challenges for Our Time

Martha Minow

in Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk: Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

This chapter focuses on the social shift of economic risk to individuals and the need to overcome the barriers—psychological, cognitive, analytic, and ideological—to understanding the risk ... More

This chapter focuses on the social shift of economic risk to individuals and the need to overcome the barriers—psychological, cognitive, analytic, and ideological—to understanding the risk allocation. It begins with a historical overview of risks to human health, welfare, and well-being before explaining why it is difficult to see risk and its shift from government and businesses to individuals and families. It then looks at policy proposals to address these shifts, from income support to consumer credit reforms. The chapter concludes by arguing that democratic action toward addressing social policy challenges posed by these shifts is not possible in the absence of a greater sense of shared risks and shared responsibility.Less

The American Challenge in Cross-national Perspective

Neil Gilbert

in Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk: Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

This chapter examines the economic crisis of 2008 and its policy implications for modern welfare states. It begins by analyzing several trends that link the immediate economic predicament to a ... More

This chapter examines the economic crisis of 2008 and its policy implications for modern welfare states. It begins by analyzing several trends that link the immediate economic predicament to a broader social context, focusing on modern welfare states that have experienced a number of key policy-related developments involving employment measures, public and private expenditures, welfare demand, and labor force participation. It then explores these developments in relation to the shifting degrees of responsibility for managing economic risk among governments, individuals, and employers. It looks at these shifts from a comparative cross-national perspective, comparing U.S. experiences to those of other advanced industrial democracies and highlighting the various implications for risk and insecurity. More precisely, the chapter discusses the relationship between social expenditure and taxation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries; the impact of the recent economic crisis on government spending on social welfare programs; and the increased privatization of certain social welfare benefits.Less