This paper provides a rigorous analysis of the impact of training upon the employment growth characteristics of small and medium sized firms. Using appropriate statistical techniques to cope with sample selection biases and heterogenerous employment growth patterns it reveals that training is...

There is growing evidence of the importance of co-operation between managers and workers for improving industrial performance. One manifestation of this is the growing use of human resource management (HRM) strategies to increase the involvement of employees. The survey of small and medium sized...

After a brief recent empirical sketch of Islamic finance, the paper turns to its main theoretical and conceptual purpose. It seeks to relate the concepts of Islamic and conventional finance, and to examine certain important questions which arise from the interaction between these systems. The...

Empirical evidence shows that the second half of the 20th century has been characterised by a dramatic change in the evolutionary pattern of firms' size structure: the general tendency towards a growing importance of big business which marked the first phase of post-war development came to a...

This paper tries to cast a theoretical bridge between two important phenomena which have characterised the evolution of advanced capitalist countries over the second half of this century: namely, the shift from the so-called golden age to the "unstable" macroeconomic environment of the '70s and...

This paper examines the extent to which contemporary business-led approaches designed to maximize female human capital are effective in reducing the gendered pay gap in the British labour market. In particular it asks whether the approach outlined by the latest Cabinet Office Review on women's...

This paper examines patterns and trends in motor vehicle safety recalls using a dataset based on 23.1 million vehicles registered in the UK between 1992 and 2002. A safety recall occurs when vehicle manufacturers call vehicles that have been sold and are in use back to their dealership for...

The paper examines the economic rationale for "public-private partnerships" to promote technological progress and growth in the new "knowledge-driven" economy. Three main arguments are advanced: First, the present policy agenda is caught up in a mismatch between micro-economic science and...

The literature on industrial districts (also referred to as business clusters) has grown out of recognition that spatial proximity among firms supports the formation and exchange of knowledge within an industry and is therefore a source of competitive advantage. While such a ‘territorial’...

Whilst the variety of search activities promotes innovation, there is a central tension between a firm's potential benefits from wide and diverse search activities and its ability to reap these potential benefits. In this paper, we argue that the potential and realised benefits from a firm'...