In this article we highlight rationalizations within industry that were initiated and conducted locally during overt or latent threat of plant close-down. A common feature in our four investigated cases of 'declining organizations' is that the surprising increases in productivity cannot be thought of as the result of 'management by fear' or other active measures taken by management. On the contrary, our findings suggest that the 'dose-down effect' is brought about through workers' active and creative involvement in production matters when managers' interest in maintaining the established order at the workplace is fading away.

Trends in cervical cancer incidence following the introduction of screening have mostly been studied using cross-sectional data and not analysed separately for squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinomas. Using Swedish nationwide data on incidence and mortality, we analysed trends during more than 3 decades and fitted Poisson-based age-period-cohort models, and also investigated whether screening has reduced the incidence of adenocarcinomas of the cervix. The incidence of reported cancer in situ increased rapidly during 1958-1967. Incidence rates of squamous cell cancer, fairly stable before 1968, decreased thereafter by 4-6% yearly in women aged 40-64, with a much smaller magnitude in younger and older women. An age-cohort model indicated a stable 70-75% reduction in incidence for women born 1940 and later compared with those born around 1923. The incidence of adenocarcinomas doubled during the 35-year study period. The mortality rate increased by 3.6% before 1968 and decreased by 4.0% yearly thereafter. Although a combination of organized and opportunistic screening can reduce the incidence of squamous cell cancer substantially, the incidence of adenocarcinomas appears uninfluenced by screening.

Knowledge and information have become an essential asset determining the profitability of technology-intensive enterprises. In knowledge-based industries, knowledge and information can be marketed to potential partners or clients separately from the products and services that are based on the application of specific knowledge. In the new, global computer-intensive economy, the knowledge base of the economy can determine the approval of an enterprise as a producer of future solutions. This means that it is crucial that enterprises identify and develop their knowledge base, not least in their market relationships. Knowledge emerges in network relationships between an enterprise and its surrounding organisations, and can be legally protected as intellectual property (IP). A clearer notion of the way IP can be analysed may improve the economic outcome of investments in innovation. Relationship marketing clearly has a role in the marketing of technological innovation and product development. A high-tech enterprise faces several decisions influencing its position in the market when developing its knowledge base. Key decisions determining the relationships established in a knowledge-intensive market include (i) make or buy decisions; (ii) organisational association or isolation; (iii) the innovation or adaptation of new technology; (iv) the protection or exploitation of knowledge; (v) public or private research funding; (vi) safeguarding or sharing of IP; and (vii) pioneering advantages or disadvantages.

Det övergripande syftet med denna explorativa ekonomisk historiska studie är att empiriskt kartlägga och analysera utvecklingen av konkurser och sammanhängande gäldenärsbrott i Sverige. Våra kunskaper om företagsnedläggningar är begränsade. Genom planerad användning av konkursinstitutet kan tillgångar omfördelas i icke önskvärd eller medvetet riktning och på så sätt snedvrida selektionsmekanismen. Konkursinstitutet kan användas som ett finansiellt instrument. Det finns inga tidigare studier som ger information om den totala tillgångs- och skuldsituationen i de företag som går i konkurs. Brist på kunskap, erfarenhet och kompetens hos företagsledningen uppfattas i svenska och utländska studier som de mest frekventa och betydelsefulla orsakerna till konkurs. Ett syfte är därför att skatta hur stora tillgångar som omfördelas genom konkursinstitutet. Denna studie utgår från tidigare ofta förbisedda institutionella utgångspunkter om orsaker till konkurs och konkursbrottslighet. Svensk konkursutveckling analyseras därför relativt utvecklingen i Tyskland och Österrike. Båda länder har jämförbara politiska och ekonomiska system. Även om lagverken kring obestånd och konkursbrottslighet i dessa länder liknar den svenska finns det skillnader. Det empiriska underlaget i denna studie utgörs främst av longitudinella databaser över företag på obestånd i Tyskland, Sverige och Österrike. Dessa data har kompletterats med uppgifter ur respektive lands brottsstatistik. Studiens resultat visar att beloppen som årligen omfördelas genom konkursinstitutet är betydande. Graden med vilken myndigheterna ingriper i konkursprocessen och vilka intressen man skyddar via lagen spelar roll för den totala konkursfrekvensen. Studien visar även att svenska företagare använder konkurssystemet i större utsträckning än sina kolleger i Tyskland och Österrike. Resultaten visar visserligen på ett positivt samband men antalet brottsliga konkurser ökar snabbare. Österrike som har den lägsta konkursfrekvensen uppvisar den högsta brottskvoten. Förklaringen till paradoxen finns i landets regelverk kring obestånd. Dessa resultat står i kontrast till den mikroekonomiska förklaringen att skillnader i individrelaterad kompetensbrist eller brottsbenägenhet utgör huvudförklaringen bakom olikheter i olika länders frekvens av konkurser och konkursbrott.

Is has long been assumed among Western commentators that rapid economic growth in East and South-east Asia has been achieved without the development of social policies. It has often been inferred that growth without social welfare is not only possible, but beneficial to further strong economic growth. The article questions these perceptions and beliefs. First, to what extent did East and South-east Asian countries delay the introduction of social insurance schemes compared so European pioneering countries, in the sense of introducing them only at a much higher level of 'modernization'? Second, to what extent was the economic miracle achieved by some of these countries based on (or accompanied by) attempts to forestall or retrench welfare stare schemes? Third, to what extent has the recent financial crisis led to attempts at lowering or changing standards of social protection The study shows that the Asian countries generally introduced social security programmes at a lower level of 'modernization' than Western European countries; that rapid and strong economic growth in the decade 1985-95 has in general been accompanied by welfare expansion; and that even after the financial crisis of 1997 expansion of state welfare responsibility is more evident than efforts to reduce or dismantle state welfare responsibility.