Abstract:We examine the factors that determine self-employment duration in Britain, paying particular attention to self-reported job satisfaction variables and non-pecuniary aspects of self-employment. Based on spell data from the British Household Panel Study, we estimate single-risk and competing-risks hazard models, separately for males and females. Our results show that job satisfaction is indeed a strong predictor of self-employment exit, even after controlling for standard economic and demographic variables. When five domain job satisfaction measures are used, we find that pay, job security and initiative are the three aspects of self-employment most valued by the self-employed themselves. Gender differences regarding the determinants of self-employment survival and exit destination states are also evident.

We examine the transition to, and survival in, self-employment among a sample of British workers. We find evidence of capital constrains, with wealthier individuals being more likely to transit ceteris paribus. Windfall gains raise the probability of transition at a decreasing rate – gains or more than £20000–£22000 reduce the probability of transition – and larger gains reduce the probability of transition amongst relatively wealthier respondents. We also find peculiarities in the effects of particular types of windfall; redundancy payments and inheritances raise the probability of transition, whilst lottery wins reduce the probability of (especially male) transitions. In contrast, inheritances (lottery wins) hinder (augment) self-employment survival. Copyright Springer 2005Self-employment, transitions, windfalls, J0, J5, J23,

In this paper, we construct a complementary financialized business model of SME bio-pharma that reveals how the product innovation and development process conjoins with speculative forces in capital markets. To conceptualise this descriptive business model we employ three organising elements: narratives about pipeline progress that may (or may not) lead to additional funding from equity investors or other investing partners, capital market conditions that impact on the supply of funding and market valuations and the variable motivations of equity investors who are not in a development marathon but a relay race anxious to pass on ownership and extract higher returns on invested capital through realised market value. Bio-pharmas are, in effect, constituted as investment portfolios of innovations where products in pipeline and firms trade for shareholder value. In this speculative innovation, capital market liquidity business model complementary narratives and favourable capital market conditions are required to keep it all going.

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01559982 Copyright Elsevier Ltd. DOI: 10.1016/j.accfor.2008.08.001This paper constructs an account of how financialization is directing strategy in the S&P 500. Financialization describes how changes in US accounting regulations require firms to account for the market value of capital market transactions where corporate strategy is not simply concerned with delivering value creation but also reacting to value absorption in an era of shareholder value. Financialization is directing strategy and arbitrage to modify stakeholder financial settlements where an increased share of income is extracted as surplus cash and more of this cash from operations is being distributed to shareholders. Share buy-backs account for a substantial increase in the share of corporate cash distributed to shareholders in the S&P 500 which, we argue, reflects a strategic process of value creation and value absorption

This article investigates the day of the week anomaly in the FTSE 100 Share Index over an 11-year time period from 1 January 1986 to 31 December 1997. Its focus is to assess whether the day of the week effect continues to persist once transactions costs are considered. Unlike previous literature it uses the bid-ask spread as a proxy for transactions costs. It finds that once returns become robust to transactions costs the anomaly appears to fade away. It then extends the research by looking at the time-varying volatility of stock returns with use of a GARCH model. The GARCH results further support the fact that transaction costs appear to die away the day of the week anomaly in the UK Stock market.