This paper studies the behaviour of the real exchange rate (RER) in India. The first part investigates the role of important macroeconomic (behaviour and policy) variables in explaining the movement of the RER. It is found that the investment-gdp ratio, the overall fiscal deficit of the public...

Accurate accounting for annual flows of vocational qualifications by sector of economic activity has been greatly impeded by the data collection methods put in place since the setting up of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) in 1986. Using unpublished data from a variety...

This paper explores the links between international trade theory and the practice of trade and industrial policy in open economies, with special attention to three areas where theoretical lessons have been misunderstood in policy debates. I argue that the ''concertina rule'' for tariff reform...

This article examines the attempt to revive apprenticeship training in Britain in the 1990s. Traditionally apprenticeship had been the main formal method of training for manual workers and the principal means whereby intermediate skills were formed. However, from the late 1960s, apprenticeship...

I consider the problem of choosing index numbers of purchasing power and real income for international comparisons. I show that the desirable properties of methods based on the Fisher "Ideal" index do not extend to multilateral comparisons, except when tastes are homothetic. By contrast, the...

There is no parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications in the labour market. Data from the Labour Force Survey show that on average men and women working full-time with academic qualifications at one level in the national qualifications framework earn about the same as men...

When information about workers'' abilities is imperfect, past employment histories are important determinants of unemployment duration. This paper studies the effects of employment protection laws on unemployment spells in two countries: Italy and Spain. Italy and Spain''s adoption of fixed-term...

In an environment where shareholder rights cannot be enforced, management might choose to honour these rights out of self interest. This paper presents evidence from a sample of the 140 largest Russian joint stock companies, of which only a minority of firms do honour shareholder rights. These...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether specialisation has increased in European Union countries, and to determine whether specialisation patterns are consistent with trade theories. I present evidence of increasing specialisation in European Union countries between 1968 and 1990. I...

This paper argues that the liberalisation of foregin direct investment (FDI) has made labour costs more important to domestic investment and long-run labour demand. It provides evidence from British and German data that is consistent with this view. First, high unit labour costs increase FDI...