Open for Business

Literature and Economics

2008-04-28T12:34:08Z

I found an interesting literature review from Web of Science that discusses the knowledge on development issues embedded within literary accounts.

The fiction of development: Literary representation as a source of authoritative knowledge
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES 44 (2): 198-216 FEB 2008

ABSTRACT: "This article introduces and explores issues regarding the question of what constitute valid forms of development knowledge, focusing in particular on the relationship between fictional writing on development and more formal academic and policy-oriented representations of development issues. We challenge certain conventional notions about the nature of knowledge, narrative authority and representational form, and explore these by comparing and contrasting selected works of recent literary fiction that touch on development issues with academic and policy-related representations of the development process, thereby demonstrating the value of taking literary perspectives on development seriously. We find that not only are certain works of fiction 'better' than academic or policy research in representing central issues relating to development but they also frequently reach a wider audience and are therefore more influential. Moreover, the line between fact and fiction is a very fine one, and there can be significant advantages to fictional writing over non-fiction."

---Fred Rowland

Trial for The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online

2008-04-14T12:48:12Z

Through May 7, 2008, the library is having a trial of the online edition of The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online (2nd Edition). In addition to the excellent content, the interface is very slick, browseable alphabetically and by topic, an advanced search that allows you to limit search to full-text, bibliographies, contributors, article titles, abstracts, keywords, and by topic.

Kenneth J. Arrow, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, says "The New Palgrave will be an indispensable reference tool for both junior and senior scholars in economics and perhaps even more for the journalist or business executive. The topics are exhaustive."

Check it out today!

Standard and Poor's NetAdvantage

2008-04-09T20:56:13Z

For those of you interested in company or industry research—and particularly if you are looking for up-to-the-minute financial data on companies—please check out Standard and Poor’s NetAdvantage. This resource was very recently acquired by TU Libraries, and has proven very useful for students of finance, management, and marketing.

NetAdvantage includes current and retrospective profiles from S&P’s Industry Surveys, which provide information for all major industries covered by S&P. The database also provides extensive company information, including up-to-the-minute stock pricing data, executive information, and company financials. Most of this information is ready for export into customizable spreadsheets for further analysis.

Explore Standard and Poor’s NetAdvantage right here (use your AccessNet user ID and password to login) or access S&P and other electronic resources for business here.

Dogs and Pumas; NASA and Mars Bars: A New Look at Consumer Behavior and Buying Decisions

2008-04-02T13:44:55Z

Do the mundane things you encounter on a daily basis influence the brand of sneaker or toothpaste you choose to buy, even if those brands aren’t marketed to you directly? Can seeing dogs on your way to work influence you to buy Puma sneakers because of a seemingly insignificant quadruped connection? According to the recent findings of Wharton School marketing professor John Berger, the answer is yes. Read more about a recent study published by Berger with Grainne Fitzsimons, a psychology professor at University of Waterloo in Ontario, here.

Euromonitor GMID now available through TU Libraries!

2008-04-02T11:20:11Z

As Business Librarian at Paley Library, I am pleased to announce the availability of Euromonitor’s Global Market Information Database (GMID). Euromonitor GMID covers various consumer, industrial, and service markets at the global, regional, and country levels. The database contains both statistical information as well as in-depth reports about specific industries in given geographies. What sets GMID apart from many other databases is that the market data presented are collected directly by Euromonitor representatives working in designated regions. In other words, the data are not simply gleaned from other information sources and then repackaged; the information you find here cannot be found in any other information source! If you are a student of finance, marketing, international business, or economics, GMID will likely help you with your research. Give it a try here (log in using your AccessNet user id and password).

Airline Safety and the Federal Aviation Administration

2008-03-24T12:49:28Z

This article was recently posted on Philly.com. The controversy with Southwest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration over Southwest’s failure to inspect some of its planes was highly publicized. More surprising, however, is the directive of the FAA to examine the maintenance records of all 118 US airlines. The outcome could have profound implications for the airline industry… and for the safety of airline travelers.

Branding in the 4th millennium BC

2008-03-11T18:44:56Z

It appears that "branding" is not an entirely modern phenomenon.

Prehistories of Commodity Branding
Commodity branding has been characterized as the distinguishing cultural move of late capitalism and is widely viewed as a historically distinctive feature of the modern global economy. The brand's rise to prominence following the Industrial Revolution and the attendant shift of corporate enterprise towards the dissemination of image-based products have been further cited as contributing to the erosion of older forms of identity such as those based on kinship and class. However, comparisons between recent forms of branding and much earlier modes of commodity marking associated with the Urban Revolution of the fourth millennium BC suggest that systems of branding address a paradox common to all economies of scale and are therefore likely to arise (and to have arisen) under a wide range of ideological and institutional conditions, including those of sacred hierarchies and stratified states. An examination of the material and cognitive properties of sealing practices and the changing functions of seals in their transition from personal amulets to a means of labeling mass-produced goods helps to unpack the interlocking (pre) histories of quality control, authenticity, and ownership that make up the modern brand.