The Scout Report for Business & Economics - July 1, 1999

July 1, 1999

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The target audience of the new Scout Report for Business & Economics is faculty, students, staff, and librarians in business and economics. Each biweekly issue offers a selective collection of Internet resources covering topics in the field that have been chosen by librarians and content specialists in the given area of study.

The Scout Report for Business & Economics is also provided via email once every two weeks. Subscription information is included at the bottom of each issue.


In This Issue

Research

Learning Resources

General Interest

Current Awareness

New Data

In The News


Research

Southern Africa Economic Summit [RealPlayer]
http://live99.weforum.org/
Sponsored by the World Economic forum in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), this site broadcasts the Southern Africa Economic Summit, a three-day summit running from July 4 through July 6, 1999 in Durban, South Africa. The event addresses the theme "Responsible Leadership for Stability, Action, and Growth" and emphasizes cooperation among businesses, government agencies, and labor organizations "to build a solid SADC market place as well as to prepare SADC for global competitiveness." Audio and video files on-site include the opening address by Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, and sessions spanning issues of regional concern and Southern Africa's place in the global market. Post-conference special reports will be posted as they become available. [EM]
[Back to Contents]

Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines [.pdf]
http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/
Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD) is an economic organization based at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England. Founded by Suntory Limited and the Toyota Motor Company Limited of Japan, STICERD hosts a variety of workshops and lectures, and offers financial help to postgraduates and outside research programs. Their Website includes information on STICERD-funded economic programs as well as selected abstracts and full-text discussion papers by the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (1997-present), the Distributional Analysis Research Programme (1997-present), Econometrics (1998-present), and Theoretical Economics Series (1998-present), among other publication series. [EM]
[Back to Contents]

Worldwide Review of Organic Food Information -- USDA FAS
http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/organics/attache.htm
The United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) (reviewed in the January 24, 1997 Scout Report) offers the latest analysis and data on the global organic food market at this staff attache report site. Countries currently under review include most European nations, Taiwan, China, Singapore, and Japan as well as Mexico and Brazil, and each report varies in length and statistical detail (1995-present). [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Baby Boomers Envision Their Retirement: An AARP Segmentation Analysis [.pdf]
http://research.aarp.org/econ/boomer_seg_toc.html
Sponsored by the American Associated of Retired Persons (AARP), this 110-page report examines Baby Boomers' plans, expectations, and attitudes about their upcoming retirement. After interviewing 2,001 Americans born between 1946 and 1964 and holding focus groups in four US cities, the AARP found that eight out of ten Baby Boomers expect to work at least part-time during their retirement and this workforce surge could create unexpected changes in American society. According to the AARP, such a "working retirement" attitude could end "one-size-fits-all" retirement plans for America's current aging population. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Learning Resources

Museum of American Financial History
http://www.financialhistory.org/
Financing the Civil War
http://www.financialhistory.org/civilwar/index.html
Founded by securities dealer John Herzog in 1988, the Museum of American Financial History aims to collect and preserve US historical financial artifacts that bring "the nation's financial history alive." Students, policy makers, media professionals, and the general public will enjoy selected articles from the quarterly publication Financial History in addition to online exhibits like Financing the Civil War, a historical narrative complete with images of obsolete banknote and securities issued by the North and South. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Brazil Briefing Room -- USDA ERS
http://www.econ.ag.gov/briefing/brazil/index.htm
The Market and Trade Economics Division of US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (USDA ERS) (reviewed in the July 2, 1998 Scout Report for Business & Economics) supplies general information and data on the Brazilian economy at the Brazil Briefing Room. The site mainly focuses on Brazil's current agricultural economic condition. Maps, trade policy information, and ERS projections for principal crop and livestock products are available as well as in-depth macroeconomic summaries with detailed bibliographies for further research. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

FinanceWise Euro Guide
http://www.financewise.com/cgi-bin/l/lrrpre?P=/l/edit/emu/emuindex.htm
The finance search engine FinanceWise (reviewed in the March 13, 1999 Scout Report) gathers the latest Euro news and discussion in this helpful guide. In addition to European central bank Web addresses and European Union (EU) legal sources of interest, the site also lists glossaries, recommended books, newsgroups, spot foreign exchange rates from the Financials.com, and articles from the Financial Times' FT.com among other sources. Note: Registration to FinanceWise is required. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Tobin Tax Issues and Information
http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/halifax/Action/tobinindex.htm
The Halifax Initiative, a coalition of social groups advocating financial institution reform worldwide, provides this clearinghouse on the debate and passage of the Tobin tax, named after Nobel prize-winning economist James Tobin. Canada adopted the taxation on all transactions in international financial markets on March 23, 1999. Press clips, factsheets, and background information on this important topic are available on-site. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

General Interest

IW 1000
http://www.industryweek.com/iwinprint/IW1000/
IndustryWeek's fourth annual report on the 1,000 largest manufacturing companies in the world consists of a searchable database with variables such as Company Name, IW Ranking, Earnings Per Share, and Total Revenue. The site also includes profiles of several of the largest manufacturing companies, an article detailing financial activities in the manufacturing business world in the past year, and an interview with Kim Clark, Dean of the Harvard Business School. [EM]
[Back to Contents]

WallStreetReporter.com [RealPlayer]
http://www.wallstreetreporter.com
Each day, WallStreetReporter.com interviews the CEOs of successful public companies. Started in 1996 by the editors of Wall Street Reporter Magazine, this site includes weekly news for professional investors, as well as a searchable archive of over 3,000 past interviews soon to be available for public use. [EM]
[Back to Contents]

The Motley Fool: Investing Through DRIPs
http://www.fool.com/school/Drips.htm
Another educational, amusing, and enriching tutorial from the Motley Fool (reviewed in the September 11, 1998 Scout Report), Investing Through DRIPs explains the basics behind Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRPs). Elements of the article include the advantages of DRPs, kinds of DRPs, and Starting a Dividend Reinvestment Plan, a step-by-step guide to choosing a plan, buying the share, and contacting a Transfer Agent. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Getting Through Customs
http://www.getcustoms.com/omnibus.html
This collection of articles by the training firm Getting Through Customs is aimed at business people who often travel abroad. Over fifteen excerpts from IndustryWeek and SwissAir's Gazette, among other periodicals, provide tips on customs, greetings, business attire, and gift-giving in countries around the world, and a set of 50 quizzes helps readers test their cultural I.Q. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Current Awareness
(For links to additional current awareness on tables of contents, abstracts, preprints, new books, data, conferences, etc., visit the The Scout Report for Business & Economics Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/bus-econ/metapage/).

Working Papers

Federal Reserve Board of Governors:
1999 International Finance Discussion Papers (IFDPs) [.pdf]
http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/pubs/ifdp/1999/default.htm
On the Dynamics of Trade Diversion: Evidence from Four Trade Blocs
http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/pubs/ifdp/1999/637/default.htm
The Current International Financial Crisis: How Much Is New?
http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/pubs/ifdp/1999/636/default.htm

Federal Reserve System:
FRB Atlanta Working Papers 1999 [.pdf]
http://www.frbatlanta.org/publica/work_papers/1999.htm
Efficiency in Index Options Markets and Trading in Stock Baskets
http://www.frbatlanta.org/publica/work_papers/wp99/wp9905.htm
The Effect of Forecast Bias on Market Behavior: Evidence from Experimental Asset Markets
http://www.frbatlanta.org/publica/work_papers/wp99/wp9904.htm

FRB Minneapolis Discussion Papers & Staff Reports[.pdf]
http://research.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/dp/
http://research.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/sr/
Chain of Production as a Monetary Propagation Mechanism
http://research.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/dp/dp130.html
Risk Sharing: Private Insurance Markets or Redistributive Taxes?
http://research.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/sr/sr262.html

FRB New York Staff Reports [.pdf]
http://www.ny.frb.org./rmaghome/staff_rp/1999.htm
International Trade and Factor Mobility: An Empirical Investigation
http://www.ny.frb.org/rmaghome/staff_rp/sr81.html
Purchasing Power Parity: Three Stakes through the Heart of the Unit Root Null
http://www.ny.frb.org/rmaghome/staff_rp/sr80.html
Explaining Inequality the World Round: Cohort Size, Kuznets Curves, and Openness
http://www.ny.frb.org/rmaghome/staff_rp/sr79.html
Are There "Bank Effects" in Borrowers' Costs of Funds? Evidence from a Matched Sample of Borrowers and Banks
http://www.ny.frb.org/rmaghome/staff_rp/sr78.html

FRB Philadelphia 1999 Working Paper Abstracts [.pdf]
http://www.phil.frb.org/econ/wps/1999/1999.html
Exchange Rates, Monetary Policy Regimes, and Beliefs
http://www.phil.frb.org/econ/wps/1999/wp99-6.pdf
Quantitative Asset Pricing Implications of Endogenous Solvency Constraints
http://www.phil.frb.org/econ/wps/1999/wp99-5.pdf

The World Bank Group:
New Ideas in Pollution Regulation (NIPR) Related Papers [.pdf]
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/work_paper/index.htm
Valuing Mortality Reductions in India: A Study of Compensating-Wage Differentials
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/work_paper/wps2078.htm
Tax Deductions, Environmental Policy, and the "Double Dividend" Hypothesis
http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/work_paper/wps2119.htm

International Monetary Fund (IMF):
IMF Staff Country Reports [.pdf]
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/date.cfm
Albania: Staff Report for the Article IV Consultation, Request for the Second Annual Arrangement Under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility, and Request for Augmentation
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3031.0
Trinidad and Tobago Staff Report for the 1999 Article IV Consultation
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3025.0

IMF Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/date.cfm
A Test of the General Validity of the Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem for Trade in the European Community
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3033.0
Economic and Legal Considerations of Optimal Privatization - Case Studies of Mortgage Firms (DePfa Group and Fannie Mae)
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3029.0
Privatization, Social Impact, and Social Safety Nets
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3030.0
Price and Monetary Dynamics Under Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3019.0
Financial Fragility and Economic Performance in Developing Economies: Do Capital Controls, Prudential Regulation and Supervision Matter?
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3018.0
The Georgian Hyperinflation and Stabilization
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3020.0
Survey of Literature on Demand for Money: Theoretical and Empirical Work with Special Reference to Error-Correction Models
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3023.0
Spend Now, Pay Later? Tax Smoothing and Fiscal Sustainability in South Asia
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3021.0
Macroeconomic Conditions and Import Surcharges in Selected Transition Economies
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3022.0

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.nber.org/new.html#latest
The Labor Supply Effects of the Social Security Earnings Test
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7200
Joint Life Annuities and Annuity Demand by Married Couples
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7199
Advances in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Health Interventions
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7198
Monopsonistic Discrimination and the Gender Wage Gap
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7197
International Trade and Factor Mobility: An Empirical Investigation
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7196
Is Globalization Today Really Different than Globalization a Hundred Years Ago?
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7195
Impacts of the Indonesian Economic Crisis: Price Changes and the Poor
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7194
Are the Elderly Really Over-Annuitized? New Evidence on Life Insurance and Bequests
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7193
Asset Location in Tax-Deferred and Conventional Savings Accounts
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7192
Private Pensions, Mortality Risk, and the Decision to Annuitize
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W7191

Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM):
Finance and Development Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/idpm_dp.htm#F_DWP
Micro-Macro Linkages in Financial Markets: The impact of financial liberalisation on access to rural credit in four African countries
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdrp_wp4.htm
The Poor and Their Money
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdrp_wp3.htm
Financial Sector Regulation: The Lessons of the Asian Crisis
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdrp_wp2.htm
Impact Assessment Methodologies for Microfinance: Theory, Experience and Better Practice
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdrp_wp1.htm

Stockholm School of Economics:
Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance (S-WoPEc: SSE/EFI) [.pdf, .ps, .zip]
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/
Financial Markets and Trade Policy
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/abs/hastef0327.htm
Do Foreign Contacts Enable Firms to Become Exporters?
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/abs/hastef0326.htm
Twice Hit - Badly Wounded: The Devastating Cost of an Inadequate Transformation in Moldova
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/abs/hastef0325.htm
Protection and the Dynamics of Productivity Growth: The Case of Automotive Industries in Indonesia
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/abs/hastef0324.htm
[Back to Contents]

Periodicals

Federal Reserve System:
FRB Chicago Economic Perspectives [.pdf]
http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/economicperspectives/index.cfm
FRB Cleveland Economic Trends [.pdf]
http://www.clev.frb.org/research/Et99/0699/index.htm
FRB Dallas Houston Business [.pdf]
http://www.dallasfed.org/htm/pubs/houston.html
FRB Kansas City Economic Review [.pdf]
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/econrev/ermain.htm
FRB Minneapolis The Region
http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/pubs/region/99-06/index.html
FRB New York Current Issues in Economics and Finance [.pdf]
http://www.ny.frb.org/rmaghome/curr_iss/ci5-10.html
FRB San Francisco Economic Letters
http://www.frbsf.org/econrsrch/wklyltr/index.html
The second quarter 1999 Economic Perspectives by the FRB Chicago measures error and quality-adjustment methodologies of the Japanese CPI, analyzes the impact of technology on reemployment, and looks at the challenge of slow work-force growth in the Midwest, among other issues. Fed Cleveland's June 1999 issue of Economic Trends includes articles on monetary policy and interest rates as well as yen exchange rates and cross-generation wealth transfers. Readers may print out individual articles from Economic Trends or view the issue as a whole in portable document format (.pdf). The June 1999 issue of Houston Business from Fed Dallas is available in text or .pdf format and addresses Houston's economic outlook in terms of recent OPEC decision. Kansas City's second quarter 1999 Economic Review questions the usefulness of Taylor rules on monetary policy and the reliability of recession prediction models, among other topics. The Tenth District's Economic Review also summarizes FRB Kansas City's national conference, Equity for Rural America: From Wall Street to Main Street, held October 8-9, 1998, in Denver, Colorado. Fed Minneapolis's latest issue of The Region focuses on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in addition to recent Ninth District research. The June 1999 Current Issues in Economics and Finance includes John Wenninger's article on business-to-business electronic commerce, and the latest Economic Letters from Fed San Francisco looks at supply shocks and the fate of America's Social Security system. [MW]

Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
BIS Review [.pdf]
http://www.bis.org/review/index.htm
Recently released articles and speeches from the BIS Review include Vice President of the European Central Bank Christian Noyer's speech on the EMU and euro as "accelerators" of economic growth in Europe and a look at public confidence on the Year 2000 problem by US Federal Reserve Bank Board of Governors member Roger W. Ferguson at the Second Global Y2K National Coordinators Conference held at the United Nations, June 22, 1999. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Books and Journals

Baker & Taylor
Baker & Taylor Latest Books in Business -- July 1999
http://www.baker-taylor.com/Academia/M07/UBBS/ubbs17.html
Baker & Taylor Latest Books in Economics -- July 1999
http://www.baker-taylor.com/Academia/M07/UBBS/ubbs16.html
Baker & Taylor lists business and economics books published in July 1999. [MW]

Recent National Bureau of Economic Research Books
http://www.nber.org/books.html
Forthcoming and recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) books include The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse: An Integration of Econometric and Behavioral Economic Research, edited by Frank J. Chaloupka, Michael Grossman, Warren K. Bickel, and Henry Saffer, 1999, and Fiscal Institutions and Fiscal Performance, edited by James Poterba and Jurgen von Hagen, 1999, both from the University of Chicago Press. [MW]

Econbase -- Elsevier
http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/econbase/
The abstracts and tables of contents for the following journals are now available online: Economics Letters (Vol 63 No 2), European Economic Review (Vol 43 No 7), Journal of Banking and Finance (Vol 23 No 6), Journal of Development Economics (Vol 59 No 1), Journal of Financial Markets (Vol 2 No 2), Journal of International Economics (Vol 48 No 1), Journal of Public Economics (Vol 72 No 3; Vol 73 No 1), International Journal of Industrial Organization (Vol 17 No 5), Regional Science and Urban Economics (Vol 29 No 4). [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Conferences

World Congress of Cliometrics
http://www.eh.net/Clio/Announcements/WCC.shtml
Members of the Center for Economic History and Theory, Moscow State University, the Cliometric Society, the Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, the European Historical Economics Society, and the Japanese Quantitative Economic History Group, among others, are invited to attend the Fourth World Congress of Cliometrics to be held July 6-9, 2000, in Montreal, Canada. A call for papers has been issued with a submission proposal due date of September 15, 1999, and potential authors may find Cliometric Society membership information, conference contacts, and paper proposal submission forms online. [MW]

Inomics Conference Calls:
Email Conference Alert
http://www.inomics.com/query/alert
Conference Search
http://www.inomics.com/query/conf_search
The economics research service Inomics (described in the June 18, 1998 Scout Report for Business & Economics) includes a conference alert service. Interested parties may specify their interests and receive email notifications of up-coming events, or they may search the Inomics conference database by date, geographic location, or JEL classification. [MW]

Conferences with Econometric Interest
http://www.eur.nl/few/ei/links/#conferences
The Royal Economics Society's Econometrics Journal site lists conferences in econometrics at this Econometric Links section. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Jobs

Job Openings from The Chronicle of Higher Education
Job Openings in Economics
http://chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/sscience/econ/links.htm
Job Openings in Business and Management
http://chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/professional/business/links.htm

Job Openings for Economists (JOE)
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/joe/joe/

Inomics: Job Openings for Economists
http://www.inomics.com/query/job_search
[Back to Contents]

New Data

Census Bureau:
1997 Census of Construction Industries [.pdf]
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cciview1.html
Electrical Contractors
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97c2353a.pdf
Masonry and Stone Contractors
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97c2354a.pdf
New reports to be included in the 1997 Census of Construction Industries are posted at this EC97C Industry Series page. Currently, the Masonry and Stone Contractors and Electrical Contractors reports are present with state and regional-level data. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

1997 Economic Census Manufacturing-Industry Series [.pdf]
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/97ecmani.html
Hat, Cap, and Millinery Manufacturing
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3159a.pdf
Office Machinery Manufacturing
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3333c.pdf
Carbon and Graphite Product Manufacturing
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3359g.pdf
Manufactured Home (Mobile Home) Manufacturing
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3219e.pdf
Vehicular Lighting Equipment Manufacturing
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3363c.pdf
Travel Trailer and Camper Manufacturing
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3362d.pdf
Perishable Prepared Food Manufacturing
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m3119g.pdf
Numerous new reports from among the hundreds to appear in the 1997 Economic Census Manufacturing-Industry Series are posted on an on-going basis at the Manufacturing-Industry Series site. Currently, this data ranges from the production of baseball, straw, and military hats to mobile home, travel trailer, and camper manufacturing and the preparation of perishable foods such as salads, sandwiches, and pizza. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Average Annual Pay by State and Industry, 1997
http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/annpay.toc.htm
Average annual pay levels by industry varied widely across the nation according to this BLS release for 1997, with high average incomes of $49,995 recorded in mining areas and a low average pay of $15,877 recorded in retail trade, an industry largely populated by part-time workers. Regionally, The District of Columbia held the greatest annual pay level at $46,775 in 1997, while South and North Dakota, Montana, Mississippi, and Arkansas retained low annual salaries of $21,645, $22,047, $21,947, $22,772, and $23,268 respectively. Additional comparisons of annual incomes by state and industry for 1996 and 1997 are available at this Average Annual Pay by State and Industry page with four detailed statistical tables. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
USDA Reports Calendars -- July 1999
USDA Agency Reports Calendar
http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/rptcal/jul99tbl.htm
ERS Calendar
http://www.econ.ag.gov/whatsnew/calendar/jul99.htm
NASS Publications Calendar
http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/rpts907.htm
New US Farm Resource Regions
http://www.econ.ag.gov/whatsnew/issues/regions/
USDA summarizes its report releases from various sources (the Economic Research Service, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and the World Agricultural Outlook Board) at these three calendar sites. New to the ERS site is the US Farm Resource Regions page. This Issues Center release includes comparative maps and informs readers on new USDA parameters for farm production statistical areas. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Monthly Energy Review, June 1999 [.pdf]
http://www.eia.doe.gov/mer/
Non-OPEC Fact Sheet
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/nonopec.html
The June 1999 Energy Review provides trends and data on US production, consumption, and net imports by source for all major energy forms. The Non-OPEC Fact Sheet by the EIA compares non-OPEC and OPEC oil data with two graphs depicting oil production and reserves for several of the larger oil-producing non-OPEC countries. According to this new release, the United Kingdom, Norway, Mexico, China, Russia, and United States constitute approximately 60 percent of all non-OPEC oil production and Russia and Mexico hold the largest oil reserves at nearly 50 billion barrels each. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

In The News

Coca-Cola Products Recalled in Europe
(1) Kids Fall Ill After Drinking Coke -- BBC [RealPlayer]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/365000/video/_369684_beale1pm_vi.ram
(2) European Warning Over Coca-Cola -- BBC
http://news2.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/the_company_file/newsid_369000/369684.stm
(3) Coca-Cola in Crisis? -- CNNfn
http://cnnfn.com/news/specials/coke/
(5) "How Coke Stumbled in Handling European Contamination Scare" -- NY Times (Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/coke-europe.html
(6) Anatomy Of A Recall: How Coke's Controls Fizzled Out In Europe -- dowjones.com
http://dowjones.wsj.com/n/SB930656003196536337-d-main-c1.html
(7) "A Taste of the Downside of Going Global" -- washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-06/21/069l-062199-idx.html
(8) The Coca-Cola Company Around the World
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/world/index.html
This week's In the News reports on Coca-Cola product contamination in Belgium. The biggest product recall in Coca-Cola's 113-year history occurred on June 8, 1999 when 40 school children were hospitalized for poison symptoms in Lochristi, Belgium. Coca-Cola brands such as Fanta, Sprite, Nestea, Kinley tonic, Lift, and juice drinks sold under the Minute Maid name were pulled from store shelves in five European nations following the incident, costing the soft-drink giant an estimated $60 million. The company publicly apologized on June 24, but European officials expressed outrage over CEO M. Douglas Ivester's slow response, company allegations of "psychosomatic reactions" among Belgians, poorly constructed press conferences, and other public relations lapses. Coca-Cola Co. attributes the contamination to manufacturing mistakes made in Dunkirk, France where shipping pallets became tainted by the toxic chemical phenol, a corrosive substance frequently used as an antiseptic and disinfectant. The following eight resources provide news analysis and company information regarding this important consumer issue.

The BBC News RealPlayer file Kids Fall Ill After Drinking Coke (1) offers visual footage of product recalls and an audio message on Belgian consumer confidence (2). Additional European analysis of the crisis is archived at the BBC page European Warning Over Coca-Cola (3). CNNfn chronicles the financial effects of the contamination scare on Coca-Cola's second quarter earnings in the special report Coca-Cola in Crisis? (4) with stock quotes and Zacks estimates. "How Coke Stumbled in Handling European Contamination Scare" (5) from nytimes.com and Anatomy Of A Recall: How Coke's Controls Fizzled Out In Europe (6) from dowjones.com look at Coca-Cola's corporate culture and the cross-Atlantic cultural differences that negatively affected public relations over the crisis. The washingtonpost.com article "A Taste of the Downside of Going Global" (7) also looks at cross-cultural differences and the increasing vulnerabilities of large multinational companies. Coca-Cola's corporate site, The Coca-Cola Company Around the World (8), gives a sense of Coca-Cola's immense global reach, complete with industry profiles of softdrink operations in Belgium, France, and Japan. [MW]
[Back to Contents]


Subscription and Contact Information

To subscribe to the Scout Report for Business & Economics, send email to:
listserv@cs.wisc.edu
In the body of the message type:
subscribe SRBUSECON

For subscription options, send email to:
listserv@cs.wisc.edu
In the body of the message type:
query SRBUSECON

Internet Scout team member information

The Scout Report for Business & Economics
Brought to You by the Internet Scout Project

The Scout Report for Business & Economics is published every other Thursday by the Internet Scout Project, located in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Computer Sciences.

Susan Calcari
Rachael E. Bower
Megan Waters
Emily Missner
Travis Koplow
Paul M Schwartz
--
--
--
--
--
--
Director
Managing Editor
Editor
Editor
Production Editor
Webmaster

Below are the copyright statements to be included when reproducing annotations from The Scout Report for Business & Economics.

The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format:

From The Scout Report for Business & Economics, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1999. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing the entire report, in any format:

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1999. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin - Madison or the National Science Foundation.


Internet Scout
A Publication of the Internet Scout Project

Comments, Suggestions, Feedback
Use our feedback form or send email to scout@cs.wisc.edu.

© 1999 Internet Scout Project
Information on reproducing any publication is available on our copyright page.