Performance In France Research Articles

Measuring Corporate Social Performance in France: A Critical and Empirical Analysis of ARESE Data

This article studies the idea of Corporate Social Performance (CSP) from a critical perspective using empirical elements derived from analysis of year 2000 ARESE data. ARESE is the French first mover social rating agency providing quantified data about the Social Performance of French companies. The paper starts out by reviewing leading CSP models and discussing problems inherent to the measurement of this construct before going on to present and analyse ARESE data - whose suitability for existing models will be discussed.

Economic Performance in France, Germany and the United Kingdom: 1997–2002

We assess the performance of France, Germany and the United Kingdom over the period 1997-2002. Gross and net output per hour worked are considerably lower in the UK than in France and Germany. GDP in France and the UK have grown at the same rates over the period although real national income in the UK has grown considerably faster than in France. Seen from the supply side, French growth is substantially attributable to growth in total factor productivity while in the UK factor inputs are more important. There is, nevertheless, a concern that, at the margin, UK growth may be depreciation-intensive and therefore of poor quality. Germany's growth has been slow because productive inputs have grown only slowly and its weak performance is probably structural rather than cyclical. There does seem to be room for substantial increases in labour input in both France and Germany to be achieved through reform to labour market conditions such as tax rates on low paid workers.

Immigrant Adjustment in France and Impacts on the Natives

The purpose of this paper is to study the immigrant performance in France and the impacts on the natives by drawing on research findings from the existing academic literature on the economics of French migration. The research questions are: how do immigrants fare with respect to wages, employment, and occupational choices; are immigrants in competition with the natives, and do they harm or improve the labour market situation of natives; does the presence of immigrants alter the internal migration flows of natives; and what is the role of the business cycle and natives' sentiments on the immigrant flows? The studies reviewed showed that while some immigrant groups are faring well, assimilation and intergenerational mobility has not taken place to a full extent. Overall, immigrants hardly affect the wages and employment levels of natives, and there are no significant displacement effects. However, the social and cultural distance between immigrants and natives is crucial in natives' sentiments. Moreover, business cycles and labour market conditions play a significant role on migration. In France of 2000, there remains a significant gap between policy goals and outcomes, indicating that integration through cultural and political venues alone is not enough but should be combined with a systematic treatment of the needs of the labour market. Lastly, there is substantial need for further studies on immigrants in France.

Last Acts: The Operas of Puccini and His Italian Contemporaries from Alfano to Zandonai

1. One of the main problems was that Wagner did not believe in the old proverb “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” The ballet was a very important feature of every opera, but the box holders, who found it diYcult to be on time, wanted it in act 2, so they could enjoy it and make their assignations with their favorite ballerinas. Wagner refused to put the ballet in act 2, feeling (quite rightly) that it fitted in much better in act 1. The Jockey Club organized anti-Wagner riots, and Tannhauser had to be withdrawn after three performances. 2. Huebner quotes d’Indy’s description of this glorious period: “Wagner had helped bring about regeneration in the decadent ‘periode judaique’ that had reigned in French music, of which Meyerbeer was a prime example” (p. 308). But Huebner fails to refute the comment, which he could easily have done by bringing up the fact that none of the other successful composers of the period (Auber, Adam, Thomas, and Gounod) were Jewish. 3. One of the aspects of Parisian opera life that has always bothered me is the failure of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda to obtain a staging in Paris, even to this day. While Huebner does not actually go into this, no discussion is really necessary. Successful as it was in southern Europe, Latin America, and the United States, La Gioconda is one of the most Meyerbeerian and least Wagnerian of all latenineteenth-century Italian operas. Is it any wonder that it was not given in Paris in view of the prevailing atmosphere? 4. Lohengrin had already reached Vienna in 1858 (eight years after its premiere), Berlin in 1859, Rotterdam in 1862, St. Petersburg in 1868, Brussels in 1870, New York and Bologna in 1871, London in 1875, Rome in 1878, Nice (its first performance in France) and Madrid in 1881, and Lisbon, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro in 1883. Other works by Wagner, such as Tristan and Die Meistersinger, present a similar history. By comparison, Lohengrin took thirty-seven years to reach Paris, at which time it was given at a lesser theater (the Eden), and another four years to reach the Opera, making it one of the last major world capitals to have a successful staging of any Wagner opera. 5. The numbers of performances were obtained from Stephane WolV, L’opera au Palais Garnier, 1875–1962: Les oeuvres, les interpretes (Paris: Slatkine, 1983).

The Effects of Profit-sharing Schemes on Enterprise Performance in France

France has one of the most extensive sets of legislative provisions in favour of profit-sharing and one-third of all non-government employees are covered by at least one subsidised scheme. Subsidised, regulated schemes include statutory profit-sharing (participation), which is compulsory in all firms with 50 employees or more, and voluntary profit-sharing (interessement). This paper assesses the effects of voluntary profit-sharing on total factor productivity in small and large firms and the importance of the technological context in which the schemes are implemented. A production function is estimated on a representative, five year unbalanced panel of around 5000 French firms a year in industry and services, controlling for market power, skills and pay levels. Voluntary profit-sharing is found to significantly increase total factor productivity and to affect the shape of the technology. The effect of the voluntary scheme is greater in firms also required to have a statutory scheme. In these larger firms,...

Regional government and performance in France

Regional government and performance in France

A Low Cost Tool for Freeway Ramp Metering

Local, traffic-responsive ramp metering is a wellknown control measure aiming at ameliorating traffic conditions on interurban or metropolitan freeways and motorways. A particular control strategy (ALINEA), the only local ramp metering strategy to be based on rigorous application of classical regulator theory, is presented, along with a low cost implementation concept. Field application of ALINEA and evaluation of its performance in France and The Netherlands confirm its clear superiority as compared to other popular approaches.

On Hauptmann's ‘The Weavers’ (1893)

Born in 1846, Franz Mehring as a young man was a follower of Ferdinand Lassalle, who in 1863 had organized Germany's first socialist party. As well as establishing a reputation as a journalist with his contributions to many liberal and democratic newspapers, Mehring was awarded his doctorate at Leipzig University in 1881 for his dissertation on the history and teachings of German social democracy. In his mid-forties he embraced Marxism and in 1891 joined the German Social Democratic Party, soon emerging as the intellectual leader of its left wing. He became editor of the Leipziger Volkszeitung and wrote prolifically for Die Neue Zeit and other radical journals on history, politics, philosophy, and literature. His book The Lessing Legend, published in 1893, is regarded as the first sustained attempt at Marxist literary criticism. His major biography of Karl Marx appeared in 1918, the year before his death. Completed in 1891, The Weavers was accepted for performance by the Deutsches Theater but was rejected by the Berlin censor as ‘a portrayal which specifically instils class hatred’. The first production of the play, discussed by Mehring below, was possible only because the Freie Bühne was a subscription society. In October 1893 a further private performance was given at the Neue Freie Volksbühne, followed by seven more in December at the Freie Volksbühne, where Franz Mehring was chairman. By now, the Prussian State censor had overruled his Berlin subordinate and The Weavers received its public premiere at the Deutsches Theater on 25 September 1894. On each occasion Hauptmann's play was greeted with great enthusiasm by the public, but found no favour with the Imperial family who indignantly cancelled their regular box at the Deutsches Theater. Subsequently The Weavers was banned from public performance in France, Austria, Italy, and Russia. Mehring's article appeared originally in Die Neue Zeit, XI, No. I (1893). Its translation in NTQ forms part of an occasional series on early Marxist dramatic criticism, which already includes Trotsky on Wedekind (NTQ28) and Lunacharsky on Ibsen (NTQ39). EDWARD BRAUN

French Melodrama: Theory of a Specific History

Melodrama marks a shift in the conception of theatrical performance in France. This redefinition of theatre apart from the classical tradition begins around 1770 and comes into full force by the turn of the nineteenth century. As we shall explore later, this shift is marked by three types of changes: transformations of form, reference, and audience. By the mid-nineteenth century the melodrama is beginning to serve as the prototype for the Romantic theatre, to which, in a sense, it cedes its place. Only in one sense, though; for Romantic theatre can be seen as a permutation of melodrama, as Peter Brooks suggests in The Melodramatic Imagination:

Specific Performance in France and Germany

Specific Performance in France and Germany