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The materials included in this column were selected on the basis of an item by item review of all government publications received at a major depository library. Emphasis is placed on tools of a reference format, although much else that the Federal government publishes is otherwise of high referral value. Publications not in a reference format, in the strictest sense, are included when their potential value dictates; brief entries for “how to” items and informative pamphlets are also given if deemed potentially useful, particularly for school and public libraries and wherever the identification of vertical file materials is the responsibility of the public service librarian.

“A knowledge of different literatures is the best way to free one's self from the tyranny of any of them.” Jose Marti, Cuban writer, poet and statesman.

THE VAST PORTIONS of land south of the United States, commonly known as Latin America, form a political, social and cultural structure which—with very few exceptions—owes its singularity to its spiritual ties with Spain and Portugal. Although sharp social and cultural contrasts among the Latin American nations do exist, the Spanish language is a formidable link which has helped to overcome many differences. Latin American literature, despite its very distinctive voices, proclaims in unison a literary wealth which ignores political and geographic boundaries. The development of modern Latin American literature springs from the modernista movement, which roughly spans the period between the late 1880's and the 1930's. The Nicaraguan Rubén Darío (1867–1916) is considered the focal point of this new literary school which led to “the discovery of the emotional life made by the romantic, the almost professional awareness of what literature and its latest fashions are” and “the pride of belonging to an Hispanic American generation which, for the first time, is able to specialize in art”. By the time Latin American literature reached European and North American shores during the late 1920's, a vigorous regionalist novel developed. Its basic themes were played against the background of the Argentinian pampa, the Venezuelan plains, the Andean mountains, the villages of revolutionary Mexico or the jungle of Brazil. In essence, this literature was concerned more with nature than with the social and cultural realities of city life. Writers sought to present exotic materials to the urban dwellers.

This study aims to advance an international political economy (IPE) perspective that geo-political events can have long-lasting imprint effects on countries and their firms. The study also aims to explore the idea that shared political history and geography combine to create specific structural conditions that shape the international competitiveness of all firms in a region. In particular, the authors consider whether the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which asserted American influence in the Western Hemisphere, contributed to the creation of institutional structures across Latin America (LA) affecting the strategies of all firms to this day. The authors also illustrate the IPE perspective using the example of the contemporary international competitiveness of LA business groups.

The authors illustrate the IPE perspective using the example of the contemporary international competitiveness of LA business groups. The exploratory framework of this study leads to a proposition about the export performance of Latin American business group affiliates. The authors use firm-level performance data for 32,000 firms across emerging economies to explore the proposition empirically while controlling for alternative explanations. To do this, the authors draw on the World Bank Economic Surveys.

The authors derive a proposition that argues the Monroe Doctrine has had a long-run imprint effect on economic policymaking in LA, resulting in a common, persistent and negative impact on the international competitiveness of firms. The authors find strong and consistent evidence that in terms of export performance, all Latin American firms export less and group affiliates do not outperform independent firms, This finding contrasts with the results for all the other emerging market regions around the world.

The main contribution of this study has been to suggest the potential importance of shared regional geopolitical history and geography in explaining firm-level outcomes. However, this study is preliminary and introductory, although the authors seek to control for alternative country-specific explanations of the results. The analysis considers the effects of one particular IPE phenomenon, the Monroe Doctrine, in one particular location: LA. Future work should seek to contrast LA with other geopolitical security and alternative IPE structures. They might also address the time dimension from a historical perspective: is imprinting in LA driven by the length of the Monroe Doctrine arrangements?

The most important managerial learning point concerns the relevance of geography and political economy factors for multinational enterprises strategy formation. There is widespread understanding that context is an important determinant of subsidiaries’ performance, and that strategies need to be constructed to take account of country-specific characteristics, most importantly, in emerging economies and institutional arrangements. This paper proposes that managers also need to take account of IPE structures, including security arrangements, and to consider the resulting regional as well as national context.

The analysis suggests that not only the performance of firms, including emblematic firms, but also the socially beneficial spillovers that might be generated from them, are contingent on the regional as well as national characteristics. Thus, business groups in most emerging economies are found to yield better performance and to provide higher levels of social impact, including concerning ESG goals. However, the findings of this study suggest that the former is not true for LA, which, the authors argue, is a consequence of imprinting as a result of the Monroe Doctrine. Further work is needed to establish whether the latter effect is also not true, but if that is the case, then regionally specific policies may be required to address the resulting corporate social shortfalls.

The core idea is that geo-political events can have long-lasting imprint effects on countries and their firms: that shared political history and geography create specific structural conditions that shape the international competitiveness of all firms in a region. The authors explore this concept with reference to the Monroe Doctrine, asking whether its assertion of US influence across the Americas contributed to the creation of institutional structures across LA affecting the strategies of all firms to this day.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating influence of communication satisfaction on the association between individual‐job congruence and both job performance and job satisfaction.

Moderated regression analysis was used to assess data collected from 302 employees addressing the research variables of job scope, growth need strength, satisfaction with communication, job performance, and job satisfaction.

Satisfaction with communication received weak support as a moderator of the individual‐job congruence model; nevertheless, it received strong support as a main predictor of both performance and satisfaction.

Low statistical power frequently reflected by moderated regression analysis may explain the weak support communication satisfaction received as a moderator. Different approaches for solving the presence of low power are discussed. On the other hand, the elusive venture of promoting and experiencing satisfaction with communication has been detected and the need for exploring the possible curvilinear effects of specific communication dimensions and organizational constructs on communication satisfaction is introduced.

Variables associated with human interaction may be dysfunctional at both extremes. For example, upward communication might have favorable and unfavorable consequences on satisfaction with communication. Thus, dealing with communication satisfaction may necessitate the adoption of a contingency approach.

The uniqueness of this research lies in its effort of exploring the moderating impact of communication satisfaction on the job characteristics model. The results encourage future research endeavors and particular management practices.

The aim of this paper is to assess the validity of the self-enhancement tactician perspective, which proposes that workers inflate their self-ratings regardless of their national culture, while exploring the nature of self-ratings in Mexico.

Structural equation modeling and t tests were applied to data collected from a sample of 300 employees randomly selected from a manufacturing company in Mexico. The data collected include self-performance ratings, employees’ expected evaluations from supervisors, evaluations by supervisors and a pay-per-performance measure.

The results provide general support to the self-enhancement tactician model, showing that self-rating is inflated and that supervisory rating constitutes the best predictor of employees’ performance.

Based on previous research findings, it was presumed that Mexican workers participating in this investigation reflected collectivistic-oriented traits. Future research projects investigating the universality of the self-enhancing tactician model may strengthen the validity of the results by including an independent measure of culture. People living in a predominantly collectivistic society are not necessarily collectivists.

When self-ratings and supervisory ratings were compared to the objective measure of performance, supervisory ratings emerged as the most reliable and reasonable predictor. This finding may assist practitioners as they try to make strategic decisions regarding the evaluation of employees’ performance.

The unique comparison of self-ratings and supervisor ratings with an objective measure of performance constitutes one significant element in this investigation. The findings encourage future research efforts and particular performance evaluation practices.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

The purpose of this paper is to examine patterns and determinants of trade among developing countries (South‐South trade), with emphasis on the role of production sharing in global economic integration of the Southern economies.

The paper begins with an analytical narrative of the emerging trends and patterns of South‐South trade using a classification system that helps delineating trade based on global production sharing (network trade) from total recorded trade. Then it undertakes a comparative econometric analysis of the determinants of South‐South and South‐North trade using the standard gravity model.

The share of South‐South trade in world trade has shown a significant increase over the past two decades. This increase has predominantly come from the dynamic East Asian countries, reflecting their growing engagement in global production sharing. The growth dynamism of East‐Asia centered production networks depends heavily on demand for final (assembled) goods in the Northern markets; South‐South trade is largely complementary to, rather than competing with, South‐North trade. While regional trading agreements (RTAs) could play a role at the margin, natural economic forces associated with growth and structural change in the economy and the overall macroeconomic climate as reflected in the real exchange rate, and the quality of trade related logistics are far more important in the expansion of South‐South network trade.

This is the first study to examine patterns and determinants of South‐South trade paying attention to the role of global production sharing. The findings are valuable for informing the contemporary policy debate on promoting South‐South trade. The trade data classification system developed here is expected to help further research on this subject.

This paper explores the health rights of prisoners as defined in international law, and the mechanisms that have been used to ensure the rights of persons in detention to realise the highest attainable standard of health. It examines this right as articulated within United Nations and regional human rights treaties, non‐binding or so‐called soft law instruments from international organisations and the jurisprudence of international human rights bodies. It explores the use of economic, social and cultural rights mechanisms, and those within civil and political rights, as they engage the right to health of prisoners, and identifies the minimum legal obligations of governments in order to remain compliant with human rights norms as defined within the international case law. In addressing these issues, this article adopts a holistic approach to the definition of the highest attainable standard of health. This includes a consideration of adequate standards of general medical care, including preventative health and mental health services. It also examines the question of environmental health, and those poor conditions of detention that may exacerbate health decline, disease transmission, mental illness or death. The paper examines the approach to prison health of the United Nations human rights system and its various monitoring bodies, as well as the regional human rights systems in Europe, Africa and the Americas. Based upon this analysis, the paper draws conclusions on the current fulfilment of the right to health of prisoners on an international scale, and proposes expanded mechanisms under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment to monitor and promote the health rights of prisoners at the international and domestic levels.

A relatively new and spontaneous organisational form, simply referred to as Bank Networks or Communities of Practice (CoPs)(informal groups of professional workers who share similar interests and goals), have emerged in the past few years at the Inter‐American Development Bank (IDB). They are complementing the existing structures and enhancing knowledge exchange and organisational learning. These Bank Networks position the Institution in an optimal situation to explore to a greater extent the benefits of knowledge exchange and leveraging of institutional knowledge. The article examines, evaluates and gives the main findings of an empirical study of the nature, structure and activities carried out by the existing Bank’s Communities of Practice. Some ideas as to whether organisations should be supporting and encouraging the formation and development of Communities of Practice, and whether and how their proliferation should be fostered, are offered for consideration.