Strategy

The emphasis will be on understanding how short-termism influences the social fabric of society and the business culture in a number of European countries and the US. To cover the core dimensions, we envisage applying a multi-disciplinary approach calling on a mix of economists, economic historians, sociologists, psychiatrists and psycho sociologists.

Participating researchers will over the project period take part in a series of round-table conferences, commission new research where appropriate, write articles and contribute to a final publication and public seminars.

The aim of the first round-table meeting, due to be held in Stockholm on 16-17 June 2008, is to define the key questions and properly focus the project around three basic levels of analysis:

A. The scope and depth of short-termism: In order to be convincing in this analysis we need clear definitions and indicators that the phenomenon has become more common and that it is in the process of spreading from the Anglo-Saxon countries to other parts of the world.

B. The causes of short-termism: Provided that it has indeed become increasingly common, what factors are there driving it?
– Is there something in the global economy and competition that is influencing it?
– Have there been any changes in ownership structure which are of significance?
– Are company managements themselves behind it and in that case why?
– What role do the analysts play?
– What role do the media play in short-termism?
– Have general cultural factors any significance? A great deal points to the fact that we live in a more rapidly moving society concentrating on immediate gratification.

C. Consequences of short-termism.
– What does the phenomenon imply for companies and owners in the long term? Is it also a threat to profitability?
– How are employees affected in a company characterised by short-termism?
– How does it affect society in general? Does short-termism contribute to the legitimacy crisis faced by capitalism and the demands for regulation?
– Do the authoritarian capitalist states have an advantage by virtue of the fact that they have the opportunity of disregarding short-termism? Now, when we can see that sovereign wealth funds are establishing an increasingly strong presence in the West, what might the consequences of this be?

During 2009 a research team from Bath University, led by Professor Gregory Jackson, will construct an "actor model" aiming at explaining the various agents involved in short-termism. The study will be published in January/February 2010.