New Networks of Technological Creation in Energy Industries: Reassessment of the Roles of Equipment Suppliers and Operators

Energy industry companies have succeeded in maintaining and even increasing their production of knowledge during the last 15 years (1985/1998) within a financial context of reducing their in-house R&D expenditures. To understand these apparently paradoxical changes, elements of analysis are sought within an evolutionary framework, and especially referring to the related developments to network-firms, user-supplier relationships, and interactive nature of innovation processes. Empirical data are provided on patents granted to a sample of the top 15 world largest companies, both operators and equipment suppliers, and for the oil production and power generation industries. Interpretation of the results suggests that two dynamics ought to be distinguished. On the one side, dynamics of the networks of technological creation are characterized by a movement upstream of the head of the network towards suppliers. On the other side networks of creation of competitive advantages and bargaining power continue to be based on the operators and their strategies of adaptation to the constraints and opportunities of their institutional, financial and competitive environment.     

Contestability, Complementary Inputs and Contracting: The Case of Harbour Towage

It has been argued that competitive tendering for contracts can be used to overcome problems of natural monopoly and to make markets 'contestable'. The recent Productivity Commission (2002) report into harbour towage in Australia noted the potential benefits of competition for contracts. Using the example of harbour towage, we investigate these claims when competitive tendering involves one segment of a vertical production chain. We show that direct customer contracting will not result in a perfectly contestable outcome if there is a complementary input provider with market power. We consider whether this situation improves when customers delegate the contracting process. Delegation only improves the outcome from the customers' perspective if the authority is able to receive side payments from the towage operators. Such side payments a priori would appear to be against the interests of the customers. We show, however, that side payments help the port authority to overcome the problems of market power, benefiting both the port authority and the customers. Further, these contracting outcomes are socially preferred to the unregulated outcome where port authorities and towage operators set prices and quality independently. This analysis sheds light and generally supports the Productivity Commission's recommendations.     

上市公司财务控制综合模糊评价——基于价值创造的视角

传统的上市公司财务控制及其绩效评价往往以纠偏为主线而展开,财务控制与价值创造之间缺乏必要的联系桥梁.本文以价值管理理论为指导,探讨价值创造与财务控制之间的互动关系,从而构建了基于价值创造的财务控制评价体系,在此基础上,运用层次分析法(AHP)对上市公司创值型财务控制体系进行模糊实证分析.     

The New Division of Labor in the Globalized Economy: Women’s Challenges and Opportunities

The way in which the new international division of labor (NIDL) in the globalized economy affects gender inequalities has not been sufficiently explored yet. The body of literature on commodity chains that has attempted to assess the welfare effects of the NIDL, especially in less developed countries, has paid sparse attention to gender issues. Globalization has entailed the deverticalization of commodity supply chains and the emergence of highly concentrated financial groups and transnational companies linked to a network of firms operating as affiliates and suppliers, namely the global commodity chains. The NIDL could worsen gender inequality, due to the particular organizational strategies in global commodity chains that privilege power, instead of trust and market exchange, as the major form of governance and means for resource allocation. Because women represent the poorest swathe of the world’s population, they suffer the most from the growing wealth inequality and the concentration of power produced by the NIDL. Moreover, because of the traditional sexual division of labor and because of their low status in society, women are the most harshly exploited subjects in the system. The general conclusion of the paper is that in the NIDL the main means of resource allocation are not competitive markets, as often suggested by the GCV literature and mainstream economics, but are instead power relations that ultimately stem from the patriarchal culture of violence and domination.     

创业板上市企业社会责任履行对创新绩效的影响

企业社会责任与创新绩效之间的关系是社会责任研究领域一个备受关注的话题。创业板上市企业履行社会责任不但可以得到公众认可,还可以从各利益相关者处获得提升创新绩效不可或缺的资源。以创业板上市企业为样本,研究二者之间的关系。结果表明:(1)就货币层社会责任而言,创业板上市企业履行对股东的社会责任正向影响创新技术绩效和创新财务绩效,而履行对债权人的社会责任正向影响创新技术绩效但影响不显著,且负向影响创新财务绩效;(2)就人力层社会责任而言,创业板上市企业履行对员工的社会责任正向影响创新技术绩效、负向影响创新财务绩效,就社会层社会责任而言,创业板上市企业履行对顾客的社会责任负向影响创新技术绩效、正向影响创新财务绩效,履行对政府的社会责任正向影响创新技术绩效但影响不显著,且负向影响创新财务绩效,履行对供应商的社会责任负向影响创新技术绩效、正向影响创新财务绩效。     

出力不确定下基于保险机制的风电供应链 最优交易决策

随着新一轮电力体制改革的日益推进,参与电力市场竞争是消纳风电等可再生能源的必经之路。由于风电出力受风速等自然条件影响,出力具有较强不确定性,导致其实际出力难以预测,使得风电商参与电力市场面临巨大的收益风险。合理地转移风电商的市场风险,引入有效的风险规避机制,对提高风电商收益稳定性具有重要意义。因此本文基于电量损失保险机制,建立了风电商、售电公司以及保险公司的Stackelberg博弈模型,通过逆向递归法求解纳什均衡,分析保险费率与市场三方利润之间的关系,得出市场主体风电商、售电公司以及保险公司的最优交易决策。最后通过具体算例分析验证得出,引入电量保险机制,制定适当的保险费率,能够使风电商、售电公司以及保险公司三方利益实现共赢。     

中国传媒产业的市场势力与规模经济——基于NEIO范式的实证研究

新经验产业组织分析（NEIO）是研究产业竞争性行为与绩效关系的一种实证范式。本文以目前传媒上市公司相关数据作为取样对象,运用NEIO模型重点分析保持产品差异前提下的市场势力和规模经济。结果显示：中国的传媒业上市公司存在显著的市场势力;在考虑企业之间生产差异率时,传媒产业上市公司显著地规模不经济;在考虑多年改制而带来的技术进步时,企业呈现出比较显著的规模经济效益。     

The New Division of Labor in the Globalized Economy: Women’s Challenges and Opportunities

The way in which the new international division of labor (NIDL) in the globalized economy affects gender inequalities has not been sufficiently explored yet. The body of literature on commodity chains that has attempted to assess the welfare effects of the NIDL, especially in less developed countries, has paid sparse attention to gender issues. Globalization has entailed the deverticalization of commodity supply chains and the emergence of highly concentrated financial groups and transnational companies linked to a network of firms operating as affiliates and suppliers, namely the global commodity chains. The NIDL could worsen gender inequality, due to the particular organizational strategies in global commodity chains that privilege power, instead of trust and market exchange, as the major form of governance and means for resource allocation. Because women represent the poorest swathe of the world’s population, they suffer the most from the growing wealth inequality and the concentration of power produced by the NIDL. Moreover, because of the traditional sexual division of labor and because of their low status in society, women are the most harshly exploited subjects in the system. The general conclusion of the paper is that in the NIDL the main means of resource allocation are not competitive markets, as often suggested by the GCV literature and mainstream economics, but are instead power relations that ultimately stem from the patriarchal culture of violence and domination.     

The German Charitable Welfare System: A Criticism from the Viewpoint of Ordnungspolitik

Charitable social welfare care constitutes the market-leader in the provision of social services. Neocorporatist structures have resulted in the latter's exceptional situation. They are characterized by a preferential position in certain circumstances compared to commercial suppliers, cartel agreements which enjoy partial legal legitimacy, financial dependence on the state, as well as a say in social policy planning. Criticism from the viewpoint of Ordnungspolitik maintains a failure of internal and external controls, and above all of competitive structures. Possible starting points for a reform may be founded on the guarantee of equal opportunities and of non-discrimination against commercial suppliers. The governmental monopsonistic power should be removed by a decentralization of bargaining. In addition to this, the position of those having a right to such services needs to be strengthened by greater individual assistance combined with monetary allocations.     

European Alliance and Knowledge Networks1

This paper presents an exploratory exercise to characterize the nature of inter-organizational networks and the strategic positioning of companies in five industrial sectors: pharmaceuticals, plastics, computers, electronics and instruments. Two types of networks in each sector are analysed: knowledge networks based on patent citations and technology alliance networks based on strategic partnerships. Three sets of results with significant policy and strategy implications underline both the need for better understanding of the social/competitive context within which companies operate and the utility of social network analysis in achieving this goal. First, apparent differences in the networking behaviour in ‘simple technology’ sectors (pharmaceuticals) vis-à-vis networking behaviour in ‘complex technology’ sectors (computers, electronics and instruments) are indicated. Second, a difference between knowledge and alliance networks across all examined sectors is pointed out in terms of their effectiveness as channels of knowledge communication. Third, apparent differences in the competitive positioning of European firms and firms from the United States and Japan in the examined sectoral knowledge networks may reveal significant variance in inter-continental business strategy.     

Intraday hedging with financial options: the case of electricity

As market intermediaries, electricity suppliers purchase electricity from the wholesale market or self-generate to deliver their customers. However, electricity suppliers are uncertain about how much electricity their residential customers will use at any hour of the day until they actually turn switches on. While demand uncertainty is a common feature of all commodity markets, suppliers generally rely on storage to manage it. Singularly, electricity suppliers are exposed to joint volumetric and price risk on an hourly basis given the physical attributes of electricity. In the literature on electricity markets, few articles compare the efficiency of forward contracts, options and physical assets (i.e. power plants) within intraday hourly hedging portfolios, whereas electricity markets are precisely hourly markets. We analyse portfolios made of forwards, options and/or power plants for specific hourly clusters (9 am, 12 pm, 18 pm, 9 pm) based on electricity market data from 2013 to 2015 from the integrated German–Austrian spot market. Through a VaR model, we prove that intraday hedging with forwards is structurally inefficient compared to financial options and physical assets, no matter the cluster hour. Moreover, our results demonstrate the contribution of ‘out of the money’ options for all hours within volatile spot markets.     

供应商关系的公司价值鉴证效应

文章以中国制造业上市公司为研究对象,考察了外部审计鉴证是否可以替代内部关系治理来提升供应商关系的价值创造效应。研究发现,紧密的供应商关系显著提升了公司的价值,同时也降低了企业对高质量审计鉴证服务的需求,但这种需求的降低并没有弱化供应商关系对公司价值的提升作用,说明内部关系治理与高质量审计鉴证服务存在替代效应。同时,随着外部制度环境的改善,上述替代效应会减弱。文章为理解外部审计鉴证与以关系治理为主要特征的转型经济社会中的关系网络如何联合影响公司价值创造提供了更为直接的经验证据,从外部审计鉴证的视角进一步丰富和拓展了关系型交易影响公司价值的研究文献。     

Subcontractors for tractors: Theory and evidence on flexible specialization,supplier selection,and contracting

Buyer–Seller networks are pervasive in developing economies yet remain relatively understudied. Using primary data on contracts between the largest tractor assembler in Pakistan and its suppliers we find large variations in prices and quantities across suppliers of the same product. Surprisingly, “tied” suppliers – those that choose higher levels of specific investments – receive lower and more unstable orders and lower prices. These results are explained by developing a simple model of flexible specialization under demand uncertainty. A buyer faces multiple suppliers with heterogeneous types to supply customized parts. Specific investments raise surplus within the relationship but lower the seller's flexibility to cater to the outside market. Higher quality suppliers have a greater likelihood of selling outside and so this cost is greater for them. Therefore even if a buyer typically prefers high types, some low type suppliers might be kept as marginal suppliers because of their greater willingness to invest more in buyer-specific assets. Further empirical examination shows that the more tied suppliers are indeed of lower quality.     

The role of intermediaries on technological risk management and business development performance in Korea

This paper examines the strategic use of intermediaries by companies to better meet their technology needs from the resource-based theory and network theory perspectives. The results of this study are based on a sample of Korean IT companies and indicate the particular importance of cooperation with government support organizations and public R&D institutions in building relational assets. Intermediaries played a crucial role in enabling and facilitating joint development projects and promoting technology transfer among the companies in general.The results of this study suggest that intermediaries, as they are linked to other organizations within networks and are centrally situated within those networks where information and resource flow, can coordinate and control the exchange of information and resources within networks and enjoy timely and privileged access to such information, giving them the means to expand their strategic social capital.     

Regulating Public Transit Networks: How do Urban‐Intercity Diversification and Speed‐up Measures Affect Firms’ Cost Performance?

Abstract Empirical studies on the cost structure of Public Transit Networks are mainly based on specialized firms providing urban or intercity services. In this study we estimate a translogarithmic variable cost function to assess the behaviour of returns to scale and the impact of network characteristics. The analysis is based on a sample of 45 Italian municipal companies observed from 1996 to 1998 and including both specialized and mixed transit operators. Results confirm previous evidence on the existence of natural monopoly in the industry and support a regulation introducing competitive tenders to access to the market. In addition, we provide insights about the advantages associated with urban‐intercity diversification and with the improvement of network commercial speed. Cost benefits can then be achieved by promoting mergers between neighbouring firms, so as to create new companies operating on integrated local networks and supplying in combination urban and intercity public transport. Implications of such a strategy for the design of tender mechanisms are also underlined, together with the need for a regulatory policy which takes more care of speed‐up measures.     

Regulations and Technology Diffusion: Cross Subsidies and Digital Infrastructure Creation

Using contemporary historical data, the analysis has examined the impact of cross‐subsidization on technology diffusion within telecommunications networks for local exchange sector telecommunications firms in the United States for the years 1995 to 2000. Firms obtaining greater cross‐subsidies engage in greater technology diffusion via network modernization using digital technologies. Contingent on the institutional setting, cross subsidies have risen. These amounts have been put to relevant use in the diffusion of technology via deployment of digital infrastructure. The principles of subsidization are considered negatively as they have presumed anti‐competitive consequences. In technology diffusion they have played a positive role, as the evidence shows. From a radical subjectivist perspective, cross subsidies generate financial capital for firms, which permits them to deploy high quality technology investments such as broadband and these investments can be used for entrepreneurial experiments in providing several customer services.     

Retailer power: recent developments and policy implications

It is common, but incorrect, to view retailing as a highly competitive activity. Unlike manufacturing, retailing has displayed a trend towards much higher concentration, reinforced by actions of retailers themselves, such as emphasis on own-label brands. This may introduce distortions arising from exercise of market power or may create countervailing power to that already enjoyed by manufacturers. Acknowledging increased market power within retailing raises new issues for competition authorities. We develop a consistent framework of analysis and use it to examine two issues: attitudes to retail mergers and exclusivity arrangements between retailers and their suppliers.     

Financial conservatism fosters job creation during economic crises

ABSTRACT

This article aims to analyse the phenomenon of financial conservatism in firms’ capital structures and relate it to their employment variation for a sample of Spanish companies during the 2008–2013 period, characterized by a sharp crisis and very high unemployment rates. Financial conservatism is described as following a low-leverage/high cash no-short-term capital structure policy. We use the noisy selection model that relates growth, age, and size, to which we add a dummy indicating financial conservatism. As the growth of a company is measured as its number of employees’ variation, we are ultimately analysing how financial conservatism affects job creation. The objective of this work is to stress the advantages of a financially conservative policy as the evidence shows that such a policy at a given enterprise is a positive factor for job creation, which in Macroeconomics terms means an improvement in economy’s employment. The average conservative company more likely to foster job creation is a small company belonging to the industry or services sector.     

The labour market effects of offshoring of small and medium-sized firms: micro-level evidence for Germany

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the economic powerhouse of many OECD countries (perhaps most prominently so in Germany). Yet, the labour market dynamics caused by the internationalization of their production activities are largely unexplored. We use survey-based micro-level data for Germany to explore the employment effects of offshoring of SMEs, relying on propensity score matching and difference-in-difference analysis. We find evidence for a downsizing effect in the immediate aftermath of offshoring whereas, initially, job creation is not spurred. In the medium run, we find evidence for a slowing down of employment dynamics of offshoring firms (that tend to belong to the better performing SMEs in Germany) relative to non-offshoring firms. Even though our results do not point to a net employment loss in the medium run, our evidence suggests that offshoring may lead to less jobs being created. This conclusion cannot be confirmed for large companies.     

Environmental issues as threats and opportunities for technological innovation

In this article we deal with how large chemical corporations perceive and handle threats and opportunities deriving from environmental problems. We suggest that coalitions or networks are a useful way to analyse the dynamics of the links between separate aspects of the business. A differentation is made between production, innovation and strategy networks. Networks transcend firm boundaries and an analytical distinction is made between networks that remain inside and those external to the corporation. We concentrate on strategy formulation and implementation and on the role of intra-organizational structures. In a pilot study, we interviewed key persons in five chemical companies in the USA and in The Netherland. Conclusions are that firms increasingly adjust their strategies, that this leads to organizational changes; and that environmental, safety and health (ESH) units play some role in this strategy reformulation by becoming part of networks inside the corporation. Some suggestions for further research are given.