组织间模仿能够解释IPO企业的承销商选择行为吗？——基于新制度理论和组织学习理论的分析

不同于以往IPO承销商选择的研究视角,文章基于新制度理论和组织学习理论,研究了组织间模仿对IPO承销商选择行为的影响。以2006-2012年我国中小板IPO事件为研究对象,发现模仿是解释IPO承销商选择的重要因素,并且在IPO企业的承销商选择中同时存在着不同类型的模仿行为。在面临合法性压力时,IPO企业的模仿属于基于频率的模仿,而非模仿领先者;同时,企业的模仿行为也受理性因素的驱动,企业会有选择性的模仿那些已经取得较好成果的行为,并且成果的显著性程度也会对企业的模仿行为产生影响。     

Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of Global Brands: A Boundaryless Responsibility? <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clarifications,Exceptions and Implications</Emphasis>

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly becoming a popular business concept in developed economies. As typical of other business concepts, it is on its way to globalization through practices and structures of the globalized capitalist world order, typified in Multinational Corporations (MNCs). However, CSR often sits uncomfortably in this capitalist world order, as MNCs are often challenged by the global reach of their supply chains and the possible irresponsible practices inherent along these chains. The possibility of irresponsible practices puts global firms under pressure to protect their brands even if it means assuming responsibilities for the practices of their suppliers. Pressure groups understand this burden on firms and try to take advantage of the situation. This article seeks to challenge the often taken-for-granted-assumption that firms should be accountable for the practices of their suppliers by espousing the moral (and sometimes legal) underpinnings of the concept of responsibility. Except where corporate control and or corporate grouping exist, it identifies the use of power as a critical factor to be considered in allocating responsibility in firm–supplier relationship; and suggests that the more powerful in this relationship has a responsibility to exert some moral influence on the weaker party. The article highlights the use of code of conducts, corporate culture, anti-pressure group campaigns, personnel training and value reorientation as possible sources of wielding positive moral influence along supply chains.     

The joint effects of social identity and institutional pressures on audit quality: The case of the Chinese Audit Industry

This article examines how social identity links institutional pressures and audit quality. Combining institutional theory and social identity theory, we theoretically argue that the interaction between social and institutional forces shapes audit quality. Through an analysis of Chinese audit firms from 2000 to 2007, we show that isomorphic imitation has a more significant effect on firms belonging to the same-identity group than firms across cross-identity groups; foreign-affiliated audit firms are more willing to conform to normative pressure from professional networks than local firms; and foreign-affiliated firms are coerced to adapt to the local government’s expectation, particularly when they have a geographically concentrated customer base. We further reveal that a larger customer base attenuates within-identity group imitation but strengthens cross-identity group imitation. The results shed light on the role of social identity in shaping conformity in the audit industry, thus contributing to international convergence–divergence literature and institutional theory.     

New Evidence on Determinants of Intellectual Property Litigation: A Market-Based Approach

Abstract

We contribute to the economic literature on patent litigation by taking a new perspective. In the past, scholars mostly focused on specific litigation cases at the patent level and related technological characteristics to the event of litigation. However, observing intellectual property (IP) disputes suggests that not only technological characteristics may trigger litigation suits, but also the market positions of firms, and that firms dispute not only over single patents but often over portfolios. This paper examines the occurrence of IP litigation cases in Belgian firms using the 2013 Community Innovation Survey with supplemental information on IP litigation and patent portfolios. The rich survey information regarding firms’ general innovation strategies enables us to introduce market-related variables such as sales with new products, as well as sales based mainly on imitation and incremental innovation. Our results indicate that when controlling for firms’ IP portfolios, the composition of sales in terms of innovation and imitation has additional explanatory power regarding litigation propensities. Firms with high sales from innovations are more likely to become plaintiffs in court. Contrastingly, firms with high sales from incremental innovation and imitation are more likely to become defendants in court and, moreover, are more likely to negotiate settlements outside of court.     

IPR protection vs. innovation subsidy: What is the choice for the emerging South?

In this paper, we use a classical variety-expanding growth model to analyze the policy or institutional-arrangement choice for the Southern government who faces the tradeoff between imitating Northern innovation without cost and encouraging domestic innovation. We assume that the Southern government fully respects the principle of non-discrimination and hence treats both imitations, i.e., imitation of Northern innovation and imitation of domestic innovation, equally. For a given state of the economy, we explicitly and uniquely establish an optimal degree of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection for the South. Then, we find that there is a complementary relationship between optimal IPR protection and the innovation subsidy policy, which implies that they form an effective policy mix, hence offering a useful insight for avoiding ineffective policy conflicts widely occurred in real-world economies.     

Market entry into new export markets: When are firms more likely to imitate their competitors’ market presence?

We investigate the extent to which competitors’ presence in a given export market has an impact on a firm's decision to enter such a market and, more precisely, under what conditions imitation is more likely to take place. We show that firms with greater export knowledge are more likely to enter those countries where their competitors are already present. Furthermore, experiential knowledge seems necessary to absorb valuable information provided by the presence of competitors in those markets. Thus, imitation should not be regarded as the option best suited for firms with reduced expertize that follow blindly their competitors into new markets. Through a panel analysis of Brazilian exporters during the 2001–11 period, our study contributes to research on market entry decisions, especially stressing the critical role of prior relevant knowledge in facilitating imitation among players.     

Can socially irresponsible firms benefit from corporate advertising?

Abstract

Can corporate advertising improve firm performance following a brand crisis borne out of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI)? This article investigates socially irresponsible firms and their corporate advertising expenditures, which can be used to counter negative opinions. First, we examine whether firms experiencing a negative brand image due to socially irresponsible behavior alter their corporate advertising expenditures. Next, we assess the resulting impact of corporate advertising spending by CSI firms on overall performance. Using a sample of firms engaging in socially irresponsible behavior between 1995 and 2011, we find that such firms tend to increase their corporate advertising. Such changes in corporate advertising expenditures ultimately impact firm performance. Specifically, an increase in corporate advertising helps to reduce the negative effect of CSI on firm performance.     

Voluntarily Disclosing Prosocial Behaviors in Korean Firms

Instrumental CSR perspectives suggest that selective investments in prosocial, voluntary behaviors are largely profit-driven, whereas institutional theory emphasizes legitimacy-seeking as a significant mechanism for explicit CSR disclosure. We test both profit-seeking and legitimacy-seeking mechanisms, derived from empirical findings of Western-oriented firms, in a unique setting to understand voluntary CSR disclosure in an Eastern context: South Korea. By examining voluntary disclosure of the 500 largest South Korean firms’ social contributions from 2006 to 2012, a time period purposefully encompassing the global financial crisis (GFC), we highlight the limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) theorizing when East meets West. Our findings suggest profitability is not significantly related to voluntary disclosure as predicted by Western, instrumental CSR literature. Overall, we found support for legitimacy-seeking mechanisms as the likelihood of disclosure increased for publicly listed firms and those employing a larger number of workers for all years between 2006 and 2012. Further, firms affiliated with chaebols (Korean business groups) are more likely to disclose prosocial behaviors prior to, and after, the GFC compared to firms that are not affiliated with chaebols regardless of profitability further suggesting that legitimacy-seeking mechanisms may underlie CSR reporting in Korean firms.     

Practice Makes Profit: Business Practices and Firm Success

Which business practices set successful firms apart from others? We address this question using data from an official survey of almost 3000 New Zealand firms. Questions cover: leadership, planning practices, customer and supplier focus, employee practices, quality and process monitoring, benchmarking, community and social responsibility, innovation, IT use, business structure and the competitive environment. Some of these are internal practices reflecting a firm’s resources and capabilities; some are characteristics of the external environment. We find that capital investment choices, R&;D practices, market research and a range of employee practices are positively associated with firm success; industry structure is also a key determinant of success. The association between specific business practices and firm success is mostly independent of firm size, age and industrial sector, other than for export marketing.     

Competitiveness by design and inimitability through service: understanding the dynamics of firm-based competition in the West Midlands jewellery and lock industries

Manufacturing firms located in high-cost production locations have developed a series of complex inimitability strategies in response to intensive competition from low-cost producers. This paper draws upon the resource-based view of the firm to explore inimitability, as a strategy firms deploy in response to imitation. The analysis is based upon in-depth interviews with lock, jewellery and whistle manufacturers located in the West Midlands, UK. Many of these firms have been transformed into niche manufacturers whose competitiveness is based around a process of customisation through a co-production relationship with customers, the delivery of service experiences and a continual process of design-intensive innovation.     

Corporate Codes of Ethics,National Culture,and Earnings Discretion: International Evidence

This study examines the role of codes of ethics in reducing the extent to which managers act opportunistically in reporting earnings. Corporate codes of ethics, by clarifying the boundaries of ethical corporate behaviors and making relevant social norms more salient, have the potential to deter managers from engaging in opportunistic financial reporting practices. In a sample of international companies, we find that the quality of corporate codes of ethics is associated with higher earnings quality, i.e., lower discretionary accruals. Our results are confirmed for a subsample of firms more likely to be engaging in opportunistic reporting behavior, i.e., firms that just meet or beat analysts’ forecasts. Further, codes of ethics play a greater role in reducing earnings management for firms in countries with weaker investor protection mechanisms. Our results suggest that corporate codes of ethics can be a viable alternative to country-level investor protection mechanisms in curbing aggressive reporting behaviors.     

Imitation and rapid internationalization of emerging market firms

By drawing upon imitation research, this study addresses the role peers play in rapid internationalization by emerging market firms (EMFs). We argue that imitation of industry peers’ international expansion accelerates EMFs’ internationalization speed through two mutually reinforcing mechanisms: information-based imitation, which legitimizes similar operations and conveys valuable information; and rivalry-based imitation, which exerts considerable competitive pressure. We find that industry peers’ international expansion is positively related to EMFs’ internationalization speed. Such positive effect is stronger when EMFs lack prior international experience and when industry competitive intensity is strong.     

Socially Responsible Investing: A Critical Appraisal

This paper makes three important points regarding socially responsible investing. First, the current methodology involving SRI fund divestiture of the securities of firms that engage in socially irresponsible activity often results in unacceptable unintended consequences. Second, in many cases the proper methodolgy for SRI funds may be purposely to include the securities of such firms in the portfolio in an effort to internalize socially irresponsible interfirm spillovers. Finally, that SRI fund managers may be able to bond their performance by organizing as closed-end funds subject to takeover and liquidation if the stated socially responsible objectives are not met.     

Horizontal Agreements and R&D Complementarities: Merger versus RJV

We study the decision of two firms within an oligopoly concerning whether to enter into a horizontal agreement to exploit complementarities between their R&D activities and if so, whether to merge or form a research joint venture (RJV). In contrast to horizontal merger and motivated by real-world evidence, we incorporate a probability that an RJV contract will fail to enforce R&D sharing. We find that a horizontal agreement always arises in equilibrium, which is consistent with empirical findings that R&D complementarities between firms positively influence the formation of horizontal agreements. The insiders’ merger/RJV choice involves a trade-off: While merger offers certainty that R&D complementarities will be exploited, it leads to a profit-reducing reaction by outsiders on the product market, where competition is Cournot. Greater contract enforceability (quality) and R&D investment costs both favour RJV. Interestingly, the insiders may choose to merge even when RJV contracts are always enforceable, and they may opt to form an RJV even when the likelihood of enforceability is negligible. We also explore the welfare implications of the firms’ merger/RJV choice.     

FDI expansion speed of state-owned enterprises and the moderating role of market capitalism: Evidence from China

Drawing on an institutional logics perspective and isomorphism viewpoint, we posit that the negative impact of state ownership on the speed of foreign direct investment (FDI) expansion is attributed to the state socialism logic, which is inconsistent with market-oriented mechanisms that underpin rapid international expansion. We further argue that firms associated with the market capitalism logic shape an institutional context in which state-owned enterprises (SOEs) may adjust their behaviors by adopting market-oriented practices to expand quickly in the global market. Using outward FDI project information from Chinese listed firms over a fourteen-year period, we find evidence that confirms our theoretical predictions. Our analysis shows that, despite the negative relationship between state ownership and the speed of an SOE’s FDI expansion, both the non-state economy in the firm’s subnational region and privately owned enterprises in its industry sector positively moderate this relationship. This study enriches our understanding of institutional complexity in emerging markets and internationalization of emerging-market firms.     

Paying for cross-border acquisitions: The impact of prior acquirers’ decisions

By examining the premiums paid by acquiring firms in cross-border acquisitions (CBAs), this study aims to determine why they might rely on prior premium decisions in the host market rather than rigorous assessments of the deal. An information-based imitation framework offers an explanation for foreign acquirers’ premium decisions. The developed hypotheses are tested with 2350 CBAs that occurred during 1995–2008. The results show that the premium paid by acquiring firms in CBAs relates positively to prior premiums paid by foreign acquirers in that host country. This imitation behavior is influenced by both organization- and offering-level characteristics.     

Imitation,performance feedback,and outward foreign direct investments by emerging market firms

Extending the rational-based perspective of imitation, this study investigates how emerging market firms (EMFs) selectively imitate the frequency of outward foreign direct investment from two theoretically connected role models, i.e., large firms in an industry and board-interlocked firms. We posit that large and board-interlocked firms have differential values in endowing legitimacy and providing information because of their differences in terms of visibility to outsiders and value of acquired information. Using performance feedback as a moderator, we also indicate that EMFs performing above aspiration level decrease their imitation of large firms and board-interlocked firms. We also find that EMFs performing below aspiration level are more likely to imitate interlocked firms but less likely to imitate large firms.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in Western Europe: An Institutional Mirror or Substitute?

In spite of extensive research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its link with economic and social performance, few studies have investigated the institutional determinants of CSR. This article draws upon neo-institutional theory and comparative institutional analysis to compare the influence of different institutional environments on CSR policies of European firms. On the basis of a dataset of European firms, we find that firms from the more liberal market economies of the Anglo-Saxon countries score higher on most dimensions of CSR than firms in the more coordinated market economies (CMEs) in Continental Europe. This result lends support to the view of voluntary CSR practices in liberal economies as being a substitute for institutionalized forms of stakeholder participation. Meanwhile, CSR tends not to mirror more institutionalized forms of stakeholder coordination. Instead, in CMEs, CSR often takes on more implicit forms. Our analysis also shows that national institutional and sectoral-level factors have an asymmetric effect – strongly influencing the likelihood of firms adopting ‘minimum standards’ of CSR, but having little influence on the adoption of ‘best practices’.     

Family firms’ identity communication and consumers’ product involvement impact on consumer response

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the image transfer theory and the elaboration likelihood model can provide a theoretical framework capable of assessing the influence of consumers’ product involvement and family firms’ identity communication through websites on consumer responses. This research conducted an experiment using an eye‐tracking technique measuring attention to family and nonfamily corporate websites. The procedure involved 120 participants. Consistent with the image transfer theory, family firms’ identity through websites positively impacts attitude toward the website and intention to buy. Additionally, the attitude toward the website affects the relationship between family firms’ identity through websites and the intention to buy. In line with the elaboration likelihood model, consumers’ product involvement negatively impacts the relationship between family firms’ identity through websites and intention to buy.     

Entrepreneurship and survival over the business cycle: how do new technology-based firms differ?

We investigate the survival performance of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) over the business cycle and compare them against other entrepreneurial firms. Our data comprise the entire population of entrepreneurial firms entering the Swedish economy from 1991 to 2002, which we follow until 2007. Discrete-time duration models are employed to investigate whether the business cycle impacts differently on the survival likelihood of NTBFs vis-à-vis other entrepreneurial firms. Our main findings are three. First, NTBFs generally experience a lower hazard rate compared to other entrepreneurial firms, which is interpreted as a sign of their high ‘quality.’ Second, all entrepreneurial firms are sensitive to and follow a pro-cyclical pattern of survival likelihood over the business cycle. Three, when comparing NTBFs with the broader group of other entrepreneurial firms, we find that NTBFs are more sensitive to business cycle fluctuations. The above results come with a qualification, though. The sensitivity during the business cycle mainly pertains to self-employed NTBFs. Also, NTBFs’ higher survivability is only linked to not being characterized as self-employed.