Structural and strategic dynamics in franchising

In this paper we examine the changes in ownership patterns of franchise systems as they mature. We compare the predictions made by three alternative theories within the context of the fast food industry. Signaling theory predicts that franchise systems will move toward a greater reliance on franchised outlets as systems mature, while resource acquisition theory (or as it is sometimes known, ownership redirection thesis) predicts a tendency in the opposite direction. A third theoretical perspective, tapered integration or plural forms, suggests a tendency toward maintaining a steady state of mixed distribution. Results indicate that although franchisors value the benefits of the mix of ownership types and do maintain that mix over time, there is some evidence of a greater tendency to permanently convert existing franchised outlets to company-owned outlets as fast food systems mature and gain greater access to resources.     

The Determinants of Successful Micro-IPOs: An Analysis of Issues Made under the Small Corporate Offering Registration (SCOR) Procedure

In this article we extend the existing IPO literature to the case of micro-IPOs by analyzing a sample of Small Corporate Offering Registration (SCOR) documents from the U.S. state of Washington. Through theory, we identified variables that should impact the probability of success or failure in a SCOR offering and then empirically tested them. Empirical support was found for the relevance of (1) marketing mechanisms and expenses; (2) ownership and governance factors; (3) business life cycle stages; and (4) signaling factors consistent with our theoretical predictions.     

Foreign Ownership and the Extensive Margins of Exports: Evidence for Manufacturing Enterprises in Germany

We examine how foreign ownership of a firm affects the variety of goods that the firm exports and the number of countries it trades with. We construct a simple theoretical model of how foreign ownership may affect these extensive margins of exports and take this model to data from Germany, one of the leading actors on the world market for goods. In line with theoretical predictions we find that foreign‐owned firms do export more goods to more countries after controlling for firm size, productivity and industry affiliation. These differences between foreign‐owned firms and domestically controlled firms are highly statistically significant, and they are large from an economic point of view, with foreign‐owned firms exporting up to 39 per cent more goods to up to 31 per cent more countries.     

心理所有权对顾客公民行为的影响——基于感知支持和社交焦虑的调节作用

本文探讨了营销学领域中顾客所产生的心理所有权对顾客公民行为的影响。通过对收集的332份问卷数据运用SPSS25.0进行分析,结果表明:促进性心理所有权正向影响顾客公民行为;防御性心理所有权负向影响顾客公民行为;相比低程度的感知支持,高程度的感知支持可以增强促进性心理所有权对顾客公民行为的正向影响;相比低程度的社交焦虑,高程度的社交焦虑可以增强防御性心理所有权对顾客公民行为的负向影响。研究结果为心理所有权与顾客公民行为之间的关系提供了理论依据,并为企业和相关的管理者提供了实践启示。     

Determinants of dividend smoothing in emerging market: The case of Korea

Dividend smoothing is a well-established empirical fact in developed countries. This paper investigates the dividend smoothing behavior in Korea where the tax regime and institutional settings of the financial market are different from those of developed countries. The empirical evidence shows that the dividend smoothing decision is influenced not only by a firm's characteristics, but also by macroeconomic factors such as tax and interest rates. Detailed results are as follows. First, application of the Lintner model shows that the extent of dividend smoothing in Korean firms is found to be less than that in the U.S. firms. Second, size, risk, growth and large shareholder ownership are found to be important determinants of dividend smoothing. Larger firms and lower growth firms smooth dividends more. Riskier firms tend to smooth more during the sample period while safer firms smooth dividends more for the post-liberalization period. These results are not consistent with the predictions of information asymmetry models. In addition, contrary to the agency theory based explanations of dividend smoothing, firms with concentrated ownership smooth dividend more. Finally, as for the effect of macroeconomic factors on dividend smoothing, both tax and interest rates are found to have significantly positive relationships with the degree of dividend smoothing. These findings suggest that institutional factors of financial market can play a critical role in understanding the dividend behavior in emerging markets.     

THE RELATIVE EFFICIENCY OF OWNERSHIP STRUCTURES AND INTRA-FIRM TRADE

This article conducts an analysis of the relative efficiency of integrated and non-integrated ownership structures in the presence of trade in intermediate inputs. It is shown that vertical multinationals (integrated ownership) are more efficient when the two vertically related firms are asymmetric in their production costs, R&D, and reservation prices. In the presence of symmetric parametric conditions, non-integration (with inter-firm trade) is more efficient. Empirical analysis of cross-industry variations in the relative importance of intra-firm exports, using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis for U.S. FDI abroad, confirms the theoretical predictions of the model.     

改革:促进我国所有制理论的发展

社会主义所有制应是公有和个人所有相融合,这是社会主义的一个根本性问题.30年改革开放促进了我国所有制理论的重大发展,也使我国所有制结构发生了巨大变化.理论的发展在解放思想、观念转变的推动下,为改革提供理论依据,促进改革一步一步发展.而改革止步不前,则是因为观念上存在误区,需要进一步解放思想,促进理论发展.改革开放30年来,我国所取得的伟大成就正是在突破斯大林两种所有制(全民所有制和集体所有制)理论的进程中取得的.例如,党的十二届三中全会提出国有企业改革的必要性;党的十五大对社会主义所有制理论的重大突破;党的十五届四中全会对国有经济进行定位;党的十六届三中全会对股份制进行定性.中国特色社会主义是斯大林社会主义模式基础上的创新,必须解放思想,转变观念,确立中国特色社会主义的历史地位.首先,要认识到斯大林的两种所有制观念在理论上不符合马克思的社会主义所有制理论,在实践上不利于社会主义建设,要废除两种所有制观念,促进改革深入发展,彻底解除"三农"问题的根源.其次,要转变国有经济是公有制主体和社会主义制度经济基础的观念,把国有经济严格限制在"三个行业两类企业"之内,国有经济的首要任务是提供重要公共产品和为社会服务,而并不全是保值增值.最后,要转变国有企业是宏观调控物质基础的观念.政府利用经济政策和市场机制进行宏观调控,适合各种所有制企业,不需要以国有企业作为物质基础.     

Hedonic evaluations of cars: Effects of payment mode on prediction and experience

The paper examines the effect of different payment modes on hedonic post‐purchase product evaluations over time. Two theoretical frameworks—mental accounting and cognitive dissonance—suggest such an effect, but are contradictory regarding its direction. Additionally, the paper examines whether prospective consumers are able to correctly predict post‐purchase evaluations and the effect of payment mode over time. In an online survey, hedonic evaluations of 346 car owners in three ownership phases (one, two, and three years after purchase) were measured and compared to predictions of 75 prospective car owners. Two different payment modes (down payment vs. installments) were distinguished. Results showed an interaction between payment mode and the hedonic evaluation of the car over time. In the first and third year, the evaluations by both groups were similar; in the second year, the installments group rated their cars more favorably than the down payment group. Neither of the two theoretical frameworks—mental accounting or cognitive dissonance—is sufficient to explain the observed relationship between payment mode and evaluation over time. The results suggest that mental accounting theory should be expanded with elements of cognitive dissonance. Regarding predictions, prospective car owners did not foresee the effect of payment mode on evaluations over time. Mispredictions are of practical relevance because they can influence consumer decisions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Agency costs in banking firms: An analysis of expense preference behavior

Behavioral approaches to the theory of the firm contend that the agency relationship that must develop when a separation exists between management and ownership may have various agency costs. One such cost is the cost of monitoring managers to avoid expense preference behavior on their part. Managers may engage in expense preference behavior any time they manage firms in noncompetitive markets and ownership of the firm is dispersed enough to put control in the hands of management. This research reports on an analysis of the existence and influence of expense preference behavior on the salaries of chief operating officers of banks. Various studies have resulted in conflicting conclusions about the effect of expense preference behavior on various input costs facing banks. Only the study by Hannan and Mavinga (1980) includes an explicit measure of the separation of ownership from control of the firm. However, that study does not analyze executive compensation. Using such a measure, this study reports that the salaries of chief operating officers in banks are significantly higher if both the necessary and sufficient conditions for expense preference behavior are satisfied.     

A Firm-level Examination of the Exports Puzzle: Why East Asian Exports Didn't Increase After the 1997–1998 Financial Crisis

We analyse a detailed panel dataset on Indonesian manufacturing firms to characterise the exports puzzle: the surprising absence of export-led growth after the massive currency devaluation during the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis. Our results show that, consistent with trade theory predictions following better terms of trade, entry into export markets increased dramatically. In conflict with the same predictions, however, many pre-crisis exporters quit exporting. Thus stagnant export growth cannot be attributable to a lack of entrepreneurial ambition or activity amongst would-be exporters. Rather, it apparently resulted from constraints prohibiting continued exporting by pre-crisis exporters. Managerial reports of perceived constraints reveal little about why so many firms ceased exporting. However, ‘better’ firms, as proxied by foreign ownership, involvement in research and development, or investment in training, were more likely to continue exporting post-crisis.     

Ownership structure and earnings management in emerging markets—An institutionalized agency perspective

Previous earnings management research has largely focused on firm-level governance mechanisms in single countries or on macro-level variables in multiple countries. Building on this research, we incorporate firm ownership predictors along with national institutional dimensions to explore why firm decision makers in emerging markets vary in their earnings management behavior. Our theoretical framework integrates agency and institutional theories proposing that firm-level ownership mechanisms do not function in isolation, but are reinforced or attenuated by elements of the institutional governance environment. The multilevel empirical analysis of 1200 firms in 24 emerging markets indicates that controlling ownership is positively related to earnings management. We find that the level of minority shareholder protection in a country weakens this positive relationship. We also find that regulatory quality strengthens the negative relationship between institutional ownership and earnings management activity. It is hoped that awareness of how firm ownership structures interact with national-level institutions in affecting firm-level behavior will help managers and investors develop skills and practices to better cope with business norms in emerging economies.     

Intuitive optimizing: experimental findings on time allocation decisions with newly formed ventures

This paper offers a theoretical and an experimental analysis of decision making in an entrepreneurial context. We investigate how individuals distribute their time between leisure and working activities, and how they divide their working time between their newly formed venture and a wage job. Two questionnaire experiments with business and economics students are utilized to test benchmark predictions from an economic model, which we complement with predictions based on behavioral decision theory. Differences between economic predictions and behaviors are found to be dependent on whether the venture dominates the wage job, the wage job dominates the venture, or none dominates the other. Implications for entrepreneurial behavior are derived for these three scenarios.     

Reconciling Alternative Theories for the Safety of Owner–Operators

Motor carrier safety is an important concern of shippers, carriers, policy makers, consignees, insurance providers, and the motoring public. One aspect of carrier safety that has garnered substantial attention is whether carriers making greater use of owner–operators are more or less safe vis‐à‐vis carriers making greater use of employee drivers. Currently, conflicting theoretical predictions exist regarding the direction of this relationship. In this article, we offer a reconciliation of the alternative theoretical predictions by developing a coherent theory that merges sociological rational choice theory and theory regarding motor carrier safety. We subject our theory to empirical testing by fitting a series of seemingly unrelated regression models to a vector of safety measures tracked as part of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Compliance, Safety, and Accountability program. Our results are consistent with our proposed theory of owner—operator safety and provide meaningful theoretical and managerial implications and directions for future research.     

“Ours” or “theirs”? Psychological ownership and domestic products preferences

This paper seeks to understand the role of psychological ownership in shaping perceptions and preferences of domestic versus foreign products. We provide evidence that quality judgments and purchase behavior of domestic products depend on different levels of shared ownership. From a theoretical perspective, we show that domestic psychological ownership is an important construct that explains how preferences for domestic brands are formed. In terms of methodological contribution, the study offers a psychometric measure that will assist researchers interested in international consumer research. Finally, the study is of managerial interest in that our findings provide at least a partial explanation why many foreign brands fail to establish stronger positions in domestic markets, as well as why hybridization and glocalization strategies are successful.     

Contractibility and ownership redirection in franchising: A property rights view

This paper offers a property rights theoretical interpretation of the ownership redirection hypothesis advanced by Oxenfeldt and Kelly [Oxenfeldt, Alfred R. and Kelly, Anthony O. (1968). “Will Successful Franchise Systems Ultimately Become Wholly-owned Chains?”, Journal of Retailing, 44, 69-83]. In a nutshell, couched in resource dependence theory, the ownership redirection hypothesis argues that successful franchise systems will eventually become corporate owned systems because of the reacquisition of franchisee units by the more powerful, and resource-flush franchisors. We argue that the structure and dynamics of ownership patterns in franchising networks depends on the contractibility of the franchisor's system-specific assets and the contractibility of the franchisee's local market assets. Under the property rights view, ownership redirection will result from an increase in the contractibility of the franchisee's local market assets (local market information, financial resources, and managerial capabilities) and the resultant increase of the franchisor's bargaining power during the contract period. We extend the franchise literature by arguing that informational, financial and managerial resource constraints are only relevant for the change of ownership structure if they are noncontractible. This hypothesis is evaluated using data collected from the Austrian franchise sector. The empirical results are largely supportive of the hypothesis.     

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.     

Retail Characteristics and Ownership Structure

The choice of vertical relationships between an upstream manufacturer and a set of heterogeneous downstream retailers/entrepreneurs is examined using a principal-agent framework. Standard principal-agent theory predicts that as unobservable effort exerted by the retailer/entrepreneur becomes more important to the manufacturer, contracts between the manufacturer and agent will entail strong incentives and less direct control. The observability of effort is linked to retail characteristics in the gasoline industry, and station-level data on retail characteristics and ownership structure from every gasoline station in the Los Angeles retail gasoline market from 1992–1996 confirm the model's predictions.     

Consensus and conflict: Exploring moderating effects of knowledge workers on industry environment and entrepreneurial entry relationship

This article examines how knowledge workers in the labor force moderate the relationship between industry environmental conditions and entrepreneurial entry by using two competing streams of research: the consensus theory of employment and the conflict theory of employment. The two distinct literature streams provide competing predictions about knowledge workers' opportunity cost of entrepreneurial entry. Empirical analyses indicate that neither theoretical framework wholly explains the relationships for both munificent and complex environments. Rather, the application of each theory varies for different industry environments; the consensus theory applies to the complex environment, but the conflict theory is consistent with the munificent environment. Findings indicate that the characteristics of industry environments determine whether predictions from the consensus theory of employment or the conflict theory of employment are supported. This study also suggests that the two theoretical frameworks can be integrated to explain the relationships between industry environments and entrepreneurial entry in the knowledge-based economy.     

社会资本对网络群体行为影响的理论和实证分析

网络群体行为的影响因素和作用机理是以虚拟社区及其情境为载体的,可以从社会资本不同维度进行研究,这个问题的研究对象、基本架构及相应的理论分析,可通过虚拟社区平台为参照来建构分析模型。文章采用SEM技术对所建构的理论模型进行了分析讨论和实证检验,得出的重要结论是,在网络群体成员的关系网络中,社会资本对网络群体行为具有正向影响作用。文章讨论了西方学者所讨论的社会资本的结构维度、关系维度和认知维度的相关论述,认为社会资本不同维度对网络群体行为的作用是不同的;关系维度对网络群体行为的正向影响最为显著,结构维度对网络群体行为的促进作用要大于认知维度对网络群体行为的促进作用;通过对社会资本三维度影响网络群体行为的研究,文章在理论上对虚拟社区的网络群体行为有了一个从理论逼近现实的认识。