Economic transition and the rise of alternative institutions

The economic transition from socialism in Russia has not resulted in the emergence of impersonal, rule-based institutions. Instead, the natural demand for institutions that protect property rights has led to the emergence of alternative, inefficient institutions such as that of cronyism – the practice of appointing personal acquaintances of the political leader to key positions. A political leader not constrained by institutions appoints cronies, as competent subordinates are more prone to switching allegiance to a potential challenger. As competence makes a bigger difference in a rule-based environment, such a leader has no interest in any institutional development. In a simple empirical exercise, using a dataset that covers the richest Russians, we find a positive and significant effect of direct connections to the personal circle of President Putin on the wealth of businessmen. The magnitude of the effect varies at different levels of rents available for redistribution and ‘network centrality of a businessman’: it is higher during the years of high oil prices, but is attenuated by the prominence of the businessman in the network.     

Estimation and inference for spatial models with heterogeneous coefficients: An application to US house prices

This paper considers the estimation and inference of spatial panel data models with heterogeneous spatial lag coefficients, with and without weakly exogenous regressors, and subject to heteroskedastic errors. A quasi maximum likelihood (QML) estimation procedure is developed and the conditions for identification of the spatial coefficients are derived. The QML estimators of individual spatial coefficients, as well as their mean group estimators, are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. Small‐sample properties of the proposed estimators are investigated by Monte Carlo simulations and results are shown to be in line with the paper's key theoretical findings, even for panels with moderate time dimensions and irrespective of the number of cross‐section units. A detailed empirical application to US house price changes during the 1975–2014 period shows a significant degree of heterogeneity in spatiotemporal dynamics over the 338 Metropolitan Statistical Areas considered.     

Geopolitics,Eurasianism and Russian Foreign Policy Under Putin

This article interprets the strategies that have been associated with the war on terror against the backdrop of historical geographies of colonial violence and dispossession. It joins those who argue that wider anxieties about the sources of danger, criminality, violence and terror have become intertwined. These reveal as much about sensibilities of race, class and ‘security’ as they do objective dangers. Thus the article considers how, drawing on the British case, detentions and deportations marked by race are connected with and form part of an overlapping regime of ‘security’, ‘immigration’ and asylum. This is exemplified via an account of the trajectory British sovereign territory of Diego Garcia, leading to wider reflections on contemporary forms of sovereignty and the operation of ‘race’ in geopolitics.     

Relationships of retail brand manufacturers with retailers

Abstract

Previous researchers have discussed the convenience of manufacturing retail brands. However, they have seldom developed any empirical work. In this article we present an analysis framework to study the impact of the production of retail brands on the manufacturer's relationship with the retailer, depending on the manufacturer's competitive position in the brands they produce. The model presented is empirically tested through a covariance structure model. In order to do this, we use the data from a postal survey aimed at business units manufacturing retail brands in the Spanish market for mass commodity products.     

Foreign ownership and the export and import propensities of developing‐country firms

This paper uses micro‐data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys 2002–06 to investigate how foreign ownership affects the likelihood of manufacturers in developing countries to export and/or import either directly or indirectly. Applying propensity score matching to control for differences across firms in terms of labour productivity and other characteristics, we find that foreign ownership raises the propensity of a firm to export by over 17 and the propensity to import by more than 13 percentage points. The effects are even bigger for countries with the lowest per capita income and institutional quality.     

Intersectionality of Ethnic and Entrepreneurial Identities: A Study of Post‐War Polish Entrepreneurs in an English City

An understanding of ethnic and immigrant entrepreneurship is developed in this paper by exploring how ethnic and entrepreneurial identities intersect. Bourdieu's concept of habitus frames the analysis of narratives of five post‐war Polish entrepreneurs in Leicester. The narrative analysis illuminates the multilayered and nuanced nature of identities. The Polish origin of these entrepreneurs’ habitus was interpreted in light of individual and collective experiences gained growing up in the United Kingdom. While Polish identity was pertinent, it did not define the narrative of entrepreneurship. Our contribution is a theoretically informed, rich qualitative study of what ethnic identity means to individuals and how it intersects with entrepreneurial identity.     

Comment on “Heuristics in the strategy context” by Bingham and Eisenhardt (2011)

Bingham and Eisenhardt (2011) highlight the positive role of heuristics in the strategy context. They discuss four mechanisms through which heuristics have positive effects for strategy. The first mechanism—using a heuristic cue as a proxy for complex, correlated information—builds directly on Gigerenzer's research on positive heuristics. The second (capturing a window of opportunity) and third (providing some direction while allowing freedom to improvise) mechanisms, combine Gigerenzer's ideas with Eisenhardt's earlier work. The fourth one relates to coordination. In this commentary, we critically evaluate the applicability of these four mechanisms in the strategy context, which differs fundamentally from Gigerenzer's context. Our primary contribution is the explication of central limitations in the ways heuristics can function in the strategy context. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of supportive leadership and job characteristics on work alienation: A six-country investigation

This study examines the relationships between supportive leadership and job characteristics and workers’ alienation in Cuba, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia, and the United States. One thousand and nine hundred and thirty-three workers and non-managerial personnel participated in the research. Supportive leadership and job characteristics were found to be related to alienation. Evidence is provided along with implications for theory and practice.     

Individual Attitudes Toward Others,Misanthropy Analysis in a Cross‐Country Perspective

While misanthropy has been analyzed taking into account one country and just comparing results, we employ the 2004 International Social Survey Program data set and assess its determinants from a cross‐country analysis by considering personal characteristics and country effects. Findings indicate that misanthropy is explained by sociodemographic and economic characteristics (being a woman, education, and marriage reduce misanthropy while being young or poor, and self‐employment have the opposite effect). Country effects result significant consequently, some environmental factors play a relevant role. Finally, we add new elements to the discussion by showing a strong relationship among our misanthropy ranking and two corruption perception rankings.