Transparency, entry, and productivity

This paper studies the relationship between transparency on the consumer side and productivity of firms. We show that more transparent markets are characterized by higher average productivity as firms with low productivity abstain from entering these markets.     

The role of the technology barometer in assessing the performance of the national innovation system

Along with increasing significance of innovation in socio-economic development grows the need to utilize future-oriented knowledge in innovation policy-making. Foresight and road-map exercises are aimed at supporting planning and priority-setting of R&D and have become indispensable elements of policy-making. Besides technological development decision-makers need all-inclusive knowledge of future developments of society, economy and impacts of science and technology. When the worldwide competition is about the attractiveness of innovation systems, such knowledge is important for comparing the innovation performance of nations to other economies. Finland is among the countries improving her position in worldwide performance comparisons since the late 1990s and reached leading nations in early 2000s. This attainment raised national interest and critical debate of the reliability of the data basis and methodologies used in comparisons. In The Finnish Association of Graduate Engineers (TEK) this discussion led to a decision to develop an own comparative exercise together with VTT. In addition to performance analysis based on ex-post indicators the barometer includes the questionnaire of the views and visions of the future development by relevant national actors. The theoretical framework of the barometer is based on the evolution of economies from industrial development phase to sustainable knowledge society. The barometer has been undertaken in 2004, 2005 and 2007, and a wide interest and emerged discussion of barometer proves that a social interest and order exists for the barometer. The article presents the background, methodology and results of technology barometer, discusses its impacts on national discussion, and gives perspectives for the future development of barometer.     

Establishment and embedding of innovation brokers at different innovation system levels: Insights from the Dutch agricultural sector

In the systems perspective on innovation, co-operation between several different types of actors is seen as key to successful innovation. Due to the existence of several gaps that hinder such effective co-operation, the scientific and policy literature persistently points at the need for intermediary organizations to fulfill bridging and brokerage roles. This paper aims to provide an overview of the insights from the literature on such ‘innovation brokers’, and to contribute to the literature by distilling lines of enquiry and providing insights on one of the lines identified. Taking as an empirical basis experiences with different types of innovation brokers that have emerged in the Dutch agricultural sector, it identifies a number of tensions with regard to the establishment and embedding of such organizations. The paper indicates that, despite being perceived to have a catalyzing effect on innovation, innovation brokers have difficulty in becoming embedded as their clients and/or financiers find it difficult to grasp the nature and value of their activities.     

Robots, genes and bytes: technology development and social changes towards the year 2020

Scientific and technological policy has become a key activity in contemporary societies. In this context we present different projections about the evolution of science and technology in the area of robotics and advanced automation, which in turn shapes the new possibilities and risks emerging in this area in the future. This goes hand-in-hand with an analysis of the interaction of such trajectories with the social context from which they emanate. This interaction reinforces the need for establishing the probable sequence of technological innovation; analysing the impacts on economy and society; and providing qualified information for decision-making, both in policy and business. In this article, we present the results of the prospective research carried out in the field of robotics and advanced automation, paying special attention to the transformation trends of organizations, and the integration of robots in daily life and leisure, and underscoring potential repercussions which may deserve more attention and further research.     

我国贸易摩擦研究现状——兼论对林产品贸易摩擦研究的启示

介绍了贸易摩擦的概念、分类及发生的原因和对策,综述了相关学者的研究,并就其对林产品贸易摩擦研究的启示进行了讨论。认为我国林产品贸易摩擦研究相对滞后于林产品贸易发展实践,因此深入开展林产品贸易摩擦研究有其必要性和紧迫性。     

基于Internet的RFID在集装箱运输中的应用

集装箱运输以其高效、便捷、安全的特点成为交通运输现代化的重要形式。加快发展集装箱运输对促进经济贸易发展、改善经济结构和运输结构、扩大对外开放具有十分重要的意义。近年来，我国集装箱运输迅猛发展，我国香港、上海和深圳的集装箱吞吐量分列世界集装箱大港的第一、第三和第四位。仅深圳港2005年上半年的集装箱吞吐量就达到了743万标箱，预计2005年深圳集装箱吞吐量将达1600万标箱。如此巨大的集装箱运输量，如何更快捷安全的完成运输、如何更有效的管理这些集装箱就成了港航相关企业（如码头、船公司、拖车公司、货运代理等从事外贸运输的企业）棘手的问题，它们作为国际物流服务的主要提供商，它们之间信息的及时、准确传递和沟通是提高国际物流整体服务质量的关键。为解决这一问题，人们自然的把目光投向了射频识别技术（即RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION，缩写为RFID）。     

Share repurchase,executive options and wealth changes to stockholders and bondholders

We test the signaling and wealth transfer hypotheses around the announcement of share repurchases using a recent and larger sample of data than previously examined while employing a methodology designed to enhance the power of our tests. Disentangling the wealth transfer and signaling hypotheses is difficult; they are not mutually exclusive and can have opposite effects for bondholders. Wealth transfers decrease bondholder wealth while positive signals increase it; the combined result obscures tests of each hypothesis. By focusing on sub-samples where signaling is more and less likely to be present we increase our ability to isolate the separate effects. In addition to traditional tests of wealth effects, we feature information inherent in the correlation of wealth changes to equity and debt. Our results are generally consistent with the positive signaling effect of stock repurchases, but also provide some support for wealth transfer. Our work also emphasizes the importance of trying to disentangle the various hypotheses. In the subset of option funding repurchases, where signaling effects are less likely, the positive correlation of wealth changes between stockholders and bondholders is completely eliminated. Bond ratings are much more likely to be upgraded in samples without executive options which is precisely where the signaling effects are expected to be concentrated. Firms with weaker shareholder rights experience greater bondholder wealth losses at the announcement of stock repurchases.     

Organizational Work‐Family Culture and Working Mothers’ Affective Commitment: How Career Expectations Matter

The research undertaken here examines how an organizational work‐family culture affects the attitudes of working mothers. This research extends the existing findings by examining two separate mediation processes: work‐family conflict and career expectations. The cases of 1,308 working mothers were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results show that career expectations mediated the effect of an organizational work‐family culture on affective commitment while work‐family conflict did not. As an additional analysis, working mothers’ perceptions and attitudes were compared with those of 288 peers. Results disclose that working mothers were no less committed to their organization, and were even more committed than their peers early in their careers. Working mothers’ career expectations, however, were consistently lower than their peers’ expectations. Implications of these results are included. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

走集成的道路构筑未来综合服务信息网络

本文分析了传统电信网和计算机网络在设计思想和实现技术方面的差异，展望了在新型网络应用环境下这两种网络可能的演变，认为从网络体系结构的角度把握不同网络技术的集成和融合是未来网络演变和发展的关键之一。提出了未来的国家信息基础设施作为全球信息基础设施的一部分，应该充分利用现有电信、计算机、电视以及无线卫星等网络的资源，集成相关领域的技术，成为能够支持多种网络应用、提供综合服务的全域的信息网络。     

Tax Motivated Income Shifting and Korean Business Groups (Chaebol)

Abstract:  This paper examines tax-induced income shifting behavior among affiliated firms in Korean business groups (chaebols). Korean corporate income tax law does not require consolidated tax returns, and business groups with a large number of affiliated member firms have incentives to shift income across member firms to reduce the overall taxes of the group. For a large number of Korean companies that are subject to external audits, we perform univariate and multivariate regression analyses on the income shifting behavior of chaebol firms compared with non-chaebol control firms. Our evidence suggests that tax-motivated income shifting activities exist among chaebol firms, and that the extent of income shifting is found to depend on its effect on non-tax cost factors such as the earnings, leverage, and cash flow rights of the controlling shareholders. We also find that income shifting is more pronounced in chaebol firms where the control-cash flow divergence is relatively large, suggesting that income shifting is affected by the controlling shareholders' opportunism. Our study provides some insights on the intra-group income shifting activities where research is limited.