Public–private innovation: barriers in the case of mobility as a service in West Sweden

Departing from open innovation (OI), this case study explores the development of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in West Sweden. An analysis of 19 interviews reveals how representatives from involved actors perceive internal and external barriers as hampering the regional public transport authority’s attempts to collaborate with private actors, and that the perception of barriers is incongruent across public and private actors. Transferability to other cases of public–private OI is discussed, and implications for public actors are proposed. The paper expands the knowledge of preconditions for MaaS’ development and of the unique conditions for OI in public–private settings.     

The role of diaspora in opportunity-driven entrepreneurial ecosystems: A mixed-methods study of Balkan economies

Migration is among the main factors influencing economic development in the twenty-first century. And while much research has explored the role of migration on economic growth, the role of diaspora for the development of the country-of-origin entrepreneurial ecosystems remains virtually unknown. We advance evidence that the entrepreneurial activity in a country does not depend only on the activities of the current residents but also on the ties that keep them interconnected via its diaspora to global entrepreneurial hubs and on the (intangible) resources that the diaspora makes available to local entrepreneurs. We perform a mixed-method study and provide evidence consistent with the idea that the diaspora stimulates opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity despite potential conditions of a brain drain, by contributing essential social and human capital to the resources available locally.

     

The Mabey and Johnson bribery scandal: A case of executive hubris

Convicted for paying bribes to secure contracts abroad, Mabey and Johnson (M&J), a UK construction firm, made both legal and international business history. Drawing on hubris as a lens, we examine M&J's bribery scandal in Ghana and Jamaica. Through a qualitative study of court documents, witness statements, newspaper articles, and internal company emails, we unpack the bribery scheme operated by M&J executives that enabled the firm to illegitimately win major government contracts in Ghana and Jamaica. Fueled by executive hubris, M&J's practice of bribing foreign officials to secure contracts effectively insulated M&J executives from day‐to‐day realities. Over time, the firm's executives viewed themselves as infallible, exempt from established mores, invincible, and were unremorseful for their actions. Building on these findings, we develop a hubris‐bribery heuristic framework showing how individual, organizational, and institutional contexts constitutively fueled executive hubris, driving bribery at M&J. The implication for theory and practice is examined.     

Konjunkturschlaglicht: Ergebnis der Steuerschätzung

HWWA-FORUM

Konjunkturschlaglicht: Ergebnis der Steuersch?tzung     

The human experience of ethics: a review of a decade of qualitative ethical decision‐making research

Qualitative studies are an important component of business ethics research. This large amount of research covers a wide array of factors and influences on ethical decision making published between 2004 and 2014. Following the methodology of past critical reviews, this work provides a synopsis of the diverse array of qualitative studies in ethical decision making within the business ethics literature. We highlight the distinct and investigative nature of qualitative research, synthesize and summarize findings, and suggest opportunities for future research. We conclude with a recommendation for developing qualitative studies in business ethics and a call for an increased openness when considering this valuable and underrepresented strategy of inquiry.     

Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Demmert/Klein Experiment: Another Attempt at Creating the Proper Context

Friedrich Hayek conjectured that the free enterprise system is the most effective in making discoveries, and Israel Kirzner refines the conjecture by saying that profit opportunities evoke entrepreneurial discovery. Demmert and Klein (2003) present the first attempt to demonstrate the Hayek/Kirzner conjecture. On the whole, Demmert and Klein (2003) classify the results as disappointing but fruitful. In contrast we argue that additional experimental evidence might yield a demonstration of the conjecture. We continued the diligence and good-faith effort started by Demmert and Klein (2003) to devise an experimental setting that would create a genuine context for entrepreneurial discovery, yet the conjecture eludes our efforts at controlling the experiment. We duplicated the experiment at a Business School in Germany, with two simple variations. First, Demmert and Klein (2003) recruited only male students. We include male and female students. Second, Demmert and Klein (2003) used a payment schedule that includes a flat rate for participation and additional earnings depending on the presented performance. We drop the flat rate and slightly reduce the earnings per unit outperformance. Our results show that overall money matters. Our results are rather like those of Demmert and Klein (2003) and do not seem to be influenced by a baseline payment. Moreover, there are gender specific divergences showing male students earning significant higher additional earnings than their female fellow students.     

How Representative Are Firms That Are Cross‐Listed in the United States? An Analysis of Accounting Quality

We provide evidence on the characteristics of local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) earnings for firms cross‐listing on U.S. exchanges relative to a matched sample of foreign firms currently not cross‐listing in the United States to investigate whether U.S. listing is associated with differences in accounting data reported in local markets. We find that cross‐listed firms differ in terms of the time‐series properties of earnings and accruals, and the degree of association between accounting data and share prices. Cross‐listed firms appear to be less aggressive in terms of earnings management and report accounting data that are more conservative, take account of bad news in a more timely manner, and are more strongly associated with share price. Furthermore, the differences appear to result partially from changes around cross‐listing and partially from differences in accounting quality before listing. We do not observe a similar pattern for firms cross‐listed on other non‐U.S. exchanges or on the U.S. over‐the‐counter market, suggesting a unique quality to cross‐listing on U.S. exchanges.     

Capital Gains Taxes and Equity Trading: Empirical Evidence

Individual investors have an incentive to defer selling appreciated stock until it qualifies for tax‐favored, long‐term capital gains treatment. Shackelford and Verrecchia [2002] show that these incentives can affect equity trading around public disclosures. This article provides some empirical support for their theory with evidence of price increases and equity constrictions around announcements of quarterly earnings and additions to the S&P 500 index. We find share returns rise and trading volume falls with the incremental taxes saved by deferring the sale of appreciated property. The price increases, however, are temporary, reversing in subsequent trading days. The results are consistent with buyers believing the compensation to sell before long‐term qualification (through higher prices) is less costly than holding an inappropriately weighted portfolio. This finding—that personal capital gains taxes affect equity trading—adds to a growing literature that challenges longstanding assumptions that firm value is independent of shareholders and their taxes.     

How would compliance with dietary recommendations affect revenues for agricultural producers?

Nutritionists and other health experts have recommended a range of dietary plans, and these often differ significantly. Although the USDA food guides have been the most visible in the United States, other dietary plans now are achieving greater public recognition. Our analysis extracts the nutrient recommendations for seven dietary plans and models the recommendations as shifts in demand for the nutrients. Demand shifts for nutrients are combined with nutrient composition shares to simulate the revenue implications in selected agricultural markets. Based on current consumption patterns in the United States, we find that compliance with Harvard’s Healthy Eating Pyramid would generate the greatest revenue gains for specialty crop producers in California.     

Elicitability and identifiability of set-valued measures of systemic risk

Finance and Stochastics - Identification and scoring functions are statistical tools to assess the calibration of risk measure estimates and to compare their performance with other estimates, e.g....