Risk-based decision analysis in support of precautionary policies

A decision-analytic model for avoiding a risky activity is presented. The model considers the benefit and cost of avoiding the activity, the probability that the activity is unsafe, and scientific tests or studies that could be conducted to revise the probability that the activity is unsafe. For a single decision maker, thresholds are identified for his or her current subjective probability that the activity is unsafe. These thresholds indicate whether the preferred course of action is avoiding the activity without further study, engaging in the activity without further study, or conducting a test or research programme to obtain additional information and following the result. When these thresholds are low, precautionary action is more likely to be warranted. When there are multiple stakeholders, differences in their perceptions of the benefit and cost of avoidance and differences in their perceptions of the accuracy of the additional information provided by the test or research programme combine to create differences in their decision thresholds. Thus, the model allows for the rational expression of differences among parties in a way that highlights disagreements and possible paths to conflict resolution. The model is illustrated with an application to phytosanitary standards in international trade and examined in terms of recent empirical research on lay perceptions of risks, benefits, and trust. Further research is suggested to improve the elicitation of model components, as a way of fostering the legitimate application of risk-based decision analysis in precautionary policy making.     

Environmental practices in the wine industry: An empirical application of the theory of reasoned action and stakeholder theory in the United States and New Zealand

Industry transformation related to environmental stewardship has received significant scholarly attention over the past decade. However, limited theoretical and empirical work examines the motivations for improving environmental performance in an industry in different countries. In this paper, we develop a set of hypotheses, based in the theory of reasoned action and stakeholder theory, regarding drivers of the adoption of environmental practices in the wine industries of New Zealand and the United States. We test our hypotheses using data from survey questionnaires collected in each country. Our findings suggest that subjective norms and internal stakeholder pressures are common drivers of the adoption of environmental practices in these two countries. However, managerial attitudes and external stakeholder pressures are not significant drivers. We also find that managerial attitudes and export dependence are stronger determinants of environmental practice adoption in New Zealand compared to the U.S.     

Performance implications of knowledge and competitive arousal in times of employee mobility: “The immutable law of the ex”

This article elaborates on extant literature on employee mobility by focusing on how the movement of personnel between competitors affects their competitive positions. Our mixed‐methods study of 402 head‐to‐head encounters from the English Premier League (2000–2005) reveals that transferred players improve the performance of the recipient team in head‐to‐head encounters against the donor. We also provide evidence that competitive arousal, as triggered by anger and pressures for proving loyalty to the recipient organization, as well as knowledge of the donor team's routines, explain the superior performance of transferred players. These results question the traditional view that organizational routines are not transferable through employee mobility. They also move beyond a prior emphasis on the negative effects of emotional states such as anger and competitive arousal, highlighting how these can occasionally be beneficial. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Incidence of Public Spending on Healthcare: Comparative Evidence from Asia

The article compares the incidence of public healthcare across11 Asian countries and provinces, testing the dominance of healthcareconcentration curves against an equal distribution and Lorenzcurves and across countries. The analysis reveals that the distributionof public healthcare is prorich in most developing countries.That distribution is avoidable, but a propoor incidence is easierto realize at higher national incomes. The experiences of Malaysia,Sri Lanka, and Thailand suggest that increasing the incidenceof propoor healthcare requires limiting the use of user fees,or protecting the poor effectively from them, and building awide network of health facilities. Economic growth may not onlyrelax the government budget constraint on propoor policies butalso increase propoor incidence indirectly by raising richerindividuals' demand for private sector alternatives.     

Business cycle asymmetry via occasionally binding international borrowing constraints

This paper illustrates how occasionally binding credit constraints can be quantitatively important to delivering business-cycle asymmetries. An empirical exercise suggests that countries display some business-cycles asymmetries, and an open-economy real business-cycle model is assessed where an international borrowing constraint binds occasionally. In the model, downward movements with a slack constraint are sharper and quicker than upward movements with a binding constraint, and this can deliver asymmetry over the business cycle. The model is calibrated to Canadian data and suggests that a necessary ingredient for asymmetry is a high initial level of foreign debt.     

Industry changes in technology and complementary assets and the creation of high-growth firms

This study uses employment data to examine why some industries host more new high-growth firms than others. Using a unique data base of 201 industries over a 15-year period, we find that increases in the proportion of employment of scientists and engineers in industries are positively associated with counts of fast-growing new firms; however, we do not detect a relationship between fluctuations in the proportion of employment in sales and production occupations and counts of fast-growing new firms. The findings suggest that technological innovation is an important determinant of entrepreneurial opportunity. Further, they suggest that private new firms are an important means of organizing commercial innovation and that new firms may be less constrained by complementary assets than has been previously understood.     

The Influence of Gratitude on Franchisor‐Franchisee Relationships

Set within a franchising context that is an integral and significant component of the small business sector, this paper is the first attempt at modeling the sentiment of gratitude, a critical nascent relationship construct, as mediating the linkage between relational norms (as antecedents) and relationship quality constructs (as consequents). Data from a sample of 439 Australian franchisees are used to test the hypotheses. Relational norms were captured using the well‐accepted taxonomy of solidarity, flexibility, and mutuality, and relationship quality was conceptualized in terms of its constituent constructs of trust, commitment, and relationship satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was used to test the six hypothesized relationships. Results show that all six hypotheses are supported, that is, relational norms significantly and positively affect the emergence of gratitude, and in turn, gratitude significantly and positively influences the relationship quality constructs of trust, commitment, and relationship satisfaction. Managerial implications for the franchising industry in particular and small businesses in general are discussed.