Smfs inter firm relationships and technological change

Industrial production and industrial technological change are characterised by complex flows of technological know-how and finished innovations. There is a variety of inter-firm relationships of varying intensity and duration involving large firm-large firm, large firm-small firm and small firm-small firm interchanges. Certain large firm-small firm relationships electively combine the advantages of large and small firms in technological innovation.     

Labour productivity and profitability in the Dutch flower trade

This paper makes an attempt to illustrate the use of econometric models as frame of reference for diagnosing small firm performance. For this purpose, two models are developed explaining differences in labour productivity and profitability among Dutch flower exporters. In addition, we show how these models can be used for inter-firm performance comparisons.     

Some robust exact results on sample autocorrelations and tests of randomness

Several exact results on the second moments of sample autocorrelations, for both Gaussian and non-Gaussian series, are presented. General formulae for the means, variances and covariances of sample autocorrelations are given for the case where the variables in a sequence are exchangeable. Bounds for the variances and covariances of sample autocorrelations from an arbitrary random sequence are derived. Exact and explicit formulae for the variances and covariances of sample autocorrelations from a Gaussian white noise are given. It is observed that the latter results hold for all spherically symmetric distributions. A simulation experiment, with Gaussian series, indicates that normalizing each sample autocorrelation with its exact mean and variance, instead of the usual approximate moments, can improve considerably the accuracy of the asymptotic N(0,1) distribution to obtain critical values for tests of randomness. The exact second moments of rank autocorrelations are also studied.     

Telemarketing: Supplement to field sales

The purpose of this article is to describe how an application of telecommunications is affecting the promotion element in the marketing mix. Specifically, the focus is devoted to an analysis of how telemarketing is being used to supplement face-to-face personal sales activities.