Mediennutzungsmotive türkeistämmiger Migranten in Deutschland

Media use of migrants is a widely discussed issue in the German debate on the integration of foreigners. Research so far shows that the correlation between the language of the media used and social integration is only indirect and to some extent unclear. In general, a complementary use of country-of-origin and country-of-residence media by migrants can be observed, which tends to persist independent of the process of social integration. The present text examines the motives that constitute this complementary media use by Turkish migrants (the largest national foreign group) in Germany by referring to a representative telephone survey (CATI) undertaken among the Turkish adult population in 2008. As a result, it shows that the way media serve the informational needs of their clientele to a large extent explains the media use of the group observed.     

Sequential technology implementation,network externalities,and risk: the case of automatic milking systems

Using random effects and mixed effects probit regression techniques, this empirical study investigates factors for technology adoption at the firm level. We account for problems of sequential technology implementation and behavior identification. Results underscore the importance of risks faced by the agents, the effects of network externalities and peer‐group learning, and the positive influence of previous firm‐specific innovation experiences.     

Hedonic shopping motivation and co-shopper influence on utilitarian grocery shopping in superstores

Much prior literature has focused on how hedonic shopping motivation operates in hedonic shopping environments such as shopping malls, but few empirical studies have assessed hedonic shopping motivation effects in utilitarian shopping environments. Combining a field survey (Study 1) with observation using video ethnography (Study 2), our research addresses this issue. Our results empirically reveal how, through both psychological and behavioral routes, hedonic shopper motivation affects purchases in a utilitarian shopping environment, specifically a section of a superstore selling predominantly utilitarian products. Hedonic shopping motivation is found to induce consumer impulsiveness (psychological route) while also encouraging shoppers to stay longer in a store (behavioral route), which when combined result in greater consumer purchases than either route alone. Additionally we observe a moderating effect of co-shopper influences on these two routes. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Are born globals really born globals? The case of academic spin-offs with long development periods

Most research on the born global phenomenon investigates firms from the point of their legal founding. Studies in the field of entrepreneurship show nonetheless that international firms undergo long pre-founding periods, which are likely to affect growth and internationalization in newly founded firms. In this study, we investigate three academic spin-offs with advanced technologies that are attractive in a global market. These firms had experienced extended time in developing their technologies, two of them in pre-founding periods. We examine here the networks of academic spin-offs in three stages: idea conception, technology development, and growth and internationalization. The research builds on diverse theories: born global theory, research on academic spin-offs, entrepreneurial firms, and network theory. We use a multiple case study to investigate the three spin-offs and a process approach in interviewing that includes the biographic histories of the focal firms. In analysis, we identify networks that provide financial resources, knowledge, innovation and technology resources, marketing, and reputational resources. Networks acquired at different stages and network changes greatly affected growth and internationalization in the focal firms. We also find that networks and resources acquired in pre-founding periods had great implications for growth and internationalization in the young firms. Our research therefore highlights the problem of age in the born global literature and we argue for the need to include pre-founding periods to better understand the born global phenomenon.     

Effects of agri-environment schemes on farm-level eco-efficiency measures: Empirical evidence from EU countries

The European Union (EU) budget allocated to agri-environmental schemes (AES) has increased consistently over the past 20 years. European citizens should expect effective spending of these public funds, so investigation of the effects of these schemes on both environmental benefits and farm efficiency is warranted. We examine the effects of European agri-environmental schemes on farm-level eco-efficiency. Our analysis combines data envelopment analysis and impact assessment methods to evaluate the impact of scheme payments on eco-efficiency measures. Our results suggest that there is considerable scope for eco-efficiency improvements, both for dairy and crop production. Results also show that the average change in eco-efficiency scores does not vary significantly between AES participants and non-participants, which questions the effectiveness of present AES.     

Determinants of Food Industry Performance: Survey Data and Regressions for Denmark

This paper investigates empirically the determinants of firms’ performance in the agri‐food sector by using recent survey data for Denmark. Treating sales per employee as a proxy for value added, we estimate several bootstrapped regression models to draw conclusions on the marginal effects of potential performance determinants such as the form and nature of ownership, stage of the food chain and commodity sector, new product development, staff quality, firms’ competitive stance, and elements of firms’ strategy. To draw robust inferences we apply, besides the ordinary heteroscedasticity‐corrected Tobit maximum likelihood estimator, a non‐parametric least absolute deviations estimator (LAD/CLAD) based on a quantile regression procedure. The results indicate that we cannot reject the hypothesis of no influence of dominant orientation on value added. Rather, firms’ focus on human capital, stage and commodity sector better explains their value addition. We reject the hypothesis that regional networks have no influence on value added. Location in Århus, emphasis on human capital and the negative influence of outsourcing on value added all provide supporting evidence. We reject the hypothesis of no influence of foreign direct investment (FDI), and moreover propose that FDI has targeted the Danish domestic market as a source of value added.     

Am Tage schaue ich nicht fern!

Although the share of older people in our society increases, the media sciences rarely examine this group of media users. Existing studies often limit themselves to chronological age and neglect a more theoretical approach. This study includes theoretical references from gerontological research, which describes aging as a multidimensional process, and links them to user-oriented perspectives of mass communication research. Referring to qualitative data from interviews with elderly people, the study achieves to identify prospects, appraisals and resources, which influence media use of people in the process of aging.