DEA efficiency in agriculture: Measurement unit issues

The selection of inputs and outputs in DEA models represents a vibrant methodological topic. At the same time; however, the problem of the impact of different measurement units of selected inputs is understated in empirical literature. Using the example of Czech farms, we show that the DEA method does not provide consistent score estimates, neither a stable ranking for different popular measurements of labour and capital factors of production. For this reason, studies based on DEA efficiency results for differently measured inputs should be compared only with great caution.     

Consumer brand engagement concept and measurement: Toward a refined approach

This paper revisits conceptual and operational consumer brand engagement (CBE) definitions from the consumer behavior and marketing literature, with the objective of developing a CBE scale drawing upon Expectancy Theory for clear delimitations of its dimensions, and increased power to discriminate them theoretically and empirically. Two qualitative and three quantitative studies were conducted using both structural equation modeling and multiple item response theory. Results point to a more parsimonious operationalization of the CBE measure, with well-delimited dimensions and improved discrimination capacity, which is better able to capture consumers’ levels of engagement in its different manifestations compared to preexisting scales.     

出生地规模、个体收入差距和城市规模分化

文章采用中国劳动力动态调查数据,基于个体选择的微观机制,考察了出生地规模对个体收入的时间效应、空间异化效应、代际传递效应和迁移效应;从出生地规模这一独特的视角,解释了收入差距持久性的成因。研究发现:出生地作为个体的初始禀赋对个体未来收入存在显著影响,出生地规模越大,个体的未来收入越高;这一效应伴随个体在出生地的成长时长增强,并依据不同城市的特征产生空间异化效应。另外,出生地规模不仅影响了个体的未来收入,也对个体的迁移行为产生了显著的影响;而个体的迁移选择又进一步引起了城市规模分化。具体而言,出生地城市规模越大的个体迁移概率越大,且出生地城市规模越大的个体越趋向迁移到比出生地规模更大的城市;而迁移个体的迁移次数越多,出生地规模的收入效应越强。基于上述出生地规模对收入的正向促进作用和迁移效应,家庭效用最大化的个体将趋于迁往规模更大的城市,这将引起城市规模分化加剧。文章证实了初始禀赋对个体收入影响的长期性和持续性,并为城市规模和个体收入的相关研究提供了新的视角。     

高管团队知识隐藏结构模型与量表开发

针对已有研究中缺乏高管团队知识隐藏量表的不足，在扎根理论研究基础上,通过小规模问卷调查、半结构化访谈和参与式观察,收集可三角验证的数据资料，经过开放式编码、主轴式编码、选择式编码和理论饱和度检验，将高管团队知识隐藏划分为高管知识隐藏行为预估、高管知识隐藏策略选择和高管知识隐藏行为演化3个维度，构建并验证高管团队知识隐藏测量量表，不仅可为研究高管团队知识隐藏行为奠定理论基础，提供工具支持，而且可为团队运行中合理规避高管知识隐藏行为提供理论指导。     

Measuring the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions – A scale development study

Consumers' exposure to online reviews influences their online retail shopping behavior. They search for reviews while evaluating products for purchase decisions. Past studies have indicated that online reviews affect the credibility and trust of the sellers and the products they sell on online platforms. Keeping this in view, the current paper aims to develop and validate a scale to understand the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions. Data were collected from 431 young online shoppers for this research. The initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) results helped identify four factors, viz. source credibility, volume, language and comprehension, and relevance which constitute the scale. The scale was validated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study's findings fill the gap of having a standardized scale that online retailers can use as indicators to assist consumers in their online decision-making. The discussions and implications support consumers' susceptibility to online reviews, an essential source for product and brand information in facilitating online consumers' purchase decisions.     

Tracing the regional dual value chains: Measurement on the production position and evidence from China

When there is insufficient internal and external impetus for developing countries’ economy, building a domestic and international dual circulation is conducive to promoting the regional industrial growth. On the basis of regional embedded international input-output tables, this paper extends the measurement framework of production position and proposes the concept of the dual value chain, which measure production position that unifies the national and global value chains from forward and backward industrial linkages. We decompose the national and global value chains into three categories and investigate the production position characteristics of China with a multi-dimensional perspective. Consistent evidence shows that a feasible path of technological progress in optimizing the production in value chains in which technological progress plays a crucial role on the pure national value chain across the high-tech manufacturing sector, the eastern and central regions. Their posterior probabilities are 0.96, 0.21and 0.86, respectively. Moreover, the impact on the dual production is nonnegligible that the posterior probability of technological progress on the eastern and central regions is 0.40 and 0.92. In addition, the impact of the Chinese economic stimulus program and technological progress on the economic crisis has a certain moderating effect. Our proposed evaluation framework sheds new light that national value chain production can boost economic growth，and further promote the coordinated of regional industries for developing countries.     

秘密握手协议、生产率传递与工资的规模溢价

头部企业为什么能打破市场均衡而将生产率优势转化为工资租？理论分析表明,市场份额越大,雇主与雇员之间越易达成“秘密握手协议”,即通过联合来操纵劳动供给,以抬高人均生产率并进行分割。在这一过程中,员工分割比例虽有所下降,但不足以抵消人均生产率上升的影响,进而产生工资租。以上市公司为例,市场份额位于前10%的头部企业,人均生产率对工资的传递力度仅比市场份额位于中位值附近的企业低4%,但人均生产率却高出40%以上,直接导致了较高的工资优势。进一步借鉴Blanchard and Summers(1986)的方法进行检验,发现头部企业确实存在更明显的“合谋”迹象,程度比中位值附近的企业高出近一倍。“秘密握手协议”的本质是通过限制劳动力流动阻碍工资均等化,在扎实推进共同富裕的道路上,不仅要反产品市场垄断,也要防范不合理攫取生产率红利的行为。     

Digital finance and misallocation of resources among firms: Evidence from China

The resources misallocation among firms is serious in China, our calculation shows it has resulted in the total factor productivity (hereafter, TFP) loss of over 200% and has been gradually increasing in recent years, based on the firm-level data from National Tax Survey database from 2007 to 2016. This paper further investigates empirically the impact of digital finance on resources misallocation, by measuring resources misallocation with firm’s capital deviation and labor deviation, as well as measuring digital finance with the number of searches for fintech keywords on Baidu's webpage. Results suggest that digital finance can significantly mitigate resources misallocation among firms to improve the aggregate TFP by redistributing resources from over-resourced firms to under-resourced firms, although it cannot improve the TFP within a representative firm. The findings remain robust after addressing the endogeneity and using alterative variables of digital finance and value of labor output elasticity. Moreover, digital finance can rectify the credit-market discrimination, where its mitigating effect on resources misallocation prefers to non-state-owned firms and small and medium-sized firms. However, traditional finance, as measured by the number of offline bank branches, can also optimize resources allocation, but this effect is gradually diminishing and it also fails to rectify the credit discrimination.     

Increasing customer loyalty and WOM in an age of terror: Cross-cultural development and validation of the customers’ reactions to terror scale (CRTS)

The threat of terror places customers in a vulnerable situation, giving rise to a variety of protective behaviors. The ability to employ these behaviors dictates customers' preferences for specific services. To enable a better understanding of this dynamic and its implications for positive customer outcomes, the current study developed a customers’ reactions to terror scale (CRTS) in a four-stage process. Data were collected from customers in France and Israel across two service contexts, hospitality and public transportation. Nomological examinations showed that services that enable customers to employ protective behaviors under the threat of terror can facilitate increased loyalty and word of mouth (WOM).     

中国绿色技术创新效率异质性环境规制影响与时空跃迁研究

引导环境规制政策对绿色技术创新效率变革产生推动作用，可为经济高质量发展提供重要支撑。将命令控制型、市场激励型与公众参与型环境规制视为不可控制变量，构建动态SBM-DEA模型，考察异质性环境规制对绿色技术创新效率的影响，分析其动态演化特征及时空跃迁路径，揭示考虑和未考虑环境规制影响绿色技术创新效率的时空差异。结果发现：①异质性环境规制对2001-2018年中国绿色技术创新效率具有正向影响，影响作用存在地区差异性；②东部地区环境规制政策可以有效发挥市场机制和公众监督作用，中西部地区环境规制政策可以更好地发挥政府调控作用；③绿色技术创新效率时空演变具有持续优化、空间差异缩小等特征。为推动中国绿色技术创新均衡、高效发展，应重点制定相关策略以缩小南北地区绿色技术创新发展差距。