Estimating persistent and transient technical efficiency and their determinants in the presence of heterogeneity and endogeneity

We develop an estimation procedure that generates consistent estimates of the technology parameters, long-run (persistent) and short-run (transient) technical inefficiencies and the marginal effects of their determinants for the stochastic frontier model developed by Colombi et al. (2014, Journal of Productivity Analysis 42, 123) and Kumbhakar et al. (2014, Journal of Productivity Analysis 41, 321). Our approach accounts for three sources of potential endogeneity: (i) unobserved heterogeneity; (ii) simultaneity of input use with both types of technical efficiency; (iii) potential correlation of the noise term with the regressors. Using this approach we examine the effect of direct payments and farm size on the persistent and transient technical efficiency of French crop farms before and after the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy decoupling reform of 2003. Our results show that subsidy payments per hectare of utilised agricultural land had a significant positive effect on persistent technical efficiency and a significant negative effect on transient technical efficiency during the period before decoupling. For the period after the reform, the effect of subsidies is found to be significantly negative for persistent technical efficiency and insignificant for transient technical efficiency. The overall effect of subsidies on technical efficiency is found to be negative in both periods, albeit substantially lower in the period after decoupling. The effect of farm size on technical efficiency is found to be significant only for the period prior to the reform: it reduced persistent technical inefficiency but increased transient technical inefficiency during that period.     

Predator or prey? Effects of farm growth on neighbouring farms

We provide explorative insights on how farms which manage strong and successful growth affect farms in their neighbourhoods through spatial competition for land. The study is based on an exploratory analysis of repeated framed experiments within the business game FarmAgriPoliS (Appel & Balmann, Ecological Complexity, 40, 2019). In particular, we analyse the spatial influences of different behavioural clusters of farm managers. Our analysis finds that farms which manage strong growth substantially affect the development of farms in a spatial neighbourhood of some 10 km. Although the influence on the neighbourhood decreases with distance, the functional correlations of farm growth as well as exits are neither linear nor exponential, but eventually rather wave-like. We further discuss the spatial interdependence of farms and the related overlaps of the predator–prey phenomenon with the phenomena of farms' path dependency and agricultural structural change. We conclude that along with farmers' strategies and their abilities, the characteristics of their neighbours and the distances between neighbouring farms also determine who is ‘predator’ and who is ‘prey’.     

湿式陶瓷球磨机设计中经验数值选取的研究

湿式陶瓷球磨机是广泛用于生产陶瓷原料的细磨设备,根据多年陶瓷机械设计的实际经验,在保证生产效率的同时,为节约电能消耗、提高设备的可靠性和降低设备成本,对湿式陶瓷球磨机设计中主要技术参数选择、主要尺寸设计、传动方式选定和结构设计的经验数值选取进行了深入研究和归纳总结,以供参考。     

Using diffusion models to forecast market size in emerging markets with applications to the Chinese car market

Marketing managers have to forecast the market size and this forecast guides strategic decisions whether to continue exporting, open new factories or expand existing production operations. Forecasting sales and the market size is a challenging task; even more so in emerging markets where data is limited and the market demand is changeable. This research proposes a novel approach that applies diffusion models using car ownership data to forecast car sales. Car ownership data may be easier to access than sales data in emerging markets but marketing managers are more interested in the sales forecast. Researchers propose using diffusion models to forecast the adoption of new products or products which are new to consumers in a market. This research demonstrates that marketing managers can use diffusion models to predict car sales in China where cars are new products to most consumers in this market. Since the majority of car buyers in China are first time buyers, car manufacturers and retailers must also forecast when the market composition will change. This effectively means predicting when first time car buying will start to slow down and repeat/replacement purchase or second hand car purchase will become more important. To forecast both sales and market composition change, marketing managers must choose a robust model. Managers want insights from models that have been tested robustly especially in less stable market conditions. In this context, this study illustrates the value of using a rolling forecast instead of a fixed horizon approach when comparing and choosing which model to use to forecast both sales and market composition change for the Chinese car market.     

“You Can't Make a Good Wine without a Few Beers”: Gatekeepers and knowledge flow in industrial districts

Knowledge sharing sometimes plays a key role in the performance of clustered organizations, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), however, SMEs also face significant knowledge-related disadvantages due to their lack of absorptive capacity and functional expertise. This study investigates the influence of technical specialists on knowledge flow in a wine cluster in Australia. The main contribution of this paper is a finding that the technical specialist's gatekeeping role both links clustered SMEs to the global wine “systemworld” by transferring knowledge of technical developments and innovation, and simultaneously develops and refines regional winemaking styles by sharing locally specific, experientially derived knowledge. Technical specialists drew on bridging and bonding social capital to identify and retrieve specialist knowledge, and were capable of assimilating complex technical knowledge into the cluster. These findings are particularly significant because recipients were typically small and micro-firms, which are frequently located outside cluster knowledge-network.     

How much to give? — The effect of donation size on tactical and strategic success in cause-related marketing

In cause-related marketing (CM), companies promise a donation to a cause every time a consumer makes a purchase. We analyze the impact of the size of this donation on brand choice (tactical success) and brand image (strategic success). Our results reveal different effects of donation size on these success measures. For brand choice, the effect of donation size is moderated by a financial trade-off for consumers, whereas the effect on brand image is moderated by donation framing. Specifically, we show that donation size has a positive effect on brand choice if consumers face no financial trade-off; i.e., if they do not have to choose between triggering a donation or saving money. The effect is negative if a trade-off exists such that higher donations come at higher costs. Brand image is enhanced by larger donations if the framing is nonmonetary (e.g., the campaign promises the provision of vaccinations), whereas donation size has a negative effect if donation framing is monetary (e.g., the campaign states the Euro amount). If campaigns use a combination of both frames, the effect of donation size on brand image has an inverted U shape. Our results suggest that CM enhances tactical and strategic success only if firms select the right donation size, taking into account donation framing and financial trade-offs.     

分拣导入物料的投影尺寸及近似体积测量计算方法

分析了目前自动化物流分拣输送系统在物料导入输送环节的工艺特点和设备控制现状,并结合应用光电检测、工业可编程控制等技术,针对水平交叉带分拣输送机应用场景,对其中物料导入控制环节所面临的物料外形尺寸测量和计算问题,提出了基于物料轮廓最大值检测、尺寸特征捕捉、长宽比关系判断等要素来对物料投影尺寸进行测量的计算方法,具有数据采集实时、程序编写简单、运算量少等特点;同时基于对导入输送的物料进行横向、纵向的截面段断层扫描测量并累加计算,以较低的器件成本及较少的控制器程序运算量,实现对物料体积的近似测量计算,是一种较为经济和可取的控制计算方法。     

文化折扣、市场规模与中国文化产品出口

近年来我国对于文化产品出口给予了高度重视。基于2003年至2011年相关数据,本文以文化折扣和市场规模两个因素为重点,分析了我国核心文化产品出口贸易的决定因素。实证结果显示,无论是基于全部还是基于分类产品贸易额的检验,都证实了市场规模因素的正面影响以及文化折扣因素的负面影响。上述结论的政策含义体现在两个方面：一是应合理确定重点出口市场,加强对重点目标市场的深入分析,通过双边或多边合作减少贸易壁垒,确保中国文化产品的商业存在及公平竞争。二是要充分重视文化折扣效应的不利影响,充分借鉴他国开展文化外交的有效举措,大力推动我国文化传播,提升我国文化的国际影响力和认知度。     

非正式审计团队对审计质量的影响：规模至上还是质量优先？

在以往研究的基础上,提出了非正式审计团队质量的概念,并构建了非正式审计团队质量的综合指标,从团队规模和团队质量两个方面检验了非正式审计团队对审计质量的影响。研究发现,非正式审计团队规模对审计质量不存在显著影响,这与以往研究的“显著负向影响”结论不一致,而非正式审计团队质量能够显著提高审计质量;当将两者纳入同一研究模型时,上述结论不变。非正式审计团队质量对审计质量的影响更具有价值。进一步研究考察了审计环境、客体和主体不同层面因素在两者关系中的调节作用。结论拓展了审计师团队对审计质量影响的相关研究,为会计师事务所的内部治理提供了经验证据和管理启示。     

NAFTA as a Means of Raising Rivals' Costs

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was designed to reduce tariff rates between Mexico, Canada and the U.S.A. over a period of ten years. However, lower tariff rates are only available to firms that comply with complicated and costly NAFTA filing regulations. Such regulations raise costs of small firms relative to large firms in a domestic industry which engages in trade between NAFTA countries. This implication of NAFTA regulations can lead to increased concentration in domestic industries, an hypothesis which can be tested as the transition period comes to an end. Finally, our model suggests an explanation for why the levels of trade from the U.S.A. to Mexico have been lower than general expectations.