Seven key steps for rapidly scaling up multi-unit operations

While there are many organizations that seek to quickly grow into multi-unit operations, the academic literature is surprisingly limited in what advice it provides to those confronting the managerial capacity limitations scaling up to multiple units presents. In this Executive Digest, we detail one co-author’s experience in rapidly developing the east coast market for Starbucks and outline the knowledge he brought to the process that came from prior rapid growth experiences with Burger King, Blockbuster, and Wendy’s. We present seven key steps for rapidly scaling that can guide any manager seeking to build a multi-unit operation quickly.     

Structural transformation and productivity growth in India during 1960–2010

In this paper, we examine the role of structural change and sectoral productivity growth in explaining the aggregate productivity of India relative to the United Sates during 1960–2010. We set up a simple two sector general equilibrium model and calibrate it to fit the structural transformation of United States. Our calibrated model for India highlights the relative importance of agricultural productivity growth in explaining its slow process of catching up in terms of aggregate productivity. We show that India could have progressed at a much faster rate and closed a substantial part of its aggregate productivity gap if its agricultural sector had grown at a rate at par with the United States. It is India's relative productivity growth in the non-agricultural sector that explains all the recent success in its closing the aggregate productivity gap with the United States. We also found that an elimination of relative distortion in agriculture in India could result into a modest improvement in the aggregate labour productivity.     

Promoting quality-of-life and well-being research in hospitality and tourism

There is an increasing interest in quality-of-life/well-being research in hospitality and tourism. The goal of this paper is to further promote the development and use of quality-of-life/well-being concepts in the discipline by reviewing seven major theories of quality of life and well-being (and their application in hospitality and tourism based on the research that I and my colleagues have conducted over the years) and suggesting future avenues of research. The theories discussed are self-congruity theory, self-expressiveness theory, bottom-up spillover theory, leisure benefits theory, goal theory, need hierarchy theory, and broaden-and-build theory.     

生物质能源可利用潜力评价*——以黑龙江省重点国有林区为例

[目的]生物质能源具有污染少、可再生等特点,合理地对其开发利用是黑龙江省重点国有林区经济转型发展的一种探索。通过对黑龙江省重点国有林区生物质能源资源量的计算,明确了生物质能源的可利用潜力及变化趋势,以期为其产业发展的政策制定提供理论参考。[方法]文章利用自下而上估算法,以林木生物质的资源量和农作物秸秆的产量为原始数据,对2005—2015年黑龙江省重点国有林区生物质能源可利用潜力进行评价。[结果](1)研究期间,黑龙江省重点国有林区林木生物质资源可利用潜力小幅下降,农作物秸秆资源可利用潜力稳步上升。(2)林木生物质资源中,商品林采伐剩余物可利用潜力骤降,森林抚育剩余物可利用潜力增加;农作物秸秆资源中,粮食作物秸秆可利用潜力逐年上升。(3)黑龙江省重点国有林区生物质能源可利用潜力随着国家"天保工程"和"重点国有林区全面禁止天然林商业性采伐"政策的实施而发生变化。[结论]黑龙江省重点国有林区生物质能源丰富,可利用潜力较大,其中农作物秸秆资源可利用潜力增速较快。     

Analysing job creation effects of scaling up infrastructure spending in South Africa

In a first for South Africa, this article draws on literature on infrastructure productivity to model dynamic economy-wide employment impacts of infrastructure investment funded with different fiscal tools. Using a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, the South African investment plan is modelled, given the infrastructure externality. Alternative fiscal scenarios to finance the policy are modelled in the article. In the long run, unemployment decreases for all types of workers under one of the scenarios. In the short run, only elementary occupation workers benefit from a decrease in unemployment; for the rest, unemployment rises.     

试论我国对外开放新思维

我国的对外开放已经走过了二十多年的历程,取得了巨大成就。本文认为,随着我国经济实力迅速提升,国际地位日益提高,我们应总结、反思和提出新形势下我国的对外开放新战略。文章从政府作用新定位、国内外经济双平衡、引进外资平常心等三个方面探讨了我国对外开放的新思维:政府在制定经济政策时要具有国际经济大视野,要从维护国际规则向制定国际规则转变;要从追求国际收支顺差向追求国际收支平衡转变,实现国内外经济综合平衡;要从大规模招商引资向以平常心对待外商转变,对内外资企业一视同仁,鼓励技术创新。     

西部投资的经济学分析和政策选择

从静态收益和动态扩展两方面分析西部投资及相关模型的政策,即我国西部正处于加速吸收的前 期,存在一定的障碍因素。所以,在资金吸收的政策安排上,应依靠国家经济政策,广开市场融资渠道, 建立资金回流机制,加速西部投资的政策选择机制。     

加入世界贸易组织对中国社会经济的深层影响

本文认为,我国加入世界贸易组织,首先解决了“入世”前长期困扰我国的美国给予中国最惠国待遇的问题,为我国的对外经贸关系创造了良好的国际环境,也为我国塑造开放的、负责任的大国形象奠定了扎实的基础;其次,“入世”时遵守国际规则的承诺促进了我国继续改革开放,一些重要原则已经延伸到经贸领域之外的范围,影响巨大而深远,从而使我国可能成为以国际谈判促进国内改革的经典案例。同时,“入世”也使我们接受了双赢的理念,使我们和世界各国人民能够共同分享经济发展的成果,共同期待经济的更大发展。     

The Price Impact of Lending Relationships

This study analyzes the impact of bank relationships on a firm's borrowing costs. We find that a firm's borrowing costs decrease with relationship strength, proxied by the share of bank debt provided by the lender. Borrowing costs, however, rise with relationship length. While the increase over time is weak on average, bank‐dependent borrowers face a substantial premium after several relationship years. Switching the lender initially leads to only a small price discount on average. However, the discount is considerable for borrowers that switch and had a strong relationship with their previous lender. Our results suggest that close lending relationships lead to benefits for the firm, but may also imply hold‐up costs in the long term.     

析我国外汇占款对冲策略

根据我国的经济运行情况,分析固定汇率、资本流动与货币政策自主的“三元困境”在我国的具体表现。指出在经常项目和资本项目持续顺差的情况下,货币政策与外汇储备增长的矛盾。说明为控制流通中的货币而被动进行的单向对冲操作的成本昂贵,并且是以牺牲货币政策自主为代价的,还易积蕴金融风险,酿致恶性后果。证实了外汇占款对冲策略的不可持久性,为此必须改革现行的固定汇率制度,并放松资本管制。