Theoretical foundations of equity based foreign market entry decisions: A review of the literature and recommendations for future research

This paper reviews the theoretical foundations of the equity based foreign market entry (FME) decisions literature. We analyse 1055 academic FME papers published over four decades (1970–2013). We identify and analyse the theories that informed and guided FME research over time. Our review indicates that scholars have recently started to challenge some of the core assumptions of established theories, draw on and integrate insights from multiple theoretical perspectives which, in turn, generated a multiplicity of approaches for studying FME decisions and their performance outcomes. The paper discusses the explanatory power of the different theories, assesses the relevance of the different theoretical perspectives to our understanding of current FME phenomena and recommends directions for further research.     

Effects of carbon emission reduction policies on transportation mode selections with stochastic demand

We are witnessing more frequent extreme weather events due to the global warming. There is an urgent need for governments, industries, general public, and academics to take coordinated actions in order to tackle the challenges imposed by the climate change. It is essential to incorporate the environmental objective in the transportation mode selection problem as transportation is a main contributor to carbon emissions. With this in mind, our paper studies the retailer’s ordering and transportation mode selection problem using stochastic customer demand and investigates the optimal ordering and transportation mode selection decisions under different carbon emission reduction policies. Our analytical results reveal that there are some important transportation mode shifting thresholds under different carbon emissions reduction policies. These findings do not only help firms to make optimal decisions under different carbon emission reduction policies but also support policy makers to develop effective policies on carbon emissions reduction.     

Is more better? The relationship between meeting space capacity and hotel operating performance

This study examines the effect of meeting space capacity on hotel operating performance. We use Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm as the theoretical foundation. We employ a national-level dataset with more than 20,000 hotels in the United States for the 2007–2012 period. We find that meeting space has a non-linear effect on hotel operating performance. That is, at low levels of meeting space, meeting space capacity is negatively related to hotel operating performance. At high levels of meeting space, meeting space capacity has a positive influence on operating performance. These findings provide insights for hotel owners, developers and practitioners in planning hotel meeting space capacity.     

Mobile technology & resident attitude research

This research note highlights the novelty of integrating location-based services (LBS) available on Smart Phones and Tablets into traditional resident attitude survey methodologies such as door-to-door data collection. It specifically reviews how the LBS technology available on mobile devices can be used to systematically capture GPS coordinates of one's residence and integrate this captured spatial information into software such as ArcGIS and SPSS for further analysis. By having GPS coordinates associated with respondents' answers, researchers have an additional layer of information available for conducting a multitude of tests previously not possible with subjective categorical spatial data. Two research applications using the spatial location of residences are provided as examples of how LBS available on mobile devices can be integrated within resident attitude projects. The use of LBS technology can help researchers better understand how the distance residents live from major tourist attractions influences their attitudes towards tourism.     

Production complementarities and flexibility in a model of entrepreneurship

The focus of this paper is the flexibility in working hours as a motive for entrepreneurship. The model exhibits inflexibilities for workers and entrepreneurs, which arise due to complementarities in production. In addition, it allows for volatile value of leisure to make flexibility in hours desirable. Differences in occupation-specific flexibility, disciplined with the observed patterns in hours (level, persistence, dispersion) and income (persistence, dispersion), can explain relatively low income levels of entrepreneurs in the US and the occupation-specific distributions of working hours and income. Policy relevance of the model features is discussed using experiments of workweek restrictions and income taxation.     

Research agenda for low-carbon mobility: Issues for New World cities

ABSTRACT

Low-carbon mobility (LCM) features strongly in debates about the sustainability of cities and their resilience in the face of demographic, economic, and climate change. Transport is a major source of carbon emissions and there are indications that these continue to increase, despite the considerable recent advances in vehicle, engine, and fuel technologies. Reducing carbon emissions from transport may become more difficult, not easier. A particular issue relates to the New World cities, typified by those of North America and Australasia, which largely developed from the latter half of the nineteenth century onward and whose transportation systems were largely based around private vehicle ownership and usage. These cities are typically composed of low-density, dispersed suburbs, which are highly car dependent and resource and carbon emission intensive. This article develops a research agenda directed at determining and testing policy and planning measures relevant to the quest for low carbon mobility in New World cities. It suggests a rich agenda for essential research on LCM. Much of this agenda falls within the realm of the integration of transport and land use, with attention to urban design details to enhance the perceptions of and opportunities to use low carbon transport alternatives. Research topics identified for LCM research include (1) urban design and land use–transport integration (LUTI), (2) low carbon mobility policies directed at achieving widespread behavior change, (3) opportunities for new technology and its application, including requirements for systems and infrastructure, and (4) analysis and tools for informed decision making, including modeling, measurement, visualization, and especially assessment.     

Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views

With corporate disclosure of carbon emissions rapidly increasing, the long-standing question remains whether carbon disclosure has any influence on the improvement of carbon performance. Previous studies of environmental disclosure and performance have predominantly focused on whether disclosure is a substitute for poor performance. Little attention has been devoted to the more important question about how changes in disclosure may lead to subsequent changes in performance over time. Following the rationales taken by the legitimacy and management perspectives, we revisit the relationship between carbon disclosure and performance, with a focus on changes that disclosure may (or may not) create. Using a change analysis of Global 500 companies and their carbon emission and disclosure data released between 2008 and 2012, this study finds that the change in carbon disclosure levels is positively associated with a subsequent change in carbon performance (examined through direct and indirect carbon emission intensities). Thus, regardless of whether disclosure has been used as a legitimising tool for prior poor performance, this study confirms that carbon disclosure motivates companies and creates an ‘outside-in’ driven effect for subsequent change and improvement in carbon performance. However, the association between changes in carbon disclosure and performance is relatively weaker in high energy-intensive firms.     

Institutions,resources, and internationalization of emerging economy firms

An important step in the internationalization process of emerging economy firms is the shift from exports to foreign direct investment (FDI). We integrate the resource- and institution-based views to suggest that firms that can use unique institutional advantages are more likely to make this shift. We test these arguments with a longitudinal sample of 28,563 firm-year observations (1989–2005). We found that firms that are affiliated with a business group, have more firm- and group-level international experience, have more technological and marketing resources, and operate in service industries are more likely to shift from exports to FDI.     

Accounting conservatism in a setting of Information Asymmetry between majority and minority shareholders

Following LaFond and Watts (2008), we examine the relation between information asymmetry (as measured by PIN, probability of information-based trading) and accounting conservatism but focus on a country – Taiwan – whose institutional background is different from that of the United States. Due to the disparate degree of conservatism across the world, the conclusions of LaFond & Watts (2008) might not be universally applicable. Our findings support, in general, the applicability of their conclusion to a Taiwan data set. We find, however, that the effect of PIN appears weaker when auditor tenure is taken into account, thus supplementing their conclusions.     

Mapping the antecedents of telework diffusion: firm‐level evidence from Italy

Previous literature has studied telework practices predominantly from the employees' perspective rather than exploring its use at the firm level. With the objective of contributing to reducing this research gap, the relationship between firms' adoption of telework and the firms' technological, organisational and environmental contexts is explored. Data were obtained from a survey conducted between 2005 and 2009 on a sample of 1,134 Italian firms in the Piedmont region. The results show an overall increase in the diffusion of telework primarily attributable to a rise in the adoption of ‘mobile’ work rather than home‐based forms of telework. The results also show that firms that had previously adopted information systems supporting core business processes and knowledge management were more inclined to adopt telework. Telework arrangements were more widely diffused among firms facing a growing and geographically dispersed market demand, and also in the contexts of higher levels of human capital and lower capital intensity.