A South-South perspective on emerging economy companies and institutional coevolution: An empirical study of Chinese multinationals in Africa

In this paper, we show how international tenders act as defining moments in building asymmetric coevolution-based mechanisms between Chinese multinational enterprises and local institutions in developing African countries. We used a case study methodology to explore how three Chinese multinationals – Citic, Sinopec, and Chinalco – developed non-market relations with the institutions of three African countries, namely, Algeria, Gabon and the Republic of Guinea, both during and after the submission of international tenders, to win strategic contracts and securely embed the company in question within the target host country. We found that Chinese companies not only submit tenders, but also develop multiple kinds of alliances in order to influence local institutions over the long term, transplant new business practices and standards, and expand in an unparalleled way, with host-country institutions and Chinese MNEs acting as partners in the new ecosystem. Based on our findings, we propose a model which highlights the specific mechanisms through which successful coevolution processes emerge and prosper between Chinese multinationals and developing country institutions. This study contributes to the international management literature by extending the field of institutional theory to co-evolutionism in international business.     

Information structure and coordination in technology policy

The main purpose of our paper is to present a model which allows a comparison of different types of technology policies to be made. It appears that there is a kind of model which is appropriate to that purpose but which belongs to the theory of the firm. Indeed, one of the characteristics of technology policies is the degree of centralization of decision; as it is in the design of firm organization. It seems that a model like AOKI's (1986) presents sufficient properties to be used in our context. The aim of this exercise is to compare vertical and horizontal institutional frameworks for technology policies, more precisely diffusion and mission oriented policies. This framework will be applied to the case of some technology policies in the Federal Republic of Germany (before re-unification): programmes in production technologies and the Transrapid programme.Financial support by the E. C. for the SPES-project Comparative Economics of R & D: the case of France and Germany is gratefully acknowledged. We would like to thank all participants to the SPES-project (involving the Universities of Ausburg and Tübingen, the IFO Institute Munich, the CNRS teams LATAPSES in Nice and BETA in Strasbourg and the Ecole Centrale Paris) for helpful comments. We also profited from comments by A. Arundel, R. Cowan, P. A. David, C. Freeman and L. Soete, and by two anonymous referees. An initial version of this paper is published as Foray and Llerena, 1992.     

Understanding local entrepreneurship and small enterprises in the tourism–development nexus: The case of western Uganda

Most studies of the tourism–development nexus in developing countries tend to focus on short-term and monetary tourism effects, while understating non-monetary and longer-term effects of tourism on local and regional development. Although less tangible and weakly understood, non-monetary and/or long-term tourism effects can both reinforce and undermine short-term and monetary tourism effects. This article analyses how tourism stimulates local entrepreneurship and small enterprise development, and to what extent these small enterprises fuel non-monetary aspects of regional development. Evidence from career pathways of different types of local entrepreneurs in western Uganda suggests that tourism can enlarge peoples’ capabilities, awareness and assets to control their own well-being. This study indicates that tourism can act as a catalyst for small enterprise development in the local economy without inducing major skills’ leakages.     

A Second-hand Shoppers’ Motivation Scale: Antecedents, Consequences, and Implications for Retailers

In view of growing interest in alternative consumption channels and critiques of conventional retailing, this study proposes a scale of second-hand shopping motivations. After defining the concept, we present the characteristics of second-hand shopping and explain the importance of a motivation-based approach. Through qualitative and quantitative studies and two data collections carried out in France with 708 subjects, we propose a reliable, valid, eight-factor scale that includes motivations related to products and distribution channels. A second-order hierarchical structure supports the tripartite nature (critical, economic, and recreational) of this form of shopping. Furthermore, the measure reveals, through a typological analysis, four consumer segments: “polymorphous enthusiasts”, “thrifty critics”, “nostalgic hedonists”, and “regular specialist shoppers”. We discuss the applications of this new scale and their implications for both research and retailing strategies.     

Estimating Lower Tail Dependence Between Pairs of Poverty Dimensions in Europe

This article provides an innovative method for measuring the dependence between pairs of poverty dimensions using a semiparametric copula approach that permits us to account for the importance of extreme low values. The association between pairs of poverty dimensions at the lower tail is easily measured using the parameter estimates of the specified parametric copula, and no further calculations are needed. This approach is used to measure the bivariate lower tail dependence between the dimensions of the AROPE rate in Europe at two time points (2009 and 2018). The findings reveal a statistically significant increase in the lower tail dependence between 2009 and 2018 in several European countries.