Development aid and economic growth: A positive long-run relation

We analyze the growth impact of official development assistance to developing countries. Our approach is different from that of previous studies in two major ways. First, we disentangle the effects of two kinds of aid: developmental and non-developmental. Second, our specifications allow for the effect of aid on economic growth to occur over long periods. Our results indicate that developmental aid promotes long-run growth. The effect is significant, large and robust to different specifications and estimation techniques.     

A critical review of methods for tourism climate change appraisal: life cycle assessment as a new approach

This paper reviews existing approaches to assessing tourism sustainability, especially its contribution to climate change. It assesses ecological footprint analysis, environmental impact assessment and input–output analysis but finds them inaccurate and unreliable. It goes on to argue that life cycle assessment (LCA) is a more promising tool for tourism climate change impact assessment, highlighting important areas where LCA application can contribute towards better understanding of tourism's role in global climatic changes. To demonstrate the applicability of the LCA methodology, a case study of a short weekend holiday trip is presented. Related greenhouse gas emissions are measured comparing LCA and alternative carbon footprint calculation methods. The comparison demonstrates markedly different results. The reasons for the discrepancy along with the potential of LCA to estimate the “indirect” carbon contribution of the holiday trip's components are discussed. A key feature of the LCA calculation is that for short-haul trips the proportional impact of accommodation-related emissions is shown to be larger than in earlier calculations, while transport impacts are reduced.     

How far can luxury brands travel? Avoiding the pitfalls of luxury brand extension

Brand extensions are always tempting to marketers, and in the case of luxury brands the allure is particularly strong. While the path to luxury brand success may be partly paved with extensions, there are even more examples of brand extension disasters that litter the way. Brand extensions continue to be among the most researched and studied phenomena in marketing. When it comes to luxury brands, however, the factors that lead to successful extension have received far less attention. In this article, we consider the notion of perceived premium degree of the brand as a function of its category, and what we term the degree of adjacency between its product categories. Building on our research, which found that a luxury brand's perceived premium degree has a different impact on profitability depending on whether or not the brand is spread across adjacent product categories, we demonstrate when luxury brand extensions work—and when they fail. Perhaps most importantly, we herein introduce the premium adjacency matrix as a tool for luxury brand managers to consider in formulating extension strategies.     

The concept of stable strategic time periods in strategic group research

This paper briefly reviews previous research on strategic groups and concludes that the concept needs further refinement. In particular, strategic grouping studies have typically ignored the influence of time on competitive strategy and have assumed homogeneity in strategic behavior over the time period researched. Therefore, a general analytical method is proposed in order to identify time periods of similarity in strategic behavior—so-called stable strategic time periods. It is argued that following the identification of stable strategic time periods meaningful strategic groupings of companies within industries can be derived and further analysis of the dynamics of strategic group shifts can be performed.     

A Monopolist Would Still Charge More for Windows: A Comment on Werden

Even when heterogeneity of demand for computers is taken into account, Microsoft's pricing of Windows is inconsistent with the government's claim that Windows is a monopoly, protected by high entry barriers. Werden's claim to the contrary rests on confusion between local and global maxima and on his use of assumptions about thePC market that are demonstrably false.     

The Institutional Domain of Technology Diffusion

Marketing implications of technological innovation have received considerable attention in the recent past. In this article, Mohan Reddy, John Aram, and Leonard Lynn suggest that the institutional scope for understanding technology diffusion, in addition to supplier and user organizations and industries, should include organizations that manufacture technological complementarities, institutions that possess vertical complementary assets, and the nonmarket sector. The nonmarket sector includes trade associations, professional societies, governmental agencies, independent research agencies, and public service organizations. The authors develop a set of propositions and discuss the implications of our framework for marketers of technical products.     

STRATEGIC TIME PERIODS AND STRATEGIC GROUPS RESEARCH: CONCEPTS AND AN EMPIRICAL EXAMPLE

This article briefly reviews previous research on strategic groups and focuses upon the influence of time on strategic positioning. This stability approach also motivates research into the dynamics of strategic group shifts. An illustrative example drawn from the drug industry emphasizes the practical application of these concepts. The analytically-derived strategic groupings are then compared with evidence drawn from industry and academic research. Finally, following discussion of the results, some suggestions about integrating the strategic group concept into strategic management research are also made.     

Criticality analysis and the supply chain: Leveraging representational assurance

System builders who plan to acquire information and communication technology (ICT) products must consider two key risk factors (among many) while planning for the acquisition and design of their systems. They must understand the inter-relationships of all assembled products in any new planned system in terms of its resilience under attack. These system owners will also increasingly assess the risks they may inherit from a global interconnected supply chain. To address these concerns, the recommendation in this paper is for providers of Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) technology products to perform a criticality analysis on their own products to gauge resilience, rather than later be confronted by an acquirer attempting to solely reverse engineer the system as part of supply chain due-diligence. This paper illustrates the roles that technology providers and system owners each play in following the outlined approach that highlights key risk factors of the tiered suppliers for product elements deemed most critical. ICT COTS providers who do not want to divulge sensitive information about their suppliers can use a “representational assurance” approach to convey meaningful information to potential acquirers without undue disclosure. Analytical graphics such as “Treemaps” can help all parties illustrate where to best focus their attention regarding critical operational risk and supply chain risk. The same data that providers track internally to manage product assurance can be leveraged to support meaningful representational assurance to acquirers. This approach improves the current state where data disclosure by technology providers is seen by acquirers, despite being unrealistic, as the best means to gain confidence in the technology supply chain.     

Financial Performance of Foreign and Domestic Owned Companies in India

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is attracted into transitional economies like India for reasons like capital, technology, international markets, and managerial skills. Extant literature has focused on studying the impact of FDI inflows on financial performance at an aggregate level ignoring the differences in state regulations in industries. Further, in the case of India, the literature is confined to analysis in specific years. In this study, we examined whether foreign ownership has any impact on financial performance of firms in India over a period of time. We have conducted a pooled cross section time series analysis of 102 Indian pharmaceutical firms for the period 1998–2005. For the analysis, we used a novel, robust method of handling missing data thus making available twenty % more information than is otherwise possible. Foreign ownership is found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on the financial performance of pharmaceutical companies in India.     

Skills in South Africa: The journey towards credible planning

ABSTRACT

Since 1994 the state has instituted active labour market policies to redress the apartheid skills legacy. The skills planning challenge continues to be how to coordinate efforts for the provision of the right skills to support inclusive economic growth, ensuring an alignment is achieved between what is required in the labour market and the supply from the education and training system. This article traces the South African journey of skills planning from late apartheid until the current time period in 2014 through a historical analysis of the political economy. The analysis reflects on the relationship between state formation in South Africa and the role of the state in directing skills development, and in the more recent period how skills planning responds to both the demands of the economy and ameliorating the historical legacies of education and skills exclusion.