Digital Platforms and the Nature of the Firm

Abstract:

Digital platforms turn traditional approaches of the firm, which relied on the wage relation to explain the major difference between firm and market, upside down and underline the advantages of coordination through organization over coordination through market. This study aims to propose a definition of the firm able to integrate, besides the integrated firm, also hybrid forms such as networks of subcontractor/subcontracting firms as well as atypical forms such as digital platforms. By reactivating the firm-boundary problem, this article suggests putting valorization by labor at the heart of the firm’s decisions concerning integration. It suggests therefore a general definition of the firm as a techno-institutional center of capital valorization, provided that firms make profits by means of the appropriation of labor incorporated into their (productive, structural, intellectual) capital through institutional arrangements. By stressing the relation of production between the owners of the means of production and the direct producers, the approach of the firm supported here should allow to cover the different existing models of the firm, from the classical firm to hybrid models, around which the boundary debate has revolved, to digital platforms.     

The construction of a composite index for general satisfaction in Turkey and the investigation of its determinants

The goal of public enterprises is to increase the wealth and happiness of individuals. This target lets them make the investment to fulfill these expectations. However, not all citizens in a country might have the same opportunities. This case requires comparing citizens who live in cities with regard to satisfaction levels. This study consists of two stages. In the first stage, a composite index called the General Satisfaction Index (GSI), which aims to explain the satisfaction levels of citizens living in cities, is obtained by using the Benefit of the Doubt method. Contrary to the previous studies, the satisfaction indicators based on the emotions and senses of citizens are used to construct a composite index. Satisfaction indicators’ contribution to GSI is ensured using the minimum weights. In the second stage of this study, socioeconomic determinants of GSI are investigated in both countrywide and regions by using regularized regression methods. In the result of the regression analyze, it is confirmed that there are different socioeconomic determinants of satisfaction levels for countrywide and each region. For this reason, it is proposed that policymakers should follow different politicizes in each region to increase the satisfaction levels of citizens in the country.     

将“合伙人制”融入“合作制”的一项尝试——基于MGL合作社的案例解读与探讨

当前,合作社异化已成为阻碍合作社进一步发展的痛点,其中"合作制"下社员剩余索取权和控制权的丧失是矛盾核心,因而探求其改进方式对合作社长远发展、实现乡村振兴有重要意义。本文基于效率与公平衡量维度,通过对MGL合作社这一典型案例进行剖析发现,有效的合作社在治理结构和利益分配上具备"合伙人制"特征,并且基本契合不完全契约理论有关能够有效解决契约双方信息不对称以及剩余索取权、控制权被少数社员占有的论述。对此,应充分重视合伙人制在合作社发展中的内在有效性,弱化其是否具有规范的外在形式。     

长三角区域自主创新及利用FDI的关系研究

利用FDI为引资地区提高自主创新水平创造了一个高级的开放式创新平台,自主创新能力的提升为吸引高质量的FDI提供了必要条件。因此,自主创新与利用FDI是相辅相成的。本文通过实证分析长三角各省市的自主创新及利用FDI的协整关系,发现长三角各省市的自主创新和实际利用FDI之间既存在正的、也存在负的长期均衡关系。据此建议,加大高质量FDI引进力度,提升长三角科研人员的创新能力,加大研发经费投入,加强本土公司创新产出的成果转化能力。     

大数据背景下企业财务管理面临的挑战与变革

随着社会经济的快速发展,市场经济体制在不断地完善,科学技术水平也在不断地上升,这时我国进入了大数据时代。传统的财务管理模式已经无法再适应时代的发展变化,所以企业应该及时转变自身的财务管理模式,更新管理理念。论文针对大数据背景下企业财务管理面临的挑战和变革进行分析,介绍财务部门的主要作用和发展现状,并提出提高财务管理水平的具体方法和策略,希望能够为企业的发展起到一些参考作用。     

地方政府环境支出行为的空间策略互动研究*——传导机制与再检验

本文从理论和实证两个维度检验了地方政府环境支出行为的空间策略互动的传导机制。结果表明，环境支出存在明显的空间策略互动与时间滞后效应。其表现为相邻省级地区之间环保财政支出行为的互相模仿和路径依赖。外商直接投资和财政分权并不是导致地区间环境支出“逐底竞争”的直接原因。在构建多维度政绩考核体系来引导政府财政支出竞争的同时，建立地区间环境支出的协调机制和对外开放等途径，有利于实现均衡和绿色发展。     

旅游产业与农村可持续生计耦合的空间格局及驱动机制——以张家界为例

通过构建乡村旅游与农村可持续生计系统指标体系,运用变异系数和耦合协调度模型对2005—2018年张家界乡村旅游与农村可持续生计的耦合度和协调度进行测算,分析耦合协调度的空间格局,并运用地理探测器方法对其驱动机制进行分析。研究表明:①2005—2018年耦合协调度保持连续上升的趋势;②乡村旅游发展初期呈现东部高西部低的分布格局,中期呈现东南部滞后于西部的分布格局,但最终张家界整个区县达到优质协调;③耦合协调度空间分异的主要影响因素有人均GDP、旅游收入占GDP比重、农业机械化水平和人均财政收入等,且具有明显的时间异质性特征。     

The Politics of M&A Antitrust

Antitrust regulators play a critical role in protecting market competition. We examine whether the political process affects antitrust reviews of merger transactions. We find that acquirers and targets located in the political districts of powerful U.S. congressional members who serve on committees with antitrust regulatory oversight receive relatively favorable antitrust review outcomes. To establish causality, we use plausibly exogenous shocks to firm–politician links and a falsification test. Additional findings suggest congressional members’ incentives to influence antitrust reviews are affected by three channels: special interests, voter and constituent interests, and ideology. In aggregate, our findings suggest that the political process adversely interferes with the ability of antitrust regulators to provide independent recommendations about anticompetitive mergers.     

Estimating the potential impact of requiring a stand-alone board-level risk committee

Motivated by the requirement under the Dodd-Frank Act that all large bank holding companies create a stand-alone, board-level risk committee, this paper investigates the association between such a committee and regulatory risk both before and during the financial crisis. I focus the analysis on the set of banks that did not have a risk committee in place prior to the Dodd-Frank Act, as these are the banks that were most affected by the regulation. I find that matched control banks with a risk committee in place had higher capital ratios during the financial crisis, but lower capital ratios during more stable economic conditions relative to the banks without a risk committee. This paper contributes to the literature by narrowly investigating the effects a board-level risk committee, by focusing on a risk measure that is of interest to the regulators who implemented the new regulation, and by documenting that this association changes over time which highlights the importance of estimating the effects of new regulations across different economic conditions.