Modelling with flexibility through the business cycle: using a panel smooth transition model to test for the lipstick effect

ABSTRACT

Consumer spending typically declines during periods of economic distress, but observers have noted that lipstick purchases appear to increase during recessions, which is often referred to as the lipstick effect. However, the existence of such effect has remained empirically unconfirmed. Using weekly retail scanner data on lipstick sales from 2006 to 2016 in the United States, we applied a Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) demand model to test the relationship between economic distress and lipstick sales. This flexible demand specification allows regression coefficients to vary as a function of an exogenous macroeconomic variables and fluctuate asymmetrically, non-linearly, and time-varyingly across an unlimited number of regimes. Empirical results show the income elasticity of demand for lipstick decreased rapidly from 0.31 to 0.05 during the 2007–2009 recession, then slowly rebounded to 0.31 by the second quarter of 2014, thus first empirically confirming the existence of the lipstick effect.     

John R. Commons and Government as Employer of Last Resort: Three Paths to a Progressive Right to Work

Abstract:

Today in the United States, a number of congressional Democrats endorse proposals that would establish a job guarantee for all Americans seeking work. Arguments for such a policy can be traced back at least to the work of John R. Commons, one of the first institutional economists. This article demonstrates that there are actually three arguments in Commons’s scholarship that provide a case for government to hire the unemployed by serving as employer of last resort. These arguments, each highlighted at a different point in Commons’s career, can be viewed in turn as legal, financial, and historical paths to public provision of work for the jobless—government employment that Commons considered part of “the right to work.” The article traces each path, highlighting insight that remains relevant and calling for greater attention to Common’s writings as a way to reclaim the right to work as a progressive cause.     

Thriving in the New Normal: The HR Microfoundations of Capabilities for Business Model Innovation. An Integrated Literature Review

Firms need to respond to the increasing competition and change of the current New Normal environment by being more innovative, and especially in developing new business models. This paper seeks to explore how microfoundations, particularly with respect to human resource management, play a key role in facilitating innovation in business models through the development of key needed capabilities. Four themes are identified with respect to business model innovation (BMI) in the New Normal: BMI as an enabler to create and operate across industries and product-markets; BMI as a mechanism for firms to better navigate changing institutional landscapes; BMI as giving rise to business model portfolios; and concurrent and cumulative innovations that can lead to BMI. This paper also develops a conceptual framework that presents a synoptic view of the five essential capabilities for BMI, which include analogical reasoning, sensemaking, dynamic capabilities, organisational ambidexterity, and organisational learning. Finally, it is shown how the microfoundations of a bespoke, development-oriented BMI HR architecture can support the advancement of these capabilities and thus contribute to the strategic HR literature.     

Discretionary effort of regional hospitality small business employees: Impact of non-monetary work factors

This research examines the impact of non-monetary work environment factors on employee discretionary effort within the hospitality sector in the South West Region of Western Australia. Limited qualitative research has previously examined the factors that drive employee discretionary effort especially in the regional hospitality sector. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 hospitality employees using purposive sampling. While the findings are preliminary, they do highlight important aspects of discretionary effort within a regional context. Critically, two previously un-identified factors, employees’ professional identity and perception of the hospitality sector have been found to have important implications for employees’ discretionary effort and need to be further explored. Additionally, the findings support the direct influence of organisational culture, job design, interpersonal relationships, on discretionary effort. Finally, the research confirms that a paternalistic leadership approach has a significant influence on hospitality employees’ discretionary effort. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are outlined.     

供应链视角下餐饮O2O模式的配送路径优化

O2O最后一公里配送往往需要综合考虑时间和成本的关系,研究平台对订单的分配和路径优化对提升O2O供应链的整体效率和产业链升级具有十分重要的意义。从餐饮商家和O2O平台两个主要参与者出发对物流配送系统进行研究,提出了适合于O2O餐饮供应链的配送网络,并考虑道路阻塞、最大里程数等约束,搭建了上层模型最短时间、下层模型最低成本的双层规划模型,进而通过NSGA-Ⅱ算法求得可行解,最后验证了算法的可行性,为进一步研究O2O配送提供了新的解决思路。     

Public–private partnerships in Social Impact Bonds: facilitating competition or hindering transparency?

ABSTRACT

The use of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), which introduces the potential for investor profit in public service provision, has been widely discussed. Some argue that SIBs might promote government transparency because outcome data collection and evaluation are part of contractual terms. On the other hand, some argue that SIBs might hinder government transparency because more contractual parties might lead to more uncertain data ownership and because the profit motive transforms information into a competitive advantage. This paper looks at SIBs in five countries, examining how transparency differed between SIB and non-SIB financed programmes at the same social service provider. On the positive side, SIBs led to more and longer collection of outcome data and the publication of evaluations. On the negative side, it was found that SIBs tend to generate significant obstacles to the release of data to academic researchers and that sponsored evaluations do not measure impacts.     

Linking sustainable business models and supply chains — Toward an integrated value creation framework

Extant literature on sustainable business models highlights that value creation stems from resources exchanged in relationships between a focal firm and its stakeholders. In this context, the literature has, so far, focused on direct relationships. However, despite the acknowledged relevance of sustainability issues in supply chains, this relational view of the focal company and its direct stakeholders has not been extended toward value creation for and with indirect stakeholders, such as stakeholders of suppliers. Addressing this gap, this conceptual article integrates a relational view of sustainable supply chain management into the management of sustainable business models. It extends the scope of sustainable business models from relationships between the focal firm and its direct stakeholders to indirect relationships with stakeholders of suppliers. A framework is developed that supports analysis and management of value-creating relationships between the focal firm, suppliers, and stakeholders of suppliers. By extending the conceptualization of sustainable business models to consider relationship chains beyond direct relationships, this article proposes that a focal firm has to actively manage interactions both with suppliers and with suppliers' stakeholders.     

广西民间传统手工艺转型发展商业模式探究--以博白竹藤编织工艺为例

民间传统手工艺是一个民族文化的重要组成部分。广西是一个多民族聚居区,存在丰富多样的传统手工艺文化。面对如今经济社会快速发展的时代,现代化工业的快速发展、社会环境的浮躁、缺乏关注导致创新的缺失等原因使得民间传统手工艺的传承和发展面临较大的困难。除了政府的制度和措施,也应积极探索其他方式。论文以广西博白竹藤编织手工艺面临的困境为研究对象,对其创新发展的市场潜力与可行性、商业模式的转型发展进行探索,以期对我国民间传统手工艺的传承与壮大提供一定的参考和借鉴。     

Firm listing status and the investment home bias

Are public firm investment rates more sensitive than private firm rates to new investment opportunities? We offer a new explanation for differences in public and private firm investment sensitivities: investment sensitivities differ because the type of investments favored by firms varies with their listing status. Specifically, we consider the geography of investment opportunities and find that private firms have a much stronger investment home-bias than similar public firms which makes their investment decisions more sensitive to local investment opportunities than public firms. Controlling for local investment opportunities explains four-fifths of the differential sensitivity between public and private firms not explained by more traditional measures of investment opportunities.