Systematic review of sourcing and 3D printing: make-or-buy decisions in industrial buyer–supplier relationships

Management Review Quarterly - Additive manufacturing (AM) is regarded as a technology that has transformative and disruptive potential in nearly all industries. However, AM is not only about new...     

Catching up of emerging economies: the role of capital goods imports,FDI inflows,domestic investment and absorptive capacity

We show that the impact of capital goods imports and FDI inflows on economic convergence depends on the local capacity of emerging economies to absorb superior technologies.     

The Energy-Bias of North–South Technology Spillovers: A Global,Bilateral, Bisectoral Trade Analysis

We examine variations in the South–North ratios (emerging vs. industrialized countries) of energy and labor intensities driven by imports. We use the novel World input-output database that provides bilateral and bisectoral data for 40 countries and 35 sectors for 1995–2009. We find South–North convergence of energy and labor intensities, an energy bias of import-driven convergence and no robust difference between imports of intermediate and investment goods. Accordingly, trade helps emerging economies follow a ‘green growth’ path, and trade-related policies can enhance this path. However, the effects are economically small and require a long time horizon to become effective. Trade-related policies can become much more effective in selected countries and sectors: China attenuates labor intensity via imports of intermediate goods above average. Brazil reduces energy intensity via imports of intermediate and investment goods above average. Production of machinery as an importing sector in emerging countries can immoderately benefit from trade-related reductions in factor intensities. Electrical equipment as a traded good particularly decreases energy intensity. Machinery particularly dilutes labor intensity. Our main results are statistically highly significant and robust across specifications.     

Indicators of Absorptive Capacity and Import‐induced South–North Convergence in Labour Intensities

We hypothesise that North–South trade is associated with knowledge spillovers that create labour productivity gains depending on various aspects of Southern absorptive capacity. We use the novel World Input–Output Database (WIOD) that provides bilateral and bisectoral panel data for 39 countries and 35 sectors for 1995–2009. We examine growth in relative South–North labour intensities (South–North convergence) for 31 industrialised source and eight emerging recipient countries. We find strong evidence that various components and individual indicators of absorptive capacity interact with imports of investment goods in such a way that the relative labour intensity is reduced. GMM and GLS estimations corroborate the results. Policies that improve various of the identified aspects of absorptive capacity are more promising than policies that select only one. Elevating the absorptive capacity of emerging economies to the maximum level in the world would halve the South–North gap in labour intensities within a couple of decades if it were solely achieved through the trade channel.     

Designing a public procurement strategy: lessons from local governments

Public sector procurement faces competing priorities, such as cost-efficiency, legal conformity, the advancement of environmental protection and the promotion of innovation. In addition, procurement departments are moving away from being mere organizational servants to having a strategic function. This paper looks at current public procurement strategy research, revealing neglected aspects. The authors propose a new analytical framework and suggest avenues for future research.     

Disentangling the impact of infrastructure on trade using a new index of infrastructure

Making use of considerably improved measures of infrastructure, the study assesses the impact of infrastructure on bilateral trade for a panel of 150 developed and emerging economies during the period 1992–2011. The authors make use of a gravity approach to disentangle the impact of infrastructure on trade and trade costs. Improving infrastructure endowments and quality decreases trade costs and increases international trade flows. Countries with improved infrastructure reduce not only bilateral trade costs but also multilateral trade costs. The decomposition of effects indicates that better infrastructure encourages higher export flows relative to domestic trade flows. Main results of the study prove to be robust, also when considering distinct trade categories (consumption goods, intermediates, and capital goods) for a smaller sample.     

Business-to-Business communication in a dynamic environment: A systematic adductive analysis referring to ramp-up management

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research note is to take stock of existing knowledge on the topic of Business-to-Business (B-to-B) communication and to conceptualize the exchange of information between buyers and suppliers in a dynamic environment. The dynamic business environment is referring to new product ramp-ups. Ramp-up, defined as the period between the completion of development and a stabile serial production, is of high importance for the success of manufacturing companies. During ramp-up, product specification, production machinery, and the number of finished products change over time. It is assumed that improved B-to-B communication is beneficial to achieve a high ramp-up performance. For the purpose of this research note a systematic review of the literature is used to analyze the status quo of existing communication concepts in ramp-up management. The article conducts a content analysis of a sample of 86 subject-relevant articles from academic journals. These preliminary findings suggest that, although B-to-B communication plays a central role in the management of (ramp-up) dynamics, the stock of knowledge in this peculiar area is limited to few specific findings. Communication is often mentioned as relevant, but further guidance on details, e.g. communication channels, roles, behavior, or communication content, is lacking. This research note identifies research gaps in the B-to-B communication literature regarding buyer-supplier communication in dynamic business situations and proposes several directions for future research. Managers should acknowledge that B-to-B communication is repeatedly mentioned in the literature as a source for improving competitiveness. Proper communication in buyer-supplier relationships becomes more important but also more challenging in dynamic business environments. This research note is addressing dynamic business environments and is focusing the role of B-to-B communication in production ramp-ups. Knowledge on the topic is consolidated, e.g. influence factors on communication, what provides a number of implications for practice and future research.     

Bayesian modification indices for IRT models

Bayesian modification indices are presented that provide information for the process of model evaluation and model modification. These indices can be used to investigate the improvement in a model if fixed parameters are re-specified as free parameters. The indices can be seen as a Bayesian analogue to the modification indices commonly used in a frequentist framework. The aim is to provide diagnostic information for multi-parameter models where the number of possible model violations and the related number of alternative models is too large to render estimation of each alternative practical. As an example, the method is applied to an item response theory (IRT) model, that is, to the two-parameter model. The method is used to investigate differential item functioning and violations of the assumption of local independence.