Tracing Trade Interdependence between EU and East Asia

Abstract

There have been two related trends shaping global trade during the past couple of decades: the increasing role of international supply chains and the rise of China. Increased complexity in global trade has generated a need to construct more processed trade data — trade in value added — in order to deepen our understanding of trade relations between countries. In this article, we present a broad picture of trade in value added between the EU28 and East Asian countries. We find that East Asia is important as a final demand and supply chain export destination, especially for Northern European countries, while for CEE countries it is more important as an import source for both final demand and supply chain trade. Trade with East Asia is least important for Southern European countries. The production structure of an EU country seems to be one of the main factors explaining the importance of supply chain trade with East Asian countries. The data also suggest that supply chain trade could support the growth of domestic value-added exports to the supply chain trade partner country as well as to other countries.     

Assessing the productivity consequences of agri-environmental practices when adoption is endogenous

Journal of Productivity Analysis - We address the general problem of selection bias, an issue endemic to policy analysis when adoption is voluntary, with an empirical application to environmental...     

The Effects of Animation and Format on the Perception and Memory of Online Advertising

Based on a general framework of consumer perception and processing of advertising, this study examines the impact of animation and ad format on the attention and memorization of online ads. Consumer attention to a variety of real-world ads was measured with eye tracking and ad memory was assessed with recognition and recall tests. The results suggest that on average, animation had little or no effect on attention. We did nevertheless observe a strong interaction effect between animation and ad format, which suggests that the effect of animation is conditioned by ad format. Animation has a positive effect on attention to skyscrapers, but a negative one on attention to banners. As to memorization, animation improved recognition effects, but mainly for banners. Surprisingly, consumers could recognize ads without having looked at them, which suggests that online consumers are especially parsimonious in allocating their focal attention and memory resources to irrelevant ads when they are involved in other tasks.     

Ethics of Justice and Care in Corporate Crisis Management

Despite the importance of ethics in corporate crisis management, they have received limited attention in the academic literature. This article contributes to the evolving conversation on ethics in crisis management by elucidating the ethics of "justice" and "care" and distinguishing between them. Examples of the two approaches are offered through consideration of cases in corporate crisis management, including the alleged glass contamination case faced by Gerber Products Company, and, the shooting tragedy at San Ysidro faced by McDonald's Corporation. It is argued that both an ethic of justice and an ethic of care can be appropriate approaches in corporate crisis management. Areas for future research are discussed.     

Exploring “Embodied Care” in Relation to Social Sustainability

Although there has been a proliferation of interest in sustainable business practice, recent research has identified concerns with the relative neglect of the social versus environmental aspects of sustainability. It is argued here that due to its reliance on internally held, concrete and intrinsically motivated forms of responsiveness, as well as its ability to be authentically social versus parochial in nature, that the ethical construct of “embodied care” (Hamington, Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Feminist Ethics, 2004) has particular relevance as one path through which responsiveness to the human aspects of sustainable business practice might occur. Consideration is given to care as both an individual and organizational level construct. Business case examples are offered and directions for future research described.     

The Pragmatics of Care in Sustainable Global Enterprise

Recent conceptualizations of sustainable global development have reflected societal concerns not only with environmental stewardship, but also with social amelioration. However, the tripartite goals of corporate profitability, environmental protection, and social responsiveness are unlikely to be achieved through conventional models of globalization. The emergent approach known as sustainable global enterprise provides a promising strategic alternate, but requires the development of “native capability” [Hart, S. L.: 2005, Capitalism at the Crossroads: The Unlimited Business Opportunities In Solving the World’s Most Difficult Problems. (Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River, NJ)] that comprises specific relational competencies not typically required by traditional transnational models. This article demonstrates the usefulness of an ethic of care for enhancing understanding of the competencies comprising native capability, and, provides practical insights from a care approach on the development of those skills. Sheldene Simola completed a Ph.D. in psychology at Queens University at Kingston, and is currently completing a second Ph.D. in management and organizational behaviour in the School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier. Research interests include business ethics, leadership, and, corporate crisis management.     

The transmission of international shocks to CIS economies: A global VAR approach

This paper employs a Global Vector Auto Regressive (GVAR) model to study the evolution of the response of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to foreign output and oil price shocks. During an observation period of two decades, cross-country trade and financial linkages experience notable changes. We find CIS countries to be highly sensitive to global and regional shocks, with that sensitivity increasing after the global financial crisis. CIS countries show the strongest responses to output shocks originating in the US, Russia and within the region itself, but their sensitivity to euro area shocks also increases substantially. Despite growing trade relations with China, the responses of CIS countries to output shocks originating in China are still relatively moderate.     

Government payments,market profits and structural change in agriculture

I analyze the interaction of two institutions, markets and public policies, and their effect on structural change in agriculture. More specifically, I consider how subsidies affect functioning of input and output markets, and the selection of business strategies within them. The main hypothesis is that subsidies affect these markets differently, and that allows rent-seeking that hinders the overall productivity of the sector. I apply a replicator dynamics model for the task. I test my hypothesis with the EU’s 2003 CAP reform. The data is comprehensive microdata of Finnish grain and oilseed farms for years the 2004–2013. In order to examine distributional level shifts, I use quantile regression techniques. I find that the policy incentives have directed sectoral change more strongly than market incentives and have thus significantly affected production decisions. The subsidies have also attenuated the market signals and therefore increased sectoral inefficiency. The reform that aimed to improve market orientation has had little effect. The reform has affected structural change in input and output markets differently. While land use adjustment has become more rigid for all the farms, especially the more market oriented ones have been able to exploit increased output market flexibility. However, the negative effects are more prominent in total and the net effect of the reform was negative.     

Transformational Leadership and Leaders’ Mode of Care Reasoning

Previous research on the moral foundations of transformational leadership has focused primarily on stage of justice reasoning; this study focuses on developmental mode of care reasoning. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted on data coded from interviews with a sample of Canadian public sector managers (N?=?58) and survey responses from their subordinates (N?=?119). Results indicated that managers?? developmental mode of care reasoning significantly and positively predicted subordinates?? reports of transformational (but not transactional) leadership, with significant differences in follower reports of transformational leadership between those using more versus less advanced modes of care reasoning. Conceptual implications for understanding transformational leadership and the ethics of leadership, directions for future research, and suggestions for leadership interventions are discussed.