Export and economic growth: Further time series evidence from less-developed countries

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of export-growth linkage in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand on the basis of time series data from 1973 to 1993. The empirical results indicate that exports have a positive and significant impact on economic growth when a country has achieved some level of economic development. The result also signifies the importance of liberal market policies by pursuing export expansion strategies and by attracting foreign investments.     

The wedge and sigma convergence among U.S. states

The paper attempts to empirically quantify the factors underlying sigma convergence among the contiguous states of the U.S. Using annual state data the study finds a significant effect of the wedge in explaining the variation in state per capita productivity. Employing a time series framework, the paper finds that an increase in the variation of 1 percent in the wedge will increase the variation in per capita productivity by roughly 0.12 percent in the short run and roughly 0.45 to 0.55 percent in the long run.     

Enemies within and enemies without: The besieged self in Pakistani textbooks

In the process of state formation and nation building, states organize the production, organization and distribution of social knowledge to construct national collective memory. The tendency is even more pronounced in newly independent states that struggle to build new identities by discarding earlier belongings. When new states are formed by amalgamating diverse regional entities into a single and centralized one, the earlier, older and differentiated identities are expected to be discarded in favour of the new homogenized one. In cases where the new state is carved out of an existing one, the national remembering on each side is divergent—the Parent state mourns the loss and remembers the event as wound in the body politic, and the emerging state celebrates its creation with a sense of pride and triumph achieved through suffering and pain. Competing and rival tales of the partition are then woven in the creation of national memory. This is done by relying heavily on the identity forming subjects such as history (sense of time), civics (a sense of power), and geography (a sense of space), together known as social studies. An important requirement of all states, but particularly new ones, is the construction, elaboration and frequent invocation of ‘enemies’ across and within national borders. Without enemies lurking everywhere, and as the moral opposites of the self, the Self is hard to define and consolidate. The sense of threat and fear that enemies help evoke, enables the fractured and differentiated self to merge and solidify into a defensive oneness. The state of Pakistan, in this context, is an interesting, but hardly an exceptional case. Designing education for a post-national world becomes a critical task.     

Effectiveness and Efficiency of Cross-Border Knowledge Transfer: An Empirical Examination

abstract    Based on a sample of 102 US organizations, this study examines the impact of knowledge characteristics, recipient learning intent, source attractiveness, and relationship quality on the effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge transfer from the international business affiliates of these organizations. Findings indicate that recipient learning intent and source attractiveness positively impact the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. In addition, recipient learning intent was found to have a positive effect on knowledge transfer efficiency. In particular, results highlight the strong positive impact that the quality of the relationship between the source and the recipient has on both the efficiency and effectiveness of cross-border knowledge transfer. The study also indicates that knowledge value is positively associated with recipient learning intent and that knowledge value, rarity and non-substitutability influence source attractiveness. Finally, findings suggest that the relationship between knowledge characteristics and knowledge transfer is partially mediated by recipient learning intent and source attractiveness.     

Rational decision-making and firm performance: the moderating role of the environment

This study investigates the moderating roles of environmental munificence and dynamism in the relationship between process rationality and organizational performance. Based on a sample of 62 manufacturing firms, the study found that environmental munificence and dynamism moderate the relationship between rationality and performance. Further, the study found that rationality is strongly associated with performance in environments high in munificence and dynamism. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Empirical Analysis of Strategic Groups in the Airline Industry using Latent Class Regressions

Two major controversies in strategic group research have been whether strategic groups actually exist and if so what is the best methodological approach to identify them. One perspective on strategic groups suggests that a strategic group exists if and only if the performance of a firm in the group is a function of group characteristics after controlling for firm and industry characteristics. We test this theoretical position by developing and estimating a model for the airline industry using latent class regressions. Our analysis finds evidence for the existence of four distinct strategic groups of firms in the airline industry. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of tourism on deficit in balance of payments of Pakistan: an application of bounds testing approach to cointegration

The current study is intended to analyze the long-run relationship between deficit in balance of payments (BOPs) and tourism for the period of 1976–2015 using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The findings of the paper exposed an indirect relationship between tourism and BOP deficit in the context of Pakistan economy, while deficit balance of trade, real effective exchange rate, and deficit in fiscal balance have a positive and significant association with the deficit in the BOPs in the long run. Based on the findings, it is recommended that policies should be devised that promote the tourism industry of Pakistan as it would be helpful in reducing the deficit in the BOPs.     

Rethinking Development Strategy in Africa: The Imperative and Prospects Of Human-Centred Development

Abstract: What prospects are there for a fundamental improvement of human conditions and what does it take to achieve human-centred development in Africa? These arc the central issues which this article addresses. Starting off from an assessment of an increasingly deteriorating socio-economic situation, the paper argues that the reversal of Africa's economic decline and unfavourable human and social conditions cannot be achieved on the basis of the current adjustment-based economic reform policies. It further argues that a fresh vision is urgently needed on the part of all concerned — first and foremost the African people and governments but also the global community — to implement with purposefulness development strategies and policies that are truly responsive to the intertwined requirements of economic transformation and human development. Development strategies that are negligent of these requirements would remain grossly defective in their design and delinquent in their intent. The paper goes on to outline the implications of such a responsive approach in terms of the needed policy shifts and resource targeting. The final part of the paper examines the prospects for a fundamental rethinking of development strategy in Africa and also for a responsive development cooperation ethic in support thereof. Prospects of the latter are judged not to be sufficiently favourable, which leaves no choice for the Africans but to regain the initiative and truly assume the responsibility for changing their economic, social and political fortunes through deliberate and decisive actions. Opportunities for the unfolding of this scenario are also examined within the context of the nature of governance and an emerging and increasingly proactive civil society. Résumé: Quelles sont les perspectives d'une amélioration fondamentale de sort de l'homme et que faut-il pour réaliser en Afrique un développement à visage humain? Telles sont les questions centrales qu'aborde cet article. Partant d'une évaluation de la situation - socio-économique qui se dégrade de plus en plus, l'articlc soutient que les politiques actuelles de réforme économiques axées sur l'ajustement ne peuvent pas réussir à mettre fin au déclin economique et à la situation humaine et sociale défavorable. II soutient en outre qu'il faudrait de toute urgence une vision nouvelle de la part de tous les intéressés - avant tout les peuples ct les gouvernements africains, mais également la communauté internationale - pour mettre en oeuvre de manière constructive des stratégies et des politiques de développement qui répondent véritablement aux critères intimement liés de transformation économique et de développement humain. Les stratégies de développement qui négligent ces critères resteront notoirement défectueuses dans leur conception et coupables dans leur intention. L'article poursuit en présentant les implications d'une telle approche positive, en termes de modifications des politiques et de ciblage de ressources. La dernière partie de l'article examine les opportunités d'une conception fondamentalement nouvelle de la stratégic de développement en Afrique, ainsi que celles d'une éthique de coopération au développement à l'appui d'une telle stratégic L'article estime que les perspectives dans ce domaine ne sont pas suffisamment favorables. Aussi, les Africains n'ont-ils d'autre choix que de reprendre l'initiative et d'assumer véritablement la responsabilité d'un changement de leur situation économique, sociale et politique, à travers des actions délibérées et décisives. Les chances de concrétisation de ce scénario sont également examinées dans le context de la gouvernance et de l'émergence d'une société civile caractérisee par une synergie croissante.     

Citation footprints on the sands of time: An analysis of idea migrations in strategic management

We elucidate the intellectual progression of the strategic management field by examining knowledge flows to and from the Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) during the period 1980–2009. We provide a detailed mapping of the evolution of the intellectual structure of the field and identify its input‐output dependency relationships with other fields. Analysis of citation data using three analytic techniques: log‐multiplicative model, pathfinder analysis, and entropy analysis allow us to discern strategic management's influence on and engagement with other disciplines. The results show that, within the intellectual universe of strategic management, SMJ has played a central role, both as a source and storer of knowledge. We notice that, over time, there has been a decline in practitioner orientation, greater communication with finance and sociology, and increasing linkages with international business and entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Convergence (divergence) and the U.S. states

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether established trends in labor productivity convergence have continued among the contiguous states of the U.S. from 1969 to 1990. This paper brings new and additional state data to bear on the question of productivity convergence among the U.S. states. The findings indicate that when the state value-added is deflated by the state-specific price deflator, a dramatically different picture of productivity convergence emerges. The study also finds that there is less evidence of state productivity convergence once the peculiar behavior of mining or extraction industries is taken into account.