Vertical Intra‐industry Trade and Fragmentation: An Empirical Examination of the US Auto‐parts Industry

The global auto industry has undergone a significant structural transformation in the last two decades as a result of the international fragmentation of production. This increase in cross‐border production‐sharing activities in the auto industry led to intra‐industry trade (IIT) in auto‐parts. In this study, the extent of IIT in the US auto‐parts industry is examined by decomposing trade into inter‐industry trade, vertical IIT and horizontal IIT. Then the development of vertical IIT is analysed as an indicator of international fragmentation between the US and 29 trading partners. Several country‐specific hypotheses suggested by the fragmentation literature are tested for the period 1989–2006. The results indicate that a substantial portion of IIT in the US auto‐parts industry is vertical IIT, and the econometric results generally support the hypotheses drawn from the theory. In particular, the findings show that the extent of the US vertical IIT is positively correlated with average market size, differences in market size, differences in factor endowments and outward foreign direct investment, while it is negatively correlated with distance and differences in per capita GDP.     

Social media adoption: A process-based approach

This research conceptualizes and measures social media adoption (SMA) of companies with a process-based approach and explains its antecedents of micro- and macro-environment, size, and ownership, as well as its consequence of intention to increase resources dedicated to social media. Based on data from 310 Turkish small and medium enterprises, the study first develops a conceptual framework on the pillars of internal and external stakeholder focus as well as relationship and information oriented implementation. Based on these two dimensions, it discusses the novel concepts of social customer relations, social stakeholder communication, social intelligence, and social responsiveness related to SMA. The study further indicates that ownership type and micro environment play a role in SMA and that path dependence exists in the interplay of current adoption and future intentions.     

The Relationship of Downward Mobbing with Leadership Style and Organizational Attitudes

The present study investigates (1) the relationship of different leadership styles (transactional, transformational, authoritarian, paternalistic) with mobbing behaviors of superiors (i.e., downward mobbing) and (2) organizational attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention) of mobbing victims. Data were collected from 251 white-collar employees. Path analysis findings showed that transformational and transactional leadership decreased the likelihood of mobbing, whereas authoritarian leadership increased it. Paternalistic leadership was mildly and negatively associated with mobbing. Regarding the consequences of mobbing for employees’ organizational attitudes, the same analyses suggested that higher perceptions of downward mobbing was significantly associated with lower job satisfaction, lower affective commitment, higher continuous commitment, and higher turnover intention.     

Information transmission in electronic versus open‐outcry trading systems: An analysis of U.S. equity index futures markets

In this article the intraday price discovery process between regular index futures (floor trading) and E‐mini index futures (electronic trading) in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 index futures markets is examined, using intraday data from the introduction of the E‐mini index futures to 2001. Using both information shares (Hasbrouck, J., 1995) and common long‐memory factor weights (Gonzalo, J., & Granger, C. W. J., 1995) techniques, we find that both E‐mini index futures and regular index futures contribute to the price discovery process. However, since September 1998, the contribution made by E‐mini index futures has been greater than that provided by regular index futures. Based on regression analysis, we have also found direct empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that the joint effects of operational efficiency and relative liquidity determine the greater contribution made towards price discovery by electronic trading relative to open‐outcry trading over time. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 25: 679–715, 2005