Assigning Refugees to Landlords in Sweden: Efficient,Stable, and Maximum Matchings*

In this paper, we investigate the problem of finding housing for refugees once they have been granted asylum. In particular, we demonstrate that market design can play an important role in a partial solution to the problem. More specifically, we investigate a specific matching system, and we propose an easy-to-implement mechanism that finds an efficient, stable, and maximum matching. Such a matching guarantees that housing is efficiently provided to a maximum number of refugees, and that no refugee prefers another specific landlord to their current match when, at the same time, that specific landlord prefers that refugee to their own current match.     

Brand loyalty evolution and the impact of category characteristics

A common managerial belief indicates that brand loyalty declines over the years, with consumers becoming more heterogeneous in their choices. The earlier research investigating the phenomenon of brand loyalty decline is, however, inconclusive and does not offer an answer to the reasons behind brand loyalty evolution. In this study, we investigate brand loyalty evolution and explore the impact that a number of category characteristics have on driving brand loyalty evolution. We use Danish panel data across 54 categories over a period of 6 years (2006–2011). Our findings show that at the aggregate level, brand loyalty declines, but this evolution is category-specific, with only a small number of categories showing a significant decline. We further demonstrate that an increase in category penetration results in a negative impact on brand loyalty evolution, whereas an increase in the share of private label brands has a positive impact. We discuss the implications for theory and practice.

     

The reverse tragedy of the commons: an exploratory account of incentives for under-exploitation in an open innovation environment*

This paper presents an empirical account of a phenomenon that we refer to as the ‘reverse tragedy of the commons’ in open innovation. The name signifies the ‘under-exploitation’ of intellectual property (IP) under weak appropriability. The name is this graphic because the tragedy is costly, and can also render IP effectively worthless and block innovation in the short to medium term. We propose that the tragedy is borne out of the interaction between enterprise characteristics, a competitive setting and the framework that is set by the policy intervention. This finding is pertinent to policy-makers with regard to the design of research, development and innovation instruments, as well as managers who must determine how to implement open practices in innovation.     

Collaboration risk management in IT-enabled asymmetric partnerships: Evidence from telestroke networks

Information technology (IT)-enabled partnerships can unlock previously unattainable value propositions between organizations that have resource, capability, and other asymmetries by allowing larger organizations access to niche and local resources while providing smaller organizations access to enhanced resources and capabilities. However, recent studies have shown that many IT-enabled asymmetric partnerships often fail because the organizations do not effectively manage the involved collaboration risks. Most organizations focus on the strategic aspect of whether partners behave cooperatively or competitively, while paying scant attention to the operational aspect of bringing together partner contributions through coordination. To examine this problem, we report on a case study of two hub-spoke networks that used telemedicine to facilitate expertise sharing and decision making about stroke treatment at emergency departments in rural hospitals (spokes) based on information exchanges with remote neurologists at academic medical centers (hubs). As a result, we contribute to the inter-organizational information systems literature by explaining how organizations in IT-enabled asymmetric partnerships manage collaboration risks. We demonstrate how partners in such relationships perceive and approach strategic cooperation and operational coordination risks differently. We also explain how collaboration interactions change over time as the partners manage risks based on needs and resource endowments. Drawing on these findings, we provide guidance to organizations on how to manage sustainable IT-enabled asymmetric partnerships in general, and telestroke networks in particular.     

Unequal opportunities and public policy: The impact of parental disability benefits on child postsecondary attendance

This paper uses Canada's National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth to examine whether greater cash transfers available to parents with disabilities when their child was aged 5 to 15 increase the chances that the child will attend postsecondary education (PSE) as a young adult. We exploit differences across provinces and over time in the generosity of provincial disability benefits programs in Canada and find that higher disability benefits when the child was aged 5 to 15 years increase the probability that he or she will have attended or be attending PSE by age 19 to 25. The estimated effect size increases with the severity of the parental disability and the number of disabled parents. Because lower disability benefits significantly worsen performance of public school aged children on standardized math tests and elevate anxiety symptoms, one plausible pathway from disability benefit levels to PSE attendance may be through the cognitive and non‐cognitive skills children acquire by the age of 15. We conclude that the level of disability transfers available early in a child's life mitigates the impact of having a parent with a disability as a source of inequality of opportunity and of unequal probability of PSE participation.     

MEDIEVAL MATCHING MARKETS

We study the regulation of brokerage in wholesale markets in premodern Central Western Europe. Examining 1,804 sets of rules from 82 cities, we find brokerage was primarily a centralized matchmaking mechanism. Brokerage was more common in towns with larger populations, better access to sea ports and trade routes, and greater political autonomy. Brokers' fee structures varied systematically: price-based fees were more common for highly heterogeneous goods, quantity-based fees for more homogeneous goods. We show theoretically that this was broadly consistent with total surplus maximization, and that brokerage was more valuable in markets with unequal numbers of buyers and sellers.