Total factor productivity convergence in German states since reunification: Evidence and explanations

A quarter-century after reunification, labor productivity in the states of eastern Germany continues to lag systematically behind the West. Persistent gaps in total factor productivity (TFP) are the proximate cause; conventional and capital-free measurements confirm a sharp slowdown in TFP growth after 1995. Strikingly, eastern capital intensity, especially in industry, exceeds values in the West, casting doubt on the embodied technology hypothesis. TFP growth is negatively associated with rates of investment expenditures. The stubborn East-West TFP gap is best explained by low concentration of managers, low startup intensity and the distribution of firm size in the East rather than R&D activities.     

Detecting the relationship between competitive intensity and firm product line length: Evidence from the worldwide mobile phone industry

The way firms lengthen or shorten their product line with respect to rivals is regarded as one of the possible strategies firms can pursue to respond to competition. This article builds and tests hypotheses to study the effect of different levels of competitive intensity on product line length. The empirical analysis of data on 3,527 handset models introduced by 66 mobile phone vendors from 1994 to 2010 shows a consistent inverse U‐shaped relationship between competitive intensity and the firm's product line length. In this way, we pinpoint an interesting link between the product line extension literature and the competitive dynamics and competitive intensity perspectives. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

Product‐Marketing Innovation,Skills, and Firm Productivity Growth

The role of product and marketing innovation for productivity growth is addressed using survey and register data for the Danish economy. It is hypothesized that product and marketing innovation are complementary inputs and that innovation activities are skill‐intensive. It is established that product and marketing innovation in skill‐intensive firms results in significantly faster productivity growth. Moreover, product and marketing innovation have independent roles in productivity growth, which cannot be attributed to organizational changes. Finally, we apply an instrument variable approach for firms, innovation choices to study endogeneity. The results strongly support the idea that product–marketing innovation leads to faster productivity growth in skill‐intensive firms.     

Match rigging and the career concerns of referees

This paper contributes to the literature on career concerns and corruption by drawing on extensive information on the performance of referees and records from Calciopoli, a judicial inquiry carried out in 2006 on corruption in the Italian football league. Unlike previous studies, we can analyse in detail the assignment of the referees to the most important matches, which is an important step in their career. Moreover, we can relate this choice to the performance of referees in previous matches and the evaluations they received in this context. We find that referees involved in match rigging were promoted to top games and that their evaluation was not negatively affected by their involvement in documented episodes of match rigging.     

The Value of Relationship Lending: Small Banks in an Era of Consolidation

Consolidation in the banking industry has caused concern about the survival of small banks. Empirical evidence, however, shows that small banks are performing better than larger banks in terms of loan growth and profitability. This paper investigates the determinants of such unexpected superior performance; in particular we posit that peculiarities of small banks, like their ability to lever on relationship lending, are good explanatory variables of their recent loan growth .     

New challenges for services quality evaluation

Quality & Quantity -     

The impact of technological convergence on firms' product portfolio strategy: an information-based imitation approach

Technological convergence in the electronics industry has enabled disparate new functionalities to be added to existing basic products. Although the main drivers of technological convergence have been examined by the technological change literature, the impact of technological convergence on firms' product portfolio strategies remains a largely unexplored issue. Drawing on the technological change and information-based imitation literatures, we develop hypotheses on how the introduction in the market of technologies from other product categories affects the way firms modify their product portfolio vis-à-vis the market leader. Data on nearly 300 imitation strategies at the product portfolio level, which cover over 3,500 handset models introduced by 55 mobile phone vendors from 1994 to 2010, show that the relationship between the level of technological convergence in a product category and the firms' level of imitation of the market leader product portfolio strategy is U-shaped. Data also show that the firm's prior experience plays an important role in moderating this curvilinear relationship.     

Additional experimental evidence on the relationship between class meeting time compression and accounting student performance and evaluations

This experiment replicates and extends earlier studies which compared the effect of class meeting time compression on accounting student performance and evaluations. Two undergraduate day sections of advanced accounting students were used in the experiment. The first was taught in a regular format: three one-hour meetings per week. The second was taught by the same instructor in a compressed format: one three-hour meeting per week. After controlling for initial differences in grade point averages (GPAs) and prior exposure to compressed accounting classes, the experimental treatment was found to have no impact on either evaluations or performance. Results are in agreement with, and therefore support the external validity of, previous studies in the area. They suggest that, with highly-rated instructors, accounting courses can be offered on a compressed basis without regard to negative effects on performance or evaluations.