Navigating Rough Waters: Global Shipping and Challenges for the North Range Ports

Intereconomics - Ports and shipping have been in the spotlight in 2021 with surging demand, skyrocketing freight rates and week-long queues. This development stands against the background of the...     

Chinese investment in the Brazilian soybean sector: Navigating relations of private governance

This paper examines how Chinese agribusiness firms are engaging with established systems of private governance in the Brazilian soybean sector and how that engagement is variously accommodated, contested, and configured by local realities that reflect the uneven history of transnational agribusiness development across the Brazilian agro‐export region. Using qualitative data collected at three research sites that represent different historical moments in the Brazilian agro‐export region (Mato Grosso, Goiás, and Bahia), the paper argues that the social structures underlying the particular agrarian histories of these three subregions create unique contexts Chinese firms must navigate, which in turn shapes their engagement with the private agribusiness regime across space. Although the private agribusiness regime is often portrayed as a top‐down system of governance that subjugates the polity to the demands of capital, this framing neglects to understand how that system of power is contested, negotiated, and reshaped on the ground. These three cases serve to historicize the uneven penetration of Chinese firms across the Brazilian soybean sector.     

Systemic circular business model application at the company,supply chain and society levels—A view into circular economy native and adopter companies

This study contributes to the conceptualization of a sustainable circular business model (CBM), the application of the circular economy (CE) by companies. The study utilized a three-level framework adapted from the CE literature with company (micro), supply chain (meso) and society (macro) levels. This multiple-case study in the textile industry included two types of companies operating in the CE: companies founded on the sustainable principles of a CE (natives) and companies transitioning to a CE from the linear economy (adopters). The findings show that the adopters emphasized long-term economic sustainability on a company level and implemented CE elements to varying degrees on all three levels. The natives pursued business decisions from environmental and social sustainability standpoints, and the three levels were integral in their systemic approach to a CE. The study highlights two key claims: established operational structures and economic volition hindered adopters in their systemic CE implementation, and an integral part of the CBM for natives was a proactive approach towards the society level.     

Firms and wage inequality in Central and Eastern Europe

We use large linked employer-employee data to analyze wage inequality patterns in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries between 2002 and 2014. We show that, unlike in many other advanced economies, wage inequality levels have decreased in almost all CEE countries. These reductions in wage inequality resulted from disproportionately large increases in wages at the bottom of the wage distribution, and from decreases in between-firm wage inequality. We further find that the declines in wage inequality were driven by large wage structure effects that compensated for changes in the composition of workers.     

The Joint Effect of Ethical Idealism and Trait Skepticism on Auditors’ Fraud Detection

Journal of Business Ethics - Although regulators have identified ethical lapses as a key factor contributing to auditors’ failure to detect their clients’ fraudulent financial reporting...     

A note on the long rate in factor models of the term structure

In this paper, we consider factor models of the term structure based on a Brownian filtration. We show that the existence of a nondeterministic long rate in a factor model of the term structure implies, as a consequence of the Dybvig–Ingersoll–Ross theorem, that the model has an equivalent representation in which one of the state variables is nondecreasing. For two‐dimensional factor models, we prove moreover that if the long rate is nondeterministic, the yield curve flattens out, and the factor process is asymptotically nondeterministic, then the term structure is unbounded. Finally, we provide an explicit example of a three‐dimensional affine factor model with a nondeterministic yet finite long rate in which the volatility of the factor process does not vanish over time.     

Business model innovation in a knowledge revolution: An evolutionary theory perspective

For knowledge‐intensive industries, a need remains to increase clarity on the dynamics through which business model innovation occurs. Progress has been limited owing to complexities in these industries and to the underlying ontology of the business model concept itself. Through a conceptual methodology, our findings expose impediments to current business model theory and propose economic evolutionary theory as a useful alternative lens through which to address these limitations. This research contributes to the literature by broadening the traditional scope of the economic evolutionary view as relevant for business model innovation research and by offering a corresponding framework for future research.     

Determinants of process innovation introductions: Evidence from 115 developing countries

This paper examines determinants of process innovation introductions across 115 (mostly) developing countries. Empirical research on process innovations lags behind product innovations. Accounting for firm characteristics, R&D, regulations and taxes, and corruption, results show that sole proprietors and R&D‐performing firms were more likely to introduce innovations, whereas greater prosperity made them less likely to do so. Corruption had a greasing effect, whereas firms in island nations were less likely to introduce, ceteris paribus. Effects of regulations and taxes and other firm characteristics were largely insignificant. Finally, some differences existed across manufacturing and service industries and across prevalence of innovation introductions.     

How to fight against southern pine beetle epidemics: An insurance approach

The southern pine beetle (SPB) is among the leading biological agents killing southern pine species in the eastern United States. In light of recognized spatiotemporal autocorrelation in SPB outbreaks, we devise a spatiotemporal block bootstrapping method that can be applied to analyze spatiotemporally dependent infestations. We also identify the relevant risk determinants and evaluate their impacts on the frequency of SPB outbreaks. For example, we find forest type, climate, and natural disasters like storm and forest management are all significantly associated with SPB risks. Using the results of a statistical model, we design a county-level group index insurance plan that generates estimates of actuarially fair premium rates for timber stands containing southern pine species. Given that no government-provided compensation scheme for SPB epidemics currently exists, application of this new insurance product could reduce forest owners losses. Our study offers an approach to analyzing and protecting against risks of other destructive pests affecting the timber sector.     

Age as double‐edged sword among victims of customer mistreatment: A self‐esteem threat perspective

Service workers are expected to maintain high‐quality service delivery despite customer mistreatment—the poor‐quality treatment of service workers by customers—which can be demeaning and threatening to self‐esteem. Although service work is increasingly delivered by middle‐aged and older workers, very little is known about how employees across the age range navigate abuse from customers on the job. Does advancing age help or hinder service performance in reaction to customer mistreatment? Drawing on strength and vulnerability integration theory, we proposed that age paradoxically both helps and hinders performance after customer mistreatment, albeit at different stages. We tested our proposed model in a two‐sample field investigation of service workers and their supervisors using a time‐lagged, dyadic design. Results showed that age heightens the experience of self‐esteem threat but, nevertheless, dampens reactions to self‐esteem threat, leading to divergent effects on performance at different stages. Implications for age and service work, as well as aging and the sense of self, are discussed.