Perceptions of the benefits of the A3 planner in facilitating project-based learning in accounting education

This paper evaluates ways of instilling project management skills into accounting-based learning by the use of an iterative A3 planner to plan, monitor and review assignment progress. The application of an A3 planner to facilitate a project-based learning (PBL) group assignment in undergraduate accounting education has been critically evaluated in terms of both the student and tutor experience. The study uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data assisting exploration of perceptions were collected through 100 undergraduate students. A series of focus group discussions were carried out to investigate students’ engagement and tutors’ teaching experiences regarding the adoption of the A3 planner. The results suggest that the A3 planner promotes active planning and effective management of a PBL group assignment. It makes students’ thought processes more visible thereby facilitating and enhancing the tutoring/mentoring process. Moreover a more interactive and transparent approach by doing assignment via the use of an iterative A3 planner has ensured more feedback points and action based efficiency in the doing approach for learners.     

Entrepreneurship in the public sector: a framework of analysis in European local governments

In this paper we explore the potential role of entrepreneurship in public sector organizations. At first, we present a review of the entrepreneurship theme in the political science and public management research streams, comparing these ideas with the mainstream business literature on entrepreneurship. Thereafter, we illustrate empirically how Stevenson's classical framework of entrepreneurship can be applied in a European local government context to explain the recent initiatives to compete for and utilize European Union structural funds. The empirical basis of the study is comprised of ten in-depth case studies of local government organizations, five in the UK and five in Italy. Finally, we propose five distinct types of entrepreneurial agents in the public sector: professional politician; spin-off creator; business entrepreneur in politics; career-driven public officer; and politically ambitious public officer.     

Network embeddedness and new-venture internationalization: Analyzing international linkages in the German biotech industry

This paper examines whether inter-organizational factors influence German biotech firms' propensity to internationalize by forming international research alliances. Inter-organizational factors include dimensions of a firm's embeddedness within its local cluster and within its national research network. We test two sets of hypotheses (local and national network-drivers) on a longitudinal event history dataset of the complete German biotech population for the years 1995–2004. Findings show that location in a local cluster already dense with international linkages, the building of research alliances with local research institutes as well as national partners and central position in the national research network increase the probability of forming international research alliances.     

Technology Adoption under Production Uncertainty: Theory and Application to Irrigation Technology

We propose a theoretical framework to analyze the conditions under which a farmer facing production uncertainty (due to a possible water shortage) and incomplete information will adopt a more efficient irrigation technology. A reduced form of this model is empirically estimated using a sample of 265 farms located in Crete, Greece. The empirical results suggest that farmers choose to adopt the new technology in order to hedge against production risk. In addition, we show that the farmer's human capital also plays a significant role in the decision to adopt modern, more efficient irrigation equipment.     

On the growth and welfare maximizing allocation of public investment

In this paper we present an endogenous growth model to analyze the growth maximizing allocation of public investment among N different types of public capital. Using this general model of public capital formation, we analyze the stability of the long-run equilibrium and we derive the growth-maximizing values of the shares of public investment allocated to the different types of public capital, as well as the growth-maximizing tax rate (amount of total public investment as a share of GDP). The empirical implication of the model is that both the effects of the shares of public investment and the tax rate on the long-run growth rate are non-linear, following an inverse U-shaped pattern. Our analysis is completed by showing that the growth-maximizing shares of public investment and the growth-maximizing tax rate also maximize welfare in the decentralized economy.     

An analysis of EU wine trade: A gravity model approach

In this research study, a gravity model approach was used in order to analyze the main factors affecting the trade flows of wine in the EU. The empirical model was applied using data for the first twelve EU countries for the period 1989–97. It has been clearly shown in the empirical literature that gravity models can be successfully applied to a single commodity market. The present study utilized pooled cross-sectional and time series data in a one-way fixed effects model that accounted for country-pair heterogeneity. The results revealed that wine trade was positively influenced by an increase in GDP per capita, since greater income promotes trade. The remoteness of one country from another influenced exports positively and imports negatively, and the quantities traded did not prove to be very sensitive to wine prices. The depreciation of EU currencies and the high production of wine in the EU increased exports and reduced imports, while EU integration enhanced trade among members.     

Evaluating the impact of agricultural extension on farms' performance in Crete: a nonneutral stochastic frontier approach

This article attempts to integrate the production‐ and the efficiency‐based approaches for evaluating the impact of extension on farms' performance. For this purpose the nonneutral production frontier model is used, and the empirical analysis refers to a sample of farms from Crete, Greece. The empirical results support the proposed formulation instead of either the production‐ or the efficiency‐based formulations as extension was found to have a statistically significant effect on closing both the technology and management gaps. Public and private extension services were found to be competitive in the production function and complementary in the technical inefficiency effect function. In addition, farms using both public and private extension services achieved a higher degree of technical efficiency than those using either public or private extension services, and farms with no extension services were found to be the least efficient.     

Polychronicity in top management teams: The impact on strategic decision processes and performance of new technology ventures

This study focuses on polychronicity as a cultural dimension of top management teams (TMTs). TMT polychronicity is the extent to which team members mutually prefer and tend to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously or intermittently instead of one at a time and believe that this is the best way of doing things. We explore the impact of TMT polychronicity on strategic decision speed and comprehensiveness and, subsequently, its effect on new venture financial performance. Contrary to popular time‐management principles advocating task prioritization and focused sequential execution, we found that TMT polychronicity has a positive effect on firm performance in the context of dynamic unanalyzable environments. This effect is partially mediated by strategic decision speed and comprehensiveness. Our study contributes to research on strategic leadership by focusing on a novel value‐based characteristic of the TMT (polychronicity) and by untangling the decision‐making processes that relate TMT characteristics and firm performance. It also contributes to the attention‐based view of the firm by positioning polychronicity as a new type of attention structure. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The dynamics of crop sectors in regional development: The case of tobacco

The importance of specific crop sectors can be better cast in a broader framework to account for intersectoral effects. Input-output analysis can provide this framework to assess the importance of the controversial crop, tobacco. In this respect, employment, income, and output multipliers were estimated to demonstrate the dynamics of the sector at the regional and national levels. Furthermore, the impact of totally eliminating tobacco cultivation was computed. Results clearly demonstrate the significance of the tobacco sector and its interrelation with the rest of the economic sectors.This study was partially financed by the Portuguese Association of Tobacco Producers.