Online search – Online purchase in franchising: An empirical analysis of franchisor website functionality

The aim of this paper is to characterize franchisors’ e-commerce strategies by studying their website functionality. Franchisors can use their website to facilitate consumer search. They can also provide content and tools to promote online purchasing (e.g., promotion codes, online payment, delivery options). Why are some franchisor websites more “search oriented”? What are the factors that influence the provision of informational tools and/or transactional tools? This empirical study is based on a detailed observation of 130 e-commerce websites of franchisors operating their chains in the French market.     

Non‐additivity in Accounting Valuation: Theory and Applications

This paper has three objectives. First, to introduce a theoretical solution to the issue of non‐additivity between assets in place, relying on an accounting‐based valuation approach. Second, to explain how such an approach can be implemented empirically by measuring synergies between assets. Third, to present the properties of this non‐additive valuation technique. We use Choquet capacities, that is, non‐additive aggregation operators, to measure the interactions between assets and apply our methodology to a sample of US firms from the capital goods industry. To operationalize our approach we examine the relationships between synergies—captured by Choquet capacities—and the market‐to‐book ratio (proxying for growth options), and show how interactions between assets are consistently linked to a firm’s market‐to‐book ratio. We also measure firm‐specific productive efficiency relative to the industry and firm size. For large firms, efficiency, as defined by our approach, is positively associated with higher future operating cash flows. For small firms, efficiency is positively associated with higher future sales growth. We document that the non‐additive approach appears to be better able to identify expected relationships between efficiency and future performance than a simpler approach based on the market‐to‐book ratio.     

SURVEYING THE ECONOMICS OF PLURAL MODES OF ORGANIZATION

Why do firms concomitantly rely on more than one organizational arrangement to procure/distribute a given input/product? In this paper, we systematically review and discuss the extensive path undergone by the literature exploring this issue: the so‐called plural forms. We address two main questions: how to explain the coexistence (and often the prevalence) of plural forms in many types of businesses? Are plural forms stable or a transitory phenomenon? We describe the most prominent motivations identified in the economics and management literature that drive firms to adopt plural forms and show that their vast majority are related to the mitigation of various types of agency/transaction costs. We also demonstrate that most of the available pieces of empirical evidence suggest the stability of plural forms over time. We conclude by demonstrating the path that has been trailed by the most recent developments.     

Mergers and synergy: Lessons from contemporary telecommunications history

Using contemporary historical data, the analysis reported in this article has evaluated the impact of the various mergers of the local exchange companies that took place between 1988 and 2001 on financial performance. Performance was measured using an important metric normally used to measure synergies of firms undergoing mergers. The analysis has revealed that the relative cash flow variable for firms worsened after mergers. If the synergy motive had been primary in influencing merger decisions, and also approvals, then the past mergers approved led to decreased performance levels and corresponding welfare losses for American consumers; thus, the mergers of communications common carriers were not in the interest of the public, the shareholders and customers. On the other hand, given the negative outcomes, views that the quiet life, hubris or a quest for possible market power motivated the mergers could be discarded. The lessons of such contemporary historical analysis have suggested that antitrust oppositions to contemporary telecommunications sector mergers may have basis in fact and salient evidence.     

Synergies and price trends in sequential auctions

In this paper we consider sequential second-price auctions where an individual's value for a bundle of objects is either greater than the sum of the values for the objects separately (positive synergy) or less than the sum (negative synergy). We show that the existence of positive synergies implies declining expected prices. When synergies are negative, expected prices are increasing. There are several corollaries. First, the seller is indifferent between selling the objects simultaneously as a bundle or sequentially when synergies are positive. Second, when synergies are negative, the expected revenue generated by the simultaneous auction can be larger or smaller than the expected revenue generated by the sequential auction. In addition, in the presence of positive synergies, an option to buy the additional object at the price of the first object is never exercised in the symmetric equilibrium and the seller's revenue is unchanged. Under negative synergies, in contrast, if there is an equilibrium where the option is never exercised, then equilibrium prices may either increase or decrease and, therefore, the net effect on the seller's revenue of the introduction of an option is ambiguous. Finally, we examine a special case with asymmetric players who have distinct synergies. In this example, even if one player has positive synergies and the other has negative synergies, it is still possible for expected prices to decline.Received: 12 December 2000, Accepted: 1 May 2002, JEL Classification: D44Flavio Menezes acknowledges the financial support from ARC (Grant A000000055) and CNPq. Monteiro acknowledges the financial support from CNPq and the hospitality of CERSEM where part of this paper has been written. We thank Richard Engelbrecht-Wiggans, Peter Sørensen and two anonymous referees for useful comments.     

银行控股模式下银行与金融租赁公司的战略协同

商业银行经营金融租赁业务是国际通行模式,在银行控股模式下银行与金融租赁公司的协同效应显著增强.金融租赁公司自身业务创新发展,以及加强与银行及其子公司的整合和协调是实现战略协同的关键.商业银行应该对控股金融租赁子公司加强一级法人治理结构建设和严格业绩管理,推动金融租赁公司专业化经营,实现银租协同发展,提升银行综合服务水平和整体竞争力.     

Multi-unit demand auctions with synergies: behavior in sealed-bid versus ascending-bid uniform-price auctions

We construct a relatively simple model of bidding with synergies and solve it for both open outcry and sealed-bid uniform-price auctions. The essential behavioral forces involved in these auctions are: (1) A demand reduction force resulting from the monopsony power that bidders with multiple-unit demands have when synergies are relatively inconsequential, and (2) Bidding above stand-alone values in order to capture significant complementarities between units. The latter creates a potential “exposure problem,” as bidders may win only parts of a package and earn negative profits. Bidding outcomes are closer to equilibrium in clock compared to sealed-bid auctions. However, there are substantial and systematic deviations from equilibrium, with patterns of out-of-equilibrium play differing systematically between the two auction formats. These patterns of out-of-equilibrium play are analyzed, along with their effects on revenue and efficiency.     

Mapping hotspots and bundles of forest ecosystem services across the European Union

Forests cover about 40 % of the European Union (EU), providing a wide spectrum of invaluable ecosystem services to more than half a billion people. In order to protect and harness this crucial asset, EU policies are advancing multifunctional management. This study lays a basis for such an effort by mapping the supply of key forest ecosystem services (FES) across the entire EU: wood, water supply, erosion control, pollination, habitat protection, soil formation, climate regulation and recreation. To further support the operationalization of multifunctionality and targeting of policies, our analysis delineates hotspots, assesses synergies and tradeoffs, and identifies spatial bundles.We generated maps at 1-km resolution starting from existing datasets through simple modelling (Tier 1). Out of these maps, we denoted the highest supplying pixels (i.e. top 20 %) as hotspots, and performed correlation analysis to detect synergies and tradeoffs. Finally, we used cluster analysis to identify FES bundles. Our analysis shows that hotspots of single FES are spread across the entire EU and that forests of mountain regions and Central Europe (particularly France, Germany, Slovakia) supply significant amounts of multiple FES. The cluster analysis resulted in four bundles: “balanced” in the northeast, “wood & water” in the center, “soil carbon” in the north and “rural-recreational” in the south. While a purely quantitative analysis of the produced maps may be misleading because of the strong links between FES supply and climatic and socio-economic conditions, overlaying hotspots and bundles with administrative layers can be a first step to inform about the role of different countries and regions in securing the sustainable supply of European FES.     

新型城镇化推进精准扶贫：内在逻辑及实现途径

新型城镇化是对传统城镇化的根本性超越,精准扶贫是对传统扶贫的根本性超越,两者之间具有紧密的内在关联。新型城镇化具有以就地就近城镇化为主要模式、以人的城镇化为核心、以“四化同步发展”为理念支撑、以“绿色发展”为价值追求等特征,应以新型城镇化推进精准扶贫。具体来说,就是要积极推进就地就近城镇化,有效促进贫困地区经济增长和农民增收;要坚持推进以人为核心的新型城镇化,充分发挥农民在精准扶贫中的主体地位;要充分发挥“四化同步发展”的动力作用,全力提升精准扶贫绩效;要坚持“绿色发展”的价值追求,积极推进绿色扶贫。     

资源—能力观视角下战略联盟的协同效应层次结构研究

联盟的协同效应被认为是促进战略联盟发展和成功至关重要的因素。在对联盟协同效应研究现状分析的基础上,以资源—能力观视角的分析框架为理论基础,将联盟协同效应划分为互补效应、整合效应及学习效应3个层次,进一步探索了联盟协同效应的结构"黑箱"。并构建了相应的联盟协同效应层次结构模型,丰富了联盟协同研究的内容,完善了联盟协同理论,以期为参与联盟的企业及促进联盟健康、成功的发展提供理论支持。