Job creation and job destruction in EU agriculture

This is the first paper to study job creation and destruction in EU agriculture. We disaggregate gross employment patterns and net job flows into detailed intra-sectoral labour adjustment dynamics based on a unique EU-wide farm level panel dataset for 1990–2005. We find that: (1) job creation and destruction rates in EU agriculture are comparable to other sectors; (2) there is some evidence of ongoing substitution of family labour for hired labour; (3) there are important differences in job creation and destruction rates between different Member States; (4) these differences can be attributed to structural differences across countries, sectors and farm types; (5) time variation of job reallocation fluctuates countercyclically; and (6) idiosyncratic effects are the main driver of time variance in job reallocation.     

Recruitment,Retention and Exit from Union Membership. An Analysis of Member Flows in Swiss Union Locals

This article enquires into the causes of union growth and decline by analysing flows in and out of membership at the level of 70 Swiss union locals over 2006–2008. Gross flows in union membership are much larger than the resulting net changes: annual membership turnover of 10 per cent is a surprisingly constant feature across unions. Net changes in membership are primarily determined by inflows: successful and languishing union locals differ in their entry rates, whereas exit rates are similar. Variance in union locals' entry rates is not usefully explained by the labour market context, but by differences in union strategy.     

Economic and strategic considerations surrounding Chinese FDI in the United States

The growth of outward investment from China has generated expressions of concern from policymakers in the United States regarding the economic and national security impacts of such investments. While inward foreign direct investment (FDI) has come to be viewed by most observers as generally imparting net economic benefits to the host economy, acquisitions of US companies by Chinese multinational companies (MNCs) have been criticized on several grounds. One is based on the mode of entry itself: some critics believe that entry by acquisition brings lower benefits than greenfield entry. A second and more prominent concern is that acquisitions of US companies by Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) may be motivated by non-commercial objectives which, in turn, make those acquisitions of questionable value to the host economy. In this paper, we argue that Chinese FDI in the United States is more likely to take the form of acquisitions than greenfield investments for the foreseeable future. However, there is no strong case to be made that the host country economic benefits from Chinese FDI would be larger if entry took place primarily through greenfield investments. Furthermore, most of the alleged costs to the US economy from inward FDI from China are either unlikely to occur or are already anticipated by existing US laws and regulations, thus necessitating no additional, specific legislation.

Differential importance of social and economic determinants of relationship performance in professional services

Managing business relationships successfully is critical for many professional service firms (PSFs) in order to be able to address complex client needs. Furthermore, the project-based nature of PSFs' work puts pressure on them to retain clients across project periods. Drawing on both net effect and configurational perspectives, this study provides a holistic understanding of the relative importance and of the interplay of social and economic determinants of business relationship performance in the context of dynamic relationships between PSFs and their clients. Using data from 297 business clients, the results reveal that, overall, social determinants are more important than economic determinants as drivers of the client's willingness to cooperate with a PSF in future. The importance of social determinants increases further in later relationship lifetime phases. The configurational analysis also reveals several equifinal constellations of social and economic determinants across the lifetime phases to drive a client's willingness to cooperate in future. Therefore, no single determinant by itself is sufficient for ensuring relationship performance. We advance the literature by showing that distinct constellations of social and economic determinants are required to achieve the desired outcome, and that these constellations change across business relationship lifetime phases.     

The determinants of entry and exit rates into U.S. manufacturing industries

Entry and exit rates are examined across a fairly large sample of 4-digit U.S. manufacturing industries. Market growth significantly increases (reduces) entry (exit) rates. Profits increase entry rates. Advertising clearly acts as an entry barrier. Sunk capital costs seem to deter exit. While entry and exit rates are related in the sample, whether they are simultaneously determined is unclear.     

The determinants of entry and exit reconsidered

In this paper we empirically examine the hypothesis that there is a symmetrical relationship between entry and exit barriers. The analysis, using Canadian cross-section data, proceeds in two stages. In the first stage we estimate entry and exit equations which ignore the possibility that displacement occurs (that entry causes exit). These results indicate that there is symmetry in the determinants of entry and exit, but that the exit equation is misspecified. In the second stage, we estimate a model in which entrants are allowed to displace incumbents (cause exit). These results indicate much less symmetry primarily because in the absence of entry barriers, entry occurs and incumbents are displaced. We conclude that symmetry exists, but in the ex-ante sense that barriers to exit are barriers to entry.     

Impact of new product development (NPD) proficiency and NPD entry strategies on product quality and risk

This research explores the variation of new product quality and risk associated with New Product Development (NPD) entry strategies (e.g. in‐house developments and joint ventures). Our first two research questions examine the quality of new products and the variation of risk across five NPD entry strategies. Our third and fourth research questions investigate the association of the proficiency with which NPD technical activities are performed with new product quality and the risk involved in developing new products. Our final two research questions explore whether the type of NPD entry strategy mediates the association between the proficiency with which NPD technical activities are performed and the quality and risk associated with the development of new products. Our study focuses on new products developed by three major industries, namely medical devices, electrical equipment, and heavy construction equipment. Our research suggests that there is no difference in the quality or the risk associated with the development of new products across NPD entry strategies. We also found that new product quality was associated with the proficient performance of many NPD technical activities whereas risk was associated with the proficient performance of fewer NPD technical activities. We found that choice of NPD entry strategy mediates the relationship between new product quality and NPD technical activity proficiency. Unlike product quality, NPD entry strategy selection appears to mediate NPD risk minimally. Our study contributes to NPD knowledge and managerial decision making by pointing out that the technical activities performed during the early stages of the NPD process are important to the attainment of a quality product and positively, not negatively, associated with perceived NPD risk. Additionally, our study extends knowledge of the association between proficiently performed NPD technical activities and the resultant product quality and perceived risk felt when individual NPD entry strategies are implemented.     

The role of firm resources and organizational attributes in determining entry timing: a cross-industry study

We investigate the factors that influence the timing of entry of firms into new industries based on new technology. Consistent with previous research, it is hypothesized that firm resources and organizational attributes influence entry timing. Unlike previous research, there is specific consideration of how industry setting—specifically, the extent to which it offers first mover advantages—influences the ability to predict timing of entry. The ability to explain entry timing differed across industries, with success occurring in the industry with strong first mover advantages. Two categories of resources, technological and marketing, were found to be associated with early entry. The organizational attributes that influenced early entry were commitment to a threatened market and (surprisingly) greater size. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Common Properties and Sectoral Specificities in the Dynamics of U.S. Manufacturing Companies

The size distribution and growth rate dynamics of U.S. companieshave been extensively studied by many authors. In this paper,using the COMPUSTAT database, we extend the analysis todisaggregated data, studying 15 sectors of the U.S.manufacturing industry. The sectoral investigation reveals thepresence of general statistical properties that can be consideredvalid across all the studied sectors. In particular, theprobability density of firms growth rates invariably displays acharacteristic tent shape and the relation between the size of afirm and the variance of its rates of growth is characterized, indifferent sectors, by very similar scaling relations. Thepresence of characteristics that are robust and sectoral invarianthints at the existence of generic statistical properties shapingthe dynamic of firms across the whole industry.     

The Finances of Major U.S. Unions

Financial resources have a significant impact on labor's current attempt to reassert itself. We examine the total assets, net worth, and income of unions in (1) a cross-sectional analysis of the distribution of financial resources across national, intermediate, and local levels of unions and (2) a longitudinal analysis of trends in a variety of financial measures. We observe considerable decentralization of financial resources across levels, substantial concentration of resources, and differences across and within union sectors. These results are discussed with regard to current merger activity.     

Rental Housing Markets and the Natural Vacancy Rate

This paper employs new census vacancy rate data to analyze the price-adjustment mechanism for rental housing. The study extends previous research on this topic, which provided conflicting evidence concerning the traditional theory of rental housing market adjustment (see Smith [10] , [11] ; DeLeeuw and Ekanem [2] ; Eubank and Sirmans [4] ; and Rosen and Smith [8] ). Cross-section and time-series data are pooled to estimate natural vacancy rates for sixteen United States cities for the 1981–85 period. The analysis further explores the determinants of variation in natural vacancy rates across those metropolitan areas.     

Persistence of innovative activities, sectoral patterns of innovation and international technological specialization

In this paper, we focus on the role of persistence and heterogeneity of innovative activities at the level of the firm in determining the patterns of technological change in different industries and countries. We ask: are persistence and heterogeneity associated with higher degrees of concentration in innovative activities, stability in the ranking of innovators, and lower degrees of entry and exit in the population of innovators? Or, do the patterns of innovation depend on other variables like firm size and industrial concentration? Moreover, what are the relationships between the patterns of innovative activities, their determinants, and the technological specialization of countries? We compute indicators of persistence and heterogeneity using the OTAF-SPRU patent database at the firm level for five European countries over the period 1969–1986 for 33 technological classes. Then, we estimate the relationships between our indicators of the sectoral patterns of innovative activities and international technological specialization on the one hand, and our indicators of persistence, heterogeneity and market structure on the other. Results show that persistence and asymmetries are important (and strongly related) phenomena that affect the patterns of innovative activities across countries and sectors, while the role of market structure variables is less clear. Finally, international technological specialization is associated to a competitive core of persistent innovators.     

Entry and exit in retailing: Incentives, barriers, displacement and replacement

In this study the determinants of entry and exit and the interrelationship between these market phenomena are investigated. We examine incentives, barriers, displacement and replacement for a panel data-set of 23 Dutch shoptypes for the 1981–1988 period. Results indicate that profit as a ratio of modal income, growth of consumer spending and growing unemployment are important incentives to enter and disincentives to exit. Requirements of floorspace and professional skills appear to reduce entry rates. We find evidence for entry and exit to interact but not to be simultaneously determined. The implication being that entry (exit) has a separate influence on exit (entry) next to market incentives and entry and exit barriers.     

Sectoral Heterogeneity in New Service Development: An Exploratory Study of Service Types and Success Factors

The service industry is of fundamental relevance for the economies of industrialized countries, as the service industry produces the highest growth in the gross domestic product. In this regard, new service development (NSD) represents a critical resource for competitive survival and a decisive factor of growth in the service industry. However, service firms across many industries are increasingly faced with the challenge of determining how best to manage their development of new service offerings. Although researchers have shown growing interest in NSD issues, this area is still underutilized. Furthermore, although the heterogeneity of the service industry has been emphasized for years, the current body of research on NSD mainly focuses on specific service environments, providing data that are often not comparable across different service sectors. Additionally, there is no study to date that comprehensively examines innovation activities and the relevance of service innovations’ success factors within different service industries. The aim of this exploratory study is to establish a more balanced picture of the nature of innovation activities in terms of NSD characteristics and success factors in the heterogeneous service industry. From this perspective, this paper begins with an examination of the factors that contribute to the success of NSD. Based on a meta‐analysis of new service success factor studies, 17 different success determinants are classified and aggregated to service‐related success determinants. Subsequently, a cluster analysis of 1016 service companies is used to identify different service innovation types. For the service sector, four service innovation types are determined: efficient developers, innovative developers, interactive adopters, and standardized adopters. Furthermore, based on interviews with service innovation managers, the previously identified success factors are examined for each innovation type using a standardized survey. Finally, based on the results of this exploratory study, the paper concludes with recommendations for NSD management and research propositions for each service innovation type. These propositions support innovation managers to successfully manage service innovations for the innovation type they are operating in.     

Determinants of Cross-Sectional Variation in Discount Rates, Growth Rates and Exit Cap Rates

This study investigates the determinants of key input variables in valuers' discounted cash flow models used for estimating market values for offices. Data from 599 valuations in 2000 from Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö are used to explain variation in discount rates, expected growth rates in net operating income and exit cap rates. Our ability to explain the relatively wide variation in appraisal assumptions with plausible covariates generates confidence in the appraisal process. This has important implications because most value and returns indices of commercial real estate worldwide are appraisal based.     

Why Do Established Firms Enter Some Industries and Exit Others? Empirical Evidence on Italian Business Groups

In this paper the determinants of entry and exitdecisions are analysed empirically on a sample of wellestablished business groups operating in Italianmanufacturing. The focus is on the role of sunk costsas entry barriers. Two competing hypotheses aretested. On the one hand, setup costs, R & D andadvertising outlays act as barriers to entry for bothnew and already established firms because of theirindustry-specific commitment value. On the other hand,they may induce established firms, which operate insimilar industries, to enter. This is the case if R & Dand advertising are firm-specific investments whichgenerate externalities to be efficiently exploited inadjacent industries. Overall results suggest that thesecond hypothesis gives a better picture of thebehaviour of our sample of firms.     

Firm entry and firm growth

This paper reports on the importance of firm entry and growth flows in Portuguese manufacturing during the period 1982–86, and investigates their determinants. We find that both movements are induced by past profitability and deterred by economies of scale, product differentiation and sunk costs. The analysis does not reject the hypothesis that the determinants of firm entry and growth are quantitatively the same, thereby giving some support to the hypothesis that entry and expansion are close substitutes in absorbing industry excess profits, and that the choice between them does not depend on the height of the entry/mobility barriers.     

From hybrids to hierarchies: shareholder wealth effects of joint venture partner buyouts

This study examines the parent firm performance implications of joint venture (JV) partner buyouts, which involve the conversion of a hybrid governance structure to an internal unit within the firm's hierarchy. Transaction cost theory, as developed and applied in the international literature and market entry research, is extended to the post‐entry investment setting to isolate sources of value creation or dissipation from the governance changes effected by JV partner buyouts. The evidence complements recent research on JV longevity and its determinants. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

U.S. Multinational Activity Abroad and U.S. Jobs: Substitutes or Complements?

Critics of globalization claim that firms are being driven by the prospects of cheaper labor and lower labor standards to shift employment abroad. Yet the evidence, beyond anecdotes, is slim. This paper reports stylized facts on the activities of U.S. multinationals at home and abroad for the years 1977 to 1999. We focus on firms in manufacturing and services, two sectors that have received extensive media attention for supposedly exporting jobs. Using firm‐level data collected by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in Washington, D.C., we report correlations between U.S. multinational employment at home and abroad. Preliminary evidence based on the operations of these multinationals suggests that the sign of the correlation depends on the crucial distinction between affiliates in high‐income and low‐income countries. For affiliates in high‐income countries there is a positive correlation between jobs at home and abroad, suggesting that foreign employment of U.S. multinationals is complementary to domestic employment. For firms that operate in developing countries, employment has been cut in the United States, and affiliate employment has increased. To account for firm size, substitution across firms and entry and exit, we aggregate our data to the industry level. This exercise reveals that the observed “complementarity” between U.S. and foreign jobs has been driven largely by a contraction across all manufacturing sectors. It also reveals that foreign employment in developing countries has substituted for U.S. employment in several highly visible industries, including computers, electronics, and transportation. The fact that there were U.S. jobs lost to foreign affiliates in key sectors, despite broad complementarity in hiring and firing decisions between U.S. parents and their affiliates, helps explain why economists view the impact of globalization on U.S. jobs as benign despite negative news coverage for declining industries.     

Evidence on the Causes of the Rising Dispersion of Relative Wages

In this paper, a neoclassical model of interindustry wage dispersion is derived and used to examine explicitly the fundamental role of microeconomic variables in determining relative wage movements. The empirical results demonstrate that the variance of labor quality and capital intensities across sectors are the primary determinants of the movement of the dispersion of relative wages within the manufacturing sector in the postwar period. Although the relative wage structure exhibits some response to unemployment, it is not sensitive to changes in inflation. The macro variables were also of limited quantitative importance in explaining changes in the relative wage structure.