Customer-capturing strategies: The way to replace existing technology characterized by network effects

Network effects are the basis of competitive advantage in digital economies. Although some researchers have indicated that technologies characterized by network effects are difficult to replace, real-world situations have not confirmed this argument. Challengers still defeat market leaders in markets with network effects. The analytical results presented here include the following: (1) a proposed new concept, resilience, can describe the resistive strength of a network to challenger customer-capturing strategies, (2) three types of networks can be identified based on their resilience values, and (3) high-resilience networks possessing technology are difficult to replace.     

Improving accessibility to rural health services: The maximal covering network improvement problem

Accessibility to health facilities is a critical factor in effective health treatment for people in rural areas of lesser-developed countries. In many areas accessibility is diminished by the lack of all-weather roads, making access subject to weather conditions. Location-allocation models have been used to prescribe optimal configurations of health facilities in order to maximize accessibility, but these models are based on the assumption that the underlying transport network is static and always available. Essentially, past work has ignored the potential impacts of improvements to the transport system in modeling access. In this paper we propose a model that treats the opposite side of the location/transport equation; that is, a model that treats existing facility locations as fixed and improves health service accessibility by upgrading links of the transport network to all-weather roads. This new model, called the Maximal Covering Network Improvement Problem (MC-NIP) is formulated as an integer-linear programming problem. An application of the MC-NIP model to the Suhum District of Ghana is presented, which shows that even a modest level of road improvement can lead to substantial increases in all-season access to health service.     

Structural investigation of supply networks: A social network analysis approach

A system of interconnected buyers and suppliers is better modeled as a network than as a linear chain. In this paper we demonstrate how to use social network analysis to investigate the structural characteristics of supply networks. Our theoretical framework relates key social network analysis metrics to supply network constructs. We apply this framework to the three automotive supply networks reported in Choi and Hong (2002). Each of the supply networks is analyzed in terms of both materials flow and contractual relationships. We compare the social network analysis results with the case-based interpretations in Choi and Hong (2002) and conclude that our framework can both supplement and complement case-based analysis of supply networks.     

Adherence to environmental law: the strategic complementarities of compliance decisions

In this paper we address why firms comply with environmental regulations when enforcement is weak by suggesting that firms choose their level of environmental compliance strategically. Our theoretical model shows that compliance decisions among firms are strategic complements—increased compliance by one firm will positively influence the compliance rate of its rival. In our empirical analysis we find that the compliance rates of other regulated entities have a positive and significant effect on a regulated source's compliance behavior in three of our four heavily regulated industries. If compliance decisions are strategic complements, this may partially explain high compliance rates in the presence of limited regulatory pressure.     

日语“动词+动词型”复合动词构词规律初探——从日语教学角度出发

复合动词是日语的重要组成部分,而且构词形式多样,语义丰富。森田良行在《日语复合动词》一书中指出,日本人在日常生活中,平时使用的动词有40%是复合动词。在日语学习与研究过程中,复合动词也是学习者难以掌握的问题之一。文章主要总结分析了至今为止关于日语"动词+动词型"复合动词的构词规律、结合条件的研究成果,从日语教育的角度探讨今后研究的方向。     

论游戏与儿童创造力的培养——让儿童回归“田野游戏”

城市化进程、功利化教育理念、科技的发展,让传统的游戏方式逐渐简化成室内智能游戏的特殊模式,违背了儿童的成长和创新性培养的要求。基于这一现象,为了提高儿童创造力,笔者提出了要让儿童回归真实、自然、实践的"田野游戏"。在游戏中,促进儿童生存技能和智力的双重训练,从而培养儿童的创造力和创新精神。     

从演进经济学视角解读城市形成原因

从经济学演进变迁的视角,梳理不同时期经济学家对城市形成原因的不同解说,可以内在统一地解释城市的形成规律,也能给当前我国的城市发展和城市化进程以理论启示.     

How information systems help create OM capabilities: Consequents and antecedents of operational absorptive capacity

In contemporary business environments, the ability to manage operational knowledge is an important predictor of organizational competitiveness. Organizations invest large sums in various types of information technologies (ITs) to manage operational knowledge. Because of their superior storage, processing and communication capabilities, ITs offer technical platforms to build knowledge management (KM) capabilities. However, merely acquiring ITs are not sufficient, and organizations must structure information system (IS) designs to leverage ITs for building KM capabilities. We study how technical and strategic IS designs enhance operational absorptive capacity (OAC) – the KM capability of an operations management (OM) department. Specifically, we use a capabilities perspective of absorptive capacity to examine potential absorptive capacity (POAC) and realized absorptive capacity (ROAC) capabilities – the two OAC capabilities that create and utilize knowledge, respectively. Our theory proposes that integrated IS capability, – an aspect of technical IS design – is an antecedent of POAC and ROAC capabilities, and business-IT alignment – an aspect of strategic IS design – moderates the relationship between integrated IS capability and ROAC capability. Combining data gleaned from a multi-respondent survey with archival data from COMPUSTAT, we test our hypotheses using a dataset from 153 manufacturing organizations. By proposing that IS design enables an OM department's KM processes, i.e., the POAC and ROAC capabilities, our interdisciplinary theoretical framework opens the “black box” of OAC and contributes to improved understanding of IS and OM synergies. We offer a detailed discussion of our contributions to the literature at the IS-OM interface and implications for practitioners.     

Dynamic theory of preferences: Habit formation and taste for variety

We analyze individual preferences over infinite horizon consumption choices. Our axioms provide the foundation for a recursive representation of the utility function that contains as particular cases the classical Koopmans representation (Koopmans (1960)) as well as the habit formation specification.We examine some of the consequences of our axiomatization by considering a standard consumer choice problem, and show that typically in the space of concave utility functions satisfying our axioms the consumer displays a taste for variety. The latter means that such a consumer selects optimally time variant consumption programs for any given time invariant sequence of commodities’ relative prices and for all possible sequences of market discount factors. In contrast, if a concave utility function satisfies Koopmans’ axioms the consumer does not display a taste for variety.     

Urban growth and subcenter formation: A trolley ride from the Staples Center to Disneyland and the Rose Bowl

The long-term trends of urbanization suggest: not only have more cities formed, but the leading metropolises have grown larger, with a number of peripheral subcenters developing over time. Conventional models of urban growth are limited, in that commuting cost and congestion eventually result in decreasing returns in a monocentric city as population becomes very large. We construct a general-equilibrium model with dynamic interactions between spatial agglomeration and urban development, driven by location-dependent knowledge spillovers. Our contribution allows endogenous development of subcenters to capture benefits from knowledge spillovers and offset diminishing returns from urban congestion, thus permitting more sustained city growth.     

An optimization approach to strategic sourcing: A case study of the United States Air Force

The DoD annually procures billions of dollars worth of systems, supplies, and services in support of the national military strategy. Faced with budget cuts and other resource constraints, the DoD must transform its procurement process to ensure cost-effective sourcing of critical supplies and services. One aspect of current transformation in the DoD is the use of a strategic sourcing approach for the procurement of services at military installations. Using the Air Force's strategic sourcing process as our context, we developed an optimization model for selecting a set of proposals from among multiple offerors for services to be performed at multiple installations. The selection achieves the most favorable objective by balancing the confidence level in an offeror's past performance with the cost of services to the Air Force. The research findings, which are based on a realistic scenario, demonstrate improvements over the current sourcing process in both overall performance and cost.     

The dynamics of regional specialization and cluster formation: dividing trajectories of maritime industries in two Norwegian regions

The theoretical starting point of this paper is the academic debate on regional specialization, agglomeration and industrial clusters. The paper offers further insights into the industrial dynamics within regional contexts by combining two approaches: (1) an historical study of industrial agency focusing on entrepreneurship, diversification and specialization; (2) a study of the relations within contemporary industrial systems important for industrial upgrading. Methodical triangulation has provided longitudinal studies. Particular attention is paid to path dependence as well as entrepreneurial capacity in order to explain why the industrial trajectories of matching regions divide. As the paper discusses continuity and change, a more dynamic perspective on path dependency is introduced. The past is not just regarded as a constraint, but as heritage as well. The dynamics leading to cluster formation and upgrading as well as industrial fragmentation are investigated in detail. The developments of shipyards and related maritime industries of the two Norwegian regions compared are characterized by static continuity and dynamic continuity, respectively.     

The Theory of Socially Embedded Games: Applications and Extensions to Open and Closed Games

An earlier article, drawing on the mathematical theory of rules and rule complexes, extends and generalizes game theory (GGT). The theory has been used to conceptualize and analyze diverse social relationships, roles, and games as particular types of rule complexes.For instance, a social role, as a major basis of a parent's action in a game, consists of at least four key components – which are mathematical objects – in the determination of action: value complex, model of reality (including beliefs and knowledge bases), a repertoire of acts, routines, programs, and strategies, and modality, a role-specific algorithm for determining or generating action in game settings. This article applies and extends GGT in analyses of a market bargaining game (a type of open game) and of the classical game of prisoners' dilemma (a type of closed game). The applications show the concrete effects of social embeddedness on game structuring, game interaction patterns and outcomes, and social equilibria.     

基于价值网络理论的知识转化研究

知识经济时代,价值网络成为一种更为有效的价值创造方式。文章通过图示的方法,揭示了价值链与价值网络的关系。随后又进一步探讨了价值网络对知识管理的影响过程,通过价值网络对知识资源的更有效配置能力,打造企业的核心竞争力。     

政策网络的结构与治理:以我国房地产宏观调控政策为例

房地产的宏观调控是我国政府公共管理能力的核心体现,然而,近年来其调控效果并不显著.作为一种新兴的分析工具--政策网络能较好地掌握与处理多元角色参与公共政策制定的议题.因此,本文从政策网络的视角,通过理论研究和案例分析,探讨房地产政策网络的结构特征及其治理机制.研究发现:我国房地产宏观调控的困境关键在于政策网络的开放度太...     

银商之争的经济学分析：从沃尔玛诉讼案到中国的罢刷事件

我国商家拒绝银行卡的罢刷行动与沃尔玛等商户集体诉讼Visa和Mastercard案均缘于商户、银行及银行卡组织的非合作博弈引发的利益冲突。本文在简单回顾银商之争历程后,从POS交易利益主体互动关系中剖析了银联组织的自然垄断特性及其造成的双重加价原理,并借鉴沃尔玛诉讼案的经验,基于产业组织理论从银联的结构性规制、银行卡市场的网络效应及价格听证等角度提出银商之争的若干解决思路。     

The Structure of Municipal Water Supply Costs: Application to a Panel of French Local Communities

Network losses and returns are importantissues for water resource management, that are addressed in thispaper by modeling the structure of production for municipal waterutilities with two outputs: water sold to final customers andwater network losses. We propose a measure of economies of scopeto assess the benefit associated with joint production of waterfor final customers and water losses, and several measures ofreturns to evaluate potential gains in exploiting technologicalflexibility of water networks. We estimate the cost structureof water utilities using a GMM procedure with a Translog costfunction and panel data. Estimation results reveal a positivedegree of economies of scope, and short-run returns to productiondensity and returns to customer density that are not significantlydifferent from 1. Significant economies of scale indicate thatlocal communities may benefit from merging into water districts.     

沿海 "阴影"城市成因及应对方略——以日照市为例

首先对同一禀赋的50多个沿海城市进行了研究,发现其经济差距非常大;部分沿海城市虽然具有良好的港口、交通、环境等优势条件,但其发展却远不如相邻的周边内陆城市,出现了典型的"阴影"现象.其次,以日照市为例,在挖掘其优势条件与滞后效应矛盾的基础上,深入剖析了制约其发展的各种内外部因素.最后,根据这些制约因素提出了相应的发展策略,以期促使日照市尽快摆脱"阴影"现象.