Do physicians employ aides efficiently?: Some new evidence on solo practitioners

This paper investigates the issue of efficient employment of aides in the production of medical care services by self-employed solo practice physicians. Several alternative specifications of the production function for physician services are estimated. The parameter estimates obtained are then used to draw inferences about medical care delivery technology and allocation efficiency. The findings suggest that solo practice physicians overemploy aides and in so doing neither maximize medical practice profit nor minimize the cost of delivering medical care services.     

Do supervisory inputs matter in a capital-intensive industry? Some evidence from a Japanese car transplant

We estimate a translog production function based on data from a Japanese automobile plant in the Midwest where output is determined by capital and different supervisory time inputs. We fit a model which allows for heteroskedastic errors, where this heteroskedasticity is a function of various variables affecting perceived target severity. We find that while, as expected, capital inputs are important, each supervisory time input is also significant in this capital-intensive industry. Linear homogeneity in these inputs is rejected. We find evidence of asymmetry in substitution among different components of supervisory time. This asymmetry has implications for the design and allocation of supervisory tasks. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is China uniform? Intra-country differences in the takeoff of new products

Multi-national corporations (wrongly) introduce new products in China rather late. Such a strategy arises because research treats all of China as one monolithic country, thus, finding that takeoff occurs quite late. However, for large or multi-ethnic countries, intra country diversity may be quite high, rivaling or exceeding that among inter country differences of some continents (e.g., Europe). This study examines the takeoff of new products among provinces of China based on data of 30 Chinese provinces on 10 categories over 34 years. Rooted in the theory of institutions and product network externalities, this study tests the drivers of new product takeoff using a discrete time hazard model. The major results are as follows: First, time to takeoff varies dramatically across provinces in China. Second, the average time to takeoff varies substantially between products with strong and weak network externalities. Third, time to takeoff is converging across provinces. Fourth, the intra-country differences in time-to-takeoff are explained by economic institutional variables: economic wealth, trade openness, education, media and transportation infrastructure; and product characteristics: network externalities and year of introduction. Fifth, the vast differences in takeoff of new products across provinces suggest that a waterfall strategy within China might be more profitable.     

Do major customers encourage innovative sustainable development? Empirical evidence from corporate green innovation in China

This paper examines the impact of customer concentration on green innovation in Chinese listed firms between 2006 and 2018 through the dynamic panel generalized method of moments regressions. It is reported that major customers positively impact corporate green innovation, indicating that firms have more incentives to engage in innovative green practices to maintain stable relationships with major customers. In addition, the positive relationship between customer concentration and green innovation is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises, firms located in the provinces with a high level of marketization, and after China's new Environmental Protection Law implementation. Moreover, we observe that the positive impact of customer concentration on corporate green innovation is more significant among industrial firms and firms operating in heavily polluting industries. Furthermore, industrial competition is an essential channel for major customers to affect corporate green innovation.     

Does long-run real interest parity hold among EU countries? Some new panel data evidence

This paper tests for long-run ex post real interest parity (RIP) among the major European Union (EU) countries over the period 1979–1998 using a new test, due to Im, Pesaran, and Shin (1997), that allows one to confirm or reject RIP depending on whether a panel data set comprising real interest differentials is stationary or not. This methodology offers substantial advantages over the univariate Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) tests that might accept the null of non-stationarity on account of low test power. Strong evidence of onshore RIP occurs during 1986–1990 and 1993–1998 with the half life of a random shock to parity estimated at 2–3 months. There is no evidence of RIP during 1990–1993 despite the easing of remaining capital controls in 1990.     

The persistence of gender discrimination in China – evidence from recruitment advertisements

In this paper we present an analysis of recruitment advertisements that suggests that Chinese employers frequently discriminate on gender grounds, both directly and indirectly. We illustrate how employers continue to use entrenched stereotypes and perpetuate highly segregated expectations of men and women's roles at work, predominantly to the detriment of women and hindering their progress in the labour market. The paper concludes that while employers’ recruitment practices are not the only cause of women's continued labour-market disadvantage – and are in themselves a function of the wider of economic, socio-cultural and ideological factors that underlie it (Kitching 2001; Patrickson 2001; Leung 2003; Cooke 2005) – a change to employer behaviour in this area is a necessary and potentially achievable step forward towards greater equality.     

Do types of economic ownership matter in getting employees to commit? An exploratory study in the People's Republic of China

Economic reforms launched in the People's Republic of China led to rapid growth in the non-state sector. Economic organizations in this sector adopt different styles of business operations and management practices when compared with their state counterparts. These systematic differences generate work dynamics with implications for workers' job attitudes and behaviours. The present study explores the relationship between workers' perception of the workplace and organizational commitment after the reform. Three hundred employees in Shanghai, from six enterprises, were randomly sampled for interview. Differences were found between state and non-state employees in their demographic characteristics, organizational perceptions and commitment. Findings suggested that state and non-state workers differed in their commitment and these relationships were mediated through various perceptual dimensions. Implications of the results for theory and practice are discussed.     

Do universities knowledge spillovers impact on new firm’s growth? Empirical evidence from UK

The paper explores the effect of scientific institutions on firm’s growth, coupling regional science and entrepreneurship approaches. We focus on the role of universities, largely considered in the literature as the main source of knowledge spillovers. To this purpose, we centre our attention on UK public companies on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), a market dedicated to young and growing companies in both science and non-science based industries. In the paper we investigate the growth determinants of 231 listed firms which have gone public during the period going from 1995 to 2006. To our purposes, in the empirical analysis we use the Gibrat’s Law of Proportionate Effects model. The results supports the hypothesis that, controlling for firm’s idiosyncratic factors and external forces, both universities knowledge input and output are important determinants of the growth of entrepreneurial firms listed on the AIM.

Do strategic factors affect adoption of profit sharing? Longitudinal evidence from Canada

Despite the growing interest in strategic human resource management and strategic compensation, the firm's strategic context has rarely been examined as a possible predictor of profit sharing adoption, especially in longitudinal research, nor have all three possible strategic alignments (internal, horizontal, and vertical) been included in the same study. Based on three panels of longitudinal data from Canadian establishments drawn from three consecutive time periods, this paper finds strong support for internal (within compensation strategy) alignment, as a high-wage compensation policy is a significant predictor of profit sharing adoption in all three time periods. At the same time, significant support for a diffusion or institutional perspective on profit sharing adoption is also noted. These findings highlight the importance of including both strategic factors (particularly those that may be associated with internal alignment) and institutional factors in studies seeking to understand profit sharing adoption.     

Do credit squeezes influence firm survival? An empirical investigation of China

This paper analyses the effect of a “credit squeeze” policy that was set by the Chinese government in 2007, increasing the strictness for firm-level bank loans. We adopt the difference-in-difference (DID) model to compare the survival rate change before and after the policy was implemented. We further explore the mechanism behind how the “credit squeeze” policy reduced the probability of firms surviving the market from perspectives such as financial constraints and ownership structures. The “credit squeeze” policy significantly increased firms’ operating costs and lowered firms’ productivity. In addition, we find that the zombie firm phenomenon existing in state-owned enterprises has a large impact on our estimation. Our results provide practical policy implications regarding the compromise between systematic debt risk and firm survival.     

Do Egocentric information networks influence technical efficiency of farmers? Empirical evidence from Ghana

Journal of Productivity Analysis - We investigate the impact of farmers’ egocentric information network on technical efficiency and its distribution in the network, using observational data...     

On the informationization of accounting information in China： The perspective of accounting information systems and its regulatory framework in the USA

The informationization of accounting information systems has brought many improvements to those systems. This paper highlights some of those significant advances in the informationization of accounting information systems in China. As China has become a major industrial power in the international economy, further improvements for these information systems are critical to the continued successes of China. To additionally improve these systems, China can draw upon the systems from other world economic leaders. With its fully developed capital markets, the United States offers development experience for the external reporting components of a fully integrated information system. This paper discusses a typical integrated information system in the United States and addresses the regulatory milestones that were instrumental in the development of those external components of accounting information systems. Recommendations are presented for improving informationization of systems in China based on U.S. systems＇ responses to those milestones.     

Rare shocks vs. non-linearities: What drives extreme events in the economy? Some empirical evidence

A small-scale vector autoregression (VAR) is used to shed some light on the roles of extreme shocks and non-linearities during stress events observed in the economy. The model focuses on the link between credit/financial markets and the real economy and is estimated on US quarterly data for the period 1984–2013. Extreme shocks are accounted for by assuming t-distributed reduced-form shocks. Non-linearity is allowed by the possibility of regime switch in the shock propagation mechanism. Strong evidence for fat tails in error distributions is found. Moreover, the results suggest that accounting for extreme shocks rather than explicit modeling of non-linearity contributes to the explanatory power of the model. Finally, it is shown that the accuracy of density forecasts improves if non-linearities and shock distributions with fat tails are considered.     

Do firms with different levels of environmental regulatory pressure behave differently regarding complementarity among innovation practices?

This study explores the complementary effects among environmental innovation, organizational innovation, and training for innovation and their effect on firm productivity, within a supermodularity framework. Furthermore, it attempts to understand whether different innovation practices are complements or substitutes for firm profitability according to the industrial environmental regulation context by distinguishing between clean and dirty industries. Using a Spanish technological innovation panel survey over the period 2008–2015, our findings indicate that the interrelationship between different innovation practices is complementary rather than substitutive, and the pattern of complementarity among innovation practices differs according to the environmental regulation under which an industry operates. Engaging in a broad range of innovation practices such as environmental and organizational innovations, clean industry can strengthen productivity. For dirty industries, our results indicate a greater affinity between training activities and environmental innovation than between environmental innovation and organizational innovation on firm productivity achievement. Taken all together, these results provide managers with considerable insights in terms of how to adapt the various combinatorial practices to the industrial environment in which they are embedded, taking market and regulatory pressure into account.     

Determinants of share price movements in emerging equity markets:: Some evidence from america’s past

Emerging equity markets are plagued by poor information, which is a barrier to outside shareholder participation. This paper examines the determinants of share prices of two United States companies over a 14-year period during the late 19^th century, when America had an emerging equity market. These two companies withheld all information on profits and assets until the end of the period, yet traded regularly. Overall, the evidence suggests that outside investors received sufficient compensation for their ignorance, and that these outsiders set the market price. An event study shows that when information about company assets was revealed, market returns were significantly changed.     

Role of women’s empowerment in improving farmer’s livelihood: empirical evidence from China

Quality & Quantity - Gender equality and women’s development are the paramount objectives for the sustainable development of the mankind. The influence of women’s rights and status...     

Overcoming the ethnocentric firm? – foreign fresh university graduate employment in Japan as a new international human resource development method

Abstract

This article analyses a new and, by international comparison, distinct recruitment trend – the systematic hiring of foreign fresh university graduates (FFGs) into Japanese multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) operations in Japan. Our explorative research, which is based on interviews with HR managers and FFGs, offers three major findings related to international HR development methods. Firstly, the inpatriate literature has identified the roles of foreign (subsidiary) staff as knowledge conduits and boundary-spanners between headquarters and subsidiaries. While such objectives do not drive Japan’s FFG hiring trend, we find similar challenges in terms of the absorptive capacities of headquarters. Secondly, following a Varieties-of-Capitalism perspective, we argue that FFG hiring is an institutional answer to the particularities of Japan’s employment system. Aiming at internationalizing headquarters from within, it contributes to resolving the internationalization conundrum of Japanese MNEs, but rather than overcoming the existing ethnocentric HR model it accommodates this orientation. Thirdly, we advance the general HR literature by proposing a new framework that addresses the viability of international personnel development methods in dependence of the workforce diversity and distinctiveness of employment practices in headquarters. We locate FFG hiring, inpatriation and self-initiated assignments within this framework.     

The role of Technological Business Incubators in supporting business innovation in China: a case of regional adaptability?

This paper examines the extent to which both the support services of Technological Business Incubators (TBIs) and exogenous local factors facilitate the innovation activity of incubated new ventures. Using data on all 215 surviving Chinese incubators and their incubated firms from government surveys conducted over five consecutive years from 2009 until 2013, combined with information from nine case studies, we examine the effects of four incubator services on three levels of innovation in incubated firms, whilst also taking account of key exogenous factors. Technical service support from an incubator was found to have had a positive influence on all levels of innovation activity across all regions whilst incubator financial support had a positive effect on the making of more advanced innovations. The availability of venture capital had a significant impact on making lower order innovations whereas the availability of scientific knowledge resources influenced more advanced innovation activity. Whereas TBI support services in the more developed Eastern region are mainly concerned with leveraging external resources, those in the less developed Central and Western regions are more concerned with compensating for the lack of external resources to support innovation.     

Does the presentation reform of R&D expenses in China ease financial constraints in corporate innovation?

Focusing on a sample of 9387 observations in China over the period 2016−2019, this paper empirically examines whether the presentation reform of R&D expenses that is changed from notes to income statements, mitigates corporate financial constraints of Chinese listed companies. Findings offer evidence that the financial constraints of firms decrease after the policy change, which is owing to the alleviation of information asymmetry. Further analysis reveals that the effect of the presentation reform on financial constraints is less prominent among companies that are state-owned, audited by the “Big four” and of higher institutional ownership. Overall, our study provides evidence supporting the influences of the format reform of financial reports and has implications for information users, regulators, and standard setters.     

Are not-for-profits different? Theory and evidence on the pricing of health services in Uganda

Public provision of health and education in developing countries is often insufficient and inefficient. There is thus a call for a greater involvement of private providers to supply affordable and high-quality services to the population. In particular, it is often suggested that not-for-profit institutions should play a larger role, given their social mission. But do not-for-profits really behave differently from for-profit institutions? The literature does not provide a clear answer to this question. The present contribution offers evidence based on a simple theoretical model and price data from health care providers in Uganda with different governance structures. Using differences in market structure as source of variation, we find that not-for-profits indeed behave differently from for-profit institutions, with a pricing behavior that is consistent with an emphasis on health impact and not just profit maximization. Our results thus provide an argument for a policy trying to attract not-for-profit health clinics to fill the gap of an inefficient public health provision.