Protection, promotion and cooperation in the European semiconductor industry

EC Member States' national champion policies of the 1970s were not successful in developing firms that led in their home markets, and the corresponding EC policies of the 1980s (many of which encouraged inter-European strategic alliances) were not successful in developing firms that led in the European market. Using strategies that involve world-wide cooperation, European firms are beginning to carve out secure places for themselves in what is now a world market. Joint ventures have been critical in bringing European firms up to world performance levels, but extra-European as well as intra-European cooperation has been essential.     

Behind the European Works Councils Directive: The European Commission's Legislative Strategy

The aim of the draft European works councils Directive is to bridge the gap between increasingly transnational corporate decision-making and employees' nationally-defined information and consultation rights. The proposal seeks to accommodate existing national systems of employee representation, but in the UK auxiliary measures would be needed to designate employee representatives in the absence of voluntary trade union recognition by employers. Although the Directive is strongly opposed by the UK government, the Maastricht social policy protocol has boosted its prospects of being adopted by the other 11 EC countries, with important repercussions for UK-based multinationals.     

欧洲纺机制造商委员会主席 Stephen R.Combes:关注可持续发展

ITMA ASIA+CITME已经成为中国乃至亚洲声誉最高、质量最好的展示平台。能够举办如此成功的展会,得益于所有合作方的共同努力。由CEMATEX主办的ITMA展会在欧洲地区定期举办,2001年进入亚洲,并于2008年同CITME展会联合举办。而CITME展会在中国举办已久,并深得广大参展企业信任。     

Institutions and business networks: A comparative analysis of the Chinese, Russian, and West European markets

The paper analyses business networks originating from three markets: Chinese, Russian, and West European. So far, little attention has been given to the fact that business networks in particular markets may be dissimilar because of differences among institutions. The paper advances a model where institutions are assumed to influence five major characteristics of business; (1) the processual aspects of the network, (2) the structural aspects of the network, (3) the function of firms and relationships in the network, (4) the meaning of strategy and planning, and (5) social relationships in the context of inter-firm relationships. The analysis builds on three types of substances of institutions — cognitive, normative, and regulative, which in turn are specified according to different aspects. The cognitive substance of business networks is explored through the aspects of self, time, and causality. The normative substance is explored through the aspects of achieved versus ascribed status, inner versus outer direction, universalism versus particularism, and trust. The regulative substance is specified as an authority system and a sanction system. The analysis demonstrates that, as institutions differ in these three markets, the business among them also differs in terms of the five characteristics, and this variation calls for different strategies for firms operating in these markets.     

欧洲LNG接收站开放的经验与启示

欧洲是在天然气市场较为成熟、欧盟推进天然气市场化改革的背景下推动LNG接收站开放的.在此过程中,政府和监管者没有简单地一刀切,而是尊重历史,为不同地区、不同业主的接收站“量身订制”规则.即使如此,欧洲LNG接收站开放仍对天然气企业的市场份额、地位和合同执行造成了一定冲击,而用气价格并未显著下降.与欧洲接收站开放时相比,中国天然气市场环境无论是基础设施完善程度、供求关系、企业所有权还是改革方式方法均存在较大差异.中国推动天然气基础设施(包括接收站)向第三方开放,应首先明确开放的目的和基本原则;对开放的影响进行充分、细致、深入的定性定量分析(包括战略、技术、经济等);对相关商务、技术安排及实施步骤进行充分论证和准备,做好应急预案;明确政府和企业的任务和分工;充分考虑天然气基础设施投资建设的历史背景,在法律框架和尊重产权和合同的基础上,稳步推进相关改革.     

Slack resources,firm performance,and the institutional context: Evidence from privately held European firms

Research summary : Integrating the behavioral and institutional perspectives, we propose that a country's formal institutions, particularly its legal frameworks, affect managers' deployment of slack resources. Specifically, we explore the moderating effects of creditor and employee rights on the performance effects of slack. Using longitudinal data from 162,633 European private firms in 26 countries, we find that financial slack enhances firm performance at diminishing rates, whereas human resource (HR) slack lowers performance at diminishing rates. However, financial slack has a more positive effect on firm performance in countries with weaker creditor rights, whereas HR slack has a more negative effect on performance in countries with stronger employee rights. The results provide a richer view of the relationship between slack and firm performance than currently assumed in the literature. Managerial summary : A key dilemma managers often encounter is whether, on the one hand, they should build in excess resources to buffer their firms from internal and external shocks and to pursue new opportunities or whether, on the other hand, they should develop “lean” firms. Our study suggests that excess cash resources—which are usually viewed as easy to redeploy—benefit firm performance, especially when firms operate in countries with weaker creditor rights. However, excess human resources—which are usually viewed as more difficult to redeploy—hamper firm performance, particularly when firms operate in countries with stronger labor protection laws. Thus, the management of slack resources critically depends on the characteristics of these resources (e.g., redeployability) and the institutional context in which managers operate. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fixed-to-mobile substitution in the European Union

This paper analyzes substitution between access to fixed-line and mobile telephony in the European Union using cross-section panel data on households’ choices of telecommunications technologies in years 2005–2010. We estimate a structural model of household?s demand for access to: (i) fixed-line only; (ii) mobile only; and (iii) both fixed-line and mobile. We find that growing Internet usage increases the share of ‘fixed + mobile’ households, which suggests that households keep their fixed-line connection to access Internet. However, the spread of 3G and cable broadband access decreases the share of ‘fixed + mobile’ households and increases the share of ‘mobile only’ households. Hence, fixed-to-mobile substitution was slowed down by the spread of Internet but it may continue with the spread of mobile broadband. Furthermore, bundling of telecommunications services increases the share of ‘fixed + mobile’ households and decreases the shares of ‘mobile only’ and ‘fixed only’ households. Therefore, operators which can bundle fixed-line connection with Internet or mobile services may slow down fixed-to-mobile substitution.     

Incumbency advantages,distribution networks and exclusivity — Evidence from the European car markets

This paper investigates the role of distribution networks in explaining incumbency advantages in the European car market. We compare three approaches to incorporate the size of distribution networks in discrete choice models of product differentiation: as an extra product characteristic, as a new dimension of product differentiation in a nested logit framework, or as a measure of the expected travel cost under a spatial Poisson distribution of locations. We obtain robust conclusions across all three approaches: distribution networks play an important role in explaining car producers' market shares, but they only appear to explain part of the bias towards domestic brands in the car market. We also report on an ongoing research project where we analyze the role of distribution networks at a much more detailed local market level, and investigate the specific role of exclusive dealing as a possible entry barrier.     

European banking: Bailout,bail-in and state aid control

More than 5 years after the fall of Lehman Brothers, and at a time where the Banking Union will start with a Balance Sheet Assessment, several regulatory initiatives are trying to make bailouts harder, and push forward ‘bail-in’ as an alternative. This article discusses the pros and cons of these initiatives, and stresses in particular, looking at various cases of banking crises, that financial instability can be much more costly than bailouts. It therefore pleads for: (i) not ruling out prefunded bailouts as an alternative/complement to bail-in, especially to deal with negative macroeconomic shocks; (ii) making sure markets will understand that the risk of bail-in is concentrated on long-term bank liabilities.     

部分欧洲玩具厂商撤离亚洲

玩具商们糊口度日的艰难岁月终于过去：德国玩具生产商,特别是传统玩具生产厂的生意又兴隆了起来。越来越多的玩具生产商把生产线从亚洲撤回欧洲。德国玩具工业协会的武尔西·布赫白（UlrlchBrobel]）表示,5年前美泰召回事件并非个案：“那件事情发生之后,欧洲玩具安全条例进行了修改,新的安全条例覆盖的范围更为广泛。     

Productivity Coalitions and the Future of European Corporatism

This paper argues that new technology, the recession, and changing condition in the world market have transformed the ogranization of work and the system of industrial relations in many European countries. Many show a tendency toward decentralized collective bargaining at he firm level. the growing strength of workers' representative at the firm level has weakend the highly centralized bargaining systems (corporatism) which have contributed much to the stability of industrial relations. Case studies, one of west German works councils and one of Italian labormanagement committees, support the argument.     

欧洲亚麻的诉说--访欧洲亚麻协会主席范特.比尔特先生

今年4月24日在欧盟启动对中国九种纺织品特保调查的清单中,"亚麻纱"被醒目地列在其中,5月24日又被欧盟正式宣布为特保产品,6月11日在中欧纺织品谈判中最终进入了双边备忘录的安排范围.从中国海关统计中发现,去年中国从欧盟进口亚麻原料近2亿美元,而向欧盟出口亚麻纱不足1亿美元.     

European telecommunications — plan for the future

Within the overall context of the political union of Europe, the author centres on the structural changes that would be required for a European telecommunications system. The suggested structure involves the unification of the management of European telecommunications services, currently the responsibility of independent national organizations.     

Regulating the use of facial recognition technology across borders: A comparative case analysis of the European Union,the United States,and China

Regulating the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) presents a Collingridge dilemma regarding the great demand for common legal principles to mediate the practical conflicts between privacy and efficiency, autonomy and authority, and safety and accountability. This study compares the enforcement by legitimate authorities in the European Union, the United States, and China of the laws and regulations applied in practical FRT cases and explores the fundamental principles and values manifested in these judgments and their results. The findings presented here indicate that (1) the E.U. regulations tend to move from downstream to upstream based on the notions of “privacy by design” and “privacy by default,” (2) the U.S. regulations are not limited to private contexts but tend also to target the (semi-)public sector, and (3) the Chinese regulations have been shifting from a practice represented by the phrase “nine dragons playing with a pearl” to a practice of “learning by doing”. Specifically, with respect to the determination of violations, the E.U. jurisprudence endorses deontological ethics and the U.S. jurisprudence a kind of universal egoism while the core FRT legislation in China valorizes utilitarianism. Overall, a top-down regulatory framework relating to FRT usage was apparent in the E.U. countries, a self-regulatory approach was observed in the United States, and a “presumption of fault” principle was manifested in China's process of assessing damages.     

欧洲成品油零售市场发展给我们的启示

欧洲成品油市场发展已相对成熟,但竞争仍十分激烈。为客户最大限度地提供便利服务、降低销售成本和积极应用先进的技术手段是加油站发展的方向。重视HSE(健康、安全、环保)建设是油品销售企业发展的重要社会责任。面对国内市场国际化的挑战,中国成品油销售企业必须学习和借鉴国际大石油公司的发展经验,加速管理理念更新,进一步强化五种观念,即网络化观念、市场观念、信息观念、细节服务观念和HSE观念,加快推进油品销售管理的信息化建设,加速提高加油站管理水平和竞争能力。