CREATING A LAB IN THE FIELD: ECONOMICS EXPERIMENTS FOR POLICYMAKING

In this paper, I focus on the role that artefactual and certain framed field experiments (what I term “lab‐like field experiments” or LFEs) play in informing policymaking. Using examples, primarily from rural contexts in developing countries, I identify four main purposes of LFEs: (1) to test theories or heuristic principles; (2) to identify and estimate parameters associated with characteristics; (3) to explore the structural nature of parameters derived from empirical methods including other types of experiments; and (4) to assess methodological difficulties associated with LFEs and how these can impact parameter estimates. I address the importance of generalizability for LFEs that are intended to inform policymaking and in the process, emphasize the complementary role between LFEs and other empirical methods, in particular other experiments. Finally, I discuss nine basic principles for conducting LFEs and suggest four directions for future research.     

Does doing “good” always translate into doing “well”? An eco‐efficiency perspective

Does doing “good” always translate into doing “well”? Debate over the “value” of corporate social responsibility is high on the agenda of corporate finance research. Deeper understanding is required on managers' incentives to pursue and implement corporate social responsibility related strategies, as is more thorough comprehension of the effect of these strategies to firms' performance levels as well as shareholder and wider stakeholder valuations of the firm. This paper provides a new lens by approaching the subject from a different methodological paradigm, grounded in the performance benchmarking methods more commonly applied in operational research. In so doing, we provide novel evidence of the effect of corporate choices on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategic investment compliance (i.e., doing good) to firms' eco‐efficiency levels (doing well). In brief, our empirical findings suggest that ESG and firm's eco‐performance are nonlinearly related. Specifically, advanced ESG policies and disclosure levels are associated with a positive affect to firms' eco‐efficiency levels, but only up to a point, after which the effect becomes “neutral,” that is, ESG demonstrates a visible pattern of diminishing marginal returns. Thus, we may humbly conclude that a firm may “do well” by doing good, but it is not clear they should ever expect to “do great” just by “doing good.” The threshold at which this “neutrality” appears varies systematically with the characteristics of the sector in which the firm is operating, as well as dimensions of board diversity. Finally, it is evident that ESG implementation choices can be a source of managerial agency problems.     

Dogmatic trends in marxist sociology

The research program of theoretical pluralism would imply for sociology, to confront marxist with nonmarxist sociology. This seems useful only if both sociologies are refutable in principle. However, certain principles of marxist sociology prevent the refutation of its most fundamental hypotheses. This is shown in analyzing an often cited book by E. Hahn. The “basis” of marxist sociology is historical materialism. Thus, if hypotheses from marxist sociology are falsified, historical materialism is falsified too. Hahn maintains-without presenting any empirical evidence-that historical materialism has found the solution of all problems and thus cannot be refuted. Marxist sociology, however, is-according to Hahn-falsifiable. This statement and the thesis mentioned before are inconsistent, for if historical materialism is true, marxist sociology-which follows from historical materialism-cannot be wrong. But even if there would be no inconsistency, the following situation would be possible: Marxist sociology proves entirely wrong, but historical materialism (the “basis” of marxist sociology) will not be abandoned. Furthermore, Hahn maintains that by means of empirical research (observation and experiment) the central hypotheses of marxist sociology cannot be tested, namely the “essence of appearances.” But he is at a loss for arguments; so every hypothesis can be immunized against falsification by declaring that it describes the “essence” of certain “appearances.” One further strategy of immunization Hahn introduces, is the rule that in an explanation only marxist laws may be used. So it is not possible to confront marxist and nonmarxist hypotheses. This rule eliminates a very effective kind of criticism, namely the confrontation of inconsistent theories.     

Laying the foundations of international careers research

As an editorial to the special issue “new avenues in international careers research” this article discusses the roots of the international careers research stream, which sits at the intersection between career studies, HRM and international management. In order to support future studies in this emerging area of enquiry, we attempt to lay down the foundations of a research agenda based around what we see as the three core areas of interest: contextualised careers research, comparative careers research and careers research in internationally operating organisations. After providing some suggestions for the kinds of theoretical and methodological tools that will be required to build on these foundations, we introduce the five empirical papers that comprise this special issue.     

The contrasting strategies of owner-managed and foreign-engaged joint ventures under market socialism in China

Drawing upon a contingency approach, this research based on case studies offers an understanding of the conditions for contrasting growth strategies in emerging business ventures in China. It offers an insight into the interactive effect of organisational processes that are likely to shape their strategic outcomes. Ownership as a key contingency factor influences the objectives of organisations and the formation of their growth models. The empirical evidence collected from key stakeholders in a selected number of company case studies suggests that organisations with “open” structures and processes that encourage the adoption of ideas, policies and methods from both internal and external forces are more likely to adopt more high value-added strategies than “closed” entrepreneurial firms typical of organisations in the conditions of market socialism in China. It demonstrates the critical role of foreign investment in shaping local management practices in the transitional economy. It also implies that irrespective of political ideology, the creation of a market economy imposes ‘standardizing’ global similarities in business structures and processes that cut across national cultures. This is discussed on the basis of empirical data collected from interviews with key stakeholders in a number of company case studies.     

Ansätze und Ergebnisse anglo-amerikanischer M&A-Forschung

Based on a review of established U.S. management journals (1995–2003), six schools of thought are identified within the Anglo-American M&;A research: “Capital Market”, “Principal/Agent”, “Industrial Organization”, “Organizational Behavior”, “Human Resources” and “Strategic Management”. The literature review shows that the definition of M&;A success, the methods applied, and insights from empirical research differ according to the respective school of thought. Empirical studies focus on the resource combinations of merger partners, the specific circumstances of merger negotiations, and on integration management as antecedents of merger performance. Unfortunately, empirical findings have not yet provided reliable explanations for M&;A success. Based on the current state of Anglo-American M&;A research, the authors discuss implications for business practice, identify research gaps, and propose areas for future research.     

Does more information-gathering effort raise or lower the average quantity produced?

We aim at some simple theoretical underpinnings for a complex empirical question studied by labor economists and others: does Information-technology improvement lead to occupational shifts–toward “information workers” and away from other occupations–and to changes in the productivity of non-information workers? In our simple model there is a Producer, whose payoff depends on a production quantity and an unknown state of the world, and an Information-gatherer (IG) who expends effort to learn more about the unknown state and then sends the Producer a signal. The Producer responds by revising prior beliefs about the states and using the posterior to make an expected-payoff-maximizing quantity choice. We consider a variety of IGs and variety of Producers. For each IG there is a natural effort measure. Our central aim is to find conditions under which more IG effort leads to a larger average production quantity (“Complements”) and conditions under which it leads to a smaller average quantity (“Substitutes”). We start by considering Blackwell IGs, who meet the strong conditions required in the Blackwell theorems about the comparison of experiments. We then turn to non-Blackwell IGs, where the Blackwell theorems cannot be used and special techniques are needed to obtain Complements/Substitutes results.     

Insider econometrics: A roadmap with stops along the way

For the past twenty five years, economists have been building theories of the optimal management of firms. For example, economic models suggest that under some conditions, piece rate pay raises performance, and under other conditions, promotions tournaments raise performance. Some of these theories have been tested, others have not. Economists are now using new empirical research tools, that we label “insider econometrics,” to test the impact of management practices on productivity: to model how much productivity changes; to model why management practices raise productivity; and to examine which firms benefit and why from alternative management practices. The methodology we describe is “insider” because it uses inside knowledge and data from within firms. It is “econometrics” because the methodology is often the application of treatment effects methods to modeling changing management practices within firms. However, the methods and challenges of insider econometrics are unique, and we identify several key features that are important in undertaking empirical studies of workers' productivity. Now that more firms are keeping data on employees, it is time to improve our analysis of the empirical study of the productivity of workers within firms.     

How effective is monetary transmission in low-income countries? A survey of the empirical evidence

This paper surveys the evidence on the effectiveness of monetary transmission in low-income countries. It is hard to come away from this review with much confidence in the strength of monetary transmission in such countries. We distinguish between the “facts on the ground” and “methodological deficiencies” interpretations of the absence of evidence for strong monetary transmission. We suspect that “facts on the ground” are an important part of the story. If this conjecture is correct, the stabilization challenge in developing countries is acute indeed, and identifying the means of enhancing the effectiveness of monetary policy in such countries is an important challenge.     

Entrepreneurial migrants from/in emerging economies: breaking taboos and stereotypes

Entrepreneurial migration from/in emerging economies, as grand societal and humanitarian challenges that we currently face, underscores the need for scholarly research. In our role as social science researchers, this special issue aimed to stimulate scholars from different social science fields to rethink more broadly about the opportunities for making an impact with our research focus on entrepreneurial migration from/in emerging economies. This article provides an overview of the theoretical, empirical, managerial, and policy implications of entrepreneurial migrants from/in emerging economies research. It puts forward key concepts and measures, explores the relations within the current broader literature on migration and entrepreneurship, and identifies several gaps that represent future research questions. We also introduce eight papers in a special section of this issue, which offer answers to critical gaps and questioning some taboos/stereotypes related entrepreneurial migrants. We conclude by outlining an agenda for engaging the academic community to extend research on entrepreneurial migrants from/in emerging economies. It is the perfect time to “make a difference” through our research, teaching, and interaction with multiple socioeconomic agents to constitute impacts that “endorse a real transformation” for supporting the migrants’ community.

     

中国农产品物流标准原理研究初探

本文在较系统地研究国内外农产品物流标准资料的基础上，结合我国农产品物流的实践，提出了农产品物流标准化基本原理和方法原理。基本原理包括：2个公理和3个派生原理：环境依赖性、技术和设备依赖性、不确定性和风险。方法原理是标准化原理在农产品物流标准具体应用嫁接而成的。农产品物流标准原理的提出对农产品物流标准体系的研究、体系的建立和实践均具有重要作用。     

HRM and performance: what next?

The last decade of empirical research on the added value of HRM, also known as the ‘HRM and performance’ debate, demonstrates evidence that HRM does matter (Huselid, 1995; Guest et al, 2003; Wright et al, 2003). Unfortunately, the relationships are often statistically weak and the remlts ambiguous. This article reviews and attempts to extend the theoretical and methodological issues in this debate. Its aim is to build an agenda for future research in this area. A brief overview of achievements to date is followed by the theoretical and methodological issues related to what constitutes HRM, what is meant by the concept of perfomzance and the nature ofthe link between these two. In the final section, it is argued that research designs should start from a multi‐dimensional concept of performance, including the perceptions ofemployees; and build on the premise of HR systems as an enabling device for a whole range of strategic options. This implies a reversal of the strategy‐HRM linkage.     

The entropy paradox and the distribution of urban population

This paper presents an empirical application of an information theoretic approach to spatial hypothesis testing. Following the lead of Batty [1] this study employs the concept of expected information to test hypotheses concerning the distribution of urban population and population density in San Antonio for the years 1960 and 1970. Cast for the first time in a longitudinal context, major concerns of this work are the relative advantages, both theoretical and methodological, of certain entropy measures. Specifically, comparisons are made between the Shannon and the Kullback formulations. In this context of comparison, problems closely linked to what has been called the “entropy paradox” are identified and explained, suggesting important qualitative differences between these two measures.     

Some comments on the possibility of “Methodological indeterminacy”

This article is an attempt to analyze the implications for research in the human sciences of the topic of “indeterminacy”. Reviewing an aspect of the issue from the philosophy of social science, the author argues that the debates at the philosophical level often overlook or underestimate the importance of methodological approaches. While the philosophical issue of indeterminacy remains a vexing problem in the social sciences since it was raised by Quine, the article argues that at least a partial resolution of the issue is possible if it is viewed within the context if differing methodological approaches.     

PRINCIPLES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A PEDESTRIAN PLAN IN MEDIUM SIZE CITIES

In order to contribute to the effective humanization of the contemporary city and in line with the sustainability of urban areas, this paper focuses on primary pedestrian areas aiming to investigate and demonstrate the benefits of organization and the essential conditions of implementing “pedestrian networks”. The realization of its qualifying character in the urban environment should specify:

• ? The challenge of reinterpreting the idea of the city, due to the transformation of associated “urban forms” and “lifestyles”;
• ? The need to structure the territory, in order to promote the understanding and ownership of the different places that compose a city;
• ? The ability to generate synergies, as a means of affirming the “local” in the context of the “global” opportunities and threats.

It is, therefore, disciplinary useful to test a methodological urban planning “process” with the aim to design and manage “pedestrian networks”, applicable in a range of cities considered of medium size, according to the European classification mainly based on population criteria.     

Base-of-the-Pyramid-Strategien in Emerging Markets: Interorganisationales Lernen zur Kreation von Innovationen in sektorübergreifenden Partnerschaften

Cross-sector partnerships are essential to enter market segments at the “Base of the Pyramid” (BoP). Co-creation of innovative products, services, and inclusive business model are desired outcomes of collaboration. However, this is rarely achieved. BoP research still lacks empirical analyses of preconditions and the process of cross sector collaboration. Based on interorganizational learning literature this paper develops a research model for empirical evaluations. Motivation, receptiveness, and transparency are identified as major preconditions of interorganizational learning. Without an interorganizational learning process co-creation of pioneering solutions is unlikely to occur in cross-sector partnerships.     

Qualitative research in psychology: misunderstandings about textual analysis

The authors review some of the problems faced by qualitative research in psychology, focusing on the aspects that limit its use and its inclusion in indexed publications. In order to determine whether these problems exist, a case study on textual analysis was performed. The authors conducted a literature search of many databases from the Web of Science (Sciences Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index), with the keywords “textual analysis” and “text analysis”. Subsequently, the authors completed an in-depth analysis of a sample of the publications found, reviewing publication aspects, substantive aspects, methodological aspects and contextual aspects. The results showed that “textual analysis” cannot be considered a specific methodology and so the use of this term as a particular technique could be misleading. This highlights the need to create a common vocabulary to facilitate the systematization and dissemination of work done with qualitative methods.