The role of the market in transforming training and knowledge to superior performance: evidence from the Australian manufacturing sector

Training and development of employees increases the value and breadth of employee capabilities and knowledge, although this improvement, we suggest, cannot drive improved competitive performance in the absence of effective commercialisation of these capabilities. We propose and test a model of training and organisational performance, mediated by effective market engagement and transformation by firms. We find, as we anticipate, no direct link between training and performance, although there is a significant and positive path between training and performance when mediated through effective and contemporaneous market engagement.     

城市产业战略的若干理论及应用--以上海市嘉定区产业定位为例

城市产业的战略定位关系着城市发展的成败,现有产业定位在理论上主要依据比较优势理论(绝对优势论、比较优势论、机会成本说)或比较优势理论的延伸(区域分工理论).事实上,随着全球化进程的推进,跨国公司可以在全球范围内组织资源,原有的基于特殊生产要素的比较优势逐渐衰退,而内涵更广的竞争优势越来越成为决定一个城市发展成功与否的关键.而且现有产业定位研究在对象层面上以区域为主,随着全球化城市网络体系的形成,区域之间的竞争越来越体现为城市之间的竞争,因此对城市产业定位的研究更显重要.文章将对产业定位的已有若干理论进行回顾总结,并引入竞争优势理论、新贸易理论和城市化阶段理论,提出城市产业定位的区域视角、竞争视角、城市化视角等的一般方法.并以上海嘉定的产业定位为例,阐述上述理论的具体实践.     

物流成本对C2C电子商务卖家市场行为的影响——基于淘宝网的研究

探讨了在C2C电子商务交易中,卖家为了追求竞争优势,针对物流成本的影响所采取的市场行为。研究表明,C2C电子商务卖家可以通过销售高于某一价位的产品,聚类销售多种产品,地理位置选择靠近生产厂家或立足同城,提供包邮服务或购买运费保险等市场策略,缓解物流成本的负面影响,获得竞争优势。     

Regulating Banks through Market Discipline: A Survey of the Issues

Abstract.  The interest in the application of market discipline to regulate the financial industry has boomed recently due to the proposed New Capital Accord. This paper reviews the potential role market discipline can play in financial regulation. We start with a discussion of the rationale for financial regulation and with a brief history of the current regulatory mechanisms. Next, a definition of market discipline as a regulatory mechanism is advanced. We evaluate the disciplining power various market participants have. Finally, we argue that more external risk management disclosure is a condition sine qua non in order to enable market discipline as a regulatory mechanism. In this respect, the Basle Committee has taken the right approach.     

Political culture and foreign direct investment: The case of Italy

Does the political culture of an area have any impact on the foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions of multinational corporations (MNCs)? This question is difficult to address empirically, as locations differ in many dimensions. We therefore address this question by examining MNC investment location decisions with regard to different regions within a single country. The country we examine is Italy, which exhibits one of the highest levels of variation with regard to the political culture of its geographical regions. We find that political culture as represented by the pattern of support for political parties at different points on the political spectrum has a significant impact on the MNC investment location decision. Thus, in choosing between locations on a short list, where economic and financial location factors are roughly similar, political culture can have a determining influence. In the case of Italy, a Center-right orientation is conducive to MNC FDI, while a Center-left orientation is not. A Far-left orientation is found to have a very negative effect on FDI.     

Periodic inspection plans: The case of Weibull distribution

In estimating the lifetime distribution of a product, the efficiency of a periodic inspection plan vis-á-vis with the continuous inspection plan is discussed. The periodic inspection plan envisages inspecting the units in the sample periodically at m successive equi-distant time points, for a given choice of m. The issue of choosing the value of m is also discussed. The discussions are carried out when the underlying lifetime distribution is Weibull.     

The effect of home-ownership on labor mobility in the Netherlands

In various macro-studies, home-ownership is found to hamper job mobility and to increase unemployment. This paper addresses similar issues, but uses a micro-econometric framework where both individual job mobility, as well as the probability of being homeowner are modeled simultaneously. Using a panel of individual labor and housing market histories for the period 1989–1998, we estimate a nonparametric model of both job durations and home-ownership. We do not find homeowners to change less from jobs than tenants. Instead, our results suggest that the housing decision is driven by job commitment, and not the reverse. We do however find homeowners to be less vulnerable to unemployment.     

Information distortion and competitive remedies in government transfer programs: The case of ethanol

This paper reconsiders the analogy between competitive markets and the political process that is central to much of the literature on the efficiency of government transfers. The key problem is that property rights in politics are much less well defined than they are in competitive markets. As the paper outlines, obtaining accurate information about the benefits and costs of transfers is likely to be much more difficult than envisioned in the literature. Investigators, as well as general voters, often must rely on the government and competing parties for provision of information about underlying program parameters and functional relationships. We argue that politicians and the affected interest groups have incentives to limit and distort the information that is released to voters and that political competition is unlikely to be an effective counter. In developing the argument, a theoretical framework is provided and applied in a case study of the ethanol transfer. The documented efforts to disguise the actual costs and benefits of the program are important for gaining a broader understanding of the functioning and costs of government transfers in the economy.     

The competitive advantage of nations: the role of HRM and its socio-cultural context

This study focuses on the links between human resource management practices and the socio-cultural characteristics of nations, on the one hand, and their competitive advantage in the international market, on the other. The particularly important conclusion is that some nations' cultures offer their managers a higher repertoire of modes of management practices than some others. In high repertoire nations, organizations appear to be better equipped to compete internationally than their counterparts in low repertoire nations.     

Macroeconomic and financial stability in a monetary union: The case of Lithuania

In this paper, we study the implications of macroprudential policies in a monetary union for macroeconomic and financial stability. For this purpose, we develop a two-country monetary union new Keynesian general equilibrium model with housing and collateral constraints, to be calibrated for Lithuania and the rest of the euro area. We consider two different scenarios for macroprudential policies: one in which the ECB extends its goals to also include financial stability and a second one in which a national macroprudential authority uses the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) as an instrument. The results show that both rules are effective in making the financial system more stable in both countries, and especially in Lithuania. This is because the financial sector in this country is more sensitive to shocks. We find that an extended Taylor rule is indeed effective in reducing the volatility of credit, but comes with a cost in terms of higher inflation volatility. The simple LTV rule, on the other hand, does not compromise the objective of monetary policy. This reinforces the “Tinbergen principle”, which argues that there should be two different instruments when there are two different policy goals.     

Performance management practices within emerging market multinational enterprises: the case of Brazilian multinationals

This study advances our understanding of HRM within emerging market multinational enterprises (EM-MNEs) by examining the extent to, and mechanisms by, which Brazilian MNEs standardise or localise their performance management (PM) policies and practices, and the factors that influence their design and implementation. We explored these issues through qualitative case studies of three Brazilian MNEs. The analysis of interview data reveals a strong tendency for Brazilian MNEs to centralise and standardise their PM policies and practices. The key finding of this paper is that PM practices within Brazilian MNEs are not based on indigenous Brazilian practices, but, rather, are heavily influenced by global best practices. The findings are at odds with previous research, which suggests that EM-MNEs apply different HR practices in developed country subsidiaries and developing country subsidiaries. Also, contrary to expectations, our results indicate that institutional distance does not have a significant influence on the adaptation of PM practices at subsidiary level.     

短信市场何以如此火爆——解析短信流行的背后

作为现代生活所必不可少的沟通元素,短信自诞生以来,凭借其跨时空限制的优质特性而持续走红,市场异常火爆。究竟短信是如何在人群中流行开来,其市场背后的电信运营商和信息服务提供商又是如何抓住契机,引爆需求的呢?本文将对此进行一一剖析。     

Airport expansions and property values: the case of Chicago O'Hare Airport

The paper adds to the empirical literature by providing up-to-date estimates of the effect of airport noise on property values around one of the world's busiest airports, Chicago O'Hare. The results indicate that home values were about 9% lower within a 65 dB noise contour band of O'Hare in 1997. Opponents of airport expansions argue that increased noise will reduce property values and lower tax bases. The results of this paper suggest that aircraft are becoming so much quieter that the airport can be expanded without causing a drop in local property values or tax bases. Estimates suggest that house prices may rise by as much as $284.6 million in the densely populated area around O'Hare after a new runway is added to the airport.     

Sample size and the Binomial CUSUM Control Chart: the case of 100% inspection

The Binomial CUSUM is used to monitor the fraction defective (p) of a repetitive process, particularly for detecting small to moderate shifts. The number of defectives from each sample is used to update the monitoring CUSUM. When 100% inspection is in progress, the question arises as to how many sequential observations should be grouped together in forming successive samples. The tabular form of the CUSUM has three parameters: the sample size n, the reference value k, and the decision interval h, and these parameters are usually chosen using statistical or economic-statistical criteria, which are based on Average Run Length (ARL). Unlike earlier studies, this investigation uses steady-state ARL rather than zero-state ARL, and the occurrence of the shift can be anywhere within a sample. The principal finding is that there is a significant gain in the performance of the CUSUM when the sample size (n) is set at one, and this CUSUM might be termed the Bernoulli CUSUM. The advantage of using n=1 is greater for larger shifts and for smaller values of in-control ARL. First version: September 1998/Third revision: September 2000     

Pursuing justice against the abuse of power by the rich through social media: A case study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this case study is to compare and contrast two recent legal cases and to derive practical implications to promote social justice in terms of income inequality. This study focuses on exploring and analyzing two of the most recent legal cases of the abuse of power by the rich in order to identify the effects of social media on these types of cases. Despite the availability of many studies and findings about the tolerance level to income inequality, the following logic is more appropriate in applying and analyzing the two cases: If people don’t know, see, or experience the abuse of the rich or income inequality, they are more tolerant of the abuse and income inequality. Based on the analysis of the two cases, the article concludes that these two cases are not the usual air rage cases; they are more about the abuse of the rich and the punishment decided by the use of technology.     

The Composition of the Human Capital Stock and the Factor Content of Trade: Evidence from West(ern) Germany

This study reports the results of a factor content analysis of the sources of West Germany's comparative advantage in 1976, 1980 and 1984, using highly disaggregated skill variables. The county is found to be most abundant in certain skilled manual occupations and a very limited number of professional and technical occupations. The results differ markedly from those reported in similar studies for the UK and the US. The importance of intercounty productivity diferences and the implications of using only a subset of the economy, i.e. manufacturing, in the calculations are assessed. While using only a subset of the economy might have been appropriate in the past when services trade was relatively unimportant, this is no longer the case, especially for Germany with its diferent performance in goods and services trade. It is argued that the explanatory power of comparative advantage as a basis for trade among similarly developed countries is much higher than is commonly perceived when human capital is disaggregated into detailed skill categories that allow the recognition of different skill mixes between countries. The use of a disaggregated ‘labour-based’ neoclassical trade theory is advocated.     

Producing solidarity in social media activism: The case of My Stealthy Freedom

Solidarity, i.e., an individual's feelings of devotion and commitment to others in a collective, is one of the defining features of social movements. It is regarded as a key motivator of collective action in that it collectivizes what would otherwise remain individual experiences and emotions. However, as social movements are increasingly relying on Internet technology, particularly social media, for instrumental and expressive communication, some question whether solidarity plays any role in e-movements at all. Others propose that new forms of solidarity are developing in these mediated environments. Since most prior research fails to account for the role of physical bodies in online social movements, the objective of this paper is to explore the roles and forms of solidarity in contemporary social movements that hybridize online and physically-embodied action. To this end, we develop a multi-faceted and practice-based definition of solidarity through which we read two configurations of a social movement called My Stealthy Freedom (MySF), which opposes the compulsory veiling laws (i.e., hijab) in Iran. In both enactments of MySF, the activists' physical bodies played a significant role in the social movement's online presence but the forms of solidarity they produced differed. We therefore theorize the role of materiality – particularly social media and activists' physical bodies –in social media activism.     

The political economy of organized crime: providing protection when the state does not

Organized crime emerges out of the power vaccuum that is created by the absence of state enforcement, and which can have many sources: geographic, social, and ethnic distance, prohibition, or simply collapse of state institutions. Mafias and gangs are hierarchically organized and can be thought of as providing primitive state functions, with economic costs that are typically much higher than those associated with modern governance. Though organized crime cannot be completely eradicated, its control is necessary, since it can easily corrupt existing institutions of governance. Some thoughts on what can be done to control organized crime are offered.