Customer Satisfaction in Retail Banking

Professional services firms (PSFs) engaged in international operations present a unique challenge for governments. They directly and indirectly affect governmental policies and the agencies that enforce these policies through policy development, problem solving, and implementation. Yet, governments that seek to advance rational, forward thinking public policy have little, if any, regulatory control over the input and influence of these professional experts. International professional service firms face an increasingly competitive marketplace and complex challenges that demand skill sets that are markedly different from those characteristically required of consumer service companies. This study identifies the qualities of the best performing PSFs that engage clients worldwide. Implications are discussed for governments to ensure the greater public good.     

Responses to Legislative Changes: Corporate Whistleblowing Policies

Survey responses from Fortune 1000 firms were examined to assess whether firms changed their whistleblowing policies to response to changes in state statutes concerning whistleblowing. We predicted that firms might have created internal channels for whistleblowing in response to new legislation that increased their vulnerability to whistleblowing claims by employees. In fact, very few firms indicated that they had created their policies in responses to legal changes.     

Identity and social responsibility policies: Six large corporations examined

Managers in all industries reach a time in their careers when they must answer certain questions about their firms. They are required to deal philosophically with the questions of social responsibility and identity; failure to do so may limit the firm's growth. The author examines management strategies and policies related to responsibility and identity as they have been resolved in six large firms, all highly oriented to consumer products. The firms include Ashland Oil and Refining Company, Standard Oil of Ohio, General Electric, Procter and Gamble, Kroger, and Federated Department Stores. Each has a special identity and egocentrism. Guidelines established by these six companies may help other businessmen and managers in reaching decisions for themselves and their organizations.     

Market Reforms,Technological Capabilities and the Performance of Small Enterprises in China

This paper shows that the domestic and foreign trade liberalization of the Chinese economy since the late 1970s has led to much dynamism among small and medium firms. Such firms have grown at a rapid pace and have increased their share of value added in the Chinese economy. At the same time, they have recorded gains in total factor productivity. However, after two decades of decontrol, the potential for further growth among small and medium industries is limited unless further liberalization is undertaken and government policies pertaining to the allocation of credit, levy of taxes, and grants of research and other subsidies are applied in a more even-handed fashion.     

Optimal dynamic regulation of carbon emissions market

In this article, we deal with optimal dynamic carbon emission regulation of a set of firms. On the one hand, the regulator dynamically allocates emission allowances to each firm. On the other hand, firms face idiosyncratic, as well as common, economic shocks on emissions, and they have linear quadratic abatement costs. Firms can trade allowances so as to minimize total expected costs, which arise from abatement, trading, and terminal penalty. Using variational methods, we first exhibit in closed form the market equilibrium in function of the regulator's dynamic allocation. We then solve the Stackelberg game between the regulator and the firms. The result is a closed-form expression of the optimal dynamic allocation policies that allow a desired expected emission reduction. The optimal policy is unique in the presence of market impact. In absence of market impact, the optimal policy is nonunique, but all the optimal policies share common properties. The optimal policies are fully responsive, and therefore induce a constant abatement effort and a constant price of allowances. Our results are robust to some extensions, like different penalty functions.     

Corporate Support for Ethical and Environmental Policies: A Financial Management Perspective

A random sample of 146 fortune 500 firms were surveyed in 1996 to determine whether firm size and industry type affect employers' level of involvement and support of ethical and environmental policies and practices. The study found relationships between firm size and ethical and environmental policies and practices. While the majority of firms (90.3%), regardless of size, have a formal written code of ethics, large firms are more likely to employ an ombudsperson to handle ethical concerns and to have a network confidentiality policy. Although most firms (83.5%) have a formal written environmental policy, large firms are more inclined to invest in new ways to reduce the production of various types of waste. Another interesting twist to the study has to do with the relationships found between industry type and ethical and environmental policies and practices. Industries, such as the computers and electronics and scientific and photographics sectors, that are involved with high precision products and industries, such as mining, crude oil, and petroleum refining, that utilize natural resources are more inclined to have a formal written code of ethics and social responsibility. In addition, industries that utilize natural resources are more likely than other industries to have formal written environmental policies and practices.     

Corporate Ethics Practices in the Mid-1990's: An Empirical Study of the Fortune 1000

This empirical study of Fortune 1000 firms assesses the degree to which those firms have adopted various practices associated with corporate ethics programs. The study examines the following aspects of formalized corporate ethics activity: ethics-oriented policy statements; formalization of management responsibilities for ethics; free-standing ethics offices; ethics and compliance telephone reporting/advice systems; top management and departmental involvement in ethics activities; usage of ethics training and other ethics awareness activities; investigatory functions; and evaluation of ethics program activities. Results show a high degree of corporate adoption of ethics policies, but wide variability in the extent to which these policies are implemented by various supporting structures and managerial activities. In effect, the vast majority of firms have committed to the low cost, possibly symbolic side of ethics management (e.g., adoption of ethics codes and policies, etc.). But firms differ substantially in their efforts to see that those policies or codes actually are put into practice.     

Foreign institutional investors and dividend policy: Evidence from China

This study examines whether foreign institutional investment influences firms’ dividend policies. Using data from all domestically listed nonfinancial firms in China during the period of 2003–2013, we find that foreign shareholding influences dividend decisions and vice versa.Furthermore, changes in dividend payments over time positively affect subsequent changes in foreign shareholding, but the opposite is not true. Our study indicates that foreign institutional investors do not change firms’ future dividend payments once they have made their investment choices in China. Moreover, they self-select into Chinese firms that pay high dividends. Our evidence suggests that in an institutional setting where foreign investors have tightly restricted access to local securities markets and a relatively high risk of expropriation by controlling shareholders exists, firms can use dividends to signal good investment opportunities to foreign investors.     

Consumer-defined sustainably-oriented firms and factors influencing adoption

Guided by stakeholder theory, a pair of exploratory studies identifies factors that influence firms to adopt an environmentally-friendly approach to conducting business, while providing insight into consumers' perceptions of such firms. An analysis of twenty in-depth interviews and a qualitative survey yields a conceptual model, indicating that such firms are motivated by governmental intervention, organizational values, and the potential benefits that can accrue as a result of implementation. Moreover, consumers view sustainably-oriented firms as maintaining procedures, developing products, and portraying themselves accordingly. These findings are relevant to academicians as they describe the underlying rationale for such behaviors and outline a novel conceptualization of the construct, thus invigorating future research. The results are also useful for firms as they shed light on sustainability efforts that are salient to the consumer and provide support for implementation, thereby encouraging the joint maximization of social and economic objectives.     

政府采购中保护政策与竞争政策的经济学分析

根据政府采购法的规定,政府采购要贯彻公平竞争的原则,保证提供一个充分竞争的采购市场环境,被称之为政府采购中的竞争政策;同时,政府采购作为政府支出的一种方式,是国家宏观调控的主要手段之一,所以在政府采购法中又规定了,政府采购要保证民族企业的发展,不使其在强大的外国竞争者冲击下破产,被称之为政府采购中的保护政策。这样,当面对国内外供应商的竞争,如何确定政府采购目标的问题,就转化成了如何处理竞争原则和保护政策两者关系的问题。然而,无论政府采购运用哪一种政策其根本目的都是为了提高国内企业的竞争力,增强国家经济实力,所以这就有必要对政府采购中的竞争政策和保护政策进行经济学分析。     

An overview of entrepreneurial activity in nonprofit organizations in the international context

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) play a relevant role in society by attempting to satisfy human necessities in a different way, or as a complement to lucrative firms and governmental activity. In this sense, they are active in different areas, and several analyses have been developed to study the effects and the behavior of these organizations in such fields, as is shown in the articles included in this special issue. The main goal of this paper is to show the main aspects analyzed in those papers.     

Uganda's policy reforms,industry competitiveness and regional integration: a comparison with Kenya

The paper reviews, first, Uganda's economic policies affecting the industrial sector and analyses the international competitiveness of Uganda's manufacturing industries, using a sample of 21 firms in 12 industries. It computes indices of comparative advantage, export and domestic competitiveness and compares the Ugandan indicators with those of Kenyan firms. It also identifies the main sources and obstacles to competitiveness using a decomposition method, which breaks the unit cost indices down into their main components. The study is timely as Uganda is re-establishing a free trade zone with Kenya and Tanzania, and also faces liberalized trade with the rest of the world. The numerical results of the study suggest that Ugandan firms, although not generally cost-competitive with Kenyan and other international firms, due to the country's land-locked geography and its de-industrialization under the preceding political regimes, have benefited from a recently established business-friendly environment and are more competitive in several industries than is generally assumed. This means that they may not be able to export internationally, but they are likely to hold their ground against Kenyan imports under regional free trade.     

Transformation of China's energy sector: trends and challenges

The conclusions presented here sum up the contributions in the Special Issue regarding the managing of China's energy sector, particularly regarding the demand and profile of energy as well as the marketization of the sector. Strategic, organizational and policy issues relevant to the main theme are set out. Both demand and supply scenarios for the nation's energy are seen as in flux, as the economy slackens and dependence on imports rises. Unprecedented levels of urban environmental pollution and steady growth of energy consumption in the wake of a rising living standard have brought the issue to headline-prominence as never before. China's rapidly increasing renewable energy will not change its heavy reliance on coal and a lesser extent oil in the coming decade. After decades of transformation, China's energy sector now operates in a domestic market characterized by strong governmental influence and monopolistic state firms. Abroad, China's firms are exposed to heavier market pressure and competition. While the state's policies have succeeded in ensuring energy supplies and propelling China's renewable energy manufacturers into global prominence and opening up domestic market, much room for improvement exists in the competitiveness of the domestic market and domestic energy firms, transparency of pricing and the effectiveness of regulation.     

China: From imitator to innovator?

We examine the effects of a specific Chinese governmental policy change, and assess how it has impacted firm innovation. To address potential endogeneity concerns, we use the policy change as a quasi-natural experiment, and explain the exogenously caused variations. We also use a “difference-in-differences” approach to compare innovative activities of Chinese firms with those of matched U.S. peers, and find that the policy change had a positive effect on Chinese firms' research spending, as measured by research intensity. We show that Chinese firms increased their research spending in response to the strategic shift by the government after 2008, relatively outpacing their U.S. peers during the same time period. Chinese companies have not overtaken their U.S. peers yet, but they have reduced the gaps between them.     

政府R&D资助对企业R&D经费投入的影响——基于浙江省规模以上工业企业行业面板数据的实证分析

政府对R&D活动的投资将产生双重效应：杠杆效应和挤出效应。现阶段,浙江财政R&D投入对民间R&D投入的激励效应如何？政府资助率为多高时杠杆效应最佳？本文运用浙江省规模以上工业企业2003年行业截面数据和2006-2008年行业面板数据,通过计量分析方法和模型,就政府R&D资助对企业R&D投入的影响进行实证检验。结果表明,在样本期内政府科技投入对企业R&D支出有明显的促进作用,轻工业企业的政府最佳资助率要高于重工业企业,对轻工业的R&D资助产生的杠杆效应大于重工业企业。     

Fortune 500 list revisited 12 years later: Still an endangered species for academic research?

The study reported here is a replication of a 1974 study published in the Journal of Business Research that sought to determine corporate policies toward responding to academic research, what top corporate executives liked and disliked about such studies, and what factors influenced their decisions on whether to respond. The results of this study indicate that there have been considerable changes in corporate policies, the volume of surveys reaching corporate executives, and the factors they like and dislike about academic mail surveys. The findings suggest that academicians must be more careful in targeting on this set of firms to ensure that the time for completion is minimized and the value of the studies to the firms is maximized.     

Productivity Dynamics of Small and Medium Enterprises in Taiwan

Using firm level data from Taiwan, this paper examines the link between firm size, growth and productivity. It shows that firms grow because they are more productive and not because they are larger in size. Indeed, the statistical analysis shows that while employment growth among Taiwanese firms was positively related to initial levels of total factor productivity, it was negatively related to initial size. The paper also shows that the productivity-size relationship has a virtuous cycle built in. More productive firms get larger and, in the process, obtain access to resources and information which enables them to become more productive. One implication of these results is that public policies should target productivity rather than size and should support reforms that make it possible for market mechanisms to weed out low productivity firms while facilitating the entry or growth of high productivity firms. Taiwan's ability to keep entry and exit costs low is one reason why productivity gains there have been high.     

SME Export Performance in Indonesia After the Crisis

Firms in export-oriented sectors with more exporters and more foreign investment, or firms with more access/use of credit, tend to export a higher share of their output, whether they are small or large. The latter points out that the benefits of size-neutral policies that improve the overall business and foreign investment climate and secure access to formal credit for all enterprises produce benefits for the entire economy. Small firms with higher use of machinery and higher use of domestic inputs displayed a higher likelihood to increase the share of their output exported. SMEs show rising productivity with access and use of appropriate production inputs. Decades of protective size-specific policies, such as the reservation scheme for SMEs still in place in Indonesia’s manufacturing may have distorted, more than supported, adoption of appropriate technologies among SMEs. These policies may need to be revisited and refocused on more size-neutral policies such as improved access to collateral or reduced cost of business registration and licensing.     

Institutional logics and social enterprises: Entry mode choices of foreign hospitals in China

When social enterprises, being defined by their social mission and profitability, internationalize, they need to respond to institutional logics in the host country. By juxtaposing institutional logic and entry mode choice literature, this paper shows how social enterprises accommodate different institutional logics when they enter foreign markets. We collected data on Chinese healthcare reform, governmental policies and their changes, and conducted 36 in-depth interviews and three expert group meetings. By analyzing five non-Chinese hospitals entering China, we show how social enterprises, as hybrid organizations, respond to governmental, commercial, and social institutional logics, when entering a foreign market.     

Company Taxation and Merger Incentives in International Oligopoly: on International Policy Coordination with Strategic Trade

We analyse how national taxation of firms is likely to affect merger incentives in international markets. In particular, we ask whether non-coordinated trade policies stimulate cross-border mergers that are overall inefficient, and if this then is an argument for international coordination of such policies? We address this issue in a setting where policy makers use two-part tariffs to tax exporting firms. The analysis reveals that while non-coordinated policies may induce cross-border mergers by allowing the firms in question to play national policy makers out against each other, this can nevertheless be overall welfare enhancing compared to market outcomes under coordinated policy making.