Employers and Engineering Education in Britain and the United States, 1890–1914

Studies of dynamic American firms reveal that new accounting systems developed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries represented important adjuncts to administrative innovations which supported strategies designed to secure sustainable competitive advantages. Investigations of British firms have not previously been undertaken to provide a basis for international comparison of costing methods and systems designs which arose during the 1890–1914 period when technological change, the rise of scientific management, and growing foreign competition called for new types of strategic decisions. The following article examines the interaction between strategic processes and systems development within two British steel firms which pursued divergent strategies during the same years that du Pont made its pioneering accounting innovations. The study draws attention to the impact of environmental conditions and firm-specific factors in influencing strategy, structure, and systems design.     

Religion,social capital and business bankruptcy in the United States, 1921–1932

We consider the value of social capital that derives from membership in a church. American states with larger churchgoing populations had lower business bankruptcy rates from 1921 to 1932, and states in which the churchgoing population was concentrated in few churches had business bankruptcy rates that were lower still. Both voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy were lower in states with higher church membership. The evidence suggests that church membership acted on bankruptcy through a safety net mechanism and not solely through indicating a preference for honouring commitment.     

Soft drink advertising and consumption in the United States 1984–2007

The internet environment has changed the format of internet advertising. One emerging form of online marketing communication is ‘contextual advertising’, in which marketers strive to develop customised images or texts more relevant to customers based on the content of web pages. This study investigates the effectiveness of internet contextual ads. In particular, we examine the effect of internet contextual ads on brand memory (i.e. recall and recognition) and attitudes towards the advertisement and/or brand using the theory of priming effect. We find that the complexity of banner ads moderates the relationship between a contextual advertisement and its effectiveness, and generates two distinct priming effects (i.e. assimilation and contrast effects). The results demonstrate that the internet contextual advertisement enhances brand recognition and induces favourable attitudes towards the ad. In addition, consumers have higher recall rates and attitudes towards the brand when they are exposed to a less complex contextual advertisement or when they are exposed to a complex, non-contextual advertisement.     

International couture: The opportunities and challenges of expansion, 1880–1920

This paper explores the topic of the expansion of the haute couture businesses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries across international frontiers. Concentrating on the period before and during World War I and on the couture houses of Worth, Paquin, Drecoll, Redfern, Boué Soeurs and Lucile, it argues that international expansion was accompanied by the rapid development of innovative marketing and promotional practices, but hampered by obstacles that were ultimately impossible to overcome.     

Economy and “New Economy” in the United States and Germany

The expression “New Economy” is used inconsistently. This article reviews the driving forces of the US boom of the 1990s, examining the changes introduced in the period and before, focusing on the IT sector and new technologies. The “New Economy” is not just the new sectors, but changes in the overall economy emanating from them. These changes will not evaporate in an economic slowdown. Comparisons of the USA with Germany and Europe illustrate that the “New Economy” will also continue to develop there on the foundations already laid.     

Ethical Decision Making: Panama–United States Differences in Consumer and Marketing Contexts

ABSTRACT

Results show that significant differences, both statistical and practical, exist between Panamanians and U.S. nationals in how they intend to behave in various consumption-related and marketing-related ethical situations. As cross-national marketing increases, the need to understand marketing and consumer ethics across countries becomes more critical. Additionally, as Robertson, Brady, and Hoffman (2001) Robertson, C. J., Brady, M. K. and Hoffman, J. J. 2001. Moral and marketing differences between the United States and Ecuador. International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 4(1–2): 75–98.  [Google Scholar] point out, there has been a genuine lack of emphasis in the marketing-related ethics literature in Latin America. This study partially addresses that need by examining and contrasting the intended behaviors in ethical situations of Panamanians and Americans as consumers and marketers. The study contributes to marketing ethics knowledge on several fronts: (i) increasing understanding of ethics of Panamanians in consumer and marketing contexts, (ii) adding to the extant cross-country literature in the area of ethical decision making by consumers, and (iii) incorporating effect sizes, which is very rarely reported, to complement the significance values. Results show that significant differences exist between Panamanians and U.S. nationals in how they intend to behave in various consumption-related and marketing-related ethical situations. Managerial implications are also discussed.     

Intra-Industry Specialization in United States–China Trade

Frictions in U.S.–China bilateral trade relations have intensified in recent years. Changes in intra-industry specialization indicators are used to assess factor adjustment pressures that may have been experienced by U.S. and Chinese industries from recent growth in bilateral trade. Many industries experienced large increases in intra-industry trade over the 2000–10 period. Only 14 of 62 U.S. industries may have experienced factor adjustment pressures. Most U.S. industries gained from growth in U.S.–China trade. Nine Chinese industries may have faced factor adjustment pressures. The United States should refrain from using trade remedy measures to address bilateral trade frictions and focus instead on improving trade relations.     

Cadbury and the rise of the supermarket: innovation in marketing 1953–1975

This article uses company archival data, supported by evidence from the trade press, to examine the development of the manufacturer–retailer relationship in the case of Cadbury and the supermarket retailers distributing its products in the period 1953–1975. It reveals the influence upon Cadbury’s marketing strategies and practices of the increasing importance of supermarket retailing in relation to the confectionery as well as the grocery goods trades. It also provides new insight into the significance of these changes for Cadbury’s relationships with other manufacturers, and with small-scale retailers typified by confectioners, tobacconists and newsagents.     

Unintentional injuries among youth with developmental disabilities in the United States, 2006–2007

We examined unintentional injury among youth with and without developmental disabilities. Our nationally representative sample included 6369 injured youth, aged 0–17 years, who were seen in one of the 63 US hospital emergency rooms that participated in the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System – All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP) in 2006–2007. Parents or guardians of injured youth were interviewed by telephone after the hospital visit to ascertain disability status. Denominator data were obtained from the National Health Interview Survey. Leading causes of injury were comparable for youth with and without disability. Injury rates (per 100 youth per year) were also comparable [10.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 7.8, 13.0 and 10.5; 95% CI 8.2, 12.9, for youth with and without disability, respectively]. When examined by specific disability, the rate ratio for youth with learning disabilities versus youth without learning disability was 1.57 (95% CI 1.04, 2.10), which may represent a subgroup for targeted interventions.     

The expansion of branding in international marketing: The case of olive oil, 1870s–1930s

Abstract

Drawing on a variety of sources, this article investigates the emergence and expansion of branding in the international olive oil markets prior to World War II. It documents the rapid growth of the world trade in packaged olive oil from the 1870s onwards and shows that the main destinations of this consumer-ready product were in the Americas. In this respect, it complements previous findings based on the use of trademark registration figures. The article then argues that the expansion of canned and branded olive oil exports to the New World was the result of three interconnected factors: the mass migration of southern Europeans in the late nineteenth century and the formation of a new market on the other side of the Atlantic; significant transformations in the commodity chain of the product in the Americas during the first third of the twentieth century; and the problems of quality uncertainty and fraud in the emerging New World markets for olive oil. By analysing these factors, this study also provides evidence to further the debate on the purpose of branding and modern marketing.     

The Politics of Protection: An Institutional Approach to Government–Industry Relations in the British and United States Cotton Industries, 1945–73

Internationally, the establishment of the GATT marked the beginning of a shift to greater trade liberalism. Against this background the governments of developed economies have generally treated textiles as a special case. This essay focuses on the differing level of political bargaining power exerted by the cotton industry interest groups in Britain and the United States, in their quest for protection, since 1945. It demonstrates that, to understand why pressure groups in the United States gained more concessions than those in Britain, it is necessary to consider the differing institutional and political environments in which they operated and the historical forces which shaped them.     

Systematic ESG exposure and stock returns: Evidence from the United States during the 1991–2019 period

Using a sample of US stocks over the period 1991–2019, we test whether stocks with high exposure to a social index exhibit high returns. Using a univariate analysis, our in-sample results show that stocks with high sensitivities to the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index underperform stocks with low sensitivities by an annual risk-adjusted performance of 7.02%. The negative premium is also larger in the post-crisis period of 2007–2019 and is equal to 10.25%. The out-of-sample results offer, however, only weak evidence of such a finding, with a risk-adjusted performance difference of merely −0.84% over the full sample period and no significant differences between the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods. In the multivariate regression, we find evidence of a negative relationship between exposure to the social index and stock performance. Moreover, we find that stocks with high exposure to the social index display a low corporate social responsibility score, a high Tobin’s Q, high long-term debt, a large size, high total risk, a high market beta, a high SMB coefficient, a low HML coefficient, and a small MOM coefficient.     

Risk factors associated with life jacket wear among adult canoeists and kayakers in the United States, 1999–2017

Abstract

Drowning is the most common cause of death in recreational boating. Life jackets prevent drowning, yet adult wear rates remain relatively low on most types of boats. Canoes and kayaks are among the least used boat types, yet maintain the third and first highest annual boating-related drowning rates in 2012, respectively. This 1999–2017 study collected data from 124 study sites across the US. Life jacket wear was calculated for 13 dichotomized risky and non-risky variables, using Chi-square tests. A count variable based on number of risks was created, and Cochran-Armitage trend tests examined linearity in life jacket use. Three illustrative variables for each boat type were represented in tree diagrams. Kayakers had higher wear rates than canoeists among all variables observed. For both boats, the majority of risky conditions had higher life jacket wear rates than their non-risky alternatives. As the number of risks increased, life jacket wear rate increased. Boaters seemingly conduct a mental assessment of risk to determine whether to wear a life jacket.     

Why do foreigners invest in the United States?

Why are foreigners willing to invest over $2 trillion per year in the United States? This paper tests various hypotheses and finds that standard portfolio allocation models and diversification motives are poor predictors of foreign holdings of U.S. liabilities. Instead, foreigners hold greater shares of their investment portfolios in the United States if they have less developed financial markets. The magnitude of this effect decreases with income per capita. Countries that trade more with the United States also have greater portfolio shares in U.S. equity and bond markets. These results support recent theoretical work on the role of financial development in sustaining global imbalances and have important implications for whether the United States can continue to attract sufficient financing from abroad without major changes in asset prices and returns, especially in bond markets.     

Dynamics of Stakeholders’ Implications in the Institutionalization of the CSR Field in France and in the United States

This study supports the idea that fields form around issues, and describes the roles of various stakeholders in the structuring, shaping, and legitimating of the emerging field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). A model of the institutional history of the CSR field is outlined, of which a key stage is the appearance of CSR rating agencies as the significant players and Institutional Entrepreneurs of the field. We show to which extent the creation and further development of CSR rating agencies, and the activism of other significant stakeholders of the field (typically portrayed as “standard setters” and “regulatory agents”), contribute to the institutionalization of CSR. With this in mind, among various stakeholders that legitimate the field of CSR, we present the efforts of global and local stakeholders such as the European Union, the United Nations, the International Organization for Standardization, and governments and their interactions. We suggest that the different paths of CSR development and institutionalization in France and in the United States depend on the nature of local and global stakeholders’ involvement in this process and their interactions.     

Understanding Trade Balances and Reciprocity in Global Telecom Between Asia and the United States (1984–2000)

ABSTRACT

From 1982 to 1997, the balance of trade deficit for U.S. telecommunications services increased tenfold. In the years since that time, the increase became less dramatic and eventually began to decline due to global deregulation and privatization efforts, as well as to multilateral agreements forged by most major countries. The countries of Asia contributed greatly to this increase and have also been examples of the reversal of the balance of trade deficit in recent years. Our analysis identifies partner reciprocity as a core issue of the international long-distance industry. We integrate various literature streams to better understand the issue of international reciprocity in service industries. Furthermore, we identify the trends in global telecom that explain the historical imbalanced reciprocity period between 1984 and 1997 and the more recent period where a more balanced reciprocity has existed between the United States and the Asian region.