Aggregation (in-)variance of shared responsibility: A case study of Australia

This article deals with shared producer and consumer responsibility, a concept aimed at overcoming the non-additivity, or double-counting problem in corporate and national sustainability reporting. It reports on the potentially distorting effects that varying sector and business classifications could have on the apportioning of emissions (or other sustainability measures) amongst producers and consumers in an economy. A quantitative (in-)variance analysis is provided which shows that shared-responsibility formulations are remarkably stable under extreme aggregation of the underlying input-output data. Value-added pegging of the sharing parameters generally reduces variance in comparison to constant sharing parameters. These results help in substantiating the robustness of the shared-responsibility concept, a feature which is critically important if shared responsibility were to become corporate and national reporting practice.     

从海尔的实践看我国企业的跨国经营

海尔集团是中国主要的家电生产商，也是国内企业成功走出去的典范。海尔的跨国经营引发了一系列思考：大势所趋1.中国加入世贸组织后企业的跨国经营成为发展的必然中国加入世贸组织后对外开放的步伐将进一步加快，随着贸易壁垒的大量减少和国民待遇的实施，一方面，外国商品和服务将更容易挤入国内市场，另一方面，国外大型国际企业将增加对我国的投资，进一步挤占国内市场份额。这将使国内商品和服务市场出现更加激烈的竞争，使国内企业面临更加困难的经营局面，它将迫使企业积极实施国际化发展战略，在更广阔的空间参与国际经济竞争，获取…     

Money and prices: U.S. Data 1869–1914 (A study with directed graphs)

This paper reconsiders empirical evidence on relationships among money, income, nominal prices, and wheat prices. Error correction and directed acyclic graphs are used to study both lagged and contemporaneous relations in late 19^th and early 20^th century U.S. data. We summarize evidence supporting the view that money was a causal actor in price movement in this period. In the long run (at a five year horizon), over twenty percent of the movement in price is explained by earlier movements in money supply; whereas, wheat price accounts for less than ten percent of this movement. There is also evidence that money supply was not exogenous, as it was determined, in contemporaneous time, by movements in the general price level and income. About forty percent of the variation in money is explained by current or lagged prices and income. There remains considerable uncertainty with respect to role of wheat prices in this period. Innovations in wheat price explain over twenty five percent of the uncertainty in real income at the five year forecast horizon – suggesting wheat price as either causal or proxying for more fundamental causal forces in the U.S. economy over our period of analysis. First version received: December 1999/Final version received: February 2001     

Information in the hiring process: A case study

A variety of theoretical models have been concerned with the extent to which economic agents base their decisions on full information. This paper describes the stages of the hiring process for secretaries in a large conglomerate, the information sources used at each stage, and then estimates the relative importance of each source. Almost all applicants are interviewed when they apply and the interviewer's comments are a significant source of information. But in spite of the firm's use of complex information, it appears that the people hired are not likely to do well than those applicants not hired.     

Organizational failures and wage determination: A historical case study

In large U.S. firms during the first half of the twentieth century, bureaucratic, centrally administered wage determination began to replace delegation of wage setting to lower-level managers. This transition was in part caused by internal organizational problems firms confronted as they attempted to manage the principal-agent problem inherent in delegating wage determination. A single-firm case study examines the events surrounding one firm's adoption of centrally administered wage setting and documents the increased cross-plant uniformity in wage rates and decreased wage-rate flexibility that were the result of the new system.     

Future Markets-Radar: A case study of applied strategic foresight

This article describes a project in corporate practice. A large European corporation conducted a project called ‘Future Markets-Radar’ to identify future market opportunities that lie beyond their present attention. The top executives, who were deeply involved in the project, used a systematic process based on the author's Five Futures Glasses and a comprehensive semantic model of objects of thought, called the Eltville Model and a set of appropriate tools to achieve the goals of the project. The results laid the foundation for future success in future markets, solidified and enriched the corporate strategy and increased the future competence of the people involved. This article proposes a model of the corporate disciplines and goals of future management, a definition of what a future market is, key questions on future markets, a process for early recognition of future markets as well as a summary of the project's results and benefits.     

Why energy transitions matter: A case study of methanol

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) contain several new provisions governing emissions from motor vehicles. These provisions of the 1990 CAAA will have a dramatic impact on the type of cars people drive over the coming decades. Given the high cost of achieving further reductions from automobiles, there has been increasing interest in exploring alternative fuels that improve environmental quality. One important contribution of this study is to highlight the importance of considering transition issues in assessing the cost of alternative fuels. A second contribution of this paper is to demonstrate how the cost-effectiveness of methanol and M85 depends on how a methanol-based strategy is implemented. The analysis of the costs and effectiveness of methanol and gasoline leads to the following conclusions: (1) transition issues are critical in evaluating the cost and cost-effectiveness of methanol-based fuels; (2) M85 and M100 are likely to be expensive relative to conventional gasoline, particularly in the near term and short term; (3) cost-effectiveness varies dramatically by region, with Los Angeles and New York substantially better than Houston; and (4) widespread introduction of methanol is not likely to be a cost-effective approach for improving urban air quality.Mr. Hahn is a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Borick was a Research Assistant at the American Enterprise Institute at the time this paper was written. Several people contributed to this paper. First and foremost, we would like to thank Armistead Russell for help in characterizing vehicle emissions. In addition, we would like to thank Jeff Alson, Vann Bussman, Alex Cristofaro, Mark DeLuchi, Carmen Difiglio, Alan Dunker, Art Fraas, John Heller, Bruce Henning, Russell Jones, Walt Kreucher, Alan Krupnick, Tom Lareau, William Leney, Ben Massell, Alan Mawdsley, Al McGartland, Greg McRae, Bob Oglesby, Dan Sperling, Brian Sullivan, Dan Townsend, Margaret Walls, Douglas Youngblood, Marty Zimmerman, and Don Zinger. This paper represents the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of any individuals or institutions with which the authors are affiliated.     

Formal microlending and adverse (or nonexistent) selection: a case study of shrimp farmers in Bangladesh

Microcredit schemes have become a popular means of improving smallholders’ access to credit and making long term investment possible. However, it remains to be explored whether the current microcredit schemes are more successful than earlier formal small scale lending in identifying successful borrowers. We studied shrimp farming in a rural region in Bangladesh where formal microlending is well established, but where more expensive informal microlending coexists with the formal schemes. Farmers – both those who exclusively use formal loans and those who also use informal loans – remain credit-constrained; both types overutilize labour in order to reduce the need for working capital. However, the credit constraint is actually milder for the informal borrowers: the implicit shadow price of working capital is substantially higher in the group that only takes formal loans than in the group that also uses informal loans. These results suggest that informal lenders – with their closer ties to the individual farmers – remain more successful in identifying those smallholder farmers that are most likely to use the borrowed funds successfully. Informal lenders have an information advantage that formal microlenders lack: the latter need to find routes to access this information in order for formal microcredit schemes to succeed.     

A Quantitative Exploration on the Determinants of (De-)Industrialisation: The case of Greece

The aim of this paper is to explore the main determinants of (de-) industrialisation, taking Greece as a case study. Industrialisation in postwar Greece measured in terms of manufacturing industry's share of output was not impressive. It reached its peak (20.2% of GDP) in the mid 1970s and, since then, it followed a declining path. Relevant theory relates the evolution of industry to macro and micro variables, stressing the role of structural change or 'trading up' within manufacturing. The regression results underline that the reasons behind the unimpressive Greek industrialisation performance, compared with advanced capitalist economies, are to be found in the low GDP per capita, the deep and long economic recession and the unfavourable manufacturing trade conditions. The preponderance of traditional, low technology, consumer goods sectors over high technology industries is also found to affect negatively the share of manufacturing, but its statistical significance is relatively small. The implications for industrialisation policies are that macro-variables should preferably be used, since micro-tools are not likely to be particularly effective.     

The economic importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for livelihood maintenance of rural west African communities: A case study from northern Benin

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) contribute significantly to a rural household's livelihood in the African semi-arid tropics. This study examines the income from NTFPs and the dependency on these of different socio-economic groups in Northern Benin. Using survey data from 230 households of two villages, we firstly compared incomes of five different ethnic groups being differentiated by their traditional source of livelihood and regional provenance. Secondly, we investigated disparities between three income groups. On average, income from NTFPs accounted for 39% of total household income and had a strong equalizing effect on it. However, the economic relevance of NTFPs differs between households: Poorer households are relatively more dependent on NTFPs in order to fulfill basic needs than wealthier households. However, the latter extract more NTFPs in quantitative terms and have significantly higher cash returns than poorer ones. This is mainly due to a significant greater land holding. Moreover, our study revealed that net income from NTFPs reflects traditional sources of livelihoods of different ethnic groups. In conclusion, both conservation and development strategies should take into consideration the socio-economic context of different beneficiaries of savanna woodland resources in order to apply appropriate measures to poverty reduction.     

Cultural legitimacy and framing struggles in innovation journeys: A cultural-performative perspective and a case study of Dutch nuclear energy (1945-1986)

This article contributes to the field of innovation studies by addressing the role of cultural legitimacy in technical innovation journeys. The article develops a new perspective that connects insights from discourse theory, interpretive approaches to culture, cultural sociology and social movement theory. In contrast to functionalist and structuralist approaches (which tend to conceptualize culture in a top-down deterministic manner), our cultural-performative perspective emphasizes agency, collective sensemaking and framing struggles. Cultural change is a contested process, in which various groups perform on public stages to influence the attitudes and opinions of relevant audiences who provide financial resources, protection or support relevant for innovation journeys. We demonstrate the usefulness of this perspective with a longitudinal case study of nuclear energy in the Netherlands (1945-1986), which encompasses both the creation of legitimacy in the 1950s and 1960s, and its contestation by an anti-nuclear movement in the 1970s, which halted the innovation journey.     

Crime and economic growth: A case study of Manaus,Brazil

Brazil became the seventh largest economy in the world in 2012. In the same year, the country was responsible for 13% of all worldwide murders. Despite the economic advances, crime is increasing over time in the country. This study explores the impact of organized crime on local economies, focusing on the case of Manaus, Brazil, and the emergence of the criminal group Família do Norte (FDN). We employ a synthetic control method to analyze the economic effects of the FDN's presence in Manaus. The findings reveal a significant negative impact on the city's economic growth and prosperity, with Manaus experiencing a 2% per year lower GDP per capita compared to what it would have been without the FDN. Robustness checks confirme this result, showing how organized crime can disrupt the country's economic advances.     

Evaluating technology disruptiveness in a strategic corporate context: A case study

This study examines how firms interpret new, potentially disruptive technologies in their own strategic context. The study uses a propositional framework for evaluating the amount of radical change in the companies' business models with two middle variables, the disruptiveness potential of a new technology, and the strategic importance of a new technology to a firm. The framework is used in a cross-case analysis of four potentially disruptive technologies or technical operating models: Bluetooth, WLAN, Grid computing and Mobile Peer-to-peer paradigm. The technologies were investigated from the perspective of three mobile operators, a device manufacturer and a software company in the ICT industry.The data was gathered in group-discussion sessions in each company. The results of each case analysis were brought together to evaluate, how firms interpret the potential disruptiveness in terms of changes in product characteristics and added value, technology and market uncertainty, changes in product-market positions, possible competence disruption and changes in value network positions. The results indicate that the perceived disruptiveness in terms of product characteristics does not necessarily translate into strategic importance. In addition, firms did not see the new technologies as a threat in terms of potential competence disruption.     

Price cap regulation: A case study of some pitfalls of implementation

There has been considerable discussion of price-cap regulation as an alternative to traditional rate-of-return regulation. This paper examines some of the practical pitfalls of price-cap regulation. First, a model of a terminating price cap is developed. Next, this model is used to propose some problems of implementation. These problems are evaluated in the context of a case study of the Tucson Electric Power Company, which faced a type of price cap for several years in the 1980s. Extensions of the specific case to more general lessons about price-cap regulation are considered.