Behavior of the firm in a market for heterogeneous labor

This paper develops a dynamic model of the firm in a labor market where workers and jobs are heterogeneous with respect to skill. The firm's recruitment policy, in a heterogeneous market, consists of both a wage offer and a skill requirement. The explicit derivation of this policy serves to clarify the difference between the long-run and short-run relationship between wages and skills. The short-run shift in this relationship helps to explain the occupational upgrading that occurs in cyclical upswings. The model also highlights the impact of the skill level distribution on the rate of change of firms' wage offers.     

The cotton weaving industry in European countries: Size of firm,static and dynamic efficiency

This paper is based on the results of a field work analysis of the cotton weaving industry, focusing on the relationships between performance, size and structure of firms. The results are utilized to compare models of the industries in the main European countries and to evaluate their competitiveness in the light of both standard and some non-standard efficiency criteria.     

中小企业融资和创业板市场的规范

创业板市场的设立是改善我国中小企业融资环境的重要措施。通过学习、借鉴世界各国创业板市场成功运作的经验，并且与我国资本市场发展需求、主板市场规模和成熟度相结合，探索一套具有特色的创业板运作模式，是我国创业板市场制度建设的必由之路。     

中小企业融资和创业板市场的规范

创业板市场的设立是改善我国中小企业融资环境的重要措施。通过学习、借鉴世界各国创业板市场成功运作的经验,并且与我国资本市场发展需求、主板市场规模和成熟度相结合,探索一套具有特色的创业板运作模式,是我国创业板市场制度建设的必由之路。     

Labor market reputation and the value of the firm

This study examines the stock market reaction to announcements that should contribute to the positive reputation of firms' human resource management practices. Announcements consist of the annual release of the list of 'best' employers by Working Mother magazine. We hypothesize that these announcements positively contribute to the firms' labor market reputation, thereby improving a firm's ability to attract, retain and motivate good employees. We find a small but statistically significant increase in firms' stock prices following the release of the list. The effect is larger, the first time a firm appears on the list relative to subsequent appearances.     

薪酬管理制度对于企业运营的重要性分析

薪酬能够对企业运营过程中员工付出的劳动进行经济补偿和非经济补偿,加强薪酬管理能够推动企业的进步和发展。文章首先对薪酬进行了概述,分析了薪酬的概念、作用、构成以及分类,又针对薪酬管理的定义及目的,以及相关的管理理论进行了研究分析,最后,针对企业运营中薪酬管理制度的重要性进行了探究。     

Welfare and efficiency in incomplete market economies with a single firm

In the quasilinear case, surplus maximization leads to constrained efficient Drèze equilibria. We investigate the question of whether surplus maximization can be useful beyond the quasilinear case.     

The impact of capacity expansion on the market value of the firm

This paper empirically investigates the impact of capacity expansion decisions on the market value of the firm. Event study methodology is used to estimate the abnormal change in stock prices around capacity expansion decision announcements. On the day of the announcement, the magnitude of the price change is abnormally high, evidenced by a significantly positive mean standardized square of the abnormal change (Beaver's U-statistic). We also analyze factors that we could affect the direction and magnitude of the abnormal change in the stock prices. We find that the change in price on the day of the announcement is positively and significantly related to the real growth rate of the industry, and negatively and significantly related to the variability of demand. A negative relationship between the price change and industry capacity utilization is also found which can have important implications for companies which follow the wait-and-see approach to capacity expansion decisions. We also find management ownership to be a significant predictor in explaining stock price changes around these announcements.     

The dynamic annihilation of a rational competitive fringe by a low-cost dominant firm

A low-cost dominant firm will drive all competitive fringe firms out of the market if all firms have rational expectations; however, the dominant firm will not predate (price below marginal cost). Since a dominant firm will not drive out fringe firms if they have myopic expectations, it may be in the dominant firm's best interests to inform the fringe. The effects of governmental intervention on the optimal path and welfare are presented.     

论我国企业物流运作模式的决策

企业为了适应激烈的市场竞争、快速的信息传递、瞬息万变的外部环境,应更多的方面考虑物流运作模式对企业经营活动的影响,包括物流的快速反应、即时供应、最低成本、最优服务、规模效应、最高效率等。企业需要非常清楚地了解外部因素和内部因素对其经营活动、战略管理的影响,根据相应的标准,选择最适合的运作模式。     

Product strategy and size of firm in the UK fertilizer market

The paper analyses three aspects of product strategy: the size of product range offered, the extent and type of product differentiation and product matching, and the role of new product innovation in firms' competitive strategies. In essence the paper is concerned with competitive behaviour where the product is treated as a variable. Three conclusions emerged. First, there was no significant correlation between the size of product range offered and the size of firm. Second, while the three main oligopolists almost always tried to differentiate their products the competitive fringe showed a strong tendency to match the major firms' products. Third, new product competition was a persistent feature of oligopolistic rivalry, though the competitive fringe was required to stimulate some developments.     

The role of information in profit-maximizing and labor-managed duopoly models

This paper analyzes the welfare implications of acquiring information for profit-maximizing and labor-managed duopolies. We invent a unified method of exploring the role of information in a two-person game under uncertainty on the basis of comparative static analysis, and then apply the method to both the PMF and the LMF. It is shown that whereas the LMF's behavior is analogous to that of the PMF twin in some circumstances, the former may be entirely different from the latter in others. Because a special status is accorded to labor as a variable factor of production, the informational analysis of the LM economy requires special care for both computations and interpretations.     

The British defence industry in the 1990s: a labour market perspective

A survey of engineers and scientists in the defence industry reveals company responses to the changing arms market. The defence industry is attempting to restructure employment patterns in order to maintain its ability to recruit and retain high level manpower.     

Organizational structure and the internal economy of the firm: The UK insurance industry

There now exists a substantial volume of empirical evidence which has examined the superiority of the ‘M’-form organizational structure for the management of large, diversified enterprises. Regrettably, attention has mainly been focused on manufacturing companies, despite the rising importance of the service sector in most major economies. This paper examines organizational structures within one segment of the UK service sector: the insurance industry. In the UK this industry has undergone significant, regulatory-driven structural change and, as a consequence, the majority of companies have undertaken organizational change. The results produced, however, suggest that many of these companies adopted sub-optimal divisionalized structures.     

Estimation of market power in the presence of firm level inefficiencies

“The quiet life hypothesis” (QLH) by Hicks (1935) argues that, due to management’s subjective cost of reaching optimal profits, firms use their market power to allow inefficient allocation of resources. Increasing competitive pressure is therefore likely to force management to work harder to reach optimal profits. Another hypothesis, which also relates market power to efficiency is “the efficient structure hypothesis” (ESH) by Demsetz (1973). ESH argues that firms with superior efficiencies or technologies have lower costs and therefore higher profits. These firms are assumed to gain larger market shares which lead to higher concentration. Ignoring the efficiency levels of the firms in a market power model might cause both estimation and interpretation problems. Unfortunately, the literature on market power measurement largely ignores this relationship. In the context of a dynamic setting, we estimate the market power of US airlines in two city-pairs by both allowing inefficiencies of the firms and not allowing inefficiencies of the firms. Using industry level cost data, we estimate the cost function parameters and time-varying efficiencies. An instrumental variables version of the square root Kalman filter is used to estimate time-varying conduct parameters.     

关于企业多元化经营的思考——来自三九案例的启示

本文通过对三九集团的多元化扩张及所面临的财务困境的原因分析,从中得出几点启示:多元化的本质是企业在满足原有市场的深度开拓外还有多余的资金、管理资源以及市场销售能力,为了充分利用这些资源而向其他领域转移;多元化并不能分散企业经营风险;最后笔者提出了企业应当在条件具备时要适时进行多元化,防止过早多元化。     

中国煤炭工业企业竞争力评价与实证研究

文章运用企业竞争力理论,结合我国煤炭工业企业情况,建立煤炭工业企业竞争力的评价指标体系,并利用熵值法评价我国上市公司煤炭企业的竞争力,在此基础上对我国煤炭工业企业的竞争力和现代化提出建设性意见,以适应环境变化发展,提高现代化水平。     

An empirical investigation of environmental performance and the market value of the firm

This paper analyzes the shareholder value effects of environmental performance by measuring the stock market reaction associated with announcements of environmental performance. We examine the market reaction to two categories of environmental performance. The first category includes 417 announcements of Corporate Environmental Initiatives (CEIs) that provide information about self-reported corporate efforts to avoid, mitigate, or offset the environmental impacts of the firm's products, services, or processes. The second category includes 363 announcements of Environmental Awards and Certifications (EACs) that provide information about recognition granted by third-parties specifically for environmental performance. Although the market does not react significantly to the aggregated CEI and EAC announcements, we find statistically significant market reactions for certain CEI and EAC subcategories. Specifically, announcements of philanthropic gifts for environmental causes are associated with significant positive market reaction, voluntary emission reductions are associated with significant negative market reaction, and ISO 14001 certifications are associated with significant positive market reaction. The difference between the market reactions to the CEI and EAC categories is statistically insignificant. Overall, the market is selective in reacting to announcements of environmental performance with certain types of announcements even valued negatively.     

The impact of using kiosk on enterprise systems in service industry

The hospitality industry services many types of travellers. Each of them needs to be analysed differently in order to accurately determine their respective service quality attributes and customer delight. The effective and efficient enterprise information systems (EISs) play a significant role in traveller’s experience and in the competitive advantages that hotels can gain. For this study, self-service kiosks and guest service agents as part of hotel’s EISs are used to investigate the impact each has on the experience of business and leisure travellers. This study provides empirical results that further investigate how to improve the service quality for both types of travellers during the registration process. This process is the first physical interaction between the travellers and the hotel. Any problem in registering would generate a long-lasting negative first impression on the travellers, thus diminishing the customer delight. In the light of our findings, this study will contribute to the effective and efficient design of self-service kiosk systems, hotel’s EISs, and improved front office management to better accommodate the specific needs of both types of travellers.     

Insider ownership and firm performance in Taiwan's electronics industry: a technical efficiency perspective

This paper applies agency theory to explore the relationship between insider stock ownership and firm performance, particularly in terms of technical efficiency. Insiders are further classified into executives, outside directors, and large shareholders to conduct a detailed study. Six‐year (1996–2001) panel data of 416 Taiwanese listed electronics firms are examined by the stochastic production frontier approach. It is observed that raising the executive‐to‐insider holding ratio first causes a decrease and then an increase in technical efficiency, forming a U‐shaped relationship. However, the board‐to‐insider holding ratio is negatively associated with technical efficiency. The results indicate that equity ownership of top officers in high‐tech firms should be encouraged to enhance firm productivity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.