Learning for environmental adaptation and knowledge-intensive services: the role of public networks for SMEs

Small and medium-sized firms are suffering increasing pressure related to environmental adaptation because they cannot create the required technological and organizational competences and there is not a sufficient and appropriate supply of advanced business services for green management in their surroundings. Research results illustrate the usefulness of a cooperative platform based on information technologies, with public support, in providing knowledge-intensive services correcting the inefficiency of the environmental consultancy market and its failure to provide public goods. This research also establishes a relationship between the operation of a reticular model and firm environmental learning by illustrating the improvements in environmental and economic performance that the dissemination and absorption of knowledge can create. We are focusing our attention on an environmental website developed by a Spanish regional network, a project in which good green practices come through virtual inter-organizational cooperation. Empirical analysis is based on the study of the network case and a survey of 348 partner firms over a period of 4 years (2002–2005). An analysis of quantitative and qualitative information tested the validity of the measurements and results with data triangulation.     

郑州市基础设施投融资问题研究

城市基础设施是城市赖以生存和发展的重要物质基础。城市基础设施建设水平不仅影响城市化和现代化的进程,而且影响一个城市乃至一定区域经济和社会的发展。本文分析了城市基础设施的内涵、范围和其对国民经济发展的作用,对郑州市基础设施投融资中存在的问题进行了剖析,对照各种投融资模式,找出存在的差距,并提出了改进的方法和措施。     

城镇化进程中的农村公共产品供给问题研究

目前我国农村公共产品的供给不足,主要表现为农业基础设施供给水平较低、农业科技投入不足、交通不便、信息闭塞、缺乏市场供求信息等,已阻碍了农村城镇化的进程。大力加强城镇化建设,因地制宜、循序渐进的推进农村公共产品供给的改革,是解决农村公共产品供给不足问题的有效途径。     

The contribution of implicit cognition to the Theory of Reasoned Action Model: a study of food preferences

Abstract

Attitudes are at the heart of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), but problems in defining and measuring attitudes have contributed to typically low ability to predict behaviour. This article investigates the impact of potential disjuncture between evaluations that an individual externally verbalises (explicit attitudes), and evaluations that are internally held and may exist outside of conscious awareness (implicit attitudes), on the predictive ability of TRA. We study consumers’ attitudes towards eating healthy food and subsequent behaviour in a context of socially consensual behaviour. An Implicit Association Test (IAT) is used to measure implicit attitudes, and these scores are contrasted with self-reported explicit attitude scores. Ninety one participants took part in the study. We found, surprisingly, that implicit attitude has no significant effect on behavioural intention. However, a disjuncture between an individual’s implicit and explicit attitudes, reflecting internal psychological conflict, affected behaviour.     

Values in Decision-Making Processes: Systematic Structures of J. Habermas and N. Luhmann for the Appreciation of Responsibility in Leadership

"Ethical Leadership" in modern multicultural corporations is first the consideration of different personal and cultural value systems in decision-making processes. Second, it is the assignment of responsibility either to individual or organisational causalities. The task of this study is to set the stage for a distinction between rational entities and the arbitrary preferences of individuals in economic decision making processes.Defining rational aspects of behaviour in economics will lead to the formal structures of organisational systems, which are independent of concrete but varying values. Luhmann's Theory of systems of communication describes the internal dynamic forces of economic communication processes in terms of formal structures. On the other hand Habermas' Theory of discourse integrates the previous relationship between individual subjectivity and rational behaviour. Habermas gives an indication of how to separate subjective values and meaning from rational arguments in rational communication processes. The translation of these theoretical structures into practical applications for decision making processes and decision taking acts links the ethical, or value-oriented, context precisely to both individual and organisational areas of responsibility.     

农村公共产品有效供给的政府行为探析--基于利益博弈分析

我国农村公共产品供给不足已是不争的事实。在经济转型期市场配置不能有效保障农村公共产品有效供给的情形下,需要政府干预。通过利益博弈分析表明,当农村公共产品供给只是政府间的各部门提供时,其供给效率是低下的;当农村公共产品供给由政府和其他某一供给主体合作供给时,由于不供给是其他供给主体的占优策略,因此其他供给主体会采取不供给行为,从而加大政府供给压力;当农民和政府在农村公共产品供给中存在弱委托-代理关系时,委托人农民观察不到代理人政府的努力水平,其政府的供给效率在没有委托人的约束下变得低下。因此,农村公共产品有效供给需要政府行为加以改善。同时,健全的制度安排、完善的供给体系、有效的监管体系等配套体系能确保政府行为发挥有效作用。     

The Issue of Insider Trading in Law and Economics: Lessons for Emerging Financial Markets in the World

Growth of the private sector and privatization of state companies around the world have led to the emergence of various stock markets, some of which are depicted by insider trading. Law literature uses the arguments of unfairness, breach of fiduciary rights and damage to others to define and rule against insider trading. Economic literature can be used to interpret insider trading from other perspectives. This study argues that the question of insider trading in developing markets can be resolved by the extent stock markets generate externalities and are public goods. It advocates structural changes in the developing markets and examines the conditions under which the Coase Theorem would work.     

The role of social conventions in the diffusion of open source software: Implications for service industries

In information and service products such as open source software, increasing returns occur on the production or supply side, as well as network externalities on the demand side. For open source software, the social community element needs to be integrated with the framework of increasing returns. This paper attempts to show that social conventions, and social herding behaviour are fundamental to the growth of the open source software. Such social conventions legitimise value and provide identification in the global online community and have important implications for service industries in general.     

The Spanish monarchy as a contractor state in the eighteenth century: Interaction of political power with the market

Abstract

The concept of the contractor state has been formulated to underline the existence of a necessary relation between state and private markets in the eighteenth century. Although all states acted as contractors in this period, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between the rulers and the market. Significant differences can be observed between parliamentary governments, which were comfortable with this situation, and the absolute monarchies, which constantly tried to interfere. The Spanish monarchy belongs to the second type, as this article tries to prove. This is a study about such a situation’s relevance and consequences with regard to the provision of uniforms for the army in particular, and for Spanish economic growth in general.     

The role of customer values in accepting information technologies in the public information service sector

Many government agencies have outsourced their information systems to software vendors. Firms in the information service industry have to realize the needs of customers in the public sector. This study investigated the causal relationship between users' perception and information technology acceptance. Empirical results suggest that the perceived value of users plays an important and mediating role in the causal relationship among social influence process, cognitive instrumental process, and intention to use.     

Dreaming of the West: The power of the brand in Soviet Lithuania, 1960s–1980s

Abstract

The article reveals the interest in foreign trademarks observed in Lithuanian society from the 1960s through the 1980s, when the demand for brand names spread after Western culture reached the Soviet Union. The consumption of Western cultural products, or imitations thereof, became one of the key symbolic expressions of freedom in Soviet society. In Lithuania, the most popular clothes were those bearing fake trademarks, even though Soviet authorities attempted to prevent the desire for and the wearing of these garments through the use of ideological tools.     

论区域经济增长模式的兴起与我国公共产品理论研究的新趋势

区域经济增长模式业已成为当今世界各国经济发展的主导趋势。跨行政区的经济合作引发了大量的跨行政区的公共治理问题,对公共产品＂单一行政区供给模式＂发出了挑战。研究跨区域公共产品协同机制不仅是一个实践问题,在理论上对于公共产品供给的＂集体行动逻辑＂与＂公地悲剧＂困境的突破有着重要的意义。     

“营改增”政策对上市公司会计稳健性的影响——基于我国沪深A股上市公司样本的实证研究

制度环境是影响企业会计信息质量的重要因素。基于我国营改增改革实践,利用双重差分法研究营改增政策对企业会计稳健性的影响效应及作用路径,并进一步考察企业特征对上述影响效应的异质性。研究表明:营改增政策有助于缓解企业融资约束、降低企业税收负担,同时滋生企业高管攫取超额薪酬,进而降低企业会计稳健性。异质性检验表明,在非国有企业、年轻企业以及高成长性企业中,营改增降低会计稳健性的政策效应更加显著。本文的研究结论对"十三五"规划提出的进一步深化财税体制改革,提高经济运行信息的及时性和准确性具有借鉴意义。     

Mitigating the dual liability of newness and foreignness in capital markets: The role of returnee independent directors

Foreign firms undergoing an initial public offering in developed economies face a dual liability of newness and foreignness that can negatively impact the firm’s ability to access capital. In this study, we examine the ability of returnee independent directors to overcome such a liability among 232 foreign listings in the U.S. We find that returnee independent directors positively impact the price premium of the foreign IPO. We also find that this relationship is contingent on the level of ownership retained by non-independent directors, the level of ownership retained by venture capitalists, and investor protection in the firm’s country of origin.     

The effect of language use on the financial performance of microfinance banks: Evidence from cross-border activities in 74 countries

This multi-year study examines the relationship between financial performance and language use, observing 405 partnerships between microfinance banks and their international financial partners in 74 countries. Drawing on language research in international business, we find that microfinance banks based in English-speaking, French-speaking, and Spanish-speaking countries have higher performance. Furthermore, the linguistic distance between the home country of a microfinance bank and the home country of its international partner(s) is negatively related to its financial performance. Our large-scale study confirms the effect of language use on organization-level financial performance and extends research on language in multinationals from intra-firm to inter-firm relationships.     

Ethics and the Board of Directors in Spain: The Olivencia Code of Good Governance

In an open, unregulated and globalised economy, it is logical that the problem of corporate government not only occupy the time of academics, but also preoccupy both companies and the public administration. Corporate governance varies depending on several factors, such as the culture of a particular country, the economic situation and the organisational structures. Thus, there is no single recipe which can be applied automatically and is universally valid in all contexts. However, it is possible to propose some general principles which have duly stood the test of experience and are recognised as providing valuable guidance for efficient corporate governance.The aim of this article is to present the Spanish "Olivencia Report", which is an attempt to draft an "ethical code" containing a number of practices and principles, which, if they were to be applied, could improve the governance of the larger Spanish companies listed on the Stock Market.The pages which follow narrate the story of the making of the report, and highlight those features which distinguish this report from other analogous reports published in other countries, and which inspired the Olivencia Report. These reports, which include the "Cadbury Report", the "Viénot Report" and the "Peters Report" among others will also be dealt with. Once the more outstanding aspects of the Spanish report have been highlighted, the article closes with a brief concluding section, which goes beyond the case in question and stresses the relationship between ethics, corporate governance and the mission of the enterprise. This focus is of some importance as the literature on corporate governance rarely brings the ethical problem to the fore.     

The development of critical capabilities in foreign subsidiaries: disentangling the role of the subsidiary’s business network

Within business literature in general, capabilities have advanced to the prime determinant of the corporation’s economic rents. Within international business literature, it is further assumed that multinational corporations can enhance their pool of capabilities through foreign subsidiaries. Foreign subsidiaries are seen as means to assimilate new capabilities from their local, external network and integrate these capabilities into the multinational corporation. Data from more than 2000 foreign subsidiaries shows that some foreign units actually are endowed with superior capabilities which are useful for other corporate entities. It is argued that the development of critical capabilities within these subsidiaries is driven not only by internal corporate actors, but also by external actors. The analysis provides evidence that the role of different internal and external network partners for capability development varies according to the functional activity under consideration. Thus, subsidiaries benefit from various internal and external network actors in very different ways. The contribution ends with some conclusions and some avenues for future research.     

‘The Impact of Corporate Ethical Values and Enforcement of Ethical Codes on the Perceived Importance of Ethics in Business: A Comparison of U.S. and Spanish Managers’

This two country study examines the effect of corporate ethical values and enforcement of a code of ethics on perceptions of the role of ethics in the overall success of the firm. Additionally, the impact of organizational commitment and of individual variables such as ethical idealism and relativism was examined. The rationale for examining the perceived importance of the role of ethics in this manner is to determine the extent to which the organization itself can influence employee perceptions regarding ethics and social responsibility. Results indicate that all of the variables tested, except relativism, impacted upon one’s perceptions of the importance of ethics and social responsibility. Perceptions of the importance of ethics and social responsibility also varied depending upon country of residence with the U.S. sample having somewhat higher perceptions concerning the importance of ethics and social responsibility than their counterparts in Spain. Furthermore, when comparing the two samples, the U.S. sample had significantly higher corporate ethical values, greater enforcement of ethical codes, less organizational commitment and both lower idealism and relativism.     

Unveiling the global focus-performance relationship in family firms: The role of the board of directors

Drawing on the resource-based view, this study examines how board composition and board tasks affect the relationship between the firm’s global focus and performance in private family firms. Based on a sample of 234 Belgian private family firms, our empirical analyses reveal that nonfamily involvement in the board attenuates the negative relationship between the firm’s global focus and performance. Furthermore, our results show that the global focus-performance link turns positive at higher levels of board networking and advisory tasks, whereas board control task has no significant effect. Ultimately, these findings underscore the board of directors as a key governance contingency, highlighting its important role in overcoming the challenges of global expansion in private family firms.