Organizational goals and resource allocation to overseas foreign direct investment

We investigate how organizational goal setting impacts slack resource allocation between markets at home and overseas, and argue that organizational goals, publicly announced, impact managers’ evaluations of resource allocation opportunities. Based on a sample of Chinese publicly listed manufacturing firms for the period 2010 to 2016, we find that when firms announce publicly a sales increasing goal as their priority, their attention will be focused on this goal with a tendency to invest the firm's slack resources locally. This tendency to invest slack resources locally is enhanced if the announced goal is not achieved, but is not achieved with a minor discrepancy. However, if the goal is not achieved, and with a major discrepancy, managers will likely conduct problemistic search and look to foreign locations to invest the firm's slack resources to achieve this goal. We also find the impact of organizational goal setting is more salient for SOEs and is dependent on levels of remuneration in the firm. As such, we revisit the importance of organization goals and the resource allocation decision in the firm which has not received the research attention one may have expected.     

Aufschwung bleibt moderat — Wirtschaftspolitik wenig wachstumsorientiert

The German economy is experiencing a moderate upturn. Gross domestic product is expected to increase by 1.6 per cent this year and by 1.5 per cent in 2017. The upturn will be driven by private consumption, which will benefit from continued employment growth, sizeable increases in wage and transfer income, and also purchasing power gains thanks to lower energy prices. Fiscal policy will also be expansively oriented, partly due to rising costs related to refugee immigration. Public budgets will still post significant surpluses in the forecasting period, however. Failing to use this room for manoeuvre to promote growth, as seen in recent years, is not a sustainable path. In view of the continuous slack in the euro area economy, the monetary policy stance is considered to be appropriate. Should it become obvious in the course of this year that production does not return to normal capacity and that the inflation rate does not move towards two per cent, further measures to stimulate growth might become necessary. The scope for further monetary policy measures has been widely exhausted, though. A further economic stabilization could only be achieved through a combination of expansionary fiscal and monetary policy. This could severely damage the credibility of monetary policy, however.     

A Compendium of Multi‐Item Scales Utilized in Logistics Research (2001–10): Progress Achieved Since Publication of the 1973–2000 Compendium

Forty years have passed since the first multi‐item measurement scales were employed through survey research to better understand important logistics concepts. Through the years, four leading logistics journals have published research containing a total of 1,670 scales within 283 articles. A 42% increase in utilization has occurred during the most recent decade. The research fully discloses the conceptualization, composition, and properties of the multi‐item survey scales utilized in the study of logistics and supply chain management theory and practice. By documenting each scale published from 2001 to 2010, the authors make comparisons with results from the 1973–2000 study. Primary findings indicate an increase in the percentage of research utilizing multi‐item scales, and an increase in the application of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has assisted in producing more highly acceptable psychometric properties of the scales. This implies that researchers are utilizing more highly developed scales and following strict scale‐development procedures for building more robust scales to measure concepts important for advancing our knowledge of logistics and supply chain management. The top four conceptual categories for the scales have remained the same since 1973 and account for greater than half of the scales published. Eight additions to the categories since 2001 pertain greatly to controlling our supply chains for customer, brand, and overall security benefits. The compendium of scales provides a central document to reference as researchers seek to employ highly developed survey measures.     

财务松弛对公司业绩的影响研究——基于融资约束和代理成本的视角

财务松弛政策由现金持有政策和负债冗余政策组成.文章以我国1998-2007年的上市公司为实证研究对象分析财务松弛对企业绩效的影响,并进一步分析代理成本和融资约束对财务松弛经济后果的影响.研究发现财务松弛和企业业绩正相关,融资约束进一步提升了企业财务松弛的价值,对财务松弛-业绩敏感性产生显著正向影响,代理成本对财务松弛-业绩敏感性的负向影响只在非融资约束的情况下较为明显.     

Effective Demand,Exogenous Normal Utilization and Endogenous Capacity in the Long Run: Evidence from a Cointegrated Vector Autoregression Analysis for the USA

Using Cointegrated Vector Auto‐Regression analysis, we provide evidence for the US manufacturing sector that production capacities adjust endogenously to current output in the long run. The rate of capacity utilization, i.e. the output–capacity ratio, is found to be stationary since production capacities respond endogenously to changes in current output and not vice versa. Hence, the principle of effective demand in a growth context, by which a permanent demand shock has a permanent growth effect, is consistent with the stylized fact of a stationary rate of capacity utilization since production capacities are endogenous in the long run.     

The drivers of domestic acquisitions in People's Republic of China: a resource-based analysis

Domestic acquisitions of firms in emerging markets have so far evaded scholarly interest. This article contributes to closing this gap by looking into the drivers of cross-province acquisitions in the People's Republic of China, covering 569 deals in manufacturing industry conducted between 1999 and 2012. Drawing on the resource-based view, this study looks at prior Chief Executive Officer (CEO) experience and organizational slack as two drivers of cross-province acquisitions, and analyses the moderating effects of firm ownership types and the location of an acquiring firm. The results show that private firms having CEOs with experience outside of the home province are the drivers of cross-province acquisitions in China.     

Participation in export and Chinese firms’ capacity utilization

This paper first sets up a firm heterogeneity trade model and shows that given capital stock and productivity, export firms will have higher rates of capacity utilization. In addition, given capital stock and fixed export costs, firms with higher productivity are more likely to export. I then use the 2012 Chinese enterprise survey from the World Bank to empirically investigate the impact of participation in export on Chinese firms’ capacity utilization rate. The results show that on average, export firms have capacity utilization rate 1.55–2.01 percent higher than non-export firms, which amounts to 14.6–18.9 percent of the standard deviation of capacity utilization rate in the sample. I also find that firms with a larger part of shares owned by the government have lower capacity utilization. Stronger market competition leads to over-investment and therefore lower capacity utilization rate. Faced with more rigorous labor market regulation, firms will substitute capital for the use of labor, resulting in higher capacity utilization rate.     

Inconsistency and over‐determination in neo‐Kaleckian growth models: A note

This short note argues that the canonical neo‐Kaleckian growth model does not yield a balanced growth path due to the absence of an inbuilt mechanism by which desired and actual rates of capital accumulation are equalized. Introducing non‐generating capacity autonomous demand does not solve such inconsistency. Contrary to what Lavoie ( 2016 ) claims, we show that the latter is also unable to bring capacity utilization to its normal level. In light of recent contributions (e.g., Nikiforos, 2013, 2016 ), we suggest that making normal capacity utilization an endogenous variable is an alternative better suited to deal with the issue.     

Translating strategy into action: The importance of an agile mindset and agile slack in international business

There is growing recognition that agility, the ability to respond quickly, is essential for international business (IB) in times of daunting challenges. Drawing on the resource-based view, we argue that agility is more than a capability and therefore should be investigated from a broader perspective. The current study offers insights for the IB literature by introducing agile resources (mindset and slack) as drivers of marketing strategy effectiveness capability. An agile mindset drives firms to seek out and introduce new management methods and approaches by encouraging their members to be alert to new and innovative ways of doing things. Agile slack refers to unutilized resources that can be quickly deployed in new strategic initiatives. An analysis of survey data from 179 managers via structural equation modeling shows that an agile mindset and agile slack strongly drive marketing strategy effectiveness capability. Marketing strategy effectiveness is a crucial driver of international performance. Nevertheless, the results suggest that while agile resources are important drivers of marketing strategy effectiveness, they do not influence performance directly. Hence, a firm’s ability to exploit resources through capabilities is critical, and to be truly agile, firms must invest in agile slack resources. Managers are advised to improve their firm’s effectiveness and performance by adopting an agile mindset while relying on agile slack resources.     

Strategic intent and performance: The role of resource allocation decisions

The notion that a firm's strategic intent can affect its performance through managerial actions has become prominent in the organization literature. In this research, we propose that strategic aggressive firms will foster decisions that favor holding low levels of slack and low levels of R&D investments, resulting in increased firm ROI, and that a firm's risk preference will moderate the indirect effect of strategic intent on performance. Findings from moderated mediation analyses on data from 130 firms in manufacturing industries support our hypotheses. Specifically, the indirect effect of a firm's strategic intent on a firm's performance is moderated by its risk aversion, such that when risk aversion is high, the indirect effect of strategic intent on performance through slack is strengthened. Similarly, the indirect effect of strategic intent on firm performance through R&D investments is strengthened, when risk aversion is high.     

TRADE LIBERALIZATION AND GROWTH: Evidence from Mexican Cities

Applying the most recent methodology for explaining economic growth differences across countries (Barro, 1997), education, learning by doing, infrastructure, and knowledge spillovers due to specialization have been considered relevant in explaining productivity growth differences in Mexican urban manufacturing (de León, 1999). In this article, I evaluated whether there is a significant change in the relevance of these variables under trade liberalization. In particular, I evaluated the hypothesis that trade liberalization would promote productivity growth in the northern cities as result of the dynamic effect of trade given that these cities are close to the new central market for Mexican manufacturing and the loss of relevance in the previous accumulated growth factors (Livas and Krugman, 1992; Hanson, 1994). In contrast to that hypothesis, I observed that urban manufacturing close to the United States did not show a better performance than the rest of the cities as expected and that accumulated growth factors, such as education, learning by doing, and infrastructure are still relevant in explaining productivity growth across urban manufacturing in Mexico.     

Trade and Innovation in Services: Evidence from a Developing Economy

Studies on innovation and international trade have traditionally focused on manufacturing because neither was seen as important for services. Moreover, the few existing studies on services focus only on industrial countries, even though in many developing countries services are already the largest sector in the economy and an important determinant of overall productivity growth. Using a recent firm‐level innovation survey for Chile to compare the manufacturing and ‘tradable’ services sector, this paper reveals some novel patterns. First, even though services firms have on average a much lower propensity to export than manufacturing firms, services exports are less dominated by large firms and tend to be more skill intensive than manufacturing exports. Second, services firms appear to be as innovative as – and in some cases more innovative than – manufacturing firms, in terms of both inputs and outputs of ‘technological’ innovative activity, even though services innovations more often take a ‘non‐technological’ form. Third, services exporters (like manufacturing exporters) tend to be significantly more innovative than non‐exporters, with a wider gap for innovations close to the global technological frontier. These findings suggest that the growing faith in services as a source of both trade and innovative dynamism may not be misplaced.     

外资并购对中国企业产能利用率的影响

改革开放40年来,中国外资并购频繁发生,对经济增长做出了积极的贡献。然而伴随中国经济的高速发展,产能过剩问题日益凸显。本文基于1998—2007年中国企业数据,采用PSM-DID方法系统地研究了外资并购对中国企业产能利用率的影响及作用机制。实证结果表明,外资并购显著促进了企业产能利用率的提高;影响机制检验发现,出口扩张、研发创新和生产效率是外资并购提升企业产能利用率的重要途径;进一步的动态效应估计显示,外资并购后五年内对企业产能利用率具有显著的促进作用,且该效应呈"倒U型"动态变化特征。此外,本文还考察了外资并购对企业产能利用率的异质性影响,发现外资并购对内陆地区企业、高资本密集度企业和高融资约束企业产能利用率提高的促进作用更大。本文最后采用面板分位数回归方法检验了外资并购的产能利用率效应在不同产能水平企业之间的差异性,发现外资并购在更大程度上提升了落后产能企业的产能利用率。以上研究意味着,外资并购有助于缩小企业间产能利用率差距,这对于减少社会资源浪费、提高资源配置效率以及推动产业结构转型升级具有重要的作用。     

中国企业对非洲制造业投资路径研究

当前非洲国家普遍谋求推进工业化,特别是希望引进制造业领域的直接投资,以提升自身工业生产水平,创造更多就业机会。我国对非洲制造业的投资在过去十多年获得快速增长,但同时也存在明显的"分散、无序"问题。基于非洲制造业现状及中国企业对非洲制造业投资实践,本文提出"进口替代"型和"出口导向"型两种适用于对非洲制造业投资的路径,认为应当加强中国企业对非洲投资总体规划,结合非洲各国具体国情,加大宏观指导和政策支持力度,引导我国企业采取合适的投资路径,提升对非洲制造业投资的质量与成效。     

The performance of British manufacturing in the Post-War long boom

This article questions the notion which has gained ground recently in the writing of Booth and others that British manufacturing did not fail in the post-Second World War long boom, 1950–1973. By all the traditional measures of performance – output growth rates, productivity growth rates and levels, exports, and profitability – it can be re-affirmed that British manufacturing was out-competed by her rivals. Booth, Broadberry and others have also argued that manufacturing is of less importance to economic growth than services; this too is questioned.     

Developing Absorptive Capacity through e‐Business: The Case of International SMEs

This research uses the absorptive capacity concept as a theoretical lens to study the effect of e‐business upon the internationalization performance of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), addressing the following research issue: To what extent are manufacturing SMEs successful in developing their potential and realized absorptive capacity in response to the environmental uncertainty brought about by their internationalization? Results of a survey study of 588 manufacturing SMEs indicate that e‐business capabilities have a significant impact on internationalization performance to the extent that these capabilities are developed as a response to increased environmental uncertainty. Moreover, these capabilities are realized through the development of networking, advanced manufacturing, and marketing capabilities that also respond to environmental uncertainty.     

Trade‐Adjusted Concentration Ratios in the US Manufacturing Sector

This paper incorporates international trade into the four‐firm concentration ratio to get a more realistic measure of market structure in the US manufacturing sector using 1997 and 2002 NAICS data. As expected, trade‐adjusted CR₄ is significantly lower than the published CR₄. Moreover, the effect of international trade is higher in 2002 than in 1997, offsetting the increase in domestic concentration and leaving the US manufacturing sector in 2002 as competitive as it was in 1997. Furthermore, different tests are used to check the validity of the results. All of them confirm that trade‐adjusted CR₄s are significantly lower than their published counterparts.     

Insurance coverage and health care consumers' use of emergency departments: has managed care made a difference?

How successful has managed care been in controlling costs and consumers' inappropriate use of health care services? This study compares national data from 1992 and 1996 to determine the effect of managed care on appropriateness of ED utilization. ED utilization was described in two ways as defined in Gooding, Smith, and Peyrot (1996): (1) urgency of visit (urgent vs. non-urgent), and (2) appropriateness of visit taking into account the care provided upon visits (including treatment and diagnostic procedures) and disposition of visit (admit, transfer, and discharge against medical advice). Potentially appropriate visits were the non-urgent cases at which treatment procedures and/or non-routine diagnostic procedures were performed. All urgent visits were defined as appropriate. Study results reveal that consumers' ED misuse changed in complex ways over the period examined. Contrary to our assumptions based on earlier research, the pattern of change was not the same for the two different measures of misuse. Non-urgent use decreased, as hypothesized, but there was an increase in non-urgent use which we have defined as inappropriate (i.e., no treatment and no non-routine diagnostic tests). ED misuse did not decrease more for insured than uninsured consumers, nor more for managed care than fee-for-service consumers. These findings bring into question the efficacy of efforts to address rising health care costs through controlling consumer utilization of services via managed care, efforts mirrored by many fee-for-service indemnity plans. Future research is needed to determine why this consumer misuse of the ED appears to continue and how the recent increase in the marketing of ED services may exacerbate this problem.     

Is organizational slack honey or poison? Experimental research based on external investors' perception

Organizational slack is an important topic in the organization literature. The extant research has documented both the positive and the negative attributes of slack. However, regarding the effect of organizational slack on external investors' investment decisions, little is known. Based on insights drawn from the signaling and cognitive bias literature, this study proposed that organizational slack provides a signaling effect for external stakeholders and positively affects their subsequent decision making. We further proposed that external stakeholders are subject to the influence of cognitive bias and that the strength of the positive effect of slack is contingent on the context of the organization being a state-owned or a private firm. An experimental research design was used to test these hypotheses. Consistent with our predictions, we found that organizational slack has a positive signaling effect on external investors' investment decisions and that this positive effect is weaker in state-owned firms than in private firms. The contributions and implications of this study are also discussed.     

Capacity inefficiencies of teaching and non-teaching hospitals

This paper investigates capacity-based inefficiency causes and the existence of any differences between the improvement processes of teaching and non-teaching hospitals. In an effort to comparatively evaluate the inefficiency causes of hospitals in Turkey, this study uses data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA can simultaneously assess the relationship between capacity (physical capacity and medical labor capacity) as inputs and the utilization of capacity (utilization of institution capacity for patients, utilization of physical capacity, and utilization of technological capacity) as outputs. In addition, the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) is used to analyze the patterns of efficiency change for the study years from 2001 to 2007. Several improvement suggestions have been provided to health care policy makers regarding inefficiency causes and ways of optimizing hospital efficiency.