The Competitiveness of Networked Production: The Role of Trust and Asset Specificity

The paper offers a synthesis of sociological and transactions cost economics perspectives on production networks. Sociological explanations of network effectiveness (competitiveness) stress the importance of trust, and transactions costs emphasizes asset specificity. The approach here is comparative, the capabilities of networks are assessed against those of the vertically integrated, managerially co-ordinated hierarchy. The argument is that the competitiveness of each form derives from different organizational capabilities. Neither is inherently superior – by supporting different strategies, networks and hierarchies can co-exist. A distinction is drawn between those networks that rely on communal support and trust and those networks whose dynamism relies on individualistic and autonomous entrepreneurship. The absence of trust (or the surfeit of entrepreneurial zeal) leaves firms reliant on generic assets. Trust creates the conditions under which communities of firms can develop industry-specific assets capable of delivering real services to network firms that are unavailable through market channels. The competitiveness of a production network is a function of the value adding activities undertaken by agents and the collective responses made to external threats or disturbances. The argument is illustrated with reference to the organization of watch (timepieces) production in Hong Kong     

Incentivizing resilience in financial networks

When banks extend loans to each other, they generate a negative externality in the form of systemic risk. They create a network of interbank exposures by which they expose other banks to potential insolvency cascades. In this paper, we show how a regulator can use information about the financial network to devise a transaction-specific tax based on a network centrality measure that captures systemic importance. Since different transactions have different impact on creating systemic risk, they are taxed differently. We call this tax a systemic risk tax (SRT). We use an equilibrium concept inspired by the matching markets literature to show analytically that this SRT induces a unique equilibrium matching of lenders and borrowers that is systemic-risk efficient, i.e. it minimizes systemic risk given a certain transaction volume. On the other hand, we show that without this SRT multiple equilibrium matchings exist, which are generally inefficient. This allows the regulator to effectively stimulate a ‘rewiring’ of the equilibrium interbank network so as to make it more resilient to insolvency cascades, without sacrificing transaction volume. Moreover, we show that a standard financial transaction tax (e.g. a Tobin-like tax) has no impact on reshaping the equilibrium financial network because it taxes all transactions indiscriminately. A Tobin-like tax is indeed shown to have a limited effect on reducing systemic risk while it decreases transaction volume.     

关联交易、资产专用性与控股股东行为——基于仁和与天目的案例研究

本文以资产专用性理论为指导,运用案例研究方法,从一个新的视角探讨了上市公司与控股股东之间关联交易的正面效应。通过仁和与天目两家中国药业公司的对比分析得出,如果控股股东与上市公司进行了具有资产专用性的关联交易,根据资产专用性理论,捆绑效应可以抑制控股股东的利益侵占行为。如果具有资产专用性的关联交易不多,则可能不会对控股股东形成有效的约束力,进而控股股东便可能进行利益掏空。本文的结论对于上市公司治理的完善以及监管机构对关联交易的监管都具有借鉴意义。     

基于AHP-RBF神经网络的移动电子商务交易的信任评价

终端用户对移动电子商务安全的信任程度已成为进一步发展移动电子商务的主要阻力,尤其阻碍了移动支付业务的发展。基于层次分析法和神经网络理论,将AHP与训练后的RBF神经网络相结合完成对电子商务交易的信任评价,较好地解决了移动电子商务交易支付的信任问题。     

烟草网络销售系统的探讨

文章指出,国内烟草专卖网络和烟草配送体系已从传统的、散落的烟草配送方式发展到现在以省、市为中心的网络化烟草配送体系,但这种烟草配送体系无法让信息中心和决策者及时了解实时交易和现金交易的问题,要实现烟草公司和烟草专卖店之间的实时交付,在线支付已成为烟草行业中迫切需要解决的问题。     

我国网络银行发展中的问题及对策研究

随着市场经济的逐步完善和电子商务的迅猛发展,网上交易大量增加。作为网络交易的支付平台,网络银行业务也与日俱增,其低廉的成本和广阔的前景,已逐渐受到人们的关注。但由于我国网上银行业务发展较晚,在网络基础设施建设、网络安全、网络银行的监管及法律法规等方面还存在很多问题,本文针对在网络银行发展中存在的这些问题进行了系统的分析,旨在探讨促进我国网络银行发展的一些对策措施。     

An investigation of causality between insider transactions and stock returns

Prior research shows that corporate insiders engage in profitable transactions by trading securities of their own firms. The main purpose of this study is to examine whether insider transactions and stock returns have causality relationships at the firm level for a sample of 2,521 firms during the period 1988 to 1998. We find a large impact of stock returns on subsequent insider transactions at both the aggregate and firm levels. The impact appears to be negative which suggests that insiders buy after stock price decreases and sell after stock price increases. Our findings on the predictive content of insider transactions for subsequent stock returns are primarily consistent with prior literature. We observe a positive but weak relationship between insider transactions and future stock returns.     

Housing transactions and macroeconomic fluctuations: a case study of England and Wales

This paper focuses on the drivers for transactions of residential properties using England and Wales as a case study. We present a non-technical discussion of a theoretical framework that rationalizes the positive correlation of income, housing prices and housing transactions over the business cycle. We then extend the theoretical framework to explain how the credit market liberalization of the early 1980s, demographic changes and construction activity have affected the trend in housing transactions and contributed to making the 1980s a period of exceptionally high transaction levels in England and Wales. We present evidence in support of the view that housing demand fluctuations have been the key driver of housing transactions, in particular, changes in housing demand from first-time buyers.     

THE POLITICAL EMBEDDEDNESS OF PRIVATE ECONOMIC TRANSACTIONS*

Governments are able to manipulate economic transactions in order to achieve foreign policy goals. This article addresses the question: can managers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) structure economic transactions in ways that will limit the costs resulting from government intervention? Using a transaction cost framework, the efficiency of alternative structures (exporting, joint ventures, licensing, or wholly owned subsidiaries) for protecting a firm's interests are assessed. We argue that the traditional focus on the dyadic relationship between supplier and buyer misses sources of transaction costs; by conceptualizing economic transactions as embedded in a political context, additional sources of transaction costs are revealed. We examine three cases of home government intervention in US MNE transactions with the Soviet Union. We find that the full range of structural alternatives is affected by government sanctions, although sanctions are imposed on exporting relationships first and removed last. We find that MNEs are, therefore, beginning to insulate international transactions by making their overseas subsidiaries more independent of US technology and supplies with the hope that the US government will be less likely to impose its will extraterritorially by intervening in foreign subsidiaries’private economic transactions.     

The impact of supply-side electronic integration on customer service performance

Although information technologies have been expected to directly enhance firm performance in specific value chain activities (e.g., supplier performance or customer service performance), their advanced capabilities offer the promise of organizational integration and spill-over benefits. Enterprise systems provide firms with platforms for electronically integrating their supplier and demand chain activities. Spill-over benefits refer to the impacts that occur when IT investments in one organizational domain benefit performance in a different value chain side of the firm. Supply-side electronic integration (SEI) refers to the use of electronic means to integrate the exchange of information and transactions with suppliers through enterprise systems. In our research, we examine whether SEI generates spill-over effects on customer service performance, over and beyond firms’ direct investments in customer-side digitization. We also examine whether structural attributes of the firm (e.g., vertical integration, diversification, and centralization) moderate the effects of supply-side electronic integration on customer service performance. Our analysis of a secondary dataset of InformationWeek 500 firms shows that SEI helps firms realize cost-savings in their customer service performance, especially if they are less vertically integrated. In addition, SEI investments help diversified and centralized firms achieve cross-selling with their customers. We also find that SEI is more likely to help decentralized and diversified firms achieve customization in their customer service activities. These results suggest that SEI helps firms achieve twin goals in customer service: cost reduction and revenue expansion. Overall, our research reveals how supply-side electronic integration could generate benefits in customer service performance in firms.     

How is service procurement different from goods procurement? Exploring ex ante costs and ex post problems in IT procurement

Several studies suggest that, in practice, service procurement is more challenging than goods procurement. The underlying but largely implicit argument is that the procurement process for services involves higher buyer uncertainty and therefore requires extra efforts to mitigate this uncertainty. Drawing on Transaction Cost Economics, we use a database of information technology transactions to investigate the relationship between transaction characteristics and social embeddedness, and ex ante cost and ex post problems. We explore whether the same relationships hold across transactions that involve only goods versus transactions that also involve services. Our findings support conventional wisdom that managing the procurement process for transactions involving services is more challenging than for transactions involving goods. However, when controlling for typical transaction characteristics, there is no difference between transactions involving goods and transactions that also involve services.     

Related-party transactions and corporate performance following the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in Taiwan

We explore the association between related-party transactions and the efficiency of Taiwanese electronics companies following the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the period 2010–2018. Tests of differences in mean showed that the efficiency and related-party transactions of the sample companies were significantly lower in the post-IFRS era. Regression results indicated that related-party transactions have significantly positive effects on efficiency; however, this positive association turned out to be smaller following the adoption of IFRS in Taiwan. Overall, this study suggests that changing accounting policy and rules can significantly affect related-party transactions in companies, and ultimately corporate performance.     

Survival is for the fittest: Export survival patterns in Georgia

This paper analyzes the determinants of export flow survival in Georgia. The paper uses a unique Georgian firm-level dataset, in which firm characteristics and output dynamics are matched with their customs export transactions, for the period 2006–2012. We adopt a discrete survival model to explore the role of firm-level characteristics, diversification strategies and network effects on the survival rates of export flows. Low survival rates at the product level limit the ability of Georgian firms to consolidate new products in international markets. The analysis finds that it is production efficiency, rather than size, that boosts export survival chances, that firms’ diversification strategies matter for the prospects of survival, and that there is strong evidence of network effects in export survival. We also find that ratified foreign trade agreements contribute to increase the survival of export flows by reducing policy-induced trading costs and increasing information about destination markets.     

Antecedents of vertical integration: Transaction cost economics and resource-based explanations

This article focuses on antecedents of vertical integration. A model of vertical integration derived from transaction cost economics and the resource-based view is tested empirically with data from the mechanical maintenance services market in the hydroelectricity industry. The results show that asset specificity and closeness to present competence are positively related to vertical integration, while tacit knowledge is negatively related to vertical integration. The positive interaction effect between asset specificity and closeness to present competence on vertical integration is also supported, indicating that the decisions on insourcing and outsourcing can benefit from using transaction cost economics and the resource-based view in tandem.     

企业融资交易的契约安排：一个交易费用经济学的分析框架

交易费用经济学理论将股权契约和债权契约视为对融资交易不同的契约治理结构。债权契约具有古典契约的特征,是一种按规则运作的契约治理结构;股权契约具有弹性治理的特征,是一种关系型契约治理结构。依据交易费用经济学理论关于交易与契约匹配的一般机理,可以得出融资交易的契约安排机理:低资产专用性融资交易选择债权契约,高资产专用性融资交易选择股权契约,中等资产专用性融资交易选择混合性融资契约,这既可达到交易费用的最小化,又可实现交易效率的最大化。究竟哪类契约在现实融资契约安排中占主导地位,这取决于融资交易包含的资产专用性大小。     

Interbank loans,collateral and modern monetary policy

This study develops a novel agent-based model of the interbank market with endogenous credit risk formation mechanisms. We allow banks to exchange funds through unsecured and secured transactions, which facilitates the flow of funds to the most profitable investment projects. Risk premiums result from banks׳ forecasting rules and depend on past performance of the benchmark risk factors and interest rates. Our model confirms basic stylized facts of the interbank interest rates and volumes. We also find that network structures within the secured market segment are characterized by the presence of dealer banks, while we do not observe similar patterns in the unsecured market. We perturb the model with exogenous shocks and policy scenarios which correspond to unconventional monetary policies.     

Exchange rate pass-through at the individual product level: Implications for financial market integration

Global and regional integration of financial markets with enhanced international monetary transactions between economic agents increases the exchange rate risk. As this obstacle is growing at speed, market integration should be developed with a view to avoid this risk. In this study, we investigate exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) to examine who takes this risk. Specifically, we estimate the degree of ERPT for individual products by using primary auction price data of used/second-hand construction machinery purchased in Japan and then exported to Thailand for resale. Our empirical analysis of these data at the individual product level enables us to avoid bias in estimating ERPT caused by the use of aggregated data. We find that ERPT is asymmetric and changes in exchange rates are reflected in baht-denominated resale prices only when the baht appreciates against the yen. This indicates that raising resale prices in the destination market is more difficult for the exporters than lowering them, meaning that they can suffer significantly from the exchange rate risk. This paper serves as a reference for a safer financial market by learning how market players are influenced by the exchange rate in a trade market with a unique dataset.     

财务经营、管理与治理:财务职能的重新解构

企业的性质可从生产或技术的组织、稀少性价值增进与调控的机制、产权联合与团队生产的载体三个层面来认识。在这三个层面上，企业活动实际上是通过不同类型的交易展开的，因而企业应视为一种交易的集约机构。相应地，企业的财务活动也是以买卖的交易、管理的交易、限额的交易而展开的，分别行使具体的财务经营职能、财务管理职能、财务治理职能，并共同地、联合地完成财务的基本职能，即配置企业拥有或控制的财务资源，这种观点可称为一职能说。     

Multinational Exposure and the Quality of New Chinese Exports

We exploit information on the geographic, product and trader characteristics of China's 1997–2009 exports to examine how the evolving city‐industry presence of multinational firms influenced the quality, frequency and survival of new export transactions by private Chinese firms. Our results show that own‐industry multinational firm contact was associated with more frequent, higher‐valued, and longer‐lasting new trade transactions. These effects appear to arise from beneficial multinational spillovers, rather than selection effects due to increased multinational competition, as increases in own‐industry or other multinational presence were also associated with an increase in the number of trade transactions introduced by private Chinese firms.     

浅析计算机网络系统集成技术方法

目前,基于计算机网络的系统集成技术方法主要有数据集成、API集成和方法集成三种形式。同时,不同的计算机网络对系统集成程度和模式要求也各不相同,因此,为了更好地阐述计算机网络系统集成技术方法,本文将结合普通高校校园网,简单分析系统集成技术方法,以此对网络系统集成技术方法的应用做进一步的探讨。