Issue Networks, Value Structures and the Formulation of Accounting Standards: An Exercise in Theory Building

This study is an exercise in theory building. It begins from the premise that current theory with respect to the setting of accounting standards is inadequate. We advance current theory by incorporating new ideas from sociology (issues network theory, see Heclo (1978, In: King A (ed) The New American Political System. American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC, pp 87–124) and social psychology (values structure ideas drawn from Shakun (1988, Evolutionary system design: policy making under complexity and group decision support systems. Holden-Day, Inc., Oakland, CA). In doing so, we extend previous theorizing on the accounting standard setting process (e.g., triocracy theory). Issue network theory holds that groups with intellectual, ideological and economic interests have interests in, and may exert efforts to influence, policy adoption. It is a natural outgrowth of, and important extension to, triocracy theory. We draw on Shakun’s (1988, Evolutionary system design: policy making under complexity and group decision support systems. Holden-Day, Inc., Oakland, CA) Evolutionary Systems Design theory to elucidate a theory of motivation. We argue that complex motivational structures influence the behaviors of the parties to the accounting standard setting process. As part of this effort, we categorize the guiding terminal values, instrumental values and operational goals that guide participant behaviors. We draw on previous literature to document parts of the model.     

SME foreign market entry mode choice and foreign venture performance: The moderating effect of international experience and product adaptation

Firms’ foreign market entry mode choice attracts considerable research attention. However, the performance implications of this choice remain inconclusive, particularly in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The present paper draws on the resource-based view (RBV) and develops a theoretical model specifically tailored to the context of SMEs in order to study the relationship between entry mode choice and foreign venture performance. Testing hypotheses on 133 German SMEs, we show that international experience as a resource and product adaptation as a capability improve the performance of non-equity entry modes by mitigating liabilities of smallness inherent to SMEs. We furthermore find empirical support for the joint moderating effect of international experience and product adaptation on the focal relation. Our findings contribute to the SME foreign market entry mode literature and have implications for practitioners and future research.     

Competition with clone: an analysis of the role of illegal copy

The efficiency of a market depends on the amount of information about products available to buyers. However, an information goods market is not an efficient market because information goods are mostly experience goods. We suggest that illegal copying can be an efficient information channel to account for the problem. We also suggest that partially enforced copyright protection may encourage the competition between the original information goods and illegally copied goods that benefits not only customers but also producers.     

Learning About Computers: An Analysis of Information Search and Technology Choice

We estimate a dynamic model of how consumers learn about and choose between different brands of personal computers (PCs). To estimate the model, we use a panel data set that contains the search and purchase behavior of a set of consumers who were in the market for a PC. The data includes the information sources visited each period, search durations, as well as measures of price expectations and stated attitudes toward the alternatives during the search process. Our model extends recent work on estimation of Bayesian learning models of consumer choice behavior in environments characterized by uncertainty by estimating a model of active learning—i.e., a model in which consumers make optimal sequential decisions about how much information to gather prior to making a purchase. Also, following the suggestion of Manski (2003), we use our data on price expectations to model consumers’ price expectation process, and, following the suggestion of McFadden (1989a), we incorporate the stated brand quality information into our likelihood function, rather than modeling only revealed preference data.Our analysis sheds light on how consumer forward-looking price expectations and the process of learning about quality influence the consumer choice process. A key finding is that estimates of dynamic price elasticities of demand exceed estimates that ignore the expectations effect by roughly 50%. This occurs because our estimated expectations formation process implies that consumers expect mean reversion in price changes. This enhances the impact of a temporary price cut. Finally, while our work focuses specifically on the PC market, the modeling approach we develop here may be useful for studying a wide range of high-tech, high-involvement durable goods markets where active learning is important.JEL Classification: C15, C33, C35, C42, C51, C52, D83, D84     

Why a poor governance environment does not deter foreign direct investment: The case of China and its implications for investment protection

It is widely believed that countries with a poor governance environment (e.g., weak laws and rampant corruption) do not attract foreign direct investment (FDI); however, our study suggests otherwise. Using China as a case study, this article argues that the prevailing theory that a good governance environment begets FDI is incomplete. When faced with a poor governance environment, investors choose direct investment over indirect (portfolio) investment because the former can be better protected by private means. In fact, China attracts a large amount of FDI because of, rather than despite, its lack of a good governance environment. In conclusion, this article offers strategies to better protect investments and to chart through the pitfalls resulting from rapid changes in the governance environment.     

An analysis of the cause and magnitude of foreign trade zone‐induced biases in US import statistics

Comparisons of matched US COMTRADE and World Trade Organization IDB statistics reveal numerous instances where the WTO data on dutiable imports exceed both the corresponding UN general import statistics and the reported exports of partner countries by very large margins over extended periods. In cases, the dutiable import statistics report major trade in products for which the partners do not record any corresponding exports (to anyone). Empirical tests indicate these biases result from special (and very unorthodox) invoicing practices for shipments into US foreign trade zones. The paper concludes these problems have the potential to seriously misdirect analytical trade studies which must utilise import statistics for their empirical base.     

Negative emotions of an entrepreneurial career: Self-employment and regulatory coping behaviors

Although we know a great deal about the relationship between self-employment and the experience of positive emotions such as passion, excitement, happiness, satisfaction, and flow, there is some research that suggests that the self-employed may be more susceptible than employees to negative emotions such as stress, fear of failure, loneliness, mental strain, and grief. We draw on the literature on role requirements to develop a model of career pursuit based on individuals' willingness and abilities to regulate these emotions. Using a nation-wide survey of more than 2700 US citizens we show that over and above the effects of positive emotions, the self-employed experienced fewer negative emotions than those who are employed, contingent on their regulatory coping behaviors. We discuss implications of these results for the literature on entrepreneurial emotions.     

Productivity efficiency and firm size: An empirical analysis of foreign owned companies

There are various arguments about the impact of firm size on productivity growth. On one hand, it is claimed that large firms could be more efficient in production because they could use more specialized inputs, better coordinate their resources, etc. On the other hand, it is emphasized that small firms could be more efficient because they have flexible, non-hierarchical structures, and do not usually suffer from the so-called agency problem. This paper argues that size exerts an indirect effect on firms’ productivity, as it conditions the impact of internal factors on productivity. By using different methodological approaches to assess the impact of different characteristics of foreign owned firms on productivity, this paper analyzes to what extend the heterogeneous pattern of productivity can be accounted for by the levels of those factors.     

Unraveling the Personalization Paradox: The Effect of Information Collection and Trust-Building Strategies on Online Advertisement Effectiveness

Retailers gather data about customers’ online behavior to develop personalized service offers. Greater personalization typically increases service relevance and customer adoption, but paradoxically, it also may increase customers’ sense of vulnerability and lower adoption rates. To demonstrate this contradiction, an exploratory field study on Facebook and secondary data about a personalized advertising campaign indicate sharp drops in click-through rates when customers realize their personal information has been collected without their consent. To investigate the personalization paradox, this study uses three experiments that confirm a firm's strategy for collecting information from social media websites is a crucial determinant of how customers react to online personalized advertising. When firms engage in overt information collection, participants exhibit greater click-through intentions in response to more personalized advertisements, in contrast with their reactions when firms collect information covertly. This effect reflects the feelings of vulnerability that consumers experience when firms undertake covert information collection strategies. Trust-building marketing strategies that transfer trust from another website or signal trust with informational cues can offset this negative effect. These studies help unravel the personalization paradox by explicating the role of information collection and its impact on vulnerability and click-through rates.     

Agency and Control Problems in US Corporations: The Case of Energy-efficient Investment Projects

Private sector corporations in the United States fall short of their potential to increase shareholders'1 wealth in a number of ways. One example is the failure to undertake profitable energy conservation investments. Explanations of this phenomenon include agency and moral hazard problems, imperfect information and incentives, myopia, and X-inefficiency. Data from a survey conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency and from interviews with corporate executives are used to explore these hypotheses. Good overall corporate performance is found to be associated with longer internal payback requirements for energy investments. Suggestions for improving corporate decision-making in this area are proposed.     

The relative importance of old and new decision specific experience in foreign ownership strategies: an exploratory study

In this paper, we examine the relative importance of old and recent decision specific experience for MNC's foreign ownership structure decision. Using established procedures to measure decision specific experience construct, we find, from data for Japanese MNCs for the period 1969–1991, empirical evidence that firms tend to rely on both old and recent decision specific experiences for their current ownership structure decision, but that they rely more on recent decision specific experience than on old decision specific experience, contrary to the conventional organizational learning view on the temporal importance of decision specific experience. Sub-sample analysis involving developed and developing countries indicates that both old and new decision specific experience are important for both groups of countries, but old (new) decision specific experience is marginally more important for investments made in developing (developed) countries.     

信息分散程度、审批制度改革与国有企业投资效率——基于市级行政审批中心成立的准自然实验

作为供给侧结构性改革的关键性举措,审批制度改革通过打破行政垄断、缩短投资审批流程,有助于提升微观企业经营灵活性。本文选取1999—2017年沪深两市A股国有上市公司为研究对象,在Hayek(1945)的当地信息优势理论框架下,将市级行政审批中心的成立作为准自然实验,考察审批制度改革如何影响国有企业投资效率及其作用机制。研究发现,审批制度改革能够显著促进国有企业投资效率提升,表现为企业新增投资与投资机会间的敏感性显著提升,且在投资机会信息分散程度更高的企业中更显著,上述研究结论经过内生性处理及稳健性测试后仍然成立。横截面检验显示:(1)与市场化程度低的地区相比,审批制度改革对市场化程度更高地区的国有企业投资效率的提升作用更显著;(2)与中央国有企业相比,地方国有企业受审批制度改革的影响相对更大。作用机制检验发现,审批制度改革显著抑制了国有企业交易费用。本文研究结论既有助于揭示当前简政放权产生的微观经济效应,也能够为进一步深化国有企业改革的实践提供证据支持。     

Outsourcing of Information Systems Functions in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A Test of a Multi-Theoretical Model

In this paper determinants of information systems (IS) outsourcing are deduced from transaction cost economic theory, resource-based theory and power theory. They are summarized in a theoretical framework which is tested using a sample of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany. The results show that internal performance and know-how deficits vis-à-vis external service providers are key determinants that explain why different IS functions are outsourced to varying degrees in SMEs. Moreover, the determinants of IS functions were found to partially differ between IS functions. Revised reprint of an article from WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 43(4)2001:339–350.

试析劳动者合法权益保护存在缺陷及解决方案——以《劳动合同法》的理论上的精确解读为视角

劳动者权益保护的问题既是重要法律问题,也是重要社会问题。当前,现行《劳动合同法》劳动者权益保护存在缺陷,企业裁员对劳动者权益损害严重,过渡条款适用对劳动者产生不利影响。完善《劳动合同法》对劳动者合法权益保护,应重视农民工权益的保护,提高裁员后对劳动者的经济补偿水平,加强对过渡条款适用范围限制,从劳动合同签订的主体入手,加强其法律意识,从根本上解决法律缺陷对劳动者权益带来损害。     

A meta‐analysis of the indirect impact of foreign direct investment in old and new EU member states: Understanding productivity spillovers

In this paper, we summarise, combine and explain recent findings from firm‐level empirical literature focusing on the indirect impact of foreign direct investment (FDI ) on economic performance, measured as productivity, in the Enlarged Europe. We have reviewed 52 quantitative studies, released between 2000 and 2015 and codified 1,133 estimates. We run a regression of regressions which measures the strength of the FDI –productivity relationship. Taking advantage of large number of high‐quality studies on FDI and its role in explaining the growth in firms’ productivity in Europe, we adopt recent meta‐regression analysis methods—funnel asymmetry and precision estimate tests and precision‐effect estimate with standard errors —to explain the heterogeneous impact of FDI . This paper assesses the country‐specific impact of FDI on firms’ performance, after taking publication selection bias, econometric modelling and the individual studies’ characteristics fully into account. Our results show that on average FDI has a positive indirect impact on productivity. The impact is especially significant in selected European countries, and we interpret this as a sign of better absorptive capacities in those countries.     

Personal bank account access and awareness: an analysis of the technological and informational constraints of Australian consumers

Logit models are used to predict access and awareness of personal bank accounts. Access is defined as the ability and willingness to use automated teller machines, electronic funds transfer point of sale, telephone and internet banking. Awareness relates to the understanding of bank statements, fee and charges, account shopping around and internet calculators. Newer ways of accessing bank accounts are confined to young, urban, well educated, white‐collar occupations. Awareness is lower for respondents with less education, non‐workers, farm workers, unskilled and renting households, and higher for white‐collar occupations, couples and those with higher incomes and savings.     

Applying multiple regression analysis to the forecasting of grocery store sales: an application and critical appraisal

Multiple regression analysis is applied to an analysis of the trading performance of a chain of grocery stores in the north-east of England. The performance of stores outside the conurbations is shown to be related to characteristics of the OPCS ‘urban-areas’ in which the stores are located, and a way is presented of modelling the effect of competition from within and outside these centres.

A high degree of statistical explanation is achieved, and the methodology used is defended against criticisms that can be levelled at many of other multiple regression analyses of store performance. Caution is nevertheless advised against the application of the model to forecasting the performance of new stores, although a range of applications are suggested whereby the implications of changes in the trading circumstances of existing stores might be examined.     

Critical consumer issues in St. Lucia: an examination of consumer challenges and related learning among rural adults according to income levels

Consumer education is a relatively new and growing interest in St. Lucia. Neither the government nor the National Consumer Association has established a consumer education programme to address the growing consumer concerns in the country. The purpose of this study was to examine critical consumer issues, related learning challenges and strategies among rural adults in St. Lucia according to income levels. Rural adult consumers are most disadvantaged in terms of levels of education, income and access to resources, which may help to prevent and mediate consumer concerns. The specific research questions examined were: (1) What is the nature of problems experienced by rural St. Lucian adult consumers in the marketplace? (2) How do rural St. Lucian adult consumers solve the challenges they encounter in the marketplace? (3) What is it like for rural St. Lucian adult consumers as they go about trying to learn to solve the consumer issues they face? and (4) What do rural St. Lucian adult consumers perceive to be the requisites for effective decision making in the marketplace? Data were collected using a questionnaire comprising of 29 questions divided into four sections (problems, strategies, solving consumer problems and making effective decisions) and two biographical questions. A total of 500 rural adult consumers were surveyed verbally through door‐to‐door contact. The findings of this study revealed that middle‐income rural adult consumers experience more problems in the marketplace than those with each lower or higher level of income. Middle‐income rural adult St. Lucian consumers in particular seek more information and are comfortable with using more strategies than the lower‐ and higher‐income rural adult consumers. This research gives us a better understanding of the problems faced by rural adult consumers based on their income. Research results will be useful to the government of St. Lucia and the National Consumer Association when they decide to establish an adult consumer education programme for St. Lucia.     

技术标准战略、技术贸易壁垒与出口竞争力的关系——基于浙江出口美日欧的实证研究

本文在量化技术标准战略和技术贸易壁垒的基础上,利用浙江1995-2007年出口美日欧三国的数据构建了时间序列/截面数据模型,实证研究了浙江技术标准战略以及国外技术贸易壁垒的实施对浙江出口美日欧市场竞争力的影响程度。研究结果显示:浙江技术标准战略、国内技术获取、国际市场购买能力等因素与浙江产品出口美日欧市场的竞争力存在显著正相关关系,同时来自美日欧FDI的负向影响和技术贸易壁垒的正向影响都与传统观点不符。在此基础上,本文对提高浙江出口竞争力提出了具体的政策建议,包括将技术标准战略和外国技术贸易壁垒分别作为提高出口竞争力的内部动力和外部动力,以及高度重视从省外的技术获取等。