Hot Spots: Why Some Teams,Workplaces and Organizations Buzz with Energy—and Others Don't by Lynda Gratton

Books reviewed in this issue:

• ? Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces and Organizations Buzz with Energy—and Others Don't
• ? Cracking the Ad Code
• ? Innovation Tournaments: Creating and Selecting Exceptional Opportunities

     

Some Loans Are More Equal than Others: Third–Party Originations and Defaults in the Subprime Mortgage Industry

We show how agency problems between lenders (principals) and third–party originators (TPO; agents) imply that TPO–originated loans are more likely to default than similar retail–originated loans. The nature of the agency problem is that TPOs are compensated for writing loans, but are not completely held accountable for the subsequent performance of those loans. Using a hazard model with jointly estimated competing risks and unobserved heterogeneity, we find empirical support for the TPO/default prediction using individual fixed–rate subprime loans with first liens secured by residential real estate originated between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 1998. We find that apparently equal loans (similar ability to pay, option incentives and term) can have unequal default probabilities. We also find that, initially, the agency–cost risk was not priced. At first, the market did not recognize the higher channel risk, since TPO and retail loans received similar interest rates even though the TPO loans were more likely to default. We also show that this inefficiency was short–lived. As the difference in default rates became apparent, interest rates on TPO loans rose about 50 basis points above otherwise similar retail loans.     

从创意到商品：运作流程与创意产业成长——基于“一意多用”视角

一个创意多样化利用("一意多用")是创意产业中重要的经济现象。本文提出"一意多用"概念,对其三个存在条件和两种基本表现形式进行了详细分析,进而构建了一个从创意到商品的运作流程框架,并提出"一意多用"的三种发展模式。文章还从创业理论和新增长理论两个视角分别提出了"一意多用"促进创意产业成长的独特机制。最后,从创意生成和创意开发两个基本层面提出发展创意产业的政策建议。     

规模报酬递增的第二种机制:为什么重复建设与规模效率的提高可以并存

本文探讨了政府竞争格局下行业规模报酬递增的机制。我们发现,经典的规模报酬递增机制会导致垄断竞争条件下的厂商均衡数目减少,因而规模效率的提高与重复建设不可能同时出现。但是地方政府降低厂商固定成本的竞争却可以在重复建设的同时带来规模效率的提高,这就是本文所发现的政府竞争格局下行业规模报酬递增的第二种机制。我们通过DEA-VRS模型和DEA-Malmquist指数法初步证实了此过程。实证研究发现,在控制了干中学和货币外部性之后,地区行政垄断指数与规模效率的动态变动呈现显著的倒U形关系。     

Focus Groups and the Development of New Products by Technologically Driven Companies: Some Guidelines

Manufacturers of consumer goods frequently have used focus group discussions to learn about consumers' reactions to both new and existing products. Typically, results of these discussions have led to the exploration of new concepts and the identification of new opportunities. Edward McQuarrie and Shelby McIntyre have developed a series of practical guidelines to help industrial and technological companies use focus groups during the process of concept development and refinement. The group's discussion provides insight into how the product may be received by buyers in the marketplace.     

Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas by Richard Ogle and The Medici Effect: What Elephants & Epidemics Can Teach Us about Innovation by Frans Johansson

As Ruediger Klein leads off in this group of reviews, "Innovation is everywhere—or so it seems." Most of these reviews center on idea generation and processing. It will be interesting to see if—as Klein forecasts—this is indeed the decade of innovation and creativity.
In the next issue, we will try to be more balanced—or we may get even more creative!
Books reviewed in this issue:

• ▪

  Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas
• ▪

  The Medici Effect: What Elephants & Epidemics Can Teach Us about Innovation
• ▪

  Getting to Innovation: How Asking the Right Questions Generates the Great Ideas Your Company Needs
• ▪

  Hidden in Plain Sight
• ▪

  Human Factors in Project Management
• ▪

  The Fast Path to Corporate Growth: Leveraging Knowledge and Technologies to New Market Applications

     

Food risk communication: Some of the problems and issues faced by communicators on the Island of Ireland (IOI)

In this paper we consider the findings of a number of interlinked pieces of research, both qualitative and quantitative, that have investigated aspects of food risk communication on the island of Ireland. These findings are set in the context of international risk communication research. The findings are examined using the three basic elements of a simple communications framework: the message sender; the channel through which the message is communicated and the receiver of the message. The barriers to effective communication are examined and special reference is made to the barriers affecting the communication of domestic food safety risk. Barriers identified include personal, infrastructural and message related factors, such as lack of interest, lack of appropriate facilities and conflicting messages. Based on an evaluation of the views of the scientific community and the public, we make suggestions on how future food safety communications could be tackled to better address the identified barriers. Both suggested long and short term policies are considered in the context of a heterogeneous public and scientific community. Short term suggestions provide an opportunity to address the challenges faced by those who are currently exposing themselves to a high level of domestic food safety risk. The long term suggestions reflect on the underlying barriers impacting on public domestic food safety practices.