The Impact of Competition on Investment: Evidence From California Hospitals*

I examine the relationship between bargaining leverage and capital investment using data on California’s hospital markets. I find evidence that investment increases with bargaining leverage; a hospital whose bargaining position improves by one standard deviation will increase its investment rate by 16 percentage points. A positive causal relationship between bargaining leverage and investment fits the institutional details of the health care sector, where many firms have non-profit tax status, making it difficult to return monopoly rents to shareholders. Consistent with this explanation, I find that non-profit hospitals with bargaining leverage invest more than for-profit ones, all else equal. I do not find strong evidence that financing constraints matter disproportionately for hospitals operating in more competitive markets, supporting the hypothesis that the incremental investment may not be socially efficient.     

Multihospital Chain Acquisitions and Competition in Local Health Care Markets

This paper examines the determinants of multi-hospital acquisitions in California during a period of increased competition, 1984–1993. Evidence is examined for differences by chain type in acquisition preferences in the face of increased competitive pressure. Significant differences are found among chain types (for-profit, non-profit, and church). All three types appear to position themselves through acquisitions to obtain multiple-hospital holdings within local markets, with the non-profit type exhibiting the greatest tendency. Such positioning may enhance efficiency in payor contracting and increase market power, lowering competition in the long run.     

Governance Structure and Exit: Evidence from California Hospitals

Most inpatient and emergency health care services in the U.S. are delivered by non-profit organizations. To understand the impact of policies that are designed to affect competitive outcomes in hospital markets, it’s important to understand whether the “non-profit” structure changes the behavior and competitive conduct of firms. Given the complexity of the product space within which hospitals operate, we focus on more easily interpreted decisions within the hospital market: entry and exit. Using comprehensive administrative data for the universe of California hospitals from 1980 to 2013, we document the observed entry and exit behavior. We estimate flexible exit policy functions and demonstrate a difference in behavior between for-profit and non-profit firms that exists after accounting for several observable characteristics of hospitals. We find differences in observed behavior: this is a finding that strongly suggests that there are differences in the underlying objective function of the various firms.     

Not for the Profit,But for the Training? Gender Differences in Training in the For-Profit and Non-Profit Sectors

In this article, we use Canadian-linked employer–employee data to examine gender differences in receiving firm-sponsored training. We find that women in the for-profit sector are less likely to receive classroom training and receive fewer classroom training courses. However, we find the opposite in the non-profit sector, where women are more likely to receive both classroom and on-the-job training, and also receive more classroom training courses. We show that women's worse training opportunities in the for-profit sector mainly operate within workplaces. We find no evidence that gender gaps in training in the for-profit sector are driven by lower probabilities of accepting training offers, child or family commitments, weaker labour market attachment or worker self-selection. We also find that gender differences in expected changes in wages and training opportunities between the two sectors can explain a large portion of women's higher probability of employment in the non-profit sector. Finally, decomposition results suggest that part of the gender wage gap in the for-profit sector, which is twice as large as in the non-profit sector, can be explained by gender differences in training.     

An antitrust analysis of non-profit hospital mergers

This paper considers such issues involved in non-profit hospital mergers as relevant product and geographic markets and the impacts of mergers on competition. The roles of non-price competition, entry barriers, and merger-generated efficiencies are considered. Close attention is given to the relevance of the Justice Department Merger guideline to the hospital industry. Through detailed examination of four litigated or challenged cases, the geographic market is shown to depend upon particular medical services. Outpatient services are found to comprise a separate market from inpatient hospital services, and non-profit status is determined to warrant the usual antitrust merger treatment.     

The Role of Hospital and Market Characteristics in Invasive Cardiac Service Diffusion

Little is known about how the adoption and diffusion of medical innovation is related to and influenced by market characteristics such as competition. The particular complications that are involved in investigating these relationships in the health care sector may explain the dearth of research. We examine three invasive cardiac services: diagnostic angiography, percutaneous coronary interventions, and coronary artery bypass grafting. We document the relationship between the adoption by hospitals of these three invasive cardiac services and the characteristics of the hospitals, their markets, and the interactions among them, from 1997 to 2014. The results show that the probability of hospitals’ adopting a new cardiac service depends on competition in two distinct ways: (1) hospitals are substantially more likely to adopt an invasive cardiac service if competitor hospitals also adopt new services; and (2) hospitals are less likely to adopt a new service if a larger fraction of the nearby population already has geographic access to the service at a nearby hospital. The first effect is stronger, leading to the net effect that hospitals duplicate rather than expand access to care. In addition, for-profit hospitals are considerably more likely to adopt these cardiac services than are either nonprofit or government-owned hospitals. Nonprofit hospitals in high-penetration, for-profit markets are also more likely to adopt them relative to other nonprofits. These results suggest that factors other than medical need—such as a medical arms race—partially explain technological adoption.     

Bargaining over employment as a firm strategic choice

This paper develops a simple model as to why unionized Cournot firms acting non-cooperatively in the product market may find it optimal to commit to bargaining outcomes with their specific union, which are off the labor demand curve, hence restricting their behavior to non-profit maximizing practices in their product markets. The prediction that power over labor conceded strategically to the union by the firm is negatively linked to union wage power is not rejected on a panel of Belgian firms as well as the prediction that the union bargaining power can be affected by product market structure and other variables affecting union wages.     

能源工程企业的国际化发展路径剖析

通过整理7家典型的国际型能源工程公司的国际化发展大事记,分析这些公司国际化发展的路径,研究能源工程企业国际化发展在市场选择、产品/服务提供、国际化方式、商业模式、组织结构、资源配置等方面的演变过程,归纳出能源工程企业国际化发展的一般规律.以海外机构的组织设计形式为主要依据,将能源工程企业的国际化分为萌芽阶段、初始阶段、成长阶段、成熟阶段四个阶段,从组织设计、国际化方式、市场选择、商业模式、产品/服务提供、资源配置六个维度,总结能源工程公司在各阶段的主要特征.目前我国能源工程企业基本上处在国际化发展的萌芽或初始阶段,在实施国际化发展战略时,应该选择能源工程企业国际化早期的发展模式;宜采取海外项目承揽和国际合作的方式,要重点考虑分包和联合投标的商业模式;应将海外目标市场定位于容易进入的机会市场,重点是关系友好国家市场.     

论企业管理创新的制约因素

在竞争日益白热化的现代商场中，许多企业自愿或不自愿地经历着管理上的变革和创新。文章从企业管理创新对于现代企业的必要性入手，结合案例分析了在这一创新过程中企业面临的诸多制约因素。     

Anatomy of a social partnership: A stakeholder perspective

We offer an anatomic analysis of a social partnership among a complex network of stakeholder organizations. Contributions of this research are twofold. First, we use explanatory case data to develop a framework of stakeholder collaboration in a complex setting involving a mix of for-profit and non-profit organizations. Our study is motivated by a need for understanding about how organizations can work within social partnerships to achieve their goals (be they profit related or otherwise). Second, we offer insight about lateral relationship exchange from the view of the entire project—a perspective not typically employed in the domain of relationship marketing. The focal issue in the case, use of technology to improve highway safety, is a social initiative which further sets our study apart in the relationship marketing literature. Using fieldnotes from 33 in-depth interviews, we employ a mix of inductive and deductive reasoning to formulate a conceptual framework and research propositions for the social partnership. The conceptual framework offers in-depth understanding of social partnership development and relationship dynamics. This, in turn, may help stakeholders achieve organizational goals more effectively in this unique environment.     

我国服装出口状况及企业策略研究

根据我国服装出口状况,客观分析了服装出口产品结构和主要出口市场,提出了出口企业应对“后配额时代”的经营策略。     

企业内部市场:起源、演进及挑战

本文通过对工商管理史料的考察，认为M型结构是内部市场的摇篮；指出随着M型结构的推广，内部市场定价方法不断细化，竞争机制逐步引入企业内部并打破内部垄断，以及价格机制参与企业内部生产协调的范围从基本活动延伸到辅助活动；阐述了内部市场对科斯关于企业本质的命题、企业管理范式、交易费用经济学的逻辑完整性等提出的挑战；文章最后还指出了开展内部市场理论研究需要特别注意的问题。     

The impact of entrepreneurial orientation on B2B branding and business growth in emerging markets

This study examines the relation between entrepreneurial orientation and brand orientation in industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the extent to which the two contribute to business growth in emerging markets. The authors develop and empirically test a structural model using data collected from Hungary, a country that has undergone a political and economic transition during the past two decades since the fall of the iron curtain. The results show that entrepreneurial orientation has a positive effect on business growth in emerging markets, whereas brand orientation has an adverse effect. Furthermore, the study examines whether there are differences (1) between B2B firms and B2C firms operating in emerging markets and (2) between B2B firms operating in emerging markets (Hungary) and in developed markets (Finland). The results from comparative analyses suggest that while B2B firms and B2C firms do not differ significantly from each other, there are notable differences between emerging markets and developed markets. Specifically, the study finds that although brand orientation does not contribute to business growth in Hungarian B2B firms, it has a positive effect on growth in B2B firms operating in Finland.     

防御型专利战略在我国企业中的应用研究

专利战略已经成为企业生存和发展的重要保障。防御型专利战略是打破竞争对手技术垄断的关键。研究我国企业如何运用防御型专利战略,抵御国外企业的专利进攻,开拓自己的市场,具有十分重要的现实意义     

标准在企业走向国际市场中的作用

阐述了标准在企业生产经营活动中的作用，通过对国际标准、WTO、WTO/TBT协议的情况介绍，分析了标准对于开展国际贸易的重要性，明确了国际标准是WTO协议的技术基础，是消除贸易技术壁垒的有效手段；明晰了标准在企业走向国际市场中的作用即在新的经济形势下，标准不仅一如既往的在企业的生产和经营中发挥着重要的作用，而且在企业走向国际市场的过程中，又架起了通向国际市场的桥梁。     

How R&D is coordinated in Japanese and European multinationals

What are the suitable forms and mechanisms for the coordination of international R&D and innovation processes in multinational corporations? This paper sets out to answer this question by exploratory research and interviews in 18 European and Japanese companies. As a conceptual background, four different categories of coordination mechanisms are generated (‘structural’, ‘hybrid’, ‘informal’ and ‘internal markets’). The empirical results show that Japanese companies make intensive use of personal contacts, informal communication and socialisation whereas European enterprises rely more on internal markets in R&D.     

论经济全球化时代跨国公司垄断结构

在经济全球化时代，一国的竞争优势和影响力主要体现在其跨国公司对全球资源的支配力上。跨国公司的竞争优势来源于其垄断结构及由此带来的垄断结构利润。在全球化与信息经济条件下，跨国公司的垄断结构是有效率的，并不会妨碍竞争，这可以用新的可竞争市场理论来说明。     

Does a Hospital’s Profit Status Affect its Operational Scope?

We empirically evaluate whether a hospital’s organizational form (for-profit vs. not-for-profit or public) affects its operational scope (distribution of supplied medical procedures). Our results suggest that scope depends more on local demographics than causal forces from organizational form. This suggestion is consistent with differences in objectives (e.g., altruistic motives) ultimately exerting a stronger influence on operational scope than does the organizational advantage of not-for-profits in producing higher levels of non-contractible quality. It also offers information about how the availability of different medical services might change if the hospital sector continues its trend toward for-profit organization. Here, hospital conversions to for-profit status appear less likely to alter the mix of available services than do outright exits of not-for-profits.      

国有企业就业弱势群体形成原因与治理对策研究——国有企业内部劳动市场的缺陷及其修复

本文通过分析传统体制下国有企业内部劳动力市场运行的低效率对下岗失业人员增多的影响，阐述了在经济转轨过程中国有企业内部劳动力市场的缺陷及其修复机制。文章认为，国有企业所依托的内部劳动力市场上的工资决定和就业政策的制度性特征，是造成目前国有企业就业弱势群体就业困难的内在原因，并提出了牺牲效率为代价而过多地使用被动的失业政策无助于从根本上解决问题。为此，应从修复内部劳动力市场运行机制入手，打通内外部劳动力市场，配套使用主动和被动的失业政策，才是减少国有企业就业弱势群体的根本途径。     

数字贸易赋能制造业质量变革机制与效应——来自跨境电子商务综合试验区的准自然实验

数字贸易已经成为全球发展的趋势。本文使用2009~2020年沪深A股制造业上市公司,以跨境电子商务综试区设立为“准自然实验”,探究数字贸易赋能制造业质量变革的作用机制与效应,结果发现:(1)设立跨境电子商务综试区能够显著提高企业全要素生产率,数字贸易推动制造业企业质量升级;(2)机制分析发现,数字贸易使得企业能获得和使用市场中更多的信息来满足消费者,提升了企业研发创新能力,进而提升企业质量。数字贸易对出口企业质量升级的影响大于非出口企业,数字贸易对两者的影响途径存在差异;(3)异质性分析表明,政治资源诅咒与基础设施限制,使数字贸易对非国有企业和高互联网发展水平制造业企业质量升级的影响更加明显;(4)数字贸易赋能制造业升级具有出口提升效应,数字贸易提升了制造业企业出口产品质量、产品种类与海外市场。本文结论对理解数字贸易在我国制造业质量改革中发挥的作用,以及数字贸易政策实践具有借鉴意义。