A look at the historical growth of the U.S. internet sector

Business Economics - This paper presents an overview of the internet sector. The paper begins by introducing key concepts and definitions, particularly around technology, the internet, and the...     

A closer look at co-movements among stock returns

Correlation among financial assets is widely recognized; however, the mechanics of the relationship are not well understood. This paper investigates the microstructure of the co-movement of stock returns. The goal is to improve our understanding of correlation among stock returns by examining the conditions under which asset returns co-move on an intra-day basis. The methodology combines a traditional lead–lag model with a modified or pseudo-error correction model. Empirical evidence is presented to suggest the speed of adjustment between paired asset intra-day returns is a function of asymmetric information. Specifically, the wider an asset's spread, the faster the asset will converge to the intra-day returns of other similar assets. This result is consistent with partial adjustment model presented by Chan (Chan, K. (1993). Imperfect information and cross-autocorrelation among stock prices. The Journal of Finance:1211–1230.) which suggests market makers gain from monitoring other market makers in periods of uncertainty.     

Does deliverability enhance the value of U.S. Treasury bonds?

This study presents the first examination of the value associated with long‐term U.S. Treasury bonds related to their delivery eligibility in the Treasury bond futures market. The opportunity for study has recently become possible given the reduced maturity of Treasury's noncallable bonds in the market. Consistent with rational behavior, deliverable bonds are found to be more valuable than otherwise comparable, ineligible bonds, and the estimated premia are larger than those previously documented for deliverable bills. However, although detectable and statistically significant, the deliverability component of a cash bond's value is somewhat modest in economic terms; some policy implications of this result are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:264–274, 2008     

A closer look at the productivity advantage of foreign affiliates

In analyzing firm productivity in Belgium, this article shows empirically that both scale and efficiency contribute positively to the typical productivity advantage of foreign affiliates. Stochastic production frontier estimation using the translog functional form indicates that foreign subsidiaries exploit economies of scale more fully and benefit from better (transferred) technological capabilities than Belgian national firms (i.e., Belgian owned firms without subsidiaries abroad). Belgian multinational enterprises (MNEs), i.e., Belgian owned firms with at least one subsidiary abroad, resemble foreign‐based MNEs in possessing specific technological advantages. While the increasing globalization has facilitated the realization of scale effects across borders, this article shows that the development of technological capabilities/advantages is still a prerequisite for MNEs to compete successfully abroad.     

The Retail Travels of the U.S. Greenback: A Comparative Study of Currency Substitution Along the U.S.-Canadian and U.S.-Mexican Borders

This currency substitution study explores the extent of retail firm-level U.S. dollar acceptance in Canada and Mexico. Employing a stratified random sampling approach of retail business in the border region, results demonstrate that all Mexican firms (N = 300/300) and nearly all Canadian (N = 257/261) firms accept the U.S. dollar in retail transactions. Of greater interest is the difference between firms in the two countries in how acceptance of the U.S. dollar is operationalized. On average, U.S. dollar sales of Canadian border firms comprise just 3.4% of total sales whereas U.S. dollar sales of Mexican firms encompass 23.7% of total sales. Our results also indicate a stark contrast as to the effective exchange rate for U.S. dollar acceptance— Canadian firms typically charge a premium (2.1% on average) while 69.3% of Mexican firms transacted business at a discount (?0.8% on average). Additional analyses further refine the currency substitution distinctions between Canadian and Mexican firms in the sample including a logistical regression which reveals significant differences as to firm-level predictors of U.S. dollar acceptance (whether at a discount or premium).     

Lobbying as a potent political marketing tool for firm performance: A closer look

This study endeavors to enhance political marketing literature about the impact of lobbying on firm performance. Our sample is composed of 140 U.S. firms and spans the years 2007–2014 to encompass the 2007–2009 recession and the subsequent recovery period. Our findings indicate that lobbying expenses positively contribute to firm performance. Also, government contracts in both ways, dollar amount and number of government contracts, act as mediators between lobbying expenses and firm performance. In addition, organizational slack moderates the relationship between lobbying expenses and government contracts. The managerial implications suggest that lobbying expenses can be leveraged as a potent tool for firm performance. Firms with larger lobbying efforts acquired both, higher dollar amounts and a greater number of government contracts.     

The changing role of U.S.-based MNCs: A financial perspective

An increasing number of US.-based multinational companies have adopted a strategy of “inward-oriented” diversification in the 1980s. This article focuses on the ensuing financial performance of these firms, especially as compared to that of a group of U.S.-based domestic corporations. Specifically, well-known performance and risk measures are applied to a sample of multinational and domestic firms based in the U.S. The data are analyzed over three five-year periods (1979-1983, 1980-1984, and 1981-1985). The overall results, while providing total support for a few of the major issues and lending partial support to the others, seem to indicate that U.S. multinationals may have adopted a successful strategy in response to a changing global economic environment.     

A closer look at similarity: The effects of perceived similarity and conjunctive cues on brand extension evaluation

Similarity between a core product and an extension product is regarded as a key success factor for brand extensions. However, a review of the literature reveals that the conditions under which high similarity is beneficial are unclear. In the first experiment, the authors test three models (the brand-attitude-transfer model, the incongruity-induced-affect model, and the “you cannot be good or bad at everything” principle) to predict the role of similarity. They find support only for the brand-attitude-transfer model. This suggests that high similarity is only beneficial when consumers evaluate brands favorably. Furthermore, little is known about how additional information provided by the supplier affects consumers' similarity perceptions without changing the extension product itself more than on a superficial level and without emphasizing common benefits. The authors compare the conditions of high and low core product/extension category similarity. Under the former condition, common peripheral advertising cues, similarity primes, portrayals of core products, and common peripheral design cues increase evaluations of extension products when the brand is evaluated favorably. Under the latter condition, these cues differ with respect to their effect.     

美国电子消费品市场:商机多多

微欢公司创始人比尔·盖茨"未来智能化家庭媒体中心的构想"的演讲揭开了在美国拉斯维加斯举办的2005年度国际消费电子展(CES)的序幕.盖茨先生在演讲中称,消费者将在21世纪的第一个十年迎来"数字生活方式",即:以电脑为中心,连接高清晰度数字电视、MP3、DVD、数码相机、手机、游戏机甚至手表.让消费者生活在数字化的"声色世界"中.随着宽带的普及和数字设备的降价,数字化的发展速度超过了人们预期.     

The U.S. Wine Industry

Business Economics -     

中国人看美国的感受很复杂

美国国务卿赖斯对中国的访问结束了,国人对中美关系的讨论和关注还在继续,而且被推向了新高潮。各大媒体争相报道。众说纷纭,尽管都有理论说明,事实依据,但细细看去。几乎都是从政府、国家的角度来进行描述的。那么。老百姓眼里的美国和美国人究竟是什么样呢?和美国人眼里的中国比较,又有哪些明显的相同和不同之处呢?