Learning by a dominant firm

This paper is concerned with the optimal output decisions of a dominant firm in the presence of imperfect information about the rival's reactions. The model is multi-period with the profits in each period being independent of those in other periods. Consequently, if the rival's reaction parameter were known to the dominant firm, a myopic policy would be optimal, In the presence of imperfect information about the rival's unknown reaction parameter, the dominant firm acts in a Bayesian manner by updating its prior distribution based on the observations of the rival's outputs. Because of the multiplicative shape of the rival's reaction function, the Bayesian updating rule is a function of the dominant firm's decision variable, i.e. its output decisions. This creates a dependence of the future value of the dominant firm on the present output decision, and hence a myopic policy is not, in general, optimal. It is shown that through output experimentation the dominant firm will tend to overproduce and, consequently, will increase its expected discounted profits (market value).     

The dynamic annihilation of a rational competitive fringe by a low-cost dominant firm

A low-cost dominant firm will drive all competitive fringe firms out of the market if all firms have rational expectations; however, the dominant firm will not predate (price below marginal cost). Since a dominant firm will not drive out fringe firms if they have myopic expectations, it may be in the dominant firm's best interests to inform the fringe. The effects of governmental intervention on the optimal path and welfare are presented.     

Information technology and firm performance: the role of supply chain integration

This study analyzes the correlation among integrative information technology (IT), supply chain integration (SCI), and firm performance. The results show that integrative IT is positively associated with firm performance through SCI. However, the results of this study show that integrative IT does not have a positive correlation directly with firm performance. It is considered that in the relationship between integrative IT and firm performance, a new approach such as business process-oriented view arguing that performance is yielded through the primary influence of IT is necessary rather than a traditional view that sets up their direct correlations. The findings have the following implications. First, this study presents an endeavor to investigate the consequences of integrative supply chain strategy. Second, this study provides implications in decision making so that supply chain managers can use IT in an effective way.     

工程公司的造价管理

工程业的快速发展,为工程公司带来发展机遇的同时,也使其面临极大的风险与挑战。文章分析了国际性工程公司的发展现状,并对公司适应国际化的造价管理体系的建设提出了初步的探讨和见解。     

Robust firm pricing with panel data

Firms often have imperfect information about demand for their products. We develop an integrated econometric and theoretical framework to model firm demand assessment and subsequent pricing decisions with limited information. We introduce a panel data discrete choice model whose realistic assumptions about consumer behavior deliver partially identified preferences and thus generate ambiguity in the firm pricing problem. We use the minimax-regret criterion as a decision-making rule for firms facing this ambiguity. We illustrate the framework’s benefits relative to the most common discrete choice analysis approach through simulations and empirical examples with field data.     

The theory of the marketing firm

The theory of the marketing firm locates the rationale of the modern business enterprise that lies in its responding profitably to the imperatives of marketing orientation. Economic theories of the firm generally fail to recognize these imperatives, enhanced consumer choice and sophistication, which entail marketing orientation as the rationale of the firm. The paper propose a competence theory of the firm as a metacontingency and examines the bilateral contingencies by which firms link to their consumerates, which indicate their capacities for customer orientation. The marketing firm emerges as a means of encapsulating entrepreneurship, economizing on transaction costs, and enabling the management of marketing specialization.     

陷入财务困境企业的价值评估

陷入财务困境的企业价值的评估具有一定的特殊性,本文针对企业不同的经营状况,分别介绍了暂时处于财务困境的公司和陷于财务困境无力自拔的公司所分别适用的不同的价值评估的方法.     

陷入财务困境企业的价值评估

陷入财务困境的企业价值的评估具有一定的特殊性,本文针对企业不同的经营状况,分别介绍了暂时处于财务困境的公司和陷于财务困境无力自拔的公司所分别适用的不同的价值评估的方法。     

CEO succession with gender change in troubled companies: The effect of a new woman CEO on firm risk and firm risk perceived

The replacement of the CEO is one of the first actions a troubled company may take to recover from a critical situation. In this paper, we analyze the change in firm risk and firm risk perception when women are replacing men as CEOs of troubled companies. The analyses are based on a comprehensive dataset covering all registered companies in Norway from 2005 to 2014. We argue that a new woman CEOs increase the chances of improving the risk situation of troubled companies. Building on CEO succession and social identity theories, we study the firm risk situation under the lenses of risk perception and firm risk, and we find that a newly appointed woman CEO, following a man, tend to decrease the level of risk of the company. Furthermore, we find counterbalancing effects on these changes given the moderation effect of women on the board.     

The multiproduct firm: Demand relationships and decision-making

If a firm produces more than one product, the price of one may affect the demand for others. Examination of this relationship reveals that for the profit maximizing firm the price differential between products is determined by differences in costs, differences in own price and cross price elasticities and the relative revenue from each product. The introduction of advertising results in an optimal advertising budget for each product that is the weighted sum of own and cross advertising elasticities divided by the average cost per advertisement.     

The cost of capital in the international firm

This paper argues that the international firm should use the firm's global weighted average cost of capital to evaluate investment decisions, domestic and international, and to judge the performance of affiliates at home and abroad. The paper discusses the adjustment necessary to quantitate exchange risk and to account for financing that is subsidized or tied to particular investments. Foreign subsidiaries, it is argued, do not have an independent capital structure because their liabilities are explicitly or implicitly the obligation of the parent firm.     

The return to firm investments in human capital

In this paper we estimate the rate of return to firm investments in human capital in the form of formal job training. We use a panel of large firms with detailed information on the duration of training, the direct costs of training, and several firm characteristics. Our estimates of the return to training are substantial (8.6%) for those providing training. Results suggest that formal job training is a good investment for these firms possibly yielding comparable returns to either investments in physical capital or investments in schooling.     

大福:坚定信心深耕中国市场

尽管受到2009年全球性经济危机的影响,日本大福一年一度的中国物流媒体代表团赴日参观访问活动仍如期举行.通过对日新馆、滋贺事业所、利根可口可乐公司茨城自动化仓库、FANCL关东物流中心的实地参观,记者充分领略到日本大福(集团)公司的强大技术实力和先进实践经验.     

The marketing firm: Retailer and consumer contingencies

Efficiency has emerged as an important consumer value and thus has increased the importance of the in-store search as one facet of consumer transaction costs. This paper contributes to the development of a marketing theory of the firm by analyzing the consumers' in-store efficiency ratios and the retailers' natural sources of resistance to offer efficiency to all of their customers. We propose new behavioral metrics for consumer transaction costs. Our data from the behavioral tracking of 497 complete shopping trips reveal more transaction costs for quick shopping trips than for regular shopping trips, which demonstrates friction between retail and consumer transaction costs for quick trips.     

The restricted convex risk measures in actuarial solvency

In this article, we propose a class of convex risk measures defined on appropriate wedges of a space of financial positions which denote the cumulative surplus variables created by undertaking risks by either an insurance or a reinsurance company. The form of the wedge which is the domain of such a risk measure expresses the form of the company, and it is a subspace in the case of reinsurance companies and a cone in the case of the insurance companies. The value of such a risk measure on an insurance position denotes the capital that the corresponding company has to receive or to keep in advance so that it will not be exposed to risk due to this position. We prove some dual representation and continuity results being similar to the unrestricted case. Finally, we contribute to a decision theory related to the choice of a numeraire asset when the space in which the positions lie in is reflexive.     

The firm under uncertainty: real and financial decisions

This paper examines the interplay between the real and financial decisions of the competitive firm under output price uncertainty. The firm faces additional sources of uncertainty that are aggregated into a background risk. We show that the firm always chooses its optimal debt–equity ratio to minimize the weighted average cost of capital, irrespective of the risk attitude of the firm and the incidence of the underlying uncertainty. We further show that the firm’s optimal input mix depends on its optimal debt–equity ratio, thereby rendering the interdependence of the real and financial decisions of the firm. When the background risk is either additive or multiplicative, we provide reasonable restrictions on the firm’s preferences so as to ensure that the firm’s optimal output is adversely affected upon the introduction of the background risk.     

The influence of supply network structure on firm innovation

In this study, we examine the structural characteristics of supply networks and investigate the relationship between a firm's supply network accessibility and interconnectedness and its innovation output. We also examine potential moderating effects of absorptive capacity and supply network partner innovativeness on innovation output. We hypothesize that firms will experience greater innovation output from (1) higher levels of supply network accessibility and supply network interconnectedness, (2) the interaction between the levels of these two structural characteristics, (3) the moderating role of absorptive capacity on supply network accessibility and the moderating role of supply network partner innovativeness on supply network interconnectedness. Supply network partner relationships are drawn in the context of the electronics industry using data from multiple sources. We use social network analysis to create measures for each supply network structural characteristic. Using regression techniques to test the relationship between these structural characteristics and firm innovation for a sample of 390 firms, our findings suggest that supply network accessibility has a significant association with a firm's innovation output. The results also indicate that interconnected supply networks strengthen the association between supply network accessibility and innovation output. Moreover, the influence of the two structural characteristics on innovation output can be enhanced by a firm's absorptive capacity and level of supply network partner innovativeness. By addressing the need for deeper structural analysis, this study contributes to supply chain research by accounting for the embedded nature of ties in supply networks, and showing how these structural characteristics influence the knowledge and information flows residing within a firm's supply network.