Institutions and Foreign Subsidiary Growth in Transition Economies: The Role of Intangible Assets and Capabilities

Although transition economies experience significant institutional transformations that vary in their degree and pace, scholarly knowledge of what distinguishes more successful foreign subsidiaries from less successful ones in such environments is limited and inconsistent. We enhance the understanding of this subject by examining how variations in the institutional development of transition economies influence the usefulness of a subsidiary's intangible assets and capabilities and, in turn, their effectiveness in enhancing its growth. Prior research assumes that foreign subsidiaries that operate in any given environment are always better off when they possess strong intangible assets and capabilities. Our analysis of more than 33,000 observations in 14 transition economies challenges this view and enables us to explain why some subsidiaries grow more quickly in less‐developed institutional environments, whereas others more quickly in countries with institutions that are more developed. More specifically, we show that although a subsidiary's intangible assets enhance its growth in transition economies with stronger institutions, these effects are particularly weak or insignificant in transition countries with less developed institutional environments. Conversely, a completely different pattern emerges for subsidiary capabilities, with their marginal effects on subsidiary growth being significantly higher in countries that are institutionally less developed than in transition countries with more developed institutions.     

Knowledge Spillovers,ICT and Productivity Growth

This paper looks at the channels through which intangible assets affect productivity growth. The econometric analysis exploits a new data set on intangible investment (INTAN‐Invest) in conjunction with EUKLEMS productivity estimates for 10 EU member states from 1998 to 2007. We find that (a) the output elasticity of intangible capital depends upon ICT intensity, consistent with complementarities between ICT and intangible capital; (b) non‐R&D intangible capital has a higher estimated output elasticity than its factor share, as does (c) an index of labour composition. The last two findings are consistent with growth spillovers from investments in knowledge‐based/intangible capital and skills.     

企业核心竞争力会计控制与相关概念的关系研究

本文认为,企业核心竞争力是企业各种资源和能力整合的结果。并将无形资产分为经典无形资产、边缘无形资产、组合无形资产和合力无形资产等四类。核心竞争力作为合力无形资产,不仅与经典无形资产、边缘无形资产具有密切的关系外,而且与商誉、品牌、价值链等概念具有密切的关系,研究企业核心竞争力与这些概念的关系,目的在于从理论上更进一步明确企业核心竞争力会计控制的对象。     

The contribution of research and innovation to productivity

This paper examines the impact of investment in research and innovation on Australian market sector productivity. While previous studies have largely focused on a narrow class of private sector intangible assets as a source of productivity gains, this paper shows that there is a broad range of other business sector intangible assets that can significantly affect productivity. Moreover, the paper pays special attention to the role played by public funding for research and innovation. The empirical results suggest that there are significant spillovers to productivity from public sector R&D spending on research agencies and higher education. No evidence is found for productivity spillovers from indirect public funding for the business enterprise sector, civil sector or defence R&D. These findings have implications for government innovation policy as they provide insights into possible productivity gains from government funding reallocations.     

The New Microeconomics: A Psychological,Institutional, and Evolutionary Paradigm with Neoclassical Economics as a Special Case

Microeconomics requires a new grounding or formulation that can account for a broader range of socioeconomic behavior than neoclassical economics does. The core of the neoclassical economics research program—the theory of rational choice—has offered insights into the determination of socioeconomic behavior. But other elements need to be integrated into a coherent microeconomic perspective. We introduce such a perspective in which neoclassical economics becomes a special case. This advances our understanding of the determinants of behavior in a coherent and integrated manner. This perspective may form the foundation of an evolutionary and institutional perspective on socioeconomic systems. This has practical value in designing strategy and policy.     

The Entrepreneurial Organization of Heterogeneous Capital*

abstract Transaction cost, property rights, and resource‐based approaches to the firm assume that assets, both tangible and intangible, are heterogeneous. Arranging these assets to minimize contractual hazards, to provide efficient investment incentives, or to exploit competitive advantage is conceived as the prime task of economic organization. None of these approaches, however, is based on a systematic theory of capital heterogeneity. In this paper we outline the approach to capital developed by the Austrian school of economics and show how Austrian capital theory provides a natural bridge between theory of entrepreneurship and the theory of the firm. We refine Austrian capital theory by defining capital heterogeneity in terms of subjectively perceived attributes, the functions, characteristics, and uses of capital assets. Such attributes are not given, but have to be created or discovered by means of entrepreneurial action. Conceiving entrepreneurship as the organization of heterogeneous capital provides new insights into the emergence, boundaries, and internal organization of the firm, and suggests testable implications about how entrepreneurship is manifested.     

The Marginalists Who Confronted Land

A bstract .   Although the neoclassical turn in economics demoted land as a factor, important economists of neoclassical thinking, from neoclassical predecessors such Hermann-Heinrich Gossen through figures such as Leon Walras, did view land as a distinct factor of production. Walras, in particular, favored the use of land rent for public revenue. This paper examines the treatment of land by several neoclassical and Austrian economists and shows how, although the neoclassical school today has managed to bury land, some of the key figures who founded these schools did confront land as a factor. The burial of land is thus not inherent in neoclassical economics, but is a historical development that can be reversed.     

From Economics to Political Economy: Contradictions,Challenge, and Change

The nature of the challenge to mainstream economics needs to be carefully considered. This article presents an overview of the challenge, emphasizing that it is not just a matter of heterodox economists developing non‐neoclassical economic theories. The embrace of a pluralist method and pedagogy is equally significant. The development of a transdisciplinary approach adds further to the breadth of the challenge. Weaving these elements together as political economy provides an alternative paradigm to mainstream economics. Extending its influence requires focus on adult education, the media, and public policy, as well as sustained efforts within universities.     

An agency analysis of church–pastor relations

Incentives are critical to the study of economics. But do they work in non‐traditional economic settings, such as religious organizations, in a manner consistent with economic theory? This study considers the agency relationship between churches and their clergy. This paper contends that pastor compensation is not typically tied directly to performance, but rather indirectly through promotion tournaments. Pastors whose performance is recognized as being exceptional are rewarded by being called to larger, more prestigious congregations. Given the difficulty of observing and measuring pastor performance this represents a sensible solution to the church–pastor principal–agent problem. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

自创无形资产计价方法的中外比较分析——兼评《具体会计准则第6号——无形资产》

自创无形资产的计价一直是会计界关注的焦点,争论的核心在于研究与开发费用是资本化还是费用化的问题。本文从自创无形资产的支出项目及计价方法入手,对比了不同国家对自创无形资产计价方法的差异,指出了自创无形资产研发支出费用法的不足,评价了我国新无形资产准则对自创无形资产计价方法的合理性。     

Allocation of decision rights in joint ventures

Previous studies in organizational economics and international business research have not tested a property rights view on the allocation of decision rights (DR) in joint ventures (JVs). The paper offers a test of the property rights explanation by using data from Hungarian JVs. Our analysis derives the following hypothesis: The more important the JV partner's intangible knowledge assets for the generation of residual surplus, the more residual DR are assigned to him. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing a measurement approach for reputation of non‐profit organizations

• As a result of the increasing adoption of private sector firms' values and concepts, non‐profit organizations (NPOs) are becoming more and more aware of intangible assets' importance for achieving competitive advantages. Even though reputation can be considered an organization's central intangible asset, there is still no appropriate measurement approach for reputation in this context. In this paper, we identify the dimensions of NPO reputation and develop indices to measure these components. We develop a model by means of a qualitative inquiry and a quantitative study using a large‐scale sample from the German general public. We find support for a two‐dimensional measurement approach comprising an affective and cognitive component as well as four antecedent constructs (“quality,” “performance,” “organizational social responsibility (OSR),” and “attractiveness”). The results of a second quantitative study in which we examine NPO reputation's relationship with important outcome variables, such as willingness to donate or work as an honorary member, provide support for the measurement approach's stability as well as criterion validity. Furthermore, the results reveal the affective dimension's importance regarding positively influencing donor behavior.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

QUALITATIVE AND MIXED‐METHODS RESEARCH IN ECONOMICS: SURPRISING GROWTH,PROMISING FUTURE

Qualitative research in economics has traditionally been unimportant compared to quantitative work. Yet there has been a small explosion in use of quantitative approaches in the past 10–15 years, including ‘mixed‐methods’ projects which use qualitative and quantitative methods in combination. This paper surveys the growing use of qualitative methods in economics and closely related fields, aiming to provide economists with a useful roadmap through major sets of qualitative methods and how and why they are used. We review the growing body of economic research using qualitative approaches, emphasizing the gains from using qualitative‐ or mixed‐methods over traditional ‘closed‐ended’ approaches. It is argued that, although qualitative methods are often portrayed as less reliable, less accurate, less powerful and/or less credible than quantitative methods, in fact, the two sets of methods have their own strengths, and how much can be learned from one type of method or the other depends on specific issues that arise in studying the topic of interest. The central message of the paper is that well‐done qualitative work can provide scientifically valuable and intellectually helpful ways of adding to the stock of economic knowledge, especially when applied to research questions for which they are well suited.     

Work is a Four‐Letter Word: The Economics of Work in Historical and Critical Perspective*

The article highlights and explains the neglect of the activity of work in much of the mainstream economics literature. The neglect of work is seen to have denied space for mainstream economists to engage with the full range of possibilities for progress in human well‐being. The article also considers perspectives on work from within heterodox or non‐mainstream economics and argues that these perspectives provide a superior foundation for the theorization of work.     

特许经营的契约性质

特许经营的契约是一组无形资产"捆绑"在一起融入某种商品交易中的复合契约;契约中交易的收入条款往往没有直接确定无形资产的独立价格,而是确定为一个基数加上某种商品交易收入的分成;契约中交易的使用条款通常包含特许人对受许人生产经营过程的"干预"、"指挥"和"协调"方面的规定。契约实质是一组无形资产的间接定价机制。     

信息不对称条件下无形资产减值测度研究(Ⅰ)——信息不对称条件下无形资产减值测度研究与评论

无形资产减值测度是无形资产后续计量的重要理论和实务问题,它直接关系到企业无形资产减值准备的计提和利润质量。我国关于无形资产减值测度问题的研究尚处于起步阶段,还未形成完整的理论体系和定型的操作模型。作为研究信息不对称条件下的无形资产减值测度问题的起点,本文在梳理国内外对无形资产减值相关问题研究现状的基础上,简要评价已有的研究成果及其特点,为进一步研究奠定基础和提供参考。     

Law,Property and Ambiguity: The Uses and Abuses of Legal Ambiguity in Remaking Istanbul's Informal Settlements

What is the role of legal ambiguity in the creation and institutionalization of private property regimes? In what ways does the (ab)use of legal ambiguities affect market‐making processes? I address these questions through a detailed analysis of two large‐scale urban renewal projects in Istanbul that impose a formal private property regime on informal settlements. My research reveals that without the strategic utilization of legal ambiguities and administrative arbitrariness by public and private actors, private property cannot be easily created and hence capitalist markets cannot function efficiently. My findings challenge the assumptions of several social science traditions such as neoclassical and neoinstitutionalist economics, as well as most works within the law and economics tradition regarding the relationship between law, property and economic development. These approaches to economic development are underpinned by the legal certainty that private property entails as the most important element for an efficient economic order. However, in their unconditional support for private ownership, they fail to realize the degree of legal ambiguity and administrative arbitrariness needed to create the private property regime in the first place. As such their arguments remain theoretically and empirically incomplete. A more complete analysis of the relationship between law and economic dynamics must focus on how private property is constructed, and the extent to which legal ambiguities and loopholes are utilized in this process.     

MODELS OF REGIONAL GROWTH: PAST,PRESENT AND FUTURE

Abstract This paper presents an overview of various models of regional growth that have appeared in the literature in the last 40 years. It considers the past, and therefore supply‐side models, such as the standard neoclassical, juxtaposed against essentially demand‐side approaches such as the export‐base and cumulative causation models (as integrated into the Kaldorian approach); before moving on to the ‘present’ and more recent versions of the neoclassical model involving spatial weights and ‘convergence clubs’, as well as new economic geography core–periphery models, and the ‘innovation systems’ approach. A key feature of the more recent literature is an attempt to explicitly include spatial factors into the model, and thus there is a renewed emphasis on agglomeration economies and spillovers. Discussing ‘present’ and ‘future’ approaches to regional growth overlaps with the current emphasis in the literature on the importance of more intangible factors such as the role of ‘knowledge’ and its influence on growth. Finally, there is a discussion of the greater emphasis that needs to be placed at the ‘micro‐level’ when considering what drives growth, and thus factors such as inter alia firm heterogeneity, entrepreneurship and absorptive capacity.     

区域无形资产研究

本文重点分析了区域无形资产的概念、特徵、种类及研究的重要意义，并在此基础上提出了有关区域无形资产建设的建议，以期封建设和完善中国区域无形资产的研究、开发和利用提供参考。     

老字号企业无形资产对经营绩效影响的实证研究

以在我国沪深两市2007年—2009年发行A股的24家老字号上市公司为研究样本,考察样本公司无形资产的发展状况,并运用线性回归分析法检验无形资产对经营绩效的影响。试图分析无形资产在我国老字号上市公司经营活动中所起的作用,改进我国老字号企业的绩效实现途径。研究结果发现:无形资产对老字号企业的经营活动发挥了一定的贡献,老字号上市公司披露的无形资产对企业经营绩效的贡献是显著的正向的,但贡献的程度较小。即样本公司拥有的无形资产越多,公司的经营绩效越多,但是无形资产的变化引起绩效变化的程度较小。在此基础上,提出了针对性的建议。