Farm subsidies and obesity in the United States: National evidence and international comparisons

Many commentators have claimed that farm subsidies have contributed significantly to the “obesity epidemic” by making fattening foods relatively cheap and abundant. But U.S. farm policies have generally small and mixed effects on farm commodity prices, which in turn have even smaller and still mixed effects on the relative prices of more- and less-fattening foods. Other factors have had much more influence on reducing the farm prices of food commodities and the consumer prices of food such that any effects of U.S. farm policies on U.S. obesity patterns must have been negligible. Moreover, while many arguments can be made for changing U.S. farm subsidies, even entirely eliminating the current programs could not be expected to have a significant influence on obesity rates. International evidence reinforces this finding. The countries that support their farmers most strongly tend to have relatively low obesity rates. In these countries the main support for farmers comes through trade barriers and higher consumer prices, which—like U.S. policies for sugar, dairy, orange juice, and beef—discourage consumption and reduce obesity. In contrast with agricultural subsidies, agricultural R&D has had a significant effect in the past on the relative price of food commodities and food, and has the potential to influence obesity patterns in the future, but R&D policy is a very blunt instrument for pursuing public health policy objectives.     

Walking a slippery line: Investments in social values and product longevity

Corporate sponsorship of events that support social values (e.g., human rights) help firms infuse their products with symbolic meaning, prolonging their life cycle. Yet, higher product prices might spark perceptions that the firm invests in social values for calculative or opportunistic motives, in which case event sponsorship is unlikely to deliver the expected benefits in the form of product longevity. This study explores this potential tension empirically, using data related to sponsored social events, entry prices, and product longevity for a U.S. cosmetics producer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Leegin</Emphasis> and the Economics of Resale Price Maintenance

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its century-old precedent that treated resale price maintenance (RPM) as a per se violation of the antitrust laws, it signaled approval for the vertical restraint’s widespread use. But the increased use of RPM occurred under a pre-existing rule that permitted RPM as long as no formal agreement over price was reached. This paper documents not only the increased use of RPM post Leegin but also the importance of avoiding the appearance of agreements to control resale prices. The paper then discusses how plaintiffs, previously enamored of claims of RPM, are now recasting vertical RPM arrangements as ancillary to horizontal agreements among distributors that are made effective though enforcement by producers.     

Supplier relations and management: A survey of Japanese,Japanese-transplant,and U.S. auto plants

This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey sent to a sample of automobile manufacturers in the United States and Japan (including Japanese-managed plants in the United States) during the spring of 1990. The data support observations that Japanese and U.S. practices tend to differ in key areas and Japanese suppliers perform better in dimensions such as quality (defects) and prices (meeting targets, reducing prices over time); and that Japanese-managed auto plants established in the United States have, in general, adopted Japanese practices and receive extremely high levels of quality from Japanese as well as U.S. suppliers. These findings provide evidence that Japanese practices and performance levels are transferable outside Japan and suggest that considerable improvements are possible for U.S. suppliers supplying U.S. auto plants. In addition, the survey indicates that U.S. firms have adopted at least some practices traditionally associated with Japanese firms, apparently reflecting some convergence toward Japanese practices and higher performance levels in supplier management.     

Strategic action generation: A comparison of emphasis placed on generic competitive methods by U.S. And Japanese managers

The paper identifies similarities and differences in the emphases and patterns that U.S. and Japanese managers attribute to a set of 22 generic competitive methods. It highlights the different ways that Japanese and American managers combine these methods to form general business strategies. Using factor analyses and smallest space analyses, the study shows differences in business strategy patterns between managers in Japan and the U.S. Such differences reflect the organizing principles underlying the strategy approaches in U.S. and Japanese firms. The organizing principle underlying U.S. responses is the desire to find way to differentiate a firm from its competitors. In contrast, the organizing principle underlying Japanese responses is a desire to establish a comprehensive, stable and defensible position. The paper discusses the implications of these results for strategic management and suggests directions for future U.S. and Japanese comparative strategy research.     

Localisation of Japanese subsidiaries in Southeast Asia

The success story of Japanese firms, both in their home country and their overseas subsidiaries, has been the focus of comparative management research in the 1970s and early 1980s. Several scholars attributed the impressive productivity gains in Japanese industries to the basic principles of Japanese management. Further, they advocated the adoption of these principles by American and European businesses to solve employee morale and productivity problems. However, in recent years, the validity of the “happy worker” hypothesis in explaining the effectiveness of Japanese management has been seriously questioned. In fact, the results of several empirical studies indicate that Japanese firms are facing manpower management problems both at home and in their overseas subsidiaries. The main purpose of this article is to identify and discuss the Japanese management problems of overseas subsidiaries, based on several empirical studies of Japanese overseas subsidiaries undertaken by the authors of this article and other scholars during the last 17 years (1968 to 1985). These studies are:

Localisation Problems of Japanese Subsidiaries Overseas: A Comparative Study in Southeast-Asian Countries.

A comparative study of American, Japanese and local firms in Taiwan.

A comparative study of American, European and Japanese multinationals' subsidiaries in Brazil, Peru, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

A comparative study of American, German, and Japanese multinations in the United States, Western European countries, Australia, and Japan.

A comparative study of upper-level Japanese and American managers of subsidiaries of Japanese firms in the United States.

A comparative study of subsidiaries of American and Japanese multinationals in Singapore.

An intensive case study of a Japanese subsidiary in Australia.

     

PRICES AND ENDOGENOUS MARKET STRUCTURE IN OFFICE SUPPLY SUPERSTORES*

We consider the relationship between prices and market structure for office supply superstores in the U.S. which was central to the Federal Trade Commission's opposition to the merger of Staples and Office Depot. Due to potential biases in a standard regression, we employ a two‐stage approach in which a model of endogenous market structure provides correction terms for a second stage price regression. Using a cross‐section of data on market structures and Staples' prices, we find that excluding the correction term substantially distorts the importance of competitors as the two‐stage model yields stronger negative relationships between prices and market structure variables.     

Interconnection in Network Industries

Recent deregulation of telecommunications in the U.S. and elsewhere has highlighted the importance of interconnection in network industries. In this paper, we analyse interconnection in a deregulated network where the participants compete in the final retail market. We consider both the case of a mature industry as well as one where a new entrant challenges the incumbent. In the later case, network externalities allow the incumbent to use the terms of interconnection to maintain its dominant position. Moreover, in either case, competition in the retail market can be undermined by collusion over access prices. We discuss the implications for some of the provisions of the new U.S. Telecommunications Act, specifically mandatory interconnection and reciprocity of tariffs, comparing these to the simple bill and keep rule.     

The Sources and Advantages of Japanese Industrial Organization

Using agency theory, this paper investigates advantages linked to Japanese industrial organization. Three variables theoretically linked to keiretsu organization, ownership structure, inter-firm investment, and financing flexibility were able to correctly classify U.S. and Japanese firms. We detect polarization of U.S. and Japanese firms in terms of performance and strategic decisions.     

The role of the ideal organization in comparative management: A cross cultural perspective of Japan & Korea

It is popular to talk of the Confucian Work Ethic when explaining the successes of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. This is not an accurate impression. The authors of this article found significant differences in management practices — both actual and ideal — between Japan and South Korea.Professors Lane Kelley, Reginald Worthley and Harry Lie are from the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii while Professor Arthur Whatley is from the College of Business Administration & Economics, New Mexico State University.     

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES IN KOREAN AND U.S. EXECUTIVES’ STRATEGIC ORIENTATIONS

Competitive positioning in a global market requires an understanding of the decision processes and behavioral attributes of executives from different countries. These attributes reflect the executives’ cultural background, the national policies under which they have worked, and their home country’s level of economic development (institutional context). The current research compared strategic decision models of U.S. and Korean executives and the results suggest that criteria employed by the executives from the two countries differ. Differences in institutional context between Korea and the U.S.A. were reflected in the weightings of objective criteria used by the executives. Korean executives emphasized industry attractiveness, sales and market share (because of policies that encourage growth) and U.S. executives emphasized projected demand, discounted cash flow and ROI (because of policies and institutions that focus on profitability). The results suggest the importance of understanding the strategic orientations of international competitors, partners in international strategic alliances and managers of international subsidiaries or divisions. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employee Reactions to Supervisory Direction in Four Types of Firms in Taiwan: The Effects of Company Policy, Peer Consensus and Independent Assessment

Employees in four firms in Taiwan—a small family business (A), a state-owned enterprise (B), a large private corporation (C), and a U.S.-owned venture (D)—and one firm in the U.S. (E) responded to supervisory directions. A's employees were the most compliant, followed by B's, then by C's, D's, and E's. In A and B, employee compliance was impacted by company policy. In C, D and E, employee compliance was influenced by peer consensus. Except for those in A, employees' tendency to accept supervisory direction was enhanced when they assessed the direction as beneficial to their organization.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Managing for Results by Peter F. Drucker
Workers Councils, A Study of Workplace Organization on Both Sides of the Iron Curtain by Adolf Sturmthal
Time Study Incentives and Budgetary Control by Michael Avery
The Butcher Workmen - A Study of Unionization by David Brody
Regulating Union Government by Martin S. Estey, Philip Taft, Martin Wagner
The Contracting Out of Work: Canadian and U.S.A. Industrial Relations Experience by F. John L. Young
Repercussions of Redundancy by Hilda R. Kahn
Administration of Wages and Salaries by Elizabeth Lanham     

Predatory investment U.S. vs. IBM

This paper examines the most likely example of anticompetitive behavior uncovered in the U.S. vs. IBM antitrust suit: the introduction by IBM of its 360/90 ‘super computer’ in response to the introduction of a similar machine by a competitor. The two leading competing hypotheses are examined — that IBM introduced its system as a weapon of predation, and that IBM expected the system to be profitable — and both are found wanting. The paper concludes that IBM almost certainly knew that the system would be unprofitable, but that the hypothesis of predation is less appealing than that of product-market signaling.     

Evidence and Implications of Regime Shifts: Time‐Varying Effects of the United States and Japanese Economies on House Prices in Hawaii

We show that local house prices may be driven almost entirely by the demands of one identifiable group for several years and then by demands of another group at other times. We present evidence that house prices in Hawaii were subject to such regime shifts. Prices responded to demands associated with U.S. incomes and wealth for most years from 1975 through 2008. For about a decade starting in the middle of the 1980s, after the Japanese yen appreciated dramatically and Japanese housing and stock market wealth soared, however, house prices in Hawaii responded to Japanese incomes and wealth. Estimated models with these regime shifts outperformed conventional, constant‐coefficient models. The regime‐shifting model helps explain why, when and by how much the volatility and the elasticities of house prices in Hawaii with respect to the incomes and wealth of the United States and Japan varied over time.     

Price control and advertising in franchising chains

This study investigates how franchising chains use advertising to enhance coordination and improve their control over prices set at franchised outlets. We argue that chains use price advertising to inform customers about their desired prices, thereby influencing franchisees to adopt the advertised prices although they are not contractually required to do so. We test our hypotheses using rich outlet‐level price data collected before and after a U.S. nationwide advertising campaign by McDonald's. Our findings indicate that advertising is an effective mechanism that franchising chains use to improve their control over franchisees, enhance uniformity, and reduce franchisee free‐riding. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ripple Effects of CEO Awards: Investigating the Acquisition Activities of Superstar CEOs' Competitors

Research summary : This study proposes that CEOs may undertake intensive acquisition activities to increase their social recognition and status after witnessing their competitors' winning CEO awards. Using a sample of U.S. S&P 1,500 firm CEOs, we find that CEOs engage in more intensive acquisition activities in the period after their competitors won CEO awards (i.e., postaward period), compared to the preaward period. Moreover, this effect is stronger when focal CEOs themselves had a high likelihood of winning CEO awards. Our findings also show that acquisitions by focal CEO firms in the postaward period realize lower announcement returns compared to acquisitions by the same CEOs in the preaward period. Managerial summary : Each year a few CEOs receive CEO awards from business media and CEOs who receive such awards become instant celebrities, that is, superstar CEOs. This study explores how superstar CEOs' competitors react to not winning CEO awards. We find that superstar CEOs' competitors undertake more intensive acquisition activities in the postaward period compared to the preaward period. This is particularly true for competitors who were close, yet did not win CEO awards. In addition, acquisitions by superstar CEOs' competitors are associated with lower announcement returns in the postaward compared to the preaward period. These findings collectively indicate that acquisitions may be used as a channel for superstar CEOs' competitors to elevate their own social status, but at a cost to shareholders. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The state of East Asian banking structure and activities in the United States

This paper examines the structure and activities of East Asian banks in the USA in terms of their institutional components, legal environment, asset size and market structure, loan activities, geographical distribution and area of specialization. The discussion includes 10 Asia Pacific countries. The final section presents prognoses on the domination of Japanese banks as well as those of the two Chinas.Faramarz Damanpour is a Professor of Finance and International Business at James Madison University, U.S.A.