Training and economic density: Some evidence form Italian provinces

In this paper we use a search and matching model to investigate the economic relationship between training and local economic conditions. We identify two aspects of this relationship going in opposite directions: on the one hand, the complementarity between local knowledge spillovers and training generates a positive correlation between training and local density; on the other hand, higher wages and labor turnover in denser areas reduce training. Overall the relationship can be either positive or negative, depending on the relative strength of these two effects. Our empirical analysis, based on a sample of Italian firms, shows that training is lower in provinces with higher labor market density, measured as the number of employees per squared kilometer.     

The impact of monetary policy on the financing behaviour of firms in the Euro area and the UK

Abstract

According to the ‘broad credit view’ bank-dependent firms are more strongly affected by monetary contractions than firms with access to non-bank forms of external finance. Within the credit view the bank lending channel focuses on the special role of bank loans, and predicts that monetary contractions reduce loan supply to firms facing information problems. However, the ‘relationship lending channel’ argues that, especially in bank-based economies, bank-dependent firms have close ties with banks, which may reduce the sensitivity of their use of bank debt to monetary shocks. The sensitivity of corporate debt structures to changes in the monetary policy stance is analysed using a sample of 22,000 firms in the Euro area and the UK. Evidence is found for the credit view, the relationship lending channel, but not for the bank lending channel.     

深圳女装品牌企业升级途径与空间组织

本文提出了全球-地方联结下发展中国家服装产业的升级途径和空间组织原理。全球价值链管治和地方集群动态作用下服装品牌企业有多种升级途径。国内市场和地方生产网络的结合以及设计、生产、营销环节的空间组织获取知识学习通道能促进企业升级。通过对2001-2011年历届中国(深圳)国际品牌服装服饰交易会获奖的90家深圳知名女装品牌企业来源、演化和空间组织的分析,发现:深圳知名女装品牌企业的主要来源不是全球产业链中从事生产外包的企业沿产业链顺序升级,而是地方生产环境促进的企业家创业和香港企业直接投资的结果。这些企业在全球-地方联接下获得知识学习通道,并将经验用于本地-国内联接的产业组织中,结合设计、生产、营销环节的空间组织实现升级。     

Risk assessment of option performance for new product and process development projects in the chemical industry: a case study

This paper presents as a case study, empirical research forming part of a large EPSRC‐funded project to decrease new product and process development times within the UK fine chemicals industry. The work aimed to design a decision support system to evaluate competing options in such development projects. Theoretical and practical contributions from academic and industrial collaborating groups were integrated using Action Research. High levels of risk when bringing new products to market or new processes on line means that risk assessment features significantly when evaluating different project options. A key research target, and the concern of this paper, is the design and use of a risk assessment tool (RAT) to fit the context of the overall decision support system. Collectively the tools enabled the options within individual projects to be evaluated on risk and other performance dimensions. Industrialists provided a number of comprehensive case studies to test the suite of tools. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.     

High performance work practices in small firms: a resource-poverty and strategic decision-making perspective

High performance work practices (HPWPs) are human resource management practices aimed at stimulating employee and organisational performance. The application of HPWPs is not widespread in small organisations. We examine whether the implementation of coherent bundles of HPWPs (aimed at employee ability, employee motivation or at the opportunity to perform) depends on the scarcity of resources, as reflected in the size of the company, and on strategic decision-making in small firms related to the owner’s expertise and attitudes. In our research, a total of 211 employees from 45 small organisations were asked to rate the presence of HPWPs in their organisation. These averaged perceptions were linked to information provided by the owner–managers on the size of their firm and their own expertise and attitudes. The findings support that smaller but coherent bundles of HPWPs can be found in small organisations and that the implementation of these bundles depends on available resources, strategic decision-making and the combination of the two. These findings highlight the need to integrate the notions of resource poverty and strategic decision-making to understand the uptake of bundles of HPWPs within small firms.     

The advertising effectiveness of different levels of intensity of humour and warmth and the moderating role of top of mind awareness and degree of product use

Responses to three different intensity levels of warmth (none, moderate and high) and three different levels of humour were investigated as well as the moderating role of top of mind awareness and degree of product use. Affective responses, attitude towards the advertisement (Aad) and the brand (Ab) and the favourableness of advertisement-related cognitions were enhanced by the use of warmth although the intensity level (moderate versus high intensity) did not seem to matter. As far as humour was concerned, a high-intensity humorous appeal induced most favourable affective responses, Aad and advertisement-related cognitions, while a moderate level of humour was most conducive for a favourable Ab and brand-related cognitions. Significant interaction effects suggested that the most positive advertisement effects can be obtained by combining high levels of warmth with high levels of humour, while the most positive brand effects can be obtained by combining high levels of warmth and moderate levels of humour. Emotional executions of high intensity led to the most positive affective and cognitive reactions in the case of brands that are not top of mind and to the most positive cognitive reactions in the case where the respondent was a heavy user of the product category. In particular the intensity level of humour led to significant communication effects.     

Family firms and internationalization: An exploratory study on high-tech entrepreneurial ventures

This paper empirically explores a highly relevant, although poorly investigated topic: internationalization of family firms that operate in high-tech industries. Specifically, we compare internationalization of family and nonfamily entrepreneurial ventures in these industries. Relying on prior studies on internationalization of family firms, we speculate on how the specificities of high-tech industries shape the advantages and disadvantages of family entrepreneurial ventures in pursuing internationalization as compared with their nonfamily peers. In the empirical part of the paper, through a rigorous quantitative analysis of unique data from 264 Italian high-tech entrepreneurial ventures, we explore whether in high-tech industries family entrepreneurial ventures are more (or less) likely to pursue internationalization than their nonfamily counterparts. Surprisingly enough, our econometric estimates indicate that, in high-tech industries, family entrepreneurial ventures exhibit a higher internationalization propensity than their nonfamily peers.     

“What’s the Harm in Being Unethical? These Strangers are Rich Anyway!” Exploring Underlying Factors of Double Standards

Previous studies show evidence of double standards in terms of individuals being more tolerant of questionable consumer practices than of similar business practices. However, whether these double standards are necessarily due to the fact that one party is a business company while the other is a consumer was not addressed. The results of our two experimental studies, conducted among 277 (Study 1) and 264 (Study 2) participants from a Western European country by means of an anonymous self-administered online survey, demonstrate that the respondents were not only harsher in their judgments of unethical business (vs. consumer) behavior, but also harsher in their judgments of unethical behavior by prosperous (vs. non-prosperous) consumers and prosperous (vs. non-prosperous) business companies (Study 1). Further, they were also less tolerant of unethical behavior by consumers (vs. one’s best friend) and business companies with which they have a less than good (vs. a good) relationship (Study 2). These results indicate that double standards are due to differences in perceived wealth between subjects and in the individual’s relationship with subjects. These two factors imply that double standards are not strictly reserved to consumer–business relations, but might also be used in business–business and consumer–consumer relations. Further, these results indicate that companies need to be aware of the fact that good financial figures may backfire as they might lead individuals to be more critical of a company’s deceptive practices. Moreover, these findings point to the importance of businesses investing resources—and to keep investing resources—in developing a good relationship with stakeholders as these good relationships lead to stakeholders being less prone to make moral condemnations.     

Environmental strategies in spanish hotels: contextual factors and performance

This article is a study of the environmental strategies adopted in the service industry and their impact on a firm's performance. More specifically, we define the environmental strategies of 268 Spanish hotels, based on their environmental protection activities and the use of these as an argument for competition. They have been categorised into four groups. We observed the difference between each of these environmental strategies as regards certain contextual variables and performance. Our findings suggest that firms in the groups with more developed environmental strategies are associated with a higher level of environmental performance but not necessarily with economic performance.