Property Rights and Natural Resource Management in Developing Countries

This essay surveys the literature on property rights and natural resource management in developing countries. Focus is on policy relevant discussions concerning collective action, property regimes, local institutions for natural resource management, the evolution of individual property rights to land, land titling by government and poverty–environment linkages. The tendency to draw policy conclusions from simplistic analysis is criticised, and the need for more credible empirical research is highlighted.     

Strategic entrepreneurship and knowledge spillovers: spatial and aspatial perspectives

The literature in the Strategic Entrepreneurship (SE) is increasingly embracing the concept and implications of knowledge spillovers. In this paper, we add to the theoretical repertoire on SE and knowledge spillovers by investigating the types of knowledge spillovers and what they imply for various dimensions of SE. On the one hand, we distinguish between spatial and aspatial knowledge spillovers. On the other hand, we distinguish between three dimensions of SE, i.e. inputs, resource orchestration, and output. Finally, we conceptually link the various types of knowledge spillovers and dimensions of SE and discuss the implications. Doing so, we argue that spatial knowledge spillovers (inter-firm) has received the major attention in previous research in increasing the amount of ‘inputs’ dimension of SE, while the aspatial knowledge (either inter-regional or intra-firm) has been relatively neglected not only for ‘inputs’, but also for ‘resource orchestration’ dimension. At the end, the paper provides suggestions for future research.     

Searching for managerial discretion: how public managers engage managerialism as a rationalization for increased latitude of action

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the managerial discretion that public managers experience. More specifically, it discusses how managerialism is an embedded ideological stance that influences understandings of public sector governance. I argue that managers’ perceptions of discretion are affected by these understandings. The analysis draws on empirical data from a longitudinal study, demonstrating how public managers engage discourses emanating from managerialism in order to rationalize increased discretion. The findings suggest that customer perspectives functions as a rationalizing factor for engaging public managers’ transition towards increased discretion. As such, this article contributes to knowledge about managerial discretion as well as managerialism.     

Post–Plaza intervention in the DEM/USD exchange rate

In this paper, whether specific methods of conducting central bank interventions increase the likelihood of achieving its objectives in analysed. Daily Bundesbank and Fed intervention data covering the entire Post–Plaza period are used to estimate binary choice models over the sample of observations when at least one of the two central banks were intervening. The results suggest that central banks can, in fact, improve the likelihood of success primarily through coordination and that unilateral intervention conducted by the Bundesbank appears to have been destabilizing. Furthermore, it is shown that relatively infrequent intervention has a higher likelihood of success. JEL classification: E58, F31, F42, G15
Intervention dans le monde du taux de change dollar/mark après l'Accord de Plaza. Ce mémoire explore la question à savoir si des méthodes spécifiques d'intervention par la banque centrale accroissent la probabilité que les objectifs soient atteints. A l'aide de données sur l'impact des interventions de la Bundesbank et de la Federal Reserve pour toute la période qui a suivi l'Accord de Plaza, on calibre les modèles de choix binaires pour l'échantillon des données quand au moins l'une des deux banques centrales est intervenue. Les résultats suggèrent que les banques centrales peuvent en fait améliorer la probabilité de succès dans la poursuite des objectifs via la collaboration et que les interventions unilatérales de la Bundesbank semblent avoirété déstabilisantes. De plus, il semble que des inteerventions relativement moinsfréquentes ont une plus grande probabilité de succès.     

The “sugar rush” from innovation subsidies: a robust political economy perspective

The governments of most advanced countries offer some type of financial subsidy to encourage firm innovation and productivity. This paper analyzes the effects of innovation subsidies using a unique Swedish database that contains firm level data for the period 1997–2011, specifically informa tion on firm subsidies over a broad range of programs. Applying causal treatment effect analysis based on matching and a diff-in-diff approach combined with a qualitative case study of Swedish innovation subsidy programs, we test whether such subsidies have positive effects on firm performance. Our results indicate a lack of positive performance effects in the long run for the majority of firms, albeit there are positive short-run effects on human capital investments and also positive short-term productivity effects for the smallest firms. These findings are interpreted from a robust political economy perspective that reveals that the problems of acquiring correct information and designing appropriate incentives are so complex that the absence of significant positive long-run effects on firm performance for the majority of firms is not surprising.     

Technological Level and Product Development Cycle Time

This article investigates the link between product development cycle time and technological level in the final product, using a sample of 11 new car development projects. Reducing cycle time can create competitive advantages, but it also may lead to the development of technologically inferior products. Time is needed to digest and analyze technological problems. The conclusions from our study support the notion of a relationship between cycle time and technological level. Thus, there are important choices to be made regarding the desired level of technological maturity in the final product. This affects the required cycle time. Simply reducing the cycle time may not always be feasible or desirable