Internationalization capabilities of SMEs: A comparative study of the manufacturing and industrial service sectors

Nowadays, the global economy requires developed countries to undergo industrial restructuring. In this context, industrial small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to collaborate with the service sector to enhance their competitiveness and strategic capabilities. Indeed, industrial service SMEs have been the object of particular attention from governments since these enterprises have become a key element for manufacturing and innovation networks in developed countries. However, these firms, as well as the manufacturing SMEs they serve, now face the challenge to internationalize. This paper addresses the of the strategic capabilities required by SMEs in general, and manufacturing and industrial service SMEs in particular, to internationalize, as well as the effect of these capabilities on their export performance. These strategic capabilities are presented in a research model, which relates human resources (HR), product development capabilities and market development capabilities to export performance. In testing this model with a sample of 347 Canadian and French SMEs, similarities and differences between the two types of SMEs are highlighted.     

Estimating household demand for housing attributes in rent-controlled markets

We estimate the household’s marginal willingness to pay for housing attributes in the rent-controlled sector, so where rents are not freely market determined. The application of hedonic price approaches to obtain estimates of the household’s value of housing characteristics is then invalid. We apply an alternative estimation approach based on residential mobility. In our application, we focus on the households’ willingness to pay for number of rooms as well as the willingness to pay to avoid a long commuting distance. Our estimates appear plausible. For example, for households in the rent-controlled sector are willing to pay about 7% of their household income for an additional room. The implied marginal costs of commuting are about €0.17–€0.23 per (one-way) kilometre.     

On the unique features of post-disaster humanitarian logistics

Logistic activity can be thought of as a socio-technical process whereby a social network of individuals orchestrates a series of technical activities using supporting systems such as transportation and communications. To understand the functioning of the entire system requires proper consideration of all its components. We identify seven key components: the objectives being pursued, the origin of the commodity flows to be transported, knowledge of demand, the decision-making structure, periodicity and volume of logistic activities, and the state of the social networks and supporting systems. Based on our analysis of the differences between commercial and humanitarian logistics, we pinpoint research gaps that need to be filled to enhance both the efficiency of humanitarian logistics and the realism of the mathematical models designed to support it.We argue that humanitarian logistics is too broad a field to fit neatly into a single definition of operational conditions. At one end of the spectrum we find humanitarian logistic efforts of the kind conducted in long-term disaster recovery and humanitarian assistance, where operational efficiency – akin to commercial logistics – is a prime consideration. At the other, post-disaster humanitarian logistic operations involved in disaster response and short-term recovery activities represent a vastly different operational environment, often in chaotic settings where urgent needs, life-or-death decisions and scarce resources are the norm. The huge contrast between these operational environments requires that they be treated separately.     

Measuring scale effects in the allocative profit efficiency

This paper provides an approach to the measurement of the “scale effects” in the allocative profit efficiency. To be specific, we evaluate the improvements of profit that can be accomplished by means of a change in the scale size, once technical efficiency is achieved. New decompositions of the allocative efficiency into a scale effect component and the corresponding residual mix effect component are derived.     

Indigenous Peoples’ Health Care: New approaches to contracting and accountability at the public administration frontier

Abstract

This article analyses reforms to contracting and accountability for indigenous primary health care organizations in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. The reforms are presented as comparative case studies, the common reform features identified and their implications analysed.

The reforms share important characteristics. Each proceeds from implicit recognition that indigenous organizations are ‘co-principals’ rather than simply agents in their relationship with government funders and regulators. There is a common tendency towards more relational forms of contracting; and tentative attempts to reconceptualize accountability. These ‘frontier’ cases have broad implications for social service contracting.     

Path dependence view of export behaviour: A relationship between static patterns and dynamic configurations

The main objective of this work is to understand the extent to which a relationship exists between static patterns and the dynamic configurations of a firm's export behaviour. The premise of our investigation is that the set of exporting decisions adopted over a period of time can be explained, in part, by the export pattern of the firm at the start of that period. Our empirical work is based on a sample of 754 exporting firms covering a 4-year period (2002–2006). Data were obtained from the Survey of Business Strategies (SBS). Our results support the path dependent focus of internationalisation, find some interdependences among three dimensions of export behaviour (extent, entry mode and scope), in static and dynamic fields, and support the idea that export experience influences some of the changes in foreign behaviour at one point in time, but not all. Our work contributes to the literature as it is one of the first works that (1) simultaneously analyses static and dynamic variables; (2) establishing relationships between both variables; (3) different dimensions of international export behaviour are introduced jointly; and (4) these relationships are contextualised according to the firm's export experience.     

Is the influence of the industrial district on international activities being eroded by globalization?: Evidence from a traditional manufacturing industry

This study provides insight into the impact of industrial districts on the international activities of firms, in the particular context of one traditional manufacturing industry: the Spanish home-textile industry. Using a sample of 128 manufacturing firms, the paper shows how location influences the timing and levels of exports and imports. Moreover, our results demonstrate how these influences have been diluted in recent years as the home-textile industry becomes more involved in the global arena. Our findings challenge some key arguments exploring the advantages of the district in the international activities of firms; in particular, first, in questioning the capacity of the district to prevent international sourcing, and second, its vulnerability to the threats created by the growing integration of the world economy.     

Comments on : ‘The decline and rise of political economy’, by Bruce Yandle

The first part of the argument is a reformulation of Yandle's problem and a sketch of the current apologetics of Public Choice Theory and its pitfalls. In the second part it is argued that Yandle's thesis on the connection between the social value of political economy and the size of the state displays identical flaws. An improved specification is needed to save this challenging thesis.     

National telecommunications planning in Brazil

During the past 15 years Brazil has undergone a process of rapid modernization in its telecommunications. Starting from a chaotic situation, institutional foundations were established and an ambitious development programme carried out. A fundamental piece of this programme was a planning process that proved to be flexible and adequate to handle the social and economic disparities of the country. The policies that have emerged from the planning process were implemented and provided good economic results and satisfaction to customers.