An exploratory analysis of the relationship between absorptive capacity and business strategy

In this study, we argue that a firm's absorptive capacity will vary depending on the strategy it adopts. To examine this, based on the fact that absorptive capacity is developed through the ability to acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit externally-generated knowledge, we look at the importance of each of these dimensions at firms pursuing different business strategies. To reflect business strategy, we draw on Miles and Snow's typology. The information has been obtained based on a sample made up of 81 Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises. Results show that knowledge acquisition capacity is greater at prospectors than at defenders and analysers, and that transformation and exploitation capacities are greater at prospectors than at defenders. No differences in knowledge assimilation capacity are observed.     

Should we transfer resources from college to basic education?

We analyze public intervention in two educational levels: basic education and college education. The government decides per capita expenditure at each level and the subsidy for college education. We explore the effect of transferring money from one level to the other on equity and efficiency. We prove the existence of an Equity-Efficiency Frontier (EEF), and analyze which policy reforms are optimal when the society is not at the EEF. For developed countries, this policy consists of transferring resources from college education to basic education.     

Assessing Public Priorities for Experiment Station Research: Contingent Value and Public Preferences for Agricultural Research

Laws concerning government accountability mandate that agencies weigh constituent interests in setting priorities. This study extends literature on the value of research by considering the public's stated preferences for scientist-effort allocated across an Agricultural Experiment Station's research portfolio. Over 75% of respondents expressed a willingness-to-pay exceeding $20 per household for allocations of at least 139 scientist-months. The mean household is willing to pay about $25 for a 25% increase in effort. Marginal analysis identifies topic areas where an additional scientist-month provides above- or below-average benefits. The distribution of effort across research topics significantly affects respondents' values.     

Land consolidation in inland rural Galicia, N.W. Spain, since 1950: An example of the formulation and use of questions, criteria and indicators for evaluation of rural development policies

This paper examines whether the land consolidation (LC) practised since the 1950s in Galicia, N.W. Spain, has had the desired effects. To achieve this aim, we have adopted the methodology drawn up by the European Union for evaluation of its socioeconomic programmes, and we have adapted it as required by the subject matter and by the long-term historical perspective of this study. Our results suggest that, during the study period, LC has in general made a positive contribution to slowing rural depopulation.     

Migrant human and political capitals value in entrepreneur enterprise performance. A comparative study of four emerging markets

This paper investigates the impact of human and political capitals of entrepreneurs on enterprise performance in four emerging nations.The rent generation potential of these capitals is a well established fact, however, much less is known concerning the contingent nature of their value creation prowess. In this work, we draw on institutional theory and dynamic managerial capabilities perspective to examine the interactive effect of country of origin economic developement level and the international experience of entrepreurs, on the capitals, with respect to a set of financial indicators. Employing a quantitative methodology, our findings reveal that the relationship between the capitals and enterprise performance are indeeed contingent with the capitals of home-grown entrepreneurs, rather than those of returnee migrant entrepreneurs, exhibiting a greater propensity to influence enterprise performance. We conclude with implications for theory and practice.

     

Farmers,institutions and technology in agricultural change processes: outcomes from Adaptive Research on rice production in Sulawesi,Indonesia

International agricultural research centres use approaches which aim to create effective linkages between the practices of farmers, introduced technologies and the wider environment that affects farming. This paper argues that such new approaches require a different type of monitoring as a complement to conventional approaches that tend to favour a quantitative assessment of adoption and impact at the farm level. In this context, we examined monitoring data from an Adaptive Research (AR) project highlighting complementary qualitative analysis. Our emphasis is to capture the improvisational capacities of farmers and to reveal social and institutional constraints and opportunities in a broader innovation system. Our approach provided clear insights into how rice farmers adjusted their practices and how actors involved linked (or not) with others in the innovation system. We also demonstrated how institutions such as policies, religious rituals or service provider arrangements pose conditions that establish or constrain practices aligned with introduced technologies. A broader perspective in monitoring AR therefore provides important additional insights into the factors which shape outcomes in farming communities. To expand outcomes, AR projects should also pay attention to designing and testing new institutional arrangements that create enabling conditions for agricultural innovation.     

Entrepreneurial orientation and motivation to start up a business: evidence from the health service industry

This study aims to investigate the entrepreneurial orientation and motivation to start up a business in a specific group of health care professionals (HCP), namely diagnostic and therapy technicians. Primary data collected through a sample of 367 HCP is used. The results regarding the entrepreneur’s psychological and cognitive profile supported the hypothesis that HCP who have previously created a firm have particular psychological and cognitive characteristics conducive to entrepreneurial activity. The results also demonstrate that motivation influences the willingness of firm creation. Additionally, this study highlights some implications for management seeking to promote the emergence of context-relevant conditions that would allow HCP to launch their own business venture more readily.     

Modeling Asset Interconnectedness on Investment Models

This paper assesses an investment model for firms making decisions on interconnected assets. Introducing heterogeneity and interconnections implies new considerations about investment decision drivers. The paper also analyzes the optimum conditions under this new framework. In fact, it is observed that considering a continuous or a discrete time model implies different assumptions. The paper thus provides an investment model of a recognized but not yet formalized reality.     

Finding the Benefits: Estimating the Impact of The South African Child Support Grant

This paper estimates the impact of the South African Child Support Grant (CSG) on child health, nutrition and education. Data from the 2008 South African National Income Dynamics Study are used to estimate the impact of the CSG on six different outcomes measuring child well‐being. We find a positive treatment effect of the CSG on children's height‐for‐age, progress through the school system, as well as household expenditure on food items using a continuous treatment estimator developed by Hirano and Imbens. Robustness analysis using the inverse probability weighting approach by Flores and Mitnik is also implemented. Although these estimates provide some evidence of a positive impact resulting from the CSG, they are not conclusive in showing that the cash transfers are spent mainly on improving the lives of beneficiary children, as the treatment effects are quite small.     

Technological advances and the decision to invest

Technological advances impact a firm’s investment decision, as they affect the investment cost. They can also affect the profitability due to demand shocks. We study a firm’s optimal investment decision when technological advances occur as surprises and induce uncertain reductions in the investment cost and in earnings. Despite this complex setting we derive closed-form solutions for the investment option value and the investment threshold. When technological advances only impact the investment cost, we demonstrate significant contributions compared to existing research, which restricts the analysis by keeping the expected investment cost path constant. For example, we show that, albeit the investment threshold is constant, the option value is very sensitive in the expected impact of technological advances. Leaving the restrictive setting, we obtain more intuitive results, e.g. that more frequent technological advances increase the option value. When technological advances impact future earnings we find important long-term effects: the investment threshold increases, whereas the option value decreases. Finally, earnings volatility postpones investment, while uncertainty due to technological advances expedites investment.