How Network Strategies and Institutional Transitions Evolve in Asia

This article contributes to the literature on network strategies and institutional transitions in emerging economies in Asia by identifying a realistic, intermediate phase between the early and late phases of institutional transitions suggested by Peng (2003). Focusing on the intermediate phase, we advance two arguments based on network strength and network content. First, in terms of network strength, we leverage earlier insights that networks can be classified as strong ties and weak ties. Consequently, we suggest that as institutional transitions unfold, strong-tie-based networks, instead of being phased out, are being transformed into weak-ties-based networks. Second, from a network content standpoint, we argue that the various scale and scope of institutional transitions shape the content of different networks which focus on business-to-government (B2G) ties and business-to-business (B2B) relationships. Our propositions delineate how different transitions of political and legal institutions affect the evolution of B2G and B2B networks. Overall, we suggest that networks not only differ in strength but also in content, and that their evolution is driven by the impact of different dimensions of institutional transitions governing B2G and B2B relationships. Mike W. Peng (Ph.D., University of Washington) is a professor of global strategy at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he holds the university's first ever Provost's Distinguished Research Professorship. He was formerly an associate professor at the Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University. He is the author of nearly 40 scholarly articles and three books, including, most recently, Global Strategy (2006). He has served on the editorial boards of AMJ, AMR, JIBS, and SMJ, and acted as a guest editor for JIBS and JMS. He is the first elected officer of the Global Strategy Interest Group at the Strategic Management Society. This is his fifth contribution to APJM. Jessie Qi Zhou is a Ph.D. candidate in international business at the Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University. Her research interest includes strategy in emerging economies, network strategy, and organizational learning. Her main theoretical interest is institutional theory, with a focus on how institutional distance affects MNE strategies. The comparative analysis of firms' strategic choices across countries in response to different institutional environments is also of particular interest to her. Her work has been presented at the Academy of Management and Academy of International Business conferences.     

Perspectives—New Era,New Realities: Musings on a New Research Agenda… from an Old Timer

This paper provides an overview of my three primary research streams and the six principles that have guided me in topic selection in the past and which will continue to assist me in choosing research topics in the future. The paper then outlines several important themes that pertain to Asia that merit research attention in the next five to ten years.     

The Financial Impact of Organisational Downsizing Practices—The New Zealand Experience

Partly in response to the Asian economic crisis, many organisations in the Asia Pacific rim reduced staff numbers. This research examines the New Zealand experience of this change intervention from 1997 to 1999. This includes an examination of the impact on financial performance, and how the process followed may moderate such an impact. A questionnaire instrument was designed to measure this, to which responses were received from 155 New Zealand for-profit organisations employing fifty or more people.There is some evidence to suggest that those respondents who had downsized over the period of the study reported lower measures of profitability than those who did not (p < .05). Also, ensuring the procedure was perceived as just by the employees, and offering outplacement help to those who lost their jobs, went some way to improving the financial performance of downsized firms (p < .05). This may suggest that if downsizing is necessary then attention needs to be given to how the process is implemented in order to maximise the financial return.Peter Carswell teaches, consults and researches in the areas of organisational change, development, and innovation; leadership; strategic management; team building; people management and human resource training; organisational culture; management development; and entrepreneurship. He is a research fellow at UNITEC Institute of Technology in New Zealand.     

The Exogamic Nature of Sino-Foreign Joint Ventures

The paper suggests that Sino-foreign joint ventures areexogamicpartnerships. Three hypotheses were formulated: (1) partners pool differentiated sets of idiosyncratic and non-substitutable resources into their joint ventures; (2) they establish cooperation to gain access to resources provided by their counterparts; (3) the younger the partnership, the less the partners contribute with idiosyncratic resources. A questionnaire investigation was conducted into 67 Sino-foreign joint ventures. The test for H1 clearly demonstrated that each partner pools very different resources into the joint venture. H2 was also clearly supported by the data collected. However, H3 was weakly supported.     

Technology and the Size Distribution of Firms: Evidence from Dutch Manufacturing

Empirical studies have shown that the size distribution of firms can be described as a Pareto distribution. However, these studies have focused on large firms and aggregate statistics. Little attention has been placed on the role of technology in shaping firm size distributions. Using a comprehensive dataset of manufacturing firms and the Community Innovation Survey from the Netherlands, the paper investigates the relationship between firm size and technology. It shows that technological factors shape the distribution of firm size, suggesting that the Pareto law is not an invariant property and that technology can constrain the “self-organising” character of industrial economies.     

Sales Promotion and Cooperative Retail Pricing Strategies

Supermarket retailers make strategic pricing decisions in a high-frequency, repeated game environment both in buying and selling fresh produce. In this context, there is some question as to whether a non-cooperative equilibrium can emerge that produces margins above the competitive level. Supermarket pricing results from tacitly collusive equilibria supported by trigger price strategies played in upstream markets. Upstream activities are, in turn, driven by periodic retail price promotions. This hypothesis is tested using a sample of fresh produce pricing data from 20 US supermarket chains. The results support the existence of tacitly collusive non-cooperative equilibria in upstream and downstream markets.     

How do Brands’ “Own Generics” Affect Pharmaceutical Prices?

This paper examines the price effects of generic drugs that are produced by brand-name drug firms and that are labeled, priced, and marketed to compete against independent generics. The strategy of introducing such “pseudo-generics” – also known as “authorized generics” – has raised some antitrust concerns. One defense of this strategy has been that the additional competition created by pseudo-generics should lead to lower prices. This paper develops a simple model to show that pseudo-generics can be expected to have exactly the opposite effect. It then examines empirical evidence on this point from the Canadian pharmaceutical market, showing that there appears to be a positive relationship between drug prices and the share of generic sales made by the brand’s own pseudo-generic.     

The Year in Review: Economics at the Antitrust Division, 2004–2005

This paper covers the activities of the Economic Analysis Group (EAG), during 2004–2005. It describes the economic analysis undertaken by EAG in several important investigations, appellate matters, and other activities as an advocate for competition.