The antecedents of in-store hoarding: measurement and application in the fast fashion retail environment

This study raised scholarly inquiry about the construct of in-store hoarding and investigated the antecedents of in-store hoarding in the fast fashion retail environment. As the market becomes dynamic and volatile, more retailers are moving toward fast fashion by constantly delivering new products throughout the season. As a result, a product life span is dramatically reduced, thereby accelerating perishability of fashion items. Moreover, in order to make constant room for new products and minimize markdowns, fast fashion retailers deliberately limit product availability, creating a sense of scarcity on the part of consumers. Based on the literature review and one-to-one interviews, perceived perishability, scarcity and low price were identified as primary drivers of in-store hoarding. Overall, results from a field study supported the proposed model. However, the findings indicated that perceived perishability and scarcity were central to understanding in-store hoarding, whereas low-price perception was least important with a marginally significant effect on in-store hoarding. This study made a significant contribution to the consumer and retailing literature by introducing, defining, and operationalizing new constructs and new measurements, including scales for perceived perishability, perceived scarcity, and in-store hoarding. This study also provided many implications for practitioners in developing and implementing marketing and merchandising management strategies.     

Heterogeneity in the dynamic effects of uncertainty on investment

We examine how aggregate profit uncertainty influences capital investment activities, focusing on heterogeneous responses of firms. We model aggregate profit uncertainty as the conditional standard deviation of a common factor across unforecasted fluctuations in the sales growth of different industries and exploit cross‐sectional variations for its estimation. From an investment forecasting model that coherently analyzes firm‐ or group‐specific effects of uncertainty, we find that the direction and the size of investment adjustment vary considerably across firms, with a significant but small negative average impact. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for heterogeneity in the transmission of uncertainty, allowing us to reconcile different views on the effect of uncertainty in the existing literature.     

Product Market Competition and the Ownership Choice of Business Groups: Evidence from Korean Chaebols

This study investigates the effect of product market competition on the ownership choice of controlling shareholders in the Korean business groups known as chaebols. We find that member firms in more competitive markets have less disparity between the control and cash flow rights of controlling shareholders. The adjustment in ownership due to product market competition is implemented mainly through an adjustment in the ownership of affiliates rather than in the direct ownership of controlling shareholders. The disciplinary effect of product market competition is observed only in member firms with lower market power in their own industries. The result implies that product market competition works as a disciplinary mechanism that reduces the incentive of chaebols’ controlling shareholders to pursue the private benefits of control.     

Learning from Referents across Geographic Distance and Institutional Contexts: The Perceived Speed of ISO 9000 Certification in Chinese High‐Technology New Ventures

Learning by observing the behaviors and choices of other (referent) firms is an important way for firms to augment their stock of knowledge. However, new ventures face unique challenges with vicarious learning. In particular, their referent firms may not be spatially close, which makes it difficult to collect and make sense of information. In a field study of 175 high‐technology new ventures, we examine and find that distance and the maturity of the legal environments of the observed firms, along with the moderating effect of the size of referent firms, can influence new ventures’ observation and processing of information. Such learning is reflected by the perceived speed of new ventures fulfilling ISO 9000 certification.     

Growth of the Korean semiconductor industry and its competitive strategy in the world market

This paper examines the growth process by which the semiconductor industry in Korea has developed, the reasons for its remarkable growth, and the competitive strategy it has recently been pursuing to maintain its competitive edge in the world semiconductor market. The Korean semiconductor industry started from off-assembly by foreign firms in the mid-1960s and has progressed to self-development of 4M dynamic random access memory and mass production of various frontier very large scale integrated circuits, going, in turn, through embryonic, transitional, take-off and expansion, and self-supportive stages. The possession of skilled, inexpensive human resources, the given size of the domestic market, the strong commitment of entrepreneurs with large investment capability, private firms' appropriate selection and expansion of suitable business scope for its technological capability, and aggressive investment in research and development (R&D) and production facilities, together with government subsidies in R&D and manpower training and coordination of collaborative research among private firms, have facilitated the growth of the Korean semiconductor industry and enhanced its competitive position in the world semiconductor market.     

Leveraging who you know by what you know: Specialization and returns to relational capital

Research Summary: This paper investigates the interaction effects of specialization and relational capital on performance. We distinguish between upstream and downstream relational capital and theorize that higher levels of specialization will buffer against decreases in upstream relational capital, because of deeper domain expertise and stronger downstream relational capital. Conversely, higher levels of generalization permit greater gains from increases in upstream relational capital, due to leverage across a more diversified downstream portfolio of activities. We test and find support for these hypotheses in the context of the US lobbying industry. Our study contributes to the strategic human capital literature by isolating the dimension of specialization and relational capital embodied within individuals and providing performance implications of the interactions. Managerial Summary: Both “what you know” and “whom you know” impacts performance. Generalists and specialists are different on the “what you know” dimension. On the “who you know” dimension, we distinguish between upstream (supplier) and downstream (client) relationships. We show that specialists are buffered by deeper downstream relations from performance declines when their powerful upstream connections lose power. Generalists benefit from broader networks when their upstream connections gain power. Thus, when the value of their relationships change, specialists and generalists should each assess when they can reap performance benefits, and when they need to bolster against adversities. For firms, our study suggests hiring the right mix of specialists and generalists is important to reduce risks from relational losses while enjoying the performance benefits from relational gains.     

Upstream regulation in mature network industry: evidence from Nordic mobile telecommunications markets

This article investigates the effects of upstream regulation that aims to create niches and attract new type of entrants on the competitive environment of downstream markets. Using unique cross-country data of Nordic mobile telecommunications markets, we show that upstream regulation leads to (i) increases in both number and aggregate market share of service-based providers in the downstream market, (ii) an increase in the number of service-based providers, thus increasing their aggregate market share, but no opposite direction of results and (iii) a lower retail price level, proxied by average revenue per user. Our findings imply that upstream regulation may be able to achieve better outcomes when the policy objectives are to revitalize mature network industries and to enhance consumer welfare.     

How does ownership concentration exacerbate information asymmetry among equity investors?

This study investigates the association between ownership concentration and information asymmetry between informed and uninformed investors, and explores several mechanisms that mitigate such a relation. Using a large sample of Korean firms whose ownership structure is highly concentrated, we find that the degree of information asymmetry increases with ownership concentration. We also find that ownership concentration is positively associated with information asymmetry via an increase in the relative amount of informed trading. This effect more than overcomes the unexpected decrease in the frequency of private information events. Furthermore, while neither institutional investors nor internal corporate governance systems help alleviate the negative effects of ownership concentration, analyst following reduces the information asymmetry associated with ownership concentration. Our findings are robust to endogeneity concerns, additional control variables, and an alternative use of empirical proxies.