The price of deposit liquidity: banks versus microfinance institutions

Using data from Bangladesh, this article finds that the liquidity premium – the difference between the interest paid on illiquid and liquid savings accounts – is higher in commercial banks than in microfinance institutions. One possible interpretation lies in the higher prevalence of time-inconsistency among the poor. The observed difference in liquidity premia could be due to poor time-inconsistent agents willing to forgo interest on illiquid savings accounts in order to discipline their future selves.     

Sustainabilty integration in product portfolio for sustainable development: Findings from the industry

Many companies decide which services, products, and technologies to include in their product portfolio using evaluation criteria, which often consider cost, quality, risk, revenue, time, and market position. Incorporating sustainability in the portfolio evaluation criteria could ensure the development of sustainable solutions from the early stages of the product development process, where there is more room for innovation. The aim of this paper is to understand how sustainability can be integrated in the company portfolio development. Semi-structured interviews were performed with experts in the field and representatives from multinational manufacturing companies with operations in Sweden. Main findings from this study include a proposed definition of a sustainability product portfolio concept and suggested portfolio evaluation criteria from an industry perspective. Future research will develop a method to guide manufacturing companies in sustainability integration and implementation in product portfolios.     

Returns to Skills and the Distribution of Wages: Spain 1995–2010

In contrast to the pattern observed in other developed countries, the Spanish wage distribution compressed between 1995 and 2006 and became more disperse afterwards, so that in 2010 wage inequality was roughly similar to 1995. In this paper, we analyze the role of supply and demand factors when accounting for these facts. We start by decomposing observed wage changes into changes in the composition of the labour force and changes in the returns of workers' and jobs' characteristics. The results indicate that the compression of the wage distribution between 1995 and 2006 is largely explained by changes in returns, and particularly, by a decrease in the returns to education. We show that both the increase in the supply of high‐skilled workers and the increasing weight of low‐skilled occupations are related to the decreasing trend in the skill premium over this period. In contrast, the widening of the wage distribution after 2006 is largely explained by an increase in the relative demand for high‐skilled workers generating an increase in the school premium.     

A Note on the Environment as a Factor Affecting Student Performance in Principles of Economics

This study examines the environment in which students live and function as a determinant of performance in the first course in economics. The author concludes that the student's living arrangement does influence the stock of economic knowledge at the end of the course and observes a surprising, if tentative, consequence of students having taken a course in high school economics.     

The Fuzzy Front End of New Product Development for Discontinuous Innovations: A Theoretical Model

The fuzzy front end of the new product development (NPD) process, the time and activity prior to an organization's first screen of a new product idea, is the root of success for firms involved with discontinuous new product innovation. Yet understanding the fuzzy front‐end process has been a challenge for academics and organizations alike. While approaches to handling the fuzzy front end have been suggested in the literature, these tend to be relevant largely for incremental new product situations where organizations are aware of and are involved in the NPD process from the project's beginning. For incremental new products, structured problems or opportunities typically are laid out at the organizational level and are directed to individuals for information gathering. In the case of discontinuous innovations, however, we propose that the process works in the opposite direction—that is, that the timing and likelihood of organizational‐level involvement is more likely to be at the discretion of individuals. Such individuals perform a boundary‐spanning function by identifying and by understanding emerging patterns in the environment, with little or no direction from the organization. Often, these same individuals also act as gatekeepers by deciding on the value to the organization of externally derived information, as well as whether such information will be shared. Consequently for discontinuous innovations, information search and related problems/opportunities are unstructured and are at the individual level during the fuzzy front end. As such, the direction of initial decisions about new environmental information tends to be inward, toward the corporate decision‐making level, rather than the other way around. In order to cope with the special and complex nature of decisions made at the fuzzy front end of NPD for discontinuous innovations, this process is detailed as a series of decisions occurring over three proposed interfaces: boundary, gatekeeping, and project. The difference between each interface lies in the nature of the decisions made: At the boundary and gatekeeping interfaces, the primary impetus is individual‐level decision‐making; at the project interface, decisions occur at the organizational level. By articulating these processes in the form of a model, we achieve two objectives: (1) We outline a more detailed and comprehensive approach to understanding the nature of the front‐end decision making process for discontinuous innovations; and (2) we detail specific propositions for future research on each stage of the process.     

FINANCIAL STYLE AND CORPORATE CONTROL

who will control the process of realizing values inherent in a particular business? If the answer is to be “Management,” then a more assertive financial style and an accelerated financial restructuring timetable may be required to accompany any necessary business restructuring activities. In the new financial environment, failure to take the initiative to implement prudent, well-reasoned financial restructuring may allow outside interests to re-define the game. Management would thus lose control of the value creation process.     

MORE EVIDENCE ON EXPECTED VALUE-VARIANCE ANALYSIS VERSUS DIRECT UTILITY MAXIMIZATION

The theoretical difficulties of the expected value-variance (E-V) criterion are well known. A number of recent research efforts test the criterion's effectiveness in a publicly traded securities environment. In contrast, this research explores the performance of the E-V criterion using firm-specific, nontradeable investments such as those made by small firms. The empirical example in the study is a small family proprietorship with limited investment opportunities in agricultural production activities. Results indicate the E-V criterion performs well in selecting nontradeable investments that maximize expected utility. These results are consistent with results of earlier research dealing with tradeable securities.     

Construct validation of an Arabic version of the Learning Transfer System Inventory for use in Jordan

The purpose of this study was to translate and validate an Arabic version of the Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI) for use in Jordan. The study also investigated the perceptions of transfer system characteristics across selected individual and situational variables. The LTSI was administered to 450 employees of 28 different public and private sector organizations operating in Jordan. Principal axis factoring with oblique rotation was used to uncover the underlying structure of the Arabic version of the LTSI. Results showed a latent factor structure that is highly consistent with the English version of the LTSI. Results also indicated that transfer system perceptions differed across levels of education, years of experience, types of training, choice of training, sector of the organization and task of the organization. Implications for the field of human resource development are also provided.