Trends and volatilities in foreign patents registered in the USA

This study analyses the patent trends and volatilities for the top 12 foreign patenting countries in the US market from 1975 to 1997. Japan is ranked first in terms of foreign patents registered in the USA, followed by Germany. Patent registrations from each of these countries have increased steadily over time, but at different rates. Using monthly time series data for 1975–1997, the time-varying volatility of Australian, Japanese and German patents registered in the USA is examined in detail. The asymmetric AR(1)-GJR(1,1) model is found to be suitable for Australia and Japan, while the best fitting model for Germany is the symmetric AR(1)-GARCH(1,1) model.     

Investment coordination in network industries: the case of electricity grid and electricity generation

Liberalization of network industries frequently separates the network from the other parts of the industry. This is important in particular for the electricity industry where private firms invest into generation facilities, while network investments usually are controlled by regulators. We discuss two regulatory regimes. First, the regulator can only decide on the network extension. Second, she can additionally use a “capacity market” with payments contingent on private generation investment. For the first case, we find that even absent asymmetric information, a lack of regulatory commitment can cause inefficiently high or inefficiently low investments. For the second case, we develop a standard handicap auction which implements the first best under asymmetric information if there are no shadow costs of public funds. With shadow costs, no simple mechanism can implement the second best outcome.     

Exploring Foreign Tourists’ Image of Tanzania: A Factorial Analysis Approach

Abstract

In the last decade, the economy of African continent and Tanzania in particular has witnessed a business boom of the tourism sector. While the sector has continued to grow and become a dependable source of direct and indirect employment to youths in urban and rural areas, the sector has been awash with challenges. These challenges include terrorism attacks, energy crises and poor infrastructure. However, the impact of these challenges on the image of Tanzania as a tourist destination has not received the deserved attention. This study explores the perception of visitors towards Tanzania as a tourist destination after they have completed their tourist visit. This study employs factor analysis technique to explore country destination image. Questionnaires were administered to visitors at some of the tourists’ hotels and Julius Kamabarage Nyerere International Airport (as a major exit point) in the country. Frontline employees, various tourist sites and access to services emerged to be strong tourist destination image factors. This implies that the efforts of marketing tourism destination should focus on promoting all the sites the country has.     

Predictability and Persistence of the Price Movements of the S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Indices

This paper examines persistence in price movements and predictability of the US housing market both on a local level across 20 cities in the US and on a nationwide level. We use a time series approach instead of often applied multivariate approaches to exclude potential biases across local markets and provide trading strategies to compare predictability across markets and to test whether or not the detected persistence can be exploited by investors to earn excess returns. The results from the monthly and quarterly transaction-based S&P/Case-Shiller house price indices from 1987 to 2009 provide empirical evidence on strong persistence. This is confirmed by both parametric and non-parametric tests for nominal and real house prices based on expected inflation. Furthermore, the empirical findings suggest that investors might be able to obtain excess returns from both autocorrelation-based and moving average-based trading strategies compared to a buy-and-hold strategy, although the results depend on the transaction costs individual investors face.     

A Blessing and a Curse: Institutional Embeddedness of Longstanding MNE Subsidiaries in Emerging Markets

This article examines the institutional strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in an emerging market, drawing attention to how longstanding foreign subsidiaries proactively negotiate their involvement with socio-political actors. We build on institutional logics to explain how MNE subsidiaries develop sustained political, cultural, and cognitive embeddedness. Using an inductive, interpretive study of four century-old Dutch MNE subsidiaries with a colonial legacy in Indonesia, we examine these three dimensions of the institutional environment, finding that local employees embedded in both the MNE and the host country sets of logics ‒ rather than expatriate managers ‒ most effectively facilitated sustained institutional embeddedness. Our findings also suggest that embedding practices in host institutional contexts and developing structures that align with host institutional expectations provided a platform for the unfolding of institutional strategies by local employees. However, MNE subsidiaries face contrasting logics between home and host country institutions, placing significant strains on MNEs’ ability to enact change.     

Bivariate exponentiated‐exponential geometric regression model

A bivariate exponentiated‐exponential geometric regression model that allows negative, zero, or positive correlation is defined and studied. The model can accommodate under‐ or over‐dispersed count data. The regression model is based on the univariate exponentiated‐exponential geometric distribution, and the marginal means of the bivariate model are functions of the explanatory variables. The parameters of the bivariate regression model are estimated by using the maximum likelihood method. Some test statistics including goodness of fit are discussed. A simulation study is conducted to compare the model with the bivariate generalized Poisson regression model. One numerical data set is used to illustrate the application of the regression model.     

Understanding the effect of market orientation on circular economy practices: The mediating role of closed-loop orientation in German SMEs

The implementation of circular economy (CE) practices is considered a key driver towards sustainable development of firms. Earlier studies point to the general strategic approach of market orientation as an antecedent to CE practice implementation. Still, insights are limited as the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Based on a sample of 121 German small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), we empirically examine how the strategic approach of closed-loop orientation mediates the relationship between market orientation and the implementation of three types of CE practices. Using structural equation modelling, we find that while market orientation is positively related to all three types of CE practices, closed-loop orientation mediates these relationships for only two. Our study extends CE literature by suggesting that market orientation is translated into closed-loop orientation to spur CE practice implementation. We also offer a differentiated understanding of CE practice implementation in the context of German SMEs.     

The Role of Authentic (vs. Hubristic) Pride in Leveraging the Effectiveness of Cost Transparency

Journal of Business Ethics - In the era of consumer distrust of corporations, transparency is becoming a must rather than an option. While prior research has explored why businesses should disclose...     

The Anatomy of Public and Private Real Estate Return Premia

Market-wide, stock market specific, and real estate market specific risk – what kind of risk and to which extent drives the returns of listed real estate? Based on a structural asset pricing model calibrated to the empirical data in the U.S., we show that at least two thirds of the risk premium of listed real estate are driven by the same factors as direct real estate. Our results shed new light on the risk-characteristics of listed real estate returns and are of high interest for academics, regulators, and portfolio managers alike.