Wealth creation from high-tech divestitures

We measure the change in value to sellers and buyers of divested high-tech assets. Sellers and buyers experience favorable announcement effects in response to high-tech divestitures. However, buyers of divested high-tech assets experience more favorable announcement effects than sellers, which is opposite of the related research findings on other types of divestitures. Based on a cross-sectional analysis, the announcement effects for sellers of high-tech assets are more favorable when there is an investment bank advisor, the transaction price is disclosed, and the size of the divestiture is large. The announcement effects for buyers of high-tech assets were also more favorable when there was an investment bank advisor during the tech-bubble period. Overall, the results suggest that the stock price behavior in response to divestitures of high-tech assets is distinctly different from that of other types of divestitures.     

Can a corrupt ruling party win a re-election through vote buying?

In many developing countries, it is common for electoral candidates to use embezzled money to buy votes. We develop a dynamic model to analyse the trade-off between economic performance and free handouts resulting from corruption on an incumbent party’s chances of being re-elected. The results show, because voters anticipate handouts from the politicians, politicians engage in corrupt behaviour early in the election cycle while minimizing unemployment and maximizing vote buying at the end of the election cycle.     

Does Ecological Footprint Impede Economic Growth? An Empirical Analysis Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis

This paper examines the relationship between income and environmental quality using environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The hypothesised link is tested using time‐series analysis of 22 countries over the period 1961–2011. The degree of environmental impacts of economic activity is measured using ecological footprint (EF) per capita as explanatory variable, while real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and its quadratic and cubic forms are used as predictor variables in these countries. First, the EKC hypothesis is tested through examining the relationship between EF and GDP using linear, quadratic and cubic functions. Further, the long‐run relationship between EF and GDP is investigated using a vector error correction model. It was found that there is a cointegrated relationship between the variables in almost all countries, which was statistically significant, and EKC supported in 10 countries. Additionally, almost all error correction terms are correct in sign and are significant, which implies that some percentage of disequilibria in EF in the previous year adjusts back to the long‐run equilibrium in the current year. Therefore, an efficient trade‐off between environmental protection and economic benefits should be taken, and EF should be reduced through changing consumption patterns, improving the efficiency of use of resources and cleaner technology choices.     

亚太地区炼油工业与油品贸易现状及未来

2016年,亚太地区的炼油能力有所增长,但远低于需求的增长,提高了炼油开工率并维持了炼油业毛利.2017年及今后相当长的一段时间里,如果不出现计划外项目,亚太地区炼油能力扩张转向低速增长,能力过剩的局面逐步缓解.预计未来亚太地区炼油业二次加工能力的增长将超过蒸馏能力的增长,炼油厂的复杂程度会因此上升.交通和消费者终端用油带动亚太地区油品需求的增长.东南亚持续扮演油品净进口区的角色,南亚可能会在2030年后变成油品净进口地区.预计未来亚太地区LPG和石脑油的净进口量会持续增加,汽油净出口在一两年内可能消失,此后航煤、柴油净出口量也会缩小,燃料油供需均会出现下降.苏伊士以东地区一直是石油产品净输出地区,2018年可能会变成净进口地区,净进口规模分别在2020年和2025年进一步扩大.     

The Role of Suppliers in Market Intelligence Gathering for Radical and Incremental Innovation*

Drawing on transaction cost economics theory, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) Does supplier involvement in market intelligence gathering activities have a greater impact on innovation success in predesign or commercialization activities? and (2) Does supplier involvement in market intelligence gathering activities have a greater impact on success in radical or incremental product innovation? Hypotheses are tested using both subjective and objective measures of success from a study of 205 incremental and 110 radical new product development projects. Results from the estimation of a two‐group path model suggest that this theoretical framework is useful in providing guidance as to when product developers should emphasize the gathering of market intelligence through suppliers. Consistent with conventional wisdom, the findings suggest that supplier involvement in market intelligence gathering activities are positively related to success in incremental innovations across predesign and commercialization activities. However, supplier involvement in market intelligence gathering activities is found to have no significant impact on market share and is negatively associated with perceived product performance in radical innovations in predesign tasks. Also, while there was no significant difference in market share for supplier involvement in market intelligence gathering activities between radical and incremental innovation in commercialization activities, supplier involvement in these activities did have a greater impact on perceived product performance in radical innovation than it did in incremental innovation. Although current practice suggests that teams allocate fewer resources to the gathering of market intelligence through their suppliers during predesign activities in incremental innovation projects compared with radical innovation projects, the findings in this study suggest that they should do the opposite. Shifting resources allocated for engaging suppliers in market information gathering activities in predesign activities from radical innovation projects to incremental innovation projects could increase the return on these investments. Alternatively, these resources currently allocated to the gathering of market intelligence through suppliers in predesign activities of radical innovation projects could also provide greater benefits if allocated to commercialization activities of radical innovation projects, where they have the greatest positive impact.