Changes over time in the return to education in urban China: Conventional and ORU estimates

Studies of the return to education in urban China have reported that this has increased over time, and that females typically have a higher return than males. In this paper we adopt a framework provided by the over education/required education/under education literature, and the decomposition developed by Chiswick and Miller (2008), to investigate the reasons for these findings. The finding by Chen and Hamori (2009), from analysis of data for 2004 and 2006, of the return to schooling for males exceeding that for females, is also examined using this decomposition.     

START FILLING YOUR TALENT GAP-NOW

As businesses steer their way out of turbulence, they have a unique opportunity to identify their leadership supply and demand and then to close the talent gap in their organization. Alan Bird, Lori Flees and Paul DiPaola explain how you can take immediate steps to build the right team now – and lay the groundwork for a long-term approach for nurturing talent within the organization.     

Economics of shortage and non-price control

The main ideas and concepts of Economics of Shortage (by János Kornai) and Non-Price Control (edited by János Kornai and Béla Martos) are summarized. Then the notion of a normal state, and the significance of quantity signals in economic control processes are discussed, along with Kornai's views about the role of prices in economic adjustment, and the nature of the budget constraints that agents face. Finally, the paper explores the relationship between Kornai's analysis and the various types of macroeconomic equilibrium recently discussed by Malinvaud.     

Random coefficient regression and the long-run phillips curve for the U.S.

This research suggests that a random coefficient regression model is well-suited for analyzing long-run versus short-run movements in wages and unemployment and is an improvement over some empirical techniques typically used.     

Relationships in the purchasing of business to business professional services: The role of personal relationships

There has been a shift from transactional to relational exchange and relationship marketing both in the business to business and professional services contexts. This paper seeks to explore the manner in which personal relationships affect the process and outcomes of purchasing of professional business services. Specifically, it focuses on the role of the professional service providers as boundary spanners in the formation of personal relationships. These personal relationships constitute the underlying basis of long-term relationships between the purchasing and provider organizations in such complex service settings. The findings of this study demonstrate that the manner in which the boundary spanners cultivate relationships support the concept of relationship specific tasks. It extends this conception by use of the data to outline the chronological process over time Understanding the roles, function, and ultimately importance, of these relationships facilitates the identification and development of appropriate strategies to manage these relationships.     

Intended and unintended termination of international joint ventures

This study proposes that international joint ventures (IJVs) are terminated either when the initial purposes of the formation of the IJV have been achieved (intended termination), or when unanticipated contingencies that emerge in the external, internal, or inter‐partner conditions after the establishment of the IJV impede the continuation of its operation (unintended termination). Our study examines the factors that affect intended and unintended termination and the longevity of IJVs. The findings show that approximately 90 percent of all IJV terminations are unintended and 10 percent intended, and that the frequency of intended termination and unintended termination varies noticeably depending on the initial purposes of formation. This suggests that the termination of IJVs is significantly contingent on their formation. The findings also show that the longevity of IJVs varies according to the initial purposes of formation, the initial conditions under which the IJV is formed, and the types of unanticipated contingencies that it encounters. The key theoretical issues and practical implications of the distinction between the intended and unintended termination of IJVs are also discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Commercial exploitation of new technologies arising from university research: start-ups and markets for technology

The creation of start-up firms is an important method of commercializing new technologies arising from R&D at universities and other research institutions. Most research into start-ups presumes that these firms develop products or services. However, start-ups may operate through markets for technology by selling or licensing rights to use their technology to other firms – typically established firms – who develop and sell new products or services based on the technology. In this study of 57 public start-up firms created to commercialize the results of university research, we find evidence that (1) operating through markets for technology is a common approach to commercialization, (2) start-ups that operate in markets for technology can be effectively distinguished in practice from start-ups operating through product markets, and (3) there are substantive differences in the business activities of firms depending on whether they operate through product markets or markets for technology.     

Counterfeit, imitation, reverse engineering and learning: reflections from Chinese manufacturing firms

In a previous paper, we developed an alternative perspective on product imitation and innovation. In this paper, we explore some of our research questions using empirical data gathered in China. While we do not condone counterfeit activities, we explore the role of counterfeiting, imitation and learning from the perspective of Chinese manufacturers and provide insight from a small number of key informants about the motives and incentives for non-consensual acquisition of technology and their views on what Western firms should be doing to counteract the threat to their technological advantage. In this paper, we argue that where companies use the technology property of others to develop their own technology capability without the consent of the other party (non-consensual acquisition of technology), firms should consider whether there are opportunities for collaboration before resorting immediately to the legal tools at their disposal to enforce intellectual property rights and seek financial recompense from infringers without due consideration of the learning, new product development and innovation context. We believe that the findings from our case studies can make a significant contribution towards a better understanding of non-consensual acquisition of technology in an innovation context. In particular, the information gained from the key informants provides their perspective on the causes of non-consensual acquisition of technology and their views and recommendations of how companies affected by this behaviour might be able to better handle this problem.