Firms' Market Power,Endogenous Preferences and the Focus of Competition Policy

Conventional neoclassical views of dominance are generally restricted to a concern for a firm's market power seen in terms of the ability to raise and maintain prices above their marginal costs of production. A prime example of this approach is the application of dominant firm price leadership models, which has led to a restricted theoretical perception of the nature of market power and to an incomplete view of the social costs of monopoly power. This paper argues that a broader conception of a firm's market power leads to a quite different perspective on its conduct. In particular, if we allow dominance to involve the ability to influence product demand patterns, then the theoretical analysis of firm behaviour changes significantly. Specifically, it implies the endogeneity of preferences which, it is argued, represents an important alternative to mainstream analysis. It is suggested that we need to consider a firm's dominance not so much in terms of its pricing in the context of a particular market structure but to focus on its ability to gain advantage over its rivals in terms of 'creating' an asymmetry in the demand for its products. This has important implications for competition policy, for it suggests a need to concentrate on the 'power' of firms and less on the effects of a change in market structure. Likewise, we need to reconsider the adequacy of defining markets in terms of product demand characteristics.     

Influences on technology strategy in the uk oil- and gas-related industry network

In the course of the last 25 years the UK has seen the emergence of a new, technologically advanced network of organisations underpinning the technical needs of the oil and gas extraction industry.The euolution of this industy network has taken place within a public policy framework which has had too central objectives: to maximize UK industrial involvement in the industry and to maximize. North Sea oil and gas extraction. The extent to which this framework has encouraged the development of new, technology-based firms has not been systematical stuided. This study examines the extent of indigenous incoltlement in the network and the influence of the currrent pressures of economic and policy changes on the performance and strategic planning of these compnies.     

The Emergence,Variation, and Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Public Sphere, 1980–2004: The Exposure of Firms to Public Debate

This study examined the emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a public issue over 25 years using a content analysis of two national news- papers and seven regional, geographically-dispersed newspapers in the U.S. The present study adopted a comprehensive definition encompassing all four CSR dimensions: economic, ethical, legal, and philanthropic. This study examined newspaper editorials, letters to the editor, op-ed columns, news analyses, and guest columns for three aspects: media attention, media prominence, and media valence. Results showed an increase in the number of opinion pieces covering CSR issues over the 25-year period. The prominence of each of the four CSR dimensions varied over time. Each of the four CSR dimensions had its moment of media prominence when it was more important than the other dimensions. The most prevalent valence of the opinion pieces was negative; the volume of negative pieces increased over the 25 years, whereas the number of opinions with positive, neutral, and mixed tones showed little change over time. The study concludes by tracing the implications of the role of the news media for business ethics research.     

Perceptions of task cohesiveness and organizational support increase trust and information sharing between host country nationals and expatriate coworkers in Oman

Information sharing between expatriate and host country national (HCN) employees is strategically significant. In a sample of Omani HCNs, we hypothesize and find that perceiving task cohesiveness is positively associated with HCNs’ willingness to share information with expatriates and that trust mediates this association. In addition, perceiving organizational support strengthens the relationship between expatriates’ task cohesiveness and HCNs’ trust, whereas interpersonal similarity has no influence. This research highlights important ways in which trust and information sharing may be encouraged, and that HCN–expatriate interpersonal similarity is less important to building trust when more diagnostic cues are available.     

On Gravity,Specialization and Intra‐industry Trade

Contrary to the popular belief, specialization is not necessary for gravity equations. This paper shows that the simple gravity equation holds if and only if the market share of an exporting country is constant across all importing countries. Specialization is just one special case satisfying this condition. The constant‐share condition can hold in a variety of situations where multiple producers compete with a homogeneous good. Further, this paper shows that the ratio of bilateral trade to the product of partner incomes is increasing in the extent of specialization and in the intensity of intra‐industry trade. Since the relationship is not model‐specific, the correlations among these variables do not support any specific model.     

Valuing traceability of imported beef in Korea: an experimental auction approach*

The major objective of this study is to estimate Korean food shoppers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for imported beef with traceability. We use an experimental elicitation method, the random nth price auction, to identify consumers’ valuation for traceable imported beef. We also analyse the effect of different types of information on these valuations. Results indicate that consumers are generally willing to pay a 39 per cent premium for the traceable imported beef over similar beef without traceability. Results also suggest that in contrast to the insignificant effect of positive information, negative and two‐sided information about traceability significantly reduces WTP.     

Full versus quasi MLE for ARMA-GARCH models with infinitely divisible innovations

We compare the backtesting performance of ARMA-GARCH models with the most common types of infinitely divisible innovations, fit with both full maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and quasi maximum likelihood estimation (QMLE). The innovation types considered are the Gaussian, Student’s t, α-stable, classical tempered stable (CTS), normal tempered stable (NTS) and generalized hyperbolic (GH) distributions. In calm periods of decreasing volatility, MLE and QMLE produce near identical performance in forecasting value-at-risk (VaR) and conditional value-at-risk (CVaR). In more volatile periods, QMLE can actually produce superior performance for CTS, NTS and α-stable innovations. While the t-ARMA-GARCH model has the fewest number of VaR violations, rejections by the Kupeic and Berkowitz tests suggest excessively large forecasted losses. The α-stable, CTS and NTS innovations compare favourably, with the latter two also allowing for option pricing under a single market model.     

The Resource Dependence, Service and Control Functions of Boards of Directors in Hong Kong and Taiwanese Firms

Since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990's, there have been numerous calls for the reform of East Asian corporate governance. Without reform, fears abound that the crisis will return. However, a baseline understanding of corporate governance in East Asia needs to be established before reform efforts can begin. In the West, three major functions of boards are commonly recognized: resource dependence, service, and control. These functions have yet to be examined in the context of boards of directors of Overseas Chinese firms in East Asia. In this exploratory study, we examine the extent to which these functions are performed, primarily by outside board members, in Overseas Chinese firms in Hong Kong and Taiwan. We find that the service and control functions are less pronounced for East Asian boards than what would be expected in the West, while the resource dependence function is more pronounced. We also findthat the governance of the region is being moved closer to international practices by a new generation of leaders that have been exposed to Western influences and intense global competition. The implications of our findings for managers, educators, and researchers are discussed.     

Assessing the organizational fit of a just-in-time manufacturing system: Testing selection, interaction and systems models of contingency theory

The adoption of new manufacturing practices such as just-in-time (JIT) and total quality management (TQC) is only a first step to improving manufacturing performance. Even more critical is the fit between manufacturing practices and organizational design, structure and processes. Using archival and survey data, this paper reports the results of a field study within a Fortune 500 company that tests three operationalizations of contingency theory as discussed by Van de Ven and Drazin (1985) [The Concept of Fit in Contingency Theory, Research in Organizational Behavior, pp. 333–365]. Results show that the misfit between worker empowerment required by JIT/TQC practices and existing authoritarian management partially explain relative workgroup performance as do other conflicts within workgroups and between operators and supervisors.