Patent Licensing in the Presence of Trade Barriers

We develop a two‐country duopoly model to explore the optimal licensing contract for an outsider licensor in terms of fixed‐fee and royalty licensing by taking into account trade barriers when firms produce a homogeneous product and engage in Bertrand competition in each market. The present paper focuses on the interaction between licensing and trade barriers in two international markets. We show that both royalty and non‐exclusive fixed‐fee licensing can be optimal. Furthermore, exclusive fixed‐fee licensing can be optimal, which is a result that is not discussed in the existing literature.     

The perceived destination image of Hong Kong on Ctrip.com

This study examines the perceived destination image of Hong Kong among visitors from mainland China, as revealed on the travel blog of Ctrip.com. Textual analysis and the overall evaluation scores of 2247 blog entries indicate that this image is positive in all aspects among these visitors. They are particularly impressed by the shopping experience, as both product quality and prices are considered competitive in Hong Kong. These visitors also evaluate overall food quality highly, although the high price of food and accommodation leads to the perception that Hong Kong is an expensive tourist destination. Managerial implications are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heroes and Villains – Tour Operator and Media Response to Crisis: An Exploration of Press Handling Strategies by UK Adventure Tour Operators

As news dissemination quickens, and consumer awareness increases, strategies employed to handle press during crisis will have far-reaching implications on the reputations of adventure tour operators, and the industry. Exploring the strategies used by three tour operators who have experienced crisis provides some insight into how press handling can affect subsequent UK press reporting. The research examined notions of crisis, the need to appreciate the existence of crisis, the role of media, the key stakeholders involved, and how actual response to a situation can affect media attention. Qualitative analysis of newspaper articles and interviews with key representatives produced conclusions suggesting that companies must be prepared to acknowledge the potential for crisis, and employ crisis techniques that incorporate a press handling strategy. There are many external factors affecting media reporting; however, when a crisis does occur the way in which the press is handled will affect public perception. While recognising there is no control over the media, a prepared response can result in fair reporting and as such can be argued to form an essential part of business operations.     

Investor Sentiment,Limits to Arbitrage and Private Market Returns

This article examines the relation between investor sentiment and returns in private markets. Relative to more liquid public markets, private investment markets exhibit significant limits to arbitrage that restrict an investor's ability to counteract mispricing. Using vector autoregressive models, we find a positive and economically significant relation between investor sentiment and subsequent private market returns. We provide further long‐horizon regression evidence suggesting that private commercial real estate markets are susceptible to prolonged periods of sentiment‐induced mispricing as the inability to short‐sell in periods of overvaluation and restricted access to credit in periods of undervaluation prevents arbitrageurs from entering the market.     

Organisation structure and innovation performance in different environments

This paper examines the relationship between organisation structure and innovation performance in a large sample of UK small and medium-sized enterprises. It asks whether there is an optimal structure and whether this differs between different firm environments and between young and older firms. We find that the influences on the ability to innovate differ from those on the commercialisation of innovations. We show that decentralised decision-making, supported by a formal structure and written plans, supports the ability to innovate in most circumstances and is superior to other structures. We also find some evidence that young firms operating in high technology sectors with informal structures have a greater tendency to be innovative. In addition, we find very few differences between young and older firms in terms of their optimal structures in low technology sectors.     

Strategic positioning,timing of entry,and new product performance in business-to-business markets: do market-oriented firms make better decisions?

Purpose: The mechanism by which market orientation contributes to positional strength of a new product, appropriate timing of entry to the market, and new product performance is examined in a business-to-business (B-to-B) context.

Methodology/Approach: We examine the role of new product positional strength and the role of timing of entry in the market orientation—new product performance relationship using 178 firms operating in the B-to-B market.

Findings: The results show that establishing a new product’s positional strength is a key step in the success of the new product. Market orientation does not directly influence new product performance. Instead, it shapes a new product’s positional strength, which, in turn, positively influences new product performance in the B-to-B market. Timing of entry decision for the new product, shown to be an outcome of its positional strength, is not a determinant of new product performance.

Research implications: We depict the tactical process in new product success and highlight the role of new product positional strength in linking market orientation and new product performance.

Practical implications: The findings reveal that market-oriented firms achieve superior new product performance through well-defined positioning strategy for a new product, not rapidity of action.

Originality/Value/Contribution: This study explains how market orientation influences new product performance in the B-to-B market, taking into consideration new product positional strength and timing of entry.     

Resources access needs and capabilities as mediators of the relationship between VC firm size and syndication

Drawing from the resource-based view and transaction costs economics, we develop a theoretical framework to explain why small and large firms face different levels of resource access needs and resource access capabilities, which mediate the relationship between firm size and hybrid governance. Employing a sample of 317 venture capital firms, drawn across six European countries, we empirically assess our framework in the context of venture capital syndication. We estimate a path model using structural equation modeling and find, consistent with our theoretical framework, mediating effects of different types of resource access needs and resource access capabilities between VC firm size and syndication frequency. These findings advance the small business literature by highlighting the trade-offs that size imposes on firms that seek to manage their access to external resources through hybrid governance strategies.     

Determinants of interest rate swap spreads

This study argues that an interest rate swap, as a non-redundant security, creates surplus which will be shared by swap counterparties to compensate their risks in swaps. This action in turns affects swap spreads. Analyzing the time series impacts of the changes of risks of swap counterparties on swap spreads, we conclude that both lower and higher rating bond spreads have positive impacts on swap spreads. We also derive a risk–spread relation to test if swap counterparties are firms with differential credit ratings. Since the risk allocation between swap counterparties varies over business cycles, hence this factor needs to be controlled. We conclude that (1) similar results hold if the business cycle factor is controlled and (2) swap spreads contain procyclical element and are less cyclical than lower credit rating bond spreads.     

Implicit prices for longer temporary exhibitions in a heritage site and a test of preference heterogeneity: A segmentation-based approach

This paper examines whether or not people with different characteristics have significantly different nonmarket preferences for longer temporary exhibitions in a cultural heritage site, using a choice modelling study. In order to perform the examination, several methods to calculate confidence intervals (the bootstrap, jackknife, Krinsky and Robb, and Delta methods), and a convolutions approach are adapted. A sample is segmented into relatively homogeneous subgroups according to their sociodemographic or attitudinal characteristics. The results from a case study show that (1) the implicit price for longer exhibitions by one month is AU$5.01 per household; (2) sociodemographic and attitudinal characteristics as segmentation criteria do not cause significantly different implicit prices; and (3) different methods of testing the relationship between mean WTP estimates did not lead to different conclusions.