The influence of entrepreneur’s personal characteristics on MSEs growth through innovation

Research in the separate areas of innovation and growth has considerably intensified in recent years. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics that might explain the growth of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) through innovation. This study examines the key entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics affecting micro and small enterprises (MSEs) upgrading, defined here as substantial growth through innovation. Six major determining types of entrepreneurs’ characteristics were identified from the innovation and the growth literature: education, work experience, gender, motivations, nationality and age. The empirical results which are based on t-tests of the differences between upgraders and non-upgraders, the linear probability model and the logit model, all suggest that work experience and motivations are cornerstones in the likelihood that an MSE will upgrade. The policy implications of this study on promoting MSEs upgrading are also discussed.     

Globalisation and the European disease

Summary This paper analyses the impact of globalisation of economic relationships on the European labour market. The main finding is that Europe's unemployment problem is rooted in rigidities in the labour market itself, while the increasing importance of international trade should provide an opportunity to reduce long-term labour market slack. To reap the potential benefits in this respect, European governments would need to re-orient structural policies towards a better functioning of labour and product markets.Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Economics Department, Paris. The author is indebted to several of his colleagues in the Economics Department — in particular Bob Ford, Katie Gordon, Wim Suyker, Thorsteinn Thorgeirsson, and Nick Vanston — and two anonymous referees for their useful comments on an earlier draft. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Organisation or the governments of its member countries.     

汉字图形化分析研究

汉字图形化研究对于我国平面设计进一步民族化是极其重要的。汉字作为设计元素之一,在进行视觉传达时有它自己独有的特点,一是汉字意义传达性,另一个是图形化。汉字图形化作为汉字在平面设计中的突出特点,国内设计师对它的认识还不够,而且对它的研究目前也很有限。如果从汉字作为平面设计主要图形时和本身含义的结合出发,可以有大至三种方法,形意兼备;形强而意弱;讲求形而不要求有什么含义。     

Offshoring and firm innovation: The moderating role of top management team attributes

This study attempts to increase the understanding of how offshoring influences the introduction of new products and services. Focusing on the offshoring of those business functions that provide direct knowledge inputs for innovation (i.e., production, R&D, and engineering), we propose that offshoring has an inverted U‐shaped influence on firm innovativeness. Additionally, we provide an upper echelon contingency perspective by considering the moderating role of two top management team (TMT) attributes (i.e., informational diversity and shared vision). Using a cross‐industry sample with lagged data, we find that offshoring has an inverted U‐shaped influence on firm innovativeness and that this relationship is steeper in firms with high TMT informational diversity and in firms with low TMT shared vision. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential rent in the 1760s: two neglected French contributions

Possibly the earliest contribution to the theory of differential rent is contained in C.-F.-J. d'Auxiron's Principes de tout gouvernement (1766). Two years later, in 1768, another discussion of the phenomenon of extensive differential rent appeared in the physiocratic periodical Ephémérides du citoyen, probably written by J.-N.-M. de Saint-Peravy. This article, while remaining a short and isolated contribution, indicates how differential payments for the use of land can be incorporated within a value theory in which normal prices reflect necessary costs of production and how differential rent can be reconciled with the explanation of rent as a return on capital.     

Managerial Perceptions of Works Councils’ Effectiveness in the Netherlands

Although works councils have, by and large, equally extensive legal rights in Germany and the Netherlands, this is the first econometric analysis that investigates the influence of Dutch works councils on firm performance. We use a nationwide Dutch dataset with information on management’s perceptions of the works council’s impact on their establishments’ efficiency and innovation. Inspired by the German study of Jirjahn and Smith (2006, Industrial Relations 45:650–80), we analyze which determinants influence management’s attitude toward employee participation in the Netherlands. Owing to the specifics of our data, we are able to additionally include variables that measure the interaction between management and worker representatives. We establish a preponderant influence emanating from the works council’s role attitude and management’s leadership style.     

浅议审计假设

本文首先指出构建审计假设体系必须明确的几个问题 ,然后着重对构成审计假设体系的若干审计假设的基本内容和意义进行讨论。本文认为审计假设体系由以下假设构成 :( 1 )受托经济责任假设 ;( 2 )正当怀疑假设 ;( 3)受托责任可验证假设 ;( 4 )审计独立性假设 ;( 5)内控有效性假设。