Testing a model of exploration and exploitation as innovation strategies

We suggest a structural model that specifies firm growth as a function of firm-specific parameters, market-specific parameters, and competition for purchasing power. The model distinguishes between two firm innovation strategies: exploration and exploitation. On the basis of a set of simulations of this model, we derive a number of empirically testable hypotheses. A subset of these have already found support in the empirical literature. We take these as evidence in favor of the explanatory power of the model. In addition, we are able to derive further testable propositions on the interaction of firm-demographic processes, innovative behavior and market structure that go beyond the existing literature and that we suggest for further research. We conclude that the approach chosen here provides a fruitful pathway for further research.     

Imperfect Competition and Fiscal Policy Transmission in a Two-Country Economy

This paper explores the interactions between countries implementing a fiscal policy in a monopolistic competition framework. The study of the fiscal multipliers shows that a fiscal expansion in the home country increases domestic output and diminishes foreign output in the short run. Profit redistribution to households constitutes the main channel of transmission. Both influence of the proportion of domestic firms owned by domestic households and the effect of the mark-up on the transmission of government policies are analysed. In the long run there is no interaction between countries since profits are zero. The welfare analysis reveals the possibility of positive externalities across countries, and the introduction of alternative taxation principles shows that the main results can be altered by the taxation scheme.     

AGRI-FOOD EXPORTS TO THE CEECs: WINNERS AND LOSERS FROM EU ENLARGEMENT

Agri‐Food Exports to the CEECs: Winners and Losers from EU Enlargement The accession of the CEEC‐4 to the EU will enlarge its customs union and thus influence trade flows. The article examines likely changes in agri‐food trade flows and identifies the sensitive areas for future WTO negotiations on market access issues, including the potential for compensation claims by trading partners. We estimate that total CEEC‐4 agri‐food imports will increase by about 9.3 per cent. Processed food imports will rise by over 14 per cent but raw commodities by only about 3.5 per cent. There are contrasting effects among the CEEC‐4. Poland and Hungary can expect significant increases in imports while the Czech and Slovak Republics will experience slight decreases. Thus, depending on the success of their support programs for structural adjustment, Poland and Hungary may wish to negotiate transitional arrangements for the adoption of tariffs in order to protect the most sensitive sectors. The EU, the major trading partner of the CEEC‐4, will gain the most, especially Germany, while third countries will suffer comparatively small losses. We estimate that, except for limited impacts on banana and rice imports from Latin America and Asia, the forthcoming enlargement should not raise problems for third countries in the framework of the WTO negotiations on market access issues. It is likely that the EU will be able relatively easily to compensate developing country losers. Les exportations agroalimentaires vers les pays de la Communauté Européenne: les gagnants et les perdants de l'élargissement de L'Union Européenne L'accession de quatre pays d'Europe Centrale et Orientale (PECO) à l'Union Européenne élargira son union douanière et aura ainsi un impact sur les flux commerciaux. L'article examine les changements que cela peut entraîner dans les flux du commerce agroalimentaire et identifie les thèmes sensibles cies négociations futures de l'OMC sur les problèmes d'accès au marchè, y compris les possibilités de demandes d'indemnisations par les partenaires commerciaux. On estime que les importations agroalimentaires totales des quatre PECO augmenteront d'environ 9,3 pour cent. Les importations d'aliments transformés augmenteront de plus de 14 pour cent, mais les produits de base de seulement 3,5 pour cent environ. Les effets diffèrent entre ces quatre pays. La Pologne et la Hongrie peuvent espérer des augmentations significatives de leurs importations, tandis que les Républiques tchèque et slovaque connaîtront de légères diminutions. Ainsi, en function de la réussite de leurs programmes de soutien à l'ajustement structurel, la Pologne et la Hongrie peuvent espérer négocier des mesures transitoires pour l'adoption de droits de douane afin de protéger les secteurs les plus sensibles. L'Union Européenne, partenaire commercial le plus important des quatre PECO, et en son sein l'Allemagne, gagnera le plus, tandis que les pays tiers subiront, par comparaison, des pertes faibles. L'on estime que, mis à part un impact limité sur les importations de bananes et de riz en provenance d'Amérique Latine et d'Asie, l'élargissement futur ne devrait pas poser de problèmes pour les pays tiers dans le cadre des négociations de l'OMC sur les problèmes d'accès au marché. Il est probable que l'Union Européenne arrivera assez aisément à indemniser les pays en voie de développement qui seront perdants. Agrar‐und Lebensmittelexporte Ernährungswirtschaft in die MOEL: Gewinner und Verlierer der EU‐Erweiterung Mit dem Beitritt der mittel‐ und osteuropäischen Länder (MOEL) zur EU erweitert sich die Zollunion, und somit beeinflusst dies ebenfalls die Handelsströme. In diesem Artikel werden die zu erwartenden Veränderungen hinsichtlich der Handelsströme bei Produkten der Agrar‐und Ernährungswirtschaft untersucht und die für die zukünftigen WTO‐Verhandlungen heiklen Fragen zum Marktzugang herausgestellt, wie zum Beispiel potenzielle Ausgleichsforderungen der Handelspartner. Unseren Schätzungen zu Folge werden die Importe der Agrar‐ und Ernährungswirtschaft aus den MOEL um ca, 9,3 Prozent zunehmen. Die Importe von weiterverarbeiteten Nahrungsmitteln werden um über 14 Prozent zunehmen, die Importe von Roherzeugnissen jedoch nur um ca. 3,5 Prozent. Innerhalb der MOEL kommt es zu gegenläufigen Effekten. Polen und Ungarn können von signifikanten Importzuwächsen ausgehen, während für die Tschechische und die Slowakische Republik cine rückläufige Entwicklung zu erwarten ist. Daher könnten Polen und Ungarn ‐ je nachdem, welchen Erfolg ihre Subventionsprogramme zur strukturellen Anpassung aufweisen ‐ den Wunsch äußern, Übergangsregelungen für die Zollübernahme auszuhandeln, um die anfälligsten Sektoren zu schützen. Die EU als der bedeutendste Handelspartner der MOEL wird dabei am meisten profitieren, vor allem Deutschland, während Drittländer vergleichsweise geringe Verluste erleiden werden. Wenn von begrenzten Auswirkungen auf die Bananen‐ und Reisimporte aus Lateinamerika und Asien einmal abgesehen wird, sollte die bevorstehende Erweiterung für Drittländer keine Probleme im Rahmen der WTO‐Verhandlungen hinsichtlich des Marktzugangs aufwerfen. Wahrscheinlich wird es für die EU vergleichsweise einfach sein, die voraussichtlich Verluste erleidenden Länder zu entschädigen.     

Status and incentives

This article introduces status as reflecting an agent's claim to recognition in her work. This is a scarce resource: increasing an agent's status requires that another agent's status be decreased. Higher‐status agents are more willing to exert effort in exchange for money; better‐paid agents would exert higher effort in exchange for improved status. The results are consistent with actual management practices: (i) egalitarianism is desirable in a static context; (ii) in a long‐term work relationship, juniors' compensation is delayed; and (iii) past performance is rewarded by pay increases along with improved status within the organization's hierarchy.     

Farmer Compensation and its Consequences for Environmental Benefit Provision in the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme

The Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ESS) provides payments to farmers for the provision of environmental services based on forgone agricultural income. Consequently, farmers with a relatively low opportunity cost of agricultural land will be particularly attracted to apply for entry into the ESS within a given payment region. This article tests whether there exists a significant relationship between Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) Scheme entry and agricultural yields. Empirically, HLS participation is found to be negatively related to cereal yields at the farm level. This could be associated with ‘auspicious selection’ of land into the Scheme, with greater ‘value for money’ provided by the higher entry of land with lower agricultural forgone income but higher environmental benefit within the region.     

Balanced cycles in an OLG model with a continuum of finitely-lived individuals

This paper studies the intertemporal equilibrium of a barter economy populated with a continuum of finitely-lived overlapping generations. Assuming isoelastic preferences and zero endowments at the beginning and the end of the individuals’ life-span, it proves the existence of an Hopf bifurcation and provides sufficient conditions on parameters for its occurrenceThe authors would like to thank an anonymous referee, Alain Venditti and Francesco Ricci for helpful comments and suggestions     

Wage Cuts and Managers’ Empathy: How a Positive Emotion Can Contribute to Positive Organizational Ethics in Difficult Times

Using the lens of positive organizational ethics, we theorized that empathy affects decisions in ethical dilemmas that concern the well-being of not only the organization but also other stakeholders. We hypothesized and found that empathetic managers were less likely to comply with requests by an authority figure to cut the wages of their employees than were non-empathetic managers. However, when an authority figure requested to hold wages constant, empathy did not affect wage cut decisions. These findings imply that empathy can serve as a safeguard for ethical decision making in organizations during trying times without generally undermining organizational effectiveness. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research.     

Trust in the image of God: Links between religiosity and reciprocity in Haiti

Are religious believers more prosocial than other people? In a trust game field experiment with 774 subjects in Haiti, we elicit willingness to pay to play in the presence of religious images, and argue that this can be interpreted as a measure of the strength of religiosity. More religious individuals trust others more and reciprocate more than others, with effect sizes between 14% and 21% of mean behaviour depending on the measure. They do not reciprocate more in the presence of religious images than without them, nor towards members of the same denomination as themselves. The results support the view that religious affiliation is correlated with intrinsic trustworthiness. We show that lab behaviour correlates with intuitive measures of religiosity outside the lab and with participation in borrowing and lending networks.     

Representation as a driver of internationalization: The case of a singular Russian SME

This exploratory research focuses on an unconventional practice in a Russian small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME). While studying the decision-making process of the entrepreneur and executives of this firm, we noted some differences with extant theories. This article aims to shed light on the influence of the SME entrepreneur’s representation of internationalization on his decisions in a foreign context. The results support the assumption that the representation plays a role in guiding strategic decisions and mobilizing subordinates to support the strategic orientation defined by the leader. In particular, we will see that a very favorable representation of internationalization can lead to unexpected success abroad.