Corporate governance,external market discipline and firm productivity

Using a sample of Australian companies over the 2000–2005 period, we examine the impact of internal corporate governance on firm's total factor productivity, taking into account the interaction between internal governance and external market discipline. Our empirical findings point to a substitution effect between product market competitiveness and firm-level corporate governance. Overall, internal corporate governance mechanisms – more efficient boards and greater CEO stock-based compensation – are effective instruments for improving firm productivity. However, internal governance is less effective when a firm faces a highly competitive product market. We find only weak empirical support for an association between firm's ownership structure and productivity, and no support for an association between industry takeover intensity and firm productivity.     

Business groups and institutional upheaval in emerging economies: Corporate venturing in Korea

In this paper we detail the nature of market-oriented institutional upheaval and its implications for business groups in Korea during the late 1990s. Employing case study methodology we identify four projects that were nurtured under corporate venture programs in response to this upheaval: two internal incubating projects and two new venture investment projects. We analyze these cases employing the concepts of resource fit and organizational misfit. Based upon these in-depth case analyses we generate a conceptual framework that managers can rely on for the choice of organizing mode of corporate venture projects. We conclude by discussing managerial implications and future research directions.     

Price Setting Practices in Australian Local Government

Revenues generated on a ‘fee‐for‐service’ or ‘user‐pays’ basis are a significant source of income for Australian local governments. However, how local governments set prices and charges remains under‐explicated. This article reports empirical evidence obtained on the pricing policies and practices of Australian local governments. The responses to a national survey reveal considerable diversity – and often an apparent lack of ‘rationality’– in setting specific prices. Instead, general ‘across the board’ adjustments to historical prices are typically made to assist in balancing budgets. The cost of service delivery is neither a prominent nor standardised input to pricing decisions.     

On innovation,social change,and reality

Innovation in social affairs is a far more complex and demanding process than one might believe. Not only are there many excellent general reasons why an apparently “rational” or absolutely “necessary” innovation either fails to be realized or is incorporated in totally unforeseen ways, there are also important specific reasons, associated with individual contexts where innovation is undertaken, that must be taken into account. Ignoring the important idea of the quid pro quo, making facile assumptions about the clarity and importance of the proposed changes, and failing to account for a range of reactions and distortions of implementation may spell disaster to a would-be innovator and his ideas, regardless of the merits of either. To illuminate the concept of innovation is useful. Think of it as a four-step process that includes initiation, reaction or rejection, partial incorporation, and diffusion phases. Each phase presents different problems and opportunities, and each must be considered seriously and explicitly if an innovation is to turn out even remotely as its proponents intended.     

Accountants and Empire: the case of co-membership of Australian and British accountancy bodies, 1885 to 1914

This study examines one aspect of the influence of the British Empire connection on the establishment of an accountancy profession in Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It does so by analysing data collected on the comembership of the numerous Australian and British accountancy bodies formed before 1914. It casts doubt on the conclusions of Johnson and Caygill (1971) regarding the predominance of accountants with British qualifications in the creation and growth of the Australian bodies and also elucidates the connection between the professionalization strategies of particular bodies and the membership choices of accountants in the context of imperialism.     

What do firms from transition economies want from their strategic alliance partners?

A financial system engaged in active transition from central planning to free market may be dubbed a transition economy. On today's global landscape, there are several important transition economies, all at various stages of transition and with differing degrees of success. Yet, much is not known about this important sector of the world economy. As outside enterprises seek alliances with firms from transition economies, it is important to know what these firms want from alliance partners. To learn more, we conducted a study interviewing managers of private firms from the two largest and most strategically important transition economies: China and Russia. We found that while Chinese and Russian firms often hope for some of the same things as their counterparts in mature economies as regards alliances, they are also interested in other things not normally associated with alliances: political influence, relief from paying bribes, and protection from extortion or even violence. Moreover, we discovered that because of differing institutional conditions in the two countries, Chinese firms are not always looking for the same things from alliances as are Russian firms—in spite of surface similarities between the two economies. Based on these findings, we provide guidelines for firms seeking alliance partners in transition economies, to assist them in determining if an alliance is right for them and planning accordingly.     

Tourism and poverty alleviation: perceptions and experiences of poor people in Sapa,Vietnam

This paper examines the perceptions and experiences of poor people in Sapa, Vietnam, regarding tourism as a means of poverty alleviation. Participant observations and semi-structured interviews were conducted with local people and key informants. The paper indicates that local people perceive poverty as a lack of rice and/or income and attribute it to both internal and external causes. The local tourism sector has primarily benefited the non-poor and tour operators, resulting in conflicts of interest among community members. However, more local people consider tourism a contributor to poverty alleviation than those who do not. All interviewees wish to become homestay owners or tourist guides. The most important barrier to the former is the lack of capital, while foreign language proficiency is the main hindrance to the latter. It is concluded that while an appropriate approach is required to involve local people in tourism, alternative livelihoods other than tourism are also needed. The study suggests that poor people's interpretation of poverty may be substantially different from that of academics and policy-makers. It argues that by valuing the perspectives of those experiencing poverty we can establish more meaningful approaches to alleviating poverty through tourism that are more likely to succeed.     

The economic effects of the UK government's proposed Brexit deal

The focus of our analysis is on how the UK government's proposed Brexit deal is likely to affect the economy. First, we assess how trade, migration, foreign direct investment, productivity and contributions to the EU budget might change by reviewing current proposals against historical evidence. Second, we use the National Institute Global Econometric Model (NiGEM) to analyse the macroeconomic effects. Our assessment is that trade with the EU, especially in services, would be more costly after Brexit. This would be likely to have adverse effects on living standards in the UK. Our central estimate is that if the government's proposed Brexit deal is implemented, then GDP in the longer term will be around 3% lower per head than it would have been had the UK stayed in the EU. If the UK were to stay in a customs union with the EU, or if the Irish backstop position was to be invoked, there would still be a hit to GDP per capita of 2%. These estimates represent our considered view of the economic impact of the government's proposed Brexit deal, but they are themselves uncertain as there is no historical precedent of a country leaving a major trading block such as the EU.