Technological Performance and Alliances Over the Industry Life Cycle: Evidence from the ASIC Industry

Technology development in firms is frequently based on a combination of internal and external technological learning. Consequently, firms need to develop both technological capital (a patent portfolio) and alliance capital (a portfolio of technology alliances). This paper examines the relationship between technological capital, alliance capital, and their joint impact on the technological performance of firms, with an application to the application‐specific integrated circuit industry. We find that positive marginal returns to alliance capital are decreasing at higher levels of alliance capital. Technological capital and alliance capital can either augment or reduce each others' influence on innovation performance depending on the stage of the technology life cycle in the industry. A reinforcing relationship related to absorptive capacity requirements and technological uncertainty is present in early stages, while technology leakage and market competition effects render the combination of high levels of technological and alliance capital counterproductive in later stages of the technology life cycle.     

The role of national culture in financial literacy: Cross-country evidence

This paper examines the effect of national culture on adult financial literacy levels in 12 countries. Contrary to earlier financial literacy studies, our results are directly comparable across countries given that we use the standardized OECD/INFE financial literacy survey data and Hofstede's, 2001, cultural dimensions to capture financial literacy and national culture. In line with the financial socialization theory, we find that uncertainty avoidance positively influences financial literacy, while individualism negatively influences financial literacy. We conclude that national culture affects financial literacy and that it is important to account for cultural dimensions in future international financial literacy research.     

The role of entrepreneurship education as a predictor of university students’ entrepreneurial intention

Using Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and Shapero’s entrepreneurial event model as well as entrepreneurial cognition theory, we attempt to identify the relationship between entrepreneurship education, prior entrepreneurial exposure, perceived desirability and feasibility, and entrepreneurial intentions (EI) for university students. The data were collected from a survey of ten universities; we received 494 effective responses. We used probit estimation to show that perceived desirability significantly impacts EI whereas there is no significant impact from perceived feasibility. There is a significant negative impact from exposure (which is surprising) and a significant positive impact from entrepreneurship education. Males and people from technological universities and/or backgrounds have higher EI than females and people from other universities and backgrounds. There are also significant positive interactive effects by gender, university type, and study major on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and EI.     

How did the notional interest deduction affect Belgian SMEs’ capital structure?

The recently introduced risk capital allowance in Belgium, which allows a notional interest deduction (to be denoted NID hereafter) on a firm’s adjusted equity for tax purposes, has mitigated the tax discrepancy between equity and debt financing. To our knowledge, we provide the first empirical study of the extent to which this regulation has resulted in a strengthening of small and medium sized enterprises’ (to be denoted SMEs hereafter) solvency, which was one of its most prominent objectives. Results from logit regressions reveal that the probability of adopting the NID is higher for lowly leveraged SMEs, SMEs without experience with the tax-exempt investment reserve and SMEs with a sound knowledge of the notional interest deduction regulation. Results on the impact of the NID on the capital structure of SMEs based on panel and first differences regressions reveal that this measure did not result in a significant change of SMEs’ leverage. In view of the discussion regarding the optimal tax and legislative framework that governments should put in place (Poutziouris et al., J Small Bus Enterp Dev 6(1):7–25, 1999), these results cast doubt on the risk capital allowance, as it stands now, being the right government instrument to contribute—at least in the short term—to creating a pro-enterprising tax and legislative climate for SMEs. We conclude by providing some general suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the risk capital allowance.     

Translation mechanisms in socio-technical niches: a case study of Dutch river management

This paper makes three contributions to the field of transition research. First, it sheds light on how the concept of translation can contribute to a better understanding of agency in niche development. Second, it articulates how the local–global distinction in the strategic niche management (SNM) approach relates to the levels in the multi-level perspective. Third, the article is empirically novel by presenting a radical sustainable innovation in Dutch water management (‘New Rivers’).     

Decomposition of Productivity Growth Using Distance Functions: The Case of Dairy Farms in Three European Countries

Within an output distance function framework, the Total Factor Productivity growth index is decomposed into four components (technical change, technical and allocative efficiency, and scale component). We estimate stochastic translog output distance functions using panel data from dairy farms over the period 1991–94 for three European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland). Results indicate that the change in the productivity growth index in Germany (+6%) and Poland (−5%) are mainly dictated by the technical change component. In contrast, the productivity growth index in the Netherlands (+3%) is influenced by allocative efficiency components.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Continuous Incomplete Longitudinal Outcomes

Even though models for incomplete longitudinal data are in common use, they are surrounded with problems, largely due to the untestable nature of the assumptions one has to make regarding the missingness mechanism. Two extreme views on how to deal with this problem are (1) to avoid incomplete data altogether and (2) to construct ever more complicated joint models for the measurement and missingness processes. In this paper, it is argued that a more versatile approach is to embed the treatment of incomplete data within a sensitivity analysis. Several such sensitivity analysis routes are presented and applied to a case study, the milk protein trial analyzed before by Diggle and Kenward (1994) . Apart from the use of local influence methods, some emphasis is put on pattern-mixture modeling. In the latter case, it is shown how multiple-imputation ideas can be used to define a practically feasible modeling strategy.     

Worker turnover at the firm level and crowding out of lower educated workers

This paper investigates whether employers exploit cyclical downturns to improve the average skill level of their work force. We use a unique dataset that contains information on workers, jobs as well as firm characteristics. Our findings are that at each job level mainly lower educated workers leave during downturns. Furthermore, at each level of job complexity, workers with a higher education are not more productive than lower educated workers. We find no evidence that higher educated workers crowd out lower educated workers during recessions.     

THE INTERACTION BETWEEN NATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL VALUE SYSTEMS[1]

Organizations have prevalent value systems which are part of their organizational cultures. These value systems show a national component according to the nationality of the organization's founder(s) and dominant élite. Research data on national value systems in 53 countries and regions are used to suggest the kind of influence nationality is likely to have on organizational value systems, and what this means for the integration within an organization of persons and groups of different national origins.