Structural FECM: Cointegration in large‐scale structural FAVAR models

Starting from the dynamic factor model for nonstationary data we derive the factor‐augmented error correction model (FECM) and its moving‐average representation. The latter is used for the identification of structural shocks and their propagation mechanisms. We show how to implement classical identification schemes based on long‐run restrictions in the case of large panels. The importance of the error correction mechanism for impulse response analysis is analyzed by means of both empirical examples and simulation experiments. Our results show that the bias in estimated impulse responses in a factor‐augmented vector autoregressive (FAVAR) model is positively related to the strength of the error correction mechanism and the cross‐section dimension of the panel. We observe empirically in a large panel of US data that these features have a substantial effect on the responses of several variables to the identified permanent real (productivity) and monetary policy shocks.     

The interplay of effectuation and causation in decision making: Russian SMEs under institutional uncertainty

The institutional context of Russia and the recent regime of foreign trade sanctions makes it a natural laboratory to study change in decision making regarding the international activities of SMEs. This research explores how the increased institutional uncertainty is evaluated, enacted and responded to by SMEs that are heavily involved in relations with international suppliers. This longitudinal multiple-case study reveals that although firms simultaneously use both causation and effectuation in their decision making, an increase of institutional uncertainty boosts effectuation. The study shows that the intensity of both types of decision-making logic varies along the studied period in accordance to changing perceptions of institutional uncertainty. Also, the studied firms use effectuation logic differently enabling us to distinguish two types of effectuation with contrasting performance implications: opportunity-driven effectuation and survival effectuation.     

Post–Privatization Effects of Management and Employee Buy–outs

Management and employee buy–outs have played a significant role in the privatization of state–owned enterprises. Key research and policy issues are raised concerning whether insider ownership promotes or impedes restructuring and adaptation. This paper reviews and synthesizes studies of the effects of privatization management and employee buy–outs in both developed and transition economies. Trends in privatization buy–outs and conceptual issues concerning the expected effects of privatization buy–outs both in terms of performance and survival are discussed. A review of empirical evidence is presented in terms of the impact of buy–outs on employee attitudes, human resource management, strategy and restructuring, financial and economic performance, together with fresh evidence on survival. Privatization buy–outs can lead to significant restructuring but their impact depends on institutional context and policy. Restructuring may be greater where insiders purchase shares rather than acquiring them virtually free through voucher programmes.     

Corporate labour share of income and the shadow economy: a cross-country analysis

This article addresses a link between the size of the shadow economy and the corporate labour share of income in the European Union. Fixed individual and time effects models suggest that there is a negative link between these two indicators. The coefficients are statistically significant if we control for other variables related to labour markets, such as unemployment rates or strictness of employment protection (regular contracts). Depending on the exact model specification, our estimates suggest that an increase in the shadow economy by 1% of GDP results in a 0.5–1% decline in the labour share of income in the corporate sector.     

Organizational patterns of economies: an ecological perspective

A complex adaptive systems paradigm can be used to abridge theorizing in ecological and economic sciences. The paper discusses economic flows, connectivity and stability from the perspective of theoretical ecology. The global economy, by analogy with ecosystems, appears to self-organize as an ascendent system: most of the world trade is done among the tiny fraction of technologically advanced countries and trade interaction strength exhibits a power law with exponential decay. Small world behavior and preferential attachment characterizes interactions among economic agents. Industrial economies and the world economic system as a whole appear to evolve towards the ‘maximum power’ efficiency. Development that fosters efficiency in the maximum power sense (all the world becomes industrialized) implies a trade-off in socio-economic diversity, and may be antithetical to the stability of the global economy. If we take an ecological perspective, then the problem of global development does not reside in the realm of technology or global governance. It boils down to the question of required natural balance in living systems, the balance between organized complexity and overhead, the harmony between efficiency and adaptability.     

Strategic Management of Technology

This article deals with technology as it relates to strategy design. It addresses the different views of reality between general managers and the organization's technologists. This becomes increasingly important in high levels of turbulence. It examines the role of the general management and technological myopia as major influencer in the decision-making process. The thrust of this article is on the assessment of gaps between management and technologists and methods to close them. The article completes with the role of management in managing and driving technological innovation while integrating technology strategy in the organization's strategy.     

Retraction Note: Analyzing of innovations influence on economic growth by fuzzy system

Quality & Quantity - The Editor-in-Chief has retracted this article (Mladenovi? et al. 2017) because validity of the content of this article cannot be verified. This article showed...     

Cost-System Choice and Incentives—Traditional vs. Activity-Based Costing

We incorporate information and managerial incentives into the analysis of a common cost-management tool—activity-based costing (ABC). We study the choice of a costing system in a firm where the owners contract with a manager to use either a traditional or an ABC system and make production decisions. We show that, as commonly argued in managerial-accounting literature, in a first-best setting with no informational asymmetries the ABC system is always preferred to the traditional costing one. However, when the firm's manager has relevant private information, the owners' choice of a costing system is not as clear. We demonstrate that the firm earns higher expected profits under the ABC system when the uncertainty about the manager's private information is high. Conversely, the firm's expected profit is higher under the traditional costing system when the uncertainty surrounding the manager's private information is low because the gross benefits of better information provided by ABC are exceeded by the additional informational rents the owners must pay the manager under this system. Our results provide a formal explanation of the coexistence of traditional and ABC systems in practice.