A new fuzzy multi-criteria framework for measuring sustainability performance of a supply chain

Sustainable supply chain performance measurement is aimed at addressing environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable supply chain management. It can be argued that it is not easy to reduce all dimensions of sustainable supply chain to a single unit. Then, the issue is that all valuations should somehow be reducible to a single one-dimensional standard. Multi-criteria evaluation introduces a framework to remedy this issue. As a consequence, multi-criteria evaluation seems to supply a proper and adequate assessment framework for sustainable supply chain assessment. In this study, a multi-criteria framework based on fuzzy entropy and fuzzy multi-attribute utility (FMAUT) is proposed in order to evaluate and compare the company performances in terms of sustainable supply chain. However, note that reducing all aspects of sustainable supply chain to a single unit using a multi-criteria framework may not be sufficient to satisfy all the needs of decision makers although it is used to evaluate sustainability performance of supply chains with respect to three aspects. Therefore, in this research, an alert management system is also developed to satisfy further requirements of users. The proposed frameworks are tested using data obtained from one of the middle sized Turkish grocery retailers.     

Does governance travel around the world? Evidence from institutional investors

We examine whether institutional investors affect corporate governance by analyzing portfolio holdings of institutions in companies from 23 countries during the period 2003–2008. We find that firm-level governance is positively associated with international institutional investment. Changes in institutional ownership over time positively affect subsequent changes in firm-level governance, but the opposite is not true. Foreign institutions and institutions from countries with strong shareholder protection play a role in promoting governance improvements outside of the U.S. Institutional investors affect not only which corporate governance mechanisms are in place, but also outcomes. Firms with higher institutional ownership are more likely to terminate poorly performing Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and exhibit improvements in valuation over time. Our results suggest that international portfolio investment by institutional investors promotes good corporate governance practices around the world.     

Overcoming the double hurdles to investing in technology

Technological activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have received considerable attention from researchers and policy makers since the mid-1980s. Small firms could nurture entrepreneurship and facilitate the creation and application of new ideas. In spite of their potential in generating innovations, it is also observed that SMEs shy away from formal R&D activities, and the firm size itself seems to be a barrier for R&D activities. SMEs operating in developing countries face extra hurdles to investing in R&D. Given the massive share of SMEs, it becomes crucial to realize their developmental potential in developing countries. In this paper, we study the drivers of R&D activities in SMEs in Turkish manufacturing industries by using panel data at the establishment level for the 1993–2001 period. Our findings suggest that SMEs are less likely to conduct R&D, but if they overcome the first obstacle of conducting R&D, they spend proportionally more on R&D than the LSEs do. R&D intensity is higher in small than in large firms. Moreover, public R&D encourages firms to intensify their R&D efforts. The impact of R&D support is stronger for small firms.     

Privatization, Ownership and Technical Efficiency a Study of the Turkish Cement Industry

This paper presents an empirical study of the effects of ownership and privatization on technical efficiency in the Turkish cement industry. We first summarize the characteristics of the Turkish cement industry and changes in industrial structure in the post-privatization period. The effects of ownership and privatization on technical efficiency are estimated using the stochastic production frontier approach. The empirical tests presented, which use data on all cement plants in Turkey, suggest that neither ownership nor privatization had a significant impact on technical efficiency.     

Trade,technology and skills: Evidence from Turkish microdata

In this paper we report evidence on the relationship between trade openness, technology adoption and the relative demand for skilled labour in the Turkish manufacturing sector, using firm-level data over the period 1980–2001. In a dynamic panel data setting, using a unique database comprising data from 17,462 firms, we estimate an augmented cost share equation whereby the wage bill share of skilled workers in a given firm is related to international exposure and technology adoption.It emerges that R&D expenditures are positive and significantly related to skill upgrading. This result supports the skill-biased technological change argument in the case of a middle-income country such as Turkey.Moreover, the firm-level analysis reveals a positive impact of technological transfer from abroad, foreign ownership and exporting status on the demand for skills, highlighting the role of increasing international openness in fostering skill upgrading within firms.Our microdata also allow us to investigate the direct impact of import flows in shaping the relative demand for skills. The results show that those firms belonging to the sectors experiencing rapid increase in the share of inputs imported from industrialised countries also experience a higher increase in the labour cost share of skilled workers. This finding provides further support for the hypothesis that imports from industrialised countries imply a transfer of new technologies, in turn leading to a higher demand for skilled labour (the so-called skill-enhancing trade hypothesis).     

Foreign Ownership,Competition, and Survival Dynamics

The impact of foreign direct investment on host countries’ industrial sectors has received considerable attention. It is shown by many researchers that foreign plants are more productive than are domestic ones, but the empirical evidence regarding spillovers is not unambiguous. In this paper, we suggest that the impact of foreign direct investment on local industry hinges on the dynamics of foreign and domestic plants—i.e., on entry and selection (exit) processes. Our analysis of foreign investment and competition dynamics in Turkish manufacturing industry for the period 1983–2001 indicates that foreign plants have a better performance level than do domestic ones when they are first established in the local market, and, subsequently, are more likely to survive but; the difference in survival probabilities disappears when the industry and/or plant characteristics are controlled for. Moreover, foreign presence seems to have no long-term effect on the survival prospects of domestic plants.      

Research Ethics Education in Economics

Abstract

In this paper, we report the findings from the data we collected from a survey in order to measure how common research ethics education in economics is. We have found out that (1) research ethics is taught in only a very few economics departments around the globe; (2) topics related to research ethics are not taught in courses on economics and ethics; and (3) the number of papers published in specialised peer-reviewed journals on economics education is only a tiny fraction of the number of papers published in these journals. There has been no evidence in economics showing that economics departments have taken strong initiative on teaching research ethics to undergraduate and graduate students.     

Technical Change and Efficiency in Turkish Manufacturing Industries

Technical progress and production efficiency are central to economic growth and international competitiveness. However, these topics received little attention in Less Developed Countries. This study is the first attempt to measure and to understand the extent and importance of technical progress and efficiency in Turkish manufacturing industries. Stochastic production frontiers for Turkish textile, cement, and motor vehicles industries are estimated by using panel data of plants for the years 1987 to 1992. The rate and direction of technical change for each industry are estimated by introducing time-dependent variables in the production function. Sector-specific factors which influence technical efficiency of manufacturing plants are also identified.