Managing Diffusion Barriers When Launching New Products

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the link between new product launch activities and market success. So far, most empirical research has focused on launch activities that target customer adoption barriers. However, with such a focus the influence of other stakeholders on innovation diffusion is not taken into account. A review of diffusion research and stakeholder theory serves as a basis for discussing the influence of different stakeholder groups such as customers, dealers, suppliers, and competitors on innovation diffusion. Essentially, it is expected that addressing multiple diffusion barriers during new product launch will have a positive impact on market success. The new concept for launch activities addressing multiple diffusion barriers is tested with data on new product launches in industrial markets using a multiple‐informant approach. The results lend support to the notion that a successful launch requires activities addressing diffusion barriers related to different stakeholder groups. Specifically, barriers related to customers, suppliers, and stakeholders of the further firm environment need to be lowered during market launch. For the group of competitors, a balanced launch approach including measures to both lowering and erecting entry and diffusion barriers will increase the market success of new products. The subsequent investigation of the influence of technological turbulence, market turbulence, and product complexity on the performance relationships shows that under high uncertainty managing multiple‐diffusion barriers is of higher relevance than in more unambiguous, clear‐cut contexts. Thus, the results demonstrate that a careful management of diffusion barriers related to multiple stakeholders is a relevant task when launching a new product. The paper concludes with implications for management practice and avenues for future academic research.     

Renewable resource management, user heterogeneity, and the scope for cooperation

Cooperation can increase the efficiency of commonly-owned renewable resource use. However, received knowledge is that, absent side payments, cooperative solutions are more difficult to achieve the less homogenous the agents involved. We revisit this claim by analyzing how differences in the opportunity costs of resource harvesting affect the scope for Pareto-improving contracts, where contracting is with respect to the type of technology used. We find that the scope for cooperation is largest for intermediate levels of heterogeneity.     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">Climate Policy in a Globalizing World - A CGE Model with Capital Mobility and Trade.</Emphasis>

Book Review

Climate Policy in a Globalizing World - A CGE Model with Capital Mobility and Trade.     

The Impact of EMU on Inflation Expectations

This paper analyses the impact of the monetary regime change from the Bundesbank to the ECB on inflation expectations. In the theoretical part, the Barro-Gordon model is used to derive the potential effect of a new central bank on inflation and inflation expectations. The econometric investigation is based on a flexible specification of expectation formation which allows both for rational and adaptive elements. The results indicate that the monetary regime change did not have a strong and lasting impact on the formation of inflation expectations and that the credibility of both central banks is not perceived to differ significantly anymore. JEL Classification Numbers: E 58, E 31     

R&D and subsidies at the firm level: an application of parametric and semiparametric two‐step selection models

This paper analyzes the effect of public R&D subsidies on firms' private R&D investment per employee and new product sales in German manufacturing. Parametric and semiparametric two‐step selection models are applied to this evaluation problem. The results show that the average treatment effect on the treated firms' R&D intensity is positive. The estimated effects are robust with respect to the different selection models. Further results show that publicly induced R&D spending is as productive as private R&D investment in generating new product sales. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unity and diversity in prominent US futures studies

The findings of a survey of 22 prominent US futures studies published between 1967 and 1982 are presented. Common themes and divergences among the studies are delineated, and the underlying reasons for these are discussed, in order to throw some light on the strengths and limitations of futures studies as a whole.