Submarkets and the evolution of market structure

We construct a model of industry evolution in which the central force for change is the creation and destruction of submarkets. Firms expand when they are able to exploit new opportunities that arrive in the form of submarkets; they contract and ultimately exit when the submarkets in which they operate are destroyed. This simple framework can transparently explain a wide range of well‐known regularities about industry dynamics, most notably the subtle relationships between size, age, growth, and survival. Data on the laser industry, where submarkets are prominent, further illustrate the ability of the model to explain distinctive patterns in the evolution of industries and firms.     

International factor migration and the U.S.

Conclusion The model employed is sufficiently realistic to provide conclusions regarding income distribution due to factor migration. While more disaggregation and other models would be revealing, these results correspond to observed positions on migration issues. Owners of a productive factor can be expected to favor migration policy, either the making or enforcing of laws, favorable to themselves. A factor owner's sentiments can be predicted by identifying patterns of friendship. While each productive factor is its own enemy, empirical results for the U.S. identify two pairs of enemies as well: capital/skilled and semiskilled/unskilled labor. Unskilled labor is a friend of capitalists and skilled labor, both of which can be expected to favor their free immigration.     

The Impact of New Zealand's Public Sector Accounting Reforms on Performance Control in Museums

Accounting by most New Zealand museums was subject to public sector reforms requiring private sector -style financial reporting, and service performance reporting. This study into the impact of the reforms on how museum managements pursue successful performance found museums adopting a more accounting-oriented approach to planning and evaluation. Service performance reporting has facilitated the periodic evaluation of non-financial targets by managements, but as currently constituted the reporting model is flawed, particularly in its implications for essential long-term resource capacity of museums. This threatens its effectiveness for promoting good performance. Non-accounting based professional practices also have a role in museum success.     

Air transport liberalisation and the development of third level airports in France

The liberalisation of air transport in the European Union encouraged a proliferation of new entry airlines exploiting the opportunities offered by minor airports. This was particularly apparent in France where “third level” airports experienced growth associated with start-up airlines using low-capacity aircraft. A summary of these trends is followed by a detailed examination of the Centre-East District, which demonstrates that the aspirations of both airlines and airports have been compromised by recent restructuring of the French airline industry. Far from providing greater competition, deregulation has increased the quasi-monopoly of Air France as market forces proved to be stronger than liberalisation. As a result, many third level airports face an uncertain future, especially in the light of the terrorist attack on the United States and its likely effect on airline economics.     

Relational quality and innovative performance in R&D based science and technology firms

The knowledge‐based view of the firm implies that the innovative performance of R&D based organisations is strongly influenced by the quality of their relational capital. However, the quality of the employment relationship has been underplayed in this perspective. A model is developed that tests the quality of three dimensions of the employment relationship – the psychological contract, affective commitment and knowledge‐sharing behaviours – and their consequences for innovative performance amongst 429 R&D employees in six different science and technology based firms. Analysis found that affective commitment plays an important role in mediating psychological contract fulfilment on knowledge‐sharing behaviour, which in turn is strongly related to innovative performance. More specifically, fulfilment of the job design dimension of the psychological contract has an independent positive association with innovative performance, whereas fulfilment of the performance pay dimension is negatively associated.     

Ignorant Theory and Knowledgeable Workers: Interrogating the Connections between Knowledge,Skills and Services

This article builds on recent critiques of the knowledge economy to argue that key growth areas in future employment will be in low level service jobs rather than knowledge work as currently understood. The article discusses the knowledge, skills and competencies involved in interactive service work. It suggests that knowledge which is contextual, social or tacit has been taken to be of lesser value in relation to competitive advantage. It highlights the contrast, therefore, between the growth in interactive service work and the focus of the knowledge management literature on a small sub‐set of total employment. Two case‐studies of interactive service work, one drawn from a range of service sectors and the other from a call‐centre setting, provide empirical material which highlights the skills required by em‐ployers in this area. Technical skills were seen as less important than aesthetic and social skills. These cases highlight the management of social skills and competencies as critical to interactive service work. Workers need to develop an understanding of themselves that allows them to consciously use their emotions and corporeality to influence the quality of the service. This leads to the conclusion that the interactive service sector should not be conflated with knowledge work. Rather, it is more important to focus on the broader need for knowledgeability in work, and so broaden understanding of labour in the contemporary workplace.     

Knowledge dynamics in a network industry

In this paper, we model the impact of networks on knowledge growth in an innovating industry. Specifically, we compare two mediums of knowledge exchange: random interaction, and the case in which interaction occurs on a fixed architecture. In a simulation study, we investigate how the medium of knowledge exchange contributes to knowledge growth under different scenarios related to the industry's innovative potential. We measure innovative potential by considering the extent to which knowledge can be codified, and the available technological opportunities. Our results tend to support the conjecture that spatial clustering generates higher long-run knowledge growth rates in industries characterized by highly tacit knowledge, while the opposite is true when the degree of codification is important.     

“Fifty in five”: The prospects for merger in the electric utility industry

By analyzing four case studies of merger attempts between electric utilities, we conclude that there are not strong incentives for a wave of combinations in the industry. Potential synergy gains do not provide a strong motivation since they are likely already being captured through joint ventures and coordination agreements. Those that still exist would most likely be distributed to rate payers by regulatory decisions. Managerial incentives of the bidder are countered by the desire of target management to remain independent. Potential gains to the financial community from a wave of mergers are large, but the regulatory process provides a dampening of this otherwise strong incentive.