Is the ‘Globalization’ of Science Always Good for Scientific Productivity and Economic Growth?

Modern science is characterized by an increasing trend in collaborations and interactions among researchers. This paper aims to analyse the effects of this phenomenon on the productivity of the science sector and on the growth rate of the economy. Basic research is modelled as a contest where only those who arrive first at an innovation obtain the reward and where the interactions among researchers do contribute to production of scientific knowledge. An important result is that when interactions are significant multiple steady states emerge. Hence the ‘science globalization’ process could have enhanced the heterogeneity among scientific sectors of different countries. When there are low interactions, policies that increase connectivity could have low or even perverse effect at improving the efficiency of science, the contrary happens in high connectivity environments.     

Triggers for virtual customer integration in the development of medical equipment — From a manufacturer and a user's perspective

Virtual customer integration (VCI) involves customers throughout all stages of the new product development process. Firms across industries have started to experiment with virtual user integration and expect to utilize their knowledge, creativity, and judgment. However, little research exists that looks at the motivations of customers and managers to engage in virtual product development projects. In this paper we try to identify the triggers for virtual customer integration (VCI) from the manager's as well as from the customer's perspective. Using Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior we aim at explaining managers' motivation for the adoption of VCI based on a sample of 104 managers engaged in the product development process of manufacturing firms of medical technology. Drawing on motive research, we test six categories of customer motivations to engage in VCI projects on a sample of 105 users of medical technology. The results show that for mangers subjective norms and attitude predict the intention to use VCI. For customers, interest in innovation and product improvement are the most important drivers, whereas monetary compensation and prestige are not significant, and surprisingly the desire to help people even has a negative impact on the participation of VCI.     

The Cosmopolitan Grassroots City as Megaphone: Reconstructing Public Spaces through Urban Activism in Jakarta

Discussions on social movements in Asian cities are inseparable from the abundance of public rallies in the region. In this article, I look at the case of Thamrin‐Sudirman, the main thoroughfare in Jakarta, Indonesia, to uncover how physical urban spaces constituting part of the city as living systems broaden the reach of social movements' agendas. The study involved continuous observation at rallies, interviews with social movement leaders and participants, and a look at simultaneous public rallies in various cities. This article analyzes the sites of public rallies as ‘megaphones’, based on the patterns of issues featured in the rallies, the groups participating, and the nodes and paths that they constructed. Two key dimensions of the megaphone are: (1) the symbolic and historical significance of the sites of rallies; (2) the relationship between the space and the media. Particular sites in cities become places where information is gathered, distributed and transferred through the media, facilitating a network among cities. This article concludes that cities are agents of political actions that amplify ideas and spread them across the globe. The urban centers' megaphonic function results from the synergy between the public space in the built environment and the public sphere, and is reflective of the recentering of the city.     

Operational planning and competitive strategies of male and female retailers

Interest in the managerial practices of females in business has increased over the past decade due to women's increased representation in business. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that women approach decision making differently from men. The purpose of this study is to determine if gender differences regarding managerial strategies exist in the retail setting. Targeted managerial strategies focused on short-term planning processes (personnel, financial, inventory and market planning) and competitive strategies in operation (differentiation, cost leadership and focus). In a sample of 459 retailers from a twelve-state region, MANOVA was used to determine if significant differences in managerial strategies existed between genders. The data on retail competitive strategies suggest that men and women more likely than male business owners to recognize in the importance of differentiation and focus as retail competitive strategies in their business operations. Gender differences were also found in the operational planning areas of market and inventory planning.     

THE INTERNALISATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIES AFFECTING DWELLINGS: A REVIEW OF COURT CASES IN HONG KONG

In 1960, Ronald Coase suggested that there are many methods to solve the problem of externalities apart from imposing Pigovian taxes. Internalisation is one of those noted in his classic paper, ‘The Problem of Social Cost’. This paper studies the possibility of residents receiving compensation from pollutant generators. Data collected from Hong Kong law reports over the past 20 years show that there is forty‐fold increase in number of water seepage court cases since the first case in 1994. The total amount of compensation has also increased greatly. There are, however, far fewer court cases where residents seek compensation from generators of noise and air pollution. This may reflect a combination of high transaction costs and low expected benefits from such cases.     

Misleading Characteristics of Implied-Superiority Claims

Abstract

Characteristics of implied-superiority claims that mislead consumers were examined. Claims for four products were investigated using a factorial design to manipulate type of claim (three variations of implied-superiority claims and a noncomparative claim), concreteness of the referent attribute (concrete, vague, and omitted), and brand familiarity (familiar and fictitious brand names). Implied-superiority claims were more misleading than noncomparative claims, as shown by the percentage of subjects who believed that brands described by such claims were superior. Ratings of brand quality and interest in trial were not increased by such claims. Concreteness of referent attributes does not account for these findings; however both the use of indirect comparisons to competitors and the use of familiar brand names contribute to the misleading effects of implied-superiority claims.     

A Cross-Country Database for Sector Investment and Capital

This article presents a new database of investment and capitalin agriculture, manufacturing, and the overall economy. It covers62 industrial and developing countries for the years 1967–92.A common method is used in the calculations to facilitate comparisonsacross countries and sectors. The sensitivity of the calculationsto choices of parameters and estimation methods is tested. Collectively,the data show that as economies grow, capital stocks accumulate,but the composition of capital changes. Together and individually,capital stocks in agriculture and manufacturing constitute asmaller share of the total capital stock than they did 20 yearsago. Capital-labor ratios show that agriculture has become morecapital intensive in most countries. The composition of agriculturalcapital has changed as well; capital from investments in orchardsand livestock has declined relative to capital from fixed investmentsin machinery, irrigation, and buildings.     

Is creative accounting dead?

Because it has been seen as a short‐sighted way for local authorities to escape from the Government's expenditure controls, creative accounting now has a bad reputation. However, creativity will be needed in accounting, as in every other aspect of management, if local authorities are to stand a chance of facing up to the challenges of the 1990s.     

ON THE SHAREHOLDER WEALTH EFFECTS OF DEPOSIT INSURANCE PREMIUM REVISIONS ON LARGE,PUBLICLY TRADED COMMERCIAL BANKS

Evidence is provided from changes in deposit insurance premiums in the early 1990s on the validity of the premium absorption hypothesis and the premium shifting hypothesis. Analysis of abnormal market returns associated with deposit insurance events using a market‐model event‐study methodology suggests that reductions in deposit insurance premiums are associated with increases in the market value of banking organizations; conversely, increases in deposit insurance premiums are associated with decreases in market wealth. The largest banks in the sample and banks with low equity capital (and low risk‐based capital ratios) appear to be most affected. These results are generally consistent with the premium absorption hypothesis but inconsistent with the premium shifting hypothesis.     

The labor market effects of foreign owned firms

Foreign firms have a more educated workforce and pay higher wages than domestic firms even after controlling for worker quality, at a given moment in time. This does not imply that foreign ownership improves the labor market outcomes of the workers since foreign investment may be guided by unobservable firm and worker characteristics correlated with schooling or wages. This paper asks whether foreign investors acquire firms with high human capital or wages, or whether foreign acquisition improves these outcomes. Using a matched employer-employee data set, I find that foreign acquisitions of domestic firms have small effects on the human capital and on average wages of the acquired firms. Instead, foreign investors “cherry pick” those domestic firms that are already very similar to the group of existing foreign firms.