Nuevas perspectivas en el ámbito de las relaciones laborales transnacionales

Las federaciones sindicales internacionales y las empresas multinacionales están concluyendo acuerdos marco internacionales para proteger sus intereses en el entorno económico de la globalización. Los autores modelizan las negociaciones al respecto y muestran que puede esperarse la conclusión de estos acuerdos cuando ambas partes son reacias al riesgo, pero el acuerdo favorecerá a la que menos lo sea. Como la globalización ha afectado más a los sindicatos que a las empresas, los acuerdos marco hasta ahora firmados ofrecen mínimas ventajas a los trabajadores; ello debería cambiar gracias a las capacidades sindicales transnacionales reforzadas y a la posibilidad de atacar la imagen de las EMN, lo cual igualará las actitudes frente al riesgo.     

Product-Market Competition in the Water Industry: Voluntary Non-discriminatory Pricing

Since franchise bidding in the piped water industry is problematic due to extensive investment requirements, product-market competition or common carriage is a valuable alternative for the introduction of competition. This paper analyses product-market competition by considering a simple model of interconnection where competition is introduced between vertically integrated neighbouring water suppliers. The model contains water markets specificities such as local and decentralised networks and related difficulties of regulating access charges. Even without any regulation, we show that: (i) an inefficient incumbent will give up its monopoly position and lower the access price far enough so that the low-cost competitor can enter his home market; (ii) efficiency of production will rise due to liberalisation; and (iii) in contrary to prejudicial claims, investment incentives are not destroyed by the introduction of competition for the market. Investments of low-cost firms may even increase.JEL classification: L95, L43, D21, Q25     

The interaction between universal service costing and financing in the postal sector: a calibrated approach

The financing of universal service has traditionally relied on granting the universal service provider a reserved area. Together with growing electronic substitution, current liberalization policies promoting competitive entry may put the traditional universal service at risk. Hence, there is an increased interest in estimating the cost of universal service provision. The 3rd EC Postal Directive proposes a calculation approach to separately determine the net cost of a universal service obligation and to compensate the universal service provider (USP). This paper discusses the interaction between universal service costing and financing and shows that the EC approach may result in distorted results. It also quantifies the effects based on a model calibration with Swiss data. The results show that separate costing and financing leads to a considerable under-compensation of the USP if there is a compensation fund to which every operator contributes. The USP is over-compensated if it is exempt from contributing to the fund (pay or play mechanism). The problem of under- or overcompensation can be resolved by an integrated computation of the net cost that includes the competitive effects of the financing mechanism. Such an integrated approach results in a fair compensation of the USP.     

Rethinking research methods for the resource‐based perspective: isolating sources of sustainable competitive advantage

An exploration of traditional perspectives and contemporary propositions regarding sustainable competitive advantage points to the conclusion that the locus of advantage is located specifically within organizational effects. The key issue emerges that research investigating sources of sustainable competitive advantage must be done not only on organizations but also in organizations. The fallout from this conclusion is, however, that the research methodologies traditionally used in strategy research will not unambiguously uncover these sources of sustainable advantage. Using organizational culture as an example of a possible source of sustainable advantage within a resource‐based paradigm, a four‐step research framework is suggested for isolating these organizational effects. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Community-Value-Marketing — Was Unternehmen von NPO lernen können

Zusammenfassung  Welche Marketingstrategien setzen Non-Profit-Organisationen ein, um ihre Ziele zu erreichen? Bei einer Analyse zeigt sich, dass es hier Wege gibt, die sich auch von profitorientierten Unternehmen umsetzen lassen. Beispielsweise die Marketingstrategie, nicht nur Kunden, sondern auch die sie umgebenden Nicht-Kunden anzusprechen, um auf diese Weise einen erweiterten Kundennutzen zu stiften. Ein zweiter Aspekt ist die Erkenntnis, dass sich Werte am besten über eigenes Erleben vermitteln lassen. Das Beispiel der Hepatha-Stiftung soll dies verdeutlichen. Dipl.-Kulturw., MSc, Karin Kreutzer Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Center for Social Enterprise der Universit?t St. Gallen und Leiterin des Coaching-Programms an derselben Universit?t PD Dr. Urs J?ger Managing Director des Center for Social Enterprise der Universit?t St. Gallen und Privatdozent an derselben Universit?t     

Indirect reciprocity and strategic reputation building in an experimental helping game

We study indirect reciprocity and strategic reputation building in an experimental helping game. At any time only half of the subjects can build a reputation. This allows us to study both pure indirect reciprocity that is not contaminated by strategic reputation building and the impact of incentives for strategic reputation building on the helping rate. We find that pure indirect reciprocity exists, but also that the helping decisions are substantially affected by strategic considerations. Finally, we find that strategic do better than non-strategic players and non-reciprocal do better than reciprocal players, casting doubt on previously proposed evolutionary explanations for indirect reciprocity.     

Spin-off performance: A case of overstated expectations?

While the impact of divestitures on parent firms has been extensively studied, little attention has been given to the performance of the divested units. Previous research has found that spin-offs and sell-offs were associated with significant positive cumulative abnormal returns. However, these studies have not identified whether these benefits were expected to accrue to the divesting firm, the divested unit, or both. Specifically, this study examined the performance as autonomous firms of a sample of 51 voluntary spin-offs by nonfinancial firms across a 6-year period. Three accounting and financial market measures were tracked from 2 years prior to divestiture through the first three years of independence. No change in pre- and post-spin-off performances was observed except for the decline in profitability return on assets (ROA). The effect of relatedness between the parent company and the spinoff was also examined. Divested units which were unrelated to their parents prior to spinoff reported deterioration in performance. Implications for divestiture and restructuring programs are developed.     

Are Uniform Solutions Focal? – The Case of International Environmental Agreements

The application of uniform solutions has several drawbacks, notably their lack of cost efficiency and their inability to guarantee individual rationality. A proper specification of uniform solutions, however, reveals that uniform solutions that satisfy individual rationality always exist. When all countries hold private information about their own reduction costs, there only exists one solution that always satisfies individually rationality without use of side payments and the requirement of dominant strategy implementation: The solution that selects the smallest individually preferred uniform reduction which also give a theoretical explanation of the lowest common denominator effect.