Comparative perspectives on research dynamics and performance: A view from the periphery

The author takes a global look at the entire world of R and D, dividing it into the Centre (the large countries of the developed world) and the Periphery (small developed countries and the Third World). Her objective is to help to formulate a programme of studies to make R and D carried out in the Periphery more relevant to its needs.
Her view is that (a) too many past studies of R and D productivity have been carried out by the Centre on the Centre and (b) too much effort has been expended on measuring outputs and too little on the inputs that could be controlled to produce more output. In the paper she looks at the three major clusters of controllable input factors that could influence R and D productivity. The clusters considered are those pertaining to research groups, the 'atoms' of R and D (size, age, composition, management style and task diversity), to the institutional setting (organizational form, institutional goals etc.) and to the general socio-cultural environment of the country concerned. In each case she questions whether their effects on productivity, mainly derived from studies of R and D at the Centre is likely to apply in the same way to R and D carried out at the Periphery.
The author remarks that the factors listed in the paper are not exhaustive and in any case their interrelationships would also need to be discovered. The paper contains a large number of so far unanswered questions about input/ output relations in the context of the periphery that could provide starting points for research.     

Analogies and Mental Simulations in Learning for Really New Products: The Role of Visual Attention

Really new products (RNPs) create new product categories or at least significantly expand existing ones. The development of RNPs is a strategic priority for most companies. However, 40% to 90% of new products fail, often due to consumers' lack of understanding of product features and benefits. Learning strategies, such as analogical learning and mental simulation, can help consumers understand the benefits of RNPs and thus may contribute to the successful development of marketing campaigns. Moreover, the presentation format of marketing communications is likely to influence consumers' understanding of the product. Pictorials have the potential to convey novel information without overloading the decision maker and thus may be a more efficient way to present information about RNPs than words. This paper contributes to a better understanding of consumer information processing in learning for RNPs. Study 1 examined the impact of (1) learning strategies (analogical learning vs. mental simulation) and (2) presentation formats (words vs. pictures) on product comprehension. Study 2 used an eye‐tracking experiment to assess how respondents' visual attention patterns may affect product comprehension. Study 1 showed that the use of words in marketing communications for RNPs is generally more effective to enhance product comprehension than the use of pictorials. However, the video glasses were a notable exception as the combination of mental simulation and pictures yielded a high comprehension level for this product. This suggests that the use of pictorials may be appropriate to convey information for products of a more hedonic as opposed to utilitarian nature. Study 2 used a combination of eye‐tracking measures and self‐reports to help illuminate the cognitive processes at work when consumers learn new product information. The results suggest that an increase in attention to an element of the advert can account for one of two underlying processes: (1) an increase in comprehension; or (2) a difficulty to understand product information which may result in consumer confusion. This study adds evidence to a growing body of literature that demonstrates the power of learning strategies such as mental simulation and analogical learning in preparing consumers for new product acceptance. The use of visual stimuli contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of words versus pictures, seldom applied in a new product development (NPD) context. These findings are integrated into a discussion of the managerial implications and the potential avenues for future research in the area.     

New small firm survival in England

This paper investigates the determinants of the survival, between 2001 and 2004, of 622 small firms in England. Seventy one percent of these firms were less than 5 years old in 2001. Prior work by industrial economists has primarily focussed upon factors such as profitability and exit barriers. In contrast, this paper adopts a more managerial approach by examining whether the human capital of the business owner and organisational variables explain survival and non-survival. Our results suggest the founder’s education and bank finance promote firm survival. Firms which compete on price, or report being financially constrained at start-up, are much less likely to survive.

Post-Tax Capital Investment Appraisal: Plant and Machinery

Tax considerations are important for companies which are no longer tax exhausted. Taxation has a major impact upon project yield and net present value (NPV) for capital investment in plant and machinery. This paper uses the weighted average cost of capital model to demonstrate that the impact of corporate taxation upon NPV need not be in the same direction as the impact upon yield. The NPV is reduced by the nominal 35% rate of corporation tax only when the pre-tax yield is very high; for low yielding projects the post-tax NPV can range from less than zero per cent to over 100% of the pre-tax NPV depending upon the gearing. The tax deductibility of the costs of the debt finance component of capital expenditure has a major and subtle interaction with other parameters which always favours high gearing.     

Solutions to Silos: Joining Up Knowledge

Italy's health service—the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN)—has developed Europe's second largest market for healthcare public–private partnerships. This article describes the origins of private finance for SSN infrastructure, examines the programme's scale and key characteristics, and provides a capital budgeting analysis of rates of return on 14 privately financed schemes. Excess returns are being made by the investors in these projects, and there is potential for SSN procurers to achieve significantly better value for money for the Italian people than has been the case to date.     

Securing a Better Deal From Investors in Public Infrastructure Projects

Abstract

The return on capital is a major contributor to the cost of design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) contracts, under which public infrastructure is financed and delivered by private companies. The article presents a method for evaluating the rates of return targeted by bidders and applies this to 10 contracts commissioned by the UK National Health Service. The presence of significant excess returns is identified in each case. We argue that, if the rate of return projected by an investor exceeds a benchmark cost of capital, derived using standard capital budgeting techniques, then a reduction in the fee to be paid by the public authority is justified.     

The implications of the FTC's clear and conspicuous standards for the communication of credit card information to young consumers

College students are an important target market for credit card companies and are substantial users of this form of credit, even though they may not have the appropriate knowledge to make informed decisions regarding credit cards. Specific to financial services marketing, the focus of this study is to ascertain whether college-age students recall and understand disclosed information in credit card commercials. This study analyzes the effectiveness of three disclosure standards advocated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which are intended to ensure that consumers (such as college students) are appropriately informed. Specifically, this study focuses on: (1) modality, (2) audience consideration and (3) distraction level present during the disclosure presentation. Tests of the impact of these standards on consumer recall and comprehension of disclosed information have been mixed and the extant research has failed to test all of the standards in combination. An important contribution that this research makes is the reconciliation of differences found in previous research, while revealing the effects that implementing multiple FTC standards has on college students’ recall and comprehension, perceptions of recall and comprehension, and attitudes and behavioral intentions.     

Entrepreneurship as the structuration of individual and opportunity: A response using a critical realist perspective : Comment on Sarason,Dean and Dillard

Sarason et al. [Sarason, Y., Dean, T., Dillard, J.F., 2006. Entrepreneurship as the nexus of individual and opportunity: a structuration view. J. Bus. Venturing, 21, 286-305] build upon Shane and Venkataraman’s [Shane, S., Venkataraman, S., 2000. The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Acad. Manage. Rev., 25, 217–226] framework of the interrelationship between opportunity and the entrepreneur, by proposing Giddens’ structuration theory as the ‘lens through which to view the entrepreneurial process’ (2006: 286). In this comment we make four points. Although we agree that the nexus of entrepreneur and opportunity is one that requires understanding within the context of social structure and the individual agency. Our view of structure differs substantially from Giddens and by implication Sarason et al. (2006). We discuss the implications. Second, since strata in social reality have different ontologies we propose it follows that they are viewed as a dualism. Third, agents have causal power, and ultimate concerns which they try to fallibly to put into practice. We propose entrepreneurship as the study of the interplay between the structures of a society and the agents within it, the implications of fallibility is made explicit. Finally, we take issue with Sarason et al.’s argument for an interpretist epistemology.     

Mortality Inequality in the Czech Republic*

We examine the evolution of mortality and mortality inequality among the 77 districts of the Czech Republic ranked by a new poverty index, from 1994 to 2016. The country experienced dramatic improvements in mortality for all age categories and both genders, but with very little variation in inequality. Inequality in mortality has remained substantially stable, increasing only for females aged 20–64.     

Consumption‐Focused Self‐Expression Word of Mouth: A New Scale and Its Role in Consumer Research

This research represents the first systematic empirical examination of the motivation to spread word of mouth about consumption activities in order to self‐express, a phenomenon that has been observed in both the academic literature and the popular press. Consumption‐focused self‐expression is a motivation to engage in word‐of‐mouth communication that is distinct from other word‐of‐mouth motivations that have been discussed in the literature. This work defines consumption‐focused self‐expression word of mouth as communication about one's consumption activities for the purpose of expressing one's self‐concept and attracting attention to oneself. A scale to measure consumption‐focused self‐expression word of mouth is developed and shown to exhibit a consistent scale structure, acceptable reliability, and convergent, discriminant, nomological, and predictive validity. Scores on the consumption‐focused self‐expression word‐of‐mouth scale are shown to predict differences in the quantity and nature of consumers’ actual word‐of‐mouth communications via the social networking Web site Facebook.