Directions in Delphi developments: Dissertations and their quality

The general question of whether Delphi users have learned from Delphi research of the past decade is addressed in this article. Within the wider context of Delphi expansion anddevelopment, specific attention is given to examining the nature and quality of the growing number of Delphi dissertations. Although there are some signs for encouragement, the findings from the sample of dissertationsexamined might also give cause for some concern. Findings raise continuing questions related to excellencein the execution of Delphi studies and also to the concentration of applications of the technique in certain fields. It appears that the future of Delphi could be brighter if users of the technique would be more careful in implementing “quality control.”     

Network position and firm performance – the mediating role of innovation

Analysing a unique, domain-similar database including all horticulturalists in a major flower-producing country, this paper shows that a firm’s central position in a network significantly improves its financial performance. The effect of strategic positioning in a network is in large part mediated through its enhanced innovativeness. Strategically positioning in a network of firms contributes more to firm performance, both directly as well as indirectly, than other strategic options a firm has available, such as seeking scale, seeking to diversify, pursuing cost advantages, or locating in a cluster.     

‘Created’ enclaves for enterprise: an empirical study of Singapore's industrial parks in Indonesia,Vietnam and China

The dynamics of globalization have prompted governments to re-examine accustomed policies, and search for alternative strategies, in order to re-position their economies for the future. This paper explores the spatial context of state involvement in the new economics of competition, with the focus on Singapore's much publicized, and controversial, orchestration of its state enterprise network to encapsulate economic space for Singapore-based firms to expand into the Asian region. This strategic initiative is promulgated on the exportability of Singapore's ‘state credibility’, systemic and operational efficiencies, and technological competencies, to locations where these attributes are less certain. A logit model is applied to questionnaire surveys culled from Singapore's industrial-township projects in Indonesia, Vietnam and China and the findings are presented. The authors conclude that the strategic advantage created for the firms within these privileged investment enclaves, although remarkable, is often at risk from the administrative complexities, and socio-political milieux, of the host environments.     

The Consumption of Music and the Expression of VALUES

A bstract By consuming pop music, people want to express who they are, to which group they belong, what their identity is, People's identity, however and contrary to what many believe, is not strictly individual. Instead, people's identity is highly social and draws on the socio-cultural values (what I here propose to call VALUES) in society - VALUES that become'objectified'or institutionalized and may thus be communicated to others. If such institutionalized socio-cultural values are not conceptualized, and if one is not able to understand how institutions work in signaling people's identity, one is not able to explain a phenomenon such as the advent of pop music. In this paper, I apply and develop ideas taken from institutional and social economics, to understand the consumption of a symbolic good such as pop music.     

Accounting as Applied Ethics: Teaching a Discipline

In this article it is argued that there are notable parallels between all of the different strands within ethics on the one hand, and accountancy on the other that, in teaching, can be drawn upon to enhance students’ understanding of the latter. Accountancy, part of economics, draws on utilitarian ethics, but not solely so. Accounting, in addition, draws on deontological and communitarian strands in ethics. The article suggests that the teaching of accounting – especially to non-economists – would benefit substantially from highlighting and developing these parallels. Wilfred Dolfsma is both an economist and a philosopher, and holds a Ph.D. in the former from Erasmus University. He is attached to the Erasmus University, Rotterdam at the Business School, as well as MERIT, University Maastricht. He is currently fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. He is corresponding editor of the Review of Social Economy (Routledge). He has co-edited Globalization Social Capital and Inequality (2003, with Charlie Dannreuther), Understanding the Knowledge Economy (2006, with Luc Soete) and Ethics and the Market (2006, with Jane Clary and Deborah M. Figart).     

Paradigms and Novelty in Economics: The History of Economic Thought as a Source of Enlightenment

Over time, economics has experienced paradigm shifts, and there is every reason to think this will continue. In economics, as in the development of technological knowledge, paradigms do not emerge from nowhere, but build on precursors, possibly from other fields. Our understanding of current economic thinking can be enhanced by paying greater attention to the role of paradigms and by using concepts such as myth, plot structure, and cultural endowment, which are typically given greater attention by literary analysts than by economists, to study paradigms. Here we argue that together these can help us better understand how ideas from other times and fields may be combined with our own to generate better research and publications, and that a greater awareness of the history of economics may well be an excellent vehicle for enhancing that understanding.     

Challenges of the maize seed industry in eastern and southern Africa: A compelling case for private–public intervention to promote growth

Following the liberalization and restructuring of the seed sector, the maize seed industry in eastern and southern Africa has witnessed a proliferation of private seed companies. Whereas the total number of registered maize seed companies in major maize producing countries increased four-fold between 1997 and 2007, the quantity of seed marketed barely doubled suggesting that the seed production and deployment environment is less than perfect.     

Expectations and the asset-market approach to the exchange rate

This paper advances the following arguments concerning that portion of the literature characterized by deterministic models in which asset markets adjust quickly relative to the commodity market: (i) Overshooting of the exchange rate in response to exogenous shocks is not inherent. (ii) Perfect foresight and stability are incompatible. (iii) An alternative trade-balance approach is free of this incompatibility and also illustrates that two competing theories of the exchange rate are consistent. The analysis is general enough to include all interesting assumptions about expectations formation and therefore embraces many recent contributions as special cases.