On a theorem of Schmeidler

Over a decade ago D. Schmeidler (1973) introduced a concept of non-cooperative equilibrium for games with a continuum of agents and, under a restriction on the payoff functions, established the existence of an equilibrium in pure strategies. The purpose of this note is to reformalize the model and the equilibrium notion of Schmeidler in terms of distributions rather than measurable functions. We shall see how once the definitions are available we get (pure strategy) equilibrium existence theorems quite effortlessly and under general conditions. A number of remarks contain applications to, among others, incomplete information games.     

OFFSHORING, MULTINATIONALS AND LABOUR MARKET: A REVIEW OF THE EMPIRICAL LITERATURE

Abstract.  This paper reviews the empirical literature on the effects of offshoring and foreign activities of multinational enterprises on developed countries' labour markets. Results suggest that material offshoring worsens wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers; it also seems to make employment more volatile, by raising the elasticity of labour demand and the risk of job losses. Service offshoring exerts at most small negative effects on total employment, and changes the composition of the workforce in favour of high-skilled white-collar employees. Multinationals tend to substitute domestic and foreign labour in response to changes in relative wages across countries; substitutability is weak, however, and mainly driven by horizontal, market-seeking foreign direct investments.     

QUALITY MARKET ORIENTATION: Tourist Agencies’ Perceived Effects

This paper analyzes the effects of market orientation from two perspectives. First, its direct influences on tourist agencies’ perceived performance, and its indirect ones on performance through the perceived value of market information. Second, direct effects on the perceived service quality offered by the firm and indirect influences derived from the utilization of quality measurement systems are analyzed. Hypothesized relationships are tested in an empirical study of tourist managers. Research findings confirm the proposed relationships, except the influence of using quality measurement systems on service. A positive direct influence between perceived service quality and performance is also analyzed and confirmed.     

Equity ownership and control of international joint ventures in the retail sector

Abstract

This study examines the relationships that exist between consumers' perceptions of a retail environment and their emotions, satisfaction and behavioural intentions with respect to that shopping setting. A model of these relationships is developed and then tested in two distinct retail settings—shopping centres and traditional retailing areas. The results show that, in general, positive perceptions of a retail environment have a positive influence on positive emotions, on repatronage intentions, and on the desire to remain longer in the shopping area in both retail settings. However, some interesting differences emerge between shopping centres and traditional retailing areas: (i) the internal environment has a stronger effect on emotions in shopping centres than in traditional retailing areas; and (ii) the internal environment has a negative effect in shopping centres on the disposition to pay more.     

Factors enhancing the choice of higher resource commitment entry modes in international new ventures

The choice of entry mode in foreign markets is an important strategic decision with major consequences for the success of international new ventures (INVs). It is generally accepted that these firms choose relatively low-resource commitment entry modes to operate in foreign markets. Nevertheless, some researchers have suggested that higher resource commitment entry modes in foreign markets also seem to be competitive strategies for INVs. In this study, from a marketing/international entrepreneurship interface perspective and focusing on organizational issues, we center our attention on international market orientation as a neglected yet important factor in INVs’ choice of higher resource commitment entry modes in foreign markets. We suggest that an entrepreneurial orientation and the timing of international entry are important correlates to an international market orientation. We also suggest that the international learning effort of INVs through their international market orientation has a direct, positive impact on the resources these companies commit to their foreign markets through the use of higher resource commitment entry modes. Accordingly, the model proposes a positive effect of entrepreneurial orientation and early international entry on international market orientation which, in turn, is positively related to higher resource commitment entry modes. The hypotheses were tested on country-level data from Spain, using a structural equation model to analyze relationships between the latent variables.This study extends previous international entrepreneurship research, including insights on antecedents of international new ventures’ choice of resource commitment entry modes in foreign markets. The paper also goes further than previous international entrepreneurship research, by addressing the strategic consequences of rapid entry into foreign markets. Additionally, the results of this work encourage international entrepreneurs to look beyond the explicit value of experiential market knowledge to realize the potential value of international market orientation as an antecedent to higher resource commitment entry modes.     

Imported inputs and skill upgrading

This paper studies the effect of imported inputs on the relative demand for high-skill labor. To this purpose, it applies propensity score matching techniques to firm-level data for 27 transition countries. The results show that importing inputs induces skill upgrading. Specifically, it explains more than one-quarter of the unconditional difference between importers and non-importers in the employment share of high-skill workers. The paper explores possible mechanisms behind this result. In particular, it reports suggestive evidence that importing leads firms to engage in high-skill intensive activities, such as production of new goods, improvement of product quality and, to a lesser extent, R&D and technology adoption.     

Internationalisation speed and technological patterns: A panel data study on Spanish SMEs

The last ten years has seen a proliferation of works attempting to explain why some firms internationalise rapidly, rather than following a sequential process. Many of these works have focused on the role of technology as the driving force behind the phenomenon. Following this argument, this work studies the effect that different technological patterns have on firms' internationalisation speed. In order to observe this effect, a sample of 945 SMEs was used over a 17-year period (1990–2006). By undertaking a micro-level analysis, we explain the possible effect of sectoral technological intensity on internationalisation speed, observing significant differences between technology-intensive and non-intensive sectors, and identify which technological parameters have a greater effect on the acceleration of internationalisation in each of these sectors.     

Generic finiteness of equilibrium payoffs for bimatrix games

It is shown that in any affine space of payoff matrices the equilibrium payoffs of bimatrix games are generically finite.