RESPONDING TO DISRUPTIONS IN THE SUPPLY NETWORK‐FROM DORMANT TO ACTION

Managing risks in supply networks is a complex task; more so in those supply networks where the core competence lies in dealing with natural disasters, complex emergencies, and large‐scale attacks—namely those of humanitarian, and military organizations where the price of failure can be counted in terms of the loss of life rather than, simply, reduced profits. This conceptual article examines the capabilities of these supply networks to manage such disruptions, based on their resource configuration in a dormant preparation state. The article concludes by presenting how different types of supply networks can manage large‐scale disruptions.     

Cooperative Credit in Spain: An Analysis of Credit Sections of Cooperatives

The long history and deep-rooted tradition of co-operative credit in Spain (credit co-operatives and credit sections of co-operatives) and the lack of detailed studies of the latter suggest the need to reflect on them and highlight their potential. This study examines the ways in which the credit sections can access the financial markets, describes their financial and economic structure and the sources of their income and expenditure and analyses their competitiveness in terms of efficiency.     

Frictional wage dispersion with Bertrand competition: An assessment

I examine whether a version of the Cahuc et al. (2006) model can match the magnitude of wage dispersion, as measured by the ratio of the average and the lowest wage — the so-called mean-min ratio of Hornstein et al. (2011). I find that the workers? bargaining power is a crucial parameter: the mean-min ratio strictly decreases in the bargaining power up to a point near 1/2 and is essentially flat thereafter, generating the same amount of wage dispersion as the canonical wage ladder model, which is a special case of the CPVR model. Consequently, this model can yield large wage dispersion only for low bargaining power on the workers? side. I show that the share of job-to-job transitions with wage drops is decreasing in the bargaining power, calibrate the latter to the former, and demonstrate that the CPVR model generates an empirically plausible amount of wage dispersion. I also show that negative wages arise when workers have no bargaining power, and discuss the implications for the empirical findings of Postel-Vinay and Robin (2002b).     

For the greater good: business networks and business social responsibility to communities

Business networks (co-operative arrangements between independent business organizations) may be the signature organizational form of the contemporary global economy. Many policy-makers and local leaders advocate business network membership as an alternative development strategy for regional economic vitality. The extant literature on business networks has focused on their association with business success. However, little is known about their impact on other aspects of community life. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the role of network membership on one non-economic dimension of the business community interface. We examined the relationship between business network membership and business social responsibility to communities, defined as the provision of leadership and support for community betterment projects. Data were gathered from telephone interviews with a random sample of 460 non-metro small business operators in the USA. Independent t-tests and ordinary least squares regression analyses controlling for theoretically important variables were conducted. Findings show that networked businesses provide more leadership and support for their communities than non-networked businesses. However, networked businesses were no more likely than non-networked businesses to use local suppliers of goods and services.     

Loan price modelling for local governments using risk premium analysis

Previous studies have highlighted the question of government loan interest as one of great current importance. Government borrowing levels are high, and reducing interest payments would generate savings to meet other spending needs and/or to lower taxation, thus supporting the sustainability of public finances. However, no previous study has presented a method for a local government to calculate its own credit risk and thus be in a position to negotiate lower interest rates on its borrowing. This article defines a financial model that enables local governments to estimate the interest rate payable on a bank loan, based on their credit risk premium, in accordance with the Basel II rules and the findings of our empirical study of large local governments.     

Network cohesion in global expansion: An evolutionary view

Increasingly, competitive advantage does not reside in a single firm's capabilities or resources, but in interfirm networks that compete with other networks. Recognizing that deployment of the network as a cohesive and coordinated organization is critical when it operates globally, we ask: How does global expansion, in particular entry into emerging markets, affect the cohesion of a large interfirm network and with what consequences? We examine this question through an evolutionary perspective, conceptualizing the process of variation–selection–replication–retention as one cycle of a network-level routine of global expansion. Movement through the cycle accelerates with high levels of network cohesion such that market entry and foreign establishment may become more rapid. We present a longitudinal analysis of the Toyota Group from founding through to its more recent entry into emerging markets, and identify the dangers of a diversion in any stage of this network routine. Our findings highlight the role uncertainty in the emerging market context and speed-based competition plays in the loss of network cohesion, and point to the ongoing, and possibly increased, importance of the core firm's role in maintaining network cohesion and global competitive advantage.     

Human resource issues and technology transfer

This paper examines the pivotal role of human resources in the successful acquisition, assimilation, diffusion and development of technology across international boundaries. A model of technology transfer which shows the interplay of factors that can affect the efficacy of technology transfer between entities across nations is presented. Other important considerations (on both the supplier and recipient sides) that can facilitate or impede the successful transfer of technology between entities or countries are also identified.     

Nominal vs real adjustment in demand for money functions

Recently, Fair (1987) has addressd an interesting question in the areas of demand for money, namely, whether the adjustment of actual to desired demand for money is in nominal or real terms. His conclusion, based on time-seies analysis for twenty-seven countries, including a few developing countries, was that the evidence was overwhelmingly in favour of the nominal hypothesis.

The aim of this paper is to address the same issue for eleven Asian countries. In the process, a reformulation of the test procedure used by Fair is suggested. In addition, the question is also examined within the framework of the error correction model. The models are also tested for structural stability.

The scheme of the paper is as follows. The models and the tests are specified in Section I. The data and the estimation issues are dealt with in Section II. Section III presents the results. The paper is concluded with a brief summary of the major findings.     

Instant‐count sampling: A technique for estimating recreation use in municipal settings

Instant‐count sampling was tested on four municipal recreation areas in Athens, Georgia. Users were counted instantaneously on the areas at randomly selected times. From these counts, estimates of use and standard errors were achieved with a minimum of sampling time required. Errors ranged from 10.2 to 37.8 percent of estimated use and did not exceed 23.6 percent for total use.     

AT&T: 1908 Origins of the Nation's Oldest Continuous Institutional Advertising Campaign

When Theodore N. Vail became president of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company in 1907 there was considerable public animosity toward AT&T for a number of reasons, including the company's aggressive suppression of competition under earlier leadership. With the assistance of the N. W. Ayer & Son advertising agency. Vail launched a national magazine advertising campaign to court public opinion. Vail hoped to make the public aware of the quality of service provided by AT&T licensees, to persuade the public to a more favorable opinion of AT&T and, above all, to sway the public in favor of the concept of the telephone industry as a natural and beneficent monopoly. The five pioneering institutional ads for AT&T prepared by N. W. Ayer in 1908 marked the beginning of an advertising program which continues uninterrupted down to the present day.