Vested interests, population ageing and technology adoption

Technologies that are used differ vastly across and within countries. It is commonly observed that technologies that would improve productivity are not adopted. This paper explains the failure to adopt new technologies through costs of adoption for people of different age. We set out an overlapping generations model with majority voting that predicts a relationship between the age composition of an economy and economic growth. We also consider the effects of more intense competition on technology adoption.     

Entrepreneurial Access and Absorption of Knowledge Spillovers: Strategic Board and Managerial Composition for Competitive Advantage

The resource theory of the firm implies that knowledge is a key resource bestowing a competitive advantage for entrepreneurial firms. However, it remains rather unclear up to now how new ventures and small businesses can access knowledge resources. The purpose of this study was to suggest two strategies, in particular, that facilitate entrepreneurial access to and absorption of external knowledge spillovers: the attraction of managers and directors with an academic background. Based on data on board composition of 295 high-technology firms, the results clearly demonstrate the strong link between geographical proximity to research-intense universities and board composition.     

Decentralized Governance,Constitution Formation,and Redistribution

What determines the relative strength of central and regional governments? Why do centers engage in more or less geographically based economic redistribution? And why do some centers redistribute from urban to rural areas while others do the opposite? This research answers these questions with reference to decentralized politics at key constitutional moments. Much contemporary research underscores the importance of the intergovernmental balance of power – be it in taxing authority or decision making autonomy – on economic outcomes. Many features of that balance are rooted in bargains struck at the time of constitution writing. Here, I suggest that the key ingredients in such bargains are the number of conflicting geographically salient factor endowments, the distribution of inter-regional inequality, and the degree of intra-state inequality within rural and urban regions. The greater the level of factoral conflict, the more elites who engage in constitutional negotiations are likely to constrain the central government by providing for substantial regional veto authority. Higher levels of inter-regional inequality heighten demands for inter-regional redistribution. Given some level of regional demand for central redistribution, whether its net effect is in favor of urban or rural regions will depend on the coalitional implications of inequality within regions. I examine the argument in light of the U.S., Argentine, and Indian processes of constitution formation.     

Capacity utilization of Nordic tourist facilities

Statistics relating to the capacity utilization of lodging facilities in the Nordic countries are examined. Comparison with a previous study permits developments over a four-year period to be ascertained. All the Nordic countries have year-round surplus capacity. The highest capacity utilization is found in the capital cities and the larger hotels. Nordic, as opposed to foreign, tourists provide the major demand. The shortfall in hotel capacity utilization represents a loss of income of over Dkr 4.5 billion. Recommendations made following the first report have had negligible impact. This report makes further recommendations to improve capacity utilization.     

公司治理与执行

对于有效的公司治理来说,执行比法规、成文法和自我规范更为关键,至少在经济转型和发展中国家是如此。由于公司治理和执行机制都影响企业对利益相关者,尤其是对外部股东的承诺能力,因此它们之间是密切关联的。本文提出一个分析框架,来理解这些联系以及它们是如何在国家制度环境中形成。正如在许多转型和发展中国家所看到的那样,当整体执行环境较差,同时具体执行机制作用不佳时,传统的公司治理机制很少是有效的。这些国家中的主要治理机制是控股大股东,但是这种机制有一些重要的潜在成本。一系列私人和公共执行“工具”可能有助于降低这些成本,并能强化其他补充性公司治理机制。有限的经验研究表明,在大多数转型和发展中国家的环境中,私人工具比公共执行方式更加有效。但是,不管怎样,公共执行机制都是必要的,而且私人执行机制往往要求公共法律发挥作用。此外,至少在有些国家,自下而上的私人方式甚至先于公共法律的形成。但是,由于经济和政治合为一体所产生的政治经济方面的局限,往往妨碍了这些国家整体执行环境的改善和公共法律的通过与实施。     

WEB-IS (integrated system): an overall view

WEB-IS, Web-based Integrated System, allows remote, interactive visualization of large-scale 3-D data over the Internet, along with data analysis and data mining. In this paper, we discuss the overall structure of WEB-IS. Up until now we have developed three sub-modules geared towards geophysical problems. WEB-IS1 allows geoscientists to navigate through their 3-D geophysical data, such as seismic structures or numerical simulations, and interactively analyze the statistics or apply data-mining techniques, such as cluster analysis. WEB-IS2 lets a user control Amira (a powerful 3-D visualization package) remotely and analyze, render and view large datasets across the Internet. WEB-IS3 is an imaging service that enables the user to control the scale of features to view through interactive zooming. In the near future, we propose to integrate the three components together through a middleware framework called NaradaBrokering (iNtegrated Asynchronous Real-time Adaptive Distributed Architecture, a distributed messaging infrastructure that can be used to intelligently route data between the originators and registered consumers) without regard for time or location. As a result, WEB-IS will improve its scalability and acquire properties of fault-tolerance. WEB-IS uses a combination of Java, C++, and through the use of NaradaBrokering will seamlessly integrate the server-side processing and user interaction utilities on the client. The server takes care of the processor intensive tasks, such as visualization and data mining, and sends either the resulting bitmap image or statistical results to the middleware across the Internet for viewing. WEB-IS is an easy-to-use service, which will eventually help geoscientists collaborate from different sites in a natural manner. It will be very useful in the next 10 years because of the increasing number of space missions and geophysical campaigns.     

Navigating the new product development process

The quest for success in new product development (NPD) requires management to navigate complex processes. This study presents empirical evidence of the evaluative criteria used by well-experienced NPD managers from the UK and the Netherlands to control performance at different gates of the NPD process. The emerging usage patterns suggest that these criteria are aligned to the specific requirements of each stage in the process. This allows for detection of problems and initiation of adjustments that increase the chance for overall success of the new product. Based on these findings, recommendations are provided for managers to safeguard strategically the performance of their NPD efforts.     

The construction of a firm's governance structure in a setting of uncertainty

Why does the firm look the way it does? Why does it have the structures it has? In particular, what is the function of the board of directors? Many papers have tried, and failed, to link the board's structure to the performance of the firm. Might the board have an alternative rationale for existence? In this paper, I explore the possibility of the board being used as a signaling device. The management, having information about the state of the world the investor does not, constructs a signal (the board of directors) to promote efficiency in an uncertain world. The construction of the board signals the state of the world to the investor, reducing the uncertainty, and thereby attracting necessary capital to the firm. I then examine the size of the signal with respect to other key firm characteristics. I find that the size of the signal diminishes as investors become more concentrated. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.