Managing knowledge in foreign entry strategies: a resource‐based analysis

International strategies vary in their potential to exploit and augment a firm's resources, especially its knowledge base. Resource‐based analysis suggests clustering the diverse entry modes in terms of their exploitation and augmentation characteristics. We thus introduce a new categorization of entry modes based on their potential to augment the resources of an entrant. We then explore the antecedents of these modes, and advance testable propositions delimiting for which firms and in which circumstances each mode maximizes long‐term value creation. Finally, we outline how our resource‐based framework complements transaction‐cost‐based frameworks. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Determinants of Plant Exit: the Evolution of the U.S. Refining Industry

This paper analyzes the exit and expansion of U.S. petroleum refineries using plant-level data from 1947 to 2013. We find that small refineries and refineries owned by a multi-plant firm are more likely to close. If a multi-plant firm closes a refinery, it closes a smaller one. Unlike previous research, we find no clear relationship between a firm’s share of national refining capacity and the probability of refinery exit. We also find that refineries close when the industry as a whole has low capacity utilization. In total, firms close small, likely inefficient, refineries when refinery utilization is low.     

DOES ATHLETIC SUCCESS INFLUENCE PERSISTENCE AT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS? NEW EVIDENCE USING PANEL DATA

This study examines the relationship between athletic success and student persistence toward a degree. We build an updated panel of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I institutions and utilize within‐institution variation to identify the effects of athletic success. Using a ranking of all institutions, we find that having more successful men's basketball and football teams has a significant positive effect on first‐year retention rates. We also find some evidence that improved basketball rankings increase graduation rates, and that success in the NCAA tournament may have a sizable impact on retention. Although the estimated effects are generally modest in scale, we find rather limited evidence of other institutional factors affecting persistence, suggesting that athletics can be one avenue for institutions of higher education to engage and retain students. (JEL I23, Z20, L83)     

The Impact of Institutional and Human Resource Distance on International Entry Strategies

'Distance' between organizational contexts has been a prime concern of scholarly research into international business strategies. We extend this research by exploring the complementary roles of institutional and human resource distances on foreign investors' entry strategies. Combining institutional and resource-based theories suggests that: (1) human resource differences complement institutional differences; (2) the effects of some aspects of distance are curvilinear; and (3) the impact of distance differs between first and subsequent entries. We find empirical support for these arguments on a unique dataset of foreign direct investment in six emerging economies that incorporates multiple host as well as multiple home countries.     

Modelling the impact of the ‘fast track’ land reform policy on Zimbabwe's maize sector

Zimbabwe has recently gone through a widely criticised land reform process that is argued to be the cause of subdued agricultural production. This paper attempts to present a counterfactual picture of the maize market in Zimbabwe had land reform been managed appropriately. The counterfactual is developed through a partial equilibrium framework in order to quantify the impact of the land reform programme. This, to our knowledge, is the first attempt at applying a partial equilibrium framework to an analysis of the impact of land reform. The results of the post-2000 land reform policy simulation showed that actual total maize output was lower than what could have been produced if it was under a pre-2000 land reform system. The study validates the assertion that land reforms contributed to the contraction of output. These results suggest the need for a well planned and executed land reform process, which can still play an important role in output growth and food security.