An economic analysis of cooperative research

The U.S. government's most recent policy initiative to increase industrial research activity is the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984. Since its passage much attention has been given to this new organizational research form, but to date there has not been any systematic investigation of the participants in cooperative research. This paper is an initial attempt to fill that void. First, a classification scheme is presented to describe the research activity of firms currently engaged in cooperative endeavors, as evidenced by mandated filings reported in the Federal Register. Then, a model of inter-firm differences in cooperative research activity is posited and tested using survey-based data for a sample of R&D active firms in the U.S. manufacturing sector. We conclude that market power is the principal determinant of involvement in cooperative research.     

RECENT PROGRESS IN APPLIED BAYESIAN ECONOMETRICS

Abstract. Bayesian methods are widely used by theoretical econometricians and statisticians but have not won widespread acceptance from applied researchers. After briefly describing the basic of the Bayesian approach, we discuss several issues relating to the empirical application of Bayesian methods. The existing Bayesian empirical literature is also partially summarized. The remainder of the paper offers a non-technical survey of some recent computational advances in Bayesian econometrics. The overall goal is to persuade economists that Bayesian methods are both computationally feasible and easy to implement in empirical research.     

The cognitive,psychological and social contexts of Japanese management

After reviewing the literature on Japanese management theory, Keys & Miller (1984), called for a deeper understanding of the environmental contexts of Japanese management and the development of more integrated, internally consistent models. The literature review presented here discusses the dimensions of the cognitive, psychological and social contexts of Japanese management, and concludes with a causal integration between the contexts that underly Japanese management and specific Japanese management practices.Portions of this paper were presented by the first author at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, San Diego, 1985. The authors thank Richard N. Farmer, Richard Peterson, Franklin R. Root, and the reviewers for their helpful comments. Requests for reprints should be sent to Mark E. Mendenhall, Department of Management, College of Business Administration, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045.Mark E. Mendenhall is with the College of Business Administration, Loyola Marymount University. Gary Oddou is with the School of Business, San Jose State University.