Supplier Development Responsibility and NPD Project Outcomes: The Roles of Monetary Quantification of Differences and Supporting‐Detail Gathering

Firms increasingly rely on suppliers to perform tasks in new product development (NPD). Research has only recently begun to focus on the processes to manage this supplier development responsibility, and has hardly investigated how firms collect and analyze information regarding the cost and performance of alternative supplier offerings. Our study addresses this gap, through a field survey among 144 paired samples of project leaders and cost analysts involved in the same NPD projects. On the basis of literature and qualitative research, we conceptualize a substantive model. We first use a substantive validity assessment to vet the measures for the proposed constructs. We then test the substantive model with structural equation modeling using a multiple‐sample analysis. The results strongly show that monetary quantification of differences and detail gathering play significant roles in successfully leveraging supplier development responsibility. The findings support the hypothesis that the extent of development responsibility that suppliers have leads the development team to a more focused monetary quantification of the differences in alternative supplier offerings. Monetary quantification of differences has a significant, positive effect on the extent of supporting‐detail gathering and on the development speed of the project, whereas supporting‐detail gathering has a significant, positive effect on the product advantage of the new product as well as development speed. These findings are robust across the two functional perspectives. Our study complements the literature on interfirm control and monitoring by demonstrating the effects of selective and focused output controls.     

One-step R-estimation in linear models with stable errors

Classical estimation techniques for linear models either are inconsistent, or perform rather poorly, under α$\alpha$-stable error densities; most of them are not even rate-optimal. In this paper, we propose an original one-step R-estimation method and investigate its asymptotic performances under stable densities. Contrary to traditional least squares, the proposed R-estimators remain root-n$n$ consistent (the optimal rate) under the whole family of stable distributions, irrespective of their asymmetry and tail index. While parametric stable-likelihood estimation, due to the absence of a closed form for stable densities, is quite cumbersome, our method allows us to construct estimators reaching the parametric efficiency bounds associated with any prescribed values (_α0,_b0)$({\alpha }_0,b_0)$ of the tail index α$\alpha$ and skewness parameter b$b$, while preserving root-n$n$ consistency under any (α,b)$(\alpha ,b)$ as well as under usual light-tailed densities. The method furthermore avoids all forms of multidimensional argmin computation. Simulations confirm its excellent finite-sample performances.     

Central bank transparency and market efficiency: An econometric analysis

Blinder (1998) argues that more open public disclosure of central bank policies may enhance the efficiency of markets. We examine this claim by studying whether the Federal Reserve System's 1994 policy shift toward more open disclosure improved or worsened the predictability of financial markets. Employing methods analogous to Campbell and Shiller (1991), we find that since 1994, the forecasting error has decreased for interest rates on U.S. bonds of most maturity lengths, and that the expectations hypothesis has performed better at the low end of the yield curve. These findings are inconsistent with the view that increased central bank transparency will decrease the efficiency of financial markets. The authors would like to thank participants of the 2001 Midwest Macroeconomics Conference and 2001 Missouri Economics Conference for their helpful comments and suggestions. All errors are, of course, the author's.     

‘Territorial deregulation’: local authorities at risk from technical networks

Technical networks (transport, telecommunications, energy etc.) possess paradoxical virtues. They produce ‘structuring effects’ on space, obtaining comparative advantages for the places they serve. But they are ubiquitous factors which also enable a homogenization of space. The myths of deterritorialization and dual space are refuted by empirical analyses of the interaction between networks and territories. Networks ‘format’ market areas and political territories. They create matrixes which until now were controlled by the public powers. Linked to current transformations – globalization, deregulation – the present mode of development of the technical macro‐systems brings about a telescoping of geographical scales which is having an adverse effect on the historic compromise between networks and territories. The boundaries of traditional political space have become obsolete and an economic rationale in the form of an extension of the technical networks predominates. In order to rediscover their policy‐making capacity, local authorities must pay more attention to controlling the occupation of public space as well as to the design and organization of the networks’ hubs. They should encourage the emergence of users as players in the regulation of public utilities so that debates on universal service and territorial equality may be activated. Les réseaux techniques (transport, télécommunication, énergie etc.) sont parés de vertus paradoxales. Ils produiraient des ‘effets structurants’ sur l’espace, procurant des avantages comparatifs aux lieux desservis. Mais, facteurs d’ubiquité, ils permettraient aussi une homogénéisation de l’espace. Ces mythes de la déterritorialisation et de la dualisation de l’espace sont réfutés par les analyses empiriques des interactions entre réseaux et territoires. Les réseaux ‘formatent’ des aires de marché et des territoires politiques; ils fabriquent des métriques, dont les pouvoirs publics avaient jusquà présent la maîtrise. Liées aux transformations en cours – globalisation, dérégulation – le mode de développement actuel des macro‐systèmes techniques entraîne un télescopage des échelles géographiques qui met à mal le compromis historique entre réseaux et territoires. Il y a obsolescence des frontières des espaces politiques traditionnels et prédominance de la logique économique dans l’extension des réseaux techniques. Afin de retrouver des capacités d’action, les collectivités locales doivent porter plus d’attention au contrôle de l’occupation de l’espace public ainsi qu’à la conception et à l’organisation des noeuds de réseau. Elles ont aussi à favoriser l’émergence des usagers comme acteurs de la régulation des services en réseau, afin que soient activés les débats sur le service universel et sur l’équité territoriale.     

Graphical disclosures by charities: clarification or distortion? The case of the Netherlands

• The literature on graph use and graphical distortions in nonprofit organisations is reviewed, highlighting measurement issues. A sample of 50 disclosed annual reports of Dutch charities containing graphs is analysed, leading to the observation of significant graphical distortions. These distortions seem to be related to organisational efficiency, though not in the way one might expect: better performing charities ‘embellish’ the data in their graphical representations, whereas the opposite seems to be the case for the less performing charities.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.