Does it really work? Re-assessing the impact of pre-departure cross-cultural training on expatriate adjustment

Cultural adjustment is considered to be a prerequisite for expatriate success abroad. One way to enhance adjustment is to provide employees with knowledge and awareness of appropriate norms and behaviours of the host country through cross-cultural training (CCT). This article analyses the impact of pre-departure CCT on expatriate adjustment and focuses on variations in participation, length and the comprehensiveness of training. Unlike previous research, the study focuses on the effectiveness of pre-departure CCT for non-US employees expatriated to a broad range of host country settings. Employing data from 339 expatriates from 20 German Multinational Corporations (MNCs) the study finds CCT has little if any effect on general, interactional or work-setting expatriate adjustment. However, a significant impact of foreign language competence was found for all three dimensions of expatriate adjustment. We used interviews with 20 expatriates to supplement our discussion and provide further implications for practice.     

Attracting cross-border venture capital: the role of a local investor

Examining an increasingly prevalent but under-researched phenomenon, cross-border venture capital investments, it is observed that local venture capitalists typically invest first, followed by foreign venture capitalists in later rounds. A model is developed that explains the role of a domestic venture capital investor in attracting foreign investors and which also accounts for the impact of various circumstances on the importance of this role. In our model based on analysis of nine cross-border venture capital-backed companies, local venture capitalists have several important roles in increasing the venture's cross-border investment readiness including advice to operational management and contributing contacts and local market knowledge. The importance of these roles is mitigated if the entrepreneurial team is highly experienced or if the home market is not important for the venture. The prominence of the local investor has signalling value. Finally, the local investor's international social capital facilitates the formation of cross-border syndicates. Overall, the model developed in the paper contributes to a better understanding of cross-border venture capital and in particular to the division of labour between domestic and foreign venture capitalists in international venture capital syndicates. The paper also contributes to the emerging literature on international social capital.     

Quantile treatment effects in the regression discontinuity design

We introduce a nonparametric estimator for local quantile treatment effects in the regression discontinuity (RD) design. The procedure uses local distribution regression to estimate the marginal distributions of the potential outcomes. We illustrate the procedure through Monte Carlo simulations and an application on the distributional effects of a universal pre-K program in Oklahoma. We find that participation in a pre-K program significantly raises the lower end and the middle of the distribution of test scores.     

Revenue Sharing and Competitive Balance in a Dynamic Contest Model

This paper presents a dynamic model of talent investments in a team sports league with an infinite time horizon. We show that the clubs’ investment decisions and the effects of revenue sharing on competitive balance depend on the following three factors: (i) the cost function of talent investments, (ii) the clubs’ market sizes, and (iii) the initial endowments of talent stock. We analyze how these factors interact in the transition to the steady state as well as in the steady state itself.     

Forecasting leisure and tourism - scenario projections for 2000–2010

This article considers likely future trends in leisure time and tourism. The economic climate over the next 20 years is usually predicted to produce an increase in tourism. However, there are clearly discernible limits to the growth of tourist demand in the industrialized countries, due to changing economic conditions, modified consumer behaviour and new technologies. Increasing leisure time will be allocated to other uses besides tourism. The composition of the tourist population will alter, with increasing proportions of, eg senior citizens. There will be greater emphasis on individual/self-determined holidays, and on educational and recreational pursuits. Increasing environmental awareness will effect planning policies and tourist demand. An interdisciplinary, long-term approach to tourism planning is recommended.     

On-Site Effects of Imperata Burning by Indonesian Smallholders: A Bioeconomic Model

Periodic burning of the vast Imperata grassland areas of Indonesia is thought to have a number of negative consequences, both on and off site. We assess on-site biophysical and economic consequences by adapting a bioeconomic model to conditions prevalent in the Indonesian uplands. Burning is shown to exacerbate soil degradation both directly through loss of soil nutrients and indirectly through erosion. Despite this, it is demonstrated that burning is the most profitable method of Imperata control in an upland ‘shifting cultivation’ system Changing factor prices may alter this A 25% reduction in herbicide prices would make herbicide use more attractive than burning. If off-site costs are considered, Imperata control with herbicide may be preferable to burning.

Upland cropping within an Imperata fallow system is marginally profitable under prevailing economic and biophysical conditions Abandonment of these upland areas by smallholders, or adoption of more productive farming systems, seems inevitable.     

Optimal Tax-Transfer Systems and Redistributive Policy

In this paper we develop "optimal yardsticks" to gauge the effectiveness of given tax and benefit policies in reducing inequality. We show that the conjunction of the optimal tax and optimal benefits policies constitutes the optimal tax-and-benefit policy, given the tax and benefit budget sizes. A decomposition formula enables trends in the inequality impact of taxes and benefits to be explained in terms of changing policy effectivess (targeting) and budget size effects. The analysis incorporates a distributional judgement parameter, for sensitivity analysis, and concludes with an examination of the Finnish case for the period 1971–1990.
JEL Classification : D 63     

Efficiency and Ownership Structure: The Case of Poland

We examine the effects of foreign entry on productive efficiency during the Polish investment liberalisation. The performance of foreign acquisitions is compared to foreign firms entering the market through greenfield entry, as well as domestic acquisitions of privatised firms, domestic greenfields and remaining state‐owned (non‐privatised) firms during the period 1995–2000. We find that foreign privatised firms have realised larger productivity gains than all types of domestic firms and that this is not due to higher price‐cost margins, which is consistent with the idea that foreign firms bring in firm‐specific knowledge. Foreign greenfields have the highest average labour productivity, while foreign privatisations show the largest productivity increase.     

Ecomagination — Ein Unternehmen positioniert sich nachhaltig

Zusammenfassung  Nachhaltigkeit hat sich zu einer Art Mantra für das 21. Jahrhundert entwickelt. Damit steigt für Unternehmen der Erkl?rungsbedarf gegenüber der ?ffentlichkeit: Wie nachhaltig ist ihr eigenes wirtschaftliches Handeln? Verantwortungsbewusster Umgang mit natürlichen Ressourcen wird zunehmend zu einer Herausforderung von existenzieller Bedeutung. Unternehmen sollten die eigene Positionierung an diese Entwicklungen anpassen. Ein Beispiel für eine erfolgreiche Nachhaltigkeitspositionierung ist das Umweltengagement von General Electric.