Structural models of complementary choices

This article reviews the rapidly growing literature on structural models of complementary choices. It discusses recent modeling developments and identifies promising areas for future research.     

Financial Institutions and Non‐Governmental Organizations: An Advocacy Partnership for Sustainable Capital Markets?

In this article, the Chief Responsibility Officer for Aviva Investors examines the potential for financial institutions (FIs) to work in partnership with non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in advocating changes to public policy that promote sustainable capital markets. Many NGOs have argued that the current form of global economic growth is unsustainable—and they routinely engage in public policy advocacy. However, such advocacy has generally proved ineffective, in large part because most NGOs have a very limited understanding of how capital markets function. Investors, for their part, are increasingly recognizing that key aspects of the global economy are on an unsustainable footing. And some are concerned about the negative implications for the long‐term value of their assets. But with a few notable exceptions, they have not made systematic efforts to work with governments to correct the market failures. NGO‐FI advocacy partnerships could identify specific cases of systemic or sectoral market failures, and recommend long‐term changes to the sectoral operating environment that would affect the cash flows and values of companies operating within that sector in ways designed to “internalize” the effects of negative social and environmental externalities. To foster the development of such partnerships, there is a need for academia to develop learning forums that stimulate the exchange of ideas between the executives within NGOs and FIs in an environment of mutual trust and respect.     

The Productivity Impact of IT Deployment: An Empirical Evaluation of ATM Introduction

The term 'IT paradox' has been widely used to describe the apparent failure of much economic research to discover significant productivity gains associated with IT investment. In part this has been ascribed to measurement problems associated with both IT inputs and with outputs in IT-intensive industries. The current paper seeks to circumvent these difficulties by taking the ATM as a clearly defined embodied IT application and then using anaugmented production function approach to isolate its productivity effectsacross a sample of UK building societies, over the period of the ATM'sdiffusion. The paper finds no support for the 'IT paradox' and reports large robust and statistically significant productivity gains associated with ATM introduction.     

Realisations of Venture Capital Investments: The Case of Management Buy-outs in the UK

One of the most rapidly developing sectors of the financial services industry in the UK has been venture capital, and with it the growth of management buy-outs. As these markets have matured, increasing attention is being paid to issues associated with the realisation of gains for both institutions and equity-holding management. This article seeks to contribute to this area by examining the issues involved in the realisation of investments in management buy-outs. Based on detailed interviews with 24 managers of buy-outs which have exited, and on information drawn from the Centre for Management Buy-out Research database, the article considers the relative merits of flotations, trade sales, capital restructurings, secondary buy-outs, share redemptions etc. The article also addresses the agency cost issues involved in controlling buy-outs to enable institutions to achieve realisation of their investments at a price and timing which enable their targets to be met.     

发展史 这家威斯康星州的标识工作室的目标市场是细化的标识市场

反对思想流派就深度和广度哪个更重要展开了辩论。作为PBS旅游节目的主持人,里克史蒂夫的职业生涯一再奔波于欧洲,而亨利大卫梭罗则通过深层次地了解康科特来进一步了解其社区和居民。标识工作室也面临这类似的问题。业主可以选择收藏大量的工具和设备以满足广大客户,或者是选择在细化的市场挖掘发展。相关因素包括公司的员工(如果有必要的话,还包括分包商),公司设备,与开发商以及最具潜力的潜在客户的关系。     

金融业的成功 从事金融服务的人同样能够在招牌行业取得新的成功

“一旦拥有了所有的技术和资源,那么是时候开设一家招牌商店了。“十年前.世纪招牌制作公司(美国新墨西哥,阿尔伯克基州)在圣菲的一个小村庄里进行了改造.并于1932年进行了一次大规模的整修,具备了一个完整的环保图形软件包,其中包括,建筑证明、房间号码牌、指路标志,以及其它的一些圈形设施等。     

Private Equity in the U.S.: Building a New Future

Despite the recent downturn, private equity firms still have an important role to play in the global economy. At the same time, many PE firms may need to rethink their strategies. Practices that have been worked in the past may not produce acceptable returns in a future, particularly given the current constraints on financing and leverage. One source of PE's comparative advantage, as demonstrated during the recent crisis, has been the ability of the best and most experienced firms to reorganize their portfolio companies when they get into financial trouble. But in addition to their financial management skills, specialized operating expertise has become more critical to success, and those PE firms that have not acquired it are especially likely to find that past success in raising capital is no guarantee of success in the future. The authors begin by providing a brief overview of the past three decades of global private equity to identify how the market arrived at its current position. Using the findings of academic research together with case studies and interviews with PE practitioners in the U.K., the authors suggest a number of building blocks for the future that reflect the considerable success of the most reputable and experienced PE firms in increasing the value of their portfolio companies.     

Beyond convenience: the future for independent food and grocery retailers in the UK

The UK's independent food and grocery retail sector's competitive advantage of 'convenience' has been eroded in recent years as major retailers increase opening hours and develop their own convenience trading formats. As a result, large numbers of independent retailers are closing. A UK-wide survey was undertaken to identify other sources of competitive advantages, and the changes needed to stop or reverse the decline in this sector. Exploratory semi-structured interviews led to the development of a questionnaire on six major issues affecting the sector. 'Snowball' sampling, using industry partners, provided 142 respondents. The provision of a 'social shopping experience' emerged as a key competitive advantage that could be developed. Improving vertical and horizontal trading alliances, and the wider use of information technology, provided other options.     

Agroindustrialization through institutional innovation Transaction costs, cooperatives and milk-market development in the east-African highlands

Some small-holders are able to generate reliable and substantial income flows through small-scale dairy production for the local market; for others, a set of unique transaction costs hinders participation. Cooperative selling institutions are potential catalysts for mitigating these costs, stimulating entry into the market, and promoting growth in rural communities. Trends in cooperative organization in east-African dairy are evaluated. Empirical work focuses on alternative techniques for effecting participation among a representative sample of peri-urban milk producers in the Ethiopian highlands. The variables considered are a modern production practice (cross-bred cow use), a traditional production practice (indigenous-cow use), three intellectual-capital-forming variables (experience, education, and extension), and the provision of infrastructure (as measured by time to transport milk to market). A Tobit analysis of marketable surplus generates precise estimates of non-participants' 'distances' to market and their reservation levels of the covariates — measures of the inputs necessary to sustain and enhance the market. Policy implications focus on the availability of cross-bred stock and the level of market infrastructure, both of which have marked effects on participation, the velocity of transactions in the local community and, inevitably, the social returns to agroindustrialization.