Leadership Dynamics in Partially Distributed Teams: an Exploratory Study of the Effects of Configuration and Distance

Despite the importance of leadership and the wealth of empirical studies focused on leadership effectiveness in traditional and computer-supported groups, there is little research examining leadership dynamics in partially distributed virtual teams (PDTs). Virtual teams are partially distributed when they are configured with one or more subgroups of collocated members and isolated members. This paper lays the groundwork for an in-depth study of leadership in PDTs that can be extended to other types of virtual team configurations. Using three dimensions of virtual distance (geographic, cultural and temporal), we analyze how the configuration of virtual teams interacts with leadership dynamics. We also summarize the results of an exploratory study using 12 student teams to examine the effects of distance and configuration on leadership in PDTs. Findings show significant differences in leadership dynamics (i.e., leader emergence vs. leader retention) which impacted team performance. From these results, we develop propositions on leadership and PDTs.     

Candidate gene studies and the quest for the entrepreneurial gene

Candidate gene studies of human behavior are gaining interest in economics and entrepreneurship research. Performing and interpreting these studies is not straightforward because the selection of candidates influences the interpretation of the results. As an example, Nicolaou et al. (Small Bus Econ 36:151?C155, 2011) report a significant association between a common genetic variant in the DRD3 gene and the tendency to be an entrepreneur. We fail to replicate this finding using a much larger, independent dataset. In addition, we discuss the candidate gene approach and give suggestions to avoid the publication of false positives.     

Value relevance of blog visibility

This study empirically examines the effect of a non-traditional information source, namely a firm's blog visibility on the capital market valuation of firms. After controlling for earnings, book value of equity and other value relevant variables, such as traditional media exposure, R&D spending, and advertising expense, we find a positive association between a firm's blog visibility and its capital market valuation. In addition, we find blog visibility Grange causes trading, not vice versa. Our findings indicate that non-traditional information sources such as blogs help disseminate information and influence consumers' investment decisions by capturing their attention.     

Optimal management of annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) in phase rotations in the Western Australian Wheatbelt*

Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) helps to prevent soil salinisation in the Western Australian Wheatbelt by reducing recharge to saline water tables. There is broad consensus, though, that it is not sufficiently profitable to motivate producers to plant it at the intensity at which considerable off‐site benefits would be conferred. This paper employs a multiple‐phase optimal control model to explore the value of this perennial pasture for the management of herbicide‐resistant annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) in a crop–pasture rotation, given the difficulty of observing this value in practice. The availability of selective herbicides for efficient weed control is found to determine whether or not it is profitable to adopt lucerne pasture under optimal management. Herbicide resistance requires producers to employ costly, non‐selective treatments for in‐crop weed control. Thus, it motivates the adoption of perennial pasture in which cost‐effective forms of control can be implemented. Moreover, this result is robust to feasible changes in the current economic environment.     

Science and technology forecasting today: Features of its methodology and object

The paper examines methodological and subject aspects of some problem questions that arise in organizing and technologization a long-term forecast procedure. It looks at the basic elements of the methodology and technique of a long-term forecast performed during the development of the Concept for Long-term Socioeconomic Development of the Russian Federation. Key conditions for technology application in the framework of two possible scenarios of Russian economic growth, primary-and-energy and innovation-active, are analyzed.     

Austrian Business Cycle Theory, Keynes’s General Theory, Soaring Wheat Prices, and Subprime Mortgage Write-Downs

Keynes’s presentation of own rates of interest on wheat and housing is set within Austrian business cycle theory, to show that soaring wheat prices and subprime mortgage writedowns are expected, when a monetary authority holds interest rates too low for too long. From that basis, further interest rate cuts are an unlikely remedy for a recession whose roots lie in a proliferation of credit.     

Firm-Specific Characteristics and the Timing of Foreign Direct Investment Projects

This paper uses a proportional hazard model to study foreign direct investment by Japanese manufacturers in Europe between 1970 and 1994. We divide each firm’s investment total into a sequence of individual investment decisions and analyze how firm-specific characteristics affect each decision. We find that total factor productivity is a significant determinant of a firm’s initial and subsequent investments. Parent-firm size does not have a significant influence on the initial decision to invest. Large firms simply have more investments than smaller firms. Other firm-specific characteristics, such as the R&D intensity, export share and keiretsu membership, also play a role in the investment process. JEL no. F23, L20     

Trends in economic cooperation between Southern Russian regions

The economic situation, foreign economic relations, and export/import structure of Southern Russian regions are considered; the author’s opinion on the development of free economic prices in Southern Russiaís resort area is given; this conclusion is justified on the grounds that any trends emerging in the foreign relations of Southern Russian regions must be adjusted to match the targets set for the country as a whole.     

The economic performance of the Russian economy in 2006 and a forecast for 2008–2010

This article examines the economic outcome of 2006 and builds a forecast for 2007–2010. The medium-term development risks of the Russian economy are analyzed.