The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and speed to the market: The case of incubator firms in Norway

Incubators and incubator firms work to promote the development and commercialization of technology and products. This study shows that entrepreneurial orientation can help achieve this aim. Using survey data from incubator firms, we show that entrepreneurial orientation has a statistically significant positive effect on ability to bring technology and products quickly to the market. This finding is important for managers of incubator firms and managers of incubators alike as they have a common interest in speed to the market. An implication of our study is that managers of incubators should try to enhance the entrepreneurial orientation of the incubator firms.     

Consumers' switching inertia in a fictitious electricity market

Consumers in the deregulated Swedish electricity market do not switch from their incumbent supplier to the extent that would be economically beneficial. To examine potential causes for this switching inertia, a mail survey was administered to 540 Swedish electricity consumers who were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions and a control condition. Survey participants in the experimental conditions first made a choice of a supplier; then, they made choices between this alternative (their ‘incumbent supplier’) and other alternatives that differed from the incumbent supplier on price, quality of information, market share and availability of ‘green’ electricity. The results showed that lower price, higher quality of information, medium–large market share, and availability of green electricity increased switching to the alternatives to the incumbent supplier. A remaining general preference for choosing the incumbent supplier was reduced by instructions that removed feelings of loyalty and informed about the economic benefits of switching for all consumers.     

The neoliberal project—Local taxation intervention in Scotland

This paper is concerned with one of the central economic aspects of neoliberalism namely taxation. The shifting of the burden of taxation from the rich to the poor has been one of the raft of neoliberal economic reform policies. However, there has been a growing social movement in the UK against such a regressive form of taxation. This was led by a socialist political party in Scotland.¹ This party devised a new taxation system which was specifically designed to reverse some of the economic inequalities brought about by the neoliberal turn. The new form of taxation, the Scottish Service Tax formed a bill (the Council Tax Abolition and Service Tax Introduction (Scotland) Bill) which was put before the Scottish Parliament in February 2006. This paper, taking a political-economy perspective, sets the possibilities presented by the bill within the context of neoliberalism.     

Choices of savings options related to trust in banks’ competence,benevolence and stability

The study investigates whether beliefs in professional investor skill in conjunction with trust in banks and other fund managers explain choices of options for long-term savings. From questionnaire data obtained for a population-based sample (n=178) and a sample of undergraduates (n=186), two index measures were constructed, one of beliefs in the skill of professional investors and another of trust in fund managers. The trust index was aggregated for the three interrelated components: competence, benevolence and stability. Regression analyses of the likelihood of savings in an actively managed fund showed an expected effect of investor-skill beliefs that was mediated by trust in the fund manager. In addition, self-reported knowledge played a larger role than trust for choices of passively managed index funds and in particular for own investment in stocks.     

Internationalization of the organizational field: Swedish grocery retailers in the European integration process

Abstract

This article describes how import of ideas and practices influence an industry that is in an early stage of internationalization, as well as part of European integration. By using institutional theory, such a situation is depicted as an expansion of the organizational field, in which international isomorphism between organizations has commenced. Studying Swedish grocery retailing, a new set of ideas was found regarding what constitutes an efficient organization. This included centralization, vertical integration and brand management, and it was strongly influenced by foreign actors and markets. We conclude that isomorphism occurs in a decreasingly national field, although not entirely pan-European in character, and that international diffusion of ideas and practices reshape markets, partly independent of goods and capital flows.     

Abatement investments and green goodwill

This paper develops and estimates a dynamic model that links profits to green goodwill. Assuming that abatement investments generate green goodwill, and using data from the Swedish pulp industry, we are able to test the effects of green goodwill on firm level output price and profits. The results suggests that Swedish pulp plant output prices and profits may be positively related to changes in green goodwill. Furthermore, no evidence is found to support the existence of adjustment costs due to abatement investments.     

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) Standards of Practice: How Far Does This Professional Association's Code of Ethics' Influence of Reach

In a national survey, members of 4As agencies were contrasted with non-member agencies to determine awareness and influence of the 4As Standards of Practice, the Professional Code of Ethics for 4As members. The 4As Code was selected because the 4As represents the principle professional association of the support service industry, advertising.     

A MICROECONOMIC MODEL OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

This paper explores the economic mechanisms behind corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a microeconomic model of the firm. The study's motivation is to shed light on the potential causes of the observed phenomena of voluntary over‐compliance among firms. We investigate how assumptions about costs and benefits affect CSR behavior through a stock of goodwill capital. In optimum, the firm must balance marginal costs and benefits of investing in CSR. We characterize the equilibrium and examine comparative statics and dynamics from a parameterized model. Finally, we link some of the model's results to the empirical literature on CSR.