Operating in an Intellectual Property World: Knowledge Sharing among Plant Breeders in Canada

This paper examines the incentives for knowledge sharing in an industry where a public institution and a private firm develop new differentiated crop varieties and sell them to heterogeneous farmers. The decision of the public institution to either share their knowledge, or protect and cross‐license their IP with the rival firm, is a strategic choice. While the profit‐maximizing private research firms have an incentive to protect and secure their intellectual property (IP), under some conditions they choose to cross‐license their technology rather than forgo access to the public IP. The budget constrained public firm, with an objective of maximizing farmers’ welfare, can have an incentive to share its IP but under certain conditions has an incentive to incur transaction costs to protect and cross‐license its technology to obtain access to the private technology. The theoretical model shows that public incentives to protect IP are likely to be stronger in a research industry with significant corporate presence. A survey of Canadian wheat and canola breeders reveals that public breeders are far more secretive in the canola sector than in the wheat sector, a dichotomy that is consistent with the theoretical results. Le présent article examine les avantages du partage de connaissances dans un secteur d’activité où une institution publique et une firme privée mettent au point de nouvelles variétés végétales différenciées et les vendent à des agriculteurs hétérogènes. La décision de l’institution publique de partager ses connaissances ou de protéger sa propriété intellectuelle (PI) et de procéder à la concession de licences réciproques avec la firme rivale constitue un choix stratégique. Bien que les firmes de recherche privées axées sur la maximisation des bénéfices aient intérêt à protéger leur PI, dans certaines conditions, elles choisissent de procéder à la concession de licences réciproques plutôt que de renoncer à l’accès de la PI du secteur public. L’institution publique à budget restreint, qui vise entre autres à maximiser le bien‐être des agriculteurs, peut tirer profit du partage de sa PI mais, dans certaines conditions, elle a intérêt à assumer les coûts de transaction pour protéger sa technologie et procéder à une concession de licences réciproques afin d’obtenir l’accès à la technologie du secteur privé. Le modèle théorique montre que les avantages publics liés à la protection de la PI risquent d’être plus importants dans un secteur de la recherche où la présence des entreprises est forte. Un sondage mené auprès de sélectionneurs de blé et de canola canadiens révèle que, dans le secteur public, les sélectionneurs de canola sont beaucoup plus enclins à conserver le secret que les sélectionneurs de blé, une dichotomie qui concorde avec les résultats théoriques.     

Understanding the co-creation effect: when does collaborating with customers provide a lift to service recovery?

Because co-creation allows customers to help shape or personalize the content of their experience, it can affect customer satisfaction with recovery efforts, as well as offer a more cost-effective alternative to compensation. This article identifies specific situations in which co-creation is and is not useful. Study 1 tests the impact of co-creation in comparison with compensation for enhancing satisfaction with the recovery process and demonstrates that co-creation offers a cost-efficient strategy for companies when customers must deal with severe delays. Study 2 extends these results by showing that the impact extends to repurchase intentions. Study 3 details conditions in which co-creation harms evaluations. Finally, Study 4 explores whether it is necessary for the company to meet the customer??s requests when co-creating a recovery, as well as what happens when the company exceeds a customer??s requests. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and research directions that emerge from the studies.     

Cognitive Load Theory: Why It’s Important for International Business Teaching and Financial Reporting

ABSTRACT

Cognitive load theory (CLT) has rarely been applied in the area of financial accounting. This research demonstrates that by using CLT, financial accounting and reporting can benefit in the areas of teaching and decision making. The CLT indicates that by reducing the load of complex concepts in the working memory, a more efficient result is obtained from the expected output. A real example on International Accounting Standard (IAS) 40 on Investment Properties (IP) is used to analyze the assimilation of the true and fair view concept. This standard permits the use of either the fair value or cost value model. Additionally, the study examines whether financial presentation formats are relevant for understanding financial information. The main results show that adequate financial presentation formats reduce extraneous load, and where presentation formats cannot be changed, results can be improved by decreasing cognitive load through dedicating more time to teaching the more complex option. This research aims to aid international business education by recommending these findings to standard setters and improving education material.     

Two-Way international trade in manufactures: A theoretical underpinning

Zusammenfassung Internationaler Zwei-Weg-Handel (≫Two Way-Trade≪) in Fertigwaren: Eine theoretische Untersuchung. — Der vorliegende Aufsatz gibt eine theoretische Grundlage für internationalen Handel in spezialisierten Gütern bei monopolistischer Konkurrenz. Der Handel mit spezialisierten Fertigwaren zeigt die wachsende Bedeutung eines ≫Zwei-Weg-Au\enhandels≪ (gleichzeitiger Export und Import derselben Warengruppe). Die Analyse unterstützt teilweise Linders Hypothese, da\ der Handel zwischen Nationen mit vergleichbaren Einkommensniveaus gr?\er sein dürfte. Die Untersuchung zeigt auch, da\ ziemlich bedeutende Zunahmen im Zwei-Weg-Handel von bilateralen Zollsenkungen erwartet werden k?nnen, wie sie bei der Bildung eines gemeinsamen Marktes oder einer Zollunion vorkommen.

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Résumé Commerce international en deux sens (≪two-way trade≫) en produits finis: Une étude théorique. — Cet article établit une base théorique du commerce international en marchandises différenciées lors d’une concurrence monopoliste. Le commerce en produits finis différenciés explique l’importance augmentante du commerce international en deux sens (exportation et importation simultanées d’un méme groupe de marchandises). L’analyse confirme en partie l’hypothèse de Linder, suivant laquelle le commerce international augmentera en importance entre nations à niveaux de revenu comparables. L’analyse démontre en outre que d’assez importantes augmentations du commerce en deux sens peuvent être attendues de baisses bilatérales des tarifs douaniers telles qu’elles arrivent à la suite de la formation d’un marché commun ou d’une union douanière.

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Resumen Comercio internacional en dos direcciones con productos manufacturados: Un estudio teórico. — El présente articulo facilita una base teorica para explicar el comercio internacional en productos especializados bajo competencia monopolistica. Este comercio, que consiste en exportar e importar al mismo tiempo el mismo producto, muestra una importancia creciente. El anàlisis apoya en parte la hip?tesis de Linder que el comercio sera mayor entre paises con nivelés de ingresos similares. Demuestra adem?s que el comercio en dos direcciones experimentar? importantes incrementos a raiz de reducciones bilaterales de aranceles, como ocurre en el caso de crearse un mercado comün o una union arancelaria.

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Riassunto Commercio internazionale in due direzioni (≪Two-Way-Trade≫) di prodotti finiti: Una ricerca teorica. — II présente saggio dá una base teorica al commercio internazionale di merci specializzate in concorrenza monopolistica. Il commercio con prodotti finiti specializzati mostra il crescente significato di un ≪commercio estero in due direzioni≫ (contemporanea esportazione ed importazione dello stesso gruppo di merci). L’analisi sostiene in parte l’ipotesi di Linder che il commercio tra nazioni con livelli paragonabili di reddito dovrebbe essere maggiore. La ricerca mostra anche che nel commercio in due direzioni si possono aspettare da bilaterali abbassamenti dei dazi, incrementi abbastanza significativi corne si presentano nclla formazione di un mercato comune o di un unione doganale.

     

Performance pricing in bank debt contracts

Performance pricing links bank debt interest rate spreads to a borrower's performance via two options. Interest-decreasing performance pricing reduces spreads if credit quality improves. It is more common when prepayment is more likely or costly and when adverse selection costs are higher, and is less common when multiple performance measures better predict credit quality. Interest-increasing performance pricing increases spreads if credit quality deteriorates. It is more common when lenders reduce interest rates to add this provision, when downgrades are more likely, and when moral hazard costs are higher. We find lower spreads for contracts with interest increasing performance pricing.     

Outcomes of service encounter quality in a business-to-business context

Service encounter quality is an area of growing interest to researchers and managers alike, yet little is known about the effects of face-to-face service encounter quality within a business-to-business setting. In this paper, a psychometrically sound measure of such service encounter quality is proposed, and consequences of this construct are empirically assessed. Both a literature review and a dyadic in-depth interview approach were used to develop a conceptual framework and a pool of items to capture service encounter quality. A mail survey of customers was undertaken, and a response rate of 36% was obtained. Data analysis was conducted via confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings reveal a four-factor structure of service encounter quality, encompassing professionalism, civility, friendliness and competence dimensions. Service encounter quality was found to be directly related to customer satisfaction and service quality perceptions, and indirectly to loyalty. The importance of these findings for practitioners and for future research on service encounter quality is discussed.