Taxation, growth, and the spirit of capitalism

This paper uses a general two-sector model of endogenous growth to examine how the spirit of capitalism affects the relation between public finance and growth. The spirit of capitalism is defined as acquisitive personal objectives. We find that if the spirit of capitalism is present, an increase in the share of government spending in output reduces the long-run growth rate. The negative relationship between fiscal spending and growth is consistent with empirical evidence.     

Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance: The role of knowledge creation process

This study examines the relationships among entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge creation process, and firm performance using survey data from 165 entrepreneurs. We use LISREL analysis to test the direct and indirect effects of the entrepreneurial orientation on firm performance. Knowledge creation process - operationalized to reflect the dimensions of socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization - is used as the mediating variable for explaining the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. The results indicate that the significance of the direct effect of entrepreneurial orientation on firm performance is reduced when the indirect effect of entrepreneurial orientation through knowledge creation process is included in a total effect model. Consequently, entrepreneurial orientation is positively related to firm performance, and knowledge creation process plays a mediating role in this relationship.     

Criterion-robust optimal product designs for discrimination between nested response surface models

Consider the problem of discriminating between two rival response surface models and estimating parameters in the identified model. To construct designs serving for both model discrimination and parameter estimation, the M _γ-optimality criterion, which puts weight γ (0≤γ≤1) for model discrimination and 1 − γ for parameter estimation, is adopted. The corresponding M _γ-optimal product design is explicitly derived in terms of canonical moments. With the application of the maximin principle on the M _γ-efficiency of any M _γ'-optimal product design, a criterion-robust optimal product design is proposed.     

Managing low‐skill workers: a study of small UK food manufacturing firms

Low‐wage work is of growing significance in the UK. This article tests the model of the low‐skills equilibrium (LSE) through a study of 27 small firms in a sector, food manufacturing, widely identified as being in an LSE. Three hypotheses are tested. (1) There will be a single, fixed equilibrium. We find more variety, reflecting the specific circumstances of firms. (2) An equilibrium is sustained by weak support institutions and a product market dominated by low value‐added goods. The expectation about institutions is supported, but the product market permitted some, albeit weak, opportunities to escape the LSE. (3) Skills will be low, and workplace regimes will be characterised by work intensification. Some firms were developing employee skills. Work intensification was rare, reflecting the absence of Taylorisation and the importance of face‐to‐face relationships. Overall, some firms had the will to escape the LSE, but weak institutional support and a ready supply of labour substantially reduced the incentives to do so.     

中国乡村公共品的提供:连带团体的作用

在威权和转轨体制下，民主和官僚政治制度通常很薄弱，为什么处于这种制度下的政府官员所提供的公共品，往往还超过了足够维护社会稳定所需的最低水平呢？案例研究表明，即使正式责任制度很薄弱，非官方惯例和规则的约束仍然能够促使当地官员设立并履行其公共责任。而这些非正式责任制度由特定类型的连带团体提供并在全社区发挥其道德权威。在其他条件都相同的情况下，存在这类集团的村庄比没有这类集团的村庄更有可能获得较好的公共品供应。     

Interest rate rules and macroeconomic stability with transaction costs

This paper analyzes the relationship between interest-rate feedback rules and macroeconomic stability in the presence of transaction costs. We show that with the Sims-type (1994) transaction-cost technology, a passive, rather than an active, interest-rate rule is more likely to generate a stabilizing effect against belief-driven fluctuations if both the intertemporal elasticity of substitution with respect to consumption and the sensitivity of the transaction costs with respect to the velocity of money are low. This result is valid under either an unbounded or a bounded transaction-cost technology. Of importance, our result is relevant under empirically plausible parameters, while it sharply contrasts with Taylor's (1993) prediction.     

Sustainability Strategy and Eco‐Innovation: A Moderation Model

This study develops a moderation model to examine the role of a proactive environmental strategy on eco‐innovation. Drawing upon the perspectives of contingency theory, this study argues that the impacts of sustainability strategy on eco‐innovation depend on market demand, innovation intensity and government subsidy. The sample used to test the hypotheses is obtained from the Community Innovation Survey in Taiwan. A total of 2955 manufacturing firms are included in the final sample. A logit moderating regression is adopted to analyze the models. The results reveal that market demand and government subsidy positively moderate the relationship between environmental strategy and eco‐innovation. Specifically, firms are more likely to adopt a proactive environmental strategy to improve eco‐innovation under high levels of market demand and government subsidy. Furthermore, the results indicate that innovation intensity affects the effect of environmental strategy on eco‐innovation, but the direction of the influence varies with different categories of eco‐innovation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

INTERNATIONAL ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING AND ORIGINAL DESIGN MANUFACTURING CONTRACTS WITH QUALITY‐DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS

We build a model of international subcontracting in quality‐differentiated goods. Assuming no entry in an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) market, we show that the foreign outsourcer will choose an original design manufacturing (ODM) contract only if the subcontractor is good enough at product design. However, the product quality with the ODM contract is not necessarily higher than that with the OEM contract. When the subcontracting market becomes perfectly competitive, the outsourcer will always choose an OEM contract. In a two‐period model with learning and entry effects, the foreign outsourcer chooses between different modes of manufacturing contracts. We demonstrate that a laissez‐faire policy on research and development (R&D) activity may be optimal even if the subcontracting firm can only obtain an OEM contract. In the case where the OEM market becomes perfectly competitive in the second period, we predict that a positive R&D subsidy in the first period can help the domestic subcontractor obtain OEM–ODM contracts and, as a result, national welfare rises.