Signalling,Disclosure And The Implications Of Financial Structure For Uk Corporate R&D ∗

This paper investigates the impact of R&D disclosure and finance variables on the level of R&D expenditures. The question addressed is: what is the impact of changes in disclosure requirements on the relationship between R&D expenditure and the financing of firms? The question is motivated by the possible signalling role that elective disclosure may have had prior to changes in accounting practices to ensure R&D disclosure.     

Evidence on the Management of Public Services Innovation

Innovation is a central part of the UK Government’s programme to improve public services. However, there is little evidence on how innovation is managed in public service organizations. Drawing upon theories of the management of innovation and longitudinal case studies, this article demonstrates the iterative and complex ways in which innovations unfold. Issues of particular importance in the management of innovation include the role of teams and teamwork, projects, pilots and experiments, and various forms of project management.     

Innovation and competitive advantages from the integration of strategic aspects with social and environmental management in European firms

This paper analyses the nature and details of the association that the integration of social and environmental considerations with corporate strategy has for different competitive advantages and innovation activities at the firm level. Its objective is to answer the question as to whether a positive link exists between integration and the effects of environmental and social performance on these different dimensions of economic performance. The question of the specific form of this relationship is also raised. These questions are analysed using cluster analysis and regression models. Results are presented for four different dimensions of competitive advantage, and for two types of innovation activity. These raise the possibility that the process of integration is more important for bringing about a positive link than a resulting integration type. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Agency theory: A falsificationist perspective

The purpose of this paper is to examine the empirical testability of agency theory from a falsificationist perspective. Following a brief discussion of economic methodology, the paper examines three main classes of agency models with a view to identifying the scope for empirical testing. With regard to the basic single period agency model, the paper argues that empirical researchers should direct their attention to generating and testing the comparative static implications of the model. For agency models with post-decision information, it is argued that the scope for empirical testing is likely to be severely limited by the researcher's inability to validate the truth value of the auxiliary hypotheses needed to generate empirically interesting implications. In addition, it is argued that considerable care needs to be exercised when interpreting the results of tests of “if and only if” propositions. These difficulties of interpretation are illustrated by reference to two recent attempts to test Holmstrom's theory of relative performance evaluation. Finally, it is argued that agency models involving pre-decision information are practically devoid of empirical content.