Introduction to Future Special Issue

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Prisoner’s Dilemmas, Cooperative Norms, and Codes of Business Ethics

Prisoner's dilemmas can lead rational people to interact in ways that lead to persistent inefficiencies. These dilemmas create a problem for institutional designers to solve: devise institutions that realign individual incentives to achieve collectively rational outcomes. I will argue that we do not always want to eliminate misalignments between individual incentives and efficient outcomes. Sometimes we want to preserve prisoner's dilemmas, even when we know that they systematically will lead to inefficiencies. No doubt, prisoner's dilemmas can create problems, but they also create opportunities to practice the cooperative norms that make market institutions possible in the first place. An ethical market culture, I argue, benefits from the presence of prisoner's dilemmas. I first consider standard approaches for solving prisoner's dilemmas. I then argue for the value of prisoner's dilemmas. Finally, I show the significance of this argument for advocating codes of business ethics.     

Using diffusion models to forecast market size in emerging markets with applications to the Chinese car market

Marketing managers have to forecast the market size and this forecast guides strategic decisions whether to continue exporting, open new factories or expand existing production operations. Forecasting sales and the market size is a challenging task; even more so in emerging markets where data is limited and the market demand is changeable. This research proposes a novel approach that applies diffusion models using car ownership data to forecast car sales. Car ownership data may be easier to access than sales data in emerging markets but marketing managers are more interested in the sales forecast. Researchers propose using diffusion models to forecast the adoption of new products or products which are new to consumers in a market. This research demonstrates that marketing managers can use diffusion models to predict car sales in China where cars are new products to most consumers in this market. Since the majority of car buyers in China are first time buyers, car manufacturers and retailers must also forecast when the market composition will change. This effectively means predicting when first time car buying will start to slow down and repeat/replacement purchase or second hand car purchase will become more important. To forecast both sales and market composition change, marketing managers must choose a robust model. Managers want insights from models that have been tested robustly especially in less stable market conditions. In this context, this study illustrates the value of using a rolling forecast instead of a fixed horizon approach when comparing and choosing which model to use to forecast both sales and market composition change for the Chinese car market.     

Market Orientation and Raw Material Control

Much of the existing literature on market orientation emphasizes the role played by the competencies of companies in selling products. However, in industries that rely on a natural resource sector for its primary input, another constraint may dominate: the limitations on supply of that input. We examine this issue in the context of a particular natural resource sector, the fishery, as a case study of the more general phenomenon. Using the example of Norway's apparent lack of market orientation as a supplier of fresh fish, the paper demonstrates how the characteristics of natural resource sectors as well as how public policies are used to manage those sectors may place significant roadblocks in the way of developing a market orientation by the industries that depend on those sectors for raw material. The paper notes that there has been an increased consumer demand for fresh fish, away from the frozen product. This, in principle, should lead to an increased need for a market orientation by sellers and closer relationships between the primary processors and the distributors of fresh seafood. However, several barriers, including those associated with fishery management, hinder this process. These include the presence of a structure where earnings from fishing are independent of quality, the seasonality of supplies in the raw fish markets, the way fish quotas are managed, the structure of first hand sales, and the underdeveloped relationships between supermarkets and the primary processors. In short, the analysis identifies critical linkages between fishery management and the marketing of seafood. Its broader contribution is to increased understanding of the interdependencies between the marketing of natural resource-based products and public management of that resource.     

The effects of market orientation on subsidiary performance: Empirical evidence from MNCs in Turkey

Much scholarly work has been devoted to studying the performance implications of market orientation. This study examines the direct and indirect effects of market orientation on financial performance of the subsidiaries of MNCs located in Turkey. The findings indicate that a market orientation affects financial performance of MNC subsidiaries that operate in diverse and complex economic, cultural, and political environments of the Middle East. Moreover, authors demonstrate that the customer-related mechanisms (customer satisfaction and retention) mediate the market orientation–performance relationship. The paper also discusses the theoretical and practical implications of study findings.     

贸易与就业:国际研究的最新进展与政策导向——兼论化解中美贸易冲突对我国就业影响的政策选择

随着全球经济一体化的深化,由劳动力国际化带来的失业增加、工资不平等、青年失业人口增多、非正规部门就业提高等诸多问题,已引起国际社会关注,贸易与就业成为当代国际贸易研究的重要课题。国际最新研究显示,贸易既能创造就业,也会导致失业,其就业净效应取决于不同国家的不同情况。从短期和局部看,因存在就业调整成本,贸易对不同国家、地区和个人会产生不同的影响;但从长期和整体看,贸易会对一国产业结构优化、高技能工人就业、工资提高和妇女就业产生积极影响。贸易能否发挥对劳动力市场水平和结构的积极影响,取决于政府的决策。中美贸易冲突将对我国就业产生重要影响,稳就业是中央提出的应对国内外复杂形势的首要任务。为化解中美贸易冲突对我国就业的影响,应尽快建立中国贸易调整援助制度,发挥中国在构建开放型世界经济中的引领作用,并从财政政策、金融政策、贸易政策、教育政策、区域政策和劳动力政策等方面综合施策。     

How do female directors improve board governance? A mechanism based on norm changes

Prior literature documents that corporate boards with female directors produce better governance outcomes than all-male boards. However, female directors constitute the minority on most boards, which precludes majority voting as the mechanism through which they change board decisions. We identify changing the norms of how the board works as this mechanism. Using the market for norms framework, we explain how female directors are effective even without possessing a board majority or other sources of symbolic power, such as hierarchical authority and social gravitas. Empirically, we show that independent female directors, compared to their male counterparts, are more effective at changing board norms (board processes) and improving governance (board outputs).     

Consumer Market Research on Milk in the Rural Greek Population

The purpose of the present paper is to analyse the consumption of different kinds of milk by the rural population of Greece, using the methods of multivariate analysis. First, using principal components analysis and the qualitative characteristics of milk, consumption patterns (profiles) for milk are formed. Secondly, the influence of socio-economic factors on these consumption pattems are estimated using variance analysis. Results revealed that the attitude of rural residents towards milk consumption is dominated by three critical issues: rationality, the practicality and rise of purchase, and new trend. An important finding is the existence of a high correlation between the degree of confidence in the product and the length of time that the product has been on the market. Moreover, while condensed milk exhibits a strong and positive profile in the milk market, its market share is expected to continue to drop in favour of pasteurised milk. Finally, some further implications of the study are drawn, concerning the milk companies' marketing strategies in the Greek rural population.     

黑龙江省改善民营经济发展市场环境的对策

民营经济是国民经济的重要组成部分，营造公平、有效的市场环境，将有利于民营经济公平地参与市场竞争，最大限度地利用民营企业的经济资源，为社会创造更多的财富，加速民营企业做大做强，改善民营经济的发展环境。