Systemic small-player market exclusion in an east African context

ABSTRACT

Producer–consumers in Kenya and Uganda face challenges in meeting their subsistence goals. They face a paradoxical inclusion and exclusion from the contemporary market system that the solutions proposed in the agriculture development, subsistence markets and BOP perspectives cannot address because of faults in the pervasive marketing ecosystem perspective. In this article, we go beyond the traditional discussion of producer–consumers’ market access, to include upstream as well as downstream challenges. We introduce the concept of integration gaps to markets as a counterpoint to typical measures of market access. We show the integration gap is a systematic neocolonialist exclusion of producer–consumers that international aid agencies exhorting greater market engagement may worsen. We offer suggestions for improvement from a marketing ecosystem perspective.     

Regional Dimension of Economic Cooperation Between Japan and Russia

Abstract

The past decade has brought remarkable changes to the economic cooperation of North-West Japan (Hokkaido and Japan Sea coastal prefectures) and the Russian Far East, such as fast growth of intra-regional trade, great structural changes, a huge increase in the number of cooperating companies and thousands of Russians coming to Japanese ports, which until recently were closed to them. Similar trends were observed in Asian, European and American regions involved in trade with Russia. In Japan, the initial “Siberian euphoria” has gradually been replaced by a much more realistic approach. The reason is that liberalization of trade, globalization and regional development created a number of problems: the prevalence of geopolitical over economic considerations in energy projects, the growth of the shadow sector in certain arrears of mutual trade, the very uneven distribution of benefits and losses from cross-border cooperation and the deep differences of public opinion in Japan and Russia. This paper argues that in terms of public finance theory, these problems can be considered as examples of a failure of market mechanisms, shadow economy, negative externalities and asymmetric information, which can only be solved by effective public policy and state intervention.     

Micro-foundations of organizational design and sustainability: The mediating role of learning ambidexterity

This paper builds on prior scholarly works by examining the relationship between organizing paradox (formalization and decentralization), and organizational levels of learning paradoxes, i.e. exploration and exploitation, and firms’ outcomes (organizational creativity, organizational resilience and organizational energy). Using data from 98 executives and 325 senior employees working across a diverse range of firms operating in the Middle East, the findings suggest that organizing paradox (formalization and decentralization) has a positive impact on learning ambidexterity. In addition, we also found that learning ambidexterity has a positive impact on both organizational resilience and organizational energy. Furthermore, the results indicate that learning ambidexterity mediates the relationship between organizing paradox and organizational creativity. These findings provide important insights into the micro-foundation aspects of organizational ambidexterity.     

东亚经济一体化的贸易与投资效应

20世纪80年代以来,东亚区域(10+3)经济一体化取得长足的进展,经济区域化给东亚地区带来显著的经济绩效。文章根据区域经济一体化理论,深入地分析了东亚经济区域化带来的区域内贸易和投资效应,并通过计量模型对东亚地区的FDI与贸易的关系进行了检验,发现在东亚FDI与进口和出口都是互补关系,即FDI促进了东亚地区的贸易发展。     

大病保险对中老年居民医疗利用及健康的影响——基于CHARLS数据的实证检验

运用CHARLS 2011、2013、2015年三期数据,采用双重差分模型和准自然实验框架,分析城乡居民大病保险制度对中老年居民医疗服务利用和健康的影响及其作用机制,并从城乡和收入两个角度对制度实施效应的异质性进行探究。研究表明:大病保险制度实施能够显著促进中老年居民住院医疗服务及健康,增加中老年居民住院概率1.03%,提高住院次数0.022次,提高住院总费用10.4个百分点,总体健康水平提高0.023个单位;制度实施主要促进了农村和中等收入群体的住院医疗服务利用和健康水平的改善,对低收入人群住院医疗服务影响有限,且对城镇居民和高收入群体的影响并不显著;作用机制分析显示大病保险制度实施通过提高居民医疗服务利用进而起到改善其健康水平的作用。研究表明大病保险制度对中老年居民的住院服务利用和健康起到积极作用,但对于低收入群体的效应仍有待进一步改善。     

光谷文化对东湖高新区创新发展的推动机制研究

东湖高新区创新的基础与动力源于光谷文化,光谷文化不是孤立的个体行为的简单组合,而是以追求变革、崇尚创新为价值取向的多种独特文化形态的总和。光谷文化对东湖高新区创新的推动力,包括各参与主体在交互的创新文化推动分力下,与管委会倡导的园区整体文化形成合力,体现为以创新为导向的价值理念培育、文化实践、制度安排和社会评价系统等。在今后的创新推力中,光谷文化宜在“创新型国家主导”的文化范式下寻找进一步的路径突破。     

Sequential internationalization,heterogeneous process and subsidiary roles: the case of Hyundai Motor Company*

This paper proposes a new conceptual model to better understand the internationalization process of firms, especially those from rapidly developing East Asian economies. The model is illustrated through a comprehensive analysis of the internationalization process of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC). A comparative case analysis of the development of HMC's five major foreign subsidiaries shows both capability building through sequential investment from the headquarters' perspective and heterogeneous development of operational knowledge at the subsidiary level. The research emphasizes the importance of the post-FDI phase of subsidiary development to the study of firm internationalization, and highlights the process of decision-making and learning as the key to understanding the sequence of investments in subsidiaries.     

What does the Bank of Japan do to East Asia?

In recent policy debates some have argued that expansionary monetary policy in Japan can increase real output in Japan and in Japan's neighbors, while others have warned that it is a beggar-thy-neighbor policy. In this paper we estimate structural vector autoregressions to assess the effects of Japanese monetary policy shocks. We find that the effects of Japanese monetary policy shocks on macroeconomic variation in East Asia have been modest and difficult to reconcile with the beggar-thy-neighbor view. We estimate that the Asian crisis was preceded by expansionary monetary policy shocks in Japan, but we fail to find support for the view that these shocks contributed to the crisis.     

浅析两淮盐商文化的旅游价值与开发问题

两淮是我国历史上主要的食盐集散地,两淮盐商盐商文化博大精深。特别是扬州盐商文化具有突出的旅游开发价值。从旅游景观意义上看,盐商文化遗址主要有六大类型,应从多方面挖掘其旅游开发的亮点,进一步提升扬州历史名城的旅游魅力。     

Women, Management and Globalization in the Middle East

This paper provides new theoretical insights into the interconnections and relationships between women, management and globalization in the Middle East (ME). The discussion is positioned within broader globalization debates about women’s social status in ME economies. Based on case study evidence and the UN datasets, the article critiques social, cultural and economic reasons for women’s limited advancement in the public sphere. These include the prevalence of the patriarchal work contract within public and private institutions, as well as cultural and ethical values which create strongly defined gender roles. The discussion examines the complexities of conceptualizing women’s equality and empowerment in Islamic states. The paper reveals that there have been significant achievements in advancing women in leadership and political roles, but that there are still institutional and cultural barriers embedded in business systems. Linking feminist, development and management theoretical strands a development framework is proposed which is sensitive to the Islamic Shar’ia encompassing government, organization and individual level strategies. It is suggested that scholars should integrate literatures from gender and management, development and Middle East studies, and in particular that critical scholars of gender and organization should consider the interrelations of the national and transnational in critiques of contemporary global capitalism to understand the complexity of women and social change in the ME.