Social tie, social capital, and social behavior: Toward an integrative model of informal exchange

What is the unique nature of social capital that differentiates itself from other forms of capital? How should we conceptualize and operationalize social capital? What are the major drivers and outcomes of social capital? To address the three questions, I apply the duality lens—the perspective of regarding each entity as a paradox consisting of two contrasting yet interdependent components—to social capital for an integrative model of informal exchange. The focus of this paper is on the duality relationship between the content variables (social tie, social capital, social behavior along two basic dimensions: trust for tie strength and option for network structure) and the process variables (antecedent, content, process, and consequence) toward a geocentric framework of formal–informal exchange. I intend to make two contributions. First, the conceptualization and operationalization of social capital is developed from the duality lens of formal–informal exchange so as to identify the unique nature of social capital as an informal entity. Second, a holistic, dynamic, and dialectic model of social capital is provided to explore the causal links between various elements related to social capital.     

Jeong exchange and collective leadership in Korean organizations

How does the Korean management system work with open interaction and without excessive power abuse, in spite of the emphasis on authority and hierarchy in Korean society? This paper explicates the concept of jeong exchange, an emotional support mechanism based on informal social ties, as the basis of social capital in Korean collectives (woori). Jeong exchange is first described and then contrasted with related concepts in the other major Confucian societies of China and Japan. It is then used to develop the notion of “collective leadership” to describe the nature and process of Korean leadership.     

Regulation of entry, labor market institutions and the informal sector

This paper develops a two-sector matching model that incorporates the main features of Latin American labor markets. It has an innovation in its matching structure that makes it more consistent with some key stylized facts of the informal sector in these countries. The model is numerically solved using Brazilian data and several policy simulations are performed. Reducing formal sector's entry cost significantly reduces the size of the informal sector and improves overall labor market performance. Increasing enforcement significantly reduces informality but has strong adverse effects on unemployment and welfare. Thus, the results indicate that the tradeoff between lower informal employment and higher unemployment rates is not present when one looks at policies that aim at reducing the costs of being formal, as opposed to policies that simply increase the costs of being informal.     

Industrialization and poverty reduction in East Asia: Internal labor movements matter

A number of developing East Asian countries have achieved both rapid economic growth and poverty reduction by effectively utilizing global value chains. An essential, but often neglected, condition for their economic development is smooth labor movements from the rural to urban sectors. This paper demonstrates that such labor movements have played an important role in the process of industrialization with global value chains. After conducting some international comparisons, we examine the case of Thailand for its massive labor movements until the mid–2000s as well as discussing stagnant moves in recent years.     

Unpacking Institutional Distance: Addressing Human Capital Development and Emerging‐Market Firms’ Ownership Strategy in an Advanced Economy

As latecomers to global business competition, emerging‐market multinational companies (EMNCs) utilize cross‐border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to quickly acquire strategic assets, resulting in an improved competitive position. Advanced markets with well‐established firms and well‐developed market‐supporting institutions become particularly important destinations for EMNCs’ foreign operations. Institutional distance, which represents conflicting legitimacy requirements between the host and home institutional environments, is expected to be negatively associated with the foreign acquirer's ownership position. The current study examines a sample of EMNCs’ cross‐border M&As in the United States between 2005 and 2011 and reveals the unique nature of EMNCs’ ownership strategies. Taking both formal and informal institutions into consideration, our findings suggest that EMNCs originating in countries with lower levels of human capital development may have more urgency in seeking ownership control in advanced markets and are less influenced by the negative association of institutional distance in their ownership strategy. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Quantifying Sources of Risk in Global Food Operations and Supply Chain

The food industry plays a significant role in food supply. However, it is increasingly facing a significant number of risks to tackle. This article provides insight into sources and quantification of risk, which can restrict food operations and supply chain performance. Certainly, risks imposed by today's constantly changing global environment makes it imperative for food and agribusiness firms to develop purposeful proactive and predictive risk management for their global supply chains. We proposed the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model to analyze sources of risks attached to the focal firm's global food operations and supply chain. The identified risks were from a review of relevant literature, expert opinions from the focal firm supply chain C‐level executive, and consultants in the food industry. We grouped the identified risks into seven categories and discussed the risk mitigation strategies. We validated the proposed model using a case study involving a focal food and agribusiness firm with global presence. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Informal institutions and international entrepreneurship

This study examines the influence of three informal institutions, performance orientation, self-expression and social desirability, on the extent of internationalization by early stage entrepreneurial firms. We employed multi-level modeling techniques using 20,656 individual-level responses obtained from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey for 39 countries from 2001 to 2008, and supplementing with country-level data obtained from the World Values Survey (WVS) and the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study. The results demonstrate that high performance orientation, high self-expression, and low social desirability of entrepreneurship in societies increase the extent of internationalization by early-stage entrepreneurial firms. The study promotes new theory and empirical findings on the relationship between informal institutions and entrepreneurial agency.     

The design and implementation of minibus taxi presumptive taxes

ABSTRACT

This paper assesses the design of Zimbabwe’s minibus taxi presumptive taxes that were first implemented in 2005 and evaluates them in terms of administrative effectiveness, equity and economic efficiency. The implications of these factors on tax compliance are also analysed. A mixed-methods approach was used where quantitative data were complemented by qualitative interviews with taxi operators and key informants from the country’s tax authority. The results suggest that presumptive taxes were poorly designed and administered with many operators going untaxed. The ‘informal taxes’ (bribes and ‘fees’) levied by corrupt officials, ‘committees’ and touts also resulted in taxes that did not promote equity or efficiency. Despite the numerous challenges identified, the article highlights key lessons for countries that are also trying to tax minibus taxis such as the importance of negotiating with taxi associations around taxation and the encouragement of quasi-voluntary compliance through the implementation of well-researched turnover-based presumptive taxes.     

Event Study Analysis in Cases with Multiple Brand-Generic Reverse-Payment Settlements

Abstract

Event studies of stock price movements have been used to assess the anticompetitive impact of ‘reverse-payment’ settlement of patent disputes in the drug industry. Evidence for an anticompetitive effect is found when financial markets reward a brand manufacturer with larger stock market capitalization – signaling the agreed upon generic entry date was more profitable (i.e. later) than investors’ expectations. In practice, reverse-payment cases can involve multiple generic competitors and settlements. This paper considers how event-study methodology applies in such cases, with a study of the stock price movements of Cephalon, manufacturer of the drug Provigil. Cephalon entered into four patent litigation settlements with potential generic competitors over a two-month period beginning in December 2005. Event study methods can readily be applied to such a case. Cephalon’s total increase in stock value across four narrow windows around each settlement totaled over $1.0 billion, indicating the agreements delayed generic entry beyond the market's expectation.