Do Agglomeration and Technology Affect Vertical Integration? Evidence from Italian Business Groups

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of technology and spatial agglomeration in decisions about vertical integration. It starts from the hypothesis that the business group, defined as a set of firms under common ownership and control, is the appropriate unit to delimit the firm’s boundary. We use information drawn from input–output tables to detect the presence of positive inter‐industry exchanges and whether or not activities in a group are vertically related. Accounting for endogeneity problems, we estimate Probit and Linear Probability models to investigate the role of technology and spatial agglomeration on vertical integration decisions empirically. Consistent with property rights theory, our results show that the technology intensity of acquirers matters for backward integration choices and, moreover, that agglomeration plays a role in vertical integration only when it operates jointly with technology.     

美国金融危机与金融监管改革——基于新政治经济学的视角

金融监管的新政治经济学强调,作为一国政治制度行为主体的利益集团和政党在政策选择上具有十分重要的作用。本文分析了美国金融利益集团与左右翼政党的政策偏好对美国金融监管失灵与金融监管改革的影响。     

现代企业集团财务集中管理的利弊分析及其对策

现代企业财务管理由分散体制向集中转变是一种趋势,但集中管理有利也有弊。本文主要分析了财务集中管理的必然性、优势、存在的弊端及其对策。     

Social identity,inequality, and conflict: correction and extension

This paper corrects and extends the analysis in Social Identity, Inequality, and Conflict by James Robinson (Economics of Governance, 2(1), 2001). For conflict along class lines, Robinson finds the total impact of mobility on conflict to be ambiguous. Contrary to his result, I show that, under his assumptions, the effect of social mobility on class conflict is unambiguous. Higher mobility always decreases conflict. In my extension to Robinsons model, I explore mobilitys impact on class conflict in a society where the tax rate is not fixed. I demonstrate that if the tax rate is proportional to the population of the group in power relative to the total population of the society, then the effects of social mobility on class conflict are indeed ambiguous.Submitted: February 2002, Accepted: July 2003,I am grateful to an anonymous referee and Amihai Glazer for their comments. I would also like to thank Herschel Grossman for his help along the way.     

企业业务重组战略研究——以华立集团为例

随着经济全球化进程的日益加快,中国企业的经营环境发生了剧烈变化。中国企业如何通过重组来配置资源,以与外部环境进行匹配,是众所关注以及研究的问题。本文采用案例研究方法,跟踪考察了华立集团从2000年到2006年的战略重组过程,并从战略角度对这一过程进行了研究。最后得出结论：缜密的环境分析和强大的资源整合是华立集团业务重组成功的关键。     

集团背景下科技企业债务融资对创新投入的影响

选取深沪上市集团中高科技企业数据,实证检验集团背景下债务融资是否具有促进企业创新投入的“积极投资假说”效应;在不同产权性质与组织结构下,验证了集团内部资本市场对“挑选胜者”效应的中介作用;最后,实证检验了集团内部资本市场在发挥关联担保效应中的调节作用。该研究结论丰富了集团背景下债务融资与创新投入关系的研究。     

发展农村合作经济组织建设社会主义新农村

中央在“十一五”发展规划中确立了我国建设社会主义新农村的战略目标。从国外的发展经验和我国的实际国情看,大力推进农业产业化,发展农村合作经济组织才是实现农业现代化、建设社会主义新农村的最佳途径。本文从新疆农村合作经济组织的发展现状出发,分析了其存在的问题并提出了相应的对策建议。     

Understanding how participatory approaches foster innovation

Adapting through innovation is one way for rural communities to sustain and improve their livelihoods and environments. Since the 1980s research and development organizations have developed participatory approaches to foster rural innovation. This paper develops a model, called the Learning-to-Innovate (LTI) model, of four basic processes linked to decision making and learning which regulate rate and quality of innovation. The processes are: creating awareness of new opportunities; deciding to adopt; adapting and changing practice; and learning and selecting. The model is then used to analyse four participatory approaches and the model is evaluated through the quality of insights generated. It shows that, while outwardly very different, the four approaches are built from combinations of 11 strategies. Most of these strategies are aimed at providing information about new opportunities and deciding whether to adopt, and give less support to the other two processes, thus suggesting one way the four participatory approaches can be strengthened. Beyond analysing participatory approaches, the model could be used as a framework for diagnosing the health of local innovation systems and designing tailor-made approaches to strengthen them.     

Using Analytic Network Process and Dominance-based Rough Set Approach for sustainable requalification of traditional farm buildings in Southern Italy

Rural Sustainable Development (RSD) is promoted by the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014–2020, and in particular by the national and regional Rural Development Programmes (RDPs), which are mainly supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). At the sub-regional level, a part of the EAFRD is managed by Local Action Groups (LAGs), which decide how to use their own budget within their municipalities via a bottom-up approach, according to the most suitable projects available within the RDP.Requalification of traditional farm buildings is a possible RSD project for achieving various objectives, including creation of new jobs and economic activities, protection of the natural environment, promotion of rural tourism, preservation of rural culture and traditions, encouragement of a sense of community, improvement of the viability of rural villages, and also to contrast the abandonment of rural areas.Nevertheless, European projects and research show that the different types of requalification carried out are often not related to RSD objectives and that requalification does not usually combine the sustainability dimensions and spatial features of rural areas. Furthermore, the opinions of various stakeholders should be considered to support the generation of RSD policies and strategies.Thus, this research aims to provide a RSD decision making framework that makes it possible to tackle the above issues for identifying which type of requalification to assign to certain traditional farm buildings. Therefore, the results should facilitate the work of LAG policy makers in planning and managing the EAFRD 2014–2020. The framework combines the Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) methods “Analytic Network Process” (ANP) and “Dominance-based Rough Set Approach” (DRSA).This framework was applied to a LAG territory in Apulia Region (Southern Italy) that includes 176 traditional farm buildings. The ANP application identified the optimal quota for each type of requalification and showed that the highest quota is allocated to Facilities and Accommodations for Rural Tourism. The second preferred requalification is Centres for Environmental Education, Recreational and Social Facilities, while the third is Facilities for the Transformation and Sale of Agricultural Products. The DRSA was then applied in a Geographic Information System (GIS) in order to choose the most suitable traditional farm buildings for each type of requalification, helping the LAG policy makers to fill each quota.     

The influence of business groups on board composition in offshore financial multinational enterprises

Based on resource dependence theory we argue for an influence of business groups (BGs) on the board composition of constituent offshore financial multinational enterprises (FMNEs). Using a unique sample of 171 Caribbean FMNEs in an inter-island BG setting, we find BGs’ control in constituent firms to be indicative of the importance of the internal financing and intermediation within the group network. This control leads to a higher proportion of lawyers hired to the boards of directors in BG-constituent firms and supports the argument that lawyers provide skills in complex offshore regulatory frameworks that facilitate BGs’ optimal tax management. Furthermore, we observe that an increased adoption of shareholder rights governance by BG-constituent firms is associated with increased engagement with outside resource providers, increased potential conflicts of interest and hence a need for hiring more lawyers. Our interpretation is that offshore FMNEs have a need for more lawyers, whose legal skill is critical to the competitive advantage of FMNEs.