LOGISTICS SALIENCE IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

The primary purpose of this paper was to empirically explore some of the reasons that logistics has become more important, or salient, in comparison to other functions within the firm. A survey of 296 managers across multiple industries in the U.S. found logistics becomes more important within the firm when the industry increases in uncertainty, when there is an emphasis on time‐based competition, when there is greater adoption of information technology, and when there is an emphasis on cross‐functional integration.     

Analysing Materials and Energy Flows in an Industrial District using an Enterprise Input–Output Model

Recent approaches to sustainable development leave much room for policies at a local level. In fact, it is becoming evident that targets such as increasing resource productivity, preserving natural cycles, or extending the present level of welfare, are best pursued within the confines of a local area. In particular, environmental changes are best brought about by considering local systems of firms as cornerstones of cooperative strategies and using data on materials and energy use in physical terms. In this paper, an enterprise input–output model is developed for an industrial district, i.e. a local group of firms specialized in the production of a single final output. The model allows for a detailed quantitative analysis of materials and energy flows and the consequent generation of waste and pollution. As a planning tool, the model may be used to evaluate alternative scenarios, such as the possibility of re- using waste taking account of sustainability requirements. An empirical case study applies the model to an industrial district in Southern Italy producing leather sofas.     

产业升级、贸易政策与经济转型

产业升级是经济转型的内驱动力，贸易政策对于产业升级具有制约作用，是经济转型的外驱力量。政府通过设计合理的激励机制，将两种力量聚合，积极推动经济转型，从而缩短经济转型的时间进程。     

PPP模式在城乡居民医保一体化建设中的应用——以湛江为例

在基本公共服务均等化的大背景下,湛江市引入PPP模式,在城乡居民医保一体化建设中取得了显著成效。通过对湛江经验的分析,文章认为,确立政府的主导地位,在此基础上积极发挥市场的作用,构建多元主体的公私合作伙伴关系,实现经济效益和社会效益的统一,是适应市场经济发展要求,构建城乡一体化医疗保障制度的必然选择。     

民间投资与产业转型——以浙江省为例

本文以浙江省为例,利用浙江改革开放后30多年的数据资料,对民间投资比重和三次产业的比重进行协整建模分析,分析结果表明,民间投资对浙江三次产业结构的变化起到重要的作用。民间投资比重上升是拉动浙江第三产业比重上升的原因,从而也说明了浙江第三产业的发展主要是依靠民间资本的投入;但对第二产业而言,民间投资对其的作用是反向的,这说明浙江第二产业的发展主要不是依靠民间资本的投入,而是依靠政府的投资。     

信贷市场不完美，产业转型升级和经济增长

本文提出一个信贷市场不完美情况下产业升级的宏观经济模型,其中信用受限的经济主体可以选择不同类型的产业进行投资,产业类型的异质性体现在投资项目的生产效率、投资规模和信用担保程度。经济主体储蓄量的变化会改变信贷在不同生产效率的产业类型之间的分配,而资本在不同产业类型的组合效应造成不同的经济增长模式,包括从事低效产业的落后经济、从事高效产业的先进经济、从事多种产业的混合经济等。     

Managers as the bridge: How cultural friction influences the integration of cross-border mergers and acquisitions

Going beyond cultural distance, the present study adopts a more contextualized view of cultural friction to account for the “actual cultural contacts” in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs), and meanwhile builds a case-based measure of cultural friction to quantitatively capture the country- and deal-level cultural differences between the acquirer and the target in each CBMA. Differing from the existing research that takes the influence of cultural differences on CBMA performance for granted, we highlight the importance of managers from the acquiring firm by theorizing that cultural friction between the acquirer and the target can shape acquiring managers' choice of managerial practices to complete the managerial tasks during integration, leading to different performance. In particular, we postulate a curvilinear relationship between the cultural friction and CBMA performance. By incorporating regulatory focus theory into our analytical framework, we further hypothesize how this curve is shaped by managers’ regulatory focus, a key motivational trait at the firm management level. Using a sample of 304 completed CBMAs conducted by Chinese listed firms, our empirical results verify the U-shaped relationship between cultural friction and the CBMA integration performance, and suggest that this relationship is flattened by acquiring managers’ prevention focus.     

A new monthly chronology of the US industrial cycles in the prewar economy

This article extends earlier efforts at redating the US industrial cycles for the prewar period (1890–1938) using the methodologies proposed by Bry and Boschan (1971) and Hamilton (1989) and based on the monthly industrial production index constructed by Miron and Romer (1990) and modified by Romer (1994). The alternative chronology detects 90% of the peaks and troughs identified by the NBER and Romer (1994), but the new dates are consistently dated earlier for more than 50% of them, especially as regards the NBER troughs. The new dates affect the comparison of the average duration of recessions and expansions in both pre-WWI and interwar eras. Whereas the NBER reference dates show an increase in average duration of the expansions between the pre-WWI and interwar periods, the new dates show evidence of shortened length of expansions. However, the new dates confirm the traditional finding that contractions lasted longer in the post-war period than during the pre-war period.     

Global Value Chains in the Era of 4IR: New Paradigm of Business Models for SMEs

This paper presents a brief literature review of previous studies methodologies,models,and contexts in studying firms’upgrading in Global Value Chains(GVCs).The...     

基于快铁融合的上海铁路集装箱快运站选址研究

快铁融合可以充分发挥快递企业和铁路运输的优势,有效提升物流作业效率,达到运输资源分配平衡的效果,是多元化运输的发展方向。在既有和计划建设的铁路货运站中选择铁路集装箱快运站与快递企业集散网络衔接,以快递企业时间满意度和集散运输成本为目标,构建基于时间满意度的铁路集装箱快运站选址模型,以上海铁路集装箱快运站为例进行实证分析,提出保证铁路集装箱快运站与快递企业合理衔接的对策,为铁路集装箱运输融入快递市场提供决策支持,加速快铁融合的实施。