Patent indicators for monitoring convergence - examples from NFF and ICT

The blurring of boundaries between hitherto distinct scientific disciplines, technologies or markets is a common and powerful phenomenon. Concentrating on monitoring convergence through patent indicators, we discuss convergence with examples from the area of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (NFF)/Cosmeceuticals as well as information technologies, consumer electronics, and telecommunications (ICT). We analyze 7455 scientific and patent references on phytosterols with the aid of SciFinder Scholar and 3836 documents employing STN AnaVist. Furthermore, we test an IPC co-classification based approach on 859,469 ICT-related and 341,846 NFF-related patents. Our results show clear indications for convergence and a proof of principle for our monitoring concept. Academics may better evaluate environmental parameters, like cases of convergence, influencing companies' actions. Implications for practitioners are based on a more reliable assessment prior to the forming of strategic alliances or mergers and acquisitions. This could help avoid costly adventures such as the mergers and acquisitions seen in ICT.     

Investment opportunities and dividend omissions

This study examines the market's reaction to dividend omission announcements and finds that if dividends are skipped to preserve cash for good investments, investors do not necessarily regard the omission as negative information. Markets penalize firms for dividend omissions only in the absence of a good stream of investments. In addition, the positive relation between investment opportunity and abnormal stock returns around the announcements is stronger when the level of information asymmetry between management and the rest of the market participants is low. Additional tests reveal that good omitters overcome underperformance faster in the post period. Overall, the results suggest that financial markets interpret differently the information conveyed in the announcement of dividend omission depending on the firm's future prospects.     

When do B2B brands influence the decision making of organizational buyers? An examination of the relationship between purchase risk and brand sensitivity

The dominant perspective on organizational buying behavior suggests that buyers tend to rely on objective criteria when making product choice decisions and that the potential influence of subjective cues, such as brands, on buyer decision making decreases with increasing risk. An alternative perspective, confirmed in this study by in-depth interviews with various managers, suggests that brands serve as a risk-reduction heuristic, whereby the influence of brands on decision making increases as a function of risk. Building on risk and information processing theories, this research builds on these complementary perspectives to propose that risk and brand sensitivity relate in a U-shaped manner, where brand sensitivity is highest in relatively low- or high-risk situations. The results of scenario- and survey-based field studies—involving 206 and 180 members of buying centers, respectively—suggest that both perspectives have merit and support the proposed nonlinear relationship. Moreover, the findings reveal that the risk-brand sensitivity relationship is moderated by competitive intensity, such that the linear (negative) and quadratic (positive) effects are stronger when competitive intensity is low.     

Exploring the use of travel information – identifying contextual market segmentation in Seoul, Korea

As the amount of information is rapidly growing, and ubiquitous urban environments are emerging, the question which kind of information to provide is a major challenge for commercial and public travel-information service providers alike. This paper reports the analyses of recent data, collected in Metropolitan Seoul, about the acquisition of travel information. The study applies CHAID analysis to find homogeneous segments in travel information acquisition. Findings indicate that contextual variables are crucial to explain information acquisition behaviour, depending on decision context. The implication is that both socioeconomic and contextual variables are important to better understand the acquisition (and provision) of travel information. The results have important implications for managers and policy-makers, in particular in the way they respond to dynamic, contextual market segmentation.     

中日股票市场发行制度比较研究

股票发行制度是一国资本市场的准入制度,对股票市场的健康发展起着重要作用。由于历史条件和经济环境的影响,中国和日本的股票市场规模及效率不同,所以其发行制度也存在很大差异。分析表明,这些差异主要体现在发行审核体制、信息披露制度和发行定价这3个方面,中国在完善股票市场发行制度方面应该关注这些方面的深远影响。     

银行业务地域特征和银行机构集聚

由于交通成本和信息成本的存在,银行业务呈现出一定的地域特征。不同的地域特征使得各个地区适合集聚的银行业务也存在差异。地方政府应该根据经济发展水平、金融业务资源禀赋、地理环境和金融生态环境等因素的实际情况,选择合适的政策措施,促进银行业务和银行机构的集聚。     

转型经济中的可信承诺问题研究

可信承诺问题是转型经济体的一个重要问题。使承诺可信的途径有外生和内生两种。内生途径大体相当于博弈论中所强调的“声誉机制”,而外生途径则蕴含在一系列的制度安排之中,包括信息、权力和资源的分散化以及充分的竞争等。本文将以转型经济中两类重要的可信承诺问题———软预算约束问题和棘轮效应问题———的有关模型研究来说明我们的观点。     

Earnings quality and corporate payout policy linkages: An Indian context

We investigate the role of accounting quality as an antecedent of dividend payout decision of firms, for both dividend levels and dividend event, in an emerging market context. Using the data for Indian firms through the years 2006–2016, we evaluate the impact of discretionary accruals on payout decision employing Tobit and Logit regression models amid set of idiosyncratic controls. We report that better earnings quality, on average, is associated with large dividend payments for Indian firms. Moreover, the likelihood of dividend payment reduces with poor earnings quality and more so when earnings manipulation is done to increase earnings. Nonetheless, we show that higher earnings quality reduces dividends during the crisis period and also for group-affiliated firms. However, the same doesn’t hold true for dividend likelihood. The relationship is robust to the idiosyncratic controls and the causality test confirms that results are not susceptible to endogeneity issue. Overall, we conclude that better earnings quality takes care of free cash flow problems and alleviates the agency and information asymmetry related costs, thereby stimulating payout policy.     

不同经济发展水平下创新要素对产业创新绩效的影响及政策启示

基于不同经济发展水平研究视角,选取新一代信息技术产业为研究对象,采用改进的Griliches-Jaffe知识生产函数模型,运用面板数据回归分析方法,利用《中国高技术产业统计年鉴》（2007-2017年）中电子及通信设备制造业统计数据进行实证研究,探究创新要素投入与创新绩效的关系。结果发现：对于新一代信息技术产业,在不同经济发展水平地区投入相同创新要素对创新绩效的影响存在一定差异,尤其体现在技术投入要素作用效果上。这就意味着,对经济发展水平不同地区使用相同的创新要素推动产业创新发展是低效的;不同发展水平地区有针对性地分配创新要素,对于实现创新要素最大效率、推动战略性新兴产业布局与发展尤其关键。最后,提出相应政策启示及建议。     

“互联网+创业”服务平台用户使用意愿影响机理研究——基于D & M模型和计划行为理论视角

针对互联网创业服务特点,基于计划行为理论信息系统成功模型构建新的理论模型,使用结构方程模型进行数据分析,以解释互联网创业服务平台用户持续使用意愿。通过模型分析发现,兼容性和线上线下互动通过知觉行为控制正向显著影响用户满意度和用户使用意愿,信息品质直接影响用户对互联网创业服务平台的使用意愿,而用户满意度在平台信息品质、系统品质、服务品质与使用意愿之间具有中介效应。基于此,提出完善互联网创业服务平台和提升用户使用意愿的对策建议。