Inter-firm learning and knowledge-sharing in multinational networks: An outsourced organization's perspective

This research provides insights into how learning and knowledge are exchanged multinationally between customer firms and their outsourced suppliers who provide non-core, yet essential, services. The paper seeks to understand: (1) how information is exchanged in these networks; (2) how cumulative knowledge adds value in these networks; and (3) how boundary-spanners assist in the dissemination of knowledge and learning within the network. Based on a pharmaceutical industry case, the results suggest that: (a) multinational firms operate more effectively and interact by sharing knowledge with outsourced firms which reflect the customers' structure and fit; (b) networked firms benefit from interactions through economies of scope, but knowledge is not necessarily shared equally among partners; (c) learning and knowledge-sharing interactions are tightly coupled at the product development stage; and (d) outsourced firms interact with external boundary-spanners as needed. The research provides insights for managers of multinational organizations and managers of firms from where essential services are outsourced.     

Practice makes perfect: Entrepreneurial-experience curves and venture performance

This study tackles the puzzle of why increasing entrepreneurial experience does not always lead to improved financial performance of new ventures. We propose an alternate framework demonstrating how experience translates into expertise by arguing that the positive experience–performance relationship only appears to expert entrepreneurs, while novice entrepreneurs may actually perform increasingly worse because of their inability to generalize their experiential knowledge accurately into new ventures. These negative performance implications can be alleviated if the level of contextual similarity between prior and current ventures is high. Using matched employee–employer data of an entire population of Swedish founder-managers between 1990 and 2007, we find a non-linear relationship between entrepreneurial experience and financial performance consistent with our framework. Moreover, the level of industry, geographic, and temporal similarities between prior and current ventures positively moderates this relationship. Our work provides both theoretical and practical implications for entrepreneurial experience—people can learn entrepreneurship and pursue it with greater success as long as they have multiple opportunities to gain experience, overcome barriers to learning, and build an entrepreneurial-experience curve.     

Nonparametric learning rules from bandit experiments: The eyes have it!

How do people learn? We assess, in a model-free manner, subjectsʼ belief dynamics in a two-armed bandit learning experiment. A novel feature of our approach is to supplement the choice and reward data with subjectsʼ eye movements during the experiment to pin down estimates of subjectsʼ beliefs. Estimates show that subjects are more reluctant to “update down” following unsuccessful choices, than “update up” following successful choices. The profits from following the estimated learning and decision rules are smaller (by about 25% of average earnings by subjects in this experiment) than what would be obtained from a fully-rational Bayesian learning model, but comparable to the profits from alternative non-Bayesian learning models, including reinforcement learning and a simple “win-stay” choice heuristic.     

Finite supermodular design with interdependent valuations

This paper studies supermodular mechanism design in environments with arbitrary (finite) type spaces and interdependent valuations. In these environments, the designer may have to use Bayesian equilibrium as a solution concept, because ex-post implementation may not be possible. We propose direct (Bayesian) mechanisms that are robust to certain forms of bounded rationality while controlling for equilibrium multiplicity. In quasi-linear environments with informational and allocative externalities, we show that any Bayesian mechanism that implements a social choice function can be converted into a supermodular mechanism that also implements the original decision rule. The proposed supermodular mechanism can be chosen in a way that minimizes the size of the equilibrium set, and we provide two sets of sufficient conditions to this effect. This is followed by conditions for supermodular implementation in unique equilibrium.     

The contractionary effects of tax shocks on productivity: An empirical and theoretical analysis

I analyze the effects of tax policy changes on US Total Factor Productivity. VAR estimates show that permanent and exogenous tax increases have strong, permanent, and negative effects on TFP which represent about 80% of change in output following the tax increase. I then build a DSGE model which has learning-by-doing and endogenous TFP evolution. The benchmark model is able to replicate the empirical impulse responses. However, when I calibrate the model as in the literature, the effect of taxes on TFP is substantially less elastic than in the data. I argue that this divergence may arise because tax changes labeled as exogenous can give spurious results or because of a mis-specified model.     

Firm Organization,Technology And Performance: An Empirical Study ∗

The purpose of the study is to characterize different styles of work organization in French firms and their current changes and to link them to the use of specific technologies and to firms performance. The data which are used arc of two kinds: a labor force survey (1 470 blue collar) and a business survey (7 089 firms). We show that two main variables create differences among firms' organization devices: the intensity of communication within the workshop and the level of autonomy of workers (facing technological and hierarchical constraints). The use of advanced technologies and the skill of the labor force are positively linked to both organizational variables. Therefore. ‘Communicating organization’ and organizational innovation seem to aim at creating conditions for individual and collective learning on new technologies. They also enhance the ability of the firm to adapt to changing market conditions through technological innovation and inventory reduction, These views are supported by econometric estimation.     

人工智能潜在替代风险与员工职业能力发展:基于员工不安全感视角

随着智能科技的蓬勃发展,人工智能+在有助于生产和生活的同时,也为员工的职业发展带来了挑战。本文采用机器学习算法计算我国各类职业潜在替代风险,在此基础上深入探讨了潜在替代风险对员工不安全感与职业能力发展的影响。基于13158条职业数据和808份调查问卷的分析,研究发现:我国职业面临着较强的人工智能潜在替代问题的威胁,潜在替代风险高中低的比例分别是52.80%、25.72%和21.48%;潜在替代风险最低的职业大类是企业、事业单位负责人,最高的是生产、运输设备操作人员及有关人员。进一步地,人工智能潜在替代风险在质量性不安全感与职业能力发展间起负向调节作用,当潜在替代风险高时,质量性不安全感对职业能力发展的正向影响作用更小,当潜在替代风险低时,质量性不安全感对职业能力发展的正向影响作用更大。人工智能潜在替代风险对数量性不安全感与职业能力发展的U型关系起正向调节作用,当潜在替代风险高时,数量性不安全感对职业能力发展的U型效应更强,当人工智能潜在替代风险低时,员工数量性不安全感对职业能力发展的U型效应更低。本研究丰富了人工智能领域与职业能力发展的实证研究,为新时代人才培养和技能转型提供建议。     

Using Machine Learning for measuring democracy: A practitioners guide and a new updated dataset for 186 countries from 1919 to 2019

We provide a comprehensive overview of the literature on the measurement of democracy and present an extensive update of the Machine Learning indicator of Gründler and Krieger (2016). Four improvements are particularly notable: First, we produce a continuous and a dichotomous version of the Machine Learning democracy indicator. Second, we calculate intervals that reflect the degree of measurement uncertainty. Third, we refine the conceptualization of the Machine Learning Index. Finally, we significantly expand the data coverage by providing democracy indices for 186 countries in the period from 1919 to 2019.     

国际策略情境、国际双元学习与后发企业创新赶超

整合国际策略与双元学习理论,构建国际策略情境、国际双元学习的平衡和联合与后发企业创新赶超之间的关系模型。基于长三角地区327家外向型制造企业（高新技术企业）问卷调查数据,发现国际策略情境以及国际双元学习平衡和联合均显著正向影响企业创新赶超,国际策略情境对国际双元学习平衡和联合均具有显著正向影响,并且国际双元学习平衡和联合均在国际策略情境与创新赶超之间具有部分中介作用。研究结果揭示了国际化视域下双元学习与后发企业创新赶超的内在影响机制,延展了企业国际化、组织学习和创新赶超等相关领域理论空间,对于本土企业有效实施创新赶超具有启示意义。     

失败学习对企业绩效的影响机制研究

已有文献认为失败学习对企业绩效具有重要作用,但失败学习通过何种途径促进企业绩效提升的研究并不完善。基于失败学习理论,引入资源拼凑和机会识别作为中介变量,构建失败学习影响企业绩效的多路径模型,探索失败学习对企业绩效的驱动路径及内在机理。实证结果表明：失败学习对企业绩效具有显著积极作用,资源拼凑和机会识别分别在失败学习与企业绩效之间起中介作用,资源拼凑和机会识别在失败学习对企业绩效驱动过程中存在链式中介作用,战略柔性能够强化资源拼凑与企业绩效之间的关系,并正向调节资源拼凑的中介作用。研究结论拓展了失败学习对企业绩效的影响路径,对企业复苏和成长具有重要启示。