Trying to complain: the impact of self‐referencing on complaining intentions

This paper introduces the Theory of Trying to complaining behaviour, and argues that complaining intentions can be explained by the model. Moreover, we model propensity to self‐reference (SR) as a moderating variable, and suggest that the effects of the causes to complaining intentions depend on the SR‐level held by consumers. A sample of undergraduate business students participated in the study, where the goal was to get a better understanding of complaining intentions. Our study provides new and additional insights in the drivers of complaining by also taking dispositional personality differences into consideration. The results demonstrate that boundary conditions for main‐effect models like the theory of trying can be fruitfully addressed through the notion of individual differences. The research documented that customers' propensity to complain systematically differed as a function of their level of self‐referencing. This is both good and bad news to managers. The good news is that a proportion of the customers rely less on their previous experiences in the complaining domain when they form intentions to complain. The bad news is that some others do. The obstacle is that managers cannot tell by the look if they are talking to an individual with high or low propensity to self‐reference. As the customer base contains both types case could be taken in designing marketing communication campaigns that target the groups differently.     

Gender, emotion and power in work relationships

We offer a theoretical account of how gender and emotion combine to influence the development of power in work relationships. We document the profound impact gender has on the display, perception and evaluation of emotion in the workplace. We illustrate the reciprocal relationship between emotion and power, and identify cycles of powerlessness that prevent women from developing and leveraging power in their work relationships. By exploring the nexus of gender, emotion and power in work relationships, we offer new insights into how the gendering of emotion creates and perpetuates gender differences in power in organizations. Implications for research and practice are offered.     

The impact of production offshoring on the skill composition of manufacturing firms: evidence from Italy

In this work we explore how the international outsourcing of production impacts the skill composition of employment within Italian manufacturing firms. In particular, our aim is to assess whether the choice to offshore production activities to cheap‐labour countries implies a bias in the employment of skilled workers relative to unskilled ones.

Using a balanced panel of firms covering the period 1995–2003, we set up a counterfactual analysis in which, by using a difference‐in‐differences propensity score matching estimator, we compare the dynamics of skill demand for treated and control firms while addressing the possible problem of selection bias.

Our results identify a ‘potential’ skill bias effect of production offshoring. In particular, we find that treated firms tend to show an upward shift in the skill ratio with respect to the counterfactual sample, but coefficients are not significantly different from zero. When we look at the elements of the skill ratio separately, we find that the skill bias is driven by a fall in the employment of production workers (blue collars), rather than by the increase in the employment of non‐production workers (white collars), thus providing further evidence on the unskilled labour‐saving nature of international outsourcing.     

跨国公司经营中跨文化因素分析——迪士尼跨国经营所折射的文化差异和文化认同

当今世界,经济发展全球化,国与国的联系日益紧密.越来越多的大型企业集团走出国门,进行对外投资.在跨国公司的海外经营中,跨文化因素影响深远,在某些情况下决定企业经营的成败.本文通过美国迪士尼在日本和巴黎的投资经营分析其中文化冲突的成因及影响,指出跨国公司必须重视异域环境中的文化差异因素,根据文化认同度相对的高低采取不同策略,并初步探讨跨国企业的本土化经营问题.     

我国区域技术创新能力地域差异及对策

依据区域技术创新能力的基本内涵,选取18个指标构建综合评价指标体系,并运用因子分析方法,计算中国30个省市区域技术创新能力的综合得分。结果显示,我国区域技术创新能力地区差异较为明显,整体呈现出从东到西依次递减的地区变化特征。应该通过构建以企业为主体的开放式技术创新体系、加强区域产业分工协作、加大政府财政支持和培育风险投资基金等措施的实施,推动西部地区技术创新能力的提升,缩小与发达省市的地区差距。     

Willingness to pay for brands: a cross‐region,cross‐category analysis

Using survey data collected in multiple locations (California and Texas in the United States and Revohot in Israel), we quantify category‐ and location‐specific variations of consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for brand products after controlling for consumer characteristics. We find that consumers have a similar qualitative assessment of brand value in different product categories across different locations. That is, consumers have a stronger preference and higher WTP for brands in consumer electronics, followed by clothing and then processed food, and the lowest in fresh produce. Furthermore, we simulate price premiums and market shares of brands relative to generic products in different categories. Simulation results suggest that brands in fresh produce have the highest price premium but lowest market share. Despite the similarities, the magnitude of WTP for brands as well as the simulated price premium and the corresponding market share in the same product category are location variant. The similarities and dissimilarities suggest validity of having global brand strategies adapted to local conditions, that is, the so‐called “thinking globally and acting locally” strategy.     

黑龙江省城市土地利用效益时空差异分析

城市土地利用效益是衡量城市土地利用水平的一项重要指标.文章从经济一社会一生态三个方面构建适合黑龙江省城市土地利用效益评价的指标体系,运用最优组合赋权法和协调度对黑龙江省12个地级市2002-2009年间城市土地利用综合效益水平进行分析比较;以评价结果为样本点,通过聚类分析得出全省城市土地利用综合效益水平的空间分布差异.结果表明:在时问上,12个地级市的土地利用效益水平呈现不同变化趋势;根据评价结果将12个城市分为土地利用高效益地区、中等效益地区和低效益地区三大类;在空间上,城市土地利用效益水平呈现"T"型的分布特征,"T"型区域内城市用地效益水平高于其它地区.     

行业差异与资本结构:来自我国上市公司的经验数据

对资本结构与行业差异的关系存在两种观点:不相关与存在相关性,本文在对现有文献进行简单综述的基础上,结合我国部分上市公司1997～2003年的财务数据,对二者做了实证检验,结果表明:由于种种原因,我国不同行业的上市公司的资本结构之间的差异并不显著;文末提出了相关建议并对后续研究作了简要展望。     

传统图书馆与数字图书馆的成本差异与利用

本文从建设成本与运行费用两方面分析传统图书馆与数字图书馆的差异,明确指出传统图书馆空间要求大,人员费用高,但有较大的文献价值;数字图书馆技术含量高,设备投入大,需要素质较高的员工.这些特点决定了两种图书馆都会长期存在,而传统图书馆重在保护文献,数字图书馆重在普及利用;数字图书馆适合各种新型数据,传统图书馆适合保存纸质文档.     

纳税影响会计法的具体运用

本文根据纳税影响会计法的核算原理,介绍了一种简便适用的操作方法。