Continuity and change: Mapping the community of economists in Greece (1944 to 1967)

Abstract

This paper combines quantitative, biographical and qualitative data to trace out the structure and dynamics of Greece's post-war community of economists, and explore its implications for the country's economic discourse. Greek economics was a state-centred profession whose fate was intertwined with that of the post-war developmental state apparatus. Most economists were employed in universities, the civil service or banking, with substantial interpenetration between branches. This configuration of professional constituencies, in conjunction with the structural features of each institution, conditioned the form and content of economic discourse. Professional and ideological cohesion went hand in hand, whilst substantial degrees of vertical and horizontal control by senior members further fostered consensus and increased professional sclerosis. Nevertheless, evidence from a new database of economic journal publications suggests that a substantial realignment took place in the late 1950s and 1960s, as a younger generation of scholars – most of them educated in the post-war UK/US, and affiliated with the newly established Centre for Planning and Economic Research – entered the scene.     

The International Politics of Reactive Currency Statecraft: Japan’s Reaction to the Rise of the Chinese Renminbi

This study analyses how a state’s reactive currency statecraft – its strategic reaction to an international currency issued by a foreign state – is shaped, by devoting special attention to its broad foreign policy stance towards the state issuing that international currency, with a main empirical focus on the Japanese case with regard to the Chinese renminbi. This research argues that a state uses its policy related to a foreign international currency as a diplomatic means of managing its political relationship with the state issuing that currency, while also showing that in general most market actors are not greatly interested in their governments’ policies regarding foreign international currencies, especially those that are newly internationalising ones. This study finds as well that the conventional notion of ‘competition’ between international currencies does not necessarily affect a state’s reactive currency statecraft, even if its own currency is a major international one. All of this suggests that the inter-state politics between the state issuing an international currency and foreign states does have a crucial impact on the currency’s international use, especially during its early stages of internationalisation. It also implies that a state’s reactive currency statecraft can be fluid, depending upon the directions of its foreign policy.     

Broadening the Concept of International Entrepreneurship: Internationalisation, Networks and Politics

In this article, the situation where a company internationalises over an extended period without changing operation mode is explored. The focus of the empirical research is the Australian company CSR and its large-scale sugar exporting operations, which developed over a period of about 75 years. Because of the highly politicised nature of the sugar industry in many countries, CSR was called upon to make extensive investments in political networks in order to achieve its global sugar exporting operations. Overall the CSR experience demonstrates that it is possible to stretch the use of a given mode, although this may demand considerable creativity in market, network and policy responses of a kind which illustrate that international entrepreneurship may come in many guises, and may need to be viewed in a broader way.     

Micromultinationals: Some Preliminary Evidence on an Emergent ‘Star’ of the International Entrepreneurship Field

This paper provides some preliminary evidence on the behaviour of the micromultinational, an emergent player in the international entrepreneurship field. Using survey data from the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, it found that mMNEs originate from a mixture of high and low technology sectors and employ Foreign Direct Investment as well as international contractual approaches in servicing their foreign target markets. It also concluded that micromultinationals overseas market selection decisions were mainly influenced by market- and knowledge-seeking factors rather than considerations of psychic proximity. The implications of these summary findings for policy, theory and future research are discussed in the paper.     

Time and Internationalisation Theoretical Challenges Set by Rapid Internationalisation

The internationalisation process of firms has accelerated during the last few decades. Firms start their export operations earlier than before, and they reach a higher level of internationalisation more quickly than ever. All this constitutes a challenge to the theoretical basis that underlies studies of the internationalisation process.The time concept has a crucial role in today's appraisal of internationalisation research. The overall developments in internationalisation, the critiques and various time theories are moving research into the process away from the western idea of time (linear time in a positive direction) towards a more primitive notion (cyclical time with no fixed direction). This also challenges the applicability of traditional stages models. This paper focuses on export-adoption models.     

The first export order: a marketing innovation revisited

This study reports on an investigation into what lies behind a firm's first export order and revisits the questions posed in the classic article by Simmonds and Smith [(1968). British Journal of Marketing, 2, 93–100]. It concentrates on risk/reward considerations in decision-making. Interviews were undertaken with owner/managers who were the key decision-makers in 10 newly internationalising UK start-up firms, that is, in their first year of operation, in order to avoid recollections in respect of hindsight. The findings highlight that a variety of factors can affect the decision of owner/managers in small firms to start their internationalisation path. Decisions are made in the context of perceived risk/reward considerations regarding exploiting various opportunities; for example, what are considered to be affordable losses against respective owner/manager's objectives and experience. The contribution of the study is that it employs an effectuation lens in respect of the first export decision.     

Risk management and reinsurance strategies in the Spanish insurance market (1880–1940)

Reinsurance allows insurance companies to diversify their risks. However, from this original role, insurance companies have developed various reinsurance strategies in order to expand their market share. From the last decades of the nineteenth century to the 1940s, Spanish insurance companies used reinsurance in a largely unregulated context. This article analyses the reinsurance practices and their adaptation to the singularities of the Spanish market, namely: the difficulties for the consolidation of a core of pure reinsurers; the management of reinsurance in the internationalisation process; and the use of reinsurance by mutual societies to overcome their lack of equity capital.     

Networking responses to different levels of institutional void: A comparison of internationalizing SMEs in Egypt and the UK

This paper reports a comparative qualitative study of how decision-makers in internationalizing SMEs respond to relevant institutions in their domestic environment through networking activity. Twenty SMEs are compared respectively from a developing economy (Egypt) and a developed economy (UK). The two countries contrast both in the effectiveness of their institutional support for SMEs and in their cultural norms towards network relationships. Substantial differences are found between the two national samples in SME decision makers’ networking behaviour in response to specific institutional conditions. The links between institutional conditions, national cultural norms and SME networking responses are explicated in a new theoretical model.     

The determinate effects of competences and decision process factors on firms' internationalisation

This study introduces the current situation of Taiwan's financial industries and presents a literature review including competences, competitive advantage, and key factors under the process of the international investment decision, and internationalisation. The study takes a ‘triangulation’ approach that uses both qualitative and quantitative methods in the exploration of the internationalisation of Taiwan financial markets. Sampling targets of the research consist of managers from banks, security firms, and insurance firms in Taiwan. The findings highlight perceptions of factors such as resources, skill, market knowledge, and international investment experience of firms aiding the internationalisation of Taiwan financial industry. Further, this study reveals that firms' internationalisation relates positively to the firms performance.     

The Outlook for European Grocery Retailing: Competition and Format Development

This article analyses retail trends in the main European countries, and particularly format evolution and competition amongst retailing firms. On the basis of the existence of European retailing landscapes that are sometimes similar without ever being identical, the article analyses the impact of the main factors of change on different national markets. Whilst retail internationalisation and new entrants, commercial policy, legislative environments, technological innovations, consumers and buying behaviour will have a convergence effect on different countries' retail structures, substantial differences will still exist. European retailing in the coming years will probably be characterized by increasingly less marked differences between countries than one finds today, but market segmentation, variety and differentiation of retailing formats and brand names will be stronger within each country.