The twilight world of British business politics: The Spring Sunningdale conferences since the 1960s

This article explores a previously unknown form of interaction, known as Spring Sunningdale, between the British business elite and its civil servant equivalent in Whitehall. These began in 1963 and were still continuing only a few years ago. The continuity and stability of these meetings stands in contrast to wider changes in the nature of business–government relations in Britain during this period, particularly since the election of the Thatcher government in 1979. The article analyses why there was such continuity and what the senior civil servants and the captains of industry who attended these annual meetings gained from them.     

Social comparison among competing firms

Extending social comparison theory to the context of interfirm competition, we investigate whether and under what conditions firms may benefit by deviating from consumers' views concerning firm comparisons. Based on all of the possible dyadic competitive comparisons among the 26 automakers in the United States, we found that: (1) a focal firm enjoys a greater increase in sales than the target firm when it compares itself with a more reputable target firm, even though consumers do not perceive the focal firm to be comparable to the more reputable firm; and (2) a focal firm enjoys a greater increase in sales than the target firm when it avoids comparison with a less reputable target firm, even though consumers compare the focal firm with the less reputable firm. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

显性比较优势:中国产品遭受美国反倾销的魔咒吗?

显性比较优势是中国产品遭受美国反倾销的魔咒吗?文章基于美国对中国反倾销97起涉案产品样本,并引入非涉案395种10分位主要贸易品扩展样本,研究表明:(1)美国对中国产品反倾销当年主要集中在中国对美出口具有较强显性比较优势的涉案产品上;虽然遭受美国反倾销,但中国在35起涉案产品对美出口上仍保持着较强的显性比较优势,不过有27起涉案产品已丧失较强的显性优势。(2)扩展样本后各影响因素对美国对中国产品反倾销概率的影响程度减少,避免了样本选择的有偏性。相比来看,美国对中国产品j贸易逆差是美国ITC裁决行业损害、签发反倾销指令的最重要决定因素,是美国对中国产品反倾销的直接诱因。而显性比较优势只是影响因素之一,并不是中国产品遭受美国反倾销的魔咒。美国工业生产增长率下滑、失业率上升是其他影响因素,并且次贷危机也是重要影响因素。     

逻辑思维、创造性思维与创造活动

在思维的发展史中,逻辑思维与形象思维的创造性思维经常相互配合,共同作用于创造活动,促进了创造成果的产生。因此,逻辑思维在创造性思维和创造活动中具有重要作用。人们应发挥好逻辑思维和创造性思维在创造活动中的作用,以避免其偏颇,更好地开展创造活动,更快地取得创造成果。     

法兴银行事件的反思及启示

本文从银行系统安全性和衍生品风险监管两个角度,分析了法兴银行案例发生的具体原因,并结合我国商业银行操作风险管理、衍生品交易管理、人员素质等方面的现状,探讨了这一案例对我国商业银行的启示,这些启示主要包括:加强操作风险的防范,增强系统可靠性,加强风控人员素质,多渠道监控银行风险。(暨南大学经济学院     

经济一体化与金融区域化--长江三角洲经济发展中的金融联动策略研究

在21世纪的中国经济发展蓝图上,经济一体化与金融区域化将是必然趋势.长江三角洲地区作为目前中国最具经济发展潜力的区域,其金融整体协调联动对于该地区乃至全国经济发展都具有重大意义.本文立足于寻求长三角地区金融联动的有效策略,深入分析了该地区经济发展的现状和金融资本流动的实际,通过对长三角15个城市综合经济实力以及当地工商银行经营质态的翔实比较论证,剖析其优、劣势所在,探索应如何紧紧抓住长三角经济一体化进程中的机遇,主动加强与沪浙两地分行合作、交流的近期和中长期联动策略,共同推进工商银行在本区域的新发展.     

From the blogosphere into the parliament: The role of digital technologies in organizing social movements

In this paper, we present a process model exploring the roles played by digital technologies (DTs) in the organization of collective action (CA) of social movements (SMs) at different points in their lifecycles. The process model, which is based on an exploratory case study of the Italian Five Star Movement, relates the environmental conditions to the working logic, structure and use of DTs at three different stages of the SMs. We explain how these choices are adopted at each stage to address internal and environmental challenges and how they create further challenges to be addressed to pass to the next stage. We further explore the dynamics between the logic of connective and collective action and reflect on the growing need for structures and control. By so doing, our work addresses the need for a better understanding of the coevolution between DTs and organizational structures and of the ways in which DTs are used to mobilize people to sustain CA along the SM lifecycle.     

State‐Led Financial Regulation and Representations of Spatial Fixity: The Example of the Spanish Real Estate Sector

This article offers a bottom‐up contribution to the fixity–motion literature. It aims to unravel the apparent contradiction of real estate spatial fixity in Spain, which is portrayed both as a barrier to accumulation and as a unique source of investment by different capitalist actors. Empirically, it describes the shifts in real estate ownership and changes in profit‐making strategies that have taken place across the real estate sector during the crisis years, and the role of the state in these shifts. The article asserts that the idea of spatial fixity representing a spatial barrier for accumulation does not necessarily apply in the Spanish case. It further claims that the tensions in capital circulation through real estate are not only to be found in the action of time, but in different state strategies pursued by various actors. The opposing representations of fixity are the result of state regulation of interest rates, taxation and risk weighting. The state also increasingly promotes land rents as a source of liquidity creation.     

Why can collective action fail in Local Agri-food Systems? A social network analysis of cheese producers in Aculco,Mexico

Collective trademark and regional product qualification in food-processing industries have become a growing challenge for farmers in developing countries. This challenge is the target of collective action-based programs aiming at framing the cooperation context that would enable a local community to turn inherited resources and know-how into new market opportunities. Literature acknowledges that social capital is a crucial local resource for successful collective actions since it is a source of trust and collective commitment within a community. This paper deals with testing the role of this resource in the collective action case of the cheese producers in Aculco (Mexico). Focusing on the connectedness dimension of social capital, we propose an original methodology that relies on the multiplex and structural properties of social networks. This allows us to disentangle the opposite and ambivalent effects of social capital on the ability of a community to reach the goals assigned by the collective action program. Our empirical study shows that these critical properties can work in favor of adherence to collective action but can also create elite capture, clannish behaviors and entry barriers, thus showing a failure of collective action.     

Emotions,deliberations, and end‐of‐life products

Death is inevitable; yet, not all consumers prepare for death by purchasing end‐of‐life (EOL) products. Using the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the dual‐process model framework, this study aims to examine the role of emotions and cognitions in influencing consumers' decisions to engage in planning for death. A mixed methodology design was used. Study 1, a qualitative study, uncovered positive and negative emotions and deliberative reasoning that comprise consumers' EOL purchase decision process. Study 2, a quantitative study, confirmed that emotions and deliberations independently and jointly influenced consumers' EOL attitude and behavior and that emotions affected deliberations for both prepaid funerals and wills. Subjective norms outperformed attitude in predicting both products' purchase behavior. These finding supported the dual‐process model of behavior and the TRA in the EOL research context and contributed to the EOL literature by investigating the effects of emotions and deliberations concurrently; thus validating the important role of emotions in influencing EOL planning and purchase. In light of our findings, marketers could, after due cognizance of the morbidity and sensitivity of the topic, develop actionable promotional and segmentation strategies for EOL products and other emotion‐laden, unsought products and service.