Strategic alliances and internationalisation in the aircraft manufacturing industry

Based on an indicator measuring the technological level of aircraft, this paper shows that in the aircraft industry, firms are obliged to deal not only with high technological barriers, but growing financial and market barriers, too. In order to reduce these, a complex network of relationships has developed over time. This network involves both main firms belonging to the world oligopoly and firms capable of offering specialised technology and/or a potential broadening of the market. The result is a worldwide production organisation. This paper highlights the fact that the aircraft industry is undergoing a global reorganisation featuring an integration process where six groups (two in Europe and four in the United States) have come to the fore. In the future, it will be possible to imagine new forms of co-operation between the emerging European and American groups.     

Incumbency advantage and its value

Markets with network effects are typically concentrated. The aim of this paper is to discuss some recent work on “incumbency advantage.” That is, the fact that firms already installed generate higher profits than entrants even if the latter offer identical or even better terms (in terms of price and quality) to consumers. In particular, we review recently known sources of the advantage and potential mitigating factors and point to a number of open issues.     

The Spanish telecommunications sector in search of its future

The internationalization of telecommunications services and products, together with Spain's entry into the European Economic Community, have created increased interest in the Spanish national telecommunications system. In this article are described the current situation for Spanish telecommunications, and the initial actions being taken to adapt its structure and legal framework to the new environment. Attempts are being made to provide it with enough flexibility to evolve in the most suitable direction for the country to participate in the movements happening on the world market.     

Uncertain prospects for ISDN : A Spanish view

Operators of telecommunications networks, network systems manufacturers and policy markers have placed their hopes on ISDN for a stable and brilliant telecommunications future. However, non-voice service providers, customer premises equipment manufacturers and large users fear that the envisaged network approach will not serve their future requirements. Telecommunications networks will have a strategic importance in national economic development. It is important not to constrain that development by tying them to an inappropriate and inflexible network structure. In this article the uncertainties of the ISDN network are reviewed, questions are raised and the evolution of the network is examined, from the perspective of the actors involved in the sector: large users, equipment manufacturers, policy makers and service providers.     

Implications of perceived competitive advantages,adaptation of marketing tactics and export commitment on export performance

The aim of this exploratory paper is to fill an important gap in the international marketing literature by examining the influence of firm behavior in foreign markets (export commitment and adaptation of marketing tactics) on perceived competitive advantages and export performance. Using a sample of 150 Spanish export firms, the study found that firms that are more committed to their foreign markets are more willing to adapt elements of the marketing program. These firms also perform better in foreign markets. Moreover, the results also point out that adapting marketing tactics does not have direct effects on export performance, although it does have on the achievement of perceived competitive advantages in foreign markets, which positively influence export performance.     

Fair Valuation of Equity-Linked Policies under Insurer Default Risk

Abstract

We consider the problem of computing the fair value of equity-linked policies with an interestrate guarantee when the insurer is subject to credit risk. The framework is developed based on modern financial theory using the no-arbitrage principle. In this context, an equity-linked policy is considered as a vulnerable contingent claim that expires before maturity if the firm asset value reaches a prespecified default threshold depending on the firm’s liabilities. We derive a closedform formula in a continuous-time environment to compute the fair value of the contract. We also develop a discrete-time model that allows us to address fair evaluation when the policy embeds a surrender option.     

Market impact: a systematic study of the high frequency options market

This paper deals with a fundamental subject that has seldom been addressed in recent years, that of market impact in the options market. Our analysis is based on a proprietary database of metaorders—large orders that are split into smaller pieces before being sent to the market—on one of the main Asian markets. In line with our previous work on the equity market [Said, E., Bel Hadj Ayed, A., Husson, A. and Abergel, F., Market impact: A systematic study of limit orders. Mark. Microstruct. Liq., 2018, 3(3&4), 1850008.], we propose an algorithmic approach to identify metaorders, based on some implied volatility parameters, the at the money forward volatility and at the money forward skew. In both cases, we obtain results similar to the now well-understood equity market: Square-Root Law, Fair Pricing Condition and Market Impact Dynamics.     

AHP-based approaches for supplier evaluation: Problems and perspectives

Supplier evaluation has assumed a strategic role in determining competitiveness of large manufacturing companies. An increasing number of researches have been devoted to the development of different kind of methodologies to cope with this problem. Nevertheless, while the number of applications is growing, there is little empirical evidence of the practical usefulness of such tools with a dichotomy between theoretical approaches and empirical applications. Considering this evidence, the goal of this paper is to contribute to understand the above dichotomy by implementing, in a corporate environment, a model for supplier evaluation based on the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), one of the most prominent methodologies used to address the problem. The analysis of the implementation process of the methodology allows the identification of strengths and weaknesses of using formalized supplier selection models to tackle the supplier evaluation problem, also highlighting potential barriers preventing firms to adopt such methods. Relevant issues arising from the application and managerial implications for both customer and suppliers are discussed.     

A reduced lattice model for option pricing under regime-switching

We present a binomial approach for pricing contingent claims when the parameters governing the underlying asset process follow a regime-switching model. In each regime, the asset dynamics is discretized by a Cox–Ross–Rubinstein lattice derived by a simple transformation of the parameters characterizing the highest volatility tree, which allows a simultaneous representation of the asset value in all the regimes. Derivative prices are computed by forming expectations of their payoffs over the lattice branches. Quadratic interpolation is invoked in case of regime changes, and the switching among regimes is captured through a transition probability matrix. An econometric analysis is provided to pick reasonable volatility values for option pricing, for which we show some comparisons with the existing models to assess the goodness of the proposed approach.