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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2009‒11‒07
nineteen papers chosen by Joao Jose de Matos Ferreira University of the Beira Interior |
| By: | Ana Pérez-Luño (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Carmen Cabello Medina (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Antonio Carmona Lavado (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Gloria Cuevas Rodríguez (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide) |
| Abstract: | This research analyzes the effects of interorganizational links on innovation using a comprehensive framework that integrates three research streams: social capital, knowledge based view and innovation. Using data from 143 R&D and/or marketing departments of innovative manufacturing and service companies, our results show that while knowledge complexity, per se, exerts a clear influence on the degree of innovations radicalness, the effect of knowledge tacitness appears only when it is combined with social capital. Similarly, the mere existence of strong cooperation agreements (relational social capital) does not guarantee more radical innovations. It is only when this social capital is combined with tacit knowledge that it really produces more innovative products. We also find that such radical products have an important impact on firm performance. |
| Keywords: | : Innovation; radicalness; social capital; knowledge complexity; knowledge tacitness; firm performance |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:wpbsad:09.04&r=cse |
| By: | Natário, Maria Manuela |
| Abstract: | The innovation is the main locomotive of the economic growth and competitiveness. The understanding about innovation process has updated in last decades. The innovation concept not only includes the innovation, but also increases innovation, that can be operated in products but also in the production process, that can be in the conception of the product but also at the level of the market and even at the organizational level. The interactive models of innovation process are put upon linear models and are related with the context, environmental territory. The innovation as a system of innovation became fundamental to competitiveness. Based on these observations, this work intends to analyze the processes and innovation factors, but also enhancing the importance of innovation in system and discussing the main factors which stimulate innovation. The analysis happens on 5 NUTS III at the border of Portugal and Spain. We used the clusters analysis to verify how the companies are positioned in relation to the innovation activities. We intend to characterize the factors and processes of innovation, which distinguish the company’s groupings. The results appear to reveal the existence of three groups of companies and the distinction factors are linked to: general characteristics of companies and its director; initial objectives and innovate sources; cooperation relationships; financial support and obstacles to innovate. |
| Keywords: | Process of Innovation; Regional Innovation Systems; Innovation. |
| JEL: | R58 O31 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18302&r=cse |
| By: | Marco Cucculelli (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Faculty of Economics "Giorgio Fu…"); Francesco Marchionne (Universit… Politecnica delle Marche, Faculty of Economics "Giorgio Fu…") |
| Abstract: | We test the hypothesis that the identity of the owner affects firm ability to seize market opportunities differently according to the firm's actual vs. "optimal" size (size gap). By grouping firms in size clusters having a similar probability of adopting a size-adjusting strategy (growth or downsizing), we measure how the sensitivity of firm sales to demand shocks changes in response to the difference in owner identity and the firm size gap. We use data from a panel of 7,459 continental western European firms over the period 1995-2004 and Eurostat 3-digit sectoral data on firm size distribution in Europe. Our findings show that family business sales are less sensitive to market demand than other firms, particularly when the actual firm size is larger than optimal size. |
| Keywords: | family firms, optimal size class, owner identity, performance |
| JEL: | D21 G32 L11 L25 L26 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wmofir:32&r=cse |
| By: | Júlia Pereira (Grupês Telecomunicações, Lda); Rui Rijo (Instituto Politécnico de Leiria); João Leão (Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (ISCTE)) |
| Abstract: | Contact centers are increasingly assuming a role in the relationship among organizations and customers. This is a sector that has a considerable growth around the world pushed by the telecommunication deregulation and by the need to improve interaction with customers. This phenomenon is amplified by the competitiveness between organizations. In recent years the Portuguese centers have moved internally within the country. The decision of relocate internally the CC results of the strategic management of organizations and is seen as a possibility of increasing the competitive advantages and as an opportunity for improving the quality of service indicators. Therefore it is important to identify the strategic and operational characteristics of an internal relocation of a Contact Center. This study provides insight about the best practices and the benefits found, the main achievements, and the impact on relationship between the customer and the organization. |
| Keywords: | Contact Center, internal relocation, competitiveness |
| JEL: | M0 M1 |
| Date: | 2009–10–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pil:wpaper:49&r=cse |
| By: | Panagiotis Liargovas; Konstantinos Skandalis |
| Abstract: | This paper uses firm level panel data to investigate empirically the effects of leverage and other key variables on the financial performance of firms in the Greek economy during the period 1997-2004; a period combining some years before and after the advent of the Economic Monetary Union (EMU). The study examines the effect of leverage in combination with other strategic determinants on firm financial performance in the case of industrial firms, which have to survive in the environment of eurozone and the market of 300 million consumers. Results show that leverage in parallel with export activity, location and investments significantly affect firm performance in a relatively small market which inevitably suffers from the sharpen competitive pressures taking place throughout Europe. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uop:wpaper:00040&r=cse |
| By: | V. Chandra; Osorio-Rodarte , I.; Braga, C. A. Primo |
| Abstract: | This paper tests a neo-Schumpeterian model with industry-level data to analyze how Brazil, India, and China are catching up with South Korea’s technological frontier in a globalized world. The paper validates Aghion et al.’s inverted-U hypothesis that industries that are closer to the technological frontier innovate to escape competition while longer distances discourage innovating. It suggests that for effective catching up, distance-shortening (or innovation-enhancing) policies may be a necessary complement to liberalization. South Korea and China combined a variety of distance-shortening policies with financial subsidies to promote high tech industries and an export-led growth strategy. Post-liberalization, they leveraged swift competition to spur catch-up. In comparison, Brazil, which was as rich as South Korea, and India, which was as rich as China in 1980, are catching up more slowly. Import-substitution industrialization strategies saddled Brazil and India with a large anti-export bias, and unfocused attention to innovation-enhancing policies dampened global competitiveness. Post liberalization, many of their industries were too far behind the technological frontier to effectively benefit from competition. The catch-up experiences of Brazil, India, and China with South Korea illustrate that distance from the technological frontier matters and that the design of country-specific distance- shortening policies can be an important complement to trade liberalization in promoting catching up with richer countries. |
| Keywords: | Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Water and Industry,E-Business,Knowledge for Development |
| Date: | 2009–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5101&r=cse |
| By: | Federica Rossi; Margherita Russo; Stefania Sardo; Josh Whitford |
| Abstract: | The linear model of innovation has been superseded by a variety of theoretical models that view the innovation process as systemic, complex, multi-level, multi-temporal, involving a plurality of heterogeneous economic agents. Accordingly, the emphasis of the policy discourse has shifted over time. It has gone from a focus on direct public funding of basic research as an engine of innovation, to the creation of markets for knowledge goods, to, eventually, the acknowledgement that knowledge transfer very often requires direct interactions among innovating actors. In most cases, these interventions attempt to facilitate the match between “demand” and “supply” of the knowledge needed to innovate. A complexity perspective calls for a different framing, one focused on the fostering of process characterized by multiple agency levels, multiple temporal scales, ontological uncertainty and emergent outcomes. The article explores what it means to design interventions in support of innovation processes inspired by a complex systems perspective. It does so by analyzing two different examples of coordinated interventions: an innovative public policy funding networks of innovating firms, and a private initiative supporting innovation in the mechanical engineering industry thanks to the set up of a technology broker. Relying on two unique datasets recording the interactions of the various organizations involved in these interventions, the article combines social network analysis and qualitative research in order to investigate the dynamics of the networks and the roles and actions of specific actors in fostering innovation processes. Building upon this comparative analysis, some general implications for the design of coordinated interventions supporting innovation in a complexity perspective are derived. |
| Keywords: | Innovation policy; local development policies; regional development policies; evaluation management |
| JEL: | D78 O31 O32 O38 R58 |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:depeco:0619&r=cse |
| By: | Almeida, Rita K. (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper asks whether the increased openness and technological innovation in East Asia have contributed to an increased demand for skills in the region. We explore a unique firm level data set across eight countries. Our results strongly support the idea that greater openness and technology adoption have increased the demand for skills, especially in middle income countries. Moreover, while the presence in international markets has been skill enhancing for most middle income countries, this has not been the case for manufacturing firms operating in China and in low-income countries. If international integration in the region intensifies further and technology continues to be skilled biased, policies aimed at mitigating skills shortages in the region should produce continual and persistent increases in skills. |
| Keywords: | demand for skills, foreign direct investment, exports, firm level data |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 O33 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4474&r=cse |
| By: | Pece Mitrevski (Faculty of Technical Sciences, Bitola, Macedonia); Olivera Kostoska; Marjan Angeleski (Faculty of Economics, Prilep, Macedonia) |
| Abstract: | Information and Communication Technology (ICT) affects to a great extent the output and productivity growth. Evidence suggests that investment growth in ICT has rapidly accelerated the TFP (total factor productivity) growth within the European Union. Such progress is particularly essential for the sectors which themselves produce new technology, but it is dispersing to other sectors, as well. Nevertheless, decrease in ICT investment does not necessarily decline the ICT contribution to output and productivity growth. These variations come out from the problems related to the particular phenomenon proper assessment, but predominantly from the companies’ special requirements, as well as the necessary adjustments of labour employed. Hence, this paper aims at estimating the huge distinction in terms of ICT and TFB contributions to labour productivity growth among some of the European member states, as well as the factors which might stand behind the particular findings. |
| Keywords: | e-business, ICT, productivity, competitiveness |
| JEL: | C1 D8 R11 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbu:wpaper:17&r=cse |
| By: | Dzialek, Jaroslaw |
| Abstract: | There is an ongoing debate on social capital resources in Poland, where the density of associational activities and the level of social trust is low when compared to West European countries. Moreover, some researchers claim that Polish economy is developing despite low resources of social capital. This paper examines spatial patterns of various forms of social capital (networks and trust; bonding and bridging social capital; family, friendship, neighbourhood and associational ties) in Poland and determinants of their distribution. It analyses relations between resources of social capital and regional growth. |
| Keywords: | social capital; regional growth; Poland |
| JEL: | O18 O43 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18287&r=cse |
| By: | Ursino, Giovanni |
| Abstract: | Improving a company's bargaining position is often cited as a chief motivation to vertically integrate with suppliers. This paper expands on that view in building a new theory of vertical integration. In my model firms integrate to gain bargaining power against other suppliers in the production process. The cost of integration is a loss of flexibility in choosing the most suitable suppliers for a particular final product. I show that the firms who make the most specific investments in the production process have the greatest incentive to integrate. The theory provides novel insights to the understanding of numerous stylized facts such as the effect of financial development on the vertical structure of firms, the observed pattern from FDI to outsourcing in international trade, the effect of technological obsolescence on organizations, etc. |
| Keywords: | vertical integration; supply chain; bargaining; outside options |
| JEL: | L2 L1 |
| Date: | 2009–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18357&r=cse |
| By: | Antoci, Angelo; Naimzada, Ahmad; Sodini, Mauro |
| Abstract: | We analyze an overlapping generations model where individuals’ welfare depends on the stock of a free access environmental good E and on the consumption C of a private good. We assume that the production process of the private good depletes the natural resource but that specific investments alleviate these damages. In such context, we show that strategic behaviour and heterogeneity in preferences may be a source of complex dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Heterogeneous agents; environmental externalities; overlapping generations models. |
| JEL: | C61 Q20 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:18221&r=cse |
| By: | Shakya, Mallika |
| Abstract: | Seven years out of brutal conflict, Sierra Leone is now a peaceful and stable country. Yet, its strides toward economic recovery and competitiveness have been modest even in sectors such as tourism, which used to be a major generator of foreign exchange revenues prior to the conflict. This paper presents a cluster-based analysis of the tourism sector in Sierra Leone. The analysis shows that tourism in Sierra Leone draws entirely on basic factor conditions such as natural endowments; high-end lodging, catering, and entertainment services are virtually nonexistent. The cluster mapping exercise reveals that several non-profit organizations are present and active within the Sierra Leone tourism cluster but that the role of commercial enterprises has been somewhat limited. A critical mass of basic service providers has emerged over time, but their functions are often hindered by the absence of a market-based incentive regime and weaknesses in backbone infrastructure services. There is a mismatch of effort by the public and private sectors. An important policy implication arising from the analysis is for Sierra Leone to initiate a joint action among tourism entrepreneurs and policymakers to develop a coherent business strategy toward overcoming the bottlenecks of skill deficiency, policy ineffectiveness, and lack of infrastructure and market access. |
| Keywords: | Cultural Policy,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Cultural Heritage&Preservation,Tourism and Ecotourism,Accommodation&Tourism Industry |
| Date: | 2009–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5083&r=cse |
| By: | Edward Glaeser; William Kerr; Giacomo Ponzetto |
| Abstract: | Employment growth is strongly predicted by smaller average establishment size, both across cities and across industries within cities, but there is little consensus on why this relationship exists. Traditional economic explanations emphasize factors that reduce entry costs or raise entrepreneurial returns, thereby increasing net returns and attracting entrepreneurs. A second class of theories hypothesizes that some places are endowed with a greater supply of entrepreneurship. Evidence on sales per worker does not support the higher returns for entrepreneurship rationale. Our evidence suggests that entrepreneurship is higher when fixed costs are lower and when there are more entrepreneurial people. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Industrial Organization, Chinitz, Agglomeration, Clusters, Cities |
| JEL: | J2 L0 L1 L2 L6 O3 R2 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:09-36&r=cse |
| By: | Erkko Autio |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT : This paper looks at how well Finland performs in high growth entrepreneurship and uses data from the Global Entrepreneurship monitor to benchmark Finland against other European countries. It is found that Finland’s prevalence rate of high growth entrepreneurial activity lags significantly behind most of its European and all of its Scandinavian peers. That this weak performance in high-growth entrepreneurship goes hand in hand with Finland being a world leader in per capita investment in R&D may be described as a paradox. The reasons underlying the underperformance of Finland remain however unclear. At this point, explanations should be sought in culture, industrial traditions and systemic experience in high growth entrepreneurship. |
| JEL: | D21 L25 M13 O12 O40 |
| Date: | 2009–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:dpaper:1197&r=cse |
| By: | Irene Daskalopoulou; Panagiotis Liargovas |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effect of the spatial context upon entrepreneurship in Greek regions. Cross-sectional data referring to 4,151 births at NUTS III level (prefecture) are used for firm births in four industries. Results indicate that the spatial context of entrepreneurship affects different industries in different ways. Localization economies are the primary factor affecting the location of manufacturing and tourism births. Births in services and commerce seem to be the outcome of urbanization economies rather than the result of intra-industry concentration. Manufacturing and services are positively affected by state financial incentives promoting births at certain locations. Nonetheless, in the case of manufacturing, the effectiveness of such incentives is questioned by the presence of negative localization effects. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uop:wpaper:00039&r=cse |
| By: | Tiberio Daddi (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa); Francesco Testa (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa); Fabio Iraldo (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa) |
| Abstract: | SMEs can have a considerable impact on the environment. This is not necessarily through individual pressure, but through their combined total impact across environmental sectors. Most SMEs are ‘vulnerably compliant’, especially due to lack of awareness concering the environmental impacts of their own activities, ignorance of environmental legislation, lack of capacity to tackle their environmental impacts. Within this framework, the networking approach known as the “cluster approach” and, especially, its key-instrument: the Environmental Management System, have shown their ability to strengthen the environmental competence and know-how at the local level, as well as the improvement of environmental performances of both individual SMEs and entire productive areas, considered as a whole. The paper aims at presenting the key methodological and operational issues emerging from local experiences, describing them as good practices, and to explain how the “cluster approach” has been further enhanced by way of a EU-funded LIFE project, currently in progress. |
| Date: | 2009–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sse:wpaper:200901&r=cse |
| By: | Vita Jagric (Department of finance, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor); Sebastjan Strasek (Department for economic policy, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor); Timotej Jagric (Department for quantitative economic analysis, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor); Tanja Markovic-Hribernik (Department of finance, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we show features of the personal income taxation in Slovenia and some early reforms on it. The proposed tax reforms have the same origins as in any other developed economy - loss of competitive advantages of the economy. We present the process of reforming the tax system in Slovenia as it took place in recent years. We also analyze results of our simulation on different scenarios of personal income taxation in Slovenia. Finally, in the concluding section, we examine the results of introduced reforms and present our critical view. |
| Keywords: | tax reform, fiscal sustainability, personal income tax |
| JEL: | H2 H5 J3 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbu:wpaper:13&r=cse |
| By: | Anna Conte; Daniela Di Cagno; Emanuela Sciubba (School of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics, Birkbeck) |
| Abstract: | We run a computerised experiment of network formation where all connections are beneficial and only direct links are costly. Players simultaneously submit link proposals; a connection is made only when both players involved agree. We use both simulated and experimentally generated data to test the determinants of individual behaviour in network formation. We find that approximately 40% of the network formation strategies adopted by the experimental subjects can be accounted for as best responses. We test whether subjects follow alternative patterns of behaviour and in particular if they: propose links to those from whom they have received link proposals in the previous round; propose links to those who have the largest number of direct connections. We find that together with best response behaviour, these strategies explain approximately 75% of the observed choices. We estimate individual propensities to adopt each of these strategies, controlling for group effects. Finally we estimate a mixture model to highlight the proportion of each type of decision maker in the population. |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbk:bbkefp:0905&r=cse |