Showing papers by "Roy Thurik published in 1998"

Consumer response to the preferred brand out‐of‐stock situation

Abstract: The goal of this study was to gauge brand loyalty. To do this, a brand loyalty acid test was used, which involved an out‐of‐stock (OOS) experiment where the complete product line of a brand was removed from several stores in order to estimate the OOS responses of consumers. Three types of OOS responses were identified: switching brands; switching stores to get one’s favorite brand; and postponing purchase of a specific brand. The present study revealed that the brand loyalty of the consumers participating in the OOS experiment was substantial, as a large percentage of them switched stores or postponed purchase. The study also showed that neither competitive conditions of the retailer nor assortment change had any effect on consumers’ OOS responses. The most potent variables that affected OOS responses were the way consumers organized their shopping trips: store loyals more than others switched stores by OOS; and consumers with a small purchase amount per shopping trip were less likely to switch stores and more likely to postpone purchase. There also was a slight tendency for the consumer to spend less in the store during the OOS period. This paper suggests the implications of these findings for retailers and manufacturers.

Knowledge society, entrepreneurship and unemployment, The

Abstract: Beschrijving van de kennismaatschappij als oorzaak van de overgang van een management-economie naar een ondernemerschapseconomie. Ondernemerschap is een gedegen wapen tegen werkloosheid. Hoge werkloosheid stimuleert mensen tot ondernemerschap.

Business Ownership and Economic Growth: an Empirical Investigation

Abstract: In the present paper we address the relationship between the extent of business ownership, or as we use interchangeably self-employent, and economic growth.

The Knowledge Society, Entrepreneurship, and Unemployment

Abstract: Discusses the role of globalization and the knowledge based economy as causes of increased entrepreneurship and presents some calculations about consequences. In particular, a two-way causation exists between entrepreneurship and unemployment: increased entrepreneurship decreases unemployment while increased unemployment stimulates entrepreneurship. Globalization has led to the demise of the comparative advantage of advanced industrial nations in many traditional industries, such as machine tools, metalworking, textiles, and automobile production. Nevertheless, this demise does not inevitably force a trade-off between employment rates and wage rates; rather the comparative advantage of these countries is moving toward knowledge-based economic activity. Furthermore, knowledge-based jobs cannot easily be relocated to less advanced parts of the world. Entrepreneurship is essential to developing this comparative advantage. Because knowledge-based economic activity is predicated on new ideas and novel technology, such activity is inherently uncertain. As advanced nations move to such an economy, industrial structure and employment patterns will become more fluid and turbulent as new ideas are tried with a mix of successes and failures. Such an economy also promotes human fulfillment as the entrepreneurial economy enables a greater degree of creativity, autonomy, and independence. An analysis of empirical data reveals that entrepreneurship is sensitive to rises in unemployment and serves as a corrective for it. Lastly policy suggestions are made: (1) unlike in a previous era where types and levels of output were selected, modern policymakers should focus on improving knowledge-based inputs, such as research and development and public education; and (2) policymakers should shift their focus from preventing firms from abusing their market power to one of provided financial and technical assistance to new ventures. (CAR)

The Knowledge Society, Entrepreneurship and Unemployment

Abstract: This essay explains how and why entrepreneurship has made important contributions to economic and social life inmodern industrialized countries. The increased role of entrepreuneurship in general and small firms in particular has come with a number of benefits spanning a wide range of economic and social dimensions, but also with some new problems and challenges. We discuss the role of the knowledge-based economy as a cause to this transition and present some calculations about the consequences of this transition.

Self-employment in 23 OECD countries

Abstract: This paper studies the influence of cultural and economic variables on differences in the level of self-employment in more than twenty Western nations and Japan, for the period 1974-1994.

A model of pricing behavior: An econometric case study

Abstract: Empirical pricing studies are scarce in the modern literature in spite of their obvious importance for understanding competition. The present study employs a structural model to identify deviations of individual pricing routines from the commonly assumed single-period profit maximization. It is applied to individual wholesale firms, because wholesale pricing has a decisive influence on the price formation in the entire economic system and because hardly any research exists in this area. The results show that wholesale firms operate in imperfectly competitive world markets providing a highly differentiated service package. Traders apply pricing rules consistent with cost mark-up pricing. The mark-up varies among traders with the extent to which a firm's pricing strategy deviates from full profit maximization. This divergent behavior is associated with firm size, the type of buyers served and other aspects of the wholesale service package.

Firm Failure and Industrial Dynamics in the Netherlands

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the dynamics of industrial organization differ in the Netherlands from what has emerged as a Stylized Fact in other countries. Because the Netherlands has pursued a unique set of institutions and policies comprising what has become known as the Polder model, the factors keading to firm failure may systematically differ from those in other countries.

On the use of disequilibrium models in applied microeconomic research and the value of sample separation information

Abstract: The use of disequilibrium models in applied microeconomic research is evaluated. A disequilibrium or switching regime model is used to explainsales levels of individual retail stores. It is investigated whether substantial differences are found if an equilibrium approach is followed instead. Disequilibrium models are known to suffer from the fact that sample separation is unknown. Usually this information is not available. Our sample contains explicit information with respect to the regime to which an observation belongs. Therefore, the value of sample separation information in estimating the disequilibrium model is investigated. Finally, Monte Carlo experiments are conducted to get more insight into these matters.

Do Small Firms compete with Large Firms

Abstract: Despite the pervasive phenomenon of scale economies the majority of firms hasalways been small firms. The emergence of small firms as a means of economic development on both sides of the Atlantic has been one of the major new topics of economic policy since the 1980s. This has drawn renewed attention to the question of how small firms are able to exist. The theories of strategic niches and dynamic complementarity imply that small firms seek out markets where they are able to avoid competition with their larger counterparts. Inthis paper we test the validity of these theories by examining the extent to which small-firm profitability is set by large-firm profitability. We find considerable evidence that the price-cost margins of small firms do not tend to follow those of large firms. This is interpreted as supporting the theories that small firms pursue a strategy of producing in distinct productniches.

Industry Evolution: Diversity, Selection and the Role of Learning

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to show how institutional and evolutionary economics provide better insights as to whysome firms survive and others do not than does neoclassical economics. At the heart of the evolutionary theory isthe view that new firms are a manifestation of diversity and that their subsequent survival is shaped by the selectionprocess. Despite immense institutional and historical differences across these different economic systems such asthose in North America, Japan and Europe, evolutionary economics explains the role that diversity, selection andlearning plays in economic development. We use a Dutch data set and a model on who survives and who doesn't toexplain this role.