Showing papers on "Empirical research published in 1977"

The Internationalization Process of the Firm - A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments

Abstract: On the basis of empirical research, a model of the internationalization process of the firm is developed. The model focuses on the gradual acquisition, integration and use of knowledge about foreign markets and operations, and on the incrementally increasing commitments to foreign markets. In particular, attention is concentrated on the increasing involvement in the individual foreign country.

Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research.

Abstract: Research on the relation between attitude and behavior is examined in light of the correspondence between attitudinal and behavioral entities. Such entities are defined by their target, action, context, and time elements. A review of available empirical research supports the contention that strong attitude-behavior relations dre obtained only under high correspondence between at least the target and action elements of the attitudinal and behavioral entities. This conclusion is compared with the rather pessimistic assessment of the utility of the attitude concept found in much contemporary social psychological literature.

The Measurement of Role Identity

Abstract: This paper outlines a procedure for measuring those components of the self-concept called role/identities. Conceptualized from a symbolic interaction framework and using the semantic differential and discriminant analysis, this procedure overcomes many of the problems usually asociated with other procedures such as profile analysis, the d statistic, or the TST: the procedure provides substantive anchor points, incorporates the multidimensional nature of role/identity, and provides a numerical score for quantitative analysis. The method is illustrated by measuring the gender role/identity of a sample of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade school children. The validity of the resulting measures are checked by investigating certain of the children's characteristics. Although the constructs of self, self-concept, and identity are now widely used in social psychology and sociology, empirical research with these concepts has been quite limited. Undoubtedly the largest obstacle to research on the self is the measurement problem. Because the self is so multifaceted and rich in content, abstract theoretical discussion has far outstripped concrete empirical research. The purpose of the present paper is to overcome this problem by presenting a procedure for measuring those components of the self-concept called role/identities. Con-theoretical discussion has far outstripped concrete empirical research. The purpose of the present paper is to overcome this problem by presenting a procedure for measuring those components of the self-concept called role/identities. Conceptualized from a symbolic interaction framework and using the semantic differential and discriminant analysis, this procedure overcomes many of the problems usually associated with other procedures such as profile analysis, the d statistic or the Twenty Statements Test (TST). In the second part of the paper the method is illustratively used to measure gender role/identity of a sample of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade school children. PREVIOUS MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES If empirical research is to catch up with theoretical developments, any technique for measuring identities must have four important properties: it must (1) produce a quantitative measure that can be used in multivariate data analysis, (2) produce measures that incorporate the multidimensional character of role/identities, (3) adequately define the underlying anchor points or dimensions that give meaning to the quantitative scores, and (4) it should integrate the concepts of self and role. Unfortunately most empirical research on self-concepts or identities has used measurement procedures that, though making research possible, tend to limit that research by failing on one or another of these four criteria. *We wish to thank Carolyn Mullins for her editorial assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.

Intra- Urban Residential Mobility: A Review and Synthesis

Abstract: THIS PAPER PROVIDES A CRITICAL REVIEW AND SURVEY OF THE AVAILABLE EVIDENCE ON INTRA-URBAN HOUSEHOLD MOBILITY AND A SYNTHESIS OF THE THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF SOCIAL SCIENTISTS TO UNDERSTANDING THE DETERMINANTS OF LOCAL MOBILITY. THE ANALYSIS ATTEMPTS TO RECONCILE THESE PERSPECTIVES AND THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE INTO A UNIFIED THEORY OF THE MOBILITY DECISION BASED ON MEASURABLE CONCEPTS, AND IT PRESENTS SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR EMPIRICAL RESEARCH.

Developing Public Policy Theory: Perspectives from Empirical Research*

Abstract: There has been considerable interest in the development of theories of public policy formation, but theoretical efforts to date have not demonstrated adequate recognition of the distinctive qualities of the dependent variable as a focus of research. Facets of public policy are far more difficult to study systematically than most other phenomena investigated empirically by political scientists. Our attempt to test hypotheses with some rigor demonstrated that public policy becomes troublesome as a research focus because of inherent complexity–specifically because of the temporal nature of the process, the multiplicity of participants and of policy provisions, and the contingent nature of theoretical effects. We use examples of policy making taken from the case study literature to show concretely how such complexity makes it essentially impossible to test apparently significant hypotheses as they are presented by Lowi, Dahl, Banfield, and others. Our effort here is to enhance theoretical development by carefully specifying and clarifying the major shortcomings and pointing out the apparent directions of remedy.

Organization Effectiveness Measurement and Policy Research

Abstract: The theoretical and empirical research literature on measurement of organization effectiveness reveals that empirical methodologies, developed primarily by psychologists and sociologists, do not adequately express the complexity of effectiveness measurement. This article suggests a more accurate methodology, cautions researchers about over-simplifying concepts of effectiveness and offers directions for future research.

Policy As a Field of Management Theory

Abstract: A conflict exists between rigor and relevance in relation to the role of Management Policy in the management school. The concepts of Management Policy, being crucially important to contemporary organizations, must be given attention by teachers and researchers. To be relevant, policy research must be softer and encompass a richer array of variables than in other fields of management. Management Policy should be taught from the perspective of descriptive theory. Five topic areas are reviewed to indicate that sufficient empirical research exists to enable this to be done.

An Empirical Analysis of the Optimal Advertising Policy

Abstract: This paper determines an optimal policy for investment in advertising for a firm that wishes to maximize its discounted profits. To that end, an integrated approach consisting of model formulation, empirical investigation, and optimization is carried out. A model of market share response to advertising is formulated as a first-order Markov process, with nonstationary transition probabilities. These probabilities are assumed to be a function of the advertising goodwill accumulated by the firm and its competitors. The model as specified is nonlinear in its parameters, and nonlinear regression techniques are applied to estimate them. It is shown that this nonlinear form offers, via likelihood ratio tests, a unique opportunity for testing the model, and in a resulting empirical test, the model is found to be consistent with the data. Given these empirical findings, an optimal advertising policy is derived by the use of optimal control theory. The managerial implications of the recommended multi-period policy are examined, and the policy's sensitivity to managerial inputs and economic conditions is analyzed and illustrated.

Consumer Responses to Socially Questionable Corporate Behavior: An Empirical Test

Abstract: An underlying assumption of much of the literature treating business is that “good behavior” on the part of a firm will be rewarded by consumers. This paper reports on an empirical test of the reverse of this assumption, namely, the effects of questionable corporate conduct on consumer behavior.

The Measurement of Firm Size

Abstract: T HE measurement of firm size plays a crucial role in applied microeconomics and industrial organization. Firm size has figured prominently in numerous studies of economies of scale in production, advertising, capital market, and cash balances, and in studies of concentration, diversification, profitability, regulation, technological change, and research and development. Even when firm size was not their main concern, many studies often found that size emerged as a robust empirical variable.' All these studies have based their findings on different alternative measures of firm size, often implying that great care in choosing between them is unnecessary since the measures are highly intercorrelated. In a note in this REVIEW, Smyth et al. (hereafter SBP) were the first to recognize that alternative measures of firm size are not interchangeable unless stricter conditions than correlation are met. They have further shown that empirical findings regarding economies of scale are not invariant with the size measure chosen, and that often different conclusions can be reached depending on the particular size measure used. The purpose of this paper is threefold: (I) to offer a general stochastic model that rigorously spells out the conditions for interchangeability among alternative measures of firm size, and of which SBP's deterministic model is a special case; (2) to conduct a statistical test of the interchangeability conditionis using a larger number of size measures, and a far larger sample than the one employed in SBP's empirical test; and (3) to empirically analyze the statistical properties of the most commonly used measures in order to help future investigators in selecting appropriate size measures suitable for their purposes. Section I reviews SBP's work, section II discusses the measurement problem, section III presents our theoretical model, and section IV concludes with some empirical evidence.

A linear programming approach

Abstract: Yhe analysis of the innovation of financial instruments and practices is not nearly as well-developed as its counterpart in the real sector. The theoretical and empirical studies on product and process innovation by Mansfield (l 968), Nelson and Winter (1973), Schmookler (1966), and Schumpeter (1939) are well-known. This paper is concerned with the microeconomics of financial innovation. Drawing on the work of Silber (1975) which outlines the forces that induce financial institutions to create new instruments or adopt new practices, an empirical test of the theory of financial innovation is carried out within the context of a linear programming model of commercial bank behavior. Innovation has been given very specific and somewhat more general meanings. Schumpeter (1939) related the term to the implementation of a new process or method that alters the production possibilities of a firm. Mansfield (1968), Scherer (1973), and Schmookler (1966), include both new processes and new products in their analyses. The financial innovations discussed below fall largely into the new product category. There also has been considerable interdisciplinary work by behavioral scientists and economists on the characteristics of the innovative firm, including studies by Cyert and March (1963), Becker and Stafford (1967), and Knight (1967). Nelson and Winter (1973) have carried that analysis one step further, towards an 'evolutionary theory' of innovation. Their approach stresses an incremental search process that is triggered by a firm's rate of return falling below target levels. Our approach in the financial sector parallels, with appropriate modifications, the Nelson-Winter analysis in the real sector. One final word of introduction concerns the definition of financial innovation. When dealing with innovation in the real sector it is possible to lihait the scope by an objective criterion: an innovation is a new product or process that qualifies for

Interest Rate Sensitivity and Portfolio Risk

Abstract: Since its inception the single-index market model has been the subject of a large body of theoretical and empirical research. This study deals with the very difficult issue surrounding the practical implementation of the model in portfolio analysis where significant, nonmarket sources of covariation in security returns are believed to be present.

Household Allocation of Time and Church Attendance: Some Additional Evidence

Abstract: In a recent issue of this Journal, Corry Azzi and Ronald Ehrenberg (hereafter, A-E) test an economic theory of "religiosity" with statewide church-membership data and survey data on individuals' frequency of church attendance. They find that "the empirical results based upon the two samples taken together provide strong support for [their] model" (1975, p. 51). The present paper discusses a further empirical test of the A-E model of religiosity and reports findings for key economic variables that conflict with those of A-E. Our empirical results, taken together with the A-E findings, suggest that one should perhaps adopt a less sanguine attitude than do A-E toward the contribution of economic variables in explaining church attendance. The data for this study are obtained from a survey of Wisconsin heads of households,' which contains information on nearly all the variables

Planning for existing markets: an empirical study

Abstract: (1977). Planning for Existing Markets: An Empirical Study. International Studies of Management & Organization: Vol. 7, Strategy Formulation, pp. 99-122.

Class conflict and the industrial relations crisis

Abstract: The central purpose of the thesis is to interpret in the context of theories of class structure certain developments in the industrial relations policies of British governments between 1956 and 1971. Although British sociology has long been pre-occupied with class, and although the relevance of industrial relations to the historical development of class relations is generally recognised, it is only in very recent years that a few authors have attempted class analyses of recent policy changes. The present study is probably the first to attempt a detailed analysis of the policies in this context, though the period has been one of institutional innovation rivalling the immediate postwar years. In tackling this task the thesis brings together three usually separate literatures: that on class and stratification, that on industrial relations and that on political processes. The first two of these are dealt with at length, the last less so (and perhaps, on reflection, inadequately). Nearly all the themes discussed will be found elsewhere in the literature, but originality is claimed for (i) the particular combination of themes achieved, and the relations made between them and (ii) the detailed relation of these themes to the particular body of empirical material studied. For example, the central contention examined - that recent policy developments constitute the rise of the corporate state - has very recently found its way into general discussion, but the present thesis tries to define corporatism systematically, demonstrate its place within a theory of class relations, and assess precisely the corporatist content of policies. Methodologically the thesis is unadventurous and conventional and makes no use of sophisticated techniques. Further, the great bulk of empirical material studied consists of published documents. However, it is considered that it goes beyond many conventional treatments in the extent to which its analysis of empirical material relates closely to the theoretical framework which is established. Further, although the data used are not original in the sense of having never before been exposed to public gaze, their use is original in the sense that they are studied in terms and for purposes very different from those intended by their authors. In summary, the contributions claimed for the thesis are as follows: (1) starting from a Marxian/Weberian perspective it directs attention to a central aspect of class which has been neglected in sociology's pre-occupation with problems of the identification of and subjective attitudes of classes, viz the particular combination of economic, political and ideological constraints that provide the structure of different forme of class relations; (2) it relates issues of class to recent industrial relations strategies more systematically than is usually the case in recent debates; (3) in particular, it establishes the outlines of two contrasting strategies called the Compromise and corporatism; (4) it makes use of these and other concepts to provide a sociological analysis of incomes policies and industrial relations law reform measures; (5) in less precise detail, it provides an histoire raisonee of political developments in the period concerned, interpreting them in the terms established earlier; (6) it makes an empirical study of, and relates together, certain other themes of recent literature, such as managerialism, administrative rationality as ideology, the changing role of the state and the problems this creates for existing political, ideologies.

Cognition In Cartography

Abstract: A considerable amount of perceptual research within the general framework of behavioral psychology has been conducted by cartographers during the last ten or fifteen years. However, as one reviews the findings of this research in connection with problems encountered during the normal process of making maps, it doesn't seem to add up to much. No whole theory or set of principles, greater than the sum of the small component parts, has emerged. Similarly, analytical attempts to deal with the notion of map reading have not led to any theoretical structures from which principles that would assist in the details of map design can be deduced. Clearly, map reading is more than just the cumulation of a number of simple perceptual com parisons of symbol size or value. Perhaps it is time, in recognition of this fact, to shift our thinking from the details of empirical research, from psychophysical studies, etc., to a concern with the broader assumptions that underlie the conduct of such research, and to the possibility that certain shifts in those basic assump tions might be of some value to cartography. Whitehead has characterized science as, "the union of passionate interest in the detailed facts with equal devotion to abstract generalization." We need to be concerned always with both levels of research activity.

An Analysis of Competitive Bidding on BART Contracts

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyze the competitive bidding on the heavy construction projects of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District. We develop an analytic model that is appropriate to the study of the BART bidding experience and use it to derive a number of propositions concerning the bidding behavior of the participating contractors. Given that we have data pertaining to 77 BART construction projects, we are in the position of being able to test statistically many of the propositions we derive. There are at least two reasons which prompted us to undertake this study. First, because of a lack of data, the empirical study of bidding environments has lagged the development of theoretical bidding models. Not only will our study help to remedy this situation, but it also serves to isolate data requirements for future empirical studies. Second, the theoretical treatment of bidding problems has tended to focus on developing strategies to be followed by the individual bidders; little attention has been given to the problems faced by the procuring agency itself. Our study identifies certain variables that affect the outcome of the bidding process and in this regard provides the agency with information as to how to control the bidding environment. The paper is organized as follows: In Section II, the BART bidding environment is described. In Section III, an analytic model of bidding behavior relevant to the BART bidding experience is developed. Using this model, we derive a number of propositions concerning the contractors. In Section IV, we discuss the nature of the data base used in our empirical tests. Then in Section V, we describe the empirical model used and present the results of our tests. Finally, in Section VI we summarize the findings of our study.

Empirical study of training and performance in the marathon.

Abstract: (1977). Empirical Study of Training and Performance in the Marathon. Research Quarterly. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 769-777.

Peer group support for police occupational deviance

Abstract: Although there have been several journalistic and impressionistic accounts of police corrupt behavior, there are few empirical studies of this phenomenon. One of the reasons for this lack of research is the absence of theoretical frames of reference to guide research endeavors. This paper deals with police corruption as but one of many forms of occupational deviance and discusses the manner in which the social conditions existing within the occupational milieu contribute to such corruption. In particular. the paper examines the manner in which the opportunity structure and socialization practices within the occupation combine with peer group support to create a social situation where certain corrupt acts are tolerated and accepted.

Conceptualization: knowledge and logic guiding empirical research.

Abstract: This article analyzes functions and processes of research conceptualization. The most prevailing limitation of nursing research, as represented in its published literature, concerns the relevant use of knowledge and logic for the formulation of that which is to be studied. To that end, the components of the conceptual phase of research, as they develop progressively from the initiating question through the stipulation of the specific purpose of a study, are discussed. For each component emphasis is given to the function served by past knowledge toward the generation of new knowledge.

The world hypotheses scale: rationale, reliability and validity.

Abstract: Theoretical descriptions are presented for four different sets cognitive assumptions concerning the fundamental meaning of events. These cognitive assumptions or world hypotheses are called formism, mechanism, organicism, and contextualism. The development of a 12-item scale to measure individual preferences for these world hypotheses is described. Finally, several empirical studies are reported in which diverse behavioral correlates have been found for individuals preferences among world hypotheses. Specifically, significant results have been obtained for choice of careers, stability of friendships, and success in both group and individual therapies.

A methodology for design research on interdependence alternatives

Abstract: A common “interdependence problematique” can be found in recent literature on security interdependence, regional integration processes, ecological limits to growth, and global political economy. Six problematical aspects of interdependence relationships should therefore be given definitional significance: existing or proposed transnational or intergovernmental relationships in the post-Cold War era typically raise issues concerning the degree of public consumption interdependence, the extent to which situational interests are non-zero sum, the need for coordinated production relationships, the extent of cross-sector or inter-functional interdependence and the vulnerabilities involved in breaking with or doing without any such institutionalized relationships. Twenty methodological maxims are useful for appraising the design relevance of empirical research on partial, regime-like world order alternatives. Much but not all previous research has been severely deficient in addressing the efficiency, equity, conservation, and feasibility implications of contending interdependence alternatives.

Strategic Management: An Empirical Study of 168 Belgian Firms

Abstract: (1977). Strategic Management: An Empirical Study of 168 Belgian Firms. International Studies of Management & Organization: Vol. 7, Strategy Formulation, pp. 60-75.

A Critical Evaluation of the Systematic Approach To Jury Selection

Abstract: Social scientists have recently generated a great deal of publicity by their involvement in jury selection. This paper describes the components of the methodology used. Then both practical and conceptual difficulties with each component are discussed. It is noted that there is little empirical support for any of the components or for the method as a whole. Finally, some of the legal and ethical implications of the methodology are treated.