Showing papers on "Empirical research published in 1988"

The multinational corporation's degree of control over foreign subsidiaries : an empirical test of a transaction cost explanation

Abstract: Should a business function be vertically integrated? Increasingly, economists have acknowledged that this is the wrong question. The right question is to what degree a function should be integrated, whereby integration is a continuum anchored by the options of market and hierarchy (Williamson, 1985). Movement along the continuum from market contracting to unified governance is accompanied by an increased degree to which resources are placed at hazard. The firm is compensated for this by an increased level of control that it presumably will use "correctly" in order to generate superior profit outcomes. The central questions of transaction cost analysis are twofold: When will the firm need more control (that is, when do lower-control outcomes become less desirable), and when will the benefits of increased control more than offset the costs of resource commitment and risk? Oliver Williamson (1985) offers a theory to answer these questions. In this paper we examine empirically the theory's predictions in the context of the multinational corporation (MNC), which attempts to control the operations of foreign "subsidiaries" (business units) that it owns in whole or in part. We

Chief executive scanning, environmental characteristics, and company performance: An empirical study

Abstract: Chief executives in 50 manufacturing companies were interviewed about the perceived strategic uncertainty in six environmental sectors, and the frequency and mode of scanning used for each sector. The findings suggest that customer, economic and competitor sectors generated greater strategic uncertainty than technological, regulatory and sociocultural sectors. When sector uncertainty was high, executives reported greater frequency of scanning and greater use of personal information sources. Chief executives in high-performing companies scanned more frequently and more broadly in response to strategic uncertainty than their counterparts in low-performing companies.

An empirical study of learning speed in back-propagation networks

Abstract: Most connectionist or "neural network" learning systems use some form of the back-propagation algorithm. However, back-propagation learning is too slow for many applications, and it scales up poorly as tasks become larger and more complex. The factors governing learning speed are poorly understood. I have begun a systematic, empirical study of learning speed in backprop-like algorithms, measured against a variety of benchmark problems. The goal is twofold: to develop faster learning algorithms and to contribute to the development of a methodology that will be of value in future studies of this kind. This paper is a progress report describing the results obtained during the first six months of this study. To date I have looked only at a limited set of benchmark problems, but the results on these are encouraging: I have developed a new learning algorithm that is faster than standard backprop by an order of magnitude or more and that appears to scale up very well as the problem size increases. This research was sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation under Contract Number EET-8716324 and by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD), ARPA Order No. 4976 under Contract F33615-87C-1499 and monitored by the Avionics Laboratory, Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories, Aeronautical Systems Division (AFSC), Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-6543. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of these agencies or of the U.S. Government.

Employee Participation: Diverse Forms and Different Outcomes

Abstract: Participation in decision making (PDM) takes several distinct forms. A review of empirical studies demonstrates that effects of participation on satisfaction and performance vary according to form. The findings cast doubt on the conclusions of earlier reviews based on a unidimensional view of PDM and raise several issues for the study and practice of PDM.

Chapter 14 Health and nutrition

Abstract: Publisher Summary Health and nutrition are important as ends in themselves and often are emphasized as critical components of basic needs in developing countries. Cross-country comparisons of standard data suggest that on the average health and nutrition in the developing world falls considerably short of that in the developed world. The chapter presents a review on a number of issues regarding health and nutrition in developing countries and available studies on the determinants of health and nutrition and on their impact on productivity in developing countries. First, the chapter presents a theoretical framework and some issues pertaining to the empirical representation of health and nutrition. The chapter then presents a survey on existing studies of both health and nutrition determinants and on their productivity influence and conclude with some discussion of policy issues and directions for future research. A theoretical framework for the determinants of health and nutrition and their possible productivity impacts is essential to analyze these variables in an organized manner and to be able to interpret empirical studies. The chapter discusses micro production function and demand considerations. The chapter then discusses in brief the supply side and macro relations. Finally, several major econometric problems are reviewed, stating that they are ubiquitous in empirical studies attempting to relate health, nutrition, and socioeconomic variables. Two broad categories of studies of health determinants are of particular interest: those attempting to estimate the reduced-form demand for health outcomes and health-care goods, and those attempting to estimate the underlying health production function.

Forward integration into distribution: An empirical test of transaction cost analysis

Abstract: The issue of forward vertical integration has attracted a good deal of attention from researchers in several disciplines, including economics, marketing, and law. Many explanations have been offered for this phenomenon, including technological interrelationships involving economies of scale and scope (Chandler), uncertainty and risk considerations (Arrow, 1969), information externalities (Green), and strategic purposes. Blair and Kaserman (1983) offer an extensive survey of the extant literature in this area. Of particular note, however, is the recent rise in prominence of the transaction costs analysis (TCA) of vertical integration. This approach consists of a blend of institutional economics, organizational theory, and contract law, and has been developed primarily by Oliver Williamson (1979, 1985). He views vertical integration as a response to the inability of arms-length market relationships to govern exchange efficiently under particular circumstances. The level of specialized assets' required to support the exchange, the uncertainty2 surrounding the exchange, and the frequency3 of exchange are

Asset Specificity and the Structure of Vertical Relationships: Empirical Evidence

Abstract: A meeting to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of "The Nature of the Firm" could not take place at a more appropriate time. Theoretical and empirical research into the kinds of issues raised by Professor Coase in his 1937 paper has increased substantially in recent years. It is a good time to take stock of where we are, how we got here, and where we are going in this area. I have been asked to do two things in this paper. First, to discuss the theoretical research that has had an important influence on my own thinking and research on issues related to the nature of the firm. I will use this opportunity to reminisce about my own intellectual enlightenment to provide a historical survey of the conceptual developments that I feel have been of most importance. Second, to review recent empirical research that has been stimulated by this theoretical work. Since my recent research interests in this area have focused primarily on issues associated with the structure of vertical relationships, and, in particular, the role of asset specificity, transactions costs, and incomplete contracts, it is this strand of the literature that I will focus on here.

An evaluation of activity-based travel analysis

Abstract: This paper is a review and assessment of the contributions made by “activity-based approaches” to the understanding and forecasting of travel behavior. In their brief history of approximately a decade, activity-based analyses have received extensive interest. This work has led to an accumulation of empirical evidence and new insights and has made substantial contributions toward the better understanding of travel behavior. However, practical applications of the approach in transportation planning and policy development have been scarce. Based on an analysis of the inherent characteristics of the activity-based approach, a review of recent (after the 1981 Oxford conference) developments, and a synthesis of the findings from past empirical studies, this study attempts to evaluate the contribution made by activity-based analyses and determine the reasons for the limited practical application. Recommendations are made for the future development of activity-based analysis as a science of travel behavior and as a tool in the practice of transportation planning and policy development.

Measuring and modelling changes in strategy: Theoretical foundations and empirical directions

Abstract: Confronted by increasingly turbulent and complex environments, general managers have become more interested in understanding the conditions and forces that enable or disable successful changes in organizational strategies. Yet, largely because of their tendency to use fuzzy definitions and inadequate methodologies, empirical studies of changes in strategy have not provided practitioners with a set of well-tested theories. To provide a basis for circumscribing, evaluating, and directing future research, this paper begins by developing a framework for assessing and modelling changes in strategy. After discussing the forces that influence their occurrence and performance outcomes, the paper reviews a representative sample of empirical studies in terms of two major questions: (1) how are changes in strategy conceptualized and modelled? and (2) what methods of observation and analysis are employed? This review concludes with a report of important patterns and concerns followed by suggestions for future research.

The Role of behavior in evolution

Abstract: These six original essays focus on a potentially important aspect of evolutionary biology, the possible causal role of phenotypic behavior in evolution. Balancing theory with actual or potential empiricism, they provide the first full examination of this topic.Plotkin's opening chapter outlines the "conceptual minefields" that the contributors attempt to negotiate: What is an adequate theory of evolution? What is behavior and is it possible to maintain a distinction between behavior and other attributes of the phenotype? is all, or only a special subset, of behavior both a cause and a consequence of evolution? And what do the theoretical issues mean in empirical terms? He concludes that any attempt to understand the causal role of behavior in evolution requires a more complicated theoretical structure than that of orthodox neoDarwinism, a conceptualization of behavior as a distinctive set of phenotypic attributes, and the accumulation of more data.David L. Hull (Northwestern University) provides an alternative account of the evolutionary process by developing a hierarchy of replicators-interactors-lineages to replace the traditional one of genes-organisms-species. Robert N. Brandon (Duke University) also posits hierarchy as an appropriate architecture for the theoretical complexity needed to support an examination of the role of behavior in evolution. F. J. Odling-Smee (Brunei University) outlines a theoretical structure to encompass the behavior of phenotypes, concentrating on the unrestricted definition of behavior (everything that an animal does).The remaining chapters are as much concerned with evidence as with theory. Plotkin concentrates on a restricted definition of behavior (behavior that is a product of choosing intelligence), reviewing our empirical knowledge of how learning might influence evolution. R.I.M. Dunbar (University College, London) uses empirical studies of vertebrate social behavior to deal with the question of how the social systems, especially of primates, might have a causal role in species evolution.Henry C. Plotkin is Lecturer at the University College, London. A Bradford Book.

The Current State of Differential Association Theory

Abstract: With his theory of differential association, Sutherland attempted to identify universal mechanisms that explain the genesis of crime regardless of the specific concrete structural, social, and individual conditions involved. In this article, I discuss the development of the theory and then assess its strengths and weaknesses. After finding Kornhauser's (1978) influential critique of differential association theory to be oversimplified and misguided, I review recent empirical tests. I argue that the theory appears supported, but requires additional research to specify the concrete content of its abstract principles. Such respecification will improve the theory's predictions, empirical tests, and implications for public policy. I conclude by proposing several avenues for theoretical and empirical research.

Composition Research: Empirical Designs

Abstract: Intended for writing instructors at all levels who lack the training to deal effectively with the increasingly important role played by empirical research in their field, Composition Research explains ten of the most common empirical designs used in the social sciences. These include: case study, ethnography, sampling/survey, quantitative descriptive research, prediction and classification studies, true and quasi-experiments, meta-analysis, and program evaluation. Each design is explained with reference to at least two specific composition studies, and includes a separate bibliography that identifies further writing studies that use it. The book also features a chapter on measurement, an appendix on statistical analyses, a glossary of technical terms and symbols, and guidelines for research on human subjects.

The Empirical Study of the Persuasive Effects of Evidence The Status After Fifty Years of Research

Abstract: This article presents a review of the development of research on the persuasive effects of evidence. Focusing on research dealing with the impact of evidence on persuasive communication, this review makes three related arguments. First, past claims about the inconsistency in evidence research are largely mistaken when testimonial assertion evidence is involved; second, the conditions under which evidence should produce maximal effects can be understood by reference to Petty and Cacioppo's Elaboration Likelihood Model; finally, persuasive effects are surprisingly consistent across evidence types when careful comparison of operational definitions, rather than conclusions, is undertaken.

Strategic Contributions of Information Technology: An Empirical Study of Atm Networks

Abstract: This paper presents an empirical study of the strategic contributions of automated tellermachines (ATMs) to improving a bank branch's local deposit market share at the expense of itscompetitors. By extending previous models of deposit market share in branch banking to incorporateATM technology variables, we develop a tool to provide answers and insights on key questionsinvolving the evaluation of second order strategic impacts of information technology (IT)which have not previously been measured in this context. Our results suggest that a bank's ATMnetwork membership decision is crucial to its later success in enhancing deposit market share viadeployment of ATMs. However, we found little evidence that branch ATMs provide any competitiveleverage to increase a branch's local deposit share.

On the Scientific Status of Consumer Research and the Need for an Interpretive Approach to Studying Consumption Behavior

Abstract: In their reply to Holbrook's 1987 inquiry, "What Is Consumer Research?," Calder and Tybout ( 1987) proclaim the advantages of falsificationism (Popper 1959) and question the scientific status of interpretive approaches such as that represented by Holbrook and Grayson's 1986 analysis of symbolic consumption in the movie Out of Africa. Briefly, Calder and Tybout's 1987 argument reduces to the early Popperian claim that science can advance only by means of a hypothetico-deductive method involving "the confrontation of theory with data" (p. 138). For Calder and Tybout, interpretive approaches can provide "provocative and entertaining reading" (p. 139) but "must stand apart . . . from science" (p. 140) so that interpretivism can contribute to scientific knowledge only by suggesting hypotheses suitable for testing in empirical studies (p. 139):

Distinguishing among Competing Theories of the Market Share Effect

Abstract: Empirical studies assessing the role of market share in influencing profitability have been challenged because of their inability to distinguish among competing hypotheses. The author addresses thi...

An Empirical Study of the Adoption of Sophisticated Capital Budgeting Practices and Decision-Making Effectiveness

Abstract: This paper examines the trend towards greater sophistication in investment selection techniques and control processes, and their impact on capital budgeting decision effectiveness. Based on a sample of 100 large UK firms, the study examines the capital budgeting practices employed over an 11-year period. Very significant increases in the uptake of sophisticated investment methods are reported, particularly in the analysis of project risk. These developments are partly explained by the rapid developments in computing within capital budgeting. Clear evidence is found to suggest that senior finance executives believe that the adoption of sophisticated investment practices gives rise to improved effectiveness in the evaluation and control of large capital projects.

Computer-supported cooperative work: a book of readings

Abstract: Early Visions Early Research Projects Related Technologies Domain-Specific Coordination Support Support for Meetings Technology Recent Theoretical Approaches Empirical Studies

Theoretical and Methodological Problems Within Occupational Stress and Burnout Research

Abstract: This article examines the implicit assumptions underlying current research into occupational stress and burnout. It argues that the two fields utilize similar theoretical models and research techniques and therefore have a number of problems in common. These problems arise from their common tendency to adopt a psychological perspective which pays insufficient attention to the complexity of the interrelationship between social conditions and subjective experience. The article suggests that both fields could be strengthened by incorporating more sociological concepts and developing analyses of the effects which discrepancies between the manifest and latent functions and surface and deep structures of organizations have on the individual's subjective experiences of work. The value of such analyses is illustrated with three examples of empirical research utilizing this perspective.

Organizations and National Culture: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract: Organizations and National Culture presents an analysis and empirical testing of competing perspectives in organizational theory on the influence of social context on organizational structure and organizational behaviour Drawing on a comparative analysis undertaken in England and India, Monir Tayeb explores the impact of culture and other societal factors on organizational structure, management systems and employees' work attitudes and values. The author both investigates similarities and differences in the ways English and Indian companies and employees respond to their social and cultural environments, and relates these to the significant part that technical and other task-related factors play in the process. Tayeb argues that it is the "combined "factors of culture, political economy and contingency which define employees' attitudes to people in positions of power and authority, their ability to cope with ambiguity and uncertainty, and their expectations from a job. In conclusion the author outlines a multi-perspective model in which contributions of cultural contingency and political economic theories are recognized and incorporated. This model offers a more comprehensive and realistic cross-cultural understanding of organizations, providing the means to examine both formal organizational structure and employee behaviour.

Spatial Models of Legislative Choice

Abstract: Two classes of models that reflect how legislators make collective choices have become increasingly sophisticated in the last decade. Structure-induced equilibrium models explain stable outcomes in terms of the structural attributes of the legislature. Recent gametheoretic models offer explanations of some nonobvious regularities in legislative behavior in terms of uncertainty about procedures and differential access to information. The increasing realism and attendant complexity of these models enable them to address interesting substantive questions and to offer theoretical explanations that are subject to empirical verification.

Explanations of success and derailment in upper-level management positions

Abstract: Using an inventory based on findings from several qualitative studies, this investigation developed eight dimensions distinguishing successful senior managers from those who had derailed. Results showed that bosses' ratings of 86 successful senior managers on the eight dimensions were significantly higher than those of 83 who had derailed, providing empirical support for many of the earlier qualitative findings. Comparing the successful managers to the derailed suggests dimensions otherwise overlooked which are important to consider when assessing managerial talent.

X-Efficiency: Theory, Evidence and Applications

Abstract: List of Figures and Tables. Preface. Foreword to First Edition Harvey Leibenstein. Foreword to Second Edition Mark Perlman. 1. Introduction. 2. Production, Cost, and Welfare: A Review. 3. X-Efficiency: The Intellectual Setting and an Introduction to the Theory. 4. X-Efficiency Theory: 1. 5. X-Efficiency Theory: 2. 6. Empirical Evidence: Regulated Industries. 7. Empirical Evidence: Market Structure and Firm Organization. 8. Empirical Studies: Input Ratios and International Trade. 9. X-Efficiency, Its Critics, and a Reply. 10. Implications and Conclusions. References. Index.

Towards a Typology of Female Entrepreneurs

Abstract: This paper reviews some of the employment problems faced by women and examines how these difficulties might be overcome through entrepreneurship. However, recent empirical work by Goffee and Scase suggests that it is inappropriate to speak of ‘the’ female entrepreneur: there are different types of female business proprietors. Based on an empirical study of 34 aspiring female proprietors, the authors investigate the validity of Goffee and Scase's assertions. Results suggest that there are indeed different types of female entrepreneur, and that while there are some similarities between the typology developed in this paper and that presented by Goffee and Scase, there are also significant differences between them. Possible policy implications of the findings are discussed.