Search results for "Industrial Organization"

Unbundling technology adoption and tfp at the firm level. Do intangibles matter?

2012

We use a panel of European firms to investigate the relationship between intangible assets and productivity. We distinguish between total factor productivity (tfp) and technology adoption, whereas standard estimations consider only a notion of productivity that conflates the two effects. Although we are unable to address simultaneity, we allow for the existence of multiple technologies within sectors through a mixture model approach. We find that intangible assets have nonnegligible effects that both push firms toward better technologies (technology adoption effects) and allow for more efficient exploitation of a given technology (tfp effects).

Cooperation among competitors: A comparison of cost-sharing mechanisms

2016

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the consequences of using outcome-based versus ex ante-based cost-sharing mechanisms in terms of competing firms' profitability and total welfare. We consider two firms making a joint expenditure, which can positively affect firms' demand and/or unit operating costs, while competing in the final market by setting either price or quantity. We compare two outcome-based cost-sharing mechanisms, i.e., Quantity Proportional (QP) and Total Margin proportional (TM), with the more competitive Fixed Share (FS) mechanism where cost-sharing is set up on an ex ante basis. We show that outcome-based mechanisms, and even a fully collusive behavior induced by the opt…

Performance assessment of water companies: A metafrontier approach accounting for quality of service and group heterogeneities

2021

Abstract The assessment of water companies’ efficiency, productivity and quality of service is part of the process to set water tariffs and therefore, is relevant for regulators and customers. However, the water industry involves several heterogeneous water companies. Following a pioneering approach, this study estimates productivity change and its drivers considering the non-homogeneous nature of the water companies and incorporating quality of service variables as undesirable outputs. In doing so, the metafrontier Malmquist Luenberger productivity index was estimated for a sample of English and Welsh water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) and water only companies (WoCs) over the years 2001–…

Attuned HRM Systems for Social Enterprises

2021

This paper is motivated by a puzzling observation made when conducting a case study of ProCredit (PC), a well-known social bank. The HR practices that this social enterprise (SE) adopted to cultivate mission identification were unfavorably impacting its retention rate. Building on prior research and our analysis of the case, we argue the need for SEs to embrace HRM systems that are both mission-identification proactive and employee-retention preemptive. It theorizes that these HRM systems should be attuned to the labor market conditions (e.g., market segmentation and competition for employees) that frame how SEs develop and sustain Person-Organization (P-O) fit. Attuned HRM systems are adap…

Complementarities in innovation strategy: do intangibles play a role in enhancing firm performance?

2017

This article assesses the role of investments in intangible capital and their potential complementarities as a way to improve firm productivity. We focus on the three intangible resources that, according to the literature, have the greatest strategic importance: research and development (R & D), advertising, and human capital. To test our hypotheses, we use a large sample of Spanish manufacturing firms and consider estimates of total factor productivity through a generalized method of moments approach. Our results show evidence of complementarities between R & D and advertising investments and between advertising and human capital. However, they are not conclusive in the case of R & D and h…

Clustering and innovation: firm-level strategising and policy

2017

Foreign sourcing and exporting

2020

The aim in this paper is analysing the role of sourcing intermediate inputs internationally on export decisions, distinguishing whether intermediate are sourced from firms belonging to the same business group or from independent suppliers. To analyse firm’s export decision, we use a specification that also accounts for sunk costs and the accumulated experience in export markets (i.e., foreign markets learning). We consider that importing intermediates might have direct and indirect effects (operating through productivity) on the export participation decision. The direct effects on exporting are isolated once we control for productivity and the effects of belonging to an international group.…

Public Purchasing and Eco-labelling Schemes: Making the Connection and Reinforcing Policy Coherence

2004

Many governments have promoted eco-labelling schemes as an accurate information-based policy to regulate environmental problems. This paper argues that governments should integrate eco-labelling into their purchasing decisions, both to benefit the environment directly and to reinforce ecolabelling programs as a means to influence private purchasers. Both effects could be quite significant given that governments are large purchasers of goods and services. After reviewing the main barriers and potentialities for greening procurement markets, we explore several ways by which green public procurement can promote the overall diffusion of eco-labelled products. JEL codes: H57; Q 28

Foreign Direct Investment Spillovers: Evidence from the British Retail Sector

2011

This paper discusses the impact of foreign-ownership presence on the productivity performance of British-owned domestic retailers. In particular, we analyse the existence of productivity spillovers, in the form of knowledge transfer, by using establishment-level data from the Annual Respondents Database over the period 1997–2003. The results confirm the presence of such spillovers and highlight their positive and significant impact on the productivity of domestic firms, although these spillovers are mostly confined to the region in which foreign subsidiaries locate. There is also evidence that the productivity benefit from regional foreign direct investment spillovers increases with the abs…

Previous experience, experimentation and export survival : Evidence from firm-product-destination level data

2021

This paper explores the role of a firm's product and/or market export experience and experimentation for survival of new product-destination export spells, using firm-level Spanish customs data over the period 1997-2015. Previous research has documented a positive impact of experience on export survival. This paper contributes to the extant literature by unravelling the distinct effect on export survival of ongoing accumulated experience (i.e., from the start of a product-destination export spell), previous product and/or destination-market experience and experimentation (repetition of product-destination relationships). We find that 60% of new product-country export spells end during their…