Search results

In this chapter we demonstrate the construction of inverse test confidence intervals for the turning-points in estimated nonlinear relationships by the use of the marginal or first derivative function. First, we outline the inverse test confidence interval approach. Then we examine the relationship between the traditional confidence intervals based on the Wald test for the turning-points for a cubic, a quartic, and fractional polynomials estimated via regression analysis and the inverse test intervals. We show that the confidence interval plots of the marginal function can be used to estimate confidence intervals for the turning-points that are equivalent to the inverse test. We also provide a method for the interpretation of the confidence intervals for the second derivative function to draw inferences for the characteristics of the turning-point.

This method is applied to the examination of the turning-points found when estimating a quartic and a fractional polynomial from data used for the estimation of an Environmental Kuznets Curve. The Stata do files used to generate these examples are listed in Appendix A along with the data.

Customization, a marketing strategy through providing personalized products, might be a new solution to motivate consumer feedbacks in electronic commerce (e-commerce) websites. Taking the dual-value of customization (emotional involvement and uniqueness expression) as the theoretical basis, this study aims to investigate the impact of customization on consumer's word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviors and contents by motivating: (1) more, (2) faster, (3) positive at first and then negative, (4) longer and (5) more helpful WOMs.

A field study was conducted with multi-sourced data: customer order data from a Chinese retailer and WOM data from Amazon.com. The two datasets were matched to filter out 463 online reviews among 6,892 customers who placed customized orders. Heckman's two-stage model, logistic regression, Ordinary least squares regression, Tobit regression, analysis of covariance and Lind–Mehlum U Test were used in the data analysis.

This study has found that (1) customization level motivates WOM behaviors including WOM posting and WOM speed, (2) an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between customization level and consumer rating and (3) customization level has a significantly positive impact on WOM helpfulness but not on WOM length.

This study advances theoretical development in the area of WOM motivators by proposing a new product-centric approach, customization, to stimulate voluntary WOMs. Empirical field research that analyzes consumer's real responses to customization is in scarcity. The dual-value of customized products is proposed as the underlying mechanism to explain the impact of customization level on consumer's WOM behaviors/contents. An interesting inverted U-shaped relationship is found between customization level and customer rating. This research provides nuanced practical guidance for websites, companies and consumers.

This study examines the influence that the positive valence intensity of online consumer reviews (OCRs) has on the benefits that individuals perceive they have derived from consumption. A distinction is made based on whether the performance obtained during the consumption was high or low, that is, whether the product/service met the objectives set by the consumer.

The study is a between-subjects experiment with two manipulations: the positive valence intensity of OCRs (highly positive vs neutral-indifferent) and the performance obtained by the consumer (high vs low). The manipulations were measured on 11-point Likert-type scales, the lowest perception being scored at 0 (strongly disagree) and the highest at 10 (strongly agree). A total of 249 useable questionnaires were returned.

The results demonstrated that the influence of positive OCRs on the consumer's perception of consumption benefits follows concave curvilinear functional forms for low performance (inverted U-shaped) and convex for high performance (U-shaped). Thus, highly positive OCRs not corroborated by performance lead to negative perceptions, whereas neutral-indifferent OCRs verified by performance create positive perceptions.

This study goes beyond the immediate influence of positive OCRs on purchases and argues that their influence remains important for the individual's final perception of the consumption benefits that she/he, in the event, received. In addition, the results of the present study show that OCRs are important reference points from which individuals make social judgments and comparisons during consumption. Finally, this study provides theoretical and empirical support to explain the U-shaped functional forms associated with the influence of OCRs.

This chapter considers the analysis of a cost-effectiveness dataset from an econometrics perspective. We link cost-effectiveness analysis to the net benefit regression framework and explore insights and opportunities from econometrics and their practical implications. As an empirical illustration, we compare various econometric techniques using a cost-effectiveness dataset from a published study. The chapter concludes with a discussion about implications for applied practitioners and future research directions.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, the author aims to explore if there is a curvilinear relationship between the network rent, generated as a combination of the relational performance of two dyads and the network profile of the triadic supply chains. Second, the author seek to recognize the ideal network profile, consisting of the properties at the node and relationship level, that provides the highest network rents, and thus enables to increase the competitive advantage of supply chains.

The paper opted for an exploratory study using a survey of triads forming supply chains. In order to reveal the capability of yielding the network rent in the examined triads, multiple regression analysis with interaction effects was employed. Having confirmed the existence of supernormal profit, the author investigated the relationship between the network rent and the network index. Finally, a cluster analysis was conducted to compare the network profile in the group of triads generating higher network rents with the cluster yielding relatively lower network rents.

The obtained findings show that a combination of the relational performance of two dyads contributes to generating the network rent, and thus ensures a more favorable competitive position of supply chains. The results of the study also indicate that there is a significant curvilinear, inverted U-shaped relationship between the network profile and the competitive advantage of triadic supply chains. In addition, the following network properties appear to be particularly important for yielding higher network rents: network centrality, betweenness, network density and network size.

The study contributes to the theory by testing if the network rent can be yielded as a combination of the relational performance of two dyads in the triadic supply chains. The research also indicates that there is a curvilinear relationship between the network rent and the network profile of examined supply chains. Moreover, the study also addresses the link between the network profile, consisting of the multiple network properties simultaneously, in relation to the competitive advantage of supply chains.

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of financial flexibility (FF) on enterprise performance (EP) within Taiwan’s hospitality industry during the COVID-19 shock and explore whether EP varies with hospitality industry characteristics.

Secondary data of 39 Taiwan Stock Exchange-listed hospitality firms were collected from the Taiwan Economic Journal databases. Quantile regression analysis was applied to examine the FF-EP relationship

The results evidence that there is a U-shaped (convex) FF-EP relationship for hospitality firms in the 10th, 25th and 50th Tobin’s Q quantiles and in asset-heavy firms. For asset-light firms, FF has an inverted U-shaped (concave) effect on EP in the 90th Tobin’s Q quantile

The empirical results highlight the need for Taiwan’s hospitality industry as a whole to take rolling adjustment and optimization of FF and concentrate on liquidity risk management after the COVID-19 pandemic and for long-term sustainability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine the nonlinear FF-EP relationship in the hospitality industry of Taiwan, particularly amid the COVID-19 shock. Moreover, this study extends current literature by revealing the hospitality industry’s FF-EP relationship and highlights the importance of the pandemic crisis context.

The reality with many developing countries is that the countries have failed to create enough jobs for the poor and vulnerable. Under such circumstances, vulnerable employment plays a critical role in providing earning opportunities to people who are unemployed and determining the economic and social progress of such economies. The study aims to examine the possible non-linear relationship between vulnerable employment and growth in light of this background.

The study employed five-yearly averaged data of 73 developing countries for the period 2000–2019. The empirical analysis is performed using the dynamic panel data analysis and the two-step system generalised method of moments (GMM) approach. The estimations are run separately for male, female and total vulnerable employment. The threshold levels are obtained using Sasabuchi (1980) and Lind and Mehlum (2010) (SLM) test. Several sensitivity checks are performed to validate the results.

The findings of the study suggest a non-linear U-shaped relationship between vulnerable employment and growth. Thus, a positive association between vulnerable employment and growth is witnessed at higher levels of vulnerable employment. At lower levels, the relationship is negative. Threshold levels for male, female and total vulnerable employment are 46.80%, 49.29 and 50.94%, respectively. Therefore, vulnerable employment beyond the threshold levels is found to be positively associated with growth.

Countries below the threshold level of vulnerable employment should understand why these workers are not able to contribute to the growth despite working so hard. If any socio-economic barriers hinder their contribution towards growth, such barriers require greater policy attention. Countries with vulnerable employment levels above the threshold level should recognise the contributions of these workers towards the growth and actively support them in increasing their economic contribution. In either case, given the precarious circumstances under which these workers work and the pittance earnings, policy interventions aimed at ensuring decent working conditions and better earnings for these workers are encouraged.

The current study is the first one to examine the relationship between vulnerable employment and growth to the best of the author's knowledge. As such, it makes novel contributions to the literature on development policy.

Misconduct allegations have been found to not only affect the alleged firm but also other, unalleged firms in form of reputational and financial spillover effects. It has remained unexplored, however, how the number of prior allegations against other firms matters for an individual firm currently facing an allegation. Building on behavioral decision theory, we argue that the relationship between allegation prevalence among other firms and investor reaction to a focal allegation is inverted U-shaped. The inverted U-shaped effect is theorized to emerge from the combination of two effects: In the absence of prior allegations against other firms, investors fail to anticipate the focal allegation, and hence react particularly negatively (“anticipation effect”). In the case of many prior allegations against other firms, investors also react particularly negatively because investors perceive the focal allegation as more warranted (“evaluation effect”). The multi-industry, empirical analysis of 8,802 misconduct allegations against US firms between 2007 and 2017 provides support for our predicted, inverted U-shaped effect. Our study complements recent misconduct research on spillover effects by highlighting that not only a current allegation against an individual firm can “contaminate” other, unalleged firms but that also prior allegations against other firms can “contaminate” investor reaction to a focal allegation against an individual firm.

This study explores the effects of different types of technology lock-in on enterprise innovation performance. On this basis, the authors aim to provide technological innovation suggestions for the long-term development of Chinese enterprises.

A total of 211 high-tech enterprises in China were taken as the research sample. Data were collected through questionnaire surveys and secondhand data. Linear and nonlinear regression models were used to test the hypotheses.

Different types of technology lock-in had different effects on enterprise innovation performance. Initiative lock-in and passive lock-in showed an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation performance. Economies of scale were positively correlated with innovation performance, while self-lock-in was negatively correlated with it.

This research can help enterprises reconceptualize technology lock-in. It can also help enterprises in different stages of development carry out targeted technological innovation and management strategies.

This research enriches our understanding of technology lock-in. By breaking with previous conceptualizations of a simple linear relationship between technology lock-in and innovation performance, this study proposes and confirms different technology lock-in has different relationships with enterprise innovation performance. This study is important for enterprises to reassess their technology lock-in state and carry out targeted technological innovation strategies. This research enriches the theory of path dependence and its combination with other theories. And this study also reveals the current research on technology lock-in is insufficient.

Servitized manufacturers can leverage close relationships with external providers of product-related services to mobilize value creation and improve the responsiveness of their offerings to customer needs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the economic link between the relational embeddedness of external service providers, as arising from the key dimension of dependence, and firm performance.

The study evaluates financial statement data pertaining to 190 dyadic relationships of servitized manufacturers with service providers operating in downstream channels and accounting for more than 10 per cent of their revenue.

The results indicate that service providers’ dependence has an inverted U-shaped relationship with manufacturers’ return-on-assets (ROA), via non-linear effects on return-on-sales and asset turnover. The results therefore suggest that the observed U-shaped relationship for ROA is driven by diminishing returns of dependence in terms of both differentiation ability and operational efficiency.

Future research could examine other dimensions of embeddedness, as well as contingency factors that may influence the embeddedness–performance relationship.

The study conclusions suggest that managers of servitized firms should foster the embeddedness of external service providers, but they should also be careful to maintain an adequate level of dependence to maximize benefits and minimize liabilities.

The study adds to the limited research delving into inter-firm relationships between servitized manufacturers and external service providers. It empirically demonstrates the economic effects of service providers’ dependence-based embeddedness, challenging the general assumption about a monotonic positive effect of relational embeddedness.