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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 March 2024

Keanu Telles

The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some countries are rich and others poor.

Design/methodology/approach

The author approaches the discussion using a theoretical and historical reconstruction based on published and unpublished materials.

Findings

The systematic, continuous and profound attempt to answer the Smithian social coordination problem shaped North's journey from being a young serious Marxist to becoming one of the founders of New Institutional Economics. In the process, he was converted in the early 1950s into a rigid neoclassical economist, being one of the leaders in promoting New Economic History. The success of the cliometric revolution exposed the frailties of the movement itself, namely, the limitations of neoclassical economic theory to explain economic growth and social change. Incorporating transaction costs, the institutional framework in which property rights and contracts are measured, defined and enforced assumes a prominent role in explaining economic performance.

Originality/value

In the early 1970s, North adopted a naive theory of institutions and property rights still grounded in neoclassical assumptions. Institutional and organizational analysis is modeled as a social maximizing efficient equilibrium outcome. However, the increasing tension between the neoclassical theoretical apparatus and its failure to account for contrasting political and institutional structures, diverging economic paths and social change propelled the modification of its assumptions and progressive conceptual innovation. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, North abandoned the efficiency view and gradually became more critical of the objective rationality postulate. In this intellectual movement, North's avant-garde research program contributed significantly to the creation of New Institutional Economics.

Details

EconomiA, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1517-7580

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2023

Dinesh Kumar Kushwaha, Dilbagh Panchal and Anish Sachdeva

To meet energy demand and tackle the challenges posed by global warming, Bagasse-based Cogeneration Power Generation (BCPG) plant in sugar mills have tremendous potential due to…

Abstract

Purpose

To meet energy demand and tackle the challenges posed by global warming, Bagasse-based Cogeneration Power Generation (BCPG) plant in sugar mills have tremendous potential due to large-scale supply of renewable fuel called bagasse. To meet this goal, an integrated framework has been proposed for analyzing performance issues of BCPG.

Design/methodology/approach

Intuitionistic Fuzzy Lambda-Tau (IFLT) approach was implemented to compute various reliability parameters. Intuitionistic Fuzzy Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (IF-FMEA) approach has been implemented for studying risk issues results in decrease in plant's availability. Moreover, IF- Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (IF-TOPSIS) is implemented to verify accuracy of IF-FMEA approach.

Findings

For membership and non-membership functions, availability decreases to 0.0006% and 0.0020% respectively for spread ±15% to ±30%, and further decreases to 0.0127% and 0.0221% for spread ±30% to ±45%. Under risk assessment failure causes namely Storage tank (ST3), Valve (VL6), Transfer pump (TF8), Deaerator tank (DT11), High pressure heater and economiser (HP15), Boiler drum and super heater (BS22), Forced draft and Secondary air fan (FS25), Air preheater (AH29) and Furnace (FR31) with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Hybrid Weighted Euclidean Distance (IFHWED) based output scores – 0.8988, 0.9752, 0.9400, 0.8988, 0.9267, 1.1131, 1.0039, 0.8185, 1.0604 were identified as the most critical failure causes.

Research limitations/implications

Reliability and risk analysis results derived from IFLT and IF-FMEA approaches respectively, to address the performance issues of BCPG is based on the quantitative and qualitative data collected from the industrial experts and maintenance log book. Moreover, to take care of hesitation in expert's knowledge, IF theory-based concept is incorporated so as to achieve more accuracy in analysis results. Reliability and risk analysis results together will be helpful in analyzing the performance characteristics and diagnosis of critical failure causes, which will minimize frequent failure in BCPG.

Practical implications

The framework will help plant managers to frame optimal maintenance policy in order to enhance the operational aspects of the considered unit. Moreover, the accurate and early detection of failure causes will also help managers to take prudent decision for smooth operation of plant.

Social implications

The results obtained ensure continuous operation of plant by utilizing the bagasse as fuel in boiler and also mitigate the wastages of fuel. If this bagasse (green fuel) is not properly utilized, there remains a dependency on coal-based power plants to meet the power demand. The results obtained are useful for decreasing dependency on coal, and promoting bagasse as the green, and alternative fuel, the emission by burning of these fuels are not harmful for environment and thereby contribute in preventing the environment from harmful effect of GHGs gases.

Originality/value

IFLT approach has been implemented to develop reliability modeling equations of the BCPG unit, and furthermore to compute various reliability parameters for both membership and non-membership function. The ranking results of IF-FMEA are compared to IF-TOPSIS approach. Sensitivity analysis is done to check stability of proposed framework.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 41 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts, 2nd Edition
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-438-8

Article
Publication date: 15 September 2023

Peng Liu, Rong Zhang, Ya Wang, Hailong Yang and Bin Liu

In recent years, private brands for e-commerce platforms have experienced rapid growth. However, whether these platforms developing private brands should share their demand…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, private brands for e-commerce platforms have experienced rapid growth. However, whether these platforms developing private brands should share their demand information with others and how such information sharing affects the sales format selection of national brand manufacturers have puzzled firm managers in practice. This paper aims to investigate the information-sharing strategy for the e-commerce platform and its influence on the sales format selection in the presence of the private brand.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a game-theoretical model to examine the interaction between the information-sharing strategy and sales format selection in a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a platform that operates a private brand.

Findings

The equilibrium results show that when the commission rate is low, the manufacturer favors agency selling, and the platform shares demand information with the manufacturer; when the commission rate is high, the manufacturer prefers reselling, and the platform does not share the information. This preference is affected by information forecasting accuracy; as the information forecasting accuracy increases, the manufacturer prefers to adopt agency selling, and the platform tends to share the information. Interestingly, under agency selling, sharing information with the manufacturer can increase the platform’s profit from selling the private brand and achieve a win-win situation for them. Furthermore, we show that the manufacturer can inspire the platform to share the information with himself by adopting agency selling, whereas the platform sharing the information improves the probability that the manufacturer adopts agency selling. Moreover, the manufacturer may have a first-mover advantage. In particular, the manufacturer moving first increases the likelihood that the manufacturer chooses agency selling and the platform shares the information.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to sales format literature by exploring the effect of information sharing strategy on sales format selection in the presence of the private brand and can help manufacturers and platforms to make suitable decisions regarding information sharing and sales format selection.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 39 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2023

Gayathri Gunatilake, Beverley Lord and Keith Dixon

This paper illustrates the socio-political nature of accountings, referring to the partial privatisation of the monopoly telecommunications organisation in a lower-middle-income…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper illustrates the socio-political nature of accountings, referring to the partial privatisation of the monopoly telecommunications organisation in a lower-middle-income country.

Design/methodology/approach

Actor-network theory and an ANTi-history approach are used to trace circumstances and occurrences. Empirical materials include official documents, print media and retrospective interviews with organisation employees ten years on from the privatisation.

Findings

Proponents of privatisation used retrospectively constructed historical accounts to problematise the natural monopoly of telecommunications and the government organisation administering it. A restructuring programme followed. Proponents addressed controversies pertaining to the programme thus garnering widespread support for complex and controversial changes. Proponents produced and reproduced accounting artefacts as evidence in these processes of history reconstruction, consequent changes and restoring stability to telecommunications in its reconfigured commercial domain. The proponents used selective, controversial accounting evidence to problematise the government organisation's existence, then to mobilise various actors to reduce and close the controversies previously aroused and reinstate stability in a partially privatised telecommunications company. Although no longer having a monopoly this company still dominates. Dissenters did the same but with little success.

Research limitations/implications

The findings demonstrate the importance of tracing the socio-political process of arriving at the dominant outcome about the past. This assists in making sense of present circumstances and re-imagining the future.

Originality/value

The study demonstrates that, during controversial circumstances, taken-for-granted history, as well as what is thought to have not existed in the past, support the dominant network in gaining advantage over their opponents and black-boxing their perspectives of how things should be.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Dhobale Yash and R. Rajesh

The study aims to identify the possible risk factors for electricity grids operational disruptions and to determine the most critical and influential risk indicators.

20

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to identify the possible risk factors for electricity grids operational disruptions and to determine the most critical and influential risk indicators.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-criteria decision-making best-worst method (BWM) is employed to quantitatively identify the most critical risk factors. The grey causal modeling (GCM) technique is employed to identify the causal and consequence factors and to effectively quantify them. The data used in this study consisted of two types – quantitative periodical data of critical factors taken from their respective government departments (e.g. Indian Meteorological Department, The Central Water Commission etc.) and the expert responses collected from professionals working in the Indian electric power sector.

Findings

The results of analysis for a case application in the Indian context shows that temperature dominates as the critical risk factor for electrical power grids, followed by humidity and crop production.

Research limitations/implications

The study helps to understand the contribution of factors in electricity grids operational disruptions. Considering the cause consequences from the GCM causal analysis, rainfall, temperature and dam water levels are identified as the causal factors, while the crop production, stock prices, commodity prices are classified as the consequence factors. In practice, these causal factors can be controlled to reduce the overall effects.

Practical implications

From the results of the analysis, managers can use these outputs and compare the risk factors in electrical power grids for prioritization and subsequent considerations. It can assist the managers in efficient allocation of funds and manpower for building safeguards and creating risk management protocols based on the severity of the critical factor.

Originality/value

The research comprehensively analyses the risk factors of electrical power grids in India. Moreover, the study apprehends the cause-consequence pair of factors, which are having the maximum effect. Previous studies have been focused on identification of risk factors and preliminary analysis of their criticality using autoregression. This research paper takes it forward by using decision-making methods and causal analysis of the risk factors with blend of quantitative and expert response based data analysis to focus on the determination of the criticality of the risk factors for the Indian electric power grid.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2024

HyunJun Na

This study examines the impact of the US government customer concentration and product innovation in supplier firms. The US government customer concentration is defined as the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the impact of the US government customer concentration and product innovation in supplier firms. The US government customer concentration is defined as the proportion of sales made by a supplier firm to the US government as a major customer. To measure product innovation, the author uses two key metrics: the number of patents and the novelty of the patents. The results indicate that a supplier firm’s relationship with the US government, as measured by the tenure of the relationship, has a significant impact on product innovation. Furthermore, the author shows that changes in the composition of the US government, Senate can also affect the level of innovation in supplier firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs the Compustat’s Segment Customer database and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Patent Citation database to gather information regarding patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The author also incorporates data from US Congressional committees from the 96th to 115th Congresses to assess the effect of changes in seniority of US senators on influential committees on the firm’s innovation. For a robustness test, the author utilizes a propensity score matched analysis.

Findings

The author demonstrates that a firm’s dependence on the US government as a customer channel for an extended period negatively impacts the firm’s innovation efficiency, as measured by the number of patents, citations and novelty of the patents. In addition, the author provides evidence that changes in the seniority of US senators on influential committees have a significant impact on firms located in the same state as the new senior senators. These firms decrease innovative efforts due to the political connections, resulting in lower levels of innovation. These findings are robust after controlling the endogeneity issues. In conclusion, this study contributes to the existing literature by offering insight into the relationship between customer concentration and firm innovation. The findings highlight the importance of considering the relationship between firms and their customer base in determining innovation outcomes.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates that a heavy reliance on the US government as a customer channel has a detrimental impact on a firm’s innovation efficiency. Furthermore, the author analyzes the exogenous shock of changes in the seniority of US senators on the relationship between customer dependence and innovation. By utilizing a propensity matched sample, the author addresses endogeneity concerns and provides robust evidence for empirical findings. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the complex relationship between customer dependence and firm innovation, particularly in the context of the US government as a sales channel.

Details

International Journal of Managerial Finance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1743-9132

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 19 February 2024

Shangkun Liang, Rong Fu and Yanfeng Jiang

Independent directors are important corporate decision participants and makers. Based on the Chinese cultural background, this paper interprets the listing order of independent…

Abstract

Purpose

Independent directors are important corporate decision participants and makers. Based on the Chinese cultural background, this paper interprets the listing order of independent directors as independent directors’ status, exploring their influence on the corporate research and development (R&D) behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper studies A-share listed firms in China from 2008 to 2018 as the sample. The main method is ordinary least square (OLS) regression. We also use other methods to deal with endogenous problems, such as the firm fixed effect method, change model method, two-stage instrumental variable method, and Heckman two-stage method.

Findings

(1) Higher independent directors’ status attribute to more effective exertion of supervision and consultation function, and positively enhance the corporate R&D investment. The increase of the independent director’ status by one standard deviation will increase the R&D investment by 4.6%. (2) The above effect is more influential in firms with stronger traditional culture atmosphere, higher information opacity and higher performance volatility. (3) High-status independent directors promote R&D investment by improving the scientificity of R&D evaluation and reducing information asymmetry. (4) The enhancing effect of independent director’ status on R&D investment is positively associated with the firm’s patent output and market value.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to understanding the relationship between the independent directors’ status and their duty execution from an embedded cultural background perspective. The findings of the study enlighten the improvement of corporate governance efficiency and the healthy development of the capital market.

Details

China Accounting and Finance Review, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1029-807X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 April 2024

Kajal Lahiri and Paul Noroski

The authors examine whether or not applicants and recipients of federal disability insurance (DI) inflate their self-assessed health (SAH) problems relative to others. To do this…

Abstract

The authors examine whether or not applicants and recipients of federal disability insurance (DI) inflate their self-assessed health (SAH) problems relative to others. To do this, the authors employ a technique which uses anchoring vignettes. This approach allows them to examine how various cohorts of the population interpret survey questions associated with subjective self-assessments of health. The results of the analysis suggest that DI participants do inflate the severity of a given health problem, but by a small but significant degree. This tendency to exaggerate the severity of disability problems is much more apparent among those with more education (especially those with a college degree). In contrast, racial minorities tend to underestimate severity ratings for a given disability vignette when compared to their white peers.

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Glenys Caswell

Abstract

Details

Time of Death
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-006-9

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