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1 – 10 of 586Baowen Sun, Wenjun Jing, Xuankai Zhao and Yi He
This paper aims to clear whether the monopoly structure of the internet industry has produced market power and discussed the welfare change of the internet industry monopoly.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to clear whether the monopoly structure of the internet industry has produced market power and discussed the welfare change of the internet industry monopoly.
Design/methodology/approach
By using new empirical industrial organization methods and taking the e-commerce market as an example, the authors measured market power and economies of scale of the internet platform companies.
Findings
Internet platform enterprises have formed scale economy, but it has not had market power, and the industry still maintains high levels of competition; also, the emergence of large enterprises may increase the welfare of consumers.
Originality/value
The conclusion of this paper clarified actual competition status of internet industry and provided a new foothold for regulation and ideas for the traditional industry to crack the Marshall Conflict.
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Margot Hurlbert, Tanushree Das and Charisse Vitto
This study aims to report business preferences for achieving net-zero power production emissions in Saskatchewan, Canada as well as business perceptions of the most preferable…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to report business preferences for achieving net-zero power production emissions in Saskatchewan, Canada as well as business perceptions of the most preferable power production sources, barriers to change and suggestions for improvement. Mixed methods included focus groups and a survey with experimental design. This research demonstrates that this method of advancing academic and business knowledge systems can engender a paradigmatic shift to decarbonization.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is a mixed-methods study using five focus groups and a survey which included a 15-min information video providing more information on power production sources (small modular reactors and biomass). Participants requested more information on these topics in the initial three focus groups.
Findings
There is a significant gap in Canadian Government targets for net-zero emissions by 2050 and businesses’ plans. Communications, knowledge and capacity gaps identified include lack of regulatory requirements, institutional barriers (including a capacity charge in the event a business chooses to self-generate with a cleaner source) and multi-level governance dissonance. More cooperation between provincial governments and the federal government was identified by participants as a requirement for achieving targets. Providing information to survey respondents increased support for clean and renewable sources, but gender and knowledge are still important characteristics contributing to support for different power production sources. Scientists and teachers were the most trusted sources of information. Power generated from small modular nuclear reactors was identified as the primary future source of power production followed by solar, wind and natural gas. Research results also confirmed the high level of support for hydropower generated in Saskatchewan versus import from Manitoba based on high values of energy solidarity and security within the province.
Originality/value
This study is original, as it concerns upstream system power production portfolios and not failed projects; the mixed-method research design including a focus group and an experimental survey is novel. This research partially addresses a gap in knowledge surrounding which knowledge systems advance paradigmatic shifts and how and whether involving business people in upstream power production decisions can inform decarbonization.
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Laura Grassi, Davide Lanfranchi, Alessandro Faes and Filippo Maria Renga
Decentralized finance (DeFi), enabled by blockchain, could bring about a new financial system, where peers will interact directly, with little or no place for traditional…
Abstract
Purpose
Decentralized finance (DeFi), enabled by blockchain, could bring about a new financial system, where peers will interact directly, with little or no place for traditional intermediation. However, some crucial tasks cannot be left solely to an algorithm and, consequently, most DeFi applications still require human decisions. The aim of this research is to assess the role of intermediation in the light of DeFi, analysing how humans and algorithms will interact.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors based their work on a twofold qualitative methodology, first analysing publicly available secondary data, particularly from white papers and DeFi Pulse (a website providing data on DeFi solutions) and then running two focus group discussions.
Findings
DeFi does not eliminate financial intermediation, but enables it to be performed in new ways, where decentralization means that no single entity can hold too much power or monopoly. DeFi has, however, inherited risks from the underlying technologies that unintentionally facilitate illegal behaviour and can hamper the authorities’ supervision. The complex duality algorithm- vs human-based actions will not be solved indisputably in favour of the former, as DeFi solutions can range from requiring algorithms to play a dominant role, to enabling greater human interaction by actively involving more people.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the emerging debate between algorithm- and human-based intermediation, especially in relation to the standing literature on financial intermediation, where considerations made in the light of the newest theories on blockchain and DeFi are still scarce.
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The objective of this study is to assess the level of corporate governance (CG) compliance and identify determinants of high compliance in Indonesian publicly listed corporations…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to assess the level of corporate governance (CG) compliance and identify determinants of high compliance in Indonesian publicly listed corporations including family and nonfamily firms. The country uses a voluntary disclosure approach to enforce its regulations; thus, it is important to identify the factors affecting compliance.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a logistic regression model, this paper analyzes the CG index of high-compliance vs. poor-compliance companies and emphasizes factors that contribute to better governance compliance. The CG index of high-compliant firms is almost twice as high as that of low-compliant firms.
Findings
The study explores factors that contribute to high CG in an emerging market like Indonesian corporations. The study's findings indicate that family-owned businesses predominate in the low-compliance group. High-compliance firms are older and larger with higher financial performance, free float and leverage, as well as a positive influence of the founder's great leadership. The results support theoretical arguments that concentrated ownership and excessive majority shareholder control are key factors in determining the likelihood of good governance practices by firms. Hence, the market and regulators should devise effective strategies to encourage and reward high compliance.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of the research offer several implications for the academic community and policymakers. Improving CG at the firm level is a viable goal, even though the agenda to reform minority investor protection laws and increase judicial quality is challenging and may take a long time to show significant results. Moreover, this study has some limitations that could be addressed in future research. The study focuses on a single-country setting, Indonesia. There are cultural aspects and governance settings that may be unique in the Indonesian context, which may limit the applicability of the findings to other countries with their own cultural settings and institutional legal framework.
Originality/value
The study investigates the factors that influence high governance compliance in specific CG regulations designed for the emerging Indonesian market. The study also discovers evidence that the crisis period has a favorable impact on the firm's decision to comply with governance provisions.
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With the increase of state capital, corporate total factor productivity (TFP) has a tendency to jump up at first and then slowly decrease. Generally, no significant “productivity…
Abstract
Purpose
With the increase of state capital, corporate total factor productivity (TFP) has a tendency to jump up at first and then slowly decrease. Generally, no significant “productivity paradox” can be observed in China’s manufacturing industry. With the increase of export density, corporate TFP also shows a trend of initial jump growth and subsequent slow decline. This paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the 1996–2013 China Industrial Enterprise Database, this paper studies the monopolistic behavior of Chinese manufacturing enterprises through the measurement of TFP and corporate monopoly power.
Findings
Results show that China’s manufacturing monopoly enterprises are generally innovation-oriented rather than rent-seeking. However, there are certain differences between diversified types of monopoly enterprises: the ones with state capital are more inclined to innovate than those without, whereas the ones with export delivery value are more inclined to seek rent than those without.
Originality/value
Therefore, the government should implement differentiated policies for diversified types of monopoly enterprises, and do so in a targeted manner fully reflecting the containment of rent-seeking and the encouragement of innovation.
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This paper analyzes the productivity effects of structural capital such as research and development (R&D) and organizational capital (OC). Innovation work also produces…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyzes the productivity effects of structural capital such as research and development (R&D) and organizational capital (OC). Innovation work also produces innovation-labor-biased technical change (IBTC) and knowledge spillovers. Analyses use full register-based dataset of Finnish firms for the period 1994–2014 from Statistics Finland.
Design/methodology/approach
Intangibles are derived from the labor costs of innovation-type occupations using linked employer-employee data. The approach is consistent with National Accounting and offered as one method in OECD (2010) and applied in statistical offices, e.g. in measuring software. The EU 7th framework Innodrive project 2008–2011 extended this method to cover R&D and OC.
Findings
Methodology is implementable at firm-level and offers way to link personnel reporting to intangible assets. The OC-IBTC as well as total resources allocated to OC are relevant for productivity growth. The R&D stock is relatively higher but R&D-IBTC is smaller than OC-IBTC. Public policy should, besides technology policy, account for OC and OC-IBTC and related knowledge spillovers in the industries that are most important among the SMEs (low market-share-firms).
Research limitations/implications
The data are based on remote access to Statistics Finland; the data cannot be disseminated.
Originality/value
Intangible assets are measured from innovation work that encompasses not only R&D work. IBTC is proxied in production function estimation by relative compensations on IA work. The non-competing nature of IAs is captured by IA knowledge spillovers. The sample sizes are much higher than in earlier studies on horizontal knowledge spillovers (such as for SMEs,) thus bringing additional generality to the results.
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Jie Meng and Fenghua Wu
As a crucial institutional form established since the Chinese economic reform, the system of competitive local governments has been shaping the characteristics of China's…
Abstract
Purpose
As a crucial institutional form established since the Chinese economic reform, the system of competitive local governments has been shaping the characteristics of China's socialist market economy to a considerable degree.
Design/methodology/approach
This study not only adopts the view of existing studies that attribute the economic motive of local governments to rent and consider land public finance as a means through which local governments carry out strategic investment but also attempts to further develop the view within a Marxist analytical framework.
Findings
As a result, the local governments have helped to maintain an incredibly high investment rate over a considerable period of time, facilitating the continuous, rapid growth of the Chinese economy.
Originality/value
This study concludes that China's local governments function as the productive allocator and user of rent in the strategic investment based on land public finance and thereby embed themselves in the relative surplus-value production initially arising from competition amongst enterprises, forming the dual structure of relative surplus-value production unique to China's economy.
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Tran Thai Ha Nguyen, Gia Quyen Phan, Wing-Keung Wong and Massoud Moslehpour
This research examines the relationship between market power and liquidity creation in the specific context of bank profitability in the Vietnamese banking sector.
Abstract
Purpose
This research examines the relationship between market power and liquidity creation in the specific context of bank profitability in the Vietnamese banking sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies the methodology proposed by Berger and Bouwman (2009) to demonstrate the creation of bank liquidity through a three-step procedure for investigating the relationship between market power and liquidity creation. The three steps include non-fat liquidity (NFLC), fat liquidity (FLC) and system generalized method of moments estimation for panel data.
Findings
This study finds that liquidity creation increases when a bank has high market power. Further, highly profitable banks positively impact the market power of banks with regard to liquidity creation, relative to less profitable banks. Moreover, bank size, capital, economic growth and interest rate negatively influence bank liquidity creation, while credit risk positively relates to bank liquidity creation.
Research limitations/implications
Measurements used in this study are based on the works of Berger and Bouwman (2009). There are specific variations, relative to Basel III. In addition, other variables significantly impact bank liquidity creation that have not been considered in the models, and a quadratic model should have been considered to measure market power and bank liquidity creation.
Practical implications
This study suggests that managers should control the liquidity of their banks by supervising vulnerable characteristics that have been mentioned herein and emphasizing improvements in profitability. Further, the government may consider encouraging banks to generate more liquidity by modifying regulations concerned with market power or reinforcing policies about improving the transparent business environment.
Originality/value
This study characterizes an attempt to examine the influence of market power on the liquidity creation of banks in Vietnam, which represents one of the most dynamic systems in Asia, with several varied participating banks. The current study also examines the same within the specific context of the modifying impact of the profitability of banks.
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Wenjun Jing, Xuan Liu, Linlin Wang and Yi He
Aiming at the lack of explanatory power of traditional industrial organization theory in cross-border competition, by introducing the idea of ecological niche, the authors aim to…
Abstract
Purpose
Aiming at the lack of explanatory power of traditional industrial organization theory in cross-border competition, by introducing the idea of ecological niche, the authors aim to explore the competitive situation of platform-based enterprises when they operate in multiple fields.
Design/methodology/approach
With the help of ecological niche theory, construct the niche width and niche overlap index of typical enterprises in the platform economy, and find out the advantages and the intensity of competition through comparative analysis.
Findings
In an environment of cross-border competition, large enterprises have significant competitive advantages, and the fierce competition is concentrated among medium-sized enterprises.
Originality/value
The conclusions of this paper not only provide new insights for explaining the phenomenon of cross-border competition in the platform economy, but also provide theoretical reference for the anti-trust enforcement practice in the platform economy.
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William H. Kaempfer, Edward Tower and Thomas D. Willett
We consider a domestic monopolist who is protected by an import quota on the product he produces. He faces a domestic demand curve which is characterized by a constant price…
Abstract
We consider a domestic monopolist who is protected by an import quota on the product he produces. He faces a domestic demand curve which is characterized by a constant price elasticity. He is unable to export and has an upward sloping marginal cost curve. We demonstrate that in this case his employment of labor rises with the import quota until imports rise to a fraction lie of domestic output where e is the elasticity of domestic demand. Thus, the employment maximizing quota sets permissible imports at a fraction of domestic output which is at least as high as the reciprocal of the elasticity of demand. We also make a case for liberalizing all the way right away, "cold turkey liberalization. "