We use patant data from the worldwide semiconductor industry from 1984 to 1994 to study the effect of the structure of organizational knowledge basas, or the patterns of coupling between their ...elements of technical knowledge, on the usefulness of inventions and knowledge-base malleability. We argue that organizational variations in coupling patterns between knowledge elements can be reflected in a spectrum of knowledge-bbase structures--varying from fullydecomposable (the knowledge base n composed of distinct clusters of knowledge elements coupled together with no significant ties between clusters) through nearly decomposable (knowledge clusters are discernable but are connected through cross-cluster couplings) to non-decomposable (no knowledge clusters emerge, as the couplings are pervasively distributed)--and that organizations may differ in the way they use their knowledge because of variations in their knowledge-base structure, rather than because of differences in the knowledge elements themselves. Results show that a nearly decomposable knowledge base increases the usefulness of the inventions generated from it, as measured by patent citations, and also the knowledge base's malleability or capacity for change.
This article investigates how migrant social capital differentially influences individuals' migration and cumulatively generates divergent outcomes for communities. To combine the fragmented findings ...in the literature, the article proposes a framework that decomposes migrant social capital into resources (information about or assistance with migration), sources (prior migrants), and recipients (potential migrants). Analysis of multilevel and longitudinal data from 22 rural villages in Thailand shows that the probability of internal migration increases with the available resources, yet the magnitude of increase depends on recipients' characteristics and the strength of their ties to sources. Specifically, individuals become more likely to migrate if migrant social capital resources are greater and more accessible. The diversity of resources by occupation increases the likelihood of migration, while diversity by destination inhibits it. Resources from weakly tied sources, such as village members, have a higher effect on migration than resources from strongly tied sources in the household. Finally, the importance of resources for migration declines with recipients' own migration experience. These findings challenge the mainstream account of migrant social capital as a uniform resource that generates similar migration outcomes for different groups of individuals or in different settings. In Nang Rong villages, depending on the configuration of resources, sources, and recipients, migrant social capital leads to differential migration outcomes for individuals and divergent cumulative migration patterns in communities.
The first section of this paper documents the size of the association between health and one prominent economic status measure--household wealth. The next section deals with how health influences ...economic status by sketching out reasons why health may alter household savings (and eventually wealth) and then providing estimates of the empirical magnitude of these effects. The third section shifts attention to the other pathway--the links between economic status and health--and summarizes major controversies and evidence surrounding these issues.
Not properly accounting for differences between business owners and nonbusiness owners in studies of household wealth can lead to erroneous conclusions about the significance of different saving ...motives. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from the 1980s and 1990s, we show that within samples of both business owners and non—business owners, the amount of precautionary savings with respect to labor income risk is modest and accounts for less than 10% of total household wealth. Previous large estimates of the size of precautionary balances resulted from pooling these two groups together. Such pooling is inappropriate given that business owners face higher labor risk and accumulate more wealth than non—business owners for reasons unrelated to precautionary motives.
When do German firms change their dividends? Goergen, Marc; Renneboog, Luc; Correia da Silva, Luis
Journal of corporate finance (Amsterdam, Netherlands),
03/2005, Letnik:
11, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Dividends of German firms are often perceived to be more flexible than those of Anglo-American firms. We analyse the decision to change the dividend for 221 German firms over 1984–1993. Consistent ...with Lintner Am. Econ. Rev. 46 (1956) 97, net earnings are key determinants of dividend changes. However, our findings also refine those of Lintner Am. Econ. Rev. 46 (1956) 97 and Miller and Modigliani J. Bus. 34 (1961) 411. First, the occurrence of a loss is a key determinant of dividends in addition to the traditional key determinant, the level of net earnings. Second, the majority of dividend cuts or omissions are temporary. This stands in marked contrast with DeAngelo et al. J. Finance 47 (1992) 1837 who report that US firms are more likely to reduce their dividend when earnings deteriorate on a permanent basis. Finally, we find that firms with a bank as their major shareholder are more willing to omit their dividend than firms controlled by other shareholders.
This paper examines entrepreneurship in order to analyze, first, the degree to which the opportunity to start or own a business affects the household's saving behavior and the implication of this ...behavior for the distribution of wealth and, second, the relationship between the extent of entrepreneurship in the economy and socioeconomic mobility, that is, the movement of families across wealth classes over time.
First, a number of stylized facts based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Survey of Consumer Finances are outlined. They show relevant differences in asset holdings and wealth mobility between entrepreneurs and workers. Second, a dynamic general equilibrium model with an explicit formalization of the entrepreneurial choice is developed. Through the modeling of the entrepreneurial activities, the model generates a concentration of wealth similar to the one observed in the U.S. economy and it replicates the main patterns of wealth mobility in which entrepreneurs experience higher upward mobility than workers.
Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E21, D31, J23
In this paper, we consider the short- and long-run performance of UK firms following foreign acquisitions. Based on a near-exhaustive sample of significant foreign acquisitions by UK companies over ...the period 1985–1994, we show that short-run returns are insignificantly different from zero irrespective of the location of the acquisition. Further analysis reveals that the distribution of the event period returns is determined by changes in the exchange rate, the presence of the acquiring firm in the target country and by US tax reforms. While long-run returns are not significantly different from zero on average, they show considerable variation by region. Specifically, firms under-perform following acquisition in the US, show insignificant returns following acquisitions in the EU and acquisitions elsewhere show significant positive returns. Examination of the distribution of these returns suggest that, in accordance with the ownership–location–internalisation hypothesis of foreign direct investment (FDI), long-run performance is more likely to depend on the firm-specific advantages such as R&D.
This paper estimates the impact of unemployment on earnings following re-employment for a large and representative sample of British men, 1984-94. Unemployment incidence is found to have only a ...temporary effect, an average earnings setback of 10% on initial re-engagement largely eroding over two years. The effect of unemployment duration, by contrast, is permanent, a one-year spell adding a further penalty of 10 percentage points. These wage penalties are least for young men and the low paid - those most at risk of unemployment - and greatest for prime age and highly paid men.
This article presents a series of novelties with respect to previous studies of the effect of productive infrastructures on output growth. We study public investment in road infrastructures as a ...determinant of the total factor productivity (TFP) growth for Spanish provinces (NUTS 3) for the period 1984–1994. We allow the effect of road infrastructures to depend on the extent of the road use by provincial industries, proxied by these industries’ vehicle intensity. Moreover, we consider the services provided by the stock of road infrastructures as an impure public good, that is, one that is subject to congestion. Finally, using the instrumental variables technique, we account for possible problems of endogeneity in the regressions.
Resumen
Este artículo presenta una serie de novedades con respecto a estudios previos del efecto de infraestructuras productivas en el crecimiento de la producción. Estudiamos la inversión pública en infraestructura de carreteras como un determinante del crecimiento de la productividad factorial total (TFP) para provincias españolas (NUTS 3) durante el período 1984–1994. Permitimos que el efecto de infraestructura de carreteras dependa de la escala de utilización de las carreteras por industrias provinciales, representada mediante la intensidad de vehículos de estas industrias. Además, consideramos los servicios aportados por el conjunto de infraestructura de carreteras como un bien público impuro, es decir, uno sujeto a congestión. Finalmente, utilizando la técnica de variables instrumentales, tenemos en cuenta los posibles problemas de endogeneidad en las regresiones.
Data on all generic drug entries in the period 1984-1994 are used to estimate which markets heterogeneous potential entrants will decide to enter. I find that organizational experience predicts ...entry. Firms tend to enter markets with supply and demand characteristics similar to the firm's existing drugs. Larger revenue markets, markets with more hospital sales, and products that treat chronic conditions attract more entry. The simultaneous nature of entry leads to an additional interpretation: specialization is profitable because of the severe risk to profits when a market is "overentered." However, I am unable to make any conclusions about the efficiency of entry decisions.
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