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Abstract: Destination branding attempts to frame the place in a unique manner, so that it will stand out in the global tourism market. The assertion of uniqueness has become an institutionalized global practice for celebrating destination identity. The emphasis on uniqueness in the destination brand however overshadows another important but complementary strategy: the accreditation approach. This paper gives attention to the accreditation strategy while presenting the Singapore case. By looking at the newly inaugurated Formula One car races in Singapore and the soon-to-be-opened integrated resorts, this paper argues that the Singaporean authorities are actually making Singapore less unique and more similar to other places. This strategy is advantageous because these new attractions will draw the attention of the global masses and they will also accredit Singapore as vibrant, glamourous and trendy. So, this paper shows why – despite the attempt to be different – destination authorities are learning from each other and pursuing similar attractions for their destinations. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7952 Files in this item: 1
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Evidence from CEO TransitionsBennedsen, Morten; Nielsen, Kasper (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Economists have long acknowledged that the structure of the family (number of offspring, marital status, etc.) plays a crucial role in important economic decisions (e.g., labor supply, demand patterns, portfolio choice, educational attainment). In this paper we investigate the link between family structure and corporate decisions of family firms. Even though there is considerable anecdotal evidence on this link, there is no systematic study. This paper fills this gap. To this end, we assembled a unique dataset with accounting information from 1995 to 2002 of the universe of privately held firms in Denmark. Our dataset includes the family trees of the owners as well as personal information about all family members. This information allows us to identify family firms among privately held firms. We find that, using a 50% definition of control, 89% of privately held firms are family firms. We focus on the decision whether to choose a family member or an outsider as the next CEO. We show that the larger the pool of potential heirs, the higher the probability of family transition. Also we document that this probability is significantly lower when all offspring are female. Finally, family conflicts (proxied by divorce or multiple marriages) reduce the probability of family transition. In a robustness check we show that there is a causal effect from family structure to corporate decisions. We do this by instrumentimg the number of children with sibling sex composition and by restricting the sample to one in which founders had their last child years before founding the firm. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7631 Files in this item: 1
wpec032004.pdf (354.0Kb) -
Skov, Lise; Skjold, Else; Moeran, Brian; Larsen, Frederik; Csaba, Fabian F. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Not so many years ago, the fashion industry was called a ‘sunset industry’, and was deemed to have no future in the most developed countries. But recently, the New York Times has suggested that ‘the sun never sets on the runway’ (Wilson, 2008). Under this heading the article described the diffusion of fashion week organizations, with accompanying fashion shows, that are no longer limited to a handful of fashion capitals, but are spreading to small-country capitals and medium-sized cities all around the world. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7943 Files in this item: 1
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Non-linearity and Absorptive CapacityChen, Taotao; Kokko, Ari; Tingvall, Patrik Gustavsson (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Using a fixed effect variance decomposition model, we estimate SUR models to analyze FDI spillovers from contagion and spillovers from competition on local firms in China. While the former type of spillover mainly depends on the degree of foreign presence in the local industry, the latter kind is related to how foreign and local firms interact. The main conclusion is that FDI has been beneficial for the Chinese economy, but that spillovers are not evenly distributed across firms and industries. Spillovers from contagion tend to exhibit an inverse U-shaped pattern with respect to the degree of foreign presence at the industry level, whereas spillovers from competition are more linear with respect to the level of technological sophistication of foreign firms. Industries with high absorptive capacity and/or high efficiency are the ones best equipped to take advantage of spillovers from foreign-owned firms. Moreover, there are signs of substantial competition between foreign-owned firms. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8033 Files in this item: 1
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evidence from ArgentinaNarula, Rajneesh; Marin, Anabel (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: It is nowadays generally accepted that inward foreign direct investment (FDI) is crucial as a source of technological spillovers. One of the objectives of this paper is to review the evidence on the quantity and quality of human capital employed by domestic and foreign firms. We examine whether spillovers accrue from MNE activity, and provide a preliminary understanding of why MNE spillovers remain somewhat ambiguous, particularly in developing countries, paying particular attention to human capital development. Our analysis is supported by data from the Innovation Survey in Argentina. On the whole, MNE subsidiaries hired more professionals than domestic firms of the same size, possessed a more skilled labour force overall, and spent more on training than similar domestic firms. Subsidiaries in Argentina effectively have a higher labour productivity and pay higher wages. Yet, in terms of knowledge creation and utilisation, there was little to differentiate affiliates from domestic firms. While there is little evidence of widespread FDI spillovers, where spillovers did occur, it was where domestic firms demonstrated high investment in absorptive capacities. Our analysis also suggests that much of MNE activity - particularly after liberalisation - has been of the kind that by definition has limited opportunities for linkages and spillovers. These are activities in which MNEs may simply be able to generate economic rent from their superior knowledge of markets, and their ability to efficiently utilise their multinational network of affiliates. These assets are not generally easily spilled over to domestic firms. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6593 Files in this item: 1
narula marin 2003-016.pdf (382.4Kb) -
Some Lessons from United States Constitutional HistorySweeney, Richard J. (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: A constitution is more likely to be accepted if it federalizes those issues that are widely seen as needing complete harmonization. A constitution is more likely to endure if the federal government does not have powers that are not vital to it but which may alienate some member states to the point that the federal government loses legitimacy. It appears vital to have trade policy at the European Union level; for euro countries, monetary policy is already federalized. It is not clear that common foreign and defense policies are needed; insisting on common foreign and defense policies may lead to conflicts within and across member states that severely weaken the Union, conceivably contributing to eventual collapse. Insisting on harmonization of commercial codes does not have the destructive potential of attempting completely to harmonize defense and foreign policies; it may, however, lead to needless conflict that helps drain the reservoir of goodwill that the European Union will need for dealing with other conflicts amongst member states. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6787 Files in this item: 1
wplefic092003.pdf (442.7Kb) -
Uldam, Julie (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In the wake of increasing disillusion with the potential of alternative online media for providing social movements with a virtual space for self-representation and visibility (Atton, 2002; Downing, 2001; Rodriguez, 2001) activists have been adopting online social media into their media practices. With their popular appeal and multimodal affordances social media such as YouTube and Facebook have reinvigorated hopes for the potential of the internet for providing social movements such as the Global Justice Movement, which is often misrepresented as a homogeneous and in a negative light in the mass media (Gamson and Wolfsfeld, 1993; Juris, 2008), with new possibilities for promoting self-representations to wider publics – beyond the echo chambers of alternative media (Cammaerts, 2007; Sunstein, 2001). In the mediation of institutional politics the increasing use of popular online spaces has brought about the term ’YouTube‐ification of Politics’ (Turnsek and Jankowski, 2008). However, two challenges remain: the first relates to fragmentation – the internet’s properties as a ‘pull-medium’ is argued to merely connect likeminded users (Cammaerts, 2007: 138). The second relates to ’lazy politics’ – the internet’s ephemeral properties are argued to facilitate brief participation in single-issue campaigns that fails to foster political engagement (Fenton, 2008a: 52). This thesis focuses on the latter. It addresses the possibilities of popular online spaces for fostering collective solidarity and political engagement in social movement organisations. It explores how these possibilities are played out in the online arena of popular sites employed by the two London-based social movement organisations: the World Development Movement (WDM) and War on Want. Drawing on the cases of WDM and War on Want, the thesis addresses three dimensions of these practices, exploring (1) rationales for using popular online spaces to promote the SMO agenda; (2) the social movement organisations’ online campaigns; and (3) members’ identifications with the campaigns through discourse analysis and interviews with SMO directors, campaign, outreach and web officers as well as SMO members. It is by analysing how SMOs use different online spaces as locations for strategic framing and the formation of political identities that we can begin to study how the internet may contribute to an agonistic public sphere where also voices of dissent are heard. The thesis is based on Mouffe’s understanding of politics and the political as grounded in discourse but also based on a view of political engagement as conflictual, affective and sometimes irrational (Cammaerts, 2007; Fenton, 2009; Mouffe, 2005). Even though this does not mean that SMOs do not apply rational considerations in planning their strategic agendas for public visibility and legitimacy, it does mean that the study of these considerations need to take into account this dual character of political discourse as both rational and affective (Hajer and Versteeg, 2005). Therefore, we need to consider instrumental and affective issues to understand the relationship between strategic protest and the underlying dynamics of intragroup commitment (Griggs and Howarth, 2002; Snow et al., 1986) – the interconnections between strategy and identity, external resonance and internal commitment. In this way, the democratic potentialities of the internet can be seen as not only related to the ways in which SMOs communicate their agenda but also to potentialities for forging political identities and commitment (Fenton, 2008a). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8211 Files in this item: 1
Julie_Uldam.pdf (6.193Mb) -
Moeran, Brian (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This working paper examines the field of Japanese publishing through a single event – the Tokyo International Book Fair – and analyses the part played by the three main players in the publishing industry: publishing houses, wholesale distributors, and bookstores and other retail outlets. It argues that the mutual relationships between the three are supported by two structural factors, the consignment sales and resale price maintenance (RPM) systems, before comparing the latter with the Net Book Agreement (NBA) that operated in the UK publishing industry for almost the whole of the 20th century. In conclusion, taking into account the rise of Internet retailing and the growth of Japanese chain retail stores, it tries to looks at what effect the abolition of RPM might have on the field of Japanese publishing. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8051 Files in this item: 1
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a cross-cultural comparison of ELLEMoeran, Brian (København, 2002)[More information][Less information]
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advertising social organisation in JapanMoeran, Brian (København, 2002)[More information][Less information]
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Olai Hansen, Bodil; Keiding, Hans (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We consider a simple model of international trade under uncertainty, where production takes time and is subject to uncertainty. The riskiness of production depends on the choices of the producers, not observable to the general public, and these choices are influenced by the availability and cost of credit. If investment is financed by a bond market, then a situation may arise where otherwise identical countries end up with different levels of interest and different choices of technique, which again implies differences in achieved level of welfare. Under suitable conditions on the parameters of the model, the market may not be able to supply credits to one of the countries. The introduction of financial intermediaries with the ability to control the debtors may change this situation in a direction which is welfare improving (in a suitable sense) by increasing expected output in the country with high interest rates, while opening up for new problems of asymmetric information with respect to the monitoring activity of the banks. Keywords: Capital outflow, financial intermediaries, moral hazard JEL classification: F36, D92, E44 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7498 Files in this item: 1
wpec072004.pdf (112.4Kb) -
Eamets, Raul; Mygind, Niels; Spitsa, Natalia (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Presently, legal regulation of participation of employees – financial participation as well as participation in decision-making – is not well developed in Estonia. On the one hand, it is due to the fact that no tradition of employee participation could have been formed after Estonia became independent because different, contrary political aims, e.g. development of the free-market economy and promotion of national elites, were given priority. Although employee ownership emerged during the early stage of privatization, it was a temporary phenomenon. Earlier experience with employee participation in decision-making was considered to be a relict from the time under Soviet rule and, therefore, to be discredited and not worth following. On the other hand, the solution of current employment and social problems is not associated with a higher level of participation of employees. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7112 Files in this item: 1
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Klauberg, Theis; Muravska, Tatyana; Mygind, Niels; Rezepina, Irina (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This report outlines main trends in employees' financial participation in Latvia including historical, socioeconomic and legal background. A special emphasis is placed on privatization during the transition period which shaped an environment for employees’ financial participation and influenced the current state of employee share ownership and profit-sharing. Attitudes of social partners and the government will be addressed. The report will show why the transition process lead to a low level of employees’ financial participation and the indifference and ignorance of policy makers concerning the development of financial participation. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7114 Files in this item: 1
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Darškuviené, Valdoné; Hanisch, Stefan; Mygind, Niels (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Participation of employees in decision-making in Lithuanian companies has its roots in trade union movement as well as in the practice of managing companies under Soviet rule. After Lithuania regained independence, employee ownership was used to facilitate privatization. A notable success was establishment of a number of employee-owned companies that were formerly state-owned enterprises during the first stage of privatization. However, no stronger tradition of employee participation has evolved. Current legal regulation of participation of employees - financial participation, as well as participation in decision-making - is not well developed and does not provide for stronger incentives. The solution of current employment and social problems by the Government, ruling parties as well as social partners is not associated with a higher level of participation of employees. Financial participation is viewed mainly as a way of employee motivation as initiated by managers and current owners of companies. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7110 Files in this item: 1
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Lessons from the UKMallin, Chris; Mullineux, Andy; Wihlborg, Clas (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In 1992 the Cadbury Committee report on the financial aspects of corporate governance was published. The Committee had been established following the failures of a number of high profile businesses in the UK which had shaken confidence in the market. Some nine years later, in 2001, the collapse of Enron sent shockwaves through the US market. As a result of the Enron collapse and various other high profile scandals in the years since its occurrence, the US is examining its own corporate governance structures and provisions to determine how these might be improved and help avoid another Enron. The EU similarly is developing principles and legislation to improve corporate governance, and scandals such as Royal Ahold and Parmalat have helped drive further governance reforms. In this paper we detail the development of corporate governance codes in the UK and the adaptation of similar codes in the EU. We discuss the role of the financial sector in corporate governance and how principles for regulation and supervision of the financial sector complement codes of conduct and legislation in the area of corporate governance. JEL Classification numbers: G34, G28, G22, G23 Keywords: corporate governance, financial sector; institutional investors. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6789 Files in this item: 1
wplefic062004.pdf (171.8Kb) -
Wihlborg, Clas (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
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Håkanson, Lars (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Based on a social-constructivist conceptualization of knowledge as residing in groups of practitioners, epistemic communities, this paper proposes a new perspective on the knowledge based view of the firm and sketches the outline of a new research agenda. It argues that the cost of governing knowledge processes depends as much on the cognitive background of the exchange partners as on the tacitness of the knowledge. Firms exist because they may form epistemic communities in their own right with enabling and motivational properties superior to those of markets in the governance of knowledge processes across epistemic boundaries. Establishing a firm as an epistemic community requires transaction specific investments that are difficult to realize under market forms of governance. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6534 Files in this item: 1
wp4-2008.pdf (121.6Kb) -
Laursen, Keld, Volker, Per Mahnke, Vejrup-Hansen (Frederiksberg, 1999)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Although there are several theories of growth of the firm, the literature is limited in two interrelated respects. First, empirical evidence does not match well theoretical predictions. Second, the firm growth literature does not address the structure of knowledge both in firms and sectors as well as knowledge flows between them. Based on existing theoretical and empirical literature, the paper outlines an ‘appreciative’ theory of firm growth and presents new testable hypotheses to inform present and future empirical research. The paper seeks to address this gap by analysing not only levels of human capital, but also its composition both on a firm and sector level. A key departure from earlier approaches is the inclusion of the role of ‘knowledge structures’ played in the growth of the firm. In this context make a distinction between (a) levels of human capital available to firms, (b) the composition of various kinds of human capital (‘firm- specific’, ‘industry-specific’, and ‘general knowledge’) contained, and (c) the diversity of knowledge domains represented to characterise the knowledge structure of firms. In addition, we present our first empirical results, using the knowledge structure approach. In the first part of our empirical analysis we find – while controlling for intial size and industry affiliation – that the availability of a high fraction of employees with higher education within each establishment (an aspect of ‘general kowledge’), is in general conducive to establishment growth. In the second part of the empirical analysis, we find important sectoral differences with respect to the ability of the level of formal education to explain firms growth. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8086 Files in this item: 1
8778730813.pdf (145.9Kb) -
Laursen, Keld; Vejrup-Hansen, Per (Frederiksberg, 1999)[More information][Less information]
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The Role of Competition and of the Initial Firm Efficiency. Evidence from the Czech Republicla Cour, Lisbeth; Ionascu, Delia (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: It has been argued that the effect of competition on a company’s incentive to innovate and to reduce managerial slack depends on the initial level of efficiency. For example, while firms close to the technology frontier invest more in innovation if competition increases, backward firms reduce innovation. On a panel data of Czech companies, for the years 1993-2005, we empirically assess the impact of increased competition on firm productivity and the importance of the initial firm efficiency level. We depart from the empirical literature on emerging markets by taking into account both domestic and foreign competition. In line with the theory, our results show that there is an inverted U-relationship between domestic competition and firm productivity. Our results also confirm that trade liberalization has a positive impact on productivity. However, the effect is less significant if domestic competition is not taken into account. In addition, we find that both domestic and foreign competition have an effect on productivity in companies close to the technology frontier but not in backward companies. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7653 Files in this item: 1
wp9-2007.pdf (2.398Mb)