• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.27-37
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• 2015

Purpose - This study first explores the possible dynamic relationship between ownership structure and firm performance using a panel of 4,900 Chinese-listed small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 1999 to 2012. Research design, data, and methodology - We address this issue through a dynamic panel model using a method of moments (GMM) technique and dynamic simultaneous equations to alleviate the potential endogenous problem: unobserved heterogeneity, simultaneity, and dynamic endogeneity. Results - Under the framework of dynamic endogeneity, firm performance has a significantly positive influence on ownership, but not vice versa. Ownership and performance can be explained by their owned lagged values, respectively. Moreover, intertemporal endogeneity exists among ownership, investment, and performance through the application of system dynamic equations, which implies that the relationship among ownership structure, investment, and firm performance is dynamic by nature. Conclusions - This study also significantly contributes to a better understanding of dynamic corporate governance by providing further empirical evidence from the largest capital market in the Asian region.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-29
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• 2014

To provide a fundamental understanding on the inherent relationship between IT capabilities and sustainable firm heterogeneity, we investigate the dual roles that institutional pressures play, namely, as antecedents of IT capabilities and as moderator of the relationship between IT capabilities and IT innovation success, where IT innovation success plays a mediating role between IT capabilities and firm performance. The structural model was tested, and the results of the PLS analysis provided general support for the proposed hypotheses. IT capabilities had an indirect effect mediated by IT innovation success on firm performance. With IT activities assumed to be embedded in the institutional context, the dual roles of institutional pressures are verified. This study contributes to the literature on IT capabilities by considering both the determining role of institutional pressures on IT capabilities and the institutional context of the chain that connects IT capabilities to firm performance. The results suggest that a firm not only manages various institutional pressures to foster its IT capabilities but also adapts to different contexts with a certain level of institutional pressures to facilitate its IT capabilities and outperform its competitors, which could be sustained through IT innovation success.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.37-46
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• 2018

Purpose - This paper explores the determinants of bank lending to firms during and after the global financial crisis using firm- and bank-level data to answer the questions what caused the contraction of lending to firms despite the loosening monetary policy during this crisis period. Research design, data, and methodology - We investigate the effects of the monetary policy that followed the global financial crisis on firms borrowing. We use a dynamic panel model to address how firms lending respond to monetary policy. The data are obtained from CRETOP and we consider the manufacturing sector for the analysis to control for unobserved heterogeneity such as industry-specific shocks. Results - The findings from the empirical analysis suggest that both bank- and firm-level characteristics are significant determinants of bank lending. Especially, we find that corporate risk, measured by default risk, is one of the key factors that led to a decline in lending during the crisis. Conclusions - This paper shows that companies borrow more from liquid banks, and high bank capital can also contribute to an increase in a firm's borrowing from banks. Especially, the results confirm that the default rate measured at the firm level has increased during and after the global financial crisis, which implies that default risk interplays with other firm and bank-level characteristics.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.57-72
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• 2016

This Paper investigates the role of wealth distributions and Financial institutions of an economy on within-industry firm heterogeneity in productivity. If there is no Financial imperfection so that entrepreneurs are not constrained in borrowing all of them make the same, productivity-enhancing investment. International Trade industry average productivity also increases the avoidance of capital and international capital movements developing countries linked by lead industry cuts in global investing. International Trade of goods, on the other hand, amplifies this impact of capital mobility when capital structures the countries.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.69-88
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• 2018

Using a panel data set covering 19 Korean manufacturing sectors for the period 2009-2015, this paper investigates the extent to which industry characteristics affect the mode of entering foreign markets. The estimation results across various specifications show that firms prefer affiliate sales to export as firm heterogeneity increases, implying positive effects of productivity regarding foreign relative to domestic operations. The motive for overseas production is reinforced as economies of scale at the plant level decrease and economies of scale at the corporate level increase.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.169-202
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• 2019

Productivity in agriculture or services has long been understood as playing an important role in the growth of manufacturing. In this paper we present a general equilibrium model in which manufacturing growth is stimulated by non-manufacturing sectors that provides goods used in both research and final consumption. The model permits the evaluation of two policy options for stimulating manufacturing growth: (1) a country imports more non-manufacturing goods from a foreign country with higher productivity and (2) a country increases productivity of domestic non-manufacturing. We find that both policies improve welfare of the economy, but depending on the policy the manufacturing sector responses differently. Specifically, employment and value-added in manufacturing increase with policy (1), but contract with policy (2). Therefore, specialization of the import non-manufactured goods helps explain why some Asian economies experience rapid growth in the manufacturing sector without progress in other sectors.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.61-72
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• 2013

Purpose - It is widely accepted that the process of developing marketing strategy is composed of three steps: market segmentation, target market selection and positioning. However, mass marketing strategy based on cost reduction through economies of scale and standardized products, can be also an effective strategic option. Many marketing scholars including Theodore Levitt emphasize the importance of applying the mass production concept to various industries including service industries. Especially, in times of economic downturn, the capability of providing consumers with low-priced, value products can be an important source of competitive advantage, as well as the ability of providing high-priced premium products. Marketers should decide whether they will implement mass marketing strategy or target marketing strategy. The present study theoretically shows that firms should understand the target customers' price elasticity as well as the firm's cost structure in order to make such a strategic decision. Research design, data, and methodology - Instead of implementing an empirical study, this study provides a theoretical(mathematical) investigation on the effect of consumers' price elasticity on a firm's optimal price level, profit, sales volume, revenue, and cost. The results are mostly deduced from derivative calculations and several graphs are utilized to represent the results on the relationships between the variables under study. Results - The analytical results suggest that it is more profitable for a firm to adopt the segment/target marketing strategy (more specifically the differentiation strategy) when the degree of consumers' heterogeneity is high and the proportion of the fixed cost in the total cost is low. On the other hand, if the degree of consumers' heterogeneity is low and the fixed cost is high, it is better to adopt the mass marketing strategy or the cost leadership strategy. The strategy of concentrating on a single target market will be effective when consumers' needs are highly heterogeneous but the fixed cost is high. Any of the three types of generic strategies proposed my Porter(1980, 1985) can be applied when both the consumers' heterogeneity and the fixed cost are low. This study also proposes the contribution-margin-based method for developing the optimal pricing strategy. Conclusions - One of the primary roles of marketers is to find a proper compromise between the two conflicting goals of maximizing customer satisfaction and minimizing cost. In order to do so, he or she should understand the characteristics of the target customers as well as the cost structure of the firm. In addition to the theoretical analyses, this study discusses several business cases and explains how superior companies find the optimal compromise position between these two goals and dominate the market. One of the radical changes recently taking place in business arena is the reduction of production and distribution costs of both physical goods and information due to the advancement and the wide diffusion of information technology. The cost reduction combined with lowered priced elasticity incurred by customized products and services, will enable many firms to adopt the mass customization strategy.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.98-136
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• 2020

We empirically investigate the determinants of a firm's exit from exporting, using Korean manufacturing firm-level data for the period from 2006 to 2014. Specifically, we estimate the effects of not only firm-level and industry-level characteristics, but also macroeconomic variables on the probability that a firm stops exporting by applying a Complementary Log-Log Model analysis. The results of our estimation suggest that firm-level heterogeneity, such as workforce size, capital intensity, intangible assets and foreign ownership, industry-level variation, such as the labor displacement rate, and macroeconomic variables, such as domestic demand and world demand, significantly affect the possibility of a firm ceasing exports. Also, we show that market interest rates increase the possibility of an export cessation and that the effects of market interest rates are more pronounced on firms with a higher debt ratio. In the primary exporting industries, the probability of a firm ceasing exports decreases as productivity at the firm rises.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.385-432
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• 2017

This paper investigates how firm age, size and ownership are related with job creation and destruction, and how these patterns differ across transition and non-transition economies. The analysis finds that age is inversely related with gross job creation and net job creation in the two samples. This finding is consistent with the theory of the learning effect. The relationship between age and job destruction is indifferent in non-transition economies. On the contrary, old firms in transition economies destroy more jobs than young ones. The paper further establishes an inverse relationship between size and gross job creation in the two groups. However, there is divergence between the two samples; small firms in non-transition economies also exhibit a higher gross job destruction rate. Consequently large firms have a higher net job creation rate. In transition economies, small and large firms exhibit similar rates of job destruction. But small firms retain a higher net job creation rate. A more intriguing finding is that state owned firms do not underperform domestic private ones. This means these countries may be using soft budget constraint which allows state owned firms to overstaff. Finally, crowding out of SMEs by foreign owned firms is not evident in transition economies.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.527-542
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• 2021

The government-driven open data policies are on the rise to protect consumers from misunderstandings and monitor the companies. However, in contract-based industries such as insurance, the contract-inherent characteristics make information asymmetry between consumers and companies. Our paper focuses on insurance contracts where the contingency has high uncertainty of occurrence, and the clauses may incur high costs of reading. Given those contracts, we hypothesized that the contract's clear statement decreases customer dissatisfaction and lowers the number of complaints. To empirically support the claim, we collected customers' complaint documents of insurance companies and insurance contracts from 2005 until 2017. Our econometric models showed that clearer statements and words significantly reduce the complaints after controlling for firm-specific heterogeneity and time-specific heterogeneity. We identify that insurance companies' complaint ratio significantly differ depending on the insurance contract, including specific clauses and words.