The Impact of Cultural Distance on Bilateral Arm��s Length Exports

• Prior studies have argued and regularly found that cultural distance is negatively related to bilateral export flows, which are the sum of arm??s length and intra-firm exports. However, these macro-level studies overlook the firm-level insights that arm??s length exports are a substitute for arm??s length affiliate sales, and that firms?? choices between these substitutes are influenced by cultural distance.
• Moreover, intra-firm exports are a complement to arm??s length affiliate sales and hence likely to respond in the same way to cultural distance as such sales. The inclusion of intra-firm exports in export flows has thus obscured the effect of cultural distance on aggregate arm??s length exports.
• We overcome these conceptual and methodological deficiencies by examining how cultural distance influences aggregate arm??s length exports, while simultaneously considering its impact on aggregate arm??s length affiliate sales. Drawing on several strands of firm-level international business (IB) research, we argue that while arm??s length affiliate sales are likely to decline with cultural distance, this is not necessarily the case with arm??s length exports, which may in fact increase with cultural distance.
• Analyzing a panel dataset of US foreign affiliate sales and US exports to unaffiliated parties, we find that cultural distance negatively affects arm??s length affiliate sales but positively affects arm??s length exports. Our study thus shows that the explicit consideration of firm-level entry mode choices helps us better understand and explain macro-level IB activity.

     

Analysis on the Process Parameters’ Impact on the Temperature of Friction Stir Jointing Process of 7022 Aluminum Alloy

Strength of Materials - To better explore the influence of friction stir jointing process parameters on temperature field distribution in the jointing process, the forces acting on the tool and the...     

Degrees of Freedom of an Image in the Presence of Noise and ‘a Priori’ Information

Abstract

The mathematical technique applied by Gori and Guttari for calculation of degrees of freedom in images formed by point-like elemental pupils is extended to continuous pupils. Eigenvalues of the imaging equation are calculated for the sinc as well as the sinc² kernel. The effect of noise and ‘a priori’ information are taken into account.     

Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Research on ‘Born Global’ Firms and INVs: A Citation/Co-citation Analysis

The present research paper shows the results of an analysis of the existing literature on one of the topics that has sparked the most interest among scholars and researchers in the fields of international management and entrepreneurship: born global firms or international new ventures. Concretely, with the aim of identifying and visualising the intellectual structure of research on this phenomenon, a total of 124 research papers whose titles contain the above terms are analysed. The methodology is mainly based on the bibliometric techniques of document citation and co-citation analyses and the analysis of social networks.     

Firms’ integrating efforts to mitigate the tradeoff between controllability and flexibility

We consider three manufacturing capabilities: controllability, flexibility, and integrating capability. Controllability is a firm's ability to control its process to enhance efficiency and accuracy and to better meet specifications. Flexibility is a firm's ability to cope with uncertainty and variation, both internal and external. Integrating capability is a firm's ability to integrate and coordinate diverse functions and parts of its supply chain, embodied in overall operations effectiveness and new product innovation. We put forth two hypotheses. First, there is an inherent tradeoff between controllability and flexibility. Second, a firm's integrating effort across its supply chain enables it to overcome such a tradeoff, making it possible to improve both controllability and flexibility simultaneously. Using data from 193 manufacturing companies, we test our hypotheses. It turns out that the relationship between controllability and flexibility is convex-shaped, indicating there are two distinct regions: one in which the relationship is negative and the other, positive. Further, the firms in the positive relationship region make significantly more effort to integrate, that is to say coordinate and communicate, across their supply chains, implying that as the firm strives to integrate its supply chain functions, it can mitigate the tradeoff between controllability and flexibility to a considerable extent.     

MNEs’ strategies in Central and Eastern Europe: key elements of subsidiary behaviour

Abstract

Impact of electric vehicle development on China’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - This study investigates the impact of electric vehicle development on China’s greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy consumption from a life...     

Comments on ‘Effect of obstacle strength and spacing on the slope of Haasen plot’

In a recent paper, Mishra et al. [Effect of obstacle strength and spacing on the slope of Haasen plot. Mater Sci Technol. 2019;1–6. doi:10.1080/02670836.2019.1567043], discrepancy between theoretical and experimental results in the slope of the Haasen plot between pure metals and alloys were reported. The discrepancy arises from a common belief that when Haasen plot for pure metals is extended to metals with multiple strengthening mechanisms, the inverse of activation volume components can be linearly superposed. It is conjectured that the slope of the Haasen plot should remain the same for both the pure metals and alloys, as it is governed only by dislocation–dislocation interaction. The purpose of this note is to clarify that the conjecture of invariant Haasen slope is only a special case.     

Impact of the pull and push‐pull policies on the performance of a three‐stage supply chain

We investigate the performance of two common operating policies (i.e., pull and push‐pull) for a make‐to‐stock product in an un‐capacitated, three‐stage supply chain. The pull policy operates based on periodic orders received from the immediate downstream facility. However, in the push‐pull policy, while processes upstream of the order decoupling point are managed by the push policy, the downstream processes are managed by the pull policy. Simulation experiments are conducted to examine the impact of each operating policy under a variety of experimental conditions, characterised by demand uncertainty and lead‐time variability. Our results indicate that the relative advantage of the two policies is dependent on the type of uncertainty, the level of uncertainty, the inventory control policy and the performance measures of interest. More specifically, while the push‐pull policy results in lower inventory, the pull policy yields a better fill rate. This is in contrast to the notion that the pull policy generally results in superior inventory performance. Our findings suggest that firms should carefully consider the level of uncertainty, the inventory control policy and the performance measures of interest when determining the operating policy.     

Is the Strategic Asset Seeking Investment Proclivity of Chinese MNEs Different to that of Developed Market MNEs? A Comparative Analysis of Location Choice and Orientation

Do emerging market MNEs acquire strategic assets in psychically distant developed markets to augment the firm-specific advantages they lack? This question is central to current conceptual discussion of their FDI strategies. To date, however, empirical testing has focused on emerging market MNE FDI location choices in isolation to indirectly infer facts about strategic asset seeking orientation. There are two weaknesses with this approach. First, comparative analysis with developed market MNEs is limited. Second, the focus on geographical location choices does not account for important direct, firm-level evidence on the strategic assets found in foreign subsidiaries. To address these gaps, we first undertake a comparative location choice study of Chinese MNE and developed market MNE FDI in the US. Second, we test corresponding firm-level US subsidiary data using logit modelling to explore whether there are differences between Chinese and developed market MNEs. Our results indicate similarities, rather than differences, in the strategic asset seeking behavior of Chinese and developed market MNEs. This calls into question whether theoretical extension is necessary to explain the behavior of emerging market MNEs as well as the value of indirect, location choice approaches to the analysis of strategic asset seeking FDI.     

Individual and joint effect of patenting and exporting on the university spin-offs’ survival

University spin-offs (USOs) have become a common way to transfer new knowledge to society and create value, boosting economic growth. While innovative and export activities have been extensively researched as survival drivers in the organizational literature, the joint effects of both activities on firm survival has often been ignored, especially in the analysis of the USOs' survival. Using a sample of 498 Spanish USOs over the period 2005 to 2013, this paper explores the simultaneous effect of innovation and exports on the USOs' survival by applying event analysis techniques through the Cox proportional hazards model. The results reveal that patenting becomes a risky activity, particularly on early stages, when USOs have a weak resource base, which increase the failure chances. However, exports have a positive effect on the USOs’ survival. At the same time, exporting reduces the failure chances of the innovative USOs, which means that competing on international markets can counterbalance the potential risks of patenting.     

Measurement of driver calibration and the impact of feedback on drivers’ estimates of performance

Recent studies focused on driver calibration show that drivers are often miscalibrated, either over confident or under confident, and the magnitude of this miscalibration changes under different conditions. Previous work has demonstrated behavioral and performance benefits of feedback, yet these studies have not explicitly examined the issue of calibration. The objective of this study was to examine driver calibration, i.e., the degree to which drivers are accurately aware of their performance, and determine whether feedback alters driver calibration. Twenty-four drivers completed a series of driving tasks (pace clocks, traffic light, speed maintenance, and traffic cones) on a test track. Drivers drove three different blocks around the test track: (1) baseline block, where no participants received feedback; (2) feedback block, where half of the participants received performance feedback while the other half received no feedback; (3) a no feedback block, where no participants received feedback. Results indicated that across two different calibration measures, drivers were sufficiently calibrated to the pace clocks, traffic light, and traffic cone tasks. Drivers were not accurately aware of their performance regarding speed maintenance, though receiving feedback on this task improved calibration. Proper and accurate measurements of driver calibration are needed before designing performance feedback to improve calibration as these feedback systems may not always yield the intended results.     

Impact of interface microstructure on adhesion force between silver paste and silicon solar cells’ emitter

The adhesion strength between silver paste and silicon solar cell’s emitter is a primary source of long-term degradation in solar modules. In this study, the interface microstructure between screen-printed silver thick-film and silicon solar cells’ emitter was studied. Three kinds of commercial silver pastes were printed on silicon solar cells’ emitter to form different Ag–Si contact structures. The interface microstructure between silver paste and emitter was observed by SEM, while the compositions of Ag thick-film were analyzed by EDX. The deductions we got from SEM and EDX were verified by the pull test for the first time. The results presented in this study give some suggestions to the development of silver paste and crystalline silicon solar cells’ fire-through.     

Aluminum Fixed Point: Impact of the Time Spent in the Liquid Phase on the Liquid�CSolid Transition and Obviousness of the Pollution of the Ingot

In order to improve the uncertainty on the aluminum fixed point, a study was launched by Laboratoire Commun de Métrologie LNE-CNAM in the frame of the EURAMET Project 732 ??Toward more accurate temperature fixed points?? (coordinating laboratory: France, 17 partner countries). An earlier study completed in this laboratory showed that in regular realization of the melting?Cfreezing plateaus, there is no diffusion of impurities in the thickness of the ingot, or the diffusion is excessively slow and cannot allow a uniform distribution of the impurities. On the other hand, it is frequently noticed that the experimental conditions before the freezing plateau have an impact on its characteristics (value, slope,??). Up to now, no systematic study was performed on the influence of this parameter. So, the objective of the task started recently in this laboratory is to investigate the influence of the time spent in the liquid phase on the phase transition. As a final result, it is demonstrated that in order to reach the equilibrium of the concentration of impurities, it is necessary to ensure that the metal remains in the liquid phase at least 24 h before initiating the freeze. At the end of the process, the aluminum ingot was chemically analyzed. The analyses reveal large contaminations of the surface of the ingot (sodium, sulfur, and phosphorus). One of the important outputs of this study is that the conditions of usage of the cells should be given important attention since large contaminations can be brought by the furnace.     

Impact of h-index on author’s rankings: an improvement to the h-index for lower-ranked authors

Scientometrics - In academia, the research performance of a faculty is evaluated based on the number of publications, the number of citations, and the impact of publication where one publishes....