What does it take to be a star? The role of performance and the media for German soccer players

We test existing superstar theories for the German soccer league. We use various measures for individual players’ performance and media presence to analyze whether performance and popularity can explain salaries and superstars in soccer. Moreover, we argue that quantile regression technique should be applied to analyze superstar phenomena instead of OLS used hitherto.Superstars, soccer, quantile regressions, Rosen, Adler

Bindungswirkung von Standards im Bereich Corporate Governance

Dem Phänomen Corporate Governance nähern sich Juristen und Ökonomen bisher weitgehend aus einem diametralen Blickwinkel heraus. Betrachten wir die zwei Enden des Intervalls von Austauschprozessen, so erfolgt(e) der Blickwinkel der Ökonomen weitgehend aus Richtung des Marktes, während Rechtswissenschaftler das andere Extrem, die Hierarchie wählen. Dieser Beitrag hebt die Problematik der Bindungswirkung von Standards im Bereich der Corporate Governance hervor. Er nimmt Bezug auf den Beitrag von Windbichler, deren Ausführungen im Spannungsfeld zwischen dem Wunsch nach einer größeren Verbindlichkeit von Soft Law einerseits und andererseits der Gefahr einer übermäßig legitimierten Bindungswirkung liegen. Sie greift diese Problematik auf, indem sie exemplarisch Varianten von Standards und deren Bindungswirkung aufzeigt. Hierzu werden Beispiele von soft law aus der Bilanzierung, der Managementvergütung, der Sarbanes-Oxley-Act (SOX) sowie einzelner Regelwerke, wie der UN Global Compact oder den Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes herangezogen. Die Setzung von Standards, ungeachtet der Vor- und Nachteile hinsichtlich ihrer Bindungswirkung, fördert den Diskurs über taugliche Steuerungsmechanismen und eröffnet einen aufschlussreichen Wettbewerb. In diesem vorliegenden Beitrag werden die vorgebrachten juristischen Argumente aus dem Blickwinkel eines Wirtschaftswissenschaftlers heraus beleuchtet

Entrepreneurial ecosystems: a dynamic lifecycle model

The concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems has been used as a framework to explain entrepreneurial activities within regions and industrial sectors. Despite the usefulness of this approach, the concept is under-theorized, especially with regard to the evolution of entrepreneurial ecosystems. The current literature is lacking a theoretical foundation that addresses the development and change of entrepreneurial ecosystems over time and does not consider the inherent dynamics of entrepreneurial ecosystems that lead to their birth, growth, maturity, decline, and re-emergence. Taking an industry lifecycle perspective, this paper addresses this research gap by elaborating a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem lifecycle model. We propose that an ecosystem transitions from an entrepreneurial ecosystem, with a focus on new firm creation, towards a business ecosystem, with a core focus on the internal commercialization of knowledge, i.e., intrapreneurial activities, and vice versa. Our dynamic model thus captures the oscillation that occurs among entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs through the different phases of an ecosystem’s lifecycle. Our dynamic lifecycle model may thus serve as a starting point for future empirical studies focusing on ecosystems and provide the basis for a further understanding of the interrelatedness between and co-existence of new and incumbent firms

Entrepreneurial Human Capital, Complementary Assets, and Takeover Probability

Gaining access to technologies, competencies, and knowledge is observed as one of the major motives for corporate mergers and acquisitions. In this paper we show that a knowledge-based firm’s probability of being a takeover target is influenced by whether relevant specific human capital aimed for in acquisitions is directly accumulated within a specific firm or is bound to its founder or manager owner. We analyze the incentive effects of different arrangements of ownership in a firm’s assets in the spirit of the Grossman-Hart-Moore incomplete contracts theory of the firm. This approach highlights the organizational significance of ownership of complementary assets. In a small theoretical model we assume that the entrepreneur’s specific human capital, as measured by the patents they own, and the physical assets of their firm are productive only when used together. Our results show that it is not worthwhile for an acquirer to purchase the alienable assets of this firm due to weakened incentives for the initial owner. Regression analysis using a hand collected dataset of all German IPOs in the period from 1997 to 2006 subsequently provides empirical support for this prediction. This paper adds to previous research in that it puts empirical evidence to the Grossman-Hart-Moore framework of incomplete contracts or property rights respectively. Secondly, we show that relevant specific human capital that is accumulated by a firm’s founder or manager owner significantly decreases that firm’s probability of being a takeover target.ownership structure, property rights, mergers & acquisitions

Adverse selection and the economic limits of market substitution: An application to e-commerce and traditional trade in used cars

Adverse selection induces economic limits to market substitution. If quality uncertainty persists in both internet and traditional marketplaces, a second-best equilibrium with parallel market segments may arise. Positive trade in parallel segments implies that the information cost advantage of one marketplace is exactly offset by a more severe adverse selection problem associated with non-observable quality variables. The electronic marketplace providing dominant search means contains all segments, while the traditional market may lack some segments. These missing segments are characterized by low quality expectations given the vector of advertised quality signals. The analytic results are confirmed by an empirical investigation of used-car trade. Thus, the study also provides an estimate of the price differential between the electronic and the traditional marketplace

The impact of regional endowment and university characteristics on university efficiency

This study examines the impact of both university characteristics and regional endowment factors on the efficiency of universities at providing teaching and research. Evidence from 94 universities located in different areas of the UK provides compelling evidence that factors beyond the control of the university management shape technical efficiency. In particular, we analyze whether regional endowment can disadvantage universities and thus reduce their efficiency in producing their outputs. Our overall results show that (i) universities are more efficient providers of teaching than research; (ii) the variation in efficiency is larger for research than for teaching, and (iii) student ability negatively correlates with the degree of inefficiency. Finally, we find compelling evidence that regional endowment significantly matters for teaching and research efficiency. While (iv) university characteristics significantly matter for research efficiency, (v) environmental factors or regional endowment strongly influence teaching, research, and overall efficiency

What does it take to be a star? The role of performance and the media for German soccer players

We test existing superstar theories for the German soccer league. We use various measures for individual players' performance and media presence to analyze whether performance and popularity can explain salaries and superstars in soccer. Moreover, we argue that quantile regression technique should be applied to analyze superstar phenomena instead of OLS used hitherto

Corporate governance in newly listed companies

Topics in corporate governance have been around in the literature almost for a century, most of the theoretical and empirical work has focused on the large and public company. While this research has improved our understanding of how large corporations are governed, corporate governance in small and medium sized enterprises and in particular in entrepreneurial and newly listed firms has rarely been studied. This essay offers a reflective overview of corporate governance mechanisms in entrepreneurial and newly listed companies and of why and how governance mechanisms differ from those in large and publicly traded corporations. In contrast to the traditional approach in corporate governance, we do not rely on the agency perspective as a work-horse to analyze governance problems. Instead we focus on either market or institutional based mechanisms in corporate governance. This opens the view on governance problems in newly listed companies outside the narrow view of either an agency or free-market perspective. Instead, the following study tries to bridge the different perspectives on corporate governance. From the broad set of mechanisms in corporate governance discussed in the literature, we focus only on a small subset which is prevalent in newly listed companies like the product and capital market, the market for corporate control, boards of directors and capital structures

Knowledge frontiers and boundaries in entrepreneurship research

While the disruptive potential of knowledge has been receiving growing attention in small business economics and entrepreneurship research and application over the last decade, its boundaries and frontiers, including technological, spatial, institutional, cognitive, and cultural has not been fully explored. Here we present some reflections and a collection of papers on the role of knowledge investment across different cultural, institutional, geographical, and industrial contexts for this emerging area in entrepreneurship and management research. While being careful of the swift changes in knowledge creation, dissemination, and testing in a digital age, geography of knowledge diffusion, knowledge embeddedness into industries and places, skills, and strategies continue to change the way firms assimilate, absorb, create, and transfer knowledge. In this special issue, we extend our knowledge boundaries through knowledge collaboration theory, resource theory, open innovation theory, knowledge and creativity spillover of entrepreneurship theory, economic geography, and creative class and institutional theories. We give researchers and practitioners future directions for a very relevant and fast-growing area of entrepreneurship and small business research