Barriers to Entry

Entry of firms into a market is an important economic mechanism that influences industry dynamics and contributes to allocative and dynamic efficiency. However, there are barriers that can prevent companies from entering a market, hampering the competitive process. Therefore, it is clear that barriers to entry are an important issue in competition policy. In this report, we studied a number of 37 different barriers with a special focus on the possible size effect of the barrier, the sustainability of the barrier, the way it can be measured and the relation with other barriers to entry.

Energy issues in the developing world

In 1986 and 1987 the lower oil prices called into question many of the fundamental assumptions that were the stock in trade of energy experts during the previous ten years. This document is a collection of papers representing responses to concerns prepared by current and former World Bank staff. Although these papers raise a variety of different concerns, a common theme that runs throughout the paper is the need to continue the pursuit of efficiency goals in the energy sector. The developing world still needs large amounts of capital to meet its ever-expanding energy requirements. These capital requirements will be a significant part of most countries'total investment plan. Given the problems of debt and public revenues, the report concludes that the pursuit of efficiency is just as important under lower fuel prices as it is under rising fuel prices.Power&Energy Conversion,Urban Environment,Environmental Economics&Policies,Energy Demand,Energy and Environment

Liberalisation and Regulation in Electricity Systems: How can we get the balance right?

This paper explores the issue of the balance between liberalisation and regulation in electricity systems, which is the essence of much of the detailed policies which are implemented in the sector. By liberalisation I take to mean the use of market or quasi-market mechanisms as part of a reform of the sector, by regulation I take to mean regulatory intervention to restrain the operation of market signals which would otherwise have operated in the absence of regulation. The paper takes an international perspective to look at the case for liberalisation, the case for regulation and the evidence on the effects of liberalisation. It concludes with an assessment on the future for electricity liberalisation. This paper forms the foreward to Sioshansi, F.P. (2008) (ed.), Competitive Electricity Markets: Design, Implementation, Performance, Oxford: Elsevier and makes reference to the papers in that volume

Recognizing Risk in Human Capital Investments: A Real Options Approach to Strategic Human Resource Management

An issue that has not yet been explored in the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM) is that of managing the ‘risks’ involved in human capital management of the firm. We address this issue using the real option theory framework. We argue that certain HR practices manage risk and generate opportunities for the firm by creating \u27options\u27 for its human capital management. These HR options help ensure stability of returns from human capital and thus sustain competitive advantage. Different types of HR options and the role of certain HR practices in creation of these options are discussed

Deregulation and R&D in Network Industries: The Case of the Electricity Industry

Electricity reform has coincided with a significant decline in energy R&D activities. Technical progress is crucial for tackling many energy and environmental issues as well as for long-term efficiency improvement. This paper reviews the industrial organisation literature on innovation to explore the causes of this decline, and shows that it was predicted by the pre-reform literature. More recent evidence endorses this conclusion. At the same time, R&D productivity and innovative output appear to have improved in both electric utilities and equipment suppliers, in line with general improvements in the operating efficiency of the sector. Despite this, a lasting decline in basic R&D and innovation input into basic research may negatively affect development of radical technological innovation in the long run. There is a need for reorientation of energy technology policies and spending toward more basic research, engaging more firms in R&D, encouraging collaborative research, and exploring public private partnerships

Go west for fame and fortune? The role of internationalization in the growth of Chinese telecom firms

This paper focuses on the role played by internationalization in the growth of Chinese telecom firms by comparing the three cases from China’s telecom sector – Huawei Technologies (Huawei), Zhongxing Telecom Equipment Corporation (ZTE), Datang Telecom Technology (Datang). Faced with a global market that was strongly oligopolistic and dominated by Western firms, we show that internationalization strategies triggered by resource seeking played different roles in the growth strategies of these three firms. The contrasting fortunes of these firms also underscores the fact that the success of internationalization strategies of firms from emerging markets cannot be understood without reference to the global competitive environment faced by firms

Value Creation and Value Claiming in Make-Or-Buy Decisions

Transaction value analysis (TVA) integrates the concepts of resourceheterogeneity and transaction cost economics into a single framework,which emphasizes both value creation and value claiming in firms'vertical integration decisions. Using a TVA perspective, we develophypotheses to explain the firm's intent to outsource applicationservices. A sample of 178 firms in the publishing and printingindustry in The Netherlands is used to test the hypotheses. This paperfinds that firms take both value-creation and value-claimingmotivations into consideration, with value creation having on averagea dominating impact, thus substantiating the TVA framework. However,we also find that if the risks of opportunism in outsourcingcontracting are high, value creation becomes the less important factorin make-or-buy decisions. Furthermore, the paper shows that the needfor flexibility is a major driver of governance choice forvalue-creation as well as for value-claiming motivations. Implicationsand future research directions are discussed.information technology;interorganizational strategy;make-or-buy decisions;outsourcing relationships;transaction value analysis

Real Options Methodology Applied to the ICT Sector: A Survey

This survey focuses on the application of real options methodology to the information and communications technology (ICT) industries. It examines the development of the methodology to areas as diverse as wireless cell site investments to dynamic pricing issues. In addition to aiding the reader in understanding the breadth of the applications, it demonstrates the importance of the topic. It provides a guide to the reader who is interested in exploring the topic in greater depth.Discounted cash flow, economic methodology, information and communications technology (ICT), investment, investment under uncertainty, options, present discounted value, real options, valuations.