Promotions, State Dependence and Intrafirm Job Mobility: Evidence From Personnel Records

The objective of this paper is to add evidence of job mobility within a firm using personnel records from a single large U.S. corporation, focusing on the determinants of the hazard rates of being promoted to a higher hierarchy level. How to successfully control for unobserved heterogeneity is the goal in this type of analyses, and the approach taken here is to look at the history of the worker, by recognizing state dependence on past promotions. The results show that: (a) the peak of the promotion hazard rates is registered at exactly one year at the current position, even after controlling for observables characteristics and state dependence; (b) males, whites, and more educated workers have a higher probability of being promoted; (c) there is no evidence of “fast tracksâ€: previous promotions do not imply a higher probability of future promotion, even after controlling for tenure at the current job; and (d) recent new hires seems to have an advantage when competing with insiders for a higher position. These last two findings seem to be at odds with the hypotheses of “job-specific†and “firm-specific†human capital, and to indirectly agree with the “Peter Principle†prediction (Lazear, 2004), which suggests that if workers make efforts beyond their capabilities in order to be promoted, after reaching the desired higher position their incentives to be “over-productive†may decline.promotions, personnel economics, job mobility, state dependence

Three uncertainties looming over the European auto industry

The European automotive industry has once again entered a period of uproar. The crisis of 2008/2009 is far from over but probably marks the start of a new era that some observers are starting to refer to as the second automobile revolution. In this article, we will be trying to emphasize three major uncertainties that weigh upon the European automotive industry. The first relates to the future products that the sector is looking to manufacture and sell. This will involve questions about electric vehicles but also how internal combustion vehicles might be sold to more tone-deaf European consumers. The second section will revisit the outsourcing strategies that have arisen over the past 30 years, together with their increasingly obvious limitations. The final section will highlight the profound geographic recomposition that has taken place under our eyes over the past decade or so, and which speaks directly to the issue of Old Europe’s productive capacities in the future.Automobile industry, electric vehicles, industrial architecture, carmakers, industrial geography, first tier suppliers

Growth in a cross-section of cities: location, increasing returns or random growth?

This article analyzes empirically the main existing theories on income and population city growth: increasing returns to scale, locational fundamentals and random growth. To do this we implement a threshold nonlinearity test that extends standard linear growth regression models to a dataset on urban, climatological and macroeconomic variables on 1,175 U.S. cities. Our analysis reveals the existence of increasing returns when per-capita income levels are beyond $19; 264. Despite this, income growth is mostly explained by social and locational fundamentals. Population growth also exhibits two distinct equilibria determined by a threshold value of 116,300 inhabitants beyond which city population grows at a higher rate. Income and population growth do not go hand in hand, implying an optimal level of population beyond which income growth stagnates or deteriorates.Threshold nonlinearity test, locational fundamentals, multiple equilibria, random growth

Can we measure Microsoft's market power ?

This paper has the objective of measuring the market power of Microsoft in the software industry. We develop a two tier arguent. Firstly we estimate the scale economies within the industry. We then make the crude hypothesis that a firm's success in this industry is linked to its size, based on the scale argument. We modelise these assumptions and then compare the expected profits and actual profits genereted by Microsoft. The results tend to show that Microsoft has posted profits in excess of those that such a firm is expected to benefit from if it does not have market power.software industry ; scale economies ; Microsoft

The Importance of Clusters for Sustainable Innovation Processes: The Context of Small and Medium Sized Regions

The purpose of the current paper is to provide a critical state-of-the-art review of current research on clusters and its correlation to innovation dynamics in small and medium-sized regions. In particular, we focus on the systematization of the main concepts and theoretical insights that are tributary to the cluster overview in terms of its relevance for the sustainability of the innovation processes, knowledge production and diffusion, which take place inside small and medium-sized regions. The present working paper takes into account the initial studies on English industrial districts (in the nineteenth century), passing through the Italian industrial districts (in the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century), until the modern theories of business clusters and innovation systems. These frameworks constitute the basis of an approach to endogenous development, which gives a central role to the interaction between economic actors, the society and the institutions and to the identification, mobilization and combination of potential resources within a particular geographical area.Cluster; Innovation; Endogenous development; Territory.

The determinants of intrafirm trade: Evidence from French firms

How well does the theory of the firm explain the choice between intrafirm and arms' length trade? This paper uses firm-level import data from France to look into this question. We find support for three key predictions of property-rights theories of the multinational firm. Intrafirm imports are more likely: (i) in capital- and skill-intensive firms; (ii) in highly productive firms; (iii) from countries with well-functioning judicial institutions. We further bridge previous aggregate findings with our investigation by decomposing intrafirm imports into an extensive and intensive margin. Doing so we uncover interesting patterns in the data that require further theoretical investigation.intrafirm trade; outsourcing; firm heterogeneity; incomplete contracts; internationalization strategies; quality of institutions, extensive margin, intensive margin.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ROMANIA

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main opportunities and limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The survey was defined with the aim to involve the highest possible number of relevant CSR topics and give the issue a more wholesome perspective. It provides a basis for further comprehension and deeper analyses of specific CSR areas. The conditions determining the success of CSR in Romania have been defined in the paper on the basis of the previously cumulative knowledge as well as the results of various researches. This paper provides knowledge which may be useful in the programs promoting CSR.Corporate social responsibility, Supportive policies, Romania

Prospective Analysis Of The Algerian Economic Growth By 2025: Structural Analysis

The aim of this study is to assess the economic growth in Algeria and to determine the set of variable impacting it on different periods. It relies on structural analysis approach based on an investigation method using the software MICMAC (matrix of cross-influence, applied multiplication to a ranking) which was developed by the Institute of Computing Innovation 3IE following the request of Investigation Laboratory on Prospective, Strategy and Organization LIPSOR. The structural analysis can define the key variables of the system (VCS) to catch the most influential variables on economic growth during three time intervals: the near past (direct impact), the actual period (indirect influence) and the long run (potential indirect impact) bearing in mind that the horizon of our study is 2025. The results show the most influential variables ranked during each period as follows: The near past (the direct influence): the economic system, public spending, the regulation, foreign reserves and price of oil barrel, unemployment, inflation and SMEs. The actual period (the indirect influence): the economic system, business climate, FDI, the price of the oil barrel, active population, occupied population, external debt. In addition to other variables having a less influence: unemployment, SMEs, inflation and foreign trade. The long run (potential indirect influence) by 2025: The economic system, public spending, the regulation, foreign reserves, unemployment, FDI, inflation, business climate, currency, occupied population, the price of the oil barrel, saving. Other variables have a moderate influence: national security, capital, exchange rate, financial system, active population, IT, informal sector, SMEs, external trade, external debt, demographic growth and the interest rate.