A micro-meso-macro perspective on the methodology of evolutionary economics: integrating history, simulation and econometrics

Applied economics has long been dominated by multiple regression techniques. In this regard, econometrics has tended to have a narrower focus than, for example, psychometrics in psychology. Over the last two decades, the simulation and calibration approach to modeling has become more popular as an alternative to traditional econometric strategies. However, in contrast to the well-developed methodologies that now exist in econometrics, simulation/calibration remains exploratory and provisional, both as an explanatory and as a predictive modelling technique although clear progress has recently been made in this regard (see Brenner and Werker (2006)). In this paper, we suggest an approach that can usefully integrate both of these modelling strategies into a coherent evolutionary economic methodology.

Firm development as an integrated process: with evidence from the General Motors-Fisher Body case

This paper argues that an adequate approach to the firm should be able to accommodate the complexities of actual firm development. The latter is conceptualized in terms of three general stages: prime movers or drivers of change, change processes, and change attractors. Furthermore, any "real-world" firm is both a technical and an institutional unit. To emphasize the importance of "real firm" analysis, the discussion presented here revolves around an understanding of the much considered case of General Motors and Fisher Body integration has developed over time. Generalization from this case suggests that an integrated view of the firm is necessary that combines the three stages and the two bases (technical and institutional). Six general perspectives on the firm are identified as having technical or institutional bases that are relevant in each of the three stages. This integrated approach to the firm is explored in terms of the general topic of firm development. It is concluded that, without an integrated approach to firm development, a potentially biased or incomplete analysis can result

Agricultural Cooperative in the Face of the Challenges of Globalization, Sustainability and Digitalization

The enormous contribution of agricultural cooperative societies to the rural world has not gone unnoticed. This is corroborated by many international entities. The International Cooperative Alliance estimates that 12% of the world's population is linked to one of the 3 million cooperatives that exist worldwide. Therefore, cooperative societies are not a marginal phenomenon. In relation to the role played by agricultural cooperatives in the world, it should be said that the agricultural cooperative is an enterprise unconditionally and stably linked to the rural environment, to the farmer and the stockbreeder. For this reason, it plays a leading role in the local economy and in the fixation of the population to the territory, thus contributing to the balance and management of the territory, which makes them true agents of rural development. On the other hand, cooperative societies have been the guarantors of the structuring of agriculture in rural areas in many countries. These organizations constitute the main structured, organized, professionalized and stable network established throughout the territory, in contact with the rural environment, with the capacity to communicate with and influence farmers and stockbreeders. They directly or indirectly provide much of the employment in the rural world and cooperative societies by nature develop their activity under cooperative principles and values that make them exponents of socially responsible enterprises and, therefore, are the key to sustainable development, as promulgated by the United Nations through the SDGs

The link between the diversity of productive models and the variety of capitalisms

Prepared within the framework of the ESEMK project supported by the EU (FP6, Priority 7, CIT-CT-2004-506077 The European Socio-Economic Models of a Knowledge-based society), this paper discusses the linking between the variety of capitalism and the diversity of organisational forms for firms. This linking is illustrated through the case of the car industry. First part presents the works based on the hypothesis of an institutional isomorphism between the macro-level and the organisation. Second part tries to link analytical grids which integrate the diversity of institutional forms at the macro, meso and micro-levels.car industry, institution, institutional isomorphism, organisation of the firm, productive models, sector, variety of capitalism

EMPLOYEES SUPPORT AS A DETERMINANT OF MERGER SUCCESS: EXPLORING THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT AND ITS INTERVENTIONS DURING POST-MERGER INTEGRATION

Mergers is an extreme form of organizational change, which usually has an adverse impact on the merging organizations employees’ wellbeing. In literature it was argued that organizational integration after merger, which is referred to as Post-Merger Integration (PMI) is usually resisted by employees, which is considered as a major contributor to the high failure rates of mergers. It was further argued that employees’ resistance toward integration is attributed to stress, uncertainty, ambiguity and lack of clarity on the changes that merger and integration initiate. Therefore, PMI activities were assumed to psychologically traumatize employees and jeopardize their sense of belonging, attachment, commitment and identification to the new organization, which affects the performance of the new organization by driving negative employees’ workplace attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the new organization should demonstrate it supportiveness and appreciation toward the employee’s to promote constructive behaviors and attitudes, by demonstrating the organizational support toward the employees which is investigated in this study under the notion of perceived organizational support, employees’ involvement in decision making. This study will build into the body of knowledge by answering the following research questions: What is the role of positive employees’ perception of change during post-merger integration in determining merger success? What is the role of corporate interventions in supporting constructive employees’ behavior during post-merger integration? What are the underpinning mechanisms that explain how organizational context and mindful interventions enhance the employees support for merger which in turn ensure the merger success? In the attempt to answer the latter research questions this study hypothesizes that employees perceived organizational support and involvement in decision making during post-merger integration contribute positively to the overall merger success by creating stronger identification and organizational trust to encourage favorable attitudes and behaviors in the workplace which support the new organization in reaching the intended objectives of merger. The hypothesized model was statistically a good fit for the collected data from the merger of the two biggest offshore oil companies in the emirate of Abu Dhabi during post-merger integration phase. Therefore, this research provided evident that the success of merger during integration is largely impacted by human management factors, rather than market and financial factors alone, as largely conceptualized in literature. Results from this study will be of a significant importance to companies embarking on major organizational changes and merger in particular in the Arabian Gulf region and the Middle East region in general. Similar studies to the context of this research are scarce in literature and to the best of the researcher knowledge this is the first study which have looked at the success of merger during post-merger integration from human management perspective in the oil and gas industry in the Arab World

Can firm age account for productivity differences?

The productivity of enterprises is an important indicator, for individual enterprises as well as for policy makers. For individual firms, their productivity is a main determinant of their performance, while the aggregate productivity is one of the main determinants of economic growth. In this study we examine the relationship between the age of firms and the level and growth rate of productivity, focusing on firms of at least 10 years of age. For these firms, we will examine the following two research questions: How does the distribution of firm productivity (as characterised by mean and standard deviation) change over age cohorts? To which extent are differences in productivity between individual firms related to firm age?

Developmental study towards effective practices in technology-assisted learning: third combined report from 15 participating South African universities

The Centre for Technology Assisted Learning (CenTAL) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the SOLSTICE Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Edge Hill University (EHU), UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 28 June 2007 for the creation of a benchmarking hub for the enhancement of learning by the deployment of educational technologies in South African universities. This was followed up during a visit of Mark Schofield of EHU during February 2008 and resulted in an invitation for participation directed at the directors of technology-assisted learning (TAL) centres, and other senior staff members responsible for academic development and support including TAL, at 23 South African universities. The information below was obtained from the participating universities’ present and future activities in TAL. They were requested to use nine so-called “lenses” of self-evaluation and review and to organise the information using these lenses. The first combined report contained the information received from participatory universities during a first round. This report was discussed during a meeting of representatives of participating universities on 28 May 2008 in Johannesburg. During this meeting, a refinement of our common understanding of lenses was discussed and three new lenses were added. A Second Combined Report was produced and discussed at a second meeting of participants on 10 October 2008 at UJ. Two additional universities also came on board in the second semester of 2008. This report is now based on the information offered by all 14 participating universities on these refined and expanded lenses. In the sequel, these lenses are used as headings. Information from participating universities is offered by alphabetically arranging the universities under each lens

Towards transition management of European water resources

Global change fundamentally changes the nature of water-related problems. We will illustrate this by showing how perceptions of the water-problems in the Netherlands have shifted in the past four decades. The nature of water-related problems changed from a technical problem’ to a so-called ‘persistent’ problem, characterized by plurality, uncertainty and complexity. Although integrated water resource management (IWRM) has been advocated to cope with this type of problem, the complexity of the transition process towards such a water management regime is often underestimated. Therefore, transition management is needed in the water sector. Transition management theory is presented and applied to the Dutch case. Transition management strategies are suggested that would reinforce this transition. Comparison between the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) and transition management indicates that the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) in its current form is not sufficiently stimulating an innovation climate

How do Multinationals Build Social Capital? Evidence from South Africa.

This paper looks at the self-reporting of social engagement by multinational firms in South Africa, developing previous measures of social capital to fit the unique context of the multinational firm in particular mapping the configurations of declared engagement and the firms' provision. It finds large intersectoral variation which cannot be predicted by one factor alone, and sometimes wide intrasectoral variation. In particular (and for different reasons) 'extractive' and 'industrial' sector firms traditionally criticised for their impact on communities - and 'medical' sector firms are engaged in practices conducive to the generation of social capital.Social Capital, Corporate Social Responsibility, Business Ethics, South Africa, Multinational Companies

Cultural differences, cultural convergence and crossvergence as explanations of knowledge transfer in international acquisitions

In spite of the proliferation of research on cultural differences in international mergers and acquisitions, we lack systematic analyses of the impact of cultural factors on knowledge transfer. In this paper, we argue that both national and organizational cultural differences and cultural integration in the form of cultural convergence and crossvergence affect knowledge transfer in acquisitions. We develop specific hypotheses concerning the nature of these effects, and test our hypotheses with data on international acquisitions carried out by Finnish corporations. The analyses performed show that national cultural differences provide great potential for knowledge transfer in international acquisitions. Furthermore, organizational cultural convergence and crossvergence have a significant positive impact on knowledge transfer. In particular, convergence and crossvergence moderate the impact of national cultural differences on knowledge transfer