Do Domestic Firms Benefit From Direct Foreign Investment? Evidence From Venezuela

Governments often promote inward foreign investment to encourage technology \u27spillovers\u27 from foreign to domestic firms. Using panel data on Venezuelan plants, the authors find that foreign equity participation is positively correlated with plant productivity (the \u27own-plant\u27 effect), but this relationship is only robust for small enterprises. They then test for spillovers from joint ventures to plants with no foreign investment. Foreign investment negatively affects the productivity of domestically owned plants. The net impact of foreign investment, taking into account these two offsetting effects, is quite small. The gains from foreign investment appear to be entirely captured by joint ventures

Essays in industrial organization of Peer-to-Peer online credit markets

This dissertation consists of three separate essays on Peer-to-Peer (P2P) online credit markets. The first essay presents new empirical evidence of decreases in loan demand and repayment when prices in the market are determined by competing lenders in auctions as compared to the case in which a platform directly controls all prices. The paper develops an econometric model of loan demand and repayment which is then used to predict borrower choices when they are offered prices set by lenders in a market. I find that when lenders set prices, borrowers are more likely to pick loans of shorter maturity and smaller sizes, and repay less. Aggregated at the market level, demand and repayment of credit fall by 10% and 2%, respectively. In the second paper, I quantify the effects of implementation of finer credit scoring on credit demand, defaults and repayment in the context of a large P2P online credit platform. I exploit an exogenous change in the platform's credit scoring policy where the centralized price setting rules ensure that the one-to-one relationship between credit scores and prices remains intact unlike in a traditional credit market where it is broken. The results show that a 1% increase in interest rate due to the implementation of finer credit scoring results in an average decrease of 0.29% in the requested loan amount, an average increase of 0.01 in the fraction of borrowers who default and an average increase of 0.02 in the fraction of loan repaid. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how a reduction in information asymmetry affects borrower choices in a credit market. The third paper explores the main drivers behind the geographic expansion in demand for credit from P2P online platforms. It uses data from the two largest platforms in the United States to conduct an empirical analysis. By exploiting heterogeneity in local credit markets before the entry of P2P online platforms, the paper estimates the effect of local credit market conditions on demand for credit from P2P platforms. The paper uses a spatial autoregressive model for the main specification. We find that P2P consumer credit expanded more in counties with poor branch networks, lower concentration of banks, and lower leverage ratios

Utilizing computational methods for analysing media framing of organizational crises:The ‘Datalek’ scandal during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Media framing of organizational crises is an important factor to consider in crisis communication since it can shape stakeholders' perceptions of organizations and discussions in the public sphere. This takes place in complex media ecologies where public communication happens at a large scale, both in the news and on social media. Here, computational methods offer new venues for analysing media framing in flux throughout the crisis life cycle. Especially methods for automated content analysis can quickly and efficiently reveal what media frames emerge in a crisis context and how they change over time across different channels and platforms. The present study showcases the benefits of such methodological approaches by critically exploring the example of the data breach at the national municipal health service in the Netherlands. Using computational methods for media frame analysis on news texts (N1 = 519) and social media postings (N2 = 2986), this article reconstructs how the incident was perceived throughout four crisis stages (build-up, outbreak, chronic stage, termination). The article critically discusses the relevance of researching media framing empirically with emphasis on the benefits but also limitations of computational approaches. It concludes with some general pointers for crisis researchers interested in such methods as well as their implications for practitioners in the field

Motivations and Effects of Volunteering for Refugees. Spaces of Encounter and Political Influence of the 'New Civic Engagement' in Milan

The article focuses on the new civic engagement often referred to as volunteer welcome initiatives. Indeed, during the misnamed 'migration/refugee crisis', a consistent number of citizens in Europe engaged in practices of helping toward refugees and migrants. Based on participant observations and 28 interviews with volunteers from four different voluntary groups running their activities in Milan, Italy, I argue that such organizations offer a space of encounter and confrontation with migrants throughout which volunteers develop a strong sense of outrage and critical awareness of asylum system deficiencies. Moreover, it is argued that these organizations have had an important role within Milan's urban policy arena, to the extent that they contributed in shaping how the challenges of receiving the many newcomers were addressed locally

A state of emergency in crisis communication: An intercultural crisis communication research agenda

This article seeks to provide an evidence-based set of recommendations for the development of an intercultural crisis communication research agenda with three goals. First, to provide an advancement in our understanding of the state of crisis communication research in general. Second, to offer a grounded introduction to crisis communication for intercultural scholars who may not be as familiar with the field. Finally to identify three broad evidence-based areas for developing intercultural crisis communication research -- (1) representing different cultural perspectives in crisis communication research, (2) placing American crisis research in a global context, and (3) developing cross-cultural comparisons

Lessons From the Decoding and Coding of National Constitutions

Governmen

Making sense of evidence in management decisions: the role of research-based knowledge on innovation adoption and implementation in health care

Background: Although innovation can improve patient care, implementing new ideas is often challenging. Previous research found that professional attitudes, shaped in part by health policies and organisational cultures, contribute to differing perceptions of innovation ‘evidence’. However, we still know little about how evidence is empirically accessed and used by organisational decision-makers when innovations are introduced. Aims and objectives: We aimed to investigate the use of different sources and types of evidence in innovation decisions to answer the following questions: how do managers make sense of evidence? What role does evidence play in management decision-making when adopting and implementing innovations in health care? How do wider contextual conditions and intraorganisational capacity influence research use and application by health-care managers? Methods: Our research design comprised multiple case studies with mixed methods. We investigated technology adoption and implementation in nine acute-care organisations across England. We employed structured survey questionnaires, in-depth interviews and documentary analysis. The empirical setting was infection prevention and control. Phase 1 focused on the espoused use of evidence by 126 non-clinical and clinical hybrid managers. Phase 2 explored the use of evidence by managers in specific technology examples: (1) considered for adoption; (2) successfully adopted and implemented; and (3) rejected or discontinued. Findings: (1) Access to, and use of, evidence types and sources varied greatly by profession. Clinicians reported a strong preference for science-based, peer-reviewed, published evidence. All groups called upon experiential knowledge and expert opinion. Nurses overall drew upon a wider range of evidence sources and types. Non-clinical managers tended to sequentially prioritise evidence on cost from national-level sources, and local implementation trials. (2) A sizeable proportion of professionals from all groups, including experienced staff, reported difficulty in making sense of evidence. Lack of awareness of existing implementation literature, lack of knowledge on how to translate information into current practice, and lack of time and relevant skills were reported as key reasons for this. (3) Infection outbreaks, financial pressures, performance targets and trusted relationships with suppliers seemed to emphasise a pragmatic and less rigorous approach in sourcing for evidence. Trust infrastructure redevelopment projects, and a strong emphasis on patient safety and collaboration, appeared to widen scope for evidence use. (4) Evidence was continuously interpreted and (re)constructed by professional identity, organisational role, team membership, audience and organisational goals. (5) Doctors and non-clinical managers sourced evidence plausible to self. Nursing staff also sought acceptance of evidence from other groups. (6) We found diverse ‘evidence templates’ in use: ‘biomedical-scientific’, ‘practice-based’, ‘rational-policy’. These represented shared cognitive models which defined what constituted acceptable and credible evidence in decisions. Nurses drew on all diverse ‘templates’ to make sense of evidence and problems; non-clinical managers drew mainly on the practice-based and rational-policy templates; and doctors drew primarily on the biomedical-scientific template. Conclusions: An evidence-based management approach that inflexibly applies the principles of evidence-based medicine, our findings suggest, neglects how evidence is actioned in practice and how codified research knowledge inter-relates with other ‘evidence’ also valued by decision-makers. Local processes and professional and microsystem considerations played a significant role in adoption and implementation. This has substantial implications for the effectiveness of large-scale projects and systems-wide policy

Transforming Biodiversity Governance

This book outlines a governance approach that prioritizes ecocentric, compassionate and sustainable development, and stresses the importance of addressing the underlying causes of biodiversity loss. It is ideal for academics, policy makers and practitioners. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core

Digital transformation: an analysis of opportunities for retailers

In this study, the opportunities and challenges for retailers in the course of the digital transformation were examined from three perspectives: the retailer perspective, the customer perspective, and the platform perspective. The first chapter provides a historical overview of the development of retail, followed by a definition of key terms and a characterisation of the study's subject. Furthermore, the first chapter also derives the guiding research questions for the subsequent chapters. Chapter two presents a survey of 243 LOORO owners from 26 cities in Germany, aimed at understanding why the LOOROs are hesitant about their digital transformation. For the analysis, the study applied a structural equation modelling approach and used the Stimulus-Organism-Response model as a theoretical framework. In the third chapter, the perspective shifts from the retailer to the customer. For this purpose, 1,139 customers were surveyed in four studies on various technologies (e.g. mobile payment, live stream shopping) and their willingness to use or continue using them. The two studies on mobile payment, in particular, expand the existing research to include comparative analyses with existing payment alternatives. From a theoretical perspective, the Technology Threat Avoidance Theory is also used to shift the theoretical perspective from almost exclusively negative feedback loops to positive ones. The third study in Chapter 3, Self-Service Technology, is the first to examine trust in self-service technologies and the different perceptions based on the level of experience. The fourth study in Chapter 3 on live-stream shopping is the first study in Europe on this new service and provides the first theoretical and practical implications for existing research from a European or German perspective. All studies in Chapter 3 were analysed using a structural equation model and other statistical methods for group comparisons (e.g. age, gender, experience). In the fourth chapter, there is another change of perspective. In this case, platforms are analysed as intermediaries or service hubs between the connected retailers and customers. The focus here is particularly on so-called local shopping platforms. These were examined by means of content analysis and telephone interviews. Regarding the content analysis, 149 websites were analysed. In addition, 26 local shopping platform operators were interviewed during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic to understand the impact of this pandemic on the platforms. The final study in the fourth chapter compares the results of German LSPs with Chinese LSPs. The results were analysed using Hofstede's cultural dimensions. This study also extends the existing findings in the area of the platform economy with regard to the influence of culture on the service offering. The empirical results were used to derive strategic recommendations for retailers in Chapter 5