Country-Specific Effects of Reputation and Information: A Comparison of Online Auctions in Germany, the UK, and the US

Empirical studies on the effect of sellers’ reputation on closing prices in online auctions present mixed results. A large number of studies addresses reputational effects in one country, especially in the US. Only a small number of cross-country studies inspect the moderating role of institutional frameworks on bidder behavior. The purpose of this paper is to examine if country-specific differences in the formal and informal institutional framework influence the effects of reputation and information signals on final prices in online auctions. From the perspective of the New Institutional Economics, management decisions and individuals’ characteristics are affected by the institutional framework, which consists of cultural aspects as well as a set of social and legal rules and regulations. Therefore, bidders that are influenced by one institutional framework have different preferences, expectations, and perceptions about reputation and information in online auctions than individuals socialized by another institutional framework. In order to examine the effects of reputation and information on prices as well as to asses cross-country similarities and differences in these effects, a sample of 6,166 homogenous online auctions, conducted on the respective eBay websites in Germany, the UK, and the US, is analyzed. The results suggest that either the effects of reputation and product information variables vary significantly across countries or that different variables have an impact on prices in different countries. It can be concluded that country-specific institutional frameworks influence bidder behavior in international online auction markets.reputation, information, online auctions, cross-country studies

Country-Specific Effects of Reputation and Information: A Comparison of Online Auctions in Germany, the UK, and the US

Empirical studies on the effect of sellers' reputation on closing prices in online auctions present mixed results. A large number of studies addresses reputational effects in one country, especially in the US. Only a small number of cross-country studies inspect the moderating role of institutional frameworks on bidder behavior. The purpose of this paper is to examine if country-specific differences in the formal and informal institutional framework influence the effects of reputation and information signals on final prices in online auctions. From the perspective of the New Institutional Economics, management decisions and individuals' characteristics are affected by the institutional framework, which consists of cultural aspects as well as a set of social and legal rules and regulations. Therefore, bidders that are influenced by one institutional framework have different preferences, expectations, and perceptions about reputation and information in online auctions than individuals socialized by another institutional framework. In order to examine the effects of reputation and information on prices as well as to asses cross-country similarities and differences in these effects, a sample of 6,166 homogenous online auctions, conducted on the respective eBay websites in Germany, the UK, and the US, is analyzed. The results suggest that either the effects of reputation and product information variables vary significantly across countries or that different variables have an impact on prices in different countries. It can be concluded that country-specific institutional frameworks influence bidder behavior in international online auction markets

The unique and common effects of emotional intelligence dimensions on job satisfaction and facets of job performance:an exploratory study in three countries

Previous empirical studies have either used a unidimensional or a multidimensional analytical approach to examine the consequences of emotional intelligence (EI). In this exploratory study we integrate and extend these two approaches, using a novel perspective to better understand the structure of the EI-job satisfaction and the EI-job performance relationship. Using commonality analysis and data from Germany, India, as well as the U.S. we partition the explained variance for job satisfaction, in- role performance, and extra-role performance into the variance that is uniquely explained by the individual EI dimensions and the variance that is common to sets of EI dimensions. We provide evidence that the EI dimensions are differently related to job satisfaction and job performance facets. Furthermore, the findings offer insights on how unique and common effects vary across countries. Partitioning the unique and commonly shared variance allows us to assess the true predictive power of individual EI dimensions and of sets of EI dimensions. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for theory development and provide future research directions

Green together? The effects of companies' innovation collaboration with different partner types on ecological process and product innovation

This paper investigates the effect of companies' innovation collaboration with different partner types on the emergence of different typologies of ecological innovation (EI), specifically process- and product-EI. Econometric analyses, based on a sample of 546 German manufacturing companies collected as part of the Community Innovation Survey, indicate a differential effect of collaboration with individual partner types. Specifically, we find that collaboration with consumers is associated positively with both process- and product-EI, whereas collaboration with universities and suppliers is associated positively only with process-EI. Collaboration with enterprise customers and competitors is neither associated with process-EI nor product-EI. Our results shed light on the mechanisms within the recently established open eco-innovation mode and emphasise the importance for theory and practice of distinguishing among collaboration partners, contingent on the underlying typology of EI. We discuss important implications for theory and practice

Organizational Structure Characteristics' Influences on International Purchasing Performance in Different Purchasing Locations

This study contributes to the understanding of how firms should structure their purchasing organization to improve their performance. While the research into structural characteristics’ impacts on purchasing performance is evolving, it is still incomplete, especially concerning the contingencies on different purchasing environments. Drawing on ideas from the organizational information processing and contingency approaches as well as the international business literature, the present study proposes a model in which three key organizational structure characteristics – centralization, standardization, and specialization – are associated with purchasing performance. This study posits that the relationships are contingent on a purchasing location’s formal and informal institutional context. Based on a sample of 195 German manufacturers, the model is empirically tested using structural equation modeling. The findings support the relevance of organizational structure characteristics for international purchasing and firm performance and they also support the notion that the effects are contingent on the purchasing location’s institutional context