Trust, Personal Moral Codes, and the Resource-Advantage Theory of Competition: Explaining Productivity, Economic Growth, and Wealth Creation

Scholars agree that societal-level moral codes that promote social trust also promote wealth creation.  However, what specific kinds of societal-level moral codes promote social trust?  Also, by what specific kind of competitive process does social trust promote wealth creation?  Because societal-level moral codes are composed of or formed from peoples’ personal moral codes, this article explores a theory of ethics, known as the “Hunt-Vitell” theory of ethics, that illuminates the concept of personal moral codes and uses the theory to discuss which types of personal moral codes foster trust and distrust in society.  This article then uses resource-advantage (R-A) theory, one of the most completely articulated dynamic theories of competition, to show the process by which trust-promoting, societal-level moral codes promote productivity and economic growth.  That is, they promote wealth creation

Understanding the Drivers of Economic Growth: Grounding Endogenous Economic Growth Models in Resource-Advantage Theory

Foss (2012) provides an informed and informative comment on my article 'Trust, Personal Moral Codes, and the Resource-Advantage Theory of Competition: Explaining Productivity, Economic Growth, and Wealth Creation' (Hunt, 2012). In general, his comment is highly supportive of both the theory and the arguments developed in my article. He does, however, raise certain issues that need to be addressed. These issues relate to the concept of total factor productivity, the role of institutions in promoting economic growth, and the importance of understanding how transaction costs impact entrepreneurship and economic growth. This reply focuses on his discussion of growth economics and endogenous economic growth models

Managerial Action And Resource Advantage Theory: Conceptual Frameworks Emanating From A Positive Theory Of Competition

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that conceptual frameworks developed from a general theory of competition, i.e. resourceadvantage (R-A) theory, can facilitate managerial action. Design/methodology/approach – After a brief overview of resource-advantage (R-A) theory, five conceptual frameworks are developed and offered for the purposes of managerial action. Findings – This paper identifies several conceptual frameworks and after noting that conceptual frameworks that do not have positive theoretical foundations may not be as useful as those that do, develops five conceptual frameworks that are based on R-A theory. Practical implications – The conceptual frameworks developed in this paper have great potential for facilitating managerial action. Originality/value – Conceptual frameworks that have positive theoretical foundations can be very useful for practitioners. In fact, the frameworks proposed in this paper can replace frameworks that are currently in use for managerial action

Teaching Dynamic Competition in Marketing

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how marketing instructors can prepare students for the real world of dynamic, even hyper-kinetic, competition by teaching resource-advantage (R-A) theory of competition. Accordingly, this paper reviews the problem of marketing students’ lack of preparation for real-world, dynamic competition which is a result of the static-equilibrium focus of the theories of competition that they learn in their economics courses, and shows how the problem can be resolved by exposing students to the dynamic competition of R-A theory. Specifically, we provide answers to five questions concerning pedagogy and R-A theory: (1) Why should students learn about dynamic competition, in general, and R-A theory, in particular? (2) What should students read prior to class? (3) What background information should be discussed? (4) Which figures and tables should be used? (5) What does R-A theory imply for teaching marketing? Overall, in addition to providing students an understanding of dynamic competition, R-A theory “pulls together” theories of marketing strategy. In fact, in graduate and undergraduate marketing strategy classes that use R-A theory, instructors report that they see extensive use by students of R-A theory and the theory’s lexicon, R-A theory’s conceptual frameworks, and central tenets of different forms of marketing strategy

An analysis of the effectiveness of post-transaction communications in reducing cognitive dissonance

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Department of Marketing and Transportation, 1968Includes bibliographical references (pages 130-134

Pest population dynamics are related to a continental overwintering gradient

Overwintering success is an important determinant of arthropod populations that must be considered as climate change continues to influence the spatiotemporal population dynamics of agricultural pests. Using a long-term monitoring database and biologically relevant overwintering zones, we modeled the annual and seasonal population dynamics of a common pest, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), based on three overwintering suitability zones throughout North America using four decades of soil temperatures: the southern range (able to persist through winter), transitional zone (uncertain overwintering survivorship), and northern limits (unable to survive winter). Our model indicates H. zea population dynamics are hierarchically structured with continental-level effects that are partitioned into three geographic zones. Seasonal populations were initially detected in the southern range, where they experienced multiple large population peaks. All three zones experienced a final peak between late July (southern range) and mid-August to mid-September (transitional zone and northern limits). The southern range expanded by 3% since 1981 and is projected to increase by twofold by 2099 but the areas of other zones are expected to decrease in the future. These changes suggest larger populations may persist at higher latitudes in the future due to reduced low-temperature lethal events during winter. Because H. zea is a highly migratory pest, predicting when populations accumulate in one region can inform synchronous or lagged population development in other regions. We show the value of combining long-term datasets, remotely sensed data, and laboratory findings to inform forecasting of insect pests

The associations of childhood adversities and mental disorders with suicidal thoughts and behaviors - Results from the World Mental Health International College Student Initiative

Objective. To investigate the associations of demographic variables, childhood adversities (CAs), and mental disorders (MDx) with onset, transition, and persistence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) among first-year university students. Method. Poisson regression models within a discrete-time survival framework were constructed using web-based self-report survey data from 72,288 incoming university students across 18 countries (response rate=20.9%; median age=19 years, 57.9% female, 1.4% transgender, 21.0% non-heterosexual). These models examined the associations of four demographic variables, five CAs, and eight MDx with STB outcomes. Results. Lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts was 47.0%, 26.0%, and 9.6%, respectively; 12-month estimates were 30.6%, 14.0%, and 2.3%. In unadjusted analyses, associations were strongest between lifetime onset of suicidal ideation and CAs (RR range 4.4–7.0), particularly parental psychopathology (relative risk [RR]=7.0 [95% CI 6.5–7.7]), followed by MDx (RR range 1.3–3.0). Of the demographic subgroups, transgender students had highest risk of STB (lifetime ideation onset RR=2.4 [2.3–2.6]; ideation-to-attempt transition RR=1.5 [1.3–1.8]). In fully adjusted models, strongest predictors of lifetime ideation onset were emotional abuse (RR=2.1 [1.9–2.2]), major depressive disorder (RR=2.0 [1.9–2.1]), and bipolar disorder (RR=1.8 [1.6–2.0]). Ideation-to-attempt transition remained most strongly associated with panic disorder (RR=1.5 [1.3–1.7]), bipolar disorder (RR=1.4 [1.2–1.7]), and sexual abuse (RR=1.4 [1.2–1.7]). Most predictors were significantly but weakly associated with persistence of ideation and plan, while only physical abuse remained associated with repeated suicide attempts (RR=1.3 [1.0–1.8]). Conclusion. CAs and MDx are strong predictors of both onset of and transition within the STB spectrum, underscoring the importance of implementing early-life prevention interventions