Choice and performance of governance mechanisms: Matching contractual and relational governance to sources of asset specificity

We argue that the optimal configuration of contractual and relational governance mechanisms in an alliance is contingent not only on the amount of asset specificity, but on the nature of the asset involved in the alliance. Physical assets are more suited to contractual controls, while knowledge assets will be best suited to the use of relational governance mechanisms. Using data on alliances in the German telecommunications industry, we find that the choice of governance mechanisms is as hypothesized. In addition, relational and contractual governance mechanisms are perceived to perform better in the presence of knowledge and physical assets, respectively. Relational governance mechanisms improve overall alliance performance to the degree that knowledge assets are involved, but impair performance when property assets are involved. Our findings contribute to the literature on alliances, as well as the underlying literatures of transaction cost economics, the literature on relational governance, and recent work studying their interaction.Alliances, contractual governance mechanisms, relational governance mechanisms, asset specificity, telecommunications

Zielvorstellungen und Entwicklungsperspektiven für den Ökolandbau aus Naturschutzsicht

Der Ökolandbau wirtschaftet in der Regel deutlich naturnäher als der konventionelle und integrierte Landbau und kommt somit auch den Naturschutzzielen am nächsten. Dies ist mehrfach durch Untersuchungen belegt, jedoch oftmals nur für einzelne Artengruppen (Pflanzen, Insekten) und Einzelflächen, nicht aber für ganze Landschaften und die Avifauna der Landschaften. Mit dem derzeitigen starken Wachstum der Biobetriebe ist auch eine starke Zunahme der Intensiv-Biobetriebe verknüpft, die z.B. im Grünland oftmals genauso intensiv bzw. wenig naturnah wirtschaften wie konventionelle Vergleichsbetriebe. Dies hat Auswirkungen auf die Ökosysteme und die Fauna der Landschaften. In dem Vorhaben sollen nun zum einen mit Literaturrecherchen und Expertenbefragungen die Habitatpräferenzen von Tierarten der Agrarlandschaft (insbesondere der Avifauna) zusammengetragen und im Hinblick auf die Landbewirtschaftung ausgewertet werden und zum anderen die Möglichkeiten von Naturschutzmaßnahmen durch Ökolandbau-Betriebe aus gesamtlandschaftlicher Perspektive geklärt werden. Dies erfolgt durch Befragungen von und Erhebungen bei Biobetrieben in ganz Deutschland. Aus den gewonnenen Informationen werden Szenarien der landschaftsökologischen Perspektive (z.B. Entwicklung von Populationen von Feldvogelarten) unter verschiedenen Ökolandbau-Entwicklungen (Intensivbetriebe – Betriebe mit integrierten Naturschutzmaßnahmen) erarbeitet und so ein Prognosemodell für den Ökolandbau entwickelt. Für die Umsetzung von Maßnahmen werden anhand der Befragungen und der Betriebsbesuche Vorschläge erarbeitet, wie vermehrt Naturschutz in Biobetrieben umgesetzt werden kann, und dabei sowohl den landschaftsökologischen Belangen (z.B. Stärkung von Populationen der Feldvögel) als auch den betrieblichen Belangen (Realisierbarkeit der Maßnahmen ohne größere betriebliche Einbußen) Rechnung getragen werden kann. Diese Ergebnisse sollen in Form einer anwenderorientierten Broschüre zusammengetragen und in Zusammenarbeit mit den Ökoanbauverbänden herausgegeben werden

The Effects of Liberalization on Litigation: Notes toward a Theory in the Context of Japan

This Essay examines the under-studied relationship between liberalization and litigation. Liberalization should lead to expanded civil litigation for four reasons: (1) new market entrants are less subject to informal sanctions and may have a greater propensity to go to court; (2) privatization transfers resources away from the state, expanding the number of transactions subject to civil law regimes; (3) liberalization reduces the government\u27s ability to resolve disputes outside the courts; and (4) liberalization leads to economic development, which is generally litigation-enhancing. We test these propositions using a unique dataset of prefecture-level civil litigation data in Japan during the 1990s. Using panel data, we find a small but significant effect of foreign firms on litigation. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

A concurrent reconceptualization of concurrent sourcing

Firms often procure the same input via multiple means, e.g., making and buying. Recent papers have yielded rich, but inconsistent, theoretical and empirical insights. Resolving these inconsistencies requires reconceptualizing two aspects of plural sourcing: what and how. We reconceptualize plural sourcing as a set of combined governance modes - make-and-buy, make-and-ally, and buy-and-ally - which differ in their capabilities and limitations. We demonstrate our reconceptualization's potential with propositions predicting the choice of specific plural sourcing modes

Modularity and the impact of buyer-supplier relationships on the survival of suppliers

Modularity in product design and flexible supply chains is increasingly common in buyer-supplier relationships. Although the benefits of supply chain flexibility and component modularity for end-product manufacturers are accepted, little is known about their impact on suppliers. We advance the literature on modularity by exploring how three aspects of a supplier's relationships with its customers affect the supplier's survival: duration of buyer-supplier relationships, autonomy from customers, and links to prominent buyers. We compared the effects of these aspects of buyer-supplier relationships for low- and high-modularity components. Using data on U.S. carburetor and clutch manufacturers from 1918 to 1942, we found that suppliers of high-modularity components benefited more from autonomy provided by potential customers, whereas suppliers of low-modularity components benefited more from ties to higher status customers. Both benefited from autonomy generated by existing customers. Thus, relationships that require trust and extensive sets of interfirm routines, as do those for low-modularity components, led to both greater relationship benefits and greater constraints

Access to Japanese aerospace-related scientific and technical information: The NASA Aerospace Database

With Japan's growing R&D strength in aerospace-related fields, it is increasingly important for U.S. researchers to be aware of Japanese advances. However, several factors make it difficult to do so. After reviewing the diffusion of aerospace STI in Japan, four factors which make it difficult for U.S. researchers to gather this information are discussed: language, the human network, information scatter, and document acquisition. NASA activities to alleviate these difficulties are described, beginning with a general overview of the NASA STI Program. The effects of the new National Level Agreement between NASA and NASDA are discussed

The Effects of Interaction on Adolescent Reading Motivation

This qualitative study had two main purposes: One, to discover the nature of interactions that motivate adolescent students to read; and two, to follow how adolescents’ views of interaction and reading motivation evolve over time. The study’s research question was: What do student artifacts and interviews within both middle and high school contexts reveal about adolescents\u27 perceptions of interactions with peers, teachers, and family and their motivation to read? The concept of interaction used within this study was based on a collaborative group-process learning context (Webb & Palincsar, 1996) and a social constructivist conceptualization of intrinsic motivation for literacy learning (Oldfather & Dahl, 1994). The study focused on eight students in Boise, Idaho from August 2007 to November 2009, following students throughout their eighth grade year, in which the researcher was their Reading instructor, and into their ninth and tenth grade years, when students were no longer enrolled in the researcher’s classes. Based on a review of the research literature, hypotheses were as follows: first, changes in student reading motivation would correlate with quantities of interaction; second, students would be more motivated by interactions with other students as opposed to interactions with adults; and, third, levels of reading motivation and interaction would both diminish as students journeyed through their scholastic experience. In a 2007-2008 pilot study, 52 students in three groups were given time for in-class independent reading and three varying levels of student interaction. Quantitative pilot study data included one-way composite scores and one-way ANOVAs from Wigfield, Guthrie, and McGough’s (1996) Motivation for Reading Questionairre, with few meaningful results. Qualitative data included student “literautobiographies,” reflections, and surveys; class-constructed generative webs during the 2007-2008 school year; and, during the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years, three separate one-on-one interviews with students. Results were contextualized within a priori themes in the adolescent reading motivation research literature, including access, conducive environment, choice, multiliteracies, family and friends, and teacher and pedagogy. Newly emerging themes included survival interactions, informal interactions, and “known-ness” interactions, which motivate adolescents to read. Results were consistent with the study’s first hypothesis, but inconsistent or inconclusive with the study’s second and third hypotheses. Links with prior research, implications for educators, recommendations for further research, and limitations culminated the study

Exercise alters and beta-alanine combined with exercise augments histidyl dipeptide levels and scavenges lipid peroxidation products in human skeletal muscle

Title on article: Exercise alters and β-alanine combined with exercise augments histidyl dipeptide levels and scavenges lipid peroxidation products in human skeletal muscl

Integrated Multilayer Omics Reveals the Genomic, Proteomic, and Metabolic Influences of Histidyl Dipeptides on the Heart

Background: Histidyl dipeptides such as carnosine are present in a micromolar to millimolar range in mammalian hearts. These dipeptides facilitate glycolysis by proton buffering. They form conjugates with reactive aldehydes, such as acrolein, and attenuate myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Although these dipeptides exhibit multifunctional properties, a composite understanding of their role in the myocardium is lacking. Methods and Results: To identify histidyl dipeptide-mediated responses in the heart, we used an integrated triomics approach, which involved genome-wide RNA sequencing, global proteomics, and unbiased metabolomics to identify the effects of cardiospecific transgenic overexpression of the carnosine synthesizing enzyme, carnosine synthase (Carns), in mice. Our result showed that higher myocardial levels of histidyl dipeptides were associated with extensive changes in the levels of several microRNAs, which target the expression of contractile proteins, β-fatty acid oxidation, and citric acid cycle (TCA) enzymes. Global proteomic analysis showed enrichment in the expression of contractile proteins, enzymes of β-fatty acid oxidation, and the TCA in the Carns transgenic heart. Under aerobic conditions, the Carns transgenic hearts had lower levels of short- and long-chain fatty acids as well as the TCA intermediate-succinic acid; whereas, under ischemic conditions, the accumulation of fatty acids and TCA intermediates was significantly attenuated. Integration of multiple data sets suggested that β-fatty acid oxidation and TCA pathways exhibit correlative changes in the Carns transgenic hearts at all 3 levels. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings reveal a central role of histidyl dipeptides in coordinated regulation of myocardial structure, function, and energetics