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02/06/2023
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De videnskabelige artikler er peer-reviewed, dvs. de har været igennem flere uvildige forskere, der har anerkendt og godkendt resultater og fremgangsmåde.
Adding "Origination" to Diffusion Theory: Contrasting the Roles of China and the EU in Green Finance
Abstract: The diffusion of liberal economic ideas has been challenged by three global shifts: a bipolar tilt, nationalism, and climate change. One consequence is that policy norms are originating from new places and carry new content. To date, diffusion theory in International Political Economy (IPE) explains how liberal policy norms spread through ‘adaptation’ to local circumstances, but less why they diffuse from particular origins. The three global shifts make a focus on origins critical. I propose integrating Comparative Political Economy (CPE) into diffusion theory to capture the forces and conditions shaping policy norm ‘origination’. Analyzing the global proliferation of green finance policies, I show how China’s closed capital account and state-controlled financial system combined with a state-led and experimentation-prone governance system creates a top-down market-steering approach that makes China a pioneer of policy instruments. Second, I show how the EU’s global economic position, its independent central bank, and a negotiated and consultative governance system create a bottom-up market-facilitating approach that makes the EU a standard-setter of policy content. Adding origination creates a path forward for diffusion theory, exploring how certain political economy traits create roles in the diffusion process and how this impacts the diffusion mechanisms and adaptation processes emphasized today.
Abstract: The diffusion of liberal economic ideas has been challenged by three global shifts: a bipolar tilt, nationalism, and climate change. One consequence is that policy norms are originating from new places and carry new content. To date, diffusion theory in International Political Economy (IPE) explains how liberal policy norms spread through ‘adaptation’ to local circumstances, but less why they diffuse from particular origins. The three global shifts make a focus on origins critical. I propose integrating Comparative Political Economy (CPE) into diffusion theory to capture the forces and conditions shaping policy norm ‘origination’. Analyzing the global proliferation of green finance policies, I show how China’s closed capital account and state-controlled financial system combined with a state-led and experimentation-prone governance system creates a top-down market-steering approach that makes China a pioneer of policy instruments. Second, I show how the EU’s global economic position, its independent central bank, and a negotiated and consultative governance system create a bottom-up market-facilitating approach that makes the EU a standard-setter of policy content. Adding origination creates a path forward for diffusion theory, exploring how certain political economy traits create roles in the diffusion process and how this impacts the diffusion mechanisms and adaptation processes emphasized today.
Journal: Review of International Political Economy
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Mathias Lund Larsen
Affected by STEM?: Young Girls Negotiating STEM Presents and Futures in a Danish School
Abstract: This article explores how Danish school girls affectively engage with and relate to STEM subjects, and what draws the girls to STEM subjects and pushes them away, respectively. We draw on Ahmed’s work to shed light on the ‘sticky’ affects that become attached to STEM subjects as well as student subjects in constituting these as affectively (un)attractive for girls. We explore the discourses on STEM subjects that circulate amongst the students before considering the affects that these discourses generate in and amongst the students, and which roles these affective reactions play in how the girls engage with and relate to STEM. Our analysis evolves around three affective tensions in the data and shows that positive affects are felt by and attached to students with STEM interests and skills, and that students negotiate different kinds of (dis-)comfort when relating to their engagement with STEM in the present and in the future.
Abstract: This article explores how Danish school girls affectively engage with and relate to STEM subjects, and what draws the girls to STEM subjects and pushes them away, respectively. We draw on Ahmed’s work to shed light on the ‘sticky’ affects that become attached to STEM subjects as well as student subjects in constituting these as affectively (un)attractive for girls. We explore the discourses on STEM subjects that circulate amongst the students before considering the affects that these discourses generate in and amongst the students, and which roles these affective reactions play in how the girls engage with and relate to STEM. Our analysis evolves around three affective tensions in the data and shows that positive affects are felt by and attached to students with STEM interests and skills, and that students negotiate different kinds of (dis-)comfort when relating to their engagement with STEM in the present and in the future.
Journal: Gender and Education
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Jette Sandager
A Music Recommendation System Based on Psychotherapy
Abstract: Music can arise emotions and feelings easily, and thus has a strong influence on people's mental status. However, focusing only on the genre features of the music itself, traditional music recommendation systems often ignored the close relationship between music and emotion. Furthermore, the “filter bubble” phenomenon can easily make users' mental status even worse by recommending sorrowful music when they are depressed. In this study, we designed a novel music recommendation system based on psychotherapy. Specifically, our LSTM-based model can not only select the most helpful music based on users' previous mood and current emotion stimulus, but also use the care factor to adjust the results in order to improve users' mental status. The empirical experiments and user study demonstrated the effectiveness and usefulness of our proposed system.
Abstract: Music can arise emotions and feelings easily, and thus has a strong influence on people's mental status. However, focusing only on the genre features of the music itself, traditional music recommendation systems often ignored the close relationship between music and emotion. Furthermore, the “filter bubble” phenomenon can easily make users' mental status even worse by recommending sorrowful music when they are depressed. In this study, we designed a novel music recommendation system based on psychotherapy. Specifically, our LSTM-based model can not only select the most helpful music based on users' previous mood and current emotion stimulus, but also use the care factor to adjust the results in order to improve users' mental status. The empirical experiments and user study demonstrated the effectiveness and usefulness of our proposed system.
Journal: Science Talks
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Qiqi Jiang
An Investigation of Consumers' Preference and Willingness to Pay for Fish Welfare in Denmark: A Discrete Choice Modeling Approach
Abstract: Farmed fish welfare has become an important factor in consumers' purchasing decisions. The objective of this study is twofold: (1) to investigate consumers' preference and willingness to pay for farmed fish welfare and (2) to measure the effect of social desirability on consumers' responses. A self-administered online survey was developed and distributed to an Internet panel in Denmark. Discrete choice experiment was used to elicit consumers' preference and willingness to pay for fish welfare. Direct and indirect questioning were used when an individual was asked to make a decision in the discrete choice experiment. Respondents were asked to make their own purchase decision in direct questioning (i.e., the fish product s/he would like to buy), while in indirect questioning, they were asked to make decisions for others (i.e., the most sold product in the market). The results revealed that attributes such as the form of fish, labeling, price, and premium had an influence on consumers' choice of fish. Specifically, consumers were generally willing to pay more in premium for fish that had a “fish welfare guaranteed” label. Consumer heterogeneity was disclosed in consumer preference and willingness to pay. Results also showed that consumers believe other consumers would be likely to pay less for fish welfare than themselves. Thus, the results revealed that social desirability could create bias when valuing fish welfare.
Abstract: Farmed fish welfare has become an important factor in consumers' purchasing decisions. The objective of this study is twofold: (1) to investigate consumers' preference and willingness to pay for farmed fish welfare and (2) to measure the effect of social desirability on consumers' responses. A self-administered online survey was developed and distributed to an Internet panel in Denmark. Discrete choice experiment was used to elicit consumers' preference and willingness to pay for fish welfare. Direct and indirect questioning were used when an individual was asked to make a decision in the discrete choice experiment. Respondents were asked to make their own purchase decision in direct questioning (i.e., the fish product s/he would like to buy), while in indirect questioning, they were asked to make decisions for others (i.e., the most sold product in the market). The results revealed that attributes such as the form of fish, labeling, price, and premium had an influence on consumers' choice of fish. Specifically, consumers were generally willing to pay more in premium for fish that had a “fish welfare guaranteed” label. Consumer heterogeneity was disclosed in consumer preference and willingness to pay. Results also showed that consumers believe other consumers would be likely to pay less for fish welfare than themselves. Thus, the results revealed that social desirability could create bias when valuing fish welfare.
Journal: Aquaculture
Published: Sep 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Thong Tien Nguyen
Causal Inference and Data Fusion in Econometrics
Abstract: Learning about cause and effect is arguably the main goal in applied econometrics. In practice, the validity of these causal inferences is contingent on a number of critical assumptions regarding the type of data that has been collected, and the substantive knowledge that is available about the phenomenon under investigation. For instance, unobserved confounding factors threaten the internal validity of estimates; data availability is often limited to nonrandom, selection-biased samples; causal effects need to be learned from surrogate experiments with imperfect compliance; and causal knowledge has to be extrapolated across structurally heterogeneous populations. A powerful and flexible causal inference framework is required in order to tackle all of these challenges, which plague essentially any data analysis to varying degrees. Building on the structural perspective on causality introduced by Haavelmo (1943) and the graph-theoretic approach proposed by Pearl (1995), the artificial intelligence (AI) literature has developed a wide array of techniques for causal inference that allow us to leverage information from various imperfect, heterogeneous, and biased data sources (Bareinboim and Pearl, 2016). In this paper, we review recent advances made in this literature that have the potential to contribute to econometric methodology along three broad dimensions. First, they provide a unified and comprehensive framework for causal learning, in which the above-mentioned problems can be addressed in generality. Second, due to their origin in AI, they come together with sound, efficient, and complete (to be formally defined) algorithmic criteria for automation of the corresponding identification task. And third, because of the nonparametric description of structural models that graph-theoretic approaches build on, they combine the analytical rigor of structural econometrics with the flexibility of the potential outcomes framework, and thus offer a valuable complement to these two literature streams.
Abstract: Learning about cause and effect is arguably the main goal in applied econometrics. In practice, the validity of these causal inferences is contingent on a number of critical assumptions regarding the type of data that has been collected, and the substantive knowledge that is available about the phenomenon under investigation. For instance, unobserved confounding factors threaten the internal validity of estimates; data availability is often limited to nonrandom, selection-biased samples; causal effects need to be learned from surrogate experiments with imperfect compliance; and causal knowledge has to be extrapolated across structurally heterogeneous populations. A powerful and flexible causal inference framework is required in order to tackle all of these challenges, which plague essentially any data analysis to varying degrees. Building on the structural perspective on causality introduced by Haavelmo (1943) and the graph-theoretic approach proposed by Pearl (1995), the artificial intelligence (AI) literature has developed a wide array of techniques for causal inference that allow us to leverage information from various imperfect, heterogeneous, and biased data sources (Bareinboim and Pearl, 2016). In this paper, we review recent advances made in this literature that have the potential to contribute to econometric methodology along three broad dimensions. First, they provide a unified and comprehensive framework for causal learning, in which the above-mentioned problems can be addressed in generality. Second, due to their origin in AI, they come together with sound, efficient, and complete (to be formally defined) algorithmic criteria for automation of the corresponding identification task. And third, because of the nonparametric description of structural models that graph-theoretic approaches build on, they combine the analytical rigor of structural econometrics with the flexibility of the potential outcomes framework, and thus offer a valuable complement to these two literature streams.
Journal: Econometrics Journal
Published: Mar 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Paul Hünermund
Choosing Misaligned Governance Modes when Offshoring Business Functions: A Prospect Theory Perspective
Abstract:
Research Summary
Transaction cost economics (TCE) holds that multinational corporations (MNCs) should select governance modes based on associated transactional hazards. However, MNCs often adopt theoretically misaligned governance modes. Applying a prospect theory (PT) perspective, we use the context of business-process offshoring to explore why firms choose misaligned governance modes. We argue that theoretically misaligned governance modes are regarded as riskier than aligned governance modes, and we suggest that prior experiences of failure in an international context—especially in business functions that are relevant for the internationalization of a firm—prompt decision-makers to choose theoretically misaligned governance modes. We enhance discussions on governance-mode decisions with important behavioral perspectives on how such decisions materialize.
Managerial Summary
Experience with underperforming investments provides decision-makers with an important motivation to search for riskier, nontraditional solutions, such as governance modes that do not necessarily comply with conventional logics. We show that such decisions, which have traditionally been conceived as managerial mistakes, are driven by behavioral insights found in the fields of human and organizational psychology. While we explore this idea in the context of international governance-mode decisions, we believe such a behavioral perspective on international decision-making is generalizable to other relevant contexts.
Abstract:
Research Summary
Transaction cost economics (TCE) holds that multinational corporations (MNCs) should select governance modes based on associated transactional hazards. However, MNCs often adopt theoretically misaligned governance modes. Applying a prospect theory (PT) perspective, we use the context of business-process offshoring to explore why firms choose misaligned governance modes. We argue that theoretically misaligned governance modes are regarded as riskier than aligned governance modes, and we suggest that prior experiences of failure in an international context—especially in business functions that are relevant for the internationalization of a firm—prompt decision-makers to choose theoretically misaligned governance modes. We enhance discussions on governance-mode decisions with important behavioral perspectives on how such decisions materialize.
Managerial Summary
Experience with underperforming investments provides decision-makers with an important motivation to search for riskier, nontraditional solutions, such as governance modes that do not necessarily comply with conventional logics. We show that such decisions, which have traditionally been conceived as managerial mistakes, are driven by behavioral insights found in the fields of human and organizational psychology. While we explore this idea in the context of international governance-mode decisions, we believe such a behavioral perspective on international decision-making is generalizable to other relevant contexts.
Journal: Global Strategy Journal
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Marcus Møller Larsen
Decomposing Profile-to-role Configurations in R&D-focused Entrepreneurial Teams
Abstract: We draw on social categorization theory to explain how entrepreneurial teams focused on research and development (R&D) are configured to deliver successful new venture performance. Research on entrepreneurial teams tends to aggregate individuals to the team level, which helps distill the effects of complementarities among social categories of team members. Specifically, we examine how scientists and managers apply their unique profiles (i.e., accumulated skills and expertise) to execute their respective roles within entrepreneurial teams engaged in commercial scientific discovery. In line with the entrepreneurial team literature, we distinguish between “focused” and “diversified” social categorizations of principal scientists and managers. As such, we differentiate between individuals’ deep knowledge of a discipline and a background in two professional areas with relative expertise in each, likened to the “jack-of-all-trades”. We analyze how team profile-to-role configurations might result in different new venture outcomes being R&D performance and commercial performance. To examine our models, we use multi-source, longitudinal, secondary data drawn from 153 government-funded research-intensive ventures associated with the National Cancer Institute in the United States (U.S.). Our results reveal differential effects for R&D performance and commercial performance. We find that teams aiming to enhance their R&D performance should seek diversified principal scientists, whereas teams seeking commercial gains should appoint diversified managers. By the same token, diversified team members may bypass their own shortcomings and complement their strengths by attracting team members with focused social categorizations.
Abstract: We draw on social categorization theory to explain how entrepreneurial teams focused on research and development (R&D) are configured to deliver successful new venture performance. Research on entrepreneurial teams tends to aggregate individuals to the team level, which helps distill the effects of complementarities among social categories of team members. Specifically, we examine how scientists and managers apply their unique profiles (i.e., accumulated skills and expertise) to execute their respective roles within entrepreneurial teams engaged in commercial scientific discovery. In line with the entrepreneurial team literature, we distinguish between “focused” and “diversified” social categorizations of principal scientists and managers. As such, we differentiate between individuals’ deep knowledge of a discipline and a background in two professional areas with relative expertise in each, likened to the “jack-of-all-trades”. We analyze how team profile-to-role configurations might result in different new venture outcomes being R&D performance and commercial performance. To examine our models, we use multi-source, longitudinal, secondary data drawn from 153 government-funded research-intensive ventures associated with the National Cancer Institute in the United States (U.S.). Our results reveal differential effects for R&D performance and commercial performance. We find that teams aiming to enhance their R&D performance should seek diversified principal scientists, whereas teams seeking commercial gains should appoint diversified managers. By the same token, diversified team members may bypass their own shortcomings and complement their strengths by attracting team members with focused social categorizations.
Journal: European Management Journal
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Robert E. Morgan
Disasters and International Business: Insights and Recommendations from a Systematic Review
Abstract: Disasters – natural or manmade – are on the rise with far-reaching implications for international business (IB) actors and transactions. While the Covid-19 pandemic has generated much academic interest for its impact on business in general, little effort has been made to consolidate the fragmented research on disasters more broadly in the field of international business. Therefore, it is important and urgent to consolidate the existing knowledge to provide a solid basis for future research. We systematically review 132 articles published between 1991 and 2022 and critically evaluate the nascent but rapidly growing literature at the intersection of disasters and IB. Our examination of the different types of disasters (natural and manmade) shows two separate streams: (1) a dominant MNE-centric stream of strategic IB research which regards disaster as an exogenous shock impacting MNE strategies, responses, and resilience, and (2) an emergent stream which places disaster as a more central, embedded phenomenon of investigation impacted by MNEs and other global actors. Our systematic review highlights the gaps in this literature and concludes with a discussion of the intersection of IB-disasters in relation to the 17 United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to suggest directions for future research.
Abstract: Disasters – natural or manmade – are on the rise with far-reaching implications for international business (IB) actors and transactions. While the Covid-19 pandemic has generated much academic interest for its impact on business in general, little effort has been made to consolidate the fragmented research on disasters more broadly in the field of international business. Therefore, it is important and urgent to consolidate the existing knowledge to provide a solid basis for future research. We systematically review 132 articles published between 1991 and 2022 and critically evaluate the nascent but rapidly growing literature at the intersection of disasters and IB. Our examination of the different types of disasters (natural and manmade) shows two separate streams: (1) a dominant MNE-centric stream of strategic IB research which regards disaster as an exogenous shock impacting MNE strategies, responses, and resilience, and (2) an emergent stream which places disaster as a more central, embedded phenomenon of investigation impacted by MNEs and other global actors. Our systematic review highlights the gaps in this literature and concludes with a discussion of the intersection of IB-disasters in relation to the 17 United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to suggest directions for future research.
Journal: Journal of World Business
Published: Jun 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Bo Bernhard Nielsen
Do Tourists Stand by the Tourism Industry?: Examining Solidarity During and After a Pandemic
Abstract: How does the suffering of a whole industry influence people’s attitudes toward that industry? This research is the first, across disciplines, to examine this question. The authors provide the first conceptual study and empirical test for the phenomenon called tourism solidarity. Based on seminal social psychology research, tourism solidarity is conceptualized and defined as an individual’s compassion with and support of an industry, resulting from an observation of suffering. The authors use a covariance-based structural equation model as well as a novel Bayesian estimation approach (i.e., non-parametric) to develop a reliable and easy-to-apply tourism solidarity scale and assess its role of solidarity in two consecutive empirical studies. By doing so, the authors are able to empirically demonstrate the importance of tourism solidarity for tourist behavior, and provide both tourism researchers and practitioners with a conceptual model and measurement tool to assess, quantify and actively manage solidarity toward the tourism industry.
Abstract: How does the suffering of a whole industry influence people’s attitudes toward that industry? This research is the first, across disciplines, to examine this question. The authors provide the first conceptual study and empirical test for the phenomenon called tourism solidarity. Based on seminal social psychology research, tourism solidarity is conceptualized and defined as an individual’s compassion with and support of an industry, resulting from an observation of suffering. The authors use a covariance-based structural equation model as well as a novel Bayesian estimation approach (i.e., non-parametric) to develop a reliable and easy-to-apply tourism solidarity scale and assess its role of solidarity in two consecutive empirical studies. By doing so, the authors are able to empirically demonstrate the importance of tourism solidarity for tourist behavior, and provide both tourism researchers and practitioners with a conceptual model and measurement tool to assess, quantify and actively manage solidarity toward the tourism industry.
Journal: Journal of Travel Research
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Florian Kock, Alexander Josiassen
Enterprise Foundations as ‘Non-profit Organizations’ Under the EU Pillar Two Directive
Abstract: The authors explore the highly debated 15% minimum corporate tax rate better known as Pillar Two. More specifically, the focus is on ‘public good enterprise foundations’ and the potential applicability of the ‘non-profit organization’ definition in the EU Pillar Two Directive (2022/ 2523) from December 2022. A public good enterprise foundation typically controls one or more operating enterprises but can only distribute income to the public good purposes stipulated in the foundation charter. This ‘distribution restraint’ is supplemented by a ‘disbursement duty’ as the governing board must make distributions to the foundation’s public good purposes. In some instances, the founder has – in addition to one or more public good purposes – explicitly stipulated ownership of (specific) operating entities for the purpose of raising funds for the public good purposes in the charter. Consequently, whereas corporations make profit for their owners, the public good enterprise foundation’s purpose is not to operate for profit-making but instead to operate for promotion of the public good purpose in the foundation charter.
Illustrated by Danish public good enterprise foundations (DK: Erhvervsdrivende fonde), it is analysed whether public good enterprise foundations in Europe should be considered as ‘non-profit organizations’ excluded from the EU Pillar Two Directive despite owning (controlling) interests in operating entities that are conducting commercial business. The impact is significant as this would exclude the income and tax of the public good enterprise foundations (and their holding companies) when calculating the jurisdictional effective tax rate of the group and prevent the application of the income inclusion rule and the under taxed payment rule on their income. While self-owned foundations may be unfamiliar in some Member States, it will have significant impact on other Member States such as Denmark where some of the largest businesses (e.g., Maersk, Novo Nordisk, Carlsberg, and Lundbeck) are owned by such public good enterprise foundations. The authors argue they should be considered as non-profit organizations and therefore excluded entities under the Directive.
Abstract: The authors explore the highly debated 15% minimum corporate tax rate better known as Pillar Two. More specifically, the focus is on ‘public good enterprise foundations’ and the potential applicability of the ‘non-profit organization’ definition in the EU Pillar Two Directive (2022/ 2523) from December 2022. A public good enterprise foundation typically controls one or more operating enterprises but can only distribute income to the public good purposes stipulated in the foundation charter. This ‘distribution restraint’ is supplemented by a ‘disbursement duty’ as the governing board must make distributions to the foundation’s public good purposes. In some instances, the founder has – in addition to one or more public good purposes – explicitly stipulated ownership of (specific) operating entities for the purpose of raising funds for the public good purposes in the charter. Consequently, whereas corporations make profit for their owners, the public good enterprise foundation’s purpose is not to operate for profit-making but instead to operate for promotion of the public good purpose in the foundation charter.
Illustrated by Danish public good enterprise foundations (DK: Erhvervsdrivende fonde), it is analysed whether public good enterprise foundations in Europe should be considered as ‘non-profit organizations’ excluded from the EU Pillar Two Directive despite owning (controlling) interests in operating entities that are conducting commercial business. The impact is significant as this would exclude the income and tax of the public good enterprise foundations (and their holding companies) when calculating the jurisdictional effective tax rate of the group and prevent the application of the income inclusion rule and the under taxed payment rule on their income. While self-owned foundations may be unfamiliar in some Member States, it will have significant impact on other Member States such as Denmark where some of the largest businesses (e.g., Maersk, Novo Nordisk, Carlsberg, and Lundbeck) are owned by such public good enterprise foundations. The authors argue they should be considered as non-profit organizations and therefore excluded entities under the Directive.
Journal: Intertax
Published: 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Mark Ørberg, Louise Blichfeldt Fjord
Forecasting National Recessions of the United States with State-level Climate Risks: Evidence from Model Averaging in Markov-switching Models
Abstract: This paper utilizes Bayesian (static) model averaging (BMA) and dynamic model averaging (DMA) incorporated into Markov-switching (MS) models to forecast business cycle turning points of the United States (US) with state-level climate risks data, proxied by temperature changes and its (realized) volatility. We find that forecasts obtained from the DMA combination scheme provide timely updates of the US business cycles based on the information content of the metrics of state-level climate risks, particularly volatility of temperature, relative to the corresponding small-scale MS benchmarks that use national-level values of climate change-related predictors.
Abstract: This paper utilizes Bayesian (static) model averaging (BMA) and dynamic model averaging (DMA) incorporated into Markov-switching (MS) models to forecast business cycle turning points of the United States (US) with state-level climate risks data, proxied by temperature changes and its (realized) volatility. We find that forecasts obtained from the DMA combination scheme provide timely updates of the US business cycles based on the information content of the metrics of state-level climate risks, particularly volatility of temperature, relative to the corresponding small-scale MS benchmarks that use national-level values of climate change-related predictors.
Journal: Economics Letters
Published: Jun 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Oguzhan Cepni
Future-making in an Uncertain World: The Presence of an Open Future in Danish Young Women's Lives
Abstract: Reporting from a three-year longitudinal study following 16 young women through their upper secondary schooling, this article explores the lived experiences of future-making. By unpacking the striking finding in our material that for these young women, future-making consists in an ongoing labour to keep the future open, we complement studies showing how ideals of success in education affect young women’s everyday life. Our analysis reveals that although this mode of future-making induces anxieties and cruel labours, young women also navigate and negotiate their uncertain conditions. We show how they manage to (partly) escape extreme performance demands and how they connect to collective futures, thus challenging the individuality of neoliberal subjectivity. We contribute to a sociology of the future by demonstrating an approach to studying the future that zooms in on the practices and affective experiences, through which futures exert agency and organise the everyday lived present.
Abstract: Reporting from a three-year longitudinal study following 16 young women through their upper secondary schooling, this article explores the lived experiences of future-making. By unpacking the striking finding in our material that for these young women, future-making consists in an ongoing labour to keep the future open, we complement studies showing how ideals of success in education affect young women’s everyday life. Our analysis reveals that although this mode of future-making induces anxieties and cruel labours, young women also navigate and negotiate their uncertain conditions. We show how they manage to (partly) escape extreme performance demands and how they connect to collective futures, thus challenging the individuality of neoliberal subjectivity. We contribute to a sociology of the future by demonstrating an approach to studying the future that zooms in on the practices and affective experiences, through which futures exert agency and organise the everyday lived present.
Journal: Sociology
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Justine Grønbæk Pors, Sharon Kishik
Governmentality Versus Community: The Impact of the COVID Lockdowns
Abstract: The COVID lockdowns were characterised by new forms of governmentality as lives were disrupted and controlled through the vertical transmission of biopolitics by the state. The paper considers how this was experienced by academics in 11 different countries through analysis of diaries written during the first lockdown. The paper asks if communities can offer an alternative to governmentality by looking at three levels: the national, the neighbourhood and the personal. Whilst at a national level the idea of community was instrumentalised to encourage compliance to extraordinary measures, at the local level community compassion through helping neighbours encouraged horizontal connections that could offer a “space” within the dominant logic of governmentality. At the level of personal communities, the digitalisation of social relationships helped to create supportive networks over widely dispersed areas but these were narrowly rather than widely focused, avoiding critical discussion.
Abstract: The COVID lockdowns were characterised by new forms of governmentality as lives were disrupted and controlled through the vertical transmission of biopolitics by the state. The paper considers how this was experienced by academics in 11 different countries through analysis of diaries written during the first lockdown. The paper asks if communities can offer an alternative to governmentality by looking at three levels: the national, the neighbourhood and the personal. Whilst at a national level the idea of community was instrumentalised to encourage compliance to extraordinary measures, at the local level community compassion through helping neighbours encouraged horizontal connections that could offer a “space” within the dominant logic of governmentality. At the level of personal communities, the digitalisation of social relationships helped to create supportive networks over widely dispersed areas but these were narrowly rather than widely focused, avoiding critical discussion.
Journal: International Journal of Community Well-Being
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Janine Leschke
How does Competition Influence Innovative Effort within a Platform-based Ecosystem?: Contrasting Paid and Unpaid Contributors
Abstract: Unpaid individuals are an important source of contributions to many ecosystems. An understudied phenomenon is how such contributions are shaped by competition. In this paper, we study how the rate and type of new product creation are shaped by competition. We contrast its impact on “paid” developers that profit by selling their products to that on “unpaid” developers that release their software for free. Using a hand-collected dataset on the jailbreak ecosystem, we find that increasing competition has a stronger negative effect on the rate of innovation by paid developers than that of unpaid developers. We also find that increasing competition is associated with a reduction in the reuse of existing technological components by unpaid developers, relative to paid developers, suggesting that the types of products developed also shift as competition increases. The results suggest that competition has an important role in shaping innovation in platform-based ecosystems, but that it differs for paid and unpaid contributors.
Abstract: Unpaid individuals are an important source of contributions to many ecosystems. An understudied phenomenon is how such contributions are shaped by competition. In this paper, we study how the rate and type of new product creation are shaped by competition. We contrast its impact on “paid” developers that profit by selling their products to that on “unpaid” developers that release their software for free. Using a hand-collected dataset on the jailbreak ecosystem, we find that increasing competition has a stronger negative effect on the rate of innovation by paid developers than that of unpaid developers. We also find that increasing competition is associated with a reduction in the reuse of existing technological components by unpaid developers, relative to paid developers, suggesting that the types of products developed also shift as competition increases. The results suggest that competition has an important role in shaping innovation in platform-based ecosystems, but that it differs for paid and unpaid contributors.
Journal: Research Policy
Published: Sep 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Lars Bo Jeppesen
How to Connect Energy Islands: Trade-offs between Hydrogen and Electricity Infrastructure
Abstract: In light of offshore wind expansions in the North and Baltic Seas in Europe, further ideas on using offshore space for renewable-based energy generation have evolved. One of the concepts is that of energy islands, which entails the placement of energy conversion and storage equipment near offshore wind farms. Offshore placement of electrolysers will cause interdependence between the availability of electricity for hydrogen production and for power transmission to shore. This paper investigates the trade-offs between integrating energy islands via electricity versus hydrogen infrastructure. We set up a combined capacity expansion and electricity dispatch model to assess the role of electrolysers and electricity cables given the availability of renewable energy from the islands. We find that the electricity system benefits more from connecting close-to-shore wind farms via power cables. In turn, electrolysis is more valuable for far-away energy islands as it avoids expensive long-distance cable infrastructure. We also find that capacity investment in electrolysers is sensitive to hydrogen prices but less to carbon prices. The onshore network and congestion caused by increased activity close to shore influence the sizing and siting of electrolysers.
Abstract: In light of offshore wind expansions in the North and Baltic Seas in Europe, further ideas on using offshore space for renewable-based energy generation have evolved. One of the concepts is that of energy islands, which entails the placement of energy conversion and storage equipment near offshore wind farms. Offshore placement of electrolysers will cause interdependence between the availability of electricity for hydrogen production and for power transmission to shore. This paper investigates the trade-offs between integrating energy islands via electricity versus hydrogen infrastructure. We set up a combined capacity expansion and electricity dispatch model to assess the role of electrolysers and electricity cables given the availability of renewable energy from the islands. We find that the electricity system benefits more from connecting close-to-shore wind farms via power cables. In turn, electrolysis is more valuable for far-away energy islands as it avoids expensive long-distance cable infrastructure. We also find that capacity investment in electrolysers is sensitive to hydrogen prices but less to carbon prices. The onshore network and congestion caused by increased activity close to shore influence the sizing and siting of electrolysers.
Journal: Applied Energy
Published: Jul 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Alexandra Lüth, Jens Weibezahn
In Praise of Shadows: Exploring the Hidden (responsibility) Curriculum
Abstract: We frame this special issue on the hidden responsibility curriculum through the lens of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s 1933 essay, In Praise of Shadows, which recognises the subtlety, modesty and dignity of shadows that are highly prized in Japanese culture. We do this to embody the themes both present and absent from the seven articles in this special issue. The articles share flecks and flickers, suggesting that (1) salient things happen in the shadows when it comes to responsibility learning – for better or worse, (2) students can play a role in illuminating and challenging the shadow sides of learning environments and (3) discernible symbols provide navigational possibilities in the shadows. Our tribute to Tanizaki reflects both the involuntary absence, in our Special Issue, of contributions beyond dominant White, Northern European perspectives and the lack of methodological apparatus that can effectively capture the implicit, shadow side of educational life – and life beyond – that evades conventional academic approaches. We also share reflections from the shadows of our own curation of this special issue, as an invite to shine a light on how curational ecosystems might be reimagined.
Journal: Management Learning
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Maribel Blasco
Intermediate-level Outside-in Marketing Capabilities, Technological Innovation, and Management Innovation
Abstract:
Purpose
This study aims to build a theoretical model including intermediate-level outside-in marketing capabilities (ILOIMC), radical and incremental technological innovations and management innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
This research used 272 pairs of survey questionnaires from Chinese firms’ managers to examine the hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicate that ILOIMC enhance management innovation by stimulating radical technological innovation. Furthermore, the mediating effect of incremental technological innovation depends on technological turbulence.
Research limitations/implications
This study may have several limitations which future research could try to overcome: cross-sectional data, Chinese samples, exclusive focus on ILOIMC, sociotechnical approach to innovation typology and measuring ILOIMC as a first-order variable.
Practical implications
ILOIMC can significantly improve innovations in technology and management systems by using customer value and market information.
Originality/value
This study proposes a new taxonomy to classify marketing capabilities into lower-level inside-out marketing capabilities, ILOIMC and higher-level outside-in marketing capabilities. It also provides an explicit discussion and examination of the influence of ILOIMC on technological and management innovations and the contingency effect of technological turbulence. Thus, it responds to Musarra and Morgan’s (2020) call for more research into the mechanism that explains when (the conditions under which) and how (the process by which) outside-in marketing capabilities could contribute to firm innovation.
Abstract:
Purpose
This study aims to build a theoretical model including intermediate-level outside-in marketing capabilities (ILOIMC), radical and incremental technological innovations and management innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
This research used 272 pairs of survey questionnaires from Chinese firms’ managers to examine the hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicate that ILOIMC enhance management innovation by stimulating radical technological innovation. Furthermore, the mediating effect of incremental technological innovation depends on technological turbulence.
Research limitations/implications
This study may have several limitations which future research could try to overcome: cross-sectional data, Chinese samples, exclusive focus on ILOIMC, sociotechnical approach to innovation typology and measuring ILOIMC as a first-order variable.
Practical implications
ILOIMC can significantly improve innovations in technology and management systems by using customer value and market information.
Originality/value
This study proposes a new taxonomy to classify marketing capabilities into lower-level inside-out marketing capabilities, ILOIMC and higher-level outside-in marketing capabilities. It also provides an explicit discussion and examination of the influence of ILOIMC on technological and management innovations and the contingency effect of technological turbulence. Thus, it responds to Musarra and Morgan’s (2020) call for more research into the mechanism that explains when (the conditions under which) and how (the process by which) outside-in marketing capabilities could contribute to firm innovation.
Journal: European Journal of Marketing
Published: 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Bo Bernhard Nielsen
Investigating Effects of Teachers in Flipped Classroom: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study of Classroom Level Heterogeneity
Abstract: The increased popularity of flipped classroom in higher education warrants more thorough investigation of the pedagogical format’s effects on student learning. This paper utilizes two iterations of a randomized field experiment to study the effects of flipped classroom on student learning specifically focusing on heterogeneous treatment effects across the important classroom-level factor of teachers. The empirical setting is an undergraduate macroeconomics course with 933 students and 11 teachers. Our findings show a positive yet insignificant average effect of flipped classroom on both pass rate and final exam grades. We further find substantial shifts in the ranking of the participating teachers’ effectiveness when comparing traditional and flipped classroom conditions, which suggests that the most successful teacher in a traditional teaching environment is not necessarily the most successful teacher in a flipped classroom environment.
Abstract: The increased popularity of flipped classroom in higher education warrants more thorough investigation of the pedagogical format’s effects on student learning. This paper utilizes two iterations of a randomized field experiment to study the effects of flipped classroom on student learning specifically focusing on heterogeneous treatment effects across the important classroom-level factor of teachers. The empirical setting is an undergraduate macroeconomics course with 933 students and 11 teachers. Our findings show a positive yet insignificant average effect of flipped classroom on both pass rate and final exam grades. We further find substantial shifts in the ranking of the participating teachers’ effectiveness when comparing traditional and flipped classroom conditions, which suggests that the most successful teacher in a traditional teaching environment is not necessarily the most successful teacher in a flipped classroom environment.
Journal: International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education
Published: Dec 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Julie Buhl-Wiggers, Lisbeth la Cour, Annemette Kjærgaard
Mind the Gap: Towards Performance Measurement Beyond a Plan-execute Logic
Abstract: Project performance measurement aims to identify deviations from intended goals and reduce ‘the gap’ between actual and expected performance. However, despite extensive measurement and control efforts, the gap is hard to close and, intriguingly, not necessarily related to the project's perceived performance, which is what will ultimately influence a stakeholder's satisfaction. Based on service quality research, this study explores the differences between perception and expectations of performance. Our mixed method study involving eighteen interviews and 85 survey responses in an IT-enabled change context shows that expectations and perceptions are fundamentally different concepts. As they are different, managing the gap between expectations and perceptions may be a nugatory task. The paper expands the literature on project performance measurement by questioning its foundations and offering a first step towards developing a more dynamic and subjective understanding of project performance that is consistent with a project's evolving nature.
Abstract: Project performance measurement aims to identify deviations from intended goals and reduce ‘the gap’ between actual and expected performance. However, despite extensive measurement and control efforts, the gap is hard to close and, intriguingly, not necessarily related to the project's perceived performance, which is what will ultimately influence a stakeholder's satisfaction. Based on service quality research, this study explores the differences between perception and expectations of performance. Our mixed method study involving eighteen interviews and 85 survey responses in an IT-enabled change context shows that expectations and perceptions are fundamentally different concepts. As they are different, managing the gap between expectations and perceptions may be a nugatory task. The paper expands the literature on project performance measurement by questioning its foundations and offering a first step towards developing a more dynamic and subjective understanding of project performance that is consistent with a project's evolving nature.
Journal: International Journal of Project Management
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Joana Geraldi
Mobile Apps and Financial Decision Making
Abstract: We exploit the release of a mobile application for a financial aggregation platform to analyze how technology adoption changes consumer financial decision making. The app reduced the cost of accessing personal financial information, and we find that this led to a drop in non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees. Because of the manner in which these fees are incurred, this represents an unambiguous welfare improvement for users of the platform. The leading explanation for this result appears to be mistake avoidance due to easier access to information.
Abstract: We exploit the release of a mobile application for a financial aggregation platform to analyze how technology adoption changes consumer financial decision making. The app reduced the cost of accessing personal financial information, and we find that this led to a drop in non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees. Because of the manner in which these fees are incurred, this represents an unambiguous welfare improvement for users of the platform. The leading explanation for this result appears to be mistake avoidance due to easier access to information.
Journal: Review of Finance
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Arna Olafsson
New Competences Enhancing Procurement's Contribution to Innovation and Sustainability
Abstract: This research presents the results of a multiple method study exploring the future competence requirements for purchasing and supply management (PSM) professionals in the face of increasing demand for innovative and sustainable product and service solutions. Data collection consisted of four stages: first, a World Café was held to gather experts’ insights into PSM skills, which helped to refine a first survey round of eleven open-ended questions. A second survey round then followed, presenting four scenarios based on the results of the initial round. Finally, interviews were conducted to explore the results in detail. The participants in all stages were senior PSM experts from a variety of sectors, including manufacturing and service organisations, as well as academic institutions, consulting firms and non-governmental organisations. The results show that the expected changes in the future business environment mainly concern the application of digital technologies, increasing supply chain flexibility and transparency, sustainability performance and the need to build soft skills to support interpersonal relationships as well as hard skills to support supply chain design.
Abstract: This research presents the results of a multiple method study exploring the future competence requirements for purchasing and supply management (PSM) professionals in the face of increasing demand for innovative and sustainable product and service solutions. Data collection consisted of four stages: first, a World Café was held to gather experts’ insights into PSM skills, which helped to refine a first survey round of eleven open-ended questions. A second survey round then followed, presenting four scenarios based on the results of the initial round. Finally, interviews were conducted to explore the results in detail. The participants in all stages were senior PSM experts from a variety of sectors, including manufacturing and service organisations, as well as academic institutions, consulting firms and non-governmental organisations. The results show that the expected changes in the future business environment mainly concern the application of digital technologies, increasing supply chain flexibility and transparency, sustainability performance and the need to build soft skills to support interpersonal relationships as well as hard skills to support supply chain design.
Journal: Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Philip Beske-Janssen, Thomas E. Johnsen, Andreas Wieland
Potentialising the Potential: Dream of Everything You Can Become, and Become Everything You Dream of
Abstract: In education, the child is often observed as a potential to be shaped and realised. In this article, we analyse the educational program, First Lego League. Surprisingly, its aim is not simply to realise a potential, but to potentialise the child to become unlimited potential. Children should become ‘a force for change’, and they are told that ‘you can be anything, just do it!’. To implement this program, First Lego League develops a transition medium that consists of non-representative, presentational symbols such as play, fun, innovation, dance and discovery. Such a program does not come without costs. Our analysis reveals how negativity is negated, knowledge is devalued and the children’s selfnarratives are decoupled. This could result in children being confronted with paradoxical demands, which are difficult to navigate. Analytically, the article draws on Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory and in particular his concepts of form and medium.
Abstract: In education, the child is often observed as a potential to be shaped and realised. In this article, we analyse the educational program, First Lego League. Surprisingly, its aim is not simply to realise a potential, but to potentialise the child to become unlimited potential. Children should become ‘a force for change’, and they are told that ‘you can be anything, just do it!’. To implement this program, First Lego League develops a transition medium that consists of non-representative, presentational symbols such as play, fun, innovation, dance and discovery. Such a program does not come without costs. Our analysis reveals how negativity is negated, knowledge is devalued and the children’s selfnarratives are decoupled. This could result in children being confronted with paradoxical demands, which are difficult to navigate. Analytically, the article draws on Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory and in particular his concepts of form and medium.
Journal: European Educational Research Journal
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Niels Åkerstrøm Andersen, Jette Sandager
Public Support for Professional Legislatures
Abstract: Evidence suggests that well-funded, professional legislatures more effectively provide constituents with their preferred policies and may improve social welfare. Yet, legislative resources across state legislatures have stagnated or dwindled at least in part due to public antagonism toward increasing representatives’ salaries. We argue that one reason voters oppose legislative resources, like salary and staff, is that they are unaware of the potential benefits. Employing a pre-registered survey experiment with a pre–post design, we find that subjects respond positively to potential social welfare benefits of professionalization, increasing support for greater resources. We also find that individuals identifying with the legislative majority party respond positively to potential responsiveness benefits and that out-partisans do not respond negatively to potential responsiveness costs. In a separate survey of political elites, we find similar patterns. These results suggest that a key barrier to increasing legislative professionalism – anticipated public backlash – may not be insurmountable. The findings also highlight a challenge of institutional choice: beliefs that representatives are unresponsive or ineffective lead to governing institutions that may ensure these outcomes.
Abstract: Evidence suggests that well-funded, professional legislatures more effectively provide constituents with their preferred policies and may improve social welfare. Yet, legislative resources across state legislatures have stagnated or dwindled at least in part due to public antagonism toward increasing representatives’ salaries. We argue that one reason voters oppose legislative resources, like salary and staff, is that they are unaware of the potential benefits. Employing a pre-registered survey experiment with a pre–post design, we find that subjects respond positively to potential social welfare benefits of professionalization, increasing support for greater resources. We also find that individuals identifying with the legislative majority party respond positively to potential responsiveness benefits and that out-partisans do not respond negatively to potential responsiveness costs. In a separate survey of political elites, we find similar patterns. These results suggest that a key barrier to increasing legislative professionalism – anticipated public backlash – may not be insurmountable. The findings also highlight a challenge of institutional choice: beliefs that representatives are unresponsive or ineffective lead to governing institutions that may ensure these outcomes.
Journal: State Politics & Policy Quarterly
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: David Fortunato
Quality of Higher Education Experience, Satisfaction, and Well-being: Genuinely Caring for Our Students-consumers
Abstract: This study aims to contribute to the existing literature on higher education marketing by proposing and empirically testing a theoretical model linking higher education quality, student satisfaction, and subjective well-being. The bottom-up spill over theory, the stimulus-organism-response theory, and the expectancy-disconfirmation theory, inform the development of the theoretical model of the study. A cross-sectional survey design is adopted, and data are collected from a sample of students from Mauritian Universities. The model is estimated and tested using a variance-based and prediction-oriented approach to structural equation modelling, specifically partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrate that approximately one-fifth of university students’ subjective well-being is explained by the quality of their student life and their satisfaction with higher education services. Based on these empirical results, we discuss and present key implications for higher education marketing.
Abstract: This study aims to contribute to the existing literature on higher education marketing by proposing and empirically testing a theoretical model linking higher education quality, student satisfaction, and subjective well-being. The bottom-up spill over theory, the stimulus-organism-response theory, and the expectancy-disconfirmation theory, inform the development of the theoretical model of the study. A cross-sectional survey design is adopted, and data are collected from a sample of students from Mauritian Universities. The model is estimated and tested using a variance-based and prediction-oriented approach to structural equation modelling, specifically partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrate that approximately one-fifth of university students’ subjective well-being is explained by the quality of their student life and their satisfaction with higher education services. Based on these empirical results, we discuss and present key implications for higher education marketing.
Journal: Journal of Marketing for Higher Education
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Robin Nunkoo
Regional Digital Resilience and the 4Helix Model: The Higher Education Institutions’ Case in Romania
Abstract: Against the background of multiple and simultaneous global socio-economic shocks, coupled with digital transformation and the green transition, regional resilience triggers new structural transformations. The more complex processes that need to be addressed now require the usage of complex integrated tools. The novelty of the integrated approach is the combination of the models and the synthetic spatial–temporal picture offered. The quadruple helix, or 4Helix, model puts Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) at the nexus of generating regional digital resilience. We posit a new mindset and behavior of human capital to reinforce innovation and knowledge production and transfer. We explore, using the Romanian national case, to what degree the spatial 4Helix model generates regional digital resilience as a positive externality of adoption of the ‘new normal’ digital education. We analyze this process in three steps. (1) We determine the spatial distribution of HEIs at the Romanian county level (NUTS3). (2) We calculate the regional static and dynamic resilience indexes (at NUTS2) as the outcome of the method for multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) by each region’s digital economy as well as individual and regional wealth, social digital use and social digital connectivity dimensions. (3) Lastly, we provide the result of overlaid maps and radar charts (using HEIs number and spatial coverage and each region’s static and dynamic digital resilience). These three classes of digital resilience models of 4Helix by region indicate a generalized failure in adopting digital education in Romania. The study contributes by adding a powerful tool to explore the complex processes or phenomena and generating an integrated perspective using a pre-existing framework. In doing so, it enables researchers to better understand and address society’s needs, co-create knowledge and solutions together with the end-users, maximize the impact of these solutions, optimize resources usage, and increase the transparency and accountability of the decision-making processes.
Abstract: Against the background of multiple and simultaneous global socio-economic shocks, coupled with digital transformation and the green transition, regional resilience triggers new structural transformations. The more complex processes that need to be addressed now require the usage of complex integrated tools. The novelty of the integrated approach is the combination of the models and the synthetic spatial–temporal picture offered. The quadruple helix, or 4Helix, model puts Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) at the nexus of generating regional digital resilience. We posit a new mindset and behavior of human capital to reinforce innovation and knowledge production and transfer. We explore, using the Romanian national case, to what degree the spatial 4Helix model generates regional digital resilience as a positive externality of adoption of the ‘new normal’ digital education. We analyze this process in three steps. (1) We determine the spatial distribution of HEIs at the Romanian county level (NUTS3). (2) We calculate the regional static and dynamic resilience indexes (at NUTS2) as the outcome of the method for multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) by each region’s digital economy as well as individual and regional wealth, social digital use and social digital connectivity dimensions. (3) Lastly, we provide the result of overlaid maps and radar charts (using HEIs number and spatial coverage and each region’s static and dynamic digital resilience). These three classes of digital resilience models of 4Helix by region indicate a generalized failure in adopting digital education in Romania. The study contributes by adding a powerful tool to explore the complex processes or phenomena and generating an integrated perspective using a pre-existing framework. In doing so, it enables researchers to better understand and address society’s needs, co-create knowledge and solutions together with the end-users, maximize the impact of these solutions, optimize resources usage, and increase the transparency and accountability of the decision-making processes.
Journal: Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research
Published: 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Olaf Sigurjonsson
Restricted Variance Interactions in Entrepreneurship Research: A Unique Basis for Context-as-Moderator Hypotheses
Abstract: In this methodological brief, we demonstrate the usefulness of the restricted variance (RV) interaction to entrepreneurship research. RV reasoning can help scholars to specify precise roles for contextual moderators. This specificity allows for strengthening of arguments and for testing of one of the reasons for an interaction. In some cases, it points to otherwise unexpected interaction patterns. We illustrate the power of RV reasoning with a data set of 503 biotech firms to show how RV explains geographic differences in the relationship between number of alliances and initial public offering value. Finally, we show how these interactions can be tested given typical distributions.
Abstract: In this methodological brief, we demonstrate the usefulness of the restricted variance (RV) interaction to entrepreneurship research. RV reasoning can help scholars to specify precise roles for contextual moderators. This specificity allows for strengthening of arguments and for testing of one of the reasons for an interaction. In some cases, it points to otherwise unexpected interaction patterns. We illustrate the power of RV reasoning with a data set of 503 biotech firms to show how RV explains geographic differences in the relationship between number of alliances and initial public offering value. Finally, we show how these interactions can be tested given typical distributions.
Journal: Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
Published: Oct 2022
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Contact CBS researcher: Bo Bernhard Nielsen
Sensing the Future: A Design Framework for Context-aware Predictive Systems
Abstract: Sensors embedded in smart objects, smart machines, and smart buildings produce ever-growing streams of contextual data that convey information of interest about their operating environment. Although an increasing number of industries embrace the utilization of sensors in routine operations, no clear framework is available to guide designers who aim to leverage contextual data collected from these sensors to develop predictive systems. In this paper, we applied the Design Science Research methodology to develop and evaluate a general framework that helps designers to build predictive systems utilizing sensor data. Specifically, we developed a framework for designing context-aware predictive systems (CAPS). We then evaluated the framework through its application in MAN Diesel & Turbo, which served as a case company. The framework can be generalized into a class of demand-forecasting problems that rely on sensor-generated contextual data. The CAPS framework is unique and can help practitioners make better-informed decisions when designing context-aware predictive systems.
Abstract: Sensors embedded in smart objects, smart machines, and smart buildings produce ever-growing streams of contextual data that convey information of interest about their operating environment. Although an increasing number of industries embrace the utilization of sensors in routine operations, no clear framework is available to guide designers who aim to leverage contextual data collected from these sensors to develop predictive systems. In this paper, we applied the Design Science Research methodology to develop and evaluate a general framework that helps designers to build predictive systems utilizing sensor data. Specifically, we developed a framework for designing context-aware predictive systems (CAPS). We then evaluated the framework through its application in MAN Diesel & Turbo, which served as a case company. The framework can be generalized into a class of demand-forecasting problems that rely on sensor-generated contextual data. The CAPS framework is unique and can help practitioners make better-informed decisions when designing context-aware predictive systems.
Journal: Journal of the Association for Information Systems
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Michel Avital
Sharing Norms and Negotiations Across Cultures: Experimental Interactions within and between Egypt and Germany
Abstract: We report experimental findings on distribution decisions by Germans and Egyptians. We explore their sensitivity along three different dimensions: we study (i) the impact of the price of giving, (ii) how giving responds to the cultural and gender identity of the recipient, and (iii) how a threat of rejection in a bargaining situation affects the distribution choice. We show substantial differences in generosity between participants in Egypt vs. Germany, the former showing substantial equality-seeking behavior. Correspondingly, both genders in Egypt increase giving when it becomes more costly as do German females, in contrast to German males who give particularly when it is cheap. While Egyptian participants choose according to an equality norm independently of the recipient’s identity, we detect substantial discrimination by German females when giving to Egyptian males. This discrimination is in line with prejudice as males in Egypt give significantly more than what Germans expect from them. Conversely, males in Egypt overestimate the generosity of Germans towards them. We finally show that, relative to giving in the dictator game, the ultimatum game offers increase among German participants, but not among participants in Egypt. Females in Egypt even decrease giving in UG relative to DG when allocating to males in Egypt. This finding is in line with highly favorable offers being rejected by a substantial fraction of participants in Egypt.
Abstract: We report experimental findings on distribution decisions by Germans and Egyptians. We explore their sensitivity along three different dimensions: we study (i) the impact of the price of giving, (ii) how giving responds to the cultural and gender identity of the recipient, and (iii) how a threat of rejection in a bargaining situation affects the distribution choice. We show substantial differences in generosity between participants in Egypt vs. Germany, the former showing substantial equality-seeking behavior. Correspondingly, both genders in Egypt increase giving when it becomes more costly as do German females, in contrast to German males who give particularly when it is cheap. While Egyptian participants choose according to an equality norm independently of the recipient’s identity, we detect substantial discrimination by German females when giving to Egyptian males. This discrimination is in line with prejudice as males in Egypt give significantly more than what Germans expect from them. Conversely, males in Egypt overestimate the generosity of Germans towards them. We finally show that, relative to giving in the dictator game, the ultimatum game offers increase among German participants, but not among participants in Egypt. Females in Egypt even decrease giving in UG relative to DG when allocating to males in Egypt. This finding is in line with highly favorable offers being rejected by a substantial fraction of participants in Egypt.
Journal: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
Published: Jun 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Johannes Ross
Solutions from Space?: A Dynamic Capabilities Perspective on the Growing Use of Satellite Technology for Managing Sustainability in Multi-tier Supply Chains
Abstract: Distant upstream tiers in supply chains are hotspots for sustainability issues that expose focal firms to growing reputational, financial, operational and legal risks – yet sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practice and research still focus on dyadic buyer-supplier relationships due to poor upstream transparency. Recently, however, focal firms have started adopting satellite technology as a tool for gaining systematic, continuous and direct oversight of issues like deforestation occurring far upstream to complement standards and certifications. This could transform multi-tier SSCM dynamics but, being a novel phenomenon, it remains unclear which organizational capabilities and collaborations focal firms apply to leverage remote sensing's potential. Combining dynamic capabilities theory and a multi-tier SSCM framework, our paper analyzes the current use of satellite technology in forest-risk commodity supply chains. Triangulating insights from interviews, documents and observations in a qualitative content analysis, the study finds that effective multi-tier SSCM relies on (a) internal resources providing four functions (traceability; monitoring; follow-up; stakeholder accountability), (b) complemented with external resources accessed through strategically selected collaborations that (c) take the form of working along supply chains, across supply chains and across sectors. The results show that technology-driven multi-tier SSCM can hold strategic benefits beyond risk reduction. Further research is needed to assess these relations.
Abstract: Distant upstream tiers in supply chains are hotspots for sustainability issues that expose focal firms to growing reputational, financial, operational and legal risks – yet sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practice and research still focus on dyadic buyer-supplier relationships due to poor upstream transparency. Recently, however, focal firms have started adopting satellite technology as a tool for gaining systematic, continuous and direct oversight of issues like deforestation occurring far upstream to complement standards and certifications. This could transform multi-tier SSCM dynamics but, being a novel phenomenon, it remains unclear which organizational capabilities and collaborations focal firms apply to leverage remote sensing's potential. Combining dynamic capabilities theory and a multi-tier SSCM framework, our paper analyzes the current use of satellite technology in forest-risk commodity supply chains. Triangulating insights from interviews, documents and observations in a qualitative content analysis, the study finds that effective multi-tier SSCM relies on (a) internal resources providing four functions (traceability; monitoring; follow-up; stakeholder accountability), (b) complemented with external resources accessed through strategically selected collaborations that (c) take the form of working along supply chains, across supply chains and across sectors. The results show that technology-driven multi-tier SSCM can hold strategic benefits beyond risk reduction. Further research is needed to assess these relations.
Journal: International Journal of Production Economics
Published: Jun 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Philip Beske-Janssen
Stakeholder Preferences for Pangolin Conservation Interventions in South-East Nigeria
Abstract: The overexploitation of biological resources severely threatens many species, requiring urgent and effective conservation interventions. Such interventions sometimes require governance structures that incorporate pluralist perspectives and collaborative decision-making, especially in complex, multi-faceted and multi-scale issues like the illegal trade in pangolins. We used Q-methodology to provide evidence to inform interventions for pangolin conservation in south-east Nigeria. We sampled stakeholder groups associated with pangolin use and protection, including hunters, wild meat traders and Nigeria Customs Service employees, to elicit their opinion and knowledge on the use and perceptions of pangolins and their preferences for interventions to reduce pangolin decline. We found that the local consumption of pangolin meat as food is the primary driver of poaching in the region. This contradicts popular opinions that pangolins are specifically targeted for international trade, revealing an opportunity for site-level behaviour change interventions. The different stakeholder groups identified awareness-raising campaigns, law enforcement, community stewardship programs and ecotourism as preferred interventions, whose effectiveness we attempted to assess using reported case studies. We observed different perspectives between people associated with pangolin poaching and use (predominantly those living around pangolin habitats, including hunters and wild meat traders) and those working to protect them (such as conservation organisations and Nigeria Customs Service employees). For example, the first group supported community stewardship programs, while the latter preferred awareness-raising and law enforcement efforts. This divergence in perspectives underpins the need for a combination of targeted interventions at the site level to engage different stakeholders while highlighting the potential challenges to collaborative decision-making for species threatened by illegal wildlife trade. Policy implications. Our results stress the importance of targeted and context-specific conservation interventions.
Abstract: The overexploitation of biological resources severely threatens many species, requiring urgent and effective conservation interventions. Such interventions sometimes require governance structures that incorporate pluralist perspectives and collaborative decision-making, especially in complex, multi-faceted and multi-scale issues like the illegal trade in pangolins. We used Q-methodology to provide evidence to inform interventions for pangolin conservation in south-east Nigeria. We sampled stakeholder groups associated with pangolin use and protection, including hunters, wild meat traders and Nigeria Customs Service employees, to elicit their opinion and knowledge on the use and perceptions of pangolins and their preferences for interventions to reduce pangolin decline. We found that the local consumption of pangolin meat as food is the primary driver of poaching in the region. This contradicts popular opinions that pangolins are specifically targeted for international trade, revealing an opportunity for site-level behaviour change interventions. The different stakeholder groups identified awareness-raising campaigns, law enforcement, community stewardship programs and ecotourism as preferred interventions, whose effectiveness we attempted to assess using reported case studies. We observed different perspectives between people associated with pangolin poaching and use (predominantly those living around pangolin habitats, including hunters and wild meat traders) and those working to protect them (such as conservation organisations and Nigeria Customs Service employees). For example, the first group supported community stewardship programs, while the latter preferred awareness-raising and law enforcement efforts. This divergence in perspectives underpins the need for a combination of targeted interventions at the site level to engage different stakeholders while highlighting the potential challenges to collaborative decision-making for species threatened by illegal wildlife trade. Policy implications. Our results stress the importance of targeted and context-specific conservation interventions.
Journal: People and Nature
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Kristian S. Nielsen
Stock Market Evidence on the International Transmission Channels of US Monetary Policy Surprises
Abstract: We reveal the economic sources of the stock market responses of 40 countries to US monetary policy surprises by decomposing stock market returns into components reflecting investors’ revisions in expectations (news) about future cash flows and different components of discount rates. US monetary policy surprises have persistent effects on foreign stock markets because they primarily constitute cash flow news. This finding pertains to different measures of the surprises. The liquidity of stock markets and the perceived country risk affect the sensitivities of unexpected stock market returns to the US monetary policy surprises while other country characteristics, e.g., the exchange rate regime, have no effect.
Abstract: We reveal the economic sources of the stock market responses of 40 countries to US monetary policy surprises by decomposing stock market returns into components reflecting investors’ revisions in expectations (news) about future cash flows and different components of discount rates. US monetary policy surprises have persistent effects on foreign stock markets because they primarily constitute cash flow news. This finding pertains to different measures of the surprises. The liquidity of stock markets and the perceived country risk affect the sensitivities of unexpected stock market returns to the US monetary policy surprises while other country characteristics, e.g., the exchange rate regime, have no effect.
Journal: Journal of International Money and Finance
Published: Sep 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Tim D. Maurer
Subtle Activism: Heterotopic Principles for Unsettling Contemporary Academia from Within
Abstract: Research on academic activism tends to foreground vociferous and explicit forms of activism that pursue predefined political agendas. Against this backdrop, this article proposes that academic activism can take more subtle forms. Writing as an academic activist collective, we unpack what subtle activism might look like within the context of contemporary academia. We use Foucault’s concept of heterotopia to argue that subtle activism can expand the space of what is possible in academia today by experimenting with quietly unsettling norms rather than overtly opposing or rejecting them. We offer a set of principles that might underpin a subtle activist agenda, extrapolated from practices from colleagues and from own activist collective. We hope that these principles may serve to inspire other academics wishing to engage in subtle activism by unsettling everyday practices that discreetly challenge the status quo, thereby contributing to gently shifting the agenda for how it is possible to conduct intellectual work in the contemporary neoliberal university context.
Abstract: Research on academic activism tends to foreground vociferous and explicit forms of activism that pursue predefined political agendas. Against this backdrop, this article proposes that academic activism can take more subtle forms. Writing as an academic activist collective, we unpack what subtle activism might look like within the context of contemporary academia. We use Foucault’s concept of heterotopia to argue that subtle activism can expand the space of what is possible in academia today by experimenting with quietly unsettling norms rather than overtly opposing or rejecting them. We offer a set of principles that might underpin a subtle activist agenda, extrapolated from practices from colleagues and from own activist collective. We hope that these principles may serve to inspire other academics wishing to engage in subtle activism by unsettling everyday practices that discreetly challenge the status quo, thereby contributing to gently shifting the agenda for how it is possible to conduct intellectual work in the contemporary neoliberal university context.
Journal: Organization
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Annemette Kjærgaard, Maribel Blasco, Tali Padan
Technological Competition and Patent Strategy: Protecting Innovation, Preempting Rivals and Defending the Freedom to Operate
Abstract: Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, we examine the effect of technological competition over a patent on the firm's choice of patenting strategy. We claim that technological competition makes the traditional strategy of protecting focal innovations from imitation less likely and increases the likelihood of a play strategy — i.e. using patents to avoid the risk of hold-up by other patent owners, or as a bargaining chip in litigation and cross-licensing. However, we claim also that technological competition over a target close to the firm's core technology should lead to use of a fence strategy i.e. to blocking the commercial endeavors of rivals and preempting substitute inventions. We find support for our hypotheses using data from a large-scale survey of European patent applications.
Abstract: Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, we examine the effect of technological competition over a patent on the firm's choice of patenting strategy. We claim that technological competition makes the traditional strategy of protecting focal innovations from imitation less likely and increases the likelihood of a play strategy — i.e. using patents to avoid the risk of hold-up by other patent owners, or as a bargaining chip in litigation and cross-licensing. However, we claim also that technological competition over a target close to the firm's core technology should lead to use of a fence strategy i.e. to blocking the commercial endeavors of rivals and preempting substitute inventions. We find support for our hypotheses using data from a large-scale survey of European patent applications.
Journal: Research Policy
Published: Jul 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Keld Laursen
The Association between Commuting and Cardiovascular Disease: A Biomarker-based Analysis of Cross-sectional Cohort Data from the UK Biobank
Abstract: This study used cross-sectional UK Biobank data to estimate the influence of active and passive commuting modes and commuting distance on cardiovascular disease (CVD) -related biomarkers as measures of health outcomes. The analysis applied logistic regression to assess the risk of exhibiting individual biomarker values outside a predefined reference interval and standard linear regression to estimate the relation between commuting practices and a composite CVD index. The study sample comprised 208,893 UK Biobank baseline survey participants aged 40 to 69 who use various modes of transport to commute to work at least once a week. Participants were recruited and interviewed between 2006 and 2010 at 22 centers geographically dispersed across England, Scotland, and Wales. The data set included these participants' sociodemographic and health-related information, including lifestyle indicators and biological measures. The primary outcome was a shift from low to high-risk blood serum levels in eight cardiovascular biomarkers: total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A and B, C-reactive protein, and lipoprotein (a). Our results indicated a small negative association between the composite risk index for CVD biomarkers and weekly commuting distance. Although estimates for active commuting modes (cycling, walking) may admittedly be sensitive to different covariate adjustments, our specifications show them to be positively associated with select CVD biomarkers. Commuting long distances by car is negatively associated with CVD-related biomarkers, while cycling and walking might be positively associated. This biomarker-based evidence, although limited, is less susceptible to residual confounding than that from distant outcomes like CVD mortality.
Abstract: This study used cross-sectional UK Biobank data to estimate the influence of active and passive commuting modes and commuting distance on cardiovascular disease (CVD) -related biomarkers as measures of health outcomes. The analysis applied logistic regression to assess the risk of exhibiting individual biomarker values outside a predefined reference interval and standard linear regression to estimate the relation between commuting practices and a composite CVD index. The study sample comprised 208,893 UK Biobank baseline survey participants aged 40 to 69 who use various modes of transport to commute to work at least once a week. Participants were recruited and interviewed between 2006 and 2010 at 22 centers geographically dispersed across England, Scotland, and Wales. The data set included these participants' sociodemographic and health-related information, including lifestyle indicators and biological measures. The primary outcome was a shift from low to high-risk blood serum levels in eight cardiovascular biomarkers: total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A and B, C-reactive protein, and lipoprotein (a). Our results indicated a small negative association between the composite risk index for CVD biomarkers and weekly commuting distance. Although estimates for active commuting modes (cycling, walking) may admittedly be sensitive to different covariate adjustments, our specifications show them to be positively associated with select CVD biomarkers. Commuting long distances by car is negatively associated with CVD-related biomarkers, while cycling and walking might be positively associated. This biomarker-based evidence, although limited, is less susceptible to residual confounding than that from distant outcomes like CVD mortality.
Journal: Preventive Medicine
Published: Jul 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Jan Michael Bauer, Lucia A. Reisch
The Embedded Construction of Price Fairness Evaluations: A Case Study of Air Greenland
Abstract:
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how fairness evaluations are constructed in a B2B context.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a field study of Air Greenland and its internal and external customers based on strong structuration theory (Stones, 2005). The authors employ context and conduct analysis to analyze how fairness evaluations emerge across four levels of structuration.
Findings
The paper finds that fairness evaluations emerge as a result of the interaction between external institutional pressures, agents' internal structures, and situated reflection and outcomes. The construction of fairness evaluations was embedded in contradictory institutional structures, where groups of actors constructed different evaluations of fair profits, procedures and prices. Actors furthermore worked on changing position-practice relations which shifted relations, external structures and affected outcomes and fairness evaluations.
Originality/value
This paper offers a conceptualization of embedded agency as emerging across the four levels of structuration. This contributes to debates in strong structuration theory through conceptualizing and analyzing how actors may be both be constrained and oriented by structures while reflexively adapting structures across the four levels of structuration. The paper extends extant pricing fairness research by illustrating how actors' construction of fairness flexibly develop fairness evaluations while responding to legitimacy and societal demands, including the needs of particular customer groups.
Abstract:
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how fairness evaluations are constructed in a B2B context.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a field study of Air Greenland and its internal and external customers based on strong structuration theory (Stones, 2005). The authors employ context and conduct analysis to analyze how fairness evaluations emerge across four levels of structuration.
Findings
The paper finds that fairness evaluations emerge as a result of the interaction between external institutional pressures, agents' internal structures, and situated reflection and outcomes. The construction of fairness evaluations was embedded in contradictory institutional structures, where groups of actors constructed different evaluations of fair profits, procedures and prices. Actors furthermore worked on changing position-practice relations which shifted relations, external structures and affected outcomes and fairness evaluations.
Originality/value
This paper offers a conceptualization of embedded agency as emerging across the four levels of structuration. This contributes to debates in strong structuration theory through conceptualizing and analyzing how actors may be both be constrained and oriented by structures while reflexively adapting structures across the four levels of structuration. The paper extends extant pricing fairness research by illustrating how actors' construction of fairness flexibly develop fairness evaluations while responding to legitimacy and societal demands, including the needs of particular customer groups.
Journal: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Sof Thrane, Ivar Friis
The EU's Work-life Balance Directive: Institutional Change of Father-specific Leave across Member States
Abstract: This paper examines institutional change in father-specific leave - a centre-piece of the EU's work-life balance directive (WLBD) - from the perspective of gradual institutional change. The WLBD, a highly contentious directive, represents a litmus test for the possible impact of the European pillar of social rights (EPSR), on welfare state institutions, which are responsible for the organisation, financing and delivery of social rights in member states. The analysis comprises in-depth case studies in Denmark, Germany, France and Poland, with different combinations of family and parental leave policies prior to the WLBD. The findings reveal that the EU's directive is leading to convergence in paternity leave, but to divergence in parental leave. Our study is important because it shows that even if EU directives in social policy in principle can lead to upwards social convergence across the EU, when they are relatively weak in terms of precise constraint, for instance, for the level of remuneration for leave, this leads to differentiated integration. This could undermine the very purpose of the EPSR, which seeks to improve social rights for all citizens across the EU. Similar dynamics are likely to be present in other areas at the welfare state-labor market nexus, such as minimum wages or platform work, where the EU is also developing regulation under the auspices of the EPSR.
Abstract: This paper examines institutional change in father-specific leave - a centre-piece of the EU's work-life balance directive (WLBD) - from the perspective of gradual institutional change. The WLBD, a highly contentious directive, represents a litmus test for the possible impact of the European pillar of social rights (EPSR), on welfare state institutions, which are responsible for the organisation, financing and delivery of social rights in member states. The analysis comprises in-depth case studies in Denmark, Germany, France and Poland, with different combinations of family and parental leave policies prior to the WLBD. The findings reveal that the EU's directive is leading to convergence in paternity leave, but to divergence in parental leave. Our study is important because it shows that even if EU directives in social policy in principle can lead to upwards social convergence across the EU, when they are relatively weak in terms of precise constraint, for instance, for the level of remuneration for leave, this leads to differentiated integration. This could undermine the very purpose of the EPSR, which seeks to improve social rights for all citizens across the EU. Similar dynamics are likely to be present in other areas at the welfare state-labor market nexus, such as minimum wages or platform work, where the EU is also developing regulation under the auspices of the EPSR.
Journal: Social Policy & Administration
Published: May 2023
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Contact CBS researchers: Caroline de la Porte, Zhen Jie Im
The Prospects for, and Implications of, Emissions Trading in Shipping
Abstract: The decarbonisation of shipping has become a high priority on the environmental and political agenda. The prospect of implementing an Emissions Trading System (ETS) for shipping has come to prominence as a proposed mechanism for speeding up the decarbonisation of the industry, with the EU taking proactive action to include shipping within the EU ETS by 2023. This paper analyses and provides a qualitative review of the historical development of the discussions and actions taken at both global level (by the International Maritime Organization (IMO)) and at regional level within the EU. A SWOT analysis of the potential implementation of an ETS for shipping is then presented. The paper concludes that an ETS for shipping can incentivise greater investment in, and deployment of, green technologies that will have the effect of reducing the carbon footprint of the shipping industry. However, the speed and significance of this effect will depend upon the specific shipping market segment and the relative stage in shipping market cycles over time. It is further concluded that despite the imminent unilateral introduction of shipping into the EU ETS, it is important that the IMO continues its work to develop a global ETS that promotes a ‘level playing field’ for competition within the sector and eliminates the risk of carbon leakage.
Abstract: The decarbonisation of shipping has become a high priority on the environmental and political agenda. The prospect of implementing an Emissions Trading System (ETS) for shipping has come to prominence as a proposed mechanism for speeding up the decarbonisation of the industry, with the EU taking proactive action to include shipping within the EU ETS by 2023. This paper analyses and provides a qualitative review of the historical development of the discussions and actions taken at both global level (by the International Maritime Organization (IMO)) and at regional level within the EU. A SWOT analysis of the potential implementation of an ETS for shipping is then presented. The paper concludes that an ETS for shipping can incentivise greater investment in, and deployment of, green technologies that will have the effect of reducing the carbon footprint of the shipping industry. However, the speed and significance of this effect will depend upon the specific shipping market segment and the relative stage in shipping market cycles over time. It is further concluded that despite the imminent unilateral introduction of shipping into the EU ETS, it is important that the IMO continues its work to develop a global ETS that promotes a ‘level playing field’ for competition within the sector and eliminates the risk of carbon leakage.
Journal: Maritime Economics & Logistics
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Anastasia Christodoulou
The Role of Organizational Structure in Senior Managers' Selective Information Processing
Abstract: CEOs' perceptions of the environment and the information processing shortcuts (or heuristics) they use to develop these perceptions are important to organizations. We study whether organizational structure, an important channel and filter for the flow of information in organizations, affects CEOs' perception gaps pertaining to the competitive environment. Perception gaps are defined as systematic deviations of subjective perceptions of the competitive environment from conceptions based on objective data. Studying 281 CEOs based in 216 firms, we find that functional structures are associated with wider environmental perception gaps, whereas divisional structures are associated with narrower gaps. To address endogeneity concerns, we control for firms' exposure to varied environments and only sample newly appointed CEOs, who, by definition, inherit predefined organizational structures exogenous to their own choices. Our study advances understanding of senior managers' information processing shortcuts by clarifying how organizational-level influences (i.e., organizational structure) affect CEOs' (mis)perceptions of the competitive environment.
Abstract: CEOs' perceptions of the environment and the information processing shortcuts (or heuristics) they use to develop these perceptions are important to organizations. We study whether organizational structure, an important channel and filter for the flow of information in organizations, affects CEOs' perception gaps pertaining to the competitive environment. Perception gaps are defined as systematic deviations of subjective perceptions of the competitive environment from conceptions based on objective data. Studying 281 CEOs based in 216 firms, we find that functional structures are associated with wider environmental perception gaps, whereas divisional structures are associated with narrower gaps. To address endogeneity concerns, we control for firms' exposure to varied environments and only sample newly appointed CEOs, who, by definition, inherit predefined organizational structures exogenous to their own choices. Our study advances understanding of senior managers' information processing shortcuts by clarifying how organizational-level influences (i.e., organizational structure) affect CEOs' (mis)perceptions of the competitive environment.
Journal: Journal of Management Studies
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Johannes Luger
The Scholarly Divide: Insights from the AIS Well-being Project
Abstract: This article provides an overview of the findings from the Information Systems (IS) Well-Being Project that was started in the fall of 2020. There were two goals of this project: 1) understand the physical, mental, social, and financial well-being of IS academics during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2) theorize the downstream effects of the pandemic on the health of the IS research ecosystem. This investigation surfaced a troubling phenomenon that we coined “the IS scholarly divide”. This editorial develops the theoretical underpinnings for the scholarly divide and posits the taxonomy of the divide. Finally, we explore the effects and forward some possible remedies.
Abstract: This article provides an overview of the findings from the Information Systems (IS) Well-Being Project that was started in the fall of 2020. There were two goals of this project: 1) understand the physical, mental, social, and financial well-being of IS academics during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2) theorize the downstream effects of the pandemic on the health of the IS research ecosystem. This investigation surfaced a troubling phenomenon that we coined “the IS scholarly divide”. This editorial develops the theoretical underpinnings for the scholarly divide and posits the taxonomy of the divide. Finally, we explore the effects and forward some possible remedies.
Journal: Communications of the Association for Information Systems
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Helle Zinner Henriksen
The Signaling Effect of Supplier's Customer Network Instability on Service Price: Insights from the Container Shipping Charter Market
Abstract: In a service exchange setting, the supply management literature generally assumes, with notable exceptions, the availability of complete information regarding supplier reliability. Highlighting the information asymmetry in supplier evaluation and using signaling theory, we argue that for a focal buyer, a supplier's downstream ego-network instability, that is, other buyers' turnover in a supplier's network from one period to the next, acts as a signal of supplier unreliability, thereby reducing the price that the buyer pays to the supplier in a service exchange. Furthermore, we suggest that focal buyer–supplier relationship strength and structural equivalence weaken the negative effect of instability because the buyer has a more direct and positive experience with the supplier. Using a dataset of 3263 unique dyads formed by 260 buyers (shipoperators) and 493 suppliers (shipowners) during the 2000–2018 period in the container shipping charter market, we find support for our hypotheses, except for the contingent effect of structural equivalence. Our study contributes to signaling literature and network research by developing a supplier's downstream ego-network instability as a salient heuristic for a focal buyer's pricing decisions. These findings equip buyer managers who may not accurately foresee supplier service quality in the charter market with a new supplier evaluation tool: a supplier's downstream ego-network instability.
Abstract: In a service exchange setting, the supply management literature generally assumes, with notable exceptions, the availability of complete information regarding supplier reliability. Highlighting the information asymmetry in supplier evaluation and using signaling theory, we argue that for a focal buyer, a supplier's downstream ego-network instability, that is, other buyers' turnover in a supplier's network from one period to the next, acts as a signal of supplier unreliability, thereby reducing the price that the buyer pays to the supplier in a service exchange. Furthermore, we suggest that focal buyer–supplier relationship strength and structural equivalence weaken the negative effect of instability because the buyer has a more direct and positive experience with the supplier. Using a dataset of 3263 unique dyads formed by 260 buyers (shipoperators) and 493 suppliers (shipowners) during the 2000–2018 period in the container shipping charter market, we find support for our hypotheses, except for the contingent effect of structural equivalence. Our study contributes to signaling literature and network research by developing a supplier's downstream ego-network instability as a salient heuristic for a focal buyer's pricing decisions. These findings equip buyer managers who may not accurately foresee supplier service quality in the charter market with a new supplier evaluation tool: a supplier's downstream ego-network instability.
Journal: Journal of Operations Management
Published: Apr 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Hans-Joachim Schramm
The Strategy of the Port Development Company: A Framework Based on the Business Ecosystems Perspective and an Application to the Case of Port of Rotterdam
Abstract: This paper advances the conceptual understanding of strategies of port development companies (PDCs) through applying the business ecosystem perspective. This leads to a distinction between four stylized strategies for PDCs and associated types of services: minimalist (six services), integrator (six services) and ecosystem services (six services). An analysis of the services provided by a PDC reveals which strategy they follow. This approach is tested through a case study of Port of Rotterdam Authority (PoR for short) the state-owned PDC in charge of developing Rotterdam's port complex. This case study yields three important conclusions: first the relevance of the identified service types is confirmed, as PoR is or has been active in providing 15 of the 18 identified service types, more specifically all six ‘minimalist services’, all six ‘ecosystem services’ and three of the six ‘integrator services’. Second, PoR follows a ‘platform provider’ strategy. Third, the provision of ‘ecosystem services’ seems to become a more important part of PoRs activities. The number of provided ecosystem services has grown between 2006 and 2021 and investments in ecosystem services account for an increasing share of PoRs total investments. These results provide a basis for further research, amongst others to better understand factors that may influence the strategies of PDCs.
Abstract: This paper advances the conceptual understanding of strategies of port development companies (PDCs) through applying the business ecosystem perspective. This leads to a distinction between four stylized strategies for PDCs and associated types of services: minimalist (six services), integrator (six services) and ecosystem services (six services). An analysis of the services provided by a PDC reveals which strategy they follow. This approach is tested through a case study of Port of Rotterdam Authority (PoR for short) the state-owned PDC in charge of developing Rotterdam's port complex. This case study yields three important conclusions: first the relevance of the identified service types is confirmed, as PoR is or has been active in providing 15 of the 18 identified service types, more specifically all six ‘minimalist services’, all six ‘ecosystem services’ and three of the six ‘integrator services’. Second, PoR follows a ‘platform provider’ strategy. Third, the provision of ‘ecosystem services’ seems to become a more important part of PoRs activities. The number of provided ecosystem services has grown between 2006 and 2021 and investments in ecosystem services account for an increasing share of PoRs total investments. These results provide a basis for further research, amongst others to better understand factors that may influence the strategies of PDCs.
Journal: Maritime Transport Research
Published: Jun 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Peter de Langen
We Have Some Calves Left!: Socially Accepted Alternatives to the Current Handling of Male Calves from Dairy Production.
Abstract: Consumers’ actual knowledge about modern food production is limited, and their judgment is often guided by assumptions or associations that are not necessarily in line with reality. Consumers’ rather unrealistic idea of livestock farming is driven by beautiful and romanticized pictures in advertising. If confronted with the reality of modern livestock farming, consumers’ responses are mainly negative. So far, dairy farming still has a more positive image and thus is less affected by public criticism. However, if made public, some of the current production practices in dairy farming have the potential to reduce consumer acceptance which in turn can have a tremendous effect on farmers. A particularly urgent topic is the handling of male dairy calves. Such calves are often treated as surplus animals due to their low genetic merits for meat, with the risk of resulting in the deprivation of animal welfare. To maintain consumer acceptance of dairy products and find socially accepted alternatives for the handling of male calves, insights into consumer perception of current and future production practices in dairy farming are needed. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze how consumers evaluate the current situation of male dairy calves and alternatives in male calf management. A quantitative online survey, representative for the German population in terms of gender, age, education, region, and income, was carried out with 1 194 participants in February 2022. Overall, 60% of participants were not aware of the fact that male dairy calves are less appropriate for fattening purposes. Respondents saw a clear need for alternative methods for handling male calves from dairy production. More, our results show that the use of sexed semen encounters consumer resistance, while other alternatives that were evaluated as more natural were more accepted. A cluster analysis identified 3 distinct consumer segments labelled “sexed semen opponents” (31.6%), “undecided” (30.4%), and “proponents of all alternatives” (38.0%) that differed in their acceptance of alternative handling practices of male dairy calves. The results emphasize the gap between consumers’ expectations and reality on farms and the importance of considering consumer preferences when developing future pathways for dairy farming.
Abstract: Consumers’ actual knowledge about modern food production is limited, and their judgment is often guided by assumptions or associations that are not necessarily in line with reality. Consumers’ rather unrealistic idea of livestock farming is driven by beautiful and romanticized pictures in advertising. If confronted with the reality of modern livestock farming, consumers’ responses are mainly negative. So far, dairy farming still has a more positive image and thus is less affected by public criticism. However, if made public, some of the current production practices in dairy farming have the potential to reduce consumer acceptance which in turn can have a tremendous effect on farmers. A particularly urgent topic is the handling of male dairy calves. Such calves are often treated as surplus animals due to their low genetic merits for meat, with the risk of resulting in the deprivation of animal welfare. To maintain consumer acceptance of dairy products and find socially accepted alternatives for the handling of male calves, insights into consumer perception of current and future production practices in dairy farming are needed. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze how consumers evaluate the current situation of male dairy calves and alternatives in male calf management. A quantitative online survey, representative for the German population in terms of gender, age, education, region, and income, was carried out with 1 194 participants in February 2022. Overall, 60% of participants were not aware of the fact that male dairy calves are less appropriate for fattening purposes. Respondents saw a clear need for alternative methods for handling male calves from dairy production. More, our results show that the use of sexed semen encounters consumer resistance, while other alternatives that were evaluated as more natural were more accepted. A cluster analysis identified 3 distinct consumer segments labelled “sexed semen opponents” (31.6%), “undecided” (30.4%), and “proponents of all alternatives” (38.0%) that differed in their acceptance of alternative handling practices of male dairy calves. The results emphasize the gap between consumers’ expectations and reality on farms and the importance of considering consumer preferences when developing future pathways for dairy farming.
Journal: Food Ethics
Published: Oct 2023
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Contact CBS researcher: Maureen Schulze
Sidst opdateret: Sekretariat for Ledelse og Kommunikation // 02/06/2023