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High-tech Firms (high-tech + firm)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	58%
Humanities and Social Sciences	33%

Selected Abstracts

Public policy, locational choice and the innovation capability of high-tech firms: A comparison between Israel and Ireland

PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2003
Amnon Frenkel
Innovation; high-tech firm; location; R&D; plant characteristics Abstract. Using survey data from Irish and Israeli firms we examine the influence of public policy on the characteristics, location and innovation capability of high-tech firms. The innovation activities of Israeli firms in Israel are found to be much more locationally sensitive than that of Irish companies. Regional policy incentives, involving the dispersal of high-tech firms to peripheral areas of Ireland are therefore likely to have had little negative effect on firms' innovation capabilities. In Israel, however, inducing highly R&D intensive firms to locate away from the main metropolitan areas may be counter-productive. [source]

Regulation, productivity and growth: OECD evidence

ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 36 2003
Giuseppe Nicoletti
SUMMARY Liberalization and privatization have made the regulatory environment more market-friendly throughout the OECD. However using a large new dataset on product market regulation, we show that regulatory policies in OECD nations have become more dissimilar in relative terms, even as all nations have liberalized. This seemingly contradictory finding is explained by different starting points and different reform speeds. Our data also show that this divergence in the regulatory settings lines up with the divergent growth performance of OECD nations, in particular the poor performance of large Continental economies relative to that of the US. The data, which tracks various types of product market regulation in manufacturing and service industries for 18 OECD economies over the past two decades, allows us to explore this link in detail. We find that productivity growth is boosted by reforms that promote private corporate governance and competition (where these are viable). Moreover, our detailed findings suggest how product market regulation and productivity growth are linked. In manufacturing, the productivity gains from liberalization are greater the further a given country is from the technology leader. This indicates that entry-limiting regulation may hinder the adoption of existing technologies, possibly by reducing competitive pressures, technology spillovers, or the entry of new high-tech firms. These results offer an interpretation of poor Continental performance. Strict product market regulations , and lack of regulatory reforms , appear to underlie the meagre productivity performance of some European countries, especially in those industries where Europe has accumulated a technology gap (e.g. industries producing or using information and communication technologies). , Giuseppe Nicoletti and Stefano Scarpetta [source]

Impact of Visibility and Investment Advisor Credibility on the Valuation Effects of High-Tech Cross-Border Acquisitions

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2007
Georgina Benou
Since foreign high-tech firms exhibit a high level of asymmetric information, there is much investor skepticism surrounding the potential benefits to US firms that acquire them. However, the investor perception may be more favorable when the acquisitions involve more visible targets and advice from investment banks with a strong reputation. Based on a sample of 503 high-tech cross-border acquisitions, bidding-firm shareholders experience positive but statistically insignificant valuation effects overall. However, bidder firms experience positive and significant valuation effects when the foreign high-tech target receives a high level of media attention and when the acquisition is endorsed by a top-tier investment bank. Visibility and credibility enhance the perceived benefits of acquiring foreign targets that have substantial intangible assets and a high level of asymmetric information. [source]

Regrounding the ,Ungrounded Empires':localization as the geographical catalyst for transnationalism

GLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 2 2001
Yu Zhou
The emerging literature on transnationalism has reshaped the study of immigration in the USA from ,melting pot' and later ,salad bowl', to ,switching board', which emphasizes the ability of migrants to forge and maintain ties to their home countries. Often under the heading of ,transnationalism from below', these studies highlight an alternative form of globalization, in which migrants act as active agents to initiate and structure global interactions. The role of geography, and in particular, localization in transnational spaces, is central to the transnationalism debate, but is yet to be well articulated. While it has been commonly claimed that transnationalism represents deterritorialized practices and organizations, we argue that it is in fact rooted in the territorial division of labour and local community networks in immigrant sending and receiving countries. We examine closely two business sectors engaged in by the Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles: high-tech firms and accounting firms. Each illustrates, respectively, the close ties of Chinese transnational activities with the economic base of the Los Angeles region, and the contribution of local-based, low-wage, small ethnic businesses to the transnational practices. We conclude that deeper localization is the geographical catalyst for transnational networks and practices. [source]

The Credibility of Voluntary Disclosure and Insider Stock Transactions

JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 4 2007
FENG GU
ABSTRACT We examine stock price reaction to voluntary disclosure of innovation strategy by high-tech firms and its relation with insider stock transactions before the disclosure. We find that, despite the qualitative and subjective nature of strategy-related disclosure, there is positive stock price reaction to the disclosure. The evidence suggests that investors view the disclosure as credible good news. We also find that the disclosure is associated with more positive stock price reaction when it is preceded by insider purchase transactions. This evidence is consistent with insider purchase enhancing the credibility of the disclosure. The credibility-enhancing effect is found to be stronger for firms with higher degrees of information asymmetry (younger firms, firms with lower analyst following, loss firms, and firms with higher research and development (R&D) intensity). Our evidence also indicates that predisclosure insider purchase is associated with greater future abnormal returns, suggesting that managers are privy to good news shortly before the disclosure. [source]

A reference point approach to coalition games

JOURNAL OF MULTI CRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS, Issue 2-3 2005
*Article first published online: 5 JUL 200, Andrzej P. Wierzbicki
Abstract One of the basic concepts of the theory of coalition games is the core of the game, together with its various extensions. However, the core is usually a set, a subset of Pareto set. Therefore, all problems of vector optimization and multiple criteria decision support arise when selecting points within a core. One of interactive decision support approaches is the use of reference points and the maximization of corresponding achievement functions. The paper proposes some ways of defining and using reference points that result in equitable allocations. One way of defining such reference points is to use known solutions of coalition games, such as Shapley value or Banzhaf value. Another way of defining such reference points might be an extension of Raiffa,Kalai,Smorodinski solution to coalition games, proposed in the paper. The properties of resulting equitable allocations in the core of the game are examined. The possibility of empty core and allocations in an extended core is also examined and the concept of maximal robustness point is introduced; this point might also be used as a reference point. Possible applications of this extension of the theory of coalition games concern business negotiations. An illustrative example of negotiating a cooperative merger of three or four high-tech firms is given. The basic conclusion from the analysis and the examples presented in the paper is that axiomatic solutions of coalition games, e.g. Shapley and Banzhaf values, should be considered as reference points for vector optimization and multicriteria decision support rather than as normative solutions. Moreover, beside these axiomatic solutions there are several other possible definitions of reference points, such as the Raiffa solution or the maximal robustness point, that might be preferred by negotiators when solving practical coalition games. This has been confirmed by simulated gaming exercises performed by students under a strong motivation to treat simulated game seriously. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Design engineers and technical professionals at work: Observing information usage in the workplace

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Suzie Allard
This exploratory study examines how design engineers and technical professionals (hereafter referred to as engineers) in innovative high-tech firms in the United States and India use information in their daily work activities including research, development, and management. The researchers used naturalistic observation to conduct a series of daylong workplace observations with 103 engineers engaged in product design and testing in four U.S.- and two India-based firms. A key finding is that engineers spend about one fourth of their day engaged in some type of information event, which was somewhat lower than the percentage identified in previous research. The explanation may be rooted in the significant change in the information environment and corporate expectations in the last 15 years, which is the time of the original study. Searching technology has improved, making searching less time consuming, and engineers are choosing the Internet as a primary source even though information may not be as focused, as timely, or as authoritative. The study extends our understanding of the engineering workplace, and the information environment in the workplace, and provides information useful for improving methods for accessing and using information, which could ultimately lead to better job performance, facilitate innovation, and encourage economic growth. [source]

Insider ownership and firm performance in Taiwan's electronics industry: a technical efficiency perspective

MANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 5 2005
Her-Jiun Sheu
This paper applies agency theory to explore the relationship between insider stock ownership and firm performance, particularly in terms of technical efficiency. Insiders are further classified into executives, outside directors, and large shareholders to conduct a detailed study. Six-year (1996,2001) panel data of 416 Taiwanese listed electronics firms are examined by the stochastic production frontier approach. It is observed that raising the executive-to-insider holding ratio first causes a decrease and then an increase in technical efficiency, forming a U-shaped relationship. However, the board-to-insider holding ratio is negatively associated with technical efficiency. The results indicate that equity ownership of top officers in high-tech firms should be encouraged to enhance firm productivity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Public policy, locational choice and the innovation capability of high-tech firms: A comparison between Israel and Ireland

Managing uncertain, complex product development in high-tech firms: in search of controlled flexibility

R & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2010
Daniel Olausson
This paper investigates ways of managing complexity and uncertainty in R&D simultaneously. Previous research on the subject indicates that these dimensions require different approaches, but these studies tend to provide suggestions either on managing complexity in stable industries or on handling uncertainty in less complex projects. In this paper, the two dimensions are studied simultaneously in three commercial product development projects at a firm that may be viewed as an extreme case of complexity and with multiple dimensions of uncertainty. The paper illustrates that a critical issue in this kind of high-tech development is the search for and development of approaches that integrate and balance needs for formal organizational control with high levels of project flexibility. Four key elements of such integrated approaches are identified: hybrid formal systems, structured interaction in public arenas, transparent visual communication tools, and a system of participative reflection. [source]

THE ROLE OF SUNK COSTS IN THE DECISION TO INVEST IN R&D,

THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2009
JUAN A. MÁÑEZ
We present a dynamic empirical model of a firm's R&D decisions that is consistent with the existence of sunk R&D costs, taking into account that these costs may differ between small and large firms, and among different technological regimes. We estimate a multivariate dynamic discrete choice model using firm-level data of Spanish manufacturing for 1990,2000. Conditional on firm heterogeneity and serially correlated unobservable factors, we find that R&D history matters. This true state dependence allows inferring the existence of sunk R&D costs associated with performing R&D. Sunk R&D costs are found to be higher for large, high-tech firms. [source]