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Start-ups in the logistics industry: Advancing a framework for the disruptive potential of digital freight forwarder platforms (DFFs)
Full text linkDigital platforms play an increasing role in the logistics industry and start-ups are challenging traditional logistics providers with new business models. It is, however, not clear whether these platforms have the potential to disrupt current industries. As a response, this paper contributes a more nuanced view on the notion of disruption and disruptive innovation and is concerned with digital freight forwarders (DFFs) in particular. To distinguish between disruptive and sustained innovations, we develop a framework from literature that allows characterizing digital platforms and their disruptive potential along the initial target market, the value contribution, the ecosystem network and the industry supervision. We apply this framework to a comparative dual-case study of two DFFs and reveal important differences. Beyond its very contribution, the paper invites researchers to expand on the given approach, in particular to advance the predictive ability of the proposed framework
Palm oil, the RED II and WTO law: EU sustainable biofuel policy tangled up in green?
Full text linkNew European Union (EU) rules on biofuels have led to mounting tensions between the EU and some of its trading partners. A particularly contentious measure is the ‘freeze and phase‐out’ of certain biofuels in the transport sector with a high indirect land‐use change risk, as introduced by the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive. In light of Indonesia’s recent move to initiate proceedings against the EU at the World Trade Organization (WTO), this article systematically explores relevant key concepts of WTO law and analyses the compatibility of the EU measures with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement). While the EU measures are carefully crafted to avoid potential WTO pitfalls—such as applicability of the TBT Agreement—the article identifies several critical aspects that raise doubts about the measure’s compatibility with WTO law. In particular, the seemingly deliberate targeting of palm oil casts doubt on the justification of the measure on environmental grounds
Silent Persuasion. Incidental Use of Promotional Merchandise Benefits Unfamiliar Brands
Full text linkMany brands distribute promotional merchandise like branded pens, flash drives or mugs in the hopes that it will improve consumers’ reactions to the
brand. Yet, consumers often use them purely incidentally, i.e. they casually use them and pay no attention to the brand, such as when borrowing a
pen from a colleague. We query whether even such incidental use of promotional merchandise affects consumer response. Drawing on the specifics
of merchandise use and a combination of prior insights on persuasion, we suggest that incidental use of promotional merchandise affects in particular
unfamiliar brands. In two controlled lab experiments, we find that consumers react more positively to an unfamiliar brand after incidentally using its
merchandise. The effect emerges even though consumers do not consciously notice the brand’s logo but does not extend to a familiar brand.
Equivalent incidental visual exposure to advertising stimuli, i.e., posters, was less effective than the haptic incidental use of promotional merchandise.
Durable promotional merchandise may be a worthwhile investment, in particular for unfamiliar brands
The Business Process Design Space for exploring process redesign alternatives
Full text linkPurpose – Process redesign refers to the intentional change of business processes. While process redesign methods provide structure to redesign projects, they provide limited support during the actual creation of to-be processes. More specifically, existing approaches hardly develop an ontological perspective on what can be changed from a process design point of view and they provide limited procedural guidance on how to derive possible process design alternatives. This paper aims to provide structured guidance during the to-be process creation.
Design/methodology/approach – Using design space exploration as a theoretical lens, we develop a conceptual model of the design space for business processes, which facilitates the systematic exploration of design alternatives along different dimensions. We utilized an established method for taxonomy development for constructing our conceptual model. First, we derived design dimensions for business processes and underlying characteristics through a literature review. Second, we conducted semi-structured interviews with professional process experts. Third, we evaluated our artifact through three real-world applications.
Findings – We identified 19 business process design dimensions that are grouped into different layers and specified by underlying characteristics. Guiding questions and illustrative real-world examples help to deploy these design dimensions in practice. Taken together, the design dimensions form the “Business Process Design Space” (BPD-Space).
Research limitations/implications – Practitioners can use the BPD-Space to explore, question, and rethink business processes in various respects.
Originality/value – The BPD-Space complements existing approaches by explicating process design dimensions. It abstracts from specific process flows and representations of processes and supports an unconstrained exploration of various alternative process designs
Global migrants: Understanding the implications for international business and management
Full text linkGlobal migration has always impacted individuals, organizations, and societies, but the attention given to migration in international business and management (IB/IM) has not been commensurate with its importance. In this article we detail why a focus on migration is needed, how this topic has been addressed so far in the field, and especially how it could contribute to generating knowledge and relevant insights for practice and policy. We underline the relevance and significance of the phenomenon by introducing a collection of studies in a special issue on global migration and its implication for IB/IM
Are voluntary international migrants self-selected for entrepreneurship? An analysis of entrepreneurial personality traits
Full text linkIn many countries, international migrants show a high tendency to become entrepreneurs. In the literature this has often been attributed to discrimination, ethnic networks, and sociodemographic differences. This paper examines a new explanation and argues that voluntary international migrants have a more entrepreneurial personality as a result of self-selection. An analysis of intentions, preparatory actions (n = 1,385) and long-term actions (n = 360) of skilled migrants and non-migrants confirms this hypothesis. It suggests that the relationship between voluntary international migration and entrepreneurship is mediated by a greater willingness to take risks and, to some extent, by a greater need for achievement
Debt maturity and the dynamics of Leverage
Full text linkThis paper shows that short debt maturities commit equityholders to leverage reductions when refinancing expiring debt in low-profitability states. However, shorter maturities lead to higher transactions costs since larger amounts of expiring debt need to be refinanced. We show that this tradeoff between higher expected transactions costs against the commitment to reduce leverage in low-profitability states, motivates an optimal maturity structure of corporate debt. Since firms with high costs of financial distress and risky cash flows benefit most from committing to leverage reductions, they have a stronger motive to issue short-term debt. Empirical evidence supports the model predictions
General Bayesian time-varying parameter VARs for modeling government bond yields
Full text linkUS yield curve dynamics are subject to time-variation, but
there is ambiguity on its precise form. This paper develops a vector
autoregressive model with time-varying parameters and stochastic volatility
which treats the nature of parameter dynamics as unknown. Coefficients can
evolve according to a random walk, a Markov switching process, observed
predictors or depend on a mixture of these. To decide which is supported by
the data, we adopt Bayesian shrinkage priors to carry out model selection.
Our framework is applied to model the US yield curve. We show that the
model forecasts well, and focus on selected in-sample features to analyze
determinants of structural breaks in US yield curve dynamics.Series: Working Papers in Regional Scienc
Negative Interest Rates and Corporate Tax Behavior in Banks
Full text linkThis study examines the impact of negative interest rate (NIR) regimes on corporate tax behavior. We argue that NIRs actas a de-facto taxlevied by central banks and investigate how this ‘tax’ affects banks’ corporate tax planning. Using a sample of domestic banks in OECD countries and a difference-in-difference research design, we find that banks affected by negative interest rate policies exhibitan increase in tax planning following the adoption of NIR, compared to unaffected banks. We document that the introduction of NIRsis associated with a 2.3 to 2.6 percentage point decrease in GAAP ETRand that the effects of NIRs are more pronounced in banks with a lower distance to default or lower reserves, and in countries with lower levels of tax enforcement or lower levels of trust in the government. Collectively, our results suggest that NIRs lead banks to increase tax planning as a funding source.Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie
Emancipatory politics at its limits? An introduction
Full text linkEmancipatory politics and the very idea of emancipation have come under pressure.
Feminist and post-colonial critiques, the appropriation of emancipatory ideals by rightwing populists and the crises triggered by the transgression of planetary boundaries all
expose emancipatory paradoxes and raise questions about the further suitability of
emancipation as a regulative ideal guiding any socio-ecological transformation of contemporary consumer societies. With this article, which introduces a Special Issue
entitled The Dialectic of Emancipation - Transgressing Boundaries and Boundaries of Transgression, we are working toward a research agenda that acknowledges the current
impasse of emancipatory politics and explores its ambivalences and further potentials.
Following an outline of the emancipatory paradox and a review of how emancipatory
movements have continuously contested – and redrawn – restrictive boundaries, we
scan sedimented understandings of the two key terms, emancipation and dialectic, feeding
into the concept that we are suggesting as an analytical lens for investigating the current
impasse and future prospects of emancipatory politics: the dialectic of emancipation. We
preview how the contributors to this Special Issue make use of these terms as they are engaging with this research agenda and conclude by reflecting on the dangers and pitfalls associated with the concept dialectic of emancipation