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With the European Commission making global leadership claims in the field of audit regulation, the content of its 2010 Green Paper on ‘Audit Policy: Lessons from the Crisis’ warrants careful scrutiny. Important issues raised in the Green Paper include regulatory oversight, competition in the audit market, the dangers of having very few firms with the capacity to audit global transnational corporations, professional judgement, innovative audit practices and, last but not least, social responsibility. This article analyses the principal perspectives and assumptions underpinning the construction of the Green Paper. The aims are threefold: to enhance understanding of the contemporary regulatory mindset of the European Commission, contribute to policy debate and inspire future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how labor mobility restrictions like noncompete agreements affect firms' investment decisions. Using matched employee-employer data from LinkedIn, I show that increases in the enforceability of noncompete agreements lead to widespread declines in employee departures, specifically in knowledge-intensive occupations. Established firms that rely more on these knowledge-intensive occupations increase their investment rate in physical capital. However, new firm entry in corresponding sectors declines. I provide evidence for different mechanisms to explain these patterns. Together, the findings show that labor frictions play an important role in investment decisions. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has investigated the determinants of firms’ choices to engage in substantive, as opposed to merely symbolic, CSR. However, scholars have yet to examine the economic incentives governing these choices. In particular, the literature offers little insight into how consumers’ willingness to pay a CSR price premium affects the choice between symbolic versus substantive CSR. To address this question, this paper proposes a formal model wherein substantive CSR reduces the negative socioenvironmental externalities associated with firms’ products, while consumers vary in their ability to monitor these externalities, and in their preferences for CSR. The paper establishes conditions under which the CSR price premium functions as an enabler of substantive CSR. It also examines how monitoring intensity, product differentiation, and competitors’ CSR engagement choices moderate this enabling effect. For example, when competitors engage in symbolic CSR, higher monitoring increases the enabling effect of the CSR price premium if substantive CSR sufficiently reduces negative externalities, but decreases it otherwise. Product differentiation and competitors’ decisions to engage in substantive CSR have similarly nuanced roles. A further application of the model suggests that CSR communication costs may be instrumental in discouraging all forms of symbolic CSR, including greenwashing and social washing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the smart economic development (SED) patterns in Europe in relation to competitiveness. Motivational focus corresponds to global events: the fourth industrial revolution, transition to a low-carbon economy, economic shocks (such as the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit or the coronavirus pandemic), which requires rethinking development policies, targeting competitiveness increase and reducing imbalances in economic development. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis includes self-organising neural networks cluster analysis and correlations, comparative analysis of SED indicators structure and cumulative index estimation with World Economic Forum (WEF) global competitiveness index. The panel data set of 19 years from 2000 to 2018 for 30 European countries. Findings: Overall, cross-country examination suggests that European countries of higher competitiveness illustrate higher estimates in SED. The key determinants are juridical fairness, social responsibility, competence building, intelligence and welfare employment to develop smart patterns for reaching higher competitiveness. Research limitations/implications: The limitations relate to the particular sample of European countries and gathering statistical data and a methodology of the SED index calculation. In addition, the paper contains a macroeconomic environment focus on competitiveness estimation. Further research may be improved with micro and mezzo environment incorporation at a cross-country analysis level. Practical implications: By linking well-known terms of competitiveness and economic development with a concept of smartness, new approaches to policymaking emerged. The methodology presented in this paper has implications for territorial cohesion policies, competitiveness and branching strategies. The combination of SED sub-indexes and WEF GCI might aid a more accurate ex ante measurement. Social implications: The findings are essential for fostering a smart approach in economic development for long-term competitiveness. Originality/value: This paper provides original empirical evidence about the relationship between SED and competitiveness and adds new knowledge that smartness becomes a way for building countries' competitiveness by identified two profiles of SED patterns by development stages, namely, integrated to economic development and institutional-based which is divided to focus and balanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide new evidence that disruptions in firms' access to credit during the Global Financial Crisis significantly affected product innovation in the consumer goods sector. We combine highly granular retail scan data with lending data and find that credit-constrained firms introduced fewer new products, those products were less novel, and new products sold less well. Overall, these findings suggest that disruptions to credit markets impair firms' ability to compete for profits through new product offerings. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the mean-variance criterion, this paper studies the robust optimal reinsurance problem under the competition between an insurance company and a reinsurance company. The insurance company operates n kinds of dependent insurance businesses, and it buys reinsurance for each insurance business to reduce the claim risk. Through relative performance, this paper quantifies the competition between the insurance company and the reinsurance company. The insurance company's goal is to choose an optimal reinsurance strategy to minimize the risk when the mean of terminal wealth is given in the worst market situation. By using the theory of stochastic control and stochastic dynamic programming, this paper establishes the Hamilton-Jacob-Bellman-Isaacs (HJBI) equation. Furthermore, by solving HJBI equation and using Lagrange duality theory, this paper obtains the explicit solution for the robust optimal reinsurance strategy. Finally, the inuence of model parameters on the robust optimal reinsurance strategy and efficient frontier is explained by numerical experiments. The research results can guide insurance companies to adopt optimal reinsurance strategies to minimize the risks that they face when operating a variety of insurance businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Kosovo endeavors to meet global standards amidst rapid technological advances and increasing international market demands, its path to sustainable development encounters notable obstacles. This research paper investigates the challenges faced by the Kosovo's business sector, stemming from a significant lack of qualified workforce. This shortage impedes not only competition and business growth but also stifles innovation, adaptation to technological advancements, and overall expansion. This study methodically examines the repercussions of this skills deficit on local enterprises through a detailed statistical data analysis, interviews with business representatives, and an extensive review of prior research. Additionally, it assesses how visa liberalization could influence the local labor market by potentially intensifying brain drain--where skilled individuals might emigrate in search of better opportunities, thereby further depleting local talent pools. The paper proposes targeted recommendations to enhance educational systems, vocational training, and workforce development strategies. These suggestions aim to foster sustainable, innovative, and vigorous economic growth, enabling Kosovo to integrate more effectively into the global economy and harness the advantages of increased labor mobility. This analysis provides critical insights into strategic planning necessary to overcome labor market challenges, crucial for Kosovo's economic and social progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have examined the topic related to staff stimulation, more specifically, what does it include and why is staff stimulation done? How does it affect workers? What are the challenges and achievements of the training? This paper is based on the research of Kabashi et al. (2015), Jusufi and Ramaj (2020). It is known that stimulation is an important tool for staff development, it is of great importance due to the extraordinary rate of change in the internal and external organizational environment. It is important to ensure that the business is complying with competition rules, this can be achieved through ongoing training. We also organized a survey regarding the expectations from the training, and the experience gained and the results provide answers that prove the theses about the impact of stimulation and motivation on the efficiency and authority that will have during the performance of operational works. The managerial staff of businesses has approximate expectations with benefits and results, proving the thesis that in addition to objective stimulation and motivation such as salary, the staff also needs subjective stimulation by training, evaluating, and feeling important within the business where they work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competition between platforms supported by digital technology, to a great extent, affects the structure of the whole industry and the fate of individual enterprises in the industry. For related enterprises, it is very important to clarify the influencing factors of platform competition equilibrium. This paper constructs a game model that includes platforms, suppliers, and the final consumers. We analyze the condition and stability of each equilibrium and the impacts of the characteristics of the core and complementary products on the equilibrium by using the method of evolutionary game. Our results show the following: (1) If the two platforms initially have separate advantages in terms of the number of suppliers or consumers, there will be an equilibrium of the coexistence of the two platforms; otherwise, there will be an equilibrium of single platform dominating. (2) The equilibrium of a single platform dominating is more stable than that of the coexistence of multiple platforms. (3) The equilibrium of coexistence is more easily broken by the occasional shock of increasing or decreasing the number of suppliers than by consumers. (4) Platforms with poor core product quality and a high price for core and complementary products can coexist with other superior platforms only if the former has more consumers and suppliers at the beginning of the competition. This paper not only enriches the research content in the field of platform competition, but also provides new ideas for them to develop appropriate competition strategies in combination with their own conditions. Plain Language Summary: The Evolutionary Game of Platform Competition The purpose of this paper is to analyze the equilibrium state of platform competition in a dynamic market from a tripartite perspective of platform-supplier-consumer. This paper constructs a game model that includes platforms, suppliers, and the final consumers. We analyze the condition and stability of each equilibrium and the impacts of the characteristics of the core and complementary products on the equilibrium by using the method of evolutionary game. Our results show the following: (1) If the two platforms initially have separate advantages in terms of the number of suppliers or consumers, there will be an equilibrium of the coexistence of the two platforms; otherwise, there will be an equilibrium of single platform dominating. (2) The equilibrium of a single platform dominating is more stable than that of the coexistence of multiple platforms. (3) The equilibrium of coexistence is more easily broken by the occasional shock of increasing or decreasing the number of suppliers than by consumers. (4) Platforms with poor core product quality and a high price for core and complementary products can coexist with other superior platforms only if the former has more consumers and suppliers at the beginning of the competition. This paper not only enriches the research content in the field of platform competition, but also provides new ideas for them to develop appropriate competition strategies in combination with their own conditions. The limitation of this paper is that it does not consider the possibility of having companies enter or exit the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Medicare program insures >80% of patients with ESRD in the United States. An emphasis on reducing outpatient dialysis costs has motivated consolidation among dialysis providers, with two for-profit corporations now providing dialysis for >70% of patients. It is unknown whether industry consolidation has affected patients' ability to choose among competing dialysis providers. We identified patients receiving in-center hemodialysis at the start of 2001 and 2011 from the national ESRD registry and ascertained dialysis facility ownership. For each hospital service area, we determined the maximum distance within which 90% of patients traveled to receive dialysis in 2001. We compared the numbers of competing dialysis providers within that same distance between 2001 and 2011. Additionally, we examined the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, a metric of market concentration ranging from near zero (perfect competition) to one (monopoly) for each hospital service area. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of different uniquely owned competing providers decreased 8%. However, increased facility entry into markets to meet rising demand for care offset the effect of provider consolidation on the number of choices available to patients. The number of dialysis facilities in the United States increased by 54%, and patients experienced an average 10% increase in the number of competing proximate facilities from which they could choose to receive dialysis ( P <0.001). Local markets were highly concentrated in both 2001 and 2011 (mean Herfindahl-Hirschman Index =0.46; SD=0.2 for both years), but overall market concentration did not materially change. In summary, a decade of consolidation in the United States dialysis industry did not (on average) limit patient choice or result in more concentrated local markets. However, because dialysis markets remained highly concentrated, it will be important to understand whether market competition affects prices paid by private insurers, access to dialysis care, quality of care, and associated health outcomes., (Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.)

From the mid-1990s several countries have introduced elements of the model of regulated competition in healthcare. In 2012 we assessed the extent to which in five countries ten important preconditions for achieving efficiency and affordability in competitive healthcare markets were fulfilled. In this paper we assess to what extent the fulfilment of these preconditions has changed ten years later. In 2022, as in 2012, in none of the five countries all preconditions are completely fulfilled. In the period 2012-2022 on balance there have been some improvements in the fulfillment of the preconditions, although to a different extent in the five countries. The only preconditions that were improved in most countries were 'consumer information and transparency' and 'cross-subsidies without incentives for risk selection'. On balance the Netherlands and Switzerland made most progress in the number of better fulfilled preconditions. For Belgium these preconditions no longer seem relevant because the idea of regulated competition has been completely abandoned. In Germany, Israel and Switzerland, the preconditions 'effective competition policy' and 'contestability of the markets' are not sufficiently fulfilled in 2022, just as in 2012. In Germany and Switzerland this also holds for the precondition 'freedom to contract and integrate'. Overall, the progress towards realizing the preconditions has been limited., Competing Interests: Declarations of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The article focuses on a research paper that reveals the weaknesses of the leading third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and identifies challenges and opportunities for the 3PL market in the U.S. with respect to their financial efficiencies during 2005-2007. The paper also intends to identify various factors that significantly affect the financial efficiency of the 3PLs over time and thereby proposes ways to improve the competitiveness of 3PLs. To achieve its goal the paper proposes data envelopment analysis to measure the financial efficiency of 12 leading 3PLs in the country.

The article reports that paper mills are seeking vital competitive advantages by improving performance without major capital investment due to global competition. Performance chemicals can be used to improve paper mills. Several factors are considered to determine the value of chemical including cost, benefit and servicing.

Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings: The study examines how platform businesses exercise power in marketing channels, by exploring the role of intra-platform competition, AI and value co-creation capabilities. Originality/value: The briefing saves busy executives, strategists, and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the National Health Service white paper on the political economy of health care markets in Great Britain. Analysis of the potential consequences of the reforms to introduce supplier competition in health care; Implication of a conventional welfare framework of efficiency and the distribution of resources on consumer choice; Assessment of the scale economics in the production of health care.

Focuses on the report from Cleveland, Ohio-based Freedonia Group Inc. called Paper Versus Plastic in Packaging released October 2004. Evaluation of the competition between plastics and paper in the packaging market; Increase in the use of plastic packaging materials in 2003; Business forecast regarding plastic's market share and rigid plastics.

Leveraging organizational knowledge is very important to improve the competitiveness of any company. Likewise, in the case of companies engaged in production of goods, proper documentation of manufacturing processes is critical to ensure the quality of products reaching the customers. This paper aims to propose a methodology to structure and document the process that takes place in the development of new products through the application of tools for auditing knowledge in order to ensure quality in the finished products. In addition to the proposed methodology, it is proposed to structure and design procedures for documenting and troubleshooting processes in the development of new products with a primary emphasis on identifying the key knowledge existing in the processes that are intended to document. Obtaining this key knowledge is through the application of audit techniques for knowledge and its representation isthrough knowledge maps. To validate this proposal, this methodology was implemented in a company engaged in the manufacture of packaging products located in Northwest Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents firm mark‐ups and competition in Australia, and their impact on productivity, using administrative data. I find that mark‐ups increased by around 5 per cent since the mid 2000s, less than previously documented for Australia and slightly less than documented for the average advanced economy. While part appears to reflect technological change, part appears to reflect an increase in market power. This increase appears to explain part of the slowdown in productivity growth observed in Australia over the past decade, by slowing the efficient reallocation of resources from low productivity to high productivity firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Credit rating agencies (CRAs) play an essential role in efficiently allocating capital in the financial system. However, several researchers have highlighted shortcomings of CRAs, leading to drastic consequences such as the 2008 financial crisis. The paper focuses on the competition among CRAs as one of the critical drivers of issues plaguing the credit rating industry. The paper uses quantitative and regression techniques to check the impact of competition on a firm's credit rating. The paper utilizes firm-level financial and credit rating data from India. The paper uses dual ratings to check whether competition leads to rating inflation and shopping practices in the credit rating industry. The paper finds that CRA inflates a firm's credit rating due to competition from other CRAs. Rating shopping is also evident in the credit rating industry, driven by competition between CRAs to gain new clients. The paper's findings also indicate that increased competition for large-size firms business leads to CRAs showing leniency when rating such firms. The results raise the need for regulators to actively monitor and control the competition among CRAs to ensure the accuracy of credit ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign exchange currency risk exposure is relevant to all firms operating in the market. Every firm faces direct risk exposure from their operations and indirect risk from the competition, interest rates and other factors. Also, in the growing markets, firms look to expand their markets and they are posed with risk from currency exchange rate movements. Thus, it is a necessity for all firms to analyse their risk exposure from time to time and enhance its performance. This paper aims to measure the risk exposure of BSE Sensex 30 companies which have large market capitalisation and the risk exposure is measured with the four most traded currencies. The paper finds that only 16% of the firms faced significant exposure from exchange rate movements. The degree of effect and the currency variables differ from firm to firm due to non-homogeneity of the firms. Large firms usually measure the risk exposure and take appropriate hedging for them. Only US Dollar and Pound have impact on some of the firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  This paper investigates whether the model of local rhetorical coherence suggested in Knott et al. (2001) can boost the performance of the Centering-based metrics of entity coherence employed by Karamanis et al. (2004) for the task of information ordering. Rhetorical coherence is integrated into the way Centering’s basic data structures are derived from the annotated features of the GNOME corpus. The results indicate that (a) the simplest metric continues to perform better than its competitors even when local rhetorical coherence is taken into account, and (b) this extra coherence constraint decreases its performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For bidders in standard sealed bid auctions, I believe that decision theory dominates game theory. Even in the design of auctions, decision theory competes well with game theory. This paper explains why I have reached these conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies agents' general or specific investment decisions under different ownership structures in a thin, decentralized market where each agent's decision affects the decisions and welfare of other agents mainly through indirect market linkages. It focuses on the roles of both competition and ownership. An investor is more likely to make specific investments as an employee than as an owner. ‘Excess competition among investors’ makes efficient, specific investments more likely. Otherwise, inefficient, general investments and irrelevance of ownership are more likely to result. The problem in which the choice variable is investment level, instead of investment type, yields less contrasting results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]