Nash bargaining theory when the number of alternatives can be finite

Nash (1950) considered a domain of convex bargaining problems. We analyse domains including, or even consisting of, finite problems and provide various characterisations of the Nash Bargaining Solution (NBS). In particular, we extend Kaneko's (1980) results. Received: 12 July 1996 / Accepted: 6 February 1997     

Infants’ Style of Emotion Regulation with Their Mothers and Fathers: Concordance between Parents and the Contribution of Father–Infant Interaction Quality

The concordance between infants’ emotion regulation styles with different partners has not been consistently analysed nor have the relational correlates of such potential across‐partners similarities. We explored these issues by assessing 10‐month‐olds’ (59.6 percent boys) emotion regulation styles separately with mother and father and by evaluating mother–infant and father–infant interaction quality. The sample consisted of 50 low‐risk families. Two home visits were conducted and similar procedures were adopted for each visit. Parent–infant interaction quality was assessed during daily routines and during free play; both parents independently completed a temperament questionnaire. Infant emotion regulation was assessed in a semi‐structured problem‐solving task: adaptive vs. maladaptive (under and over‐regulation) styles. As predicted, infants’ emotion regulation with their mothers and fathers were related. However, only father–infant interaction quality predicted infants’ emotion regulation concordance: lower interaction quality was associated with maladaptive concordance compared with non‐concordance and higher interaction quality was associated with adaptive concordance compared with non‐concordance. Our results support the claim that by the end of the first year of life, infants use similar emotion regulation styles with mother and father and point to father–infant interaction as an important correlate of emotion regulation across‐parents.     

A WEIGHTED RANK MEASURE OF CORRELATION

Spearman's rank correlation coefficient is not entirely suitable for measuring the correlation between two rankings in some applications because it treats all ranks equally. In 2000, Blest proposed an alternative measure of correlation that gives more importance to higher ranks but has some drawbacks. This paper proposes a weighted rank measure of correlation that weights the distance between two ranks using a linear function of those ranks, giving more importance to higher ranks than lower ones. It analyses its distribution and provides a table of critical values to test whether a given value of the coefficient is significantly different from zero. The paper also summarizes a number of applications for which the new measure is more suitable than Spearman's.     

The virtual patient encounter--units of service in the electronic age

A patient, preoperative evaluation center can reduce delays and cancellations, but it's critical to measure staff workload and determine the best ways to coordinate care. See how one clinic in Ohio is succeeding with this effort.     

Changing chronic disease rates and longterm declines in functional limitation among older men

Functional limitation (difficulty walking, difficulty bending, paralysis, blindness in at least one eye, or deafness in at least one ear) in the United States fell at an average annual rate of 0.6% among men aged 50 to 74 from the early twentieth century to the early 1990s. Twenty-four percent of this decline is attributable to reductions in the debilitating effects of chronic conditions, 37% is attributable to reduced rates of chronic diseases, and the remainder is unexplained. The findings have implications for theories of the impact of declining mortality rates on the health of elderly people.     

Untangling the commonalities and differences between domestic cross-regional experience and international experience in shaping speed of internationalization

Prior studies have paid attention to the influence of domestic experience on internationalization, for which domestic experience primarily refers to the accumulation of internationalization knowledge from industrial peers or partners at home. We argue that the commonalities and differences between international experience and domestic cross-regional experience have not been fully incorporated in previous frameworks in the literature. Thus, in untangling the commonalities, we purposively differentiate domestic experience into two dimensions, i.e., repetition-based experience and diversity-based experience, to investigate the contingent role of making domestic cross-regional investments in shaping the relationship between international experience and the speed of internationalization. We expect that these two dimensions of domestic experience will moderate the relationship between international experience and the speed of internationalization in a different way. More specifically, repetition-based experience has a negative moderating effect while diversity-based experience has a positive moderating effect. Further, considering the differences between international investments and domestic investments, we expect that the joint impacts of international experience and domestic cross-regional experience on internationalization speed are contingent on whether firms have sufficient resources to support multiple learning or whether institutions between the home country and foreign country is similar enough for cross-context application. We expect that financial slack and institutional distance between prior foreign entries' country and the home country play significant three-way moderating roles in setting boundaries for the relationship between domestic experience and international experience. Based on the analysis of 302 Chinese publicly listed firms from 2001 to 2014, the dynamic panel data regression results support our hypotheses. Overall, our simultaneous consideration of commonalities and differences between domestic investments and international investments sheds light on how MNCs learn from both international and domestic investments to speed up their foreign expansions.     

An improved class of estimators for the population mean

Starting from the Rao (Commun Stat Theory Methods 20:3325–3340, 1991) regression estimator, we propose a class of estimators for the unknown mean of a survey variable when auxiliary information is available. The bias and the mean square error of the estimators belonging to the class are obtained and the expressions for the optimum parameters minimizing the asymptotic mean square error are given in closed form. A simple condition allowing us to improve the classical regression estimator is worked out. Finally, in order to compare the performance of some estimators with the regression one, a simulation study is carried out when some population parameters are supposed to be unknown.     

Labour Force Transitions among Married Women in the USA

This paper describes the patterns of labour market transitions for a cohort of married women in the USA drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey and observed between 1968 and 1991. The empirical analysis of labour market movements is motivated by human capital theory augmented by demographic and life-cycle considerations. These movements are investigated by estimating competing risk models of labour force spell duration. The results show that the determinants of spell lengths and the determinants of the reasons for spell terminations vary across labour market states. More importantly, both the labour market state in which an individual is observed over her work cycle and the labour market state to which she moves are relevant in shaping her spell length and her tradeable characteristics in the labour market.     

Optimal Logistics Networks: the Case of Italian Exports to Russia

This paper is based on the concept of ‘logistics excellence’. In the first part the parameters that define such excellence in the internationalization process of companies are discussed, with particular attention to its effects on the design of logistics networks. A critical analysis of some Italian case studies of “logistics excellence” is presented, to show how some Italian companies, involved in foreign trade, have changed their network design in order to reach excellent performances. One of the most interesting results of this analysis is that in some cases goals behind decisions were too high (“overperformance”) and generated network designs that were too expensive and complex if set against a balanced needs analysis (of clients and logistics operators). Only those who have borne in mind their clients’ needs as well as the need of limiting network costs and have supported their systems with creative choices have managed to achieve the best results within the Italian logistics system. In the light of these considerations, the second part of the article analyses the logistics situation in commercial relations between Italy and Russia (with specific reference on export from Italy to Russia) and points out how, in the face of some structural problems posed by the logistics distribution in Russia, the network design solutions that can reduce costs the most are those which will turn out being the most suitable in the long run. In the light of this, the steps to be taken in order to support the design of adequate logistics networks connecting Italy and Russia are described; the options offered by intermodal transport when adequately combined with newly designed logistics networks are also highlighted.     

SMEs and Marketing: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper presents a systematic review of recent academic literature analysing the role, organization and management of marketing activities in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). To this end, 310 articles published between 2006 and 2015 in 69 main journals devoted to small firms/entrepreneurship and management/marketing fields were analysed. This review shows that SMEs’ marketing has received great attention in both management and marketing literature in recent years. Findings reveal, on the one hand, the emerging role of networks and information and communication technologies in marketing behaviour by SMEs, and on the other hand a research gap in terms of specific marketing practices. Entrepreneurial marketing has been used as the main conceptual framework in reviewed studies, even if findings overall still point out a distance between the theoretical bases of reviewed contributions and the study of SMEs’ marketing behaviour and practices. Therefore, future research on the role of resources, relationships and networks could benefit from the combination of theories developed within the field of entrepreneurship with other approaches such as the resource‐based view, the dynamic capabilities theory and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) framework.