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- Carlson, Sune
(författare)
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Some Notes on the Dynamics of International Economic Integration
- 1970
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Ingår i: The Swedish Journal of Economics. - : JSTOR. - 0039-7318. ; 72:1, s. 21-39
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to understand what happens when a number of countries join together in a customs union or a free trade area, one must start with the buying and selling decisions of the individual business firms. The average buyer may be assumed to be interested in a change of supply when $-\Delta D_{i}>\Delta I_{i}+\Delta C$ where Di is the direct purchase costs, Ii the indirect purchase costs which can be directly allocated to the product under consideration, and C other costs, which although they are not necessarily directly allocatable to the product in question, can be influenced by a change from one supplier to another. The sum of the last two items is called the costs of change. Similarly, the average selling firm may be interested in a new market alternative (j) when the expected increase in the total net-sales receipts (Σ i=1nSij) is greater than the costs of change, which in this case is equal to the sum of the increase of the total indirect marketing costs (Σ i=1nMij) and the other costs (Σ i=1nCi) $\Delta \sum_{i=1}^{n}S_{ij}>\Delta \sum_{i=1}^{n}M_{ij}+\Delta \sum_{i=1}^{n}C_{i}$ In both cases the costs of change will be different whether we consider (1) a change of product, but the new product is bought from or sold to a partner with whom the firm already has business connections, (2) a change of partner, but this partner is located in a country in which the firm is already doing business, or (3) a change to a new partner in a country where the firm has never done business before. The establishment of a customs union or a free trade area will affect not only the direct purchase costs or the total net-sales receipts, but also the costs of change. The effects may vary over time, and as between different kinds of products, different countries and different types of firms. They may also lead to different kinds of integration patterns. A statistical study of the Swedish import of engineering products after the creation of the EFTA illustrates that the kind of concepts and relationships developed may be of use for the formulation of specific problems for further research. May be also for a general understanding of the dynamics of the integration process itself.
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- Hägg, Ingemund, et al.
(författare)
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The Business Game as a Research Tool : Experiments on the Effects of Received Information on the Decision Process
- 1970
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Ingår i: The Swedish Journal of Economics. - : JSTOR. - 0039-7318. ; 72:2, s. 111-123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we have described experiments where we have tried to test empirically some assumptions about the relation between the information received by a team (firm) and the policy actually followed. The assumptions are based on a frame of reference related to organization theory. With this aim, we made systematic variations in the information received by the teams, and the behavior of the teams was measured with a number of operational criteria. A simple business game, which to a certain extent had been adapted to our study, was used. Even if the experience of the experiments was on the whole positive from a purely technical point of view, that is, it was not too difficult to collect the desired material without disturbing the game situation, the results of the studies were disappointing: the material collected did not give support to our hypotheses. However, we want to point out that we look upon the study as mainly a methodological study. The material was too limited to allow any statistical analyses and conclusions. The difficulties of distinguishing the expected tendencies may partly depend on problems connected with the empirical research situation. Questions related to the control of the situation and the reliability and validity of the measures used have been dicussed. Partly, however, the negative outcome of the study may be explained by shortcomings in the theoretical frame of reference used, concerning e.g. the assumed relationships between information and decision. Our results can be said to be of general interest in so far as they show the great difficulties of testing partial relations even in a relatively standardized research situation. The experiments hint at the desirability of using a more systems theory-oriented approach. The study also gives some guidance for conclusions about the relative advantages of the business game as a research tool. It seems to be very difficult to design a research situation that is standardized enough to allow for comparisons between teams within the framework of a business game. The advantages of the games as regards their greater "realism", as compared to the pure experiments, seem to be of minor importance in comparison with lesser potentials of the games as far as the creation of a standardized research situation is concerned. However, much more research is needed before any definite conclusions can be reached on this question.
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3. |
- Jennergren, Peter
(författare)
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Mathematical Programming Models of Decentralized Budgeting Procedures
- 1971
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Ingår i: The Swedish journal of economics. - : JSTOR. - 0039-7318. ; 73:4, s. 417-426
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The decentralized budgeting procedures allotment allocation, budget allocation, and price allocation (which were first defined by I. Ståhl and B.-C. Ysander) are given linear programming formulations. Using these formulations, two fundamental questions as to the applicability of allotment allocation, budget allocation, and price allocation to linear budgeting problems are then raised and answered.
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4. |
- Moding, Hans
(författare)
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The Backward Linkage Effect of Railroads on Swedish Industry, 1860-1914
- 1972
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Ingår i: The Swedish Journal of Economics. - : JSTOR. - 0039-7318. ; 74:3, s. 356-369
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The concept of Backward Linkage Effect and its impact on economic growth is often discussed in economic literature. The concept has been used to explain the industrial break-through of developed countries. The role of the construction and maintenance of railroads has often been stressed in this context. The backward linkage effect of railroads on Swedish industry during the Swedish industrial break-through is quantified and discussed in this article. The railroad demand did not have much impact on the Swedish iron and steel industry partly because the domestic market for rails was small and partly because rails could not be produced within the country at competitive prices. The impact on the mechanical engineering industry was greater, although it still did not create any specialized firms for railroad material due to the small size and irregularity of the market.
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7. |
- Södersten, Jan
(författare)
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Taxes and Investment Decisions
- 1972
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Ingår i: The Swedish Journal of Economics. - : JSTOR. - 0039-7318. ; 74:3, s. 329-343
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article deals with the effects of a proportional income tax with given depreciation rules on the ranking of different investment projects. The analysis, which presupposes a perfect capital market and the use of present values as a preference criterion in the selection of projects, is performed both for the case where the discount rate is identical before and after tax and for the case where the discount rate is reduced by taxation. Where the discount rate is identical before and after tax, taxation will affect the ranking of investment projects provided there is a difference in the acquisition costs of the investments. Differences in life span between the projects will be decisive only if it is assumed that there is a covariation between life span and length of the depreciation period. Where the discount rate is reduced by taxation, investment projects with a longer life span will be favored at the expense of shorter-lived projects, provided the projects may be written off at the same rate. On the other hand, the ranking of projects involving initial investments of varying magnitude is not affected in a clear-cut way. The article concludes by demonstrating a method of varying the tax-based depreciation between different investment projects so that the ranking is unaffected by allowance for taxation.
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