Author: Serkadis

It appears Sony’s acquisition (qjnet/news/sony-acquires-media-molecule.html) of Media Molecule is already bearing fruit. A sequel to the studio’s hit PS3 exclusive, LittleBigPlanet, is apparently already in the works.

Stocks are up this morning this morning but healthcare is certainly not leading the pack this time around. Check out this morning’s biggest losers and gainers on the S&P 500:

Gainers:

• Titanium Metals Corp (TIE): $15.83 / +6.24%
• E*TRADE Financial Corp (ETFC): $1.58 / +4.64%
• Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (CLF): $68.18 / +4.51%
• Harman International Industries Inc (HAR): $47.37 / +3.75%
• J.C. Penney Company Inc (JCP): $32.90 / +2.97%

Losers:

• SunTrust Banks Inc (STI): $26.25 / -3.08%
• American International Group Inc (AIG): $32.42 / -2.90%
• Expedia Inc (EXPE): $22.82 / -2.69%
• Laboratory Corp of America Holdings (LH): $74.28 / -2.60%
• Macy’s Inc (M): $21.49 / -2.32%

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• This Morning’s Biggest Losers (And Gainers) In The S&P 500
• This Morning’s Biggest Gainers And Losers In The S&P 500
• Equities Tank In Final Half-Hour Of Trading, Gold And Silver Follow Suit

Nintendo has finally revealed the new hardware they’ve been working on — a 3D-capable Nintendo DS called, appropriately enough, the 3DS.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that energy waste in the form of small vibrations or noises can be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This recapture of energy would create hydrogen fuel renewably and sustainably.

With the aid of ultrasonic vibrations, and a phenomenon called the piezoelectric effect, fibers at a nanoscale will split water using “… wind power, running water, or water wave action can be scavenged or harvested as a driving force for direct water splitting.”

Waterfalls and dams currently provide the largest noise and vibrations in which to collect energy for the nanoscale water splitting. But, if the fibers used in the splitting where to be ultrathin then less noise or vibrations could be used.

Imagine the possibilities that this would create if the scientists are able to fine tune their invention. The piezoelectrochemical effect could be generated from small babbly brooks and rivers and the energy could be doubly harnesses using hydroelectric energy at these same locations.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tremors, active volcanoes, could provide mass quantities of hydrogen. Other smaller sources would be airports, train stations, traffic noise, construction areas, indoor industrial areas such as machine shops, and to bring it home even vacuum cleaners and kitchen appliances could be harness for their noise and vibration to create hydrogen.

While this research is a ways off in development it does open up the possibilities for alternative ways to create hydrogen cleanly, renewably and sustainably for years to come.

Old man Japan may not have the chutzpah to keep up with the competitive nations on all sides. The aging world power recently established a department to negotiate with and study the industries of Korea.

Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo treated the news with a suspicion and a call to arms:

Chosun Ilbo:

Korea ranked third after the U.S. and Japan in terms of U.S. patent applications last year, but with 8,782 patent applications, the gap with Japan, which filed for 35,904 applications, was vast. In 2008, Korea saw a US$3.1 billion trade deficit with Japan in terms of technological products and services while Japan achieved a $15 billion trade surplus. Korea also lags behind Japan in terms of products that have the largest global market share. Korea only has 53 such products compared to Japan’s 234. Last year, Korea was able to beat Japan for the first time in terms of trade surplus, but over the same period it posted a $27 billion deficit in trade with Japan. Most of the core components that go into Korean export products are made in Japan.

The reason why Japan intends to learn from Korea is that it does not wish to lose. From now on, Korean businesses may encounter even fiercer competition from their Japanese rivals. The government and businesses need to step up the pace and keep a closer eye on them. Some say Japan may be on the wane, but the country still has a lot to teach Korea.

Don’t forget, Korea just stuck it to Japan in women’s figure skating.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Lie Behind Japan’s Good Unemployment Numbers
• Buckets Of Blood On The Streets Of Bangkok… It’s Time To Buy
• It’s Now Dead Obvious Asia Doesn’t Need The West Anymore

China’s big effort to cool the property market is nothing but theater, says Andy Xie in his latest column for Caing.

Proof is in the home prices.

Although a reduction in the discount given to mortgage holders has torpedoed sales, prices remain high, as if developers are certain that tightening is just a passing trend.

Beijing has cashed in big on the property bubble, and they aren’t ready to quit.

Caing:

Contrary to Beijing’s policy intent, local governments are readying for another round of property inflation. Local governments have been using bank loans to resettle residents, and resettlement costs have skyrocketed since those being moved need enough compensation to buy properties at today’s prices. Unless property prices rise considerably, local governments will end up losing money, which they cannot afford.

Such resettlements played an important role in supporting demand for property last year. The overwhelming majority of end-user purchases probably came from resettled residents who used their compensation cash for down payments. Resettlement compensation is the biggest transfer of wealth from the government to the household sector since the privatization of low-cost public housing a decade ago. It is probably the most important government action supporting today’s economy.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Why This Building Proves That The Next Financial Crisis Will Be In Shanghai in 2013
• The New Conventional Wisdom: It’s Shadow Banks And Regional Governments That Will Take Down China
• The Complete 60-Second Guide To The Chinese Real Estate Market

Οι τελευταίες φήμες θέλουν την Audi να βγάζει στην παραγωγή δύο εκδόσεις υψηλών επιδόσεων για το μικρό της crossover, Q5. To SQ5, σύμφωνα πάντα με τις φήμες, θα παρουσιαστεί το 2011 και μηχανικά θα εξοπλίζεται με τον 3.0 λίτρων TFSI V6 κινητήρα του Audi S4 απόδοσης 333 ίππων με 44 κιλά ροπή. Στιλιστικά θα διαθέτει επανασχεδιασμένη μάσκα, νέους προφυλακτήρες, νέες ζάντες και 4 απολήξεις  των εξατμίσεων.   Επίσης αργότερα ίσως προστεθεί στην γκάμα και η RS έκδοση, RSQ5, η οποία θα διαθέτει τον ίδιο κινητήρα αλλά στην συγκεκριμένη περίπτωση θα παράγει 408 άλογα. Και τα δύο μοντέλα θα βασίζονται πάνω στο Audi Q5 Concept που είχε παρουσιαστεί πέρυσι στην ετήσια συνάντηση μελών και φίλων της VW και Audi στο Wörthersee της Γερμανίας. Όλα τα παραπάνω είναι απλά φήμες αφού η Audi ακόμη δεν έχει επιβεβαιώσει καμία από τις δύο εκδόσεις. Αλήθεια ή ψέμα; Το μέλλον θα δείξει, αν και προσωπικά το θεωρώ όχι και το έξυπνη κίνηση του τμήματος marketing να βγάλει στην παραγωγή S εκδόσεις στο Q5.

Διαβάστε Περισσότερα »

The Architect’s Newspaper writes that plans for freeway cap park are moving forward in Los Angeles County. The cap idea involves covering parts of a freeway with a “planted concrete lid.” The freeway cap parks are designed to reconnect neighborhoods cut off by freeways and create green community spaces through the city. Additionally, the cap parks will help reuse existing infrastructure and avoid the enormous costs involved in pulling down freeways. The parks would function as a sort of High Line, but instead of residing on top of abandoned rail road tracks, would be placed on working transportation systems.

According to The Architect’s Newspaper, there are four separate projects being considered across L.A.: one in Hollywood, one in downtown LA, and two in Santa Monica. “Hollywood Central Park would be built atop the 101 Freeway on a proposed 44-acre site between Santa Monica Boulevard and Bronson Avenue. Park 101 would be built atop the ‘Big Trench’ over the 101 Freeway downtown. Santa Monica is hoping to cap portions of the 10 Freeway between Ocean Avenue and 4th Street, and between 14th and 17th streets, creating five- and seven-acre parks.”

The four cap park plans differ depending on existing infrastructure. Francie Stefan, community and strategic planning manager for the City of Santa Monica, said: “Some are glorified bridges, some need center supports, and some just span the whole distance.”

Among the four cap park proposals, the Hollywood Freeway Central Park project is furthest along and has just completed initial feasibility studies, developed by AECOM. The Friends of Hollywood Central Park are now raising funds for detailed environmental impact assessment studies. Early estimates put the cost of the proposed Hollywood Central cap park in the range of one billion.

Vaughan Davies, director of urban design at AECOM’s LA offfice, sees the new park as central to smart growth plans for Los Angeles: “The proposed site separates some of our most prized and appealing landmarks—Olvera Street, Chinatown, and Union Station on one side; Disney Hall, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, and City Hall on the other—creating isolated pockets of activity rather than what we need: a livable, walkable, and unified downtown district.”

L.A. Curbed writes that Santa Monica is also moving forward with one of the cap parks. The city council is voting on $3.5 million study and preliminary engineering on a proposed five-acre park.

Read the article and see AECOM’s design concepts.

Image credit: The Architect’s Newspaper / AECOM

The folks who created ACTA were already sneaky enough in describing it as an “anti-counterfeiting” agreement, when they knew all along it went way beyond issues related to counterfeiting. For a while, it’s been obvious that it was also very much (perhaps more than counterfeiting) about copyright, but it’s actually about much more than that. We already mentioned that it is designed to cover patents as well. Now, KEI has looked at another leaked draft document, and notes that the draft sneaks in the fact that it’s designed to cover seven different areas of intellectual property. In typical sneaky fashion, it doesn’t come out and list them directly, but in the definitions section, defines “intellectual property” as “refers to all categories of intellectual property that are the subject of section 1 through part 7 of Part II of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.” Basically, it’s saying that it’s accepting the definition in a totally different document, from TRIPs. So, what’s in that document?

1. Copyright and Related Rights
2. Trademarks
3. Geographical Indications
4. Industrial Designs
5. Patents
6. Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits
7. Protection of Undisclosed Information

Note how little of that has anything to do with counterfeiting — which is mostly just a trademark issue.

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Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, BMW

A report from Washington State television station KXLY claims that BMW is looking to build another manufacturing facility in North America, but it doesn’t appear to be a vehicle assembly plant. The TV station claims BMW and partner SGL Group will announce plans to build a carbon fiber plant in Moses Lake, WA within the next few days or weeks. The site would reportedly bring 200 jobs and $200 million to the region; very good news in an economic downturn. BMW officials had reportedly touched down in Washington to look for appropriate land for the top-secret project, which is rumored to be called “Project Chinook” by Moses Lake officials.

The rumored facility would build carbon fiber parts for BMW’s upcoming electric vehicles, which are slated to hit the streets by 2015. Last November BMW announced its partnership with SGL, citing the goal of making cost-competitive, large scale carbon fiber components to cut more weight from its vehicles. BMW tells us the first vehicle to utilize extensive carbon fiber isn’t an M1 replacement or the heir-apparent to the Z8, but instead the Megacity hybrid-electric vehicle.

By making carbon fiber parts in North America, BMW would likely save quite a bit of money versus building the components in Europe. But is BMW going to build components for an electric city car here in the States only to have parts shipped back to Europe for assembly? We’re thinking if our Bavarian friends do announce a carbon fiber facility in Moses Lake, there’s a chance the company could decide to build the Megacity here as well.

[Source: Motoringfile]

Report: BMW evaluating sites for North American carbon fiber plant? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Do you know how to find a hidden treasure?  Do you know how far your house is from the candy store?  Do you know the way to your favorite ride at the amusement park?  It’s easy!  Join the friends below and follow that map!”  This book teaches kids all about maps in a fun and interactive way.  Terms such as legend, compass rose, landmarks, and symbols are introduced.  There are also sections on understanding a globe and creating your own map.  A convenient index of map terms is also included.

Curriculum Connections

A great introductory level book, this could be used to introduce the concepts of maps.  Once introduced, the students could create their own maps.

It would teach them how to demonstrate map skills by constructing simple maps, using title, map legend, and compass rose. (SOL 2.6 ).  The book would be most appropriate for grade levels 2-3.

Additional Resources

This teacher’s site has many great ideas for class activities about maps.  Even contains a video on reading maps for the students to watch!

This activity page allows students to decorate their own compass rose as well as complete the direction labels.

This video clip shows teachers some ideas for teaching kids about map skills.

This site contains learning activities directly related to the book, provided by publisher.

Title: Follow that Map! A First Book of Mapping Skills

Author: Scot Ritchie

Publisher: Kidscanpress.com

Publication Date: 2009

Pages: 32

Grade Range: 2-3

ISBN: 978-155453-274- 2

 

In what’s becoming the standard move for Apple as it approaches the launch of a new generation of iPhone hardware, the company has begun to offer the iPhone 3G/3GS for sale without contract at full price on its websites and at its brick-and-mortar retail stores. Without contract, but not unlocked, so don’t get too excited yet Sprint fans.

Of course, there are ways to unlock the iPhones that are simple enough for many computer users, but there lies the tricky mess of possibly voiding your warranty, so tread carefully. It’s likely you’re probably familiar with jailbreaking, risks and all, so I won’t belabor the point.

Buying the iPhone models off-contract won’t be cheap, since you don’t have a carrier helping out via a hefty subsidy, but as any contract-averse individual will tell you, you’ll end up paying far less for the hardware if you can avoid signing your life away for two whole years. Also you might sleep better at night knowing AT&T hasn’t successfully sunk its claws into you.

The now aging 3G 8GB iPhone will cost you $499, while the 16GB 3GS lists at $599 and the 32GB 3GS sells for $699 without subsidy. Those prices start to look a lot less reasonable now that Apple has announced the pricing for the iPad, even though when I bought the iPhone 3GS last year I had to pay full price since I was only a year into my three-year contract, it seemed perfectly fine to drop $700.

As for when you can get these unlocked devices, according to PC World, you might be able to do it right now. PCW writer Sarah Jacobsson called her local store and was told that they were already selling the devices unlocked. Apple hasn’t yet made an official announcement regarding the devices, or updated its web store to reflect the changes, but 9to5 Mac got early wind of the move, and Gizmodo later confirmed via official internal Apple documents.

It’s unclear exactly why Apple seems to do this every time the end of its current iPhone iteration is in sight, but a reasonable guess is that the company would like to sell off as many of the on-hand units it has before it has to deal with an influx of new 4th generation iPhone stock. Even if Apple plans to continue selling the iPhone 3GS alongside the next iPhone, which is likely considering the retention of the 3G last time as a low-priced budget option, Cupertino still probably wants to clean house and bolster sales ahead of the launch.

You’re only allowed to buy one per day, up to a maximum of 1o total phones, so if you’re aiming for an even dozen you’ll have to enlist the help of a friend.

After acting in the movie Wall Street II, Apparently Shia LeBouf thinks he’s qualified to give stock picks, and he shares them with the readers of GQ.

They are below, printed in a small footnote on page 149.

It’s hard to read, so we’ll translate what he says:

— buy Apple before it splits

— oil will rally this year

— grow some balls and short gold at 120

— look at IOC. IOC’s momentum is major and will surprise to the upside

And this isn’t the first time a men’s magazine has tried to give its readers investing advice. Esquire told it’s readers to buy gold last month.

It’s almost certainly the worst advice to take ever, not because Shia or the Esquire author might be wrong, but because it’s printed in a men’s fashion magazine.

Join the conversation about this story »

Now for a Buddhist tale . . .

There once was A Family who lived in The Village of You Never Know.

One day, The Only Son slipped on an orange while tilling soil—and broke his arm. His Mother and Father were distraught. How could this happen? How unlucky!

The next day . . . The Father slipped on an orange—and broke both  his legs. Geez, this A Family felt hexed! They wondered: Why all  this punishment?

Then within the week . . . A Big, Bad War broke out in The Village of You Never Know, and all the able-bodied men were called on to fight. The Only Son and Father were deemed unsuitable soldiers due to their injuries and were left back home.

It was a doozy of a war. I won’t go into NC-17 violent detail, but nobody came home. Nada a soldier.

Suddenly A Family didn’t feel so put upon.

After getting a good eyeful of the Big Picture of Life, they even felt pretty lucky.

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And there’s our confirmation that the NAR got sloppy with its press releases.

The tireless boosters of homeownership have confirmed that existing home sales are still pretty unimpressive.

The key numbers:

• The annualized pace of sales came in at 5.02 million, below the 5.05 million (and basically right on estimates).
• Inventory surged 9.5%.

Here’s the full announcement:

—-

Existing-home sales declined slightly in February, with modest gains in the Northeast and Midwest offset by softer sales in the South and West, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home ¹, which are finalized transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, slipped 0.6 percent nationally to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 million units in February from 5.05 million in January, but are 7.0 percent higher than the 4.69 million-unit pace in February 2009.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said widespread winter storms in February may mask underlying demand. “Some closings were simply postponed by winter storms, but buyers couldn’t get out to look at homes in some areas and that should negatively impact near-term contract activity,” he said.

“Although sales have been higher than year-ago levels for eight straight months and home prices are much more stable compared to the past few years, the housing recovery is fragile at the moment.”

Total housing inventory at the end of February rose 9.5 percent to 3.59 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.6-month supply² at the current sales pace, up from a 7.8-month supply in January. Raw unsold inventory is 5.5 percent below a year ago.

“The key test for a durable recovery comes in the next few months as the tax credit deadline approaches,” Yun said. “If we see a surge in home buying comparable to last fall in the months leading up to the original tax credit deadline, then enough inventory should be absorbed to ensure a broad home price stabilization.”

The national median existing-home price³ for all housing types was $165,100 in February, which is 1.8 percent below February 2009. Distressed homes, generally sold at discount, accounted for 35 percent of sales last month.

A parallel NAR practitioner survey⁴ shows first-time buyers purchased 42 percent of homes in February, up from 40 percent in January. Investors accounted for 19 percent of transactions in February, compared with 17 percent in January; the remaining sales were to repeat buyers.

NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz., said some buyers are just beginning to realize the urgency of acting before the contract deadline for the tax credit. “If home buyers want this tax credit there is literally no time to waste,” she said.

“Most buyers spend several months looking at a dozen homes before they make a contract offer, but less than six weeks are left before the April 30 contract deadline. If you’re sure about the kind of home you want and the neighborhood where you’d like to live, you need to begin working with a Realtor® now to help you find what you want, negotiate on your behalf and ensure that you meet the necessary deadlines, including loan qualification,” Golder said.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 4.99 percent in February from 5.03 percent in January; the rate was 5.13 percent in February 2009.

Single-family home sales declined 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.37 million in February from a pace of 4.43 million in January, but are 4.3 percent higher than the 4.19 million level a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $164,300 in February, down 2.1 percent from February 2009.

Existing condominium and co-op sales rose 4.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 650,000 in February from 620,000 in January, and are 30.3 percent above the 499,000-unit pace in February 2009. The median existing condo price⁵ was $170,200 in February, down 0.2 percent from a year ago.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 2.4 percent to an annual pace of 840,000 in February and are 12.0 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $254,700, up 7.5 percent from February 2009.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 2.8 percent in February to a level of 1.11 million and are 8.8 percent higher than February 2009. The median price in the Midwest was $128,000, which is 2.0 percent below a year ago.

In the South, existing-home sales slipped 1.1 percent to an annual pace of 1.85 million in February but are 6.9 percent above a year ago. The median price in the South was $139,600, down 4.2 percent from February 2009.

Existing-home sales in the West fell 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.22 million in February but are 3.4 percent higher than February 2009. The median price in the West was $207,900, down 9.8 percent from a year ago.

“A lack of affordable housing inventory is holding back sales and pressuring prices to be bid upwards in many California markets,” Yun noted.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Did The NAR Just Leak Its Existing Home Sales 20 minutes early?

Mark Carson wanted a BMW M6 with Hawaiian Koawood in the interior. So he teamed up with BMW Individual and created his own M6 coupe that took at least a year to arrive.

Click here to get prices on the 2010 BMW M6 Coupe.

BMW says in the video that customers only order such a tailor made BMW once or twice a year. Guess if you have the money you can customize anything you want.

Check out the video of Carson’s experience with BMW Individual after the jump.

– By: Kap Shah

To become an entrepreneur, it helps to surround yourself with like-minded colleagues. As HBS professor Ramana Nanda and coauthor Jesper B. Sørensen show, potential entrepreneurs benefit enormously not just from the practical information and resources that entrepreneurial colleagues provide. The encouragement and positive outlook that is part of such a work atmosphere is also important socialization, and can inspire employees in the direction of entrepreneurship. As Nanda and Sørensen argue in a forthcoming article in Management Science, “coworkers can increase the likelihood that an individual will perceive entrepreneurial opportunities as well as increase his or her motivation to pursue those opportunities.”

Offering a historical view on multinationals in developing countries, a working paper this week by professor Geoffrey Jones outlines the tradeoffs between opportunity and risk that such companies experience. These tradeoffs needed to factor in the prevailing political economy, the market and resources available, and competition from local firms. He explains more in Multinational Strategies and Developing Countries in Historical Perspective.

Among cases this week, “A Letter from Prison” details correspondence between a graduate student and an executive serving a seven-year prison sentence for financial fraud.

— Martha Lagace

Working Papers

Banking Market Concentration and Consumer Credit Constraints: Evidence from the 1983 Survey of Consumer Finances

Author:	Daniel Bergstresser

Abstract

This paper uses data from the 1983 Survey of Consumer Finances to test the relationship between the banks’ market power and households’ self-reported levels of credit constraints. The 1983 Survey was the last to identify households’ geographic location, making it useful for this analysis. There is evidence that borrowers, and particularly young borrowers, were less credit-constrained in markets where banks enjoyed more market power. Interest rates on consumer borrowing decreased more sharply with age in competitive markets than in concentrated markets. These results are consistent with the Sharpe (1990) and Petersen-Rajan (1995) models of information acquisition in credit markets.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-077.pdf

Strategies to Fight Ad-sponsored Rivals

Authors:	Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Feng Zhu

Abstract

We analyze the optimal strategy of a high-quality incumbent that faces a low-quality ad-sponsored competitor. In addition to competing through adjustments of tactical variables such as price or the number of ads a product carries, we allow the incumbent to consider changes in its business model. We consider four alternative business models—a subscription-based model; an ad-sponsored model; a mixed model in which the incumbent offers a product that is both subscription-based and ad-sponsored; and a dual model in which the incumbent offers two products, one based on the ad-sponsored model and the other based on the mixed-business model. We show that the optimal response to an ad-sponsored rival often entails business model reconfigurations. We also find that when there is an ad-sponsored entrant, the incumbent is more likely to prefer to compete through the subscription-based or the ad-sponsored model, rather than the mixed or the dual model, because of cannibalization and endogenous vertical differentiation concerns. We discuss how our study helps improve our understanding of notions of strategy, business model, and tactics in the field of strategy.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-026.pdf

Competing Complements

Authors:	Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Barry Nalebuff, and David Yoffie

Abstract

In Cournot’s model of complements, the producers of A and B are both monopolists. This paper extends Cournot’s model to allow for competition between complements on one side of the market. Consider two complements, A and B, where the A + B bundle is valuable only when purchased together. Good A is supplied by a monopolist (e.g., Microsoft), and there is competition in the B goods from vertically differentiated suppliers (e.g., Intel and AMD). In this simple game, there may not be a pure-strategy equilibrium. With constant marginal costs, there is never a pure-strategy solution where the lower-quality B firm obtains positive market share. We also consider the case where A obtains revenue from follow-on sales, as might arise when A expects to make upgrade sales to an installed base. If profits from the installed base are sufficiently large, a pure-strategy equilibrium exists where both B firms are active in the market. Although there is competition in the complement market, the monopoly Firm A may earn lower profits in this environment. Consequently, A may prefer to accept lower future profits in order to interact with a monopolist complement in B.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-009.pdf

“Multinational Strategies and Developing Countries in Historical Perspective

Author:	Geoffrey Jones

Abstract

This working paper offers a longitudinal and descriptive analysis of the strategies of multinationals from developed countries in developing countries. The central argument is that strategies were shaped by the trade-off between opportunity and risk. Three broad environmental factors determined the trade-off. The first was the prevailing political economy, including the policies of both host and home governments, and the international legal framework. The second was the market and resources of the host country. The third factor was competition from local firms. The impact of these factors on corporate strategies is explored during the three eras in the modern history of globalization from the 19th century until the present day. The performance of specific multinationals depended on the extent to which their internal capabilities enabled them to respond to these external opportunities and threats.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-076.pdf

Why Do Firms Use Non-linear Incentive Schemes? Experimental Evidence on Sorting and Overconfidence

Authors:	Ian Larkin and Stephen Leider

Abstract

Non-linear incentive schemes are commonly used to determine employee pay, despite their distortionary impact. We investigate possible reasons for their widespread use by examining the relationship between convex pay schemes and overconfidence. In a laboratory experiment, subjects chose between a piece rate and a convex pay scheme. We find that overconfident subjects are more likely than others to choose the convex scheme, even when it leads to lower pay. Overconfident subjects also persist in making the mistake despite clear feedback. These results suggest non-linear pay schemes may help companies select and retain overconfident workers and may reduce the wage bill.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-078.pdf

Coming Clean and Cleaning Up: Is Voluntary Self-Reporting a Signal of Effective Self-Policing?

Authors:	Michael W. Toffel and Jodi L. Short

Abstract

Administrative agencies are increasingly establishing voluntary self-reporting programs both as an investigative tool and to encourage regulated firms to police themselves. Effective self-policing is critical to contemporary regulatory designs that rely heavily on regulated entities to monitor and assure their own regulatory compliance. We investigate whether self-reporting, or the voluntary disclosure of legal violations, can reliably signal effective self-policing efforts that might warrant a reduction in regulatory scrutiny. We find voluntary disclosure to be associated with improvements in regulatory compliance and environmental performance, indicating that self-reporting is associated with effective self-policing. In addition, we find evidence that regulators subsequently reduced scrutiny of voluntary disclosers, which suggests that self-reporting can help regulators economize government enforcement resources and develop cooperative relationships with firms that are committed to self-policing.

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-098.pdf