Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift fur betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung = Schmalenbach journal of business research最新文献

The pace of the global decarbonization process is widely believed to hinge on the rate of cost improvements for clean energy technologies, in particular renewable power and energy storage. This paper adopts the classical learning-by-doing framework of Wright (1936), which predicts that cost will fall as a function of the cumulative volume of past deployments. We first examine the learning curves for solar photovoltaic modules, wind turbines and electrolyzers. These estimates then become the basis for estimating the dynamics of the life-cycle cost of generating the corresponding clean energy, i.e., electricity from solar and wind power as well as hydrogen. Our calculations point to significant and sustained learning curves, which, in some contexts, predict a much more rapid cost decline than suggested by the traditional 80% learning curve. Finally, we argue that the observed learning curves for individual clean energy technologies reinforce each other in advancing the transition to a decarbonized energy economy.

The viability and adaptation of family firms is a key research area owing to the longevity and transgenerational vision of the family. Throughout their development, firms transition through strategic change episodes with a potentially significant impact on their performance and survival. In this article, we combine family firm with strategic change research to propose how familiness supports or limits strategic change. We put forward three tendencies of family firms in their ability to deal with strategic change. First, familiness creates an overemphasis on the cognition of gradual change triggers but limits the cognition of radical change triggers. Second, familiness creates a tendency to inappropriately scope and dimension strategic change in radical change episodes to protect the value of legacy resources. Third, familiness supports endurance during strategic change implementation while also creating a tendency to be too slow or stubborn when implementing an insufficient change decision.

In cooperative compliance programs, firms and tax administrations agree on cooperation instead of confrontation. Firms provide full transparency and advanced tax control frameworks. Tax administrations, in turn, offer certainty as to the tax treatment of complex transactions. In this study, we test how firms' perceptions of tax risk, the quality of tax risk management, and compliance costs are related to cooperative compliance. To our knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to analyze both reasons for and consequences of participation in cooperative compliance programs. We examine the Austrian cooperative compliance pilot project known as horizontal monitoring that was aimed at large businesses and launched in 2011. We use survey data from representatives of firms participating in the pilot project and a sample of comparable firms under a traditional ex-post audit regime. We conduct group comparisons to test differences between these groups, as well as mediation analyses to shed light on more complex relationships between variables. Results show that horizontal monitoring firms perceive a significantly higher increase in tax certainty, which is associated with significant relative decreases in tax risk and compliance costs. Furthermore, while the quality of tax risk management upon entering the pilot project appears significantly higher for horizontal monitoring firms, they do not report greater improvement in tax risk management compared to the control group. These results are relevant for the development of cooperative compliance programs and the decision to participate in them.

Digital technologies favor the use of dynamic pricing, i.e., prices that vary unannounced for a product that basically remains unchanged. However, different forms of dynamic pricing are often mixed in the public discussion, which makes a meaningful analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of dynamic pricing difficult. The aim of this paper is to present the economic foundations of dynamic pricing as well as to discuss and to classify its design options. In addition, the paper assesses dynamic pricing from a buyer and seller perspective. Finally, the paper discusses implications for business research.

The sustained low-interest rate environment raises several economic challenges. These challenges as well as the underlying causes are subject to an intense economic debate. This article, traces the scientific debate by laying out the theoretical and empirical arguments. As not only nominal, but also real rates have decreased in most developed economies over a long period of time, monetary policy is unlikely to be the major driver of the development. In contrast, theories that explain the decline in interest rates with structural changes in the demand and supply of capital are consistent with the empirical evidence and offer a more convincing explanation. Beyond an analysis of the roots of the decrease, we discuss potential economic consequences of persistently low interest rates. In particular, we discuss evidence of how the transmission channels of monetary policy, financial intermediaries, non-financial companies as well households are affected by the low-interest rate environment. Finally, we provide policy recommendations.

The management of non-financial risks such as ESG-, sustainability- and compliance risks poses a great challenge for companies. In contrast to financial risks the information on non-financial risks is very limited. This renders management quite difficult. Companies incurred big losses due to non-financial risks in recent years. Corporate governance of these risks raises many unresolved questions. This paper delineates potential answers and hypotheses about the impact of information quality. Practitioners complain about the lack of support from academia. A cooperation of practitioners and academics to resolve these questions presents attractive research fields for academia. Thus, this paper also presents a research agenda for academia.