Firms' objectives and internal organisation in a global economy : positive and normative analysis

"The interplay between firms' internal organization and market behaviour is a long standing issue in industrial economics. This book examines firms' objectives in the comparatively new perspective shaped by globalization. The positive and normative aspects of theoretical analysis are developed and richly complemented by empirical studies"--Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-7 Existence and Uniqueness of Equilibrium in Labor-Managed Cournot Oligopoly....Pages 9-16 Wage-Rise Contract and Cournot Competition with Labor-Managed Firms....Pages 17-31 Price Setting is Popular among Firms: Will It Persist in Vertical Relationships with Market Uncertainty?....Pages 33-50 Contagious “Social Market Enterprises”: The Role of Fair Traders....Pages 51-84 Should One Sell Domestic Firms to Foreign Ones? A Tale of Delegation, Acquisition and Collusion....Pages 85-111 The Make-or-Buy Choice in a Mixed Oligopoly: A Theoretical Investigation....Pages 113-132 Entrepreneurs’ Behaviour and Performance: An Empirical Analysis on Italian Firms....Pages 133-150 Firms’ International Status and Heterogeneity in Performance: Evidence from Italy....Pages 151-187 Vertical Specialisation in Europe: Evidence from the Import Content of Exports....Pages 189-212 Understanding how firms and national economic systems respond to globalization is one of the most urgent and demanding tasks listed in the current agenda of researchers and policy makers. The papers presented in this volume tackle the theme of defining firms' objectives in this comparatively new perspective. This collection of original studies illuminates the links between the internal structure of firms, their incentives, and their performance. This volume presents theoretical and empirical papers investigating crucial aspects of firm's structure and strategies, such as cross-border mergers, outsourcing, innovation and the maximization of non-profit objectives, in connection with the new challenges posed by globalization. This book is indispensable reading for all interested in trade theory and policy, and development economics