Industry Concentration Research Articles

Moral harassment: a portrait of northern brazil based on lawsuits

Purpose: To investigate moral harassment on northern Brazil through the lens of lawsuits. Design/methodology: Statistical analyses on lawsuits from 2012 to 2018 issued at Labor Court, 11th Region, which includes states of Amazonas and Roraima. It also provided a qualitative discussion, based on semi-structured interviews with main actors (judges, prosecutors, and lawyers). Findings: A representative volume of legal actions was found, signaling the presence of moral harassment in the region. There was a higher proportion of vertical harassment (management over employees), a large concentration in industry and banks, a predominance of men as harassers and great difficulty in proving the harassment. Originality/value: This article addresses the topic of moral harassment from a lens that is still little explored, lawsuits, considering a geographic delimitation without many studies – the northern region of Brazil. Theoretical/methodological contributions: The northern Brazil presents similar characteristics regarding moral harassment to those found in other regions of the country, reinforcing the understanding of a social phenomenon under the influence of the institutional environment. Practical implications: The findings reinforce the need to debate and review how reporting channels about moral harassment are structured in the country, as it is a phenomenon that is difficult to delimit and prove but has a profound impact on the lives of its victims.

Mitigating local bias in equity crowdfunding: a financial ecology perspective

Abstract This study analyses the relationship between geographic space, social networks, and financial knowledge in interregional equity crowdfunding flows based on the concept of financial ecology. Using data from a leading Dutch equity crowdfunding platform, we find that interregional crowdfunding investment decreases with geographic distance. Furthermore, the negative effect of distance is weaker if interregional social networks are strong and if the investor region has a high concentration of the financial industry. The results extend the conceptual foundation of financial ecology by explaining how individual behaviors affect the macro-level output of a financial ecology.

Determining the group of resource-oriented regions in the system for developing the concept of a regional development strategy

Regions with significant natural resource potential play an important role in ensuring the energy and economic security of the Russian Federation. To maximize the effect of using resource potential, scientifically based and methodologically correct regional strategies must be developed. For these purposes, it is necessary to develop a concept for a strategy for the regional development of resource regions, for which it is proposed to use the strategizing methodology of a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor V.L. Kvint. One of the first tasks when developing a concept is to identify a group of resource-oriented regions. To achieve this goal, the author’s definition of resource-oriented regions has been prepared, and based on an analysis of foreign and domestic practices, an algorithm for calculating the level of resource orientation has been proposed, based on 3 indicators: the share of mining in the gross regional product, the share of mining in the structure of regional employment and the degree of industry concentration. It is shown that for calculations using the proposed algorithm in terms of industry concentration, not only the Herfindahl–Hirmschan index can be used, but also the Shannon index, which is logically opposite to it, adapted for economic research.The calculations showed that the group of resource-oriented regions can include the Nenets, Yamalo–Nenets, Khanty–Mansiysk and Chukotka Autonomous Districts, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), as well as the Magadan and Sakhalin regions – these regions best meet the proposed definition of a resource-oriented region and can become the basis for developing the concept of a regional development strategy.

Supply chain concentration, industry concentration and enterprise innovation performance

This paper selects Chinese A-share-listed manufacturing enterprises as a sample from 2012–2022 to empirically analyse the relationship between supply chain concentration and corporate innovation performance. It is found that there is a significant negative correlation between supplier concentration and corporate innovation and a significant positive correlation between customer concentration and corporate innovation; industry concentration enhances the positive impact of customer concentration on corporate innovation performance; compared with state-owned enterprises, the relationship between supply chain concentration and corporate innovation performance is more significant in private enterprises.

Financialization, earnings volatility, and firm turbulence in the risk society

ABSTRACT This paper explores financialization through the lens of with profits accruing primarily through financial channels through risk commodification. While financialization ostensibly increases corporate profits, individual firms have been experiencing escalating volatility driven by heightened competition and technological disruptions. To the extent that firm instability is driven by something fundamental that cannot be reduced for shareholders through portfolio diversification, financialization simultaneously disperses risks to workers, fostering economic instability and exacerbating income inequality. The paper delineates a rise in earnings volatility among workers, attributing it to structural changes in labour markets marked by contingent work arrangements and diminished job security. This volatility reflects broader societal shifts towards a more precarious workforce, necessitating a re-evaluation of traditional measures of economic security. The confluence of these trends manifests in the intertwining of firm turbulence and wage volatility, particularly pronounced in the non-manufacturing sector. In parallel, financialization has also led to rising industrial concentration and market power in the U.S. economy that centralises profit. Superstar firms emerge as key actors, uniquely positioned to maximise their risk/return profile. By restricting profits to a small core of well-compensated workers, these firms are simultaneously offering higher wages while driving down the labour share, thus exacerbating income inequality.

Consequences of freight rate volatility in liner shipping and the role of strategic alliances

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and understand how the infamous fluctuations in freight rates influence (spill over) upstream (shipper and ship-manufacturing) and downstream (ports and ship-recycling) from the perspective of a vertical maritime supply chain. Rate volatility spillovers are examined in the time and frequency domains. As to be expected, the intensity and direction of spillovers differ across time. In general, however, freight rates exert a spillover effect on both the shipbuilding and ship-recycling markets, with a more pronounced impact on the former. We find that the period after 2013 saw a negative impact of freight rates on shippers and ports, primarily due to increased volatility in the global shipping market, which introduced significant unpredictability in shipping costs and operational planning. In the frequency domain, we establish a complex long-term trend and market cyclicality, linked to the general economic cycle. In addition, we calculate industry concentration in the ocean transportation of containers, to understand the impact of alliances and acquisitions (A&A) on freight rates and their spillover effects. Less evidence of industry concentration efforts is observed in prosperous shipping markets where freight rates are sufficiently rewarding. Instead, a higher level of activity towards concentration is observed in periods of market downturns. In such periods, A&As are seen to have a more profound effect on rate spillovers. The study furnishes empirical evidence concerning the spillover effects of freight rates across diverse markets, shedding light on the interconnectedness and dynamics within the various segments of the maritime supply chain. Moreover, we elucidate the significant role played by strategic alliances and acquisitions in the maritime sector, providing a nuanced comprehension of how industry structure influences business behavior and market volatility. The insights garnered from this research hold substantial value for policymakers and business strategists navigating the shipping industry's intricacies, offering them crucial data to support their decision-making processes.

Does supply chain concentration promote or inhibit corporate R&D investment?

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of supply chain concentration (SCC) on corporate research and development (R&D) investment and determine the moderating roles of industry concentration and financing constraints on the relationship between SCC and R&D investment. Design/methodology/approach The study collected data from Chinese listed companies, used the fixed effects model to test the research hypotheses and further used the two-stage Heckman test and propensity score matching (PSM) to address potential endogeneity issues. Findings The result reveals a negative impact of SCC on corporate R&D investment. In addition, industry concentration mitigates the negative impact of SCC on corporate R&D investment, but financing constraints strengthen the negative impact. Originality/value This study introduces the concept of SCC and empirically tests its effect on R&D investment, further explaining the lack of corporate innovation. This study inspires companies to strengthen SC management and weigh the level of SCC with environmental factors.

How to Construct Nationally Representative Firm-Level Data from the Orbis Global Database: New Facts on SMEs and Aggregate Implications for Industry Concentration

We construct nationally representative firm-level longitudinal data for European countries using financial statements from the Orbis database. We validate our data by comparing its coverage and firm size distribution to official statistics. We showcase two applications to show the importance of firm representativeness in understanding macroeconomic outcomes. First, we show that small and medium-sized firms account for a large share of aggregate economic activity. Second, we document that firm representativeness is important for calculating industry concentration trends over time as the share of economic activity accounted by top firms in an industry changes with the firm samples used. (JEL C81, D22, G30, L11, L25, L60)

Humanitarian activities of the county police in the second half of the XIX– early XX centuries (on the example of the Vladimir province)

Law enforcement agencies have been and remain an important part of the Russian state system. The field of responsibility of the police authorities of the Russian Empire at the turn of the XIX- XX centuries was extensive and diverse. It included issues of state, community and public administration, management in the field of economics, industry, transport, finance, control over compliance with laws and regulations, protection of personal rights and property, health care, social security, education, the spiritual sphere and monitoring the moral condition of the population. The article is devoted to the activities of the district police of the Vladimir province in the field of struggle for the physical and moral health of the population. This aspect is insufficiently covered in local-level research, so the author used archival materials from the Vladimir province to complement the image and the scale of the activities of local law enforcement agencies by the beginning of the XX century. Pokrovsky County was the most densely populated due to the high concentration of factory industry and workers. The research is based on the principles of historicism, reliability and scientific character, chronological and historical-systemic methods are used. Specific examples show the role of the county police in combating the spread of infectious diseases and drunkenness among the population, carried out in difficult conditions of active migration flows in cities and counties of the Vladimir province and an ever-growing number of residents. The staff of the Pokrovsky district police department, in addition to the functions of law enforcement and public peace, controlled the opening of hospitals, the provision of medical care, strictly monitored the referral of syphilis-infected residents to county hospitals for treatment, and fought against public drinking in villages and towns of the county. Statistics collected from the field by district police officers were sent to the provincial government, to statistical committees and became the basis for state and public decisions in the relevant areas.

A Crude Palm Oil Industry Concentration and Influencing Factors: A Case Study of Indonesia as the World's Largest Producer

The Crude Palm Oil (CPO) industry is one of the plantation commodities that has a strategic role in Indonesia's economic development. The number of companies and CPO production is always increasing, but the concentration of the industry that always decreases every year makes it important to analyze the factors that affect the concentration of the CPO industry in Indonesia. The data period used in this study was from 2001 to 2020. In this study, data sources were obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Indonesia, Word Bank, and UN Comtrade. The data analysis method used is regression analysis of the Error Correction Model (ECM). The results showed that technical efficiency has a negative and significant relationship both in the long and short term to the concentration of the CPO industry. Competitiveness in the long term has a positive and significant relationship, while in the short term it is negative but not significant to the concentration of the Indonesian CPO industry. In the long run, the relationship between RSPO and Indonesia's CPO industry concentration tends to be negative but not significant, while in the short term it shows a significant influence. World CPO prices, both long-term and short-term, provide a positive and significant correlation to the concentration of the Indonesian CPO Industry. Indonesia's CPO exports in the long and short term have a negative and significant effect on the concentration of the Indonesian CPO industry.

Microfinance in the Russian Federation: Changes in Industry Indicators in the Context of Global Challenges

The purpose of the study was to predict the state of microfinance organizations in the Russian Federation, verify the trends that determine their development in the context of global geopolitical challenges. The research was carried out using logical and empirical methods. The article analyzes changes in the main indicators of the functioning of microfinance organizations (MFOs) in the Russian Federation over a ten-year period (2014–2023). Based on an analysis of changes in key indicators characterizing domestic microfinance organizations (the number of microfinance organizations, the volume of microloans issued and their structure in the context of online and offline formats, the main segments of microfinance), the author comes to the conclusion that microfinance activities in the Russian Federation are highly resistant to negative impacts environmental factors. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the verification of the main trends in the development of domestic microfinance, which include tightening regulation of microfinance organizations by the Central Bank of Russia, further consolidation, industry concentration, development of non-core activities, BNPL services, dominance of online microcredit, deterioration in the quality of debt servicing, reducing the investment attractiveness of the industry. In conclusion, the author identified the forecast values of the main performance indicators of MFOs for the period 2024–2027, and possible restrictions on the future development of this.

City sizes and economic roles: Urban typologies within the Australian urban system

The aim of this paper is to investigate the empirical correlations between inter-city population distribution, intra-city urban economic structures, and networked inter-city relationships to propose a conceptual classification framework for the Australian urban system. This paper sets the pre-COVID-19 benchmark for future research which will investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economic geography of the Australian urban system. This research confirms that the form of Australia's urban structure is informed by a combination of population distribution, economic concentration, specialisation and diversity of industries and occupations, and networks between cities. Based on these results, we propose an urban structure framework characterised by hierarchical sub-systems and typologies of cities. The framework consists of standalone regional centres and larger cities which form a networked megaregion. Additionally, we propose five typologies of cities based on their functional roles. The Australian urban system presents a unique hybrid economic geography where its structure of networked megaregions of cities and standalone regional centres each with its complementary functional roles, presents itself an interesting case study to inform population policies for other geographies.

The Relationship Between Industry Concentration and the Level of Operating Segment Disclosure: The Moderating Effect of Audit Quality

This study aimed to examine the relationship between the degree of industry concentration which the company belongs and the level of operating segment disclosure. The study also aimed to test the impact of audit quality on the previous relationship, using a sample of 40 non-financial companies listed on the Egyptian stock exchange for five-year period 2016-2020.Using regression analysis, the results of the study showed a low level of operating segment disclosure in Egyptian companies in general. The results of the study also showed that there is a significant negative relationship between the degree of industry concentration and the level of operating segment disclosure. While the results showed an insignificant negative effect of audit quality on the relationship between the degree of industry concentration and the level of disclosure of the operating segments. The previous results were supported by robustness tests conducted by including additional control variables that include the board of directors’ characteristics, as well as using an alternative measure to measure the degree of industry concentration.

Spatial Distribution Analysis of Urban Retail Industry Using POI Big Data

With the development of social economy, it is very important to identify urban functional areas and understand the spatial distribution characteristics of urban functional areas for urban scientific planning and government decision-making. Reasonable spatial distribution of urban retail industry is of great significance to promote urban economic development, optimize urban structure, and meet the consumption needs of urban residents. Based on the data of retail industry's POI, GDP, population and transportation in Nanning, China, this paper analyzes the spatial distribution characteristics and formation mechanism of different retail industry clusters in the city, and studies the spatial correlation between retail industry and population, economy, transportation, etc., using the methods of kernel density method, spatial correlation analysis, Getis-Ord G * index statistics, and average nearest neighbor distance. The results show that:(1)On the whole, the retail industry is concentrated in the central urban area of Nanning, spreading from the middle to the surrounding areas. (2)The retail hot spots have formed a multi-center development and surrounding spread pattern in spatial distribution. (3) The spatial distribution of the retail industry is highly related to the main traffic lines. At the same time, the concentration and distribution of the retail industry have a strong spatial correlation with the economy and population.

Housing production and the structural transformation of China’s real estate development industry

This study examines the relationship between housing production and the structural transformations that have taken place in China’s real estate development industry. It first identifies how the industry has changed since the early 2000s and what factors were driving those changes. It shows that the industry became increasingly concentrated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with large firms accounting for a growing share of the country’s housing production. This was mostly due to the advantages large firms enjoy in China, such as access to low-cost capital, an open land market system, and the use of pre-sale business practices. Yet an empirical analysis of 35 major Chinese cities shows that local housing production remained largely decentralized, a result of China’s rapidly rising land cost that discouraged local industry concentration. The study then discusses what these findings mean for the Chinese housing markets, with particular attention to how the pandemic has exposed the risks associated with China’s real estate industry organization.

Skilled Immigration, R&D Concentration, and Industry Consolidation

Abstract We demonstrate a novel link between skilled immigration restrictions, corporate innovation, and industry consolidation. Binding restrictions on H1B visas are a shock to firms’ R&D labor supply, leading firms to shift R&D expenditures and employees overseas. Organizationally and financially constrained firms are less able to adjust to the restrictions. They reduce basic research and patenting, are less able to acquire other firms for intellectual property, and are more likely to exit. Industry concentration and firm-level markups increase when firms are better able to adjust. This increase in market power is an unintended consequence of skilled immigration restrictions.

Comparison of patenting trends and alliance patterns among countries with a majority religion: structural topic model and network analysis

ABSTRACT In our modern, technologically advanced society, 84% of the world’s population holds some form of religious faith. Our history has also witnessed religion and technology having an impact on each other. Assuming the underlying correlation between them, we question whether there are distinguished technological features among countries with strong religions. This study examines the technological trends in countries with a majority religion according to the dominant religion of each – namely, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. We applied structural topic modelling (STM) and co-patent network analysis to patents from those countries registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office between 1965 and 2015. According to the STM results, technologies appear to reflect geographical environments, industrial concentrations, and investments led by governments and private sectors rather than religion. Moreover, countries with a majority religion in our study had mainly collaborated with the United States and European countries, regardless of religious tendency.

Assessing the Viability of Smaller Municipalities: The Alberta Model

A confluence of economic and social trends has created significant challenges for smaller municipalities in jurisdictions across the advanced industrial societies. Population stagnation or decline and the concentration of major industries in metropolitan centres have weakened the economies of smaller communities and frequently triggered fiscal crises. This leads to serious challenges not only for the local communities but for other levels of government. Responses to this challenge from provincial and national governments have followed a variety of paths. In some cases, governments have opted for major reorganization. This may entail a shift to regional forms of government or support for amalgamations or annexations by larger, financially stronger municipalities. In Canada, Manitoba and New Brunswick provide two recent examples of provincial governments that have chosen sweeping changes to their systems of local government. Alberta, by contrast, has elected a case-by case approach to municipal reorganization. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs has developed a process for viability reviews of municipalities facing serious fiscal challenges. This approach reflects the stronger economic state of most municipalities in the province; at this point, there is no need for a sweeping reorganization of municipal government. To date, 24 municipalities have undergone a viability review and 14 have elected to dissolve. In doing so, they become hamlets in the surrounding County or Municipal District. This process has worked well for Alberta, but challenges remain. Dissolution does not solve all of the problems that communities are facing; the problems that led to dissolution remain and become the responsibility of the absorbing entity. And more municipalities are likely to experience the difficulties that have led others to dissolve. Monitoring the health of local communities and providing support to both struggling municipalities and the counties and districts that may assume responsibility for them will be needed to ensure the sustainability of Alberta’s existing municipal framework.

Driving factors on unemployment in Iran’s provinces: Do temporal and spatial dynamics matter?

Unemployment is an important index describing an economic situation and the development of societies. The existence of unemployment means a loss of production factor that is not savable and irrecoverable. Therefore, it is essential to proper planning and policymaking to control and reduce unemployment, and it is necessary to conduct extensive studies on unemployment. Since there is a probability of autocorrelation between the unemployment rate of provinces, it is necessary to pay attention to spatial dynamics. In addition, controlling unemployment requires a long‐run policy, and it cannot be reduced over periods as short as 1 year. Correspondingly, unemployment in a province can be expected to be dynamic by nature and dependent on the unemployment in the previous period. Thus, temporal dynamics should be considered when examining unemployment’s driving factors. To do that, this study seeks to identify the driving factors of unemployment by emphasizing temporal and spatial dynamics in 28 of Iran’s provinces for the period 2001–2019 using the dynamic SAR model. The result indicates that the lag time of unemployment positively affects unemployment in the current time. Additionally, the unemployment of neighbors has a negative and statistically significant impact on the unemployment of provinces. The effects of GDP per capita, government budget per capita, human capital, inflation rate, industrial concentration, the share of the added value by agriculture in GDP, and the share of value added by services in GDP on the unemployment rate are negative and statistically significant.

Gold in phosphorites: Accumulation forms and practical significance

Research subject. The gold-bearing potential of modern (oceanic) and ancient industrial types of phosphorite ores, including aphanitic, microgranular, granular, nodular, shell and karst. Aim. To assess the ability of phosphorites to accumulate gold to industrial concentrations. This issue has been actively discussed in the geological community in recent years due to the advent of high-precision methods for studying matter. Methods. Russian and foreign publications, unpublished geological data, as well as the authors’ data collected over a 30-year period of studying phosphorites. Results and discussion. In the section, 14 packs of rocks were identified, which are represented by 6 lithological types of secondary dolomites. Their distribution along the section, along with the presence of characteristic faunal remains, made it possible to establish three members in the section, which can be correlated with the Katian, Hirnantian, and Ruddanian stages of the General Stratigraphic Scale. Conclusion. Conditions for the possible joint accumulation of phosphates and gold are manifested in black shale basins, as well as in shelf shallow waters with glauconite-sand sediments. However, due to significant differences in the natural features of gold and phosphates, their industrial clusters are formed separately from each other. This is evidenced by the insignificant accumulation of phosphorus in the ores of gold deposits of black shale formations,as well as its low-quality concentrations in industrial phosphorite beds of phosphorite-bearing basins. For gold, phosphorites are only temporary collectors, the productivity of which depends on the combination of many, frequently random and slightly related factors.