Dimensions Of Distances Research Articles

Rethinking institutional arbitrage: De jure exposure and de facto enforcement

AbstractResearch SummaryThis article disentangles the de jure and de facto dimensions of institutional distances to examine their impact on firms embedded across heterogeneous jurisdictions. I argue that significant transaction costs occur only when the de facto implementations of regulations from both home and foreign jurisdictions become irreconcilable. Using an original dataset of the enforcement actions of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), I find that institutional arbitrage becomes infeasible for non‐US‐based firms with de jure exposure to the FCPA when the de facto judicial constraints over bureaucratic discretion are weak in these firms' home countries targeted by FCPA enforcement. De facto FCPA enforcement makes such US‐listed firms more likely to divest from their home markets or voluntarily delist from US stock markets.Managerial SummaryMangers should consider the divergence or convergence between the de jure and de facto dimensions of institutional distance in evaluating their international business strategies. In analyzing the operational obstacles for engaging in cross‐jurisdictional activities, notably institutional arbitrage schemes, managers should realize that such obstacles do not simply arise from contradictions in officially stipulated regulations, but also from whether and the extent to which such de jure contradictions are activated. Assessing the feasibility of corporate political activities and other legally ambiguous nonmarket strategies as risk‐mitigation measures thus needs to take into account this distinction. MNEs' global strategies should also recognize the increasingly intertwined national and supranational legal systems and their interactions as sources of operational risks.

The determinants of foreign investment size: the role of parent firm advantage and cross-national distance

This study investigates the determinants of foreign investment size by considering the role of both parent firm advantage and cross-national distance. We first develop an economic model of foreign investment size. Building on this model and theories in international business, we derive hypotheses on the determinants of foreign investment size: it is positively related to parent firm-specific advantage, while it follows an inverted U-shape relationship with different dimensions of cross-national distances. Moreover, parent firm advantage and cross-national distance interact with each other to influence investment size. Our empirical analysis of Japanese firms' foreign direct investment (FDI) data from 1990 to 2009 supports our hypotheses. Our study contributes to the literature on FDI by examining an overlooked aspect of FDI: investment size. We also integrate economic model and international business theories to explain firm-level and country-level determinants of foreign investment size.

Mapping the dimensions of linguistic distance: A study on South Ethiosemitic languages

We measured the distance among selected South Ethiosemitic languages from three dimensions: structural, functional and perceptual. The main objectives of our study was to determine the relationship among these three dimensions of linguistic distances, to re-examine previous classifications of the languages, and to measure the degree of mutual intelligibility among the language varieties. We determined the structural distance by computing the lexical and phonetic differences. The phonetic distance was computed using the Levenshtein algorithm. A Word Categorization test was adopted from Tang and van Heuven (2009) to measure the functional distance or the degree of intelligibility. A self-rating test, based on the recordings of ‘The North Wind and the Sun’ was administered to measure the perceptual distance among the languages. Then we performed a cluster analysis using Gabmap. Multidimensional scaling was employed for the cluster validation. The results of our study show that the selected South Ethiosemitic languages can be classified into five groups: {Chaha, Ezha, Gura, Gumer}, {Endegagn, Inor}, {Muher, Mesqan}, {Kistane} and {Silt’e}. Moreover, the language taxonomies obtained from the measures of the three dimensions of distance are very similar, and they are generally comparable to the classifications previously proposed by historical linguists. There is also a very strong correlation among the three dimensions of distance. Furthermore, the Word Categorization test results show that the majority of these languages are mutually intelligible with the exception of Silt’e.

CAGE distance framework and bilateral trade flows: case of India

PurposeThe paper is in the area of international business and international trade. Specifically, this paper aims to focus on cross-border trade flows of goods and services between India and its partner nations.Design/methodology/approachUsing the Cultural, Administrative, Geographic and Economic (CAGE) distance framework (Ghemawat, 2001), this paper provides empirical support for the impact these distance factors exert on the volume of trade in goods and services between countries. The sample used for empirical analysis consists of a set of 62 OECD countries which are involved in trade in goods and services with India over the period 2005 through 2015. This paper estimates a fixed-effects model to provide a comprehensive examination of all the distance factors impacting the bilateral cross-border trade flows of India.FindingsThe empirical findings in this paper show that different dimensions of the CAGE distances have varied influence on volume of trade flows between India and its trading partners. Also, the extent of this influence is guided by the nature of industries – manufacturing or services.Originality/valueDeparting from the common practice in the literature, using the trade flow data for both Indian manufacturing and service sectors separately, this paper examines to what extent is the impact of these distance factors industry driven.

Does night-time public transport contribute to inclusive night mobility? Exploring Sofia's night bus network from a gender perspective

•Examines the implications of a new night bus service for gender-inclusive mobility.•Argues research on gender and night mobility should not focus exclusively on safety.•Alongside safety, adds dimensions of cost, distances and destinations, and immobility.

De la comunicación virtual a la interacción presencial en la ciudad. La persistente relevancia del espacio geográfico para las relaciones sociales

El artículo expone la metodología y resultados de un análisis de casos tipo en geografía de redes personales que examina el incrustamiento espacial y relacional de las interacciones sociales mediante el análisis de las dimensiones de las distancias interpersonales y las configuraciones de las redes sociales en el espacio urbano, en diferentes momentos del tiempo y lugares de interacción. Desde la teoría y método del Análisis de Redes Sociales se describen las redes de una muestra de informantes tipo (N=6) conformadas por contactos personales (n=87) de los informantes que habitan en la misma ciudad y con quienes mantienen contacto regular a través de Whatsapp. Las redes en los espacios de habitación, trabajo o estudio y esparcimiento se presentan en sociogramas sobre mapas georreferenciados, calculando diversos índices de geo-dispersión y sus correlaciones tanto con los atributos de los actores individuales como con los principales indicadores de composición y estructura reticulares. Los resultados apoyan los argumentos en favor del fuerte carácter local de las interacciones sociales, incluso de aquellas tecnológica y virtualmente mediadas, como las dadas a través de WhatsApp.

Exploring the behavioral drivers of review valence

PurposeAlthough the literature has established the effect of online reviews on customer purchase intentions, the influence of psychological factors on online ratings is overlooked. This paper aims to examine these factors under the perspective of construal level theory (CLT).Design/methodology/approachUsing review data from TripAdvisor and Booking.com, the authors study three dimensions of psychological distances (temporal, spatial and social) and their direct and interaction effects on review valence, using regression analysis. The authors examine the effect of these distances on the information content of online reviews using a novel bag-of-words model to assess its concreteness.FindingsTemporal distance and spatial distance have positive direct effects on review valence. Social distance, on the other hand, has a negative direct effect. However, its interaction with the other two distances has a positive effect, suggesting that consumers tend to “zoom-out” to less concrete things in their ratings.Practical implicationsThe findings provide implications for the interpretation of review ratings by the service providers and their information content.Originality/valueThis study extends the CLT and electronic word-of-mouth literature by jointly exploring the effect of all three psychological distances that are applicable in post-purchase evaluations. Methodologically, it provides a novel application of the bag-of-words model in evaluating the concreteness of online reviews.

Restricted psychological horizon in active methamphetamine users: future, past, probability, and social discounting.

Methamphetamine users (MAU) exhibit an exaggerated bias for immediate rewards that reflects a restricted time horizon, where outcomes in the future are excessively discounted. An accumulating literature indicates that time in the future shares features with other dimensions of psychological distances including time in the past, probability, and social distance, suggesting that bias for immediacy may be reducible to a more general restriction of psychological horizon. The purpose of the present study was to explore generalized restricted psychological horizon in active MAU by assessing future, past, probability, and social discounting. Compared with nonusing controls, MAU preferred psychologically proximal outcomes, resulting in higher rates for all types of discounting, which supports the conceptualization that MAU insufficiently integrate outcomes of psychological distance (i.e. in the future, the past, probabilistic, for others) into the valuation of current behavioral alternatives. The present results are suggestive of a more fundamental process of problematic decision-making associated with methamphetamine use, indicating the necessity of more comprehensive approaches to address the generalized limitations of restricted psychological horizon.

Estimation of nasal tip position using lateral cephalometric X-ray images in Japanese male children: Applications in facial reconstruction

Facial reconstruction is a forensic anthropological technique based on a database of facial soft tissue thickness; however, the information available is generally insufficient to completely reconstruct facial features. While most soft tissue in the craniofacial region is strongly adherent to the bony surface, a few areas, such as the ears, nose, and lip regions, are not. Yet these are vital features for forensic identification and are used in everyday life in facial recognition. For such features, forensic anthropologists investigating age, sex, ancestry, and facial appearance must often rely upon bony information alone. Determination of nasal tip position in adults from the skull has been reported by several researchers. However, data for determining nasal tip position from the juvenile skull have not been reported. The aim of this study was to establish and apply a simple discriminative method of identification of nasal tip location in unidentified juvenile human skeletal remains through an investigation of the cranial base in the current Japanese juvenile population. The result would be applicable for not only the research described above but also estimation of growth of mid facial profile (i.e. estimation of patterns of bony and cartilaginous framework of the nose by diseased palatal clefts etc.) and aesthetic standards. Lateral cephalometric X-ray images were used to measure soft tissue thickness in subjects undergoing orthodontic treatment. Two reference planes were set on the skull radiograph (one had already been set at the beginning of facial reconstruction). After tracing the facial profile and plotting soft tissue and bony landmarks, nine dimensions of distances (length and length ratio) and angles between these landmarks and the nasal tip were measured. A prediction function for the nasal tip was derived from these measurements. This study reports a simple and reliable method of nasal tip prediction for use in forensic facial reconstruction from incomplete human juvenile skulls.

Epitaxy of diamond on Si(100) and surface-roughening-induced crystal misorientation

In a recent paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3658 (2000)] a direct diamond epitaxy on the silicon substrate is demonstrated not only at the interface formed during the growth process but also at the nucleation sites. Small (001) terraces with dimensions of several atomic distances at the site of nucleation are observed due to the roughening of silicon surface and lead to the grain misorientation. To further improve the understanding of the subject the microstructure and interfaces in diamond films on silicon substrates grown in the stages of the bias-enhanced nucleation (BEN) and the initial crystal growth were studied by means of atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It is showed that the roughness of the wafer starts to increase from the beginning of the BEN and the renucleation on existing crystallites induced by the ion bombardment leading to the loss of epitaxy.

A MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF SERIAL MURDERERS' DISPOSAL SITE LOCATION CHOICE

The application of environmental psychology principles and findings to the work of criminal investigators is gaining ground. This paper presents one particular application of these principles to the study of those very rare criminals, serial killers. An environmental psychology perspective looks on the rational processes that may underlie these disturbing and highly emotive crimes. For, although the murders committed by serial killers may not be considered rational, but rather a consequence of heightened emotion and lack of impulse control, environmental psychology hypotheses predict that their choice of disposal site location may be guided by a recognisable rationality. Support for this rationality would be evident through their spatial patterns of disposal locations, but these spatial patterns themselves would vary depending on the range over which the offender was operating. It was therefore hypothesised that their spatial patterns would reflect the importance of a) the centrality of the home location for determining the disposal site locations, b) the relevance of maintaining distance between sequential disposal site locations themselves. Further, c) the nature of the influences of home and sequence would vary with the size of the area over which the offender disposed of his victims' bodies.The hypotheses were tested by examining three sub-sets of a sample of 120 American serial murderers, each sub-set travelling a different average distance from their homes to their crimes. The Multidimensional Scaling Procedure, Smallest Space Analysis (SSA-I) was used in order to examine the trends across the distances between each disposal site and every other and their distances from the offender's homes. A three dimensional space was used so that the ‘dimension’ of temporal sequence could be revealed as well as the two dimensions of geographical distances. All hypotheses were supported. Firstly, the home was central to the SSA disposal patterns for each of the three sub-sets. Secondly, the location of each subsequent disposal location tended to be in a different direction from that immediately prior to it. However, thirdly, this sequential process was strongest for the sub-set of 36 offenders who travelled on average less than 10 km and weakest for those 40 offenders who travelled on average greater than 30 km. The implications these results have for modelling offenders' geographical behaviour are discussed.

Direct local epitaxy of diamond on Si(100) and surface-roughening-induced crystal misorientation

A direct diamond epitaxy on the silicon substrate is demonstrated not only at the interface formed during the growth process but also at the nucleation sites. The small (001) terraces with dimensions of several atomic distances at the site of nucleation are formed due to the roughening of silicon surface and lead to the grain misorientation. A model is presented which attempts to explain the initial stages of diamond growth. Predictions are made for methods of improving the nucleation of epitaxial diamond crystallites.

3 Cross-National Differences in Social Distances Among Classes

:Three dimensions of objective social distances among social classes are compared across three socialist East European societies and four capitalist societies. Nearly all of the cross-national differences in class-based friendship selection, endogamy, and intergenerational social mobility were found to be due to structural effects of class distributions. Overall, such social distances were similar across countries and the differences across these three dimensions of social distances were also similar. To the extent that there were any capitalist-socialist differences, there was some evidence that class distances were somewhat greater in Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia than in Norway, Sweden, Canada, and the United States.

8 Class Divisions in East-Central Europe, 1949—1988

Abstract:This article summarizes the main findings reported in this issue of IJS. The patterns of relative magnitudes of class divisions differed between objective measures of social distances among classes and measures of class differences in attitudes toward egalitarianism. However, the patterns of divisions were quite similar across various dimensions of objective social distances; and they were similar across socialist countries. In general, substantial socialist–capitalist differences in objective class distances were not apparent, but socialist–capitalist differences in attitudes toward egalitarianism were striking.

2 Analyses of Social Distances Among Classes

:This paper presents detailed analyses of eight dimensions of objective distances among social classes in Hungary and Poland based on large-scale social surveys carried out during the 1980s. The data for both countries could be fitted well with a modified log-multiplicative model that included a single set of relative class distances and class-specific tendencies for homophily across all dimensions. Social distances were greatest with regard to the selection of friends, and endogamy with regard to class of spouse and career mobility. Distances were more moderate with regard to intergenerational social mobility, endogamy with regard to spouse’s father, and similarities among siblings. They were smallest for residential segregation and two-generation intergenerational mobility. In Hungary, homophily was greatest for workers in agriculture, the self-employed, and higher professionals. The largest gaps in unidimensional class distances were between skilled and semi-skilled workers and between higher professionals and managers.