Direct Competitive Effects Research Articles

Optimizing Production Relocation Timing Decisions

In a globalized economy, companies face a range of challenges and opportunities related to relocating production activities to a new country. Relocation can yield significant cost savings and other benefits, but there are also risks including potential damage to the brand image. Thus, firms need to carefully evaluate when to relocate and when to stop production in a particular location. We formulate an optimal control model and derive analytical as well as numerical results to provide insights into the optimal relocation timing and production stoppage decisions. We show that factors like higher relocation costs, higher production costs in the relocation country but high brand image in the country of origin, can postpone production relocation. Competitive effects alter relocation timing, particularly when the firm faces direct competition and asymmetric negative cross-image spillover effects with the rival brand in the home or relocation country. The paper discusses illustrative examples and derives implications for the timing of relocation and the duration of production in the relocation country.

Individual vital rates respond differently to local‐scale environmental variation and neighbour removal

Abstract Understanding how plant fitness varies along natural gradients is critical for predicting responses to environmental change. However, individual vital rates are often used as fitness proxies without knowing how other vital rates vary along the same gradients. We investigated how canopy cover, plant–plant interactions, water availability and soil properties influenced the emergence, survival, seed production and population growth rates of eight annual plant species in semi‐arid Western Australia. We sowed seeds into sun‐exposed and shaded blocks across a reserve, removed all neighbouring plants from half of the interaction neighbourhoods, and used rainout shelters to reduce and increase precipitation relative to ambient plots. Canopy cover had strong negative effects on emergence, but few direct impacts on other vital rates and population growth rates. Direct competitive effects on survival and seed production were rare, although evident for population growth rate for 3/8 species. Competition was stronger in open than shaded plots for half of the species. Canopy cover also interacted with the watering treatment to influence survival of half of the species, but watering alone had few direct impacts on species' vital and population growth rates. We found only positive significant correlations between pairs of rates, and survival and seed production were far more frequently correlated with population growth rate than emergence. Synthesis. Our study illustrates that vital rates can respond to the same local‐scale environmental variation in different ways that are likely not driven by life history trade‐offs. We caution against using emergence as a proxy for population growth rate and emphasise that no single vital rate was a reliable fitness proxy overall. Interactions among abiotic and biotic factors were important drivers of vital and population growth rates for some species, highlighting the need to account for plant–plant interactions when predicting population responses to environmental change.

Macroprudential policy, bank competition and bank risk in East Asia

We assess the relation of macroprudential policy and competition to bank risk for a sample of 1373 banks from 13 East Asian countries, using the IMF iMaPP dataset of macroprudential policy from 1990 to 2018. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to include both macroprudential policy and individual bank market power, as well as their interaction, as determinants of bank risk. On the one hand, we find direct effects of both macroprudential policy and competition on risk, in line with the existing literature. On the other hand, we detect important interaction effects. Notably in the developing and emerging East Asian countries, the interactions between competition and macroprudential measures often show a lesser response to such measures in terms of risk reduction for banks with more market power. We suggest that this links in turn to ability of such banks to undertake risk-shifting in response to macroprudential policy. We also find for banks in advanced East Asian countries—and in wider samples—some tendency in the long term for banks facing intense competition to take relatively more risks in face of macroprudential measures, in line with the traditional “franchise value” view of bank competition and risk taking. These findings have important implications for regulators.

The Effects of Import Competition on Unionization

We study direct and indirect effects of Chinese import competition on union membership in the United States, 1990–2014. Import competition in manufacturing induced a modest decline in unionization within manufacturing industries. The magnitude is small because unionized manufacturers competed in higher-quality product segments. Manufacturers in right-to-work states experienced more direct competition with low-quality Chinese imports. Outside of manufacturing, however, import competition causes an important increase in union membership, as less educated women shift away from retail and toward jobs in health care and education where unions are stronger. We calculate that Chinese imports prevented 26 percent of the union density decline that would have otherwise occurred. (JEL F14, F16, J16, J51, L60, P33)

SYNBIO® Probiotic and Antioxidant Dietary Supplementation: Clinical Trial Evaluation of Potential Effects on Airline Flight Crew Members' Well-Being.

The irregular lifestyle of airline crew members, wide/adverse job-related exposures, and the impact of temporary hypoxia on gut microbiota well-being have increased concern about the daily recommended dose of certain nutrients among flight crew. The aim of this study was to determine if daily consumption of a SYNBIO® probiotics-elderberry extract supplement (ACTIVE) may contribute to the well-being of flight attendants. Forty healthy crew members enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study consumed one ACTIVE capsule/day or placebo for 30 days. Bowel well-being, health-related quality of life, and gastrointestinal tolerance were assessed by validated questionnaires. Saliva and fecal samples were analyzed to determine secretory immunoglobulin-A (sIgA) levels and to characterize gut microbiota composition, respectively. ACTIVE subjects presented a physiological improvement and a statistically significant higher Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) global score compared to PLACEBO subjects. The ACTIVE subjects showed significantly increased levels of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria compared to the PLACEBO group, while a significant increase in lactobacilli and a significant reduction in Enterobacteriaceae were registered when compared with the beginning of supplementation, confirming the persistence of probiotics in the gastrointestinal tract and the direct antagonism and competitive exclusion effects. Additionally, sIgA levels were significantly higher in the ACTIVE group compared to the baseline and to the PLACEBO group at the end of supplementation. The ACTIVE supplementation might be beneficial to airline crew members, improving their physiological state, their immune defenses, and the strength and efficiency of their gastrointestinal tract when responding to stressful conditions.

Tax competition, environmental regulation and high-quality economic development: An empirical test based on spatial Durbin model.

Studying economic development in China is a very important topic recently because China's economy is moving toward high-quality development and local governments face the dilemma of environmental governance and economic development. To contribute to the literature in this area further, this paper assesses the impact of tax competition and environmental regulation on high-quality economic development through the spatial Durbin model and instrumental variable and by using the data from 278 prefecture-level and above cities from 2007 to 2017 in China. Our empirical analysis shows that tax competition inhibits high-quality economic development and a positive spatial spillover effect, environmental regulation has a significant direct promoting effect on high-quality economic development and a negative spatial spillover effect, and local government tax competition inhibits the promotion effect of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development. Further heterogeneity analysis conducted in our study shows that both the direct and spatial spillover effects of tax competition and environmental regulation on high-quality economic development in large and medium-sized cities are significantly lower than those in small cities. Our empirical analysis infers that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the promotion effect of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development and the synergistic effect with tax competition has become more and more significant. The findings in our paper are useful for both the central government and the local governments in making better decisions for economic development in China as well as in other countries.

Research on the Mechanism of Influence of Game Competition Mode on Online Learning Performance.

With the rapid development of information technology and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning has become an important supplement to the teaching organization form of basic education and higher education. In order to increase user stickiness and improve learning performance, gamification elements are widely introduced into online learning situations. However, scholars have drawn different conclusions on the impact of game-based competition on online learning performance. This study is based on field theory and constructivist learning theory. Taking the online interaction of the curriculum platform as the situation, psychological capital as the intermediary variable and connected classroom atmosphere as the adjustment variable, this paper constructs an interaction model between game competition and online learning performance and discusses in depth the intermediary effect of psychological capital and the adjustment effect of a connected classroom atmosphere. The results show that game-based competition has a significant positive effect on learning performance, and the effect of direct competition is better than that of indirect competition; the self-efficacy dimension of psychological capital plays an intermediary role between direct competition and learning performance, and the resilience dimension plays an intermediary role between competition and learning performance; and a connected classroom atmosphere plays a regulating role in the dimensions of game competition, knowledge mastery and knowledge innovation.

Capturing indirect genetic effects on phenotypic variability: Competition meets canalization.

Phenotypic variability of a genotype is relevant both in natural and domestic populations. In the past two decades, variability has been studied as a heritable quantitative genetic trait in its own right, often referred to as inherited variability or environmental canalization. So far, studies on inherited variability have only considered genetic effects of the focal individual, that is, direct genetic effects on inherited variability. Observations from aquaculture populations and some plants, however, suggest that an additional source of genetic variation in inherited variability may be generated through competition. Social interactions, such as competition, are often a source of Indirect Genetic Effects (IGE). An IGE is a heritable effect of an individual on the trait value of another individual. IGEs may substantially affect heritable variation underlying the trait, and the direction and magnitude of response to selection. To understand the contribution of IGEs to evolution of environmental canalization in natural populations, and to exploit such inherited variability in animal and plant breeding, we need statistical models to capture this effect. To our knowledge, it is unknown to what extent the current statistical models commonly used for IGE and inherited variability capture the effect of competition on inherited variability. Here, we investigate the potential of current statistical models for inherited variability and trait values, to capture the direct and indirect genetic effects of competition on variability. Our results show that a direct model of inherited variability almost entirely captures the genetic sensitivity of individuals to competition, whereas an indirect model of inherited variability captures the cooperative genetic effects of individuals on their partners. Models for trait levels, however, capture only a small part of the genetic effects of competition. The estimation of direct and indirect genetic effects of competition, therefore, is possible with models for inherited variability but may require a two‐step analysis.

Bank Competition, Combination of Industry and Finance, and Enterprise Innovation: Evidence from China

Bank competition promotes enterprises to obtain credit funds through market mechanisms, and a combination of industry and finance (CIF) has an important influence on establishing bank‐enterprise relationship. Based on data of 2,245 manufacturing enterprises and branches of commercial banks in China from 2007 to 2019, this research establishes a moderated mediation model to verify whether CIF has a moderating effect on bank competition on enterprise innovation. The results are as follows. First, bank competition can both directly and indirectly promote enterprise innovation by alleviating financing constraints. Second, CIF has no moderating effect on the direct effect of bank competition on enterprise innovation but has a negative moderating effect on the first half of mediating effect.

The spillover effect of direct competition between marketing cooperatives and private intermediaries: Evidence from the Thai rice value chain

Despite the widespread belief that marketing cooperatives’ benefits may extend beyond participating farmers, little is known about the cooperative’s effect on nonparticipating farmers. This paper exploits exogenous variation in language spoken at home in Thailand to obtain instrumental variable estimates of the spillover effect of marketing cooperatives. We hypothesize that farmers who sell rice to private intermediaries in the area where there is direct competition between marketing cooperatives and private intermediaries (treated areas) are likely to receive a higher price than those who sell rice in other areas. Using household-level data of rice farmers in Thailand in the marketing year 2018/19, we find strong evidence that farmers in treated areas receive 10.9% higher prices from private intermediaries than those in comparison areas. Our results provide crucial implications for food policy debates regarding the role of marketing cooperatives in agri-food value chains. In particular, evaluating the inclusiveness of marketing cooperatives toward poor farmers should not be limited to sampling and analyzing its members only. Failure to consider the spillover effect could lead to substantial underestimation of the impact of marketing cooperatives on societal welfare.

Research on improvement strategies for low-carbon technology innovation based on a differential game: The perspective of tax competition

Under China's tax reform, the central government is given legislative power to determine taxes, while tax implementation and revenue rights are vested in local governments. The actual tax rate can be controlled by local governments through factors such as the intensity of tax implementation and supervision. We argue that the distorted implementation of an environmental regulation policy caused by tax competition is an important factor affecting the effectiveness of environmental regulation, which is the main cause of uncertainty in the relationship between environmental regulation and low-carbon technology innovation through changing the strategies of local governments and enterprises under the restriction of environmental regulation. Considering the impact of tax competition, this study builds a differential game model that consists of a local government and an enterprise to investigate the equilibrium solutions under different decision-making modes and analyse the roles of income tax and a low-carbon technology innovation reward. The following key insights are obtained. (i) In addition to the direct effects of tax competition on green technology innovation through influencing the enterprise's low-carbon technology innovation effort, it has indirect effects on green technology innovation by influencing the local government's environmental governance effort under the constraint of environmental regulation. Through the effective control of income taxes and low-carbon technology innovation rewards, tax competition can help improve the strategies of local governments and enterprises. (ii) The decision-making mode with cost sharing is a kind of Pareto improvement for the regional low-carbon technology stock if the cost sharing coefficient is effectively controlled. (iii) The enterprise can be motivated by the cost sharing contract to increase its low-carbon technology innovation effort, which is conducive to improving its optimal profit. (iv) The local government cannot be motivated by the cost sharing contract, and its optimal profit can be improved only if the cost sharing coefficient is below the threshold.

Diversity of Plants in Thickets of Invasive Sorbaria sorbifolia: Differences in the Effect on Aboveground Vegetation and Seed Bank

The diversity of aboveground vegetation of the herb–dwarf shrub layer and seedlings from the soil seed bank in the thickets of invasive shrub Sorbaria sorbifolia was evaluated in urbanized forests of the city of Yekaterinburg (the Middle Urals, Russia). Geobotanical releves and identification of seedlings from the soil seed bank were performed in different forest communities: thickets of invasive S. sorbifolia, thickets of native Rubus idaeus, and in forest communities without S. sorbifolia and R. idaeus. The effect observed in the presence of S. sorbifolia was as follows: the abundance of aboveground vegetation in the herb–dwarf shrub layer was lower by a factor of 10–20 or more; the taxonomic richness of the herb–dwarf shrub layer in the releve (α-diversity), by a factor of 6–8; and the total number of species recorded in the community group (γ-diversity), by a factor of 3. The disappearance of species under S. sorbifolia was selective. Relatively light-loving and relatively dry-loving species disappeared first, while more shade-loving and moisture-loving species were relatively resistant. The taxonomic richness and abundance of seedlings from the soil seed bank did not change depending on the abundance of S. sorbifolia. Approximately half of the identified seedling taxa were typical forest plants, while the others were only specific for the seed bank and did not occur in the vegetative state. It is concluded that the influence of S. sorbifolia on the vegetation of subordinate layers is due primarily to the direct competitive and habitat-transforming effect of the living S. sorbifolia phytomass.

Experimentally induced intrasexual mating competition and sex-specific evolution in female and male nematodes.

Sexual dimorphism in life history traits and their trade‐offs is widespread among sexually reproducing animals and is strongly influenced by the differences in reproductive strategies between the sexes. We investigated how intrasexual competition influenced specific life history traits, important to fitness and their trade‐offs in the outcrossing nematode Caenorhabditis remanei. Here, we altered the strength of sex‐specific selection through experimental evolution with increased potential for intrasexual competition by skewing the adult sex ratio towards either females or males (1:10 or 10:1) over 30 generations and subsequently measured the phenotypic response to selection in three traits related to fitness: body size, fecundity and tolerance to heat stress. We observed a greater evolutionary change in females than males for body size and peak fitness, suggesting that females may experience stronger net selection and potentially harbour higher amounts of standing genetic variance compared to males. Our study highlights the importance of investigating direct and indirect effects of intrasexual competition in both sexes in order to capture sex‐specific responses and understand the evolution of sexual dimorphism in traits expressed by both sexes.

The influence of competition and performance goals on decoding complex emotions

The present research examines the processes through which competitive contexts influence performance in an understudied domain: social perception. In two experiments (one preregistered), we test how competition (relative to control) influences performance on a measure of emotion decoding: The Reading-the-mind-in-the-Eyes (RME) task. Specifically, we examine whether performance-approach (PAP) and performance-avoidance (PAV) goals (as well as mastery-approach [MAP] and mastery-avoidance [MAV] goals) affect the competition-performance relation in this domain. The results indicate no direct effect of competition on RME performance, but that competition promotes the pursuit of both PAP and PAV goals. Moreover, we find that both PAP and PAV goals are positively related to RME performance in a competitive, but not control, context. Mediational analyses indicate that PAP goals, in particular, are the process through which competition indirectly influences RME performance. These findings integrate several different heretofore separate literatures, and lay the foundation for exciting new work in this overlooked area.

Higher-order interactions mitigate direct negative effects on population dynamics of herbaceous plants during succession

Plant succession is regulated by a combination of abiotic and biotic factors. However, previous studies of biotic drivers have focused overwhelmingly on direct pairwise species interactions, ignoring the likely prevalent higher-order interactions (HOIs) in natural systems. Climate also plays a significant role in determining successional dynamics with both direct effects and indirect effects via altered biotic interactions. Here we explored the relative effects of direct species interactions, HOIs, climate, and their interactions on population dynamics of herbaceous plants during 50 years of post-agricultural secondary succession and tested whether the inclusion of HOIs and climate data improved forecasts of population dynamics. Direct intraspecific interactions were competitive and prevalent across the 90 herbaceous plants examined, while direct interspecific interactions only affected populations of 29% species. HOIs, mainly arose from intraspecific HOIs of conspecifics, were mostly positive and thus largely mitigated the competitive effects of direct intraspecific interactions. Species with lower peak cover experienced stronger intraspecific competition and positive intraspecific HOIs of conspecifics. Direct interspecific interactions had neutral or facilitative effects on species with lower peak cover, and tended to have competitive effects on species with higher peak cover. Climate simultaneously influenced population dynamics both directly and indirectly via altered species interactions. Forecast performance was significantly improved with the inclusion of HOIs or climate for about half and one-third of species, respectively. Our study emphasizes the importance of HOIs, which largely mitigated direct competitive effects on population dynamics of herbaceous plants during succession. Teasing apart HOIs from direct species interactions substantially refined our understanding of successional dynamics of herbaceous plants and improved the accuracy of forecasting population dynamics during succession in a changing world.

Relationship between Local Government Competition, Environmental Regulation and Water Pollutant Emissions: Analysis Based on Mediating Effect and Panel Threshold Model

Ma, Y.; Cao, H.; Zhang, L., and Fu, Z., 2020. Relationship between local government competition, environmental regulation and water pollutant emissions: Analysis based on mediating effect and panel threshold model. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 103, pp. 511–515. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Water has been further polluted by “development at the cost of environment” since the reform and opening up. The emission of water pollutant in China is closely related to political economy, and local government competition is an important factor in pollution control. This paper specifically studied direct and indirect effects of local government competition on environmental pollutant emissions, and tested the nonlinear relationship between local government competition and water pollutant emissions. The results show that local government competition has been characterized by “race to the top”, which has direct and indirect effects. Formal environmental regulation plays a mediating role in the process of local government competition affecting water pollutant emissions, but informal environmental regulation does not play such a role. With increasing formal environmental regulation, local government competition is playing a bigger role in suppressing water pollutant emissions.

MODELLING, SIMULATION AND VISUALIZATION OF A MULTISPECIFIC PHILIPPINE SEAGRASS MEADOW

Abstract. Seagrass meadows are constantly under threat from natural and man-made stresses due to its shallow existence in the coastal environment. Restoration and preservation of seagrasses by means of rehabilitation or transplanting strategies is possible, but the studies have been limited. An agent-based model of a mixed Philippine seagrass meadow is presented. Three species were used for testing: Enhalus acoroides, Thalassia hemprichii, and Cymodocea rotundata. The model features parameter-based clonal growth of seagrass species, recruitment of new seagrass apices through basic flowering/seeding, and a crowding logic for multiple coexisting species in a single meadow. Seagrass clonal growth is modeled using a modified Diffusion-Limited Aggregation (DLA) model. Each species has a preconfigured set of parameters for clonal growth including rhizome elongation, branching rate, vertical elongation rate, rhizome branching angle and shoot age. Seed recruitment is applied through occasional flowering/seeding events configurable per species. We developed a simple three-species competition model which controls the growth and direct competition effects based on a configurable population size and comparison radius. Upon further calibration and validation, the model would enable more accurate long-term predictions for different rehabilitation and transplanting strategies of mixed seagrass meadows. Further improvements can also be implemented, particularly taking into account the environmental variables within the meadows such as light attenuation and salinity, among other factors.

Competition, market commonality, and resource similarity: precursors to HPWS

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect competition has on organizations’ use of high-performance work systems (HPWSs). Specifically, using the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, it develops a logic for why firms will increase their use of an HPWS when competition increases. It investigates the direct effect of competition on HPWS use. Additionally, it takes a look at the impact market commonality and resource similarity have on the influence of competition on organizations’ use of an HPWS.Design/methodology/approachSurvey method design was used to collect data about organizations from 127 alumni of two large Midwestern universities in the USA. Data were analyzed using OLS regression analysis.FindingsThe main finding of this paper is that competition increases the use of HPWSs. There was not statistical support for the effect of market commonality or resource similarity to influence the competition–HPWS relationship.Originality/valueThis study uses the RBV of the firm to understand how competition influences the adoption of HPWSs. Additionally, it also investigated the effect of market commonality and resource similarity, which has not previously been looked at.

Three-dimensional intergovernmental competition and urban sprawl: Evidence from Chinese prefectural-level cities

The nature of the state ownership of urban land in China determines that the problem of urban sprawl in China needs to be interpreted from both government and the land market. The local governments in China have absolute control over the urban land market, so the intergovernmental competition is the key to understanding their land transfer behavior. This paper divides the intergovernmental competition under the pressure of promotion tournaments into three dimensions: fiscal competition, investment attraction competition and promotion environment competition, corresponding to the competition between the central government and local governments, the competition between local governments and the competition among officials working in the same place but different periods, and to propose a theoretical framework for the impact of intergovernmental competition on urban sprawl from both direct and indirect perspectives which better suited to the Chinese situation. Then, by using the panel data of China’s 284 prefecture-level cities during 2003–2013, this paper uses nighttime lighting data to measure the urban sprawl indexes and their spatial and temporal distribution characteristic in China. Further this paper uses the spatial econometric model to test the direct effect and spatial spillover effect of intergovernmental competition on urban sprawl, and uses the mediation effect model to test the mediating effect of intergovernmental competition on urban sprawl measured by land transfer behavior. The results show that the greater the size of the city, the lower the degree of sprawl, and urban sprawl does have spillover effects between adjacent cities. Moreover, fiscal competition, investment attraction competition and promotion environment competition all have significant positive direct effects on urban sprawl, and the level of land marketization has a significant negative direct impact on urban sprawl. Only fiscal competition and the level of land marketization have significant positive and negative spatial spillover effects respectively. And the impact of intergovernmental competition on urban sprawl is mediated by the level of land marketization. Among them, the mediating effects of fiscal competition and promotion environment competition are significantly negative, and the mediating effect of investment attraction competition is significantly positive. Therefore, a disharmonious relationship between intergovernmental competition and urban sprawl can be avoided if the policy makers try to arouse the positive mediating effect of land marketization when enacting relevant urban development policies.

Predicting the ecological impacts of an alien invader: Experimental approaches reveal the trophic consequences of competition

Ecological theory on the trophic impacts of invasive fauna on native competitors is equivocal. Whilst increased interspecific competition can result in coexisting species having constricted and diverged trophic niches, the competing species might instead increase their niche sizes to maintain energy intakes. Empirical experiments can test invasion theory on competitive interactions and niche sizes across different spatial scales and complexity. The consequences of increased interspecific competition from a model alien fish Leuciscus idus were tested on two taxonomically and trophically similar native fishes, Squalius cephalus and Barbus barbus. Competitive interactions were tested in tank aquaria using comparative functional responses (CFRs) and cohabitation trials. The consequences of these competitive interactions for the trophic niche sizes and positions of the fishes were tested in pond mesocosms. Comparative functional responses revealed that compared to B.barbus, L.idus had significantly higher attack and consumption rates; cohabitation trials revealed B.barbus growth rates were depressed in sympatry with L.idus. For L.idus and S.cephalus, differences in their functional response parameters and growth rates were not significant. Pond mesocosms used stable isotope metrics to quantify shifts in the trophic niche sizes of the fishes between allopatry and sympatry using a substitutive experimental design. Isotopic niches were smaller and more divergent in sympatric paired species than predicted by their allopatric treatments, suggesting trophic impacts from interspecific competition. However, an all-species sympatric treatment revealed similar niche sizes with allopatry. This maintenance of niche sizes in the presence of all species potentially resulted from the buffering of direct competitive effects of the species pairs by indirect effects. Experimental predictions from tank aquaria assisted the interpretation of the constricted and diverged trophic niches detected in the paired-species sympatric treatments of the pond mesocosms. However, the all-species sympatric treatment of this experiment revealed greater complexity in the outcomes of the competitive interactions within and between the species. These results have important implications for understanding how alien species integrate into food webs and influence the trophic relationships between native species.