IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/accoun/v52y2017i3p227-237.html

Influences of Culture on Transfer Price Negotiation

Author

Listed:
  • Hussein, Mohamed E.
  • Kraten, Michael
  • Seow, Gim S.
  • Tam, Kinsun

Abstract

Luft and Libby (1997) posit that American transfer price negotiators tend to settle on prices that result in smaller differences in profit between divisions than the external market price will dictate. They attribute the results to a fairness effect. While fairness is present in all cultures, what is considered “fair” differs between cultures (Bian & Keller, 1999; Bolton et al., 2009; Gao, 2009; Surowiecki, 2009). This study ascertains whether cultural affiliation of the negotiator impacts this fairness effect. American and Chinese subjects participated in within-culture and cross-cultural negotiations in an experiment modeled after Luft and Libby (1997). Our results confirm Luft and Libby's (1997) fairness effect when American participants negotiate with each other, but illustrate a contrary effect when Chinese participants negotiate with each other. The negotiator's cultural affiliation is found to determine profit distribution in cross-cultural negotiations. These findings are consistent with longstanding theories of cultural traits (Hofstede, 1980) that are relevant to transfer price negotiation activities. Our results imply that the fairness effect in transfer price negotiation may need to be refined to account for the impact of culture.

Suggested Citation

  • Hussein, Mohamed E. & Kraten, Michael & Seow, Gim S. & Tam, Kinsun, 2017. "Influences of Culture on Transfer Price Negotiation," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 227-237.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:accoun:v:52:y:2017:i:3:p:227-237
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intacc.2017.07.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020706317302571
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intacc.2017.07.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ghosh, Dipankar, 2000. "Complementary arrangements of organizational factors and outcomes of negotiated transfer price," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 661-682, October.
    2. Dan Li & Manuel Portugal Ferreira, 2008. "Internal and External Factors on Firms’ Transfer Pricing Decisions: Insights from Organization Studies," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 27, pages 23-38, June.
    3. Franciosi, Robert, et al, 1995. "Fairness: Effect on Temporary and Equilibrium Prices in Posted-Offer Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(431), pages 938-950, July.
    4. Kahneman, Daniel & Knetsch, Jack L & Thaler, Richard, 1986. "Fairness as a Constraint on Profit Seeking: Entitlements in the Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 728-741, September.
    5. Chow, Chee W. & Kato, Yutaka & Shields, Michael D., 1994. "National culture and the preference for management controls: An exploratory study of the firm--Labor market interface," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 19(4-5), pages 381-400.
    6. Volkema, Roger J., 2004. "Demographic, cultural, and economic predictors of perceived ethicality of negotiation behavior: A nine-country analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 69-78, January.
    7. Bradley L Kirkman & Kevin B Lowe & Cristina B Gibson, 2006. "A quarter century of Culture's Consequences: a review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede's cultural values framework," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(3), pages 285-320, May.
    8. J. F. Nunamaker, Jr. & Alan R. Dennis & Joseph S. Valacich & Douglas R. Vogel, 1991. "Information Technology for Negotiating Groups: Generating Options for Mutual Gain," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(10), pages 1325-1346, October.
    9. Gert Jan Hofstede & Catholijn M. Jonker & Tim Verwaart, 2012. "Cultural Differentiation of Negotiating Agents," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 79-98, January.
    10. Yue Gao, 2009. "A study of fairness judgments in China, Switzerland and Canada: Do culture, being a student, and gender matter?," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 4(3), pages 214-226, April.
    11. Moore, Don A. & Kurtzberg, Terri R. & Thompson, Leigh L. & Morris, Michael W., 1999. "Long and Short Routes to Success in Electronically Mediated Negotiations: Group Affiliations and Good Vibrations, , , , , ," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 22-43, January.
    12. Chow, Chee W. & Harrison, Graeme L. & McKinnon, Jill L. & Wu, Anne, 1999. "Cultural influences on informal information sharing in Chinese and Anglo-American organizations: an exploratory study," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(7), pages 561-582, October.
    13. Cravens, Karen S., 1997. "Examining the role of transfer pricing as a strategy for multinational firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 127-145, April.
    14. Chow, Chee W. & Hwang, Richard Nen-Chen & Liao, Woody & Wu, Anne, 1998. "National culture and subordinates' upward communication of private information," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 293-311.
    15. Michael W. Morris & Joel Podolny & Bilian Ni Sullivan, 2008. "Culture and Coworker Relations: Interpersonal Patterns in American, Chinese, German, and Spanish Divisions of a Global Retail Bank," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(4), pages 517-532, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rasmus Corlin Christensen & Leonard Seabrooke & Duncan Wigan, 2022. "Professional action in global wealth chains," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 705-721, July.
    2. Leventis, Stergios & Tsalavoutas, Ioannis & Tsoligkas, Fanis, 2024. "Informal institutions in accounting research: A structured literature review," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haka, Susan F. & Heitger, Dan L., 2004. "International managerial accounting research: A contracting framework and opportunities," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 21-69.
    2. Luiz Antonio Slongo & Carlos Sérgio Valdez Saldanha & Syed H. Akhter, 2014. "Low-Income Consumers in Brazil: Nuances of a Market That Can No Longer Be Ignored," International Journal of Management Sciences, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 4(10), pages 485-505.
    3. Baskerville, Rachel F., 2003. "Hofstede never studied culture," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Rouziès, Dominique & Onyemah, Vincent & Panagopoulos, Nikolaos, 2008. "How HRM control affects boundary-spanning employees’ behavioural strategies and satisfaction : The moderating impact of cultural performance orientation," HEC Research Papers Series 895, HEC Paris.
    5. Paul, Maureen, 2006. "A cross-section analysis of the fairness-of-pay perception of UK employees," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 243-267, April.
    6. Campbell, Colin L. & Heinrich, Daniel & Schoenmüller, Verena, 2015. "Consumers' reaction to fair trade motivated price increases," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 79-84.
    7. Nejat Anbarci & Nick Feltovich, 2018. "Pricing in Competitive Search Markets: The Roles of Price Information and Fairness Perceptions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 1101-1120, March.
    8. Konow, James, 1996. "A positive theory of economic fairness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 13-35, October.
    9. Felix Oberholzer-Gee, 2003. "A Market for Time: Fairness and Efficiency in Waiting Lines," CREMA Working Paper Series 2003-04, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    10. Frey, Bruno S & Oberholzer-Gee, Felix & Eichenberger, Reiner, 1996. "The Old Lady Visits Your Backyard: A Tale of Morals and Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1297-1313, December.
    11. Friesen, Mark, 2020. "A dynamic perspective on consumers’ price fairness perception: Empirical evidence from the airline industry," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 74(4), pages 403-425.
    12. Matthew Backus & Thomas Blake & Jett Pettus & Steven Tadelis, 2026. "Communication, Learning, and Bargaining Breakdown: An Empirical Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 72(4), pages 3256-3275, April.
    13. Avloniti, Anthi & Filippaios, Fragkiskos, 2014. "Unbundling the differences between Psychic and Cultural Distance: An empirical examination of the existing measures," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 660-674.
    14. Anneli Kaasa & Maaja Vadi & Urmas Varblane, 2014. "Regional Cultural Differences Within European Countries: Evidence from Multi-Country Surveys," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(6), pages 825-852, December.
    15. Charles Raux & Stéphanie Souche & Yves Croissant, 2009. "How fair is pricing perceived to be? An empirical study," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 227-240, April.
    16. Jean-Robert Tyran & Dirk Engelmann, 2002. "To Buy or Not to Buy? An Experimental Study of Consumer Boycotts in Retail Markets," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2002 2002-13, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    17. Hadjiyiannis Costas & İriş Doruk & Tabakis Chrysostomos, 2012. "International Environmental Cooperation under Fairness and Reciprocity," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-30, August.
    18. Orbach, Barak Y. & Einav, Liran, 2007. "Uniform prices for differentiated goods: The case of the movie-theater industry," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 129-153.
    19. Seligman, David A. & Schwartz, Barry, 1997. "Domain specificity of fairness judgments in economic transactions," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 579-604, November.
    20. Renner, Elke & Tyran, Jean-Robert, 2004. "Price rigidity in customer markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 575-593, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:accoun:v:52:y:2017:i:3:p:227-237. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620179 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.