What do firms do when dividend tax rates change? An examination of alternative payout responses

This paper investigates whether investor-level taxes affect corporate payout policy decisions. We predict and find a surge of special dividends in the final months of 2010 and 2012, immediately before individual-level dividend tax rates were expected to increase. We also find evidence that immediately before the expected tax increases, firms altered the timing of their regular dividend payments by shifting what would normally be January regular dividend payments into the preceding December. To our knowledge this is the first evidence in the literature about changes in the timing of regular dividend payments in response to tax law changes. For both actions (specials and shifting), we find that it was more likely for a firm to respond to individual-level tax rates if insiders owned a relatively large amount of the firm. Overall, our paper provides evidence that managers consider individual-level taxes in making corporate payout decisions.     

Do dividend initiations signal a reduction in risk? Evidence from the option market

We investigate whether dividends convey information about the risk of a company by examining the reaction of implied volatility in the option market to the announcement of a dividend initiation. Implied volatility decreases after the announcement and the magnitude of the decline in volatility is positively related to both the magnitude of cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) in the equity markets and the size of the dividend. Additionally, firms with weaker (stronger) corporate governance experience larger (smaller) declines in implied volatility. Cross sectional analysis shows that a one-standard deviation decline in measures of risk increases the 2-day CAR by 74–137 basis points. Our results suggest that dividend initiations signal declining firm risk.     

Union Membership and Job‐Related Training: Incidence,Transferability, and Efficacy

This study examines the relationship between union membership and (i) the incidence of training, (ii) the degree to which training is transferable to firms other than the one providing the training and (iii) the degree to which workers perceive that training improves job performance. Using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, I find that union members are more likely to receive employer‐sponsored training than their non‐union counterparts. I also find that male union members are more likely than non‐members to report that training improved job performance. Union membership was not related to transferability of skills between employers.     

Effects of agency risks and procedural justice on board processes in venture capital-backed firms

This paper builds a model of the effects of agency risk and procedural justice in the boards of directors of venture capital-backed firms. Such boards are unique in that they consist of managers and outside owners with significant power and incentive to be highly involved in venture governance. The authors integrate agency theory and procedural justice perspectives to develop propositions regarding the effects of agency risk and board processes on the responses to poor performance and conflicts of interest. This integrated perspective suggests that factors that increase perceived agency risks will increase outsiders' tendency to focus efforts on monitoring and controlling board decisions and their propensity to resort to formal means to resolve conflicts. However, the authors suggest that through their effects on trust and positive attributions, fair procedures and interactions will reduce these tendencies. A discussion of the practical and theoretical implications of the proposed model concludes the paper.     

Women rule: potato markets,cellular phones and access to information in the Bolivian highlands

In highland Bolivia, potato markets are widespread and access to market information has entered the digital age. Information networks lubricated by ubiquitous cellular technologies are supplanting traditional means of information‐gathering. We explore the impacts of access to cellular phones on market selection, use of social networks to acquire information, and gendered responsibilities within the potato market chain near Cochabamba. The entire family participates in potato production and marketing, but responsibilities are differentiated by gender. Men take a leading role in potato production and women in marketing. Access to cellular phones affects decisions about where to market potatoes and improves the potato marketing process.     

An investigation of real estate agent service to home sellers: Relevant factors and attributions

This study examines real estate agent service from a frequently neglected perspective – that of the home seller. Using qualitative data from 32 in-depth interviews in the US, we identify seven factors that are important to home sellers in evaluating real estate agent service: communication, effort, advertising, guidance, professionalism, representation, and results, with communication and results being the most important, and communication faring the worst (related to home seller expectations). In addition, we employ content analysis to investigate attributions made by home sellers in evaluating the process and outcome aspects of the service received from their agent. We find that process factors (whether positive or negative) are attributed to the agent. In contrast, attributions for outcome are more complex, exhibiting a chronological interaction effect, tied to process evaluations.     

The Rights of Employees with Disabilities: Supreme Court Interpretations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Their Implications for Human Resource Management

The Americans With Disabilites Act (ADA) of 1990 provides broad protection to an estimated 43 million Americans against discrimination in many facets of their lives. Title I of the Act prohibits discrimination in employment. Title III of the Act, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodation, has also impacted the employment relationship. Eight years after the passage of the Act, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first ruling under the ADA. Two subsequent decisions have been rendered that further interpret the statute and the Court has repeatedly denied to review cases that deal with another key interpretation of the ADA. This paper analyzes these cases and decisions and their implications for management practices.     

An Inframarginal Analysis of the Ricardian Model

This paper shows that a 2 × 2 Ricardian model has a unique general equilibrium, and the comparative statics of the equilibrium involve discontinuous jumps. If partial division of labor occurs in equilibrium, the country producing both goods would impose a tariff, whereas the country producing a single good would prefer unilateral free trade. If complete division of labor occurs in equilibrium, both countries would negotiate to achieve free trade. In a model with three countries, the country which does not have a comparative advantage relative to the other two countries, and/or which has low transaction efficiency, may be excluded from trade.