In search of FDI-transmitted R&D spillovers: A study based on Swedish data

In Search of FDI-Transmitted R& D Spillovers: A Study Based on Swedish Data. — This paper analyzes empirically whether inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) work as channels for international R&D spillovers. The authors utilize firm-level and industry-level data for Swedish manufacturing. Hardly any evidence of FDI-related R&D spillovers is found. But while the results do not provide support for the hypothesis that the activity level of MNEs’ affiliates matters for the extent of FDI-transmitted international spillovers, they suggest that utilizing foreign affiliates’ employment as a weighting scheme may be too crude a measure. The authors’ analysis shows indeed that the type of activity — R&D or assembly — carried out in the affiliates matters significantly for technology sourcing.     

Are special items informative about future profit margins?

Most proponents of using profit margins in forecasting models suggest that unusual items be removed from income to create a core profit margin. We investigate the appropriateness of this assumption over short and long horizons. Specifically, we explore the association between profit margins and special items over windows of increasing length, from one to five years. We find that the association between past special items and future profit margins differs markedly between firms with low and high core profitability. For low profitability firms, past special items have no association with future profit margins, even over windows of five years. In sharp contrast, for high profitability firms, negative special items are associated with lower future profit margins. This suggests that some firms maintain high core profitability by becoming serial chargers and special items differ from core earnings only to the extent that the allocation process induces timing errors in reported earnings.     

The Spirituality of Innovation: Learning from Stories

Sooner or later, most established companies face a mid-life crisis. Just like many people, these companies somehow lose the drive, the excitement, and the enthusiasm of their youth. Rather than continue to push the envelope, these companies focus on their core competencies and try to maintain order through a proliferation of policies and procedures. On the other hand, some companies (and some people) manage to sustain their innovative, entrepreneurial spirit. A handful of mature companies somehow maintain an environment in which employees continually generate added value for customers and the company alike. How do they do it? How do these mature companies continue to foster invention and innovation? Recognizing that stagnation and decline are not faits accomplis for all companies, Karen Anne Zien and a cross-functional team conducted in-depth interviews at several highly innovative firms. The interviewees provided insight into the culture, the characteristics, and the principles that set these companies apart from the competition. Perhaps the greatest insight comes from the stories these people tell. These war stories—the corporate myths and legends—provide a simple means for communicating and reinforcing the shared values that distinguish these companies. For example, a manager's recollection of Hewlett-Packard's effort to develop a pen plotter (and in particular, Bill Hewlett's role in this development) demonstrates that innovation is a companywide activity that requires the active, ongoing involvement of leaders at the highest levels of the organization. Senior people in these innovative companies foster a sense of community and common purpose and thus create an environment that encourages employees to explore new ideas and, if necessary, break the old rules. Through both formal and informal means, these companies also encourage frequent interaction between technical and marketing people. Corporate leaders energize these mature, but still innovative, companies, by providing context and communicating a dynamic vision. Storytelling offers a particularly evocative medium for articulating this vision. Rather than bore newcomers with hoary tales of the good old days, however, the most effective leaders continually reshape these stories to offer fresh insights, uncover new challenges, and reinforce the notion that every employee can and should contribute their full potential.     

Measurement of feelings of obligation to volunteer: the Obligation to Volunteer as Commitment (OVC) and Obligation to Volunteer as Duty (OVD) scales

While definitions of volunteering centre on the concepts of freedom and choice, in practice volunteering can be imbued with aspects of obligation. This paper describes the development of measures of feelings of obligation to volunteer. As a foundation for scale development, a literature review of feelings of obligation to volunteer suggested two dimensions of obligation: commitment, related to the devotion of volunteers who engage in serious leisure and the rewards that result, and including sub-dimensions of reward, affective attachment, flexibility and side bets; and duty, related to volunteers’ feelings of being burdened by their volunteer pursuits, comprised of the sub-dimensions of expectation, burden and constraint. These two distinct dimensions of obligation to volunteer evolved as two measures in a scale-development process that included review of potential items by subject experts and volunteers, exploratory factor analyses of potential items using data from a student sample and validation of the scale with a volunteer sample.     

Tourists' support for conservation messages and sustainable management practices in wildlife tourism experiences

A common justification for developing wildlife tourism attractions is that they help to secure long-term conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitats. Managers and guides often highlight their role in protecting wildlife and its habitat, yet little is known about the interests, needs and preferences of the tourists who participate in such activities – how aware are they of conservation issues; how concerned are they about the environmental impacts their visit may cause; do they expect and accept the conservation messages they receive? This research explores the perceptions, preferences and conservation awareness of tourists visiting the Mon Repos Conservation Park in Queensland, Australia. Comparison data from four other sites are also presented in order to provide a wider context for interpreting the data. The findings suggest that wildlife tourism management practices that enlist tourists as conservation partners, communicate the reasons behind any constraints imposed, and present a consistent message regarding interactions with wildlife, are likely to be most successful in meeting the needs of both tourists and wildlife.     

Television viewing and hostile personality trait increase the risk of injuries

Individuals with high levels of hostility may be more susceptible to the influence of television on violence and risk taking behaviors. This study aimed to examine whether hostile personality trait modifies the association between TV viewing and injuries. It is a prospective study of 4,196 black and white adults aged 23 to 35 in 1990/1. Cross-lagged panel models were analyzed at three 5-year time periods to test whether TV viewing predicted injuries. Covariates were gender, race, and education. Individuals who watched more TV (0 hours, 1–3 hours, 4–6 hours, and ≥7 hours) were more likely to have a hospitalization for an injury in the following 5 years across each of the three follow-up periods [OR = 1.5 (95%CI = 1.2, 1.9), 1.5 (1.1, 1.9), and 1.9 (1.3, 2.6)]. The cross-lagged effects of TV viewing to injury were significant in the high hostility group [OR = 1.4 (95%CI = 1.1, 1.8), 1.3 (1.0, 1.8), and 2.0 (1.3, 2.9)] but not in the low hostility group [OR = 1.3 (95%CI = 0.6, 2.2), 1.1 (0.6, 2.1), and 1.4 (0.7, 2.8)]. Additionally, a statistically significant difference between the two models (P < 0.001) suggested that hostility moderated the relationship between TV watching and injury. These findings suggest that individuals who watch more TV and have a hostile personality trait may be at a greater risk for injury.     

The effect of the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMLF) on corporate short-term borrowing costs

In this article, I study the effect of the Money Market Fund Liquidity Facility (MMLF) on corporate short-term borrowing costs. Although MMLF loans accept a broader range of collateral acquired from money market funds (MMFs) than Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (AMLF) loans, their higher loan rates could make the intervention less effective. I find the average yield has decreased by 20–24 basis points. The yield-decreasing effects of the MMLF are stronger for securities issued by eligible non-US firms, non-asset-backed commercial paper securities that are newly accepted as collateral under the MMLF, and securities held by affiliated MMFs. However, I do not find an additional yield-decreasing effect of the MMLF on lower rated securities or nonfinancial sector securities. After the implementation of the MMLF, domestic MMFs seem to increase the weight of nonfinancial sector securities, which helps them achieve a higher return.     

Do income tax breaks for the elderly affect economic growth?

Income tax breaks for elderly taxpayers are sizable, widespread, and potentially affect growth through migration and other behaviors. We provide the first investigation into the growth effects of differential tax policy by age, taking a multi-pronged empirical approach to US state-level data since 1977. Some analyses include panel error-correction models combined with variation in state-level policies over time. Alternative analyses use how changes in federal tax law manifest at the state-level. Results suggest that taxes on lower income taxpayers, of any age, decrease growth the most, while taxing the high income elderly—those targeted recently—has little effect.     

Online donation behavior in nonprofit organizations: The role of congruent processing styles

With the advent of technology, donors are increasingly donating via online channels. This shift deems it necessary for nonprofit organizations to better understand the online donor behavior. As such, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we investigate if nonprofit organizations are perceived differently in terms of their cognitive and affective natures. Then, we examine how different consumer processing styles, i.e. cognitive and affective, interact with consumer perceptions of nonprofit cognitive/affective orientations in influencing their donation intentions. Our results indicate that consumers with a high need for cognition are more willing to donate to predominantly cognitive nonprofit organizations, while those with high need for emotion are more willing to donate to predominantly affective nonprofit organizations. Based on these results, we suggest that nonprofit organizations can garner more donations if they request funds from donors whose processing styles are congruent with the organization. Additional recommendations for future research are provided.