It Takes Three to Tango: Exploring the Interplay among Training Intensity,Job Autonomy,and Supervisor Support in Predicting Knowledge Sharing

This study explored whether the relationship between perceived training intensity and knowledge sharing is prone to combined moderating influences. We operationalized perceived training intensity as a challenge stressor, in accordance with the challenge‐hindrance framework of work stressors. The results of a study of 129 employees from three Norwegian service industries revealed a positive relationship between perceived training intensity and supervisor‐rated knowledge sharing for employees reporting high levels of perceived job autonomy and high levels of perceived supervisor support. In contrast, we found a negative relationship between perceived training intensity and supervisor‐rated knowledge sharing for employees reporting high levels of perceived job autonomy and low levels of perceived supervisor support. These findings suggest that supervisors are of vital importance in facilitating knowledge sharing among employees in settings where developmental challenges are prevalent and perceptions of job autonomy are high. Implications for future research and practice are also discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

TESTING FOR MULTIPLE BUBBLES: LIMIT THEORY OF REAL‐TIME DETECTORS

This article provides the limit theory of real‐time dating algorithms for bubble detection that were suggested in Phillips, Wu, and Yu (PWY; International Economic Review 52 [2011], 201–26) and in a companion paper by the present authors (Phillips, Shi, and Yu, 2015; PSY; International Economic Review 56 [2015a], 1099–1134. Bubbles are modeled using mildly explosive bubble episodes that are embedded within longer periods where the data evolve as a stochastic trend, thereby capturing normal market behavior as well as exuberance and collapse. Both the PWY and PSY estimates rely on recursive right‐tailed unit root tests (each with a different recursive algorithm) that may be used in real time to locate the origination and collapse dates of bubbles. Under certain explicit conditions, the moving window detector of PSY is shown to be a consistent dating algorithm even in the presence of multiple bubbles. The other algorithms are consistent detectors for bubbles early in the sample and, under stronger conditions, for subsequent bubbles in some cases. These asymptotic results and accompanying simulations guide the practical implementation of the procedures. They indicate that the PSY moving window detector is more reliable than the PWY strategy, sequential application of the PWY procedure, and the CUSUM procedure.     

Restrictions on Foreign Investments and the Relocation of Firms

We analyse why the Chinese government sets restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI). We focus our analysis on the percentage of shares in relocated firms that the government allows to be foreign‐owned. The government's decision on this percentage depends on the entry cost, the number of firms that relocate and the weight of the consumer surplus in the objective function of the government. We show that by its choice of this percentage, the Chinese government may restrict or encourage FDI to its country. We also find that if the government may subsidise the fixed entry cost, it provides a subsidy only when the producer surplus has a greater weight than the consumer surplus in weighted welfare. In that case, the subsidy encourages relocation by both firms and permits the government to allow a lower percentage of shares to be foreign‐owned in relocated firms.     

Audit Firm Tenure,Non‐Audit Services,and Internal Assessments of Audit Quality

We use data from internal assessments of audit quality in a Big 4 firm to investigate the impact of audit firm tenure and auditor‐provided non‐audit services (NAS) on audit quality. We find that first‐year audits receive lower assessments of audit quality and that quality improves shortly thereafter and then declines as tenure becomes very long. Partitioning our sample between SEC registrants and private clients, we find that the decline in audit quality in the long tenure range is attributable to audits of private clients. For audits of SEC registrants, the probability of a high quality audit reaches its maximum with very long tenure. We also find that audit fees are discounted for first‐year audits but auditor effort is higher than in subsequent years. We find no association, on average, between total NAS fees and audit quality in the full sample but observe that total NAS fees are positively associated with quality for SEC registrants and negatively associated with quality for privately held clients. Our findings are important for regulatory policies related to audit firm tenure and auditor‐provided NAS.     

The Global Preference for Dividends in Declining Markets

Investors globally prefer dividend‐paying stocks over nondividend‐paying stocks more in declining than in advancing markets, even accounting for firm‐level growth opportunities, size and risk effects. Dividend‐paying stocks outperform nondividend‐paying stocks, from 0.63% (China) to 3.79% (Canada) more per month in declining than in advancing markets. In declining markets, dividend‐paying firms outperform by more than any underperformance in advancing markets. The results are robust across dividend taxation regimes, legal environments, emerging and developed markets, periods prior to and after the 2008 global financial crisis, the exclusion of the dividend declaration month and in respect to segmented or integrated international capital markets.     

The anatomy of a corporate venturing program: Factors influencing success

The author proposes a classification framework for factors that affect corporate venture success. Then, a database of 37 new venture investments by Exxon, including 18 venture capital investments, is analyzed for insight into the relative affect of these factors on venture technical and financial success. This article presents a statistical analysis of those factors which were quantified.As a group the venture capital investments were financially far more successful for Exxon than the internally initiated ventures. This striking difference stimulated the retrospective analysis reported here. The author was in a position to observe the program over its entire life span and had first-hand knowledge of each venture's technology, markets, and personnel. Because of the mix of venture capital and internal investments, the author was also in a position to compare the two modes of investment.Factors affecting venture success are broadly classified as extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic or environmental factors are those determined by the form of investment sponsorship (e.g., corporate or venture capital) and the characteristics of the investment sponsor. Extrinsic factors are segregated into two categories: structural and procedural. These factors are defined as the degree of difference between the corporate and venture environment in each category.The four structural factors (technology, market, organization, and people) are summed up as the overall degree of structural congruence. The author postulates that the degree of congruence is directly related to venture success within the corporation. To take the corporation into new markets some incongruence is required. Too much incongruence probably pushes the risk of failure too high. The corporation's procedures for management of this incongruence will determine the degree to which it can successfully diversify its business.The four procedural factors (control, selection of venture managers, incentive compensation, and financing) are dealt with as differences between the corporate environment and an independent venture environment. Major differences in procedural factors usually exist between corporate and venture capital sponsored ventures. They probably explain to some extent the relative greater financial success of the Exxon venture capital investments as a group. However, the statistical analysis results indicate that the identified intrinsic factors are more important in explaining relative venture success.Intrinsic factors are those inherent to the venture itself, and are subdivided into two categories: product related (market and technical risk levels) and managerial (relative experience levels). Each of the 37 Exxon ventures was rated for success and for the intrinsic factors using a simple ordinal range of 3 to 6 values. The product related risk factors showed a significant inverse correlation with financial success. The level of venture managers' prior experience in the venture's target market area and their level of prior general managerial experience showed an even greater correlation with financial success. The sample correlation coefficient between the financial success rating SF and the sum of the ratings for prior marketing and managerial experience (XS + XM) was 0.809 with a standard error of only 0.105.Selection of the influential extrinsic and intrinsic factors is largely within the control of corporate management. An approach to selection of these factors similar to that used by private venture capital fund managers should greatly improve the overall success of internal corporate ventures.     

Case Studies of Ethics Scandals: Effects on Ethical Perceptions of Finance Students

Ethics instructors often use cases to help students understand ethics within a corporate context, but we need to know more about the impact a case-based pedagogy has on students’ ability to make ethical decisions. We used a pre- and post-test methodology to assess the effect of using cases to teach ethics in a finance course. We also wanted to determine whether recent corporate ethics scandals might have impacted students’ perceptions of the importance and prevalence of ethics in business, so we used in-depth case studies of several of the major scandals (e.g., Enron, Tyco, Adelphia). Our results are somewhat surprising since studying ethics scandals positively impacts students’ ethical decision making and their perceptions of the ethics of businesspeople.     

论用文化增加旅游商品的附加值

旅游的本质属性是文化属性。文化是旅游消费和旅游经营追求的核心因素。文章以上述观点为基础，探讨了旅游商品开发设计中文化因素的作用，提出文化可以创造旅游商品，文化可以增加旅游商品的附加值。     

Developing parsimonious retailer equity indexes using partial least squares analysis: a method and applications

The information that a retailer’s name communicates to consumers can be a source of competitive advantage for many retailers. Indeed, retailers develop a kind of brand equity, which we refer to as “retailer equity.” To aid both practitioners and researchers, we outline a method, using partial least squares (PLS) analysis for developing parsimonious measures for retailer equity. In addition, we provide four illustrations of possible ways that the index can be used by retailers: (1) as a benchmarking tool, (2) as an indicator of the success (failure) of marketing strategies and tactics, (3) as a means to evaluate the attractiveness of market segments, and (4) as an instrument to examine the relative importance of the various components of retailer equity for specific retailers. The index also provides a means for marketing researchers to examine potential antecedents and outcomes of retailer equity.