Data driven rank test for the change point problem

Data driven test procedure for detection of change is introduced and its properties are studied. The new solution is max-type statistic related to data-driven rank tests for two-sample subproblems. Simulations show that the new test possesses high and stable power. The test is consistent at essentially any alternative. Asymptotic null distribution of the test is derived. The work of the first two authors has been partially supported by the grants GAČR 201/06/0186 and MSM 02160839.     

“Want to” Versus “Have to”: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivators as Predictors of Compliance Behavior Intention

“Worthless,” “money burning,” or “black holes” is how media and professionals describe compliance practices today. Practitioners are unenthusiastic about control systems, codes of conducts, and systems for compliance management that are increasing in volume but not in effectiveness. In order to help practitioners clarify what actually makes employees comply with their compliance program, this study examines intrinsic and extrinsic motivators of 119 employees from procurement and sales. We contribute to the existing motivation literature, testing the self‐determination theory in low and high hierarchical levels. Our findings show that intrinsic motivators are more strongly and positively related to compliance intention on higher hierarchical levels than the lower ones. However, employees from higher hierarchies show overall less compliance intention than employees from lower hierarchies. © 2015 The Authors. Human Resource Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Drivers of Sovereign CDS Spread Changes: Local Versus Global Factors

We use daily data for a panel of 34 countries to investigate regional differences in sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) spread determinants and the significance of local versus global market factors. Similar to prior studies, we find a high level of commonality among CDS spreads, but our results show that this effect is stronger in Latin American CDS. The results of our quantile panel regression model show that although global forces drive spreads across the conditional distribution, changes in credit ratings are significant in explaining CDS spreads only in the upper quantiles. We also confirm the existence of regional differences in spread determinants.     

FAIR RETIREMENT UNDER RISKY LIFETIME*

A premature death unexpectedly brings a life and a career to their end, leading to substantial welfare losses. We study the retirement decision in an economy with risky lifetime and compare the laissez‐faire with egalitarian social optima. We consider two social objectives: (1) the maximin on expected lifetime welfare, allowing for a compensation for unequal life expectancies, and (2) the maximin on realized lifetime welfare, allowing for a compensation for unequal lifetimes. The latter optimum involves, in general, decreasing lifetime consumption profiles as well as raising the retirement age. This result is robust to the introduction of unequal life expectancies and unequal productivities.     

The relevance of political affinity for the initial acquisition premium in cross‐border acquisitions

Research summary : In the context of economic nationalism, we investigate the relevance of political affinity between countries to the initial acquisition premium offered in cross‐border acquisitions. Political affinity is defined as the similarity of national interests in global affairs. We argue that political affinity affects how foreign acquirers anticipate their bargaining position in their negotiations with domestic target firms. With decreasing political affinity, the host government becomes increasingly likely to intervene against foreign firms in an acquisition deal. Consequently, foreign acquirers need to provide a more lucrative initial offer to dissuade target firms from leveraging government intervention to oppose the acquisition. Our prediction is supported by strong evidence that political affinity, as revealed by UN general assembly voting patterns, leads to lower initial acquisition premiums. Managerial summary : Media reports suggest that politics plays an important role in international business transactions. However, we still know very little about how bilateral political relations affect corporate decision‐making. In this article, we analyze the influence of the quality of bilateral political relations on the bidding behavior of foreign acquirers in cross‐border acquisitions. We argue that the host government is more likely to intervene against the foreign acquirer during deal negotiations if the quality of bilateral political relations is poor. A lower political affinity between countries therefore decreases the bargaining power of the acquirer and pushes up the initial bid premium the acquirer has to offer to the local target. Our empirical results confirm our argument. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of stocks and flows of organizational knowledge on firm performance: an empirical investigation of the biotechnology industry

The knowledge‐based view of the firm is a recent approach to understanding the relationship between firm capabilities and firm performance. Specifically, this approach suggests that knowledge generation, accumulation and application may be the source of superior performance. Other research has conceptualized organizational knowledge in terms of stocks of accumulated knowledge in the firm and flows of knowledge into the firm. This paper tests the relationship between stocks and flows of organizational knowledge and firm performance in the biotechnology industry. We suggest that a firm’s geographic location, alliances with other institutions and organizations and R&D expenditures are representative of knowledge flows, while products in the pipeline, firm citations and patents are indicative of knowledge stocks. Through factor analysis, we develop an aggregated measure of location from several variables. A regression model suggests that location is a significant predictor of firm performance as are products in the pipeline and firm citations. A major contribution of this investigation is the operationalization of geographic location and its statistically significant link to firm performance. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of online financial disclosure and donations in nonprofits

Decreased public confidence and trust in the nonprofit sector has fueled increased calls for transparency. In response, federal regulators and watchdog organizations have recommended that nonprofits voluntarily disclose their financial information on their own public websites. Despite the potential benefits of enhanced public confidence and trust, improved donor decision making, and increased donations, many nonprofit organizations have not adopted the recommended disclosure practices. We investigate the disclosure practices of 3,217 nonprofits and find that voluntary web disclosure of the IRS Form 990 is strongly correlated to donations, independent of other variables such as age, size, and fundraising expenditures. Further, fundraising is also clearly related to the performance indicators shown in the 990 disclosures, particularly the program ratio of program expenditures to total expenditures. This is true on a general level and when specifically compared to other nonprofits within particular sectors. As a result, nonprofits should seriously consider voluntarily posting their Form 990 results on their websites when it reflects favorably and strive to improve their financial performance if online disclosure would reflect poorly on the organization.     

Evolution of the chronic care role of the registered nurse in primary care

High-quality, accessible, and efficient primary care is needed as the U.S. health care system undergoes significant change. Advancing the role of registered nurses in the primary care setting is important to the solution. A large academic health center implemented five initiatives to improve the care of chronically ill patients through the expanded role of RNs in the context of the health care team. Role evolution of nurses in the pilots required some continuing education and some additional nursing support to release the pilot nurses from their usual duties. These strategies allowed the nurses to apply interventions that enhanced the coordination of care and promoted patient self-management skills. Some short-term improvements in health status were realized and barriers to self-care were identified and resolved.     

Free software on the market-side: the failure-story of free software services companies in France

ABSTRACT

This article investigates two research funding policies in a cooperative and a non-cooperative R&;D setting: subsidising private research (Spr) and subsidising public research (Spu). We show that R&;D cooperation with subsidies (either Spr or Spu) always performs better than R&;D cooperation with no subsidy. Furthermore, the Spr policy leads to better performance than the Spu approach does in terms of overall net surplus whether the firms cooperate or not in R&;D. Nevertheless, comparing the two research funding policies for the same level of public spending shows that the Spu policy with R&;D cooperation is in some cases more effective than the Spr policy, the latter becoming too costly for the government when spillovers are high.