Effects of mentoring functions on receivers' organizational citizenship behavior in a Chinese context: A two-study investigation

This research examines the relationship between mentoring functions received by employees and their organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and the moderating effects of perceived quality relationships with mentoring function providers in China. Results of Study 1 from a sample of 385 supervisor-subordinate dyads reveal that role modeling received by protégés positively relates to their OCB, and perceived mentoring relationship quality moderates the association between career support received and protégés' OCB. Moreover, nonprotégés and protégés who receive high levels of overall mentoring functions perform more OCB than protégés who receive low levels of mentoring functions. Results of Study 2 from 258 supervisor-subordinate dyads show that role modeling received by subordinates positively relates to their OCB directed at individuals (OCBI) and at the organization (OCBO) while career support received positively relates to OCBO. Additionally, leader-member exchange moderates the linkages of role modeling with OCBI and OCBO.     

Farmers,Biodiversity and Plant Protection: Developing a Learning Environment for Sustainable Tree Cropping Systems

More diverse, perennial cropping systems often have better natural mechanisms for keeping pests at bay. But while scientists emphasise the broad benefits of conservation in terms of effective ecosystem functioning, farmers are more interested in biodiversity for the provision of food or of services such as shade or windbreaks. Because of their limited knowledge of the role of biodiversity in plant protection, farmers sometimes unconsciously disturb natural regulatory mechanisms. Some citrus farmers in Vietnam introduced sapodilla as an intercrop to diversify their source of income, and because this fruit tree requires little care. However, this apparently worthwhile attempt to combine two valuable crops has misfired. The ecological conditions that traditionally sustained natural pest control in citrus have been disturbed, thus trapping farmers in the pesticide treadmill. The weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina stopped protecting citrus from stinkbugs and leaf-feeding caterpillars after facing competition from the black ant Dolichoderus thoracicus, which favours sapodilla trees as a nesting habitat. To avoid similar scenarios in the future, methods for linking scientific research on ecosystem functions with farmers' own knowledge, experience and priorities are presented. Examples are given of ways in which farmers in perennial cropping systems learn, and how scientists can facilitate this learning process.     

Joint effects of prior start-up experience and coping strategies on entrepreneurs’ psychological well-being

Drawing on theories from the coping and entrepreneurship literatures, we investigated the relationship between the entrepreneurs’ active and avoidance coping on psychological well-being (PWB) and the moderating role of prior start-up experience on this relationship. Data from 156 entrepreneurs indicate that the use of avoidance coping positively predicted immediate PWB for entrepreneurs with more start-up experience. Notably, this relationship was negative for entrepreneurs with less start-up experience. We also found that over the extended period, entrepreneurs who used avoidance coping had improved PWB only if they also used active coping. Theoretical and practical contributions to the entrepreneurship and coping research are discussed.     

Teams developing business ideas: how member characteristics and conflict affect member-rated team effectiveness

Team researchers have found that the diversity to effectiveness ratings are mediated by team conflict. Using a sample of 73 teams developing their business ideas, I found direct effects of diversity and conflict on member-rated team effectiveness. Here, I explain how the circumstances under which these teams operate can lead to these findings. For these teams, task conflict was found to relate negatively to member-rated team effectiveness. This finding contrasts with research on organizational teams, where task conflict usually relates positively to team effectiveness ratings. I also found that both diversity and average member experience influence member-rated effectiveness. These findings imply that diversity, conflict, and ratings of team effectiveness may differ for teams developing business ideas as compared to organizational teams. Thus, findings from organizational team research should be applied with caution to teams developing business ideas and possibly to new venture teams in general.     

Intergenerational earnings mobility in Singapore and the United States

This study compared intergenerational earnings mobility in Singapore and the United States by replicating the sample criteria in the Singapore National Youth Survey on the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The mean estimated earnings elasticities are almost identical: 0.26 in Singapore and 0.28 in the United States. Transformed to 0.44 and 0.47 respectively to reflect permanent status, mobility in the two countries is moderately low compared internationally. The finding of similar mobility is not surprising given that the two countries have similar economic realities, welfare systems, education regimes, and labor structures. Policy makers face the daunting challenge of overcoming immobility and inequality while maintaining global competitiveness.     

Moderating effect of capital intensity on the relationship between leverage and financial distress in the U.S. restaurant industry

During the recent and ongoing economic turmoil, countless businesses have been facing financial distress and many have filed for bankruptcy. This issue is especially critical for the restaurant industry due to restaurants’ sensitivity to economic fluctuations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the financial distress issue in the U.S. restaurant industry. In particular, the study examines a moderating effect of capital intensity on the relationship between a firm's leverage and degree of financial distress. The dataset includes publicly traded U.S. restaurant firms during the period 1990–2008. The study measures the degree of financial distress by modified Z-scores, and findings suggest a positive moderating effect of capital intensity on the relationship between leverage and financial distress.     

Flexible Estimation of Copulas: An Application to the US Housing Crisis

Zimmer (‘The role of copulas in the housing crisis’, Review of Economics and Statistics 2012; 94 : 607–620) provides an interesting case study of the pitfalls of using parametric copulas to understand the US housing crisis in the latter part of 2000s. The original study by Zimmer (2012) employs a finite‐mixture copula to illustrate that the symmetry of the Gaussian copula may not be tenable, especially for US housing price data during the time period from 1975:Q2 to 2009:Q1. We undertake a replication of his study in a wide sense. First, we replicate the study by incorporating revised data and then extending the dataset to include the most recent data. Second, we implement a nonparametric copula estimator recently proposed by Racine (‘Mixed data kernel copulas’, Empirical Economics forthcoming) to the parametrically filtered data used in Zimmer (2012). Our replication finds that the application of the nonparametric copula to the same and extended filtered data provides an alternative flexible specification for copulas. However, the overall cautionary message of the flexible‐form copula espoused in Zimmer (2012) remains. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Evolution of Health Insurer Costs in Massachusetts, 2010–2012

We analyze the evolution of health insurer costs in Massachusetts between 2010 and 2012, paying particular attention to changes in the composition of enrollees. This was a period in which Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) increasingly used physician cost control incentives but Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) did not. We show that cost growth and its components cannot be understood without accounting for (1) consumers’ switching between plans, and (2) differences in cost characteristics between new entrants and those leaving the market. New entrants are markedly less costly than those leaving (and their costs fall after their entering year), so cost growth of continuing enrollees in a plan is significantly higher than average per-member cost growth. Relatively high-cost HMO members switch to PPOs while low-cost PPO members switch to HMOs, so the impact of cost control incentives on HMO costs is likely different from their impact on market-wide insurer costs.     

Production capacity planning for multiple products under uncertain demand conditions

This study chiefly deliberates issues regarding capacity allocation for multiple products. When producing multiple products, a manufacturer needs to allocate a favorable production quantity to each product under conditions of uncertain demand since the excess or shortage of a product will in turn cause the loss of profit. The proposed model and the corresponding algorithm in this study are used to find out the optimal capacity allocation under the given probability density function of specific demands and to effectively allocate limited capacity to multiple products with an aim to maximize profit. Finally, the numerical example suggests that the marginal profit, the inventory holding cost, the shortage cost, the loss of excess production, and market demands should be considered in an effort to discover an optimal capacity allocation with regard to multiple products.