Asset bubbles,labour market frictions and R&D‐based growth

Employing an overlapping generations model of R&D‐based growth with labour market frictions, this paper examines how employment changes induced by labour market frictions influence asset bubbles and long‐run economic growth. Asset bubbles can (cannot) exist when the employment rate is high (low), which leads to higher (lower) economic growth through labour market efficiency. We also explore the steady state and transitional dynamics of bubbles, economic growth and employment. Furthermore, we show that policy or parameter changes with a negative influence on the labour market can lead to a bubble burst.     

Injury prevention priority setting based on the National Injury Surveillance data in Korea

For the reduction of injury burden, injury prevention efforts are essential. However, financial, material and human resources are far from sufficient, and this situation necessitates setting priorities for effective injury prevention. Hence, the aim of this study is to prioritise 13 injury mechanisms for prevention of injury using four injury burden criteria. National death certificate, hospital discharge data and emergency data during 2004 were used. According to the 13 most frequent injury mechanisms (ICD-10), mortality priority score, years of potential life lost (YPLL) priority score, morbidity priority score and hospital charge priority score were calculated. Injury mechanisms which were ranked fourth or higher on at least three of the four criteria scores were arranged in rank orders. Traffic crashes ranked highest on all four of the priority criteria for injury prevention followed by fall and poisoning in second and third positions, respectively. Categorised by age groups, in 0-19 year olds, traffic crashes, suffocation and drowning; in 20-59 years, traffic crashes, suffocation and poisoning; and in 60 and over, traffic crashes and fall were shown to be significant injury prevention priority in rank orders. Injury prevention priorities identified from this study could be useful in strategically allocating limited resources and implementing more focused prevention policies in Korea.     

Task type's effect on attitudes towards voice assistants

There is an emerging interest in examining user attitudes towards voice assistants (VAs); however, there is limited research on how user attitudes are formulated in different contexts. Drawing from the stereotype content models, the current study attempts to investigate how users perceive and evaluate voice assistants (VAs) in different contexts (i.e., functional vs. social tasks) based on warmth, competence and trustworthiness. Study 1 (N = 123) employs a within-subjects design to examine how task type (functional vs. social) affects user perceptions and attitudes towards a VA (i.e., Google Assistant). Study 2 (N = 116) and Study 3 (N = 61) examine the boundary effect of perceived psychological power and ease of use. The findings show that attitude is significantly more positive in functional tasks (vs. social), and this effect is mediated by perceived competence. This indirect effect is also significantly moderated by perceived ease of use. Perceived warmth does not mediate the effect of social tasks on attitude, and trust in VAs is a direct outcome of functional tasks. Taken together, this study contributes to both theory and practice in many ways. Specifically, the findings are the first to demonstrate a direct effect of task type on consumer perceptions and attitudes. Additionally, the findings indicate that user evaluations of VAs are still dominated by user perceptions of the competence of the VAs.     

How does social trust affect corporate financial performance? The mediating role of corporate social responsibility

Prior studies assert that social trust may positively influence the economic performance of countries and firms (within those countries). This paper proposes a more nuanced mechanism whereby corporate social responsibility (CSR) mediates the relationship between country-level social trust and firm-level financial performance. Anchored in neo-institutional theory, we theorize that social trust instills norms of trustworthiness and willingness to trust others guiding individual and corporate behaviors. In order to comply with such norms and gain legitimacy, firms in high-trust society are more likely to commit to CSR activities that serve the interests of stakeholders. CSR activities, in turn, can positively influence financial performance by enabling firms to access stakeholders' resources and capabilities and to decrease transactions costs in the stakeholder relationships. We tested our theory by analyzing 9818 firm-year observations across 34 countries, during the 2006 to 2015 period. Our analysis shows the expected CSR mediation in the relationship between social trust and firm-level financial performance. Our findings are robust across different models addressing the concerns of endogeneity, alternative measures, and potential moderators.