媒介在消除知识沟中扮演的角色:三地区农村儿童的媒介使用、人际交谈与知识水平

近年来,中国农村居民可支配收入显著提高;然而,中国农村教育面临严重的资源紧缺问题,限制了儿童的知识获取。本研究的核心问题是:在城乡差异、地区差异的复杂情况下,报纸、电视、电脑、手机等媒介能否显著提升农村儿童的知识水平,并最终消除不同家庭条件儿童之间的知识沟?本研究以知识沟理论为框架,调查了浙、赣、黔三地的935名农村儿童,通过建立OLS回归模型和混合效应模型,探讨了农村儿童的媒介使用、人际交谈和地区差异对知识沟的影响。研究发现,不同家庭社会经济地位的农村儿童之间确实存在知识沟;不同地区农村儿童的知识水平和知识沟存在显著差异;电视和电脑不显著地扩大了知识沟,报纸和手机不显著地缩小了知识沟,人际交谈对知识沟没有显著影响。实质上,报纸和手机更可能是知识沟消除过程中的“知识提供者”,而非直接推动者;作为“知识提供者”的报纸和手机确实难以减弱“绝对知识沟”,但可以有效地缩小“相对知识沟”,缓和社会矛盾。     

Sentiment and bias in performance evaluation by impartial arbitrators

This study investigates whether relative performance evaluations of labor output are biased in the presence of sentiment, even when the (supposedly independent) evaluators are external. Data from a field-experiment setting—involving a pro-sport League's best-player award—allows for empirical testing of this proposition. After controlling for within-match performance, the results show that the match officials provide significantly better evaluations to players celebrating a ‘milestone’ game—an occasion on which sentimental favorites exist. However, this sentiment bias holds only in certain cases, and appears to have weakened in more recent years.     

Non‐wage benefits,costs of turnover and labour attachment

Like firms in established market economies, many Russian firms provide non‐wage benefits to their workers, such as housing, medical care or day care. This article explains the provision of benefits as a strategic choice for firms in the presence of labour and service market imperfections. Analysing unique survey data for 404 industrial establishments from 40 Russian regions, the authors provide strong evidence that non‐wage benefits are used by firms to attach workers and thereby reduce the costs of labour turnover in the face of tight labour markets. It is also shown that this attachment strategy works due to imperfections in the regional markets for social services.     

A comparison of voluntary and mandated climate change-related disclosure

This study draws on legitimacy theory to investigate the relationship between mandatory disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions by companies that are subject to specific environmental legislation (the Australian National Greenhouse Energy Reporting Act 2007) and the level of voluntary environmental disclosures. Using a sample of 535 observations, we find that i) Overall, legislation-affected companies increase their disclosures compared with non-affected companies, ii) As many companies reduce their disclosures as increase them, iii) there is an increase in the level of emissions volume disclosures in legislation-affected companies compared with the same company pre-implementation, iv) legislation-affected higher emitters have higher levels of voluntary disclosures. These findings are consistent with legitimacy theory, which predicts differential disclosures in circumstances to avoid scrutiny.     

Information Intermediary or De Facto Standard Setter? Field Evidence on the Indirect and Direct Influence of Proxy Advisors

We examine whether proxy advisory firms (PAs) serve primarily an information intermediary role by providing research and voting recommendations to shareholders, or directly influence executive compensation by exerting pressure on firms to adopt preferred pay practices. Through a field study, we find that PAs are perceived as both information intermediaries and agenda setters and that these roles provide leverage to enable PAs to exercise significant influence over executive pay practices. Boards feel, and sometimes yield to, pressure to conform to PA “best” practices despite their own preferred compensation philosophies, even in the absence of overt PA scrutiny or negative shareholder votes. We also find that PAs are susceptible to conflicts of interest and generally use a “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach to voting recommendations. Overall, however, PAs are viewed as improving compensation practices by increasing transparency and accountability and fostering dialogue between firms and their shareholders.     

Job Security and Risk‐Taking: Theory and Evidence From Professional Football

This article investigates how job security impacts risky decision making. In a theoretical model, we show how risk‐taking can be affected by job security. Agents with moderate job security become more risk averse as their job security increases. Conversely, agents with very high (or low) job security act in a more risk neutral manner. We test these predictions using data on head coaching decisions from the National Football League, finding that job security has a negative and statistically significant effect on risk‐taking.     

Potential and recognized boundary spanners in multinational corporations

Boundary spanners play an important role in multinational corporations (MNC), yet it is unclear who these valuable individuals are and why certain individuals, and not others, perform this role. We advance a ‘recognition’ perspective based on whether and how relevant others on both sides on the boundary experience positive impact. A dynamic integrated mixed method analysis of 118 individuals involved in headquarters-subsidiary interactions in four MNCs, shows that only a minority are ‘recognized boundary spanners’, experienced by others to positively impact intergroup relations. We identify different categories and mechanisms of recognition, and make a methodological contribution by integrating qualitative and quantitative analysis.     

Mortgage Choice as a Natural Field Experiment on Choice under Risk

Data on approximately 280,000 borrowers from the UK Survey of Mortgage Lenders are used to model choices between variable and fixed rate mortgages. The choice is assumed to depend on three factors: risk attitude, interest‐rate expectations, and individual discount rate. The ordered probit model is used for estimation, while taking account of a number of econometric issues including missing counterfactuals, selectivity, and endogeneity. A large number of strong effects are found, including: higher income borrowers are less risk averse and have a lower discount rate, and risk aversion rises with the amount borrowed, providing evidence of increasing relative risk aversion.     

Sequential technology implementation,network externalities,and risk: the case of automatic milking systems

Using random effects and mixed effects probit regression techniques, this empirical study investigates factors for technology adoption at the firm level. We account for problems of sequential technology implementation and behavior identification. Results underscore the importance of risks faced by the agents, the effects of network externalities and peer‐group learning, and the positive influence of previous firm‐specific innovation experiences.     

Direct and substitution effects of regulations impacting the scope for classification shifting

We exploit two historic changes to Australian accounting standards to examine the direct and substitution effects of regulations impacting the scope for classification shifting. First, we consider whether reforms to the standard prescribing the format of the income statement (AASB 1018) introduced during 2001/02 reduced the extent to which core expenses were opportunistically misclassified as ‘abnormal’ in an attempt to boost ‘core earnings’ (the ‘direct effect’), and whether any reduction in classification shifting behavior induced greater use of accrual-based earnings management (the ‘substitution effect’). We then examine the impact of the introduction of AASB 101 in 2005, which effectively reversed the constraints on classification shifting introduced in 2001/02. We find that classification shifting using abnormal items was significantly reduced following the 2001/02 reform. However, this reform also appears to have induced an increased use of accruals management to manipulate core earnings, thus potentially impairing earnings quality. We find some weak evidence of an increase in classification shifting behavior following the adoption of AASB 101, but no evidence of any substitution effects involving accrual-based earnings management.