Bank credit,public financial incentives,tax financial incentives and export performance during the global financial crisis

This paper investigates the extent to which access to credit, public financial incentives and tax financial incentives affect export performance using the EU-EFIGE/Bruegel-Unicredit data set, covering firms within Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary and the UK during the 2008 global financial crisis. The results show that firms receiving credit or benefiting from public financial incentives display higher export intensity and export a greater number of product lines compared to those that did not, especially in countries with better access to credit and/or financial incentives during the crisis. Further, firms benefiting from tax financial incentives show a better export performance compared to those that did not, regardless of the degree of access to credit and/or financial incentives in the country in which they operate. In addition, the effect of access to credit and public finance incentives on export performance is found to be size-dependent, while the effect of tax financial incentives is not. We suggest that governments should promote publicly funded financial incentives along with conventional schemes, such as R&D subsidies, to promote exports, particularly during a period of financial crisis.     

Does trade size restriction affect trading behavior? Evidence from Indian single stock futures market

Algorithmic traders use their advantage of speed to execute a large number of small-sized trades in a very short time. In the presence of a minimum trading unit (MTU) restriction, they are forced to trade at the smallest possible sizes, often restricted by the MTU. Using a novel data set of single stock futures market obtained from the National Stock Exchange of India, we show that the MTU restriction acts as a binding constraint for traders while optimizing trade sizes. Contrary to expectation, we find weak evidence that liquidity is positively impacted by the contract size revision.     

Deal characteristics and M&A performance: How do hospitality firms fare?

The global hospitality industry has experienced significant consolidation in the past several decades. While evidence in the general business literature suggests that the target firm shareholders gain instead of the acquiring firm shareholders, some studies in the hospitality industry have suggested that mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are also beneficial to acquiring firms. Using a comparative study design and a comprehensive sample over 41 years, we empirically examine whether M&As create more value in the hospitality industry than in other industries and whether certain deal characteristics may explain the potential performance differential. Overall, we find that M&As in the hospitality industry outperform M&As in non-hospitality sectors. When examining deal attributes, we find that relative size of target, cash method of payment, and an unlisted target are characteristics positively related to merger performance and help explain some of the performance differential. We contribute theoretically and empirically to the literature by demonstrating that industry and deal effects play an important role in M&A performance.     

New perspectives on farm size and productivity

The farm size and productivity debate has been limited by the focus on land or labor productivity, generally showing respective productivity advantages to smaller or larger sized farms. Our purpose is to provide new perspectives on the debate by bringing together evidence from a set of novel case studies in both rich and poor countries. Common to them are the adoption of total factor productivity (TFP) as the comparative performance measure, and the reliance on panels of farm micro data. The present article presents a synthesis of findings from five case studies in (i) Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda; (ii) Bangladesh; (iii) Brazil; (iv) Australia; and (v) the United States. The preponderance of evidence from these studies suggests that there is no single economically optimal agrarian structure; rather, it appears to evolve with the stage of economic development. Certain farm sizes face relative productivity advantages, such as small farms in Africa. But with economic and market growth, that smallholder advantage will likely attenuate, moving toward constant and eventually increasing returns to size. Yet, importantly, small farms may be quite dynamic, and need not be a drag on agricultural growth until perhaps well into the development process.     

Making an exciting brand big: Brand personality,logo size and brand evaluation

This research examines how brand personality (excitement) and logo size used in product design (big versus small) interacts in affecting consumer brand evaluation. We first demonstrate that combining a big logo and a high-excitement brand (versus a small logo combined with a high-excitement brand) leads to high processing fluency, further resulting in more favourable brand evaluation (Study 1). We then determine the consumption situation as a moderator of such an interaction effect: the influence of the big logo and high-excitement-brand combination on brand evaluation is significantly weakened in a private consumption situation (a T-shirt worn at home) compared to a public consumption situation (a T-shirt worn outside, Study 2a), and becomes insignificant for a private product category (slippers, Study 2b).     

Influence of equal or unequal comparison group sample sizes on the detection of differential item functioning using the Mantel–Haenszel and logistic regression techniques

In recent decades several methods have been developed for detecting differential item functioning (DIF), and many studies have aimed to identify both the conditions under which items may or may not be adequate and the factors which affect their power and Type I error. This paper describes a Monte Carlo experiment that was carried out in order to analyse the effect of reference group sample size, focal group sample size and the interaction of the two on the power and Type I error of the Mantel–Haenszel (MH) and Logistic regression (LR) procedures. The data were generated using a three-parameter logistic model, the design was fully-crossed factorial with 12 experimental conditions arising from the crossing of the two main factors, and the dependent variables were power and the rate of false positives calculated across 100 replications. The results enabled the significant factors to be identified and the two statistics to be compared. Practical recommendations are made regarding use of the procedures by psychologists interested in the development and analysis of psychological tests.     

Is the Abnormal Post-IPO Underperformance Really Abnormal? The Evidence from CEE Emerging Markets

Using sorting procedures and cross-sectional tests, we investigate the long-run post-IPO performance and its sources in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets. We examine over 1100 stocks from 11 CEE countries for the period 2002–2014. We find that “old stocks” perform significantly better than “young stocks”, but only when the market beta is the sole risk factor considered. After accounting for the size and value effects, the IPO firms perform neither better nor worse than non-issuing companies. The sources of the initial low B/M ratios of debuting companies may lie in time-varying financial quality. The market newcomers are financially healthier than their older counterparts. However, over 2–5 years the fundamentals deteriorate and the financial standing regresses to the mean.     

Walking and Talking Corporate Social Responsibility: Implications of Firm Size and Organizational Cost

In this paper we address two interrelated research gaps in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature. The first results from a lack of understanding of different patterns of CSR engagement with respect to CSR talk (impression management and the creation of symbolic images and documentation) and CSR walk (substantive implementation of CSR policies, structures and procedures). Related to this, the second gap concerns limited knowledge about the influence of firm size on CSR engagement. We develop a conceptual model that explains differences in CSR talk versus walk based on organizational cost and firm size. This allows us to theorize the antecedents of what we call the large firm implementation gap (large firms tend to focus on communicating CSR symbolically but do less to implement it into their core structures and procedures) and vice versa the small firm communication gap (less active communication and more emphasis on implementation). Our model expands a new theoretical understanding of CSR engagement based on as yet underemphasized firm‐level antecedents of CSR, and opens up several new avenues for future, and in particular comparative, research.     

企业规模对职工工资的影响:来自中国竞争性劳动力市场的证据

本文使用在浙江省收集的企业一职工配对数据研究了国际学术界困惑已久的企业规模对工资的溢价谜题。我们发现,当控制了企业所处的地区、行业和职工的人力资本后,企业的技术效率可以完全解释企业规模对职工工资的正向作用。大企业提供高工资,主要是由于它们拥有高素质的职工和较高的技术效率。与国际上使用发达国家数据的同类文献相比,本文所使用数据的独特性在于两个方面:一是企业与职工的配对,便于控制个人和企业层面的特征;二是在制造业方面,中国的劳动力市场更接近于一个竞争性市场,因而更容易识别企业规模对工资的影响。     

中国养老金隐性债务的模型分析与偿还对策研究

能否解决养老金隐性债务是养老保险制度改革成功的关键性问题。基于养老金隐性债务的含义对养老金隐性债务的理论模型进行了修正与深化,对中国2005年～2050年养老金隐性债务的规模和变动趋势进行了预测与分析,并提出解决弥补隐性债务的综合性方案。