Same-Sex Couples in Advertisements: An Investigation of the Role of Implicit Attitudes on Cognitive Processing and Evaluation

This research examined how implicit attitudes are associated with cognitive processing and self-reported evaluation of advertisements featuring same-sex couples. Hypotheses were posited using the theoretical framework of social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner 1986) and perspectives on implicit attitudes. In Study 1, participants watched and evaluated 10 television advertisements while physiological measures of cognitive and affective processing were collected. Ads varied such that half used same-sex couples as protagonists while the other half used other-sex couples. Participants demonstrated less positive responses to ads featuring same-sex couples. Physiological and self-reported responses were associated with implicit attitudes toward homosexuality Negative implicit attitudes toward homosexuality were associated with more negative affect, less attention, less positivity, and less liking for ads featuring same-sex couples. Two subsequent studies replicated these findings in nonstudent samples, indicating that participants preferred ads with other-sex couples (Study 2) and that implicit attitudes were associated with this response (Study 3). This research suggests that implicit attitudes affect processing and evaluation of ads featuring same-sex couples in ways unaccounted for by explicitly measured attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of advancing theory, furthering understanding of the dynamic processing of ads featuring in-group and out-group members, and practical implications.     

EVIDENCE ON THE EFFECT OF TAXES ON FIRMS' DECISIONS TO RETIRE DEBT EARLY

We examine the effect of marginal tax rates on the decision to retire debt early. Other factors that have been linked to the debt retirement decision are also investigated, including leverage adjustment and the value associated with the immediate recognition of a loss for tax purposes on early retirement. Results indicate that firms that retire debt early have lower marginal tax rates than firms that do not retire debt early. This finding is consistent with the proposition that firms are motivated to retire debt early by an incentive to reduce tax shields that cannot be used efficiently. Further, firms that retire debt early are more highly leveraged than firms that do not retire debt early. Evidence also suggests that some firms retire debt early at a loss to reduce currently taxable income.     

Joint production national income definitions and pricing in linear environmental models

Economic activity is explicitly modelled as a set of joint production processes encompassing the generation of environmental pollution. Particular results of Leontief, generalized by Lowe, which would finance environmental protection through a number of tax or pricing schemes, are shown to be inconsistent with strictly correct definitions of national income. Qualified use of linear joint production environmental models is accepted, where these use efficiency prices and recognize data limitations. Such models can aid understanding of the costs, in terms of other goods and services foregone, of attaining particular standards of environmental protection.     

The Role of Geographic Location in the Acquisition Strategies of High‐Technology Firms: Evidence from Computer Networking Equipment Industry

The present study focuses on the acquisition strategies of Cisco Systems, a comprehensible representative of high‐technology firms. This investigation has depicted a dynamic picture of acquisition behavior when the geographic location of targets varies. Analysis has revealed that high‐technology firms are more likely to acquire co‐located start‐ups. Our findings suggest that high‐technology firms are more likely to acquire targets who have received an earlier equity investment and whose technologies have been standardized. We have also found partial evidence that supports the argument that high‐technology firms pursue cluster‐based acquisitions. Analysis suggests that access to patents does not matter for start‐up companies located in industry clusters while their counterparts outside these clusters need patents to become acquisition targets. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Cost of operating room time for endovascular transcatheter aortic valve replacement

Abstract

Background: Procedural efficiencies can contribute to cost reductions in transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedures (TAVR). The objective of this study is to determine operating room (OR) variable cost per minute in endovascular TAVR procedures, in a real-world hospital setting.

Methods: Using Premier data from January 2015–June 2016 for patients undergoing a primary endovascular TAVR (primary ICD-9 code of 35.05, ICD-10 code of 02RF37Z, 02RF38Z, 02RF3JZ, or 02RF3KZ) procedure, the OR cost per minute was calculated for each patient by dividing the total hospital OR variable cost by the OR time (minutes).

Results: Of the 4,573 patients in the cohort, the average age was 80 years, 77% were admitted electively, and the vast majority were discharged home with (30%) or without (45%) home care. Median OR time for endovascular TAVR procedures was 180?min. The trimmed mean OR cost per minute was $43.59 (SD = $28.68). When stratified by Elixhauser Risk score and Charlson comorbidity index, OR cost per minute increased with higher risk and comorbidity (p?<?0.0001 and p?<?0.041, respectively).

Conclusions: This contemporary estimate of the real-world variable OR cost per minute provides researchers with a critical parameter to refine economic models of TAVR and aid clinical program directors in resource planning according to a priori risk and comorbidity.     

How to Integrate ESG into Investment Decision‐Making: Results of a Global Survey of Institutional Investors

The authors review the findings of their global survey of 582 institutional investors that were either practicing or planning to practice some degree of integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into their investment decision‐making process. The investors were evenly split between asset owners and asset managers, equity and fixed income, and across the three regions of the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The survey explored reasons for ESG investing; the barriers to such investing and investor approaches to overcoming them; and the time frames used for making investment decisions, evaluating the performance of managers, and awarding compensation. The authors report finding that the commonly perceived barriers to ESG integration—the belief that ESG integration requires sacrificing returns, that fiduciary duty prevents one from doing so, and unrealistically short‐term expectations for ESG to deliver outperformance—were not as great as commonly believed. The biggest barrier is the lack of high quality data about the performance of companies on their material ESG factors—a scarcity that the authors attribute to the lack of standards for measuring ESG performance and the lack of ESG performance data reported by companies. The results were very similar between asset owners and asset managers, equity and fixed income, and across regions. However, the investment horizons of asset owners were notably longer than those of asset managers, and the same was true of equity vs. fixed income investors. Investors in the Americas were more patient about time frames for seeing outperformance from ESG, while those in Asia Pacific were the least patient. There were also differences across regions in how to overcome the barriers to ESG integration.     

Quality-efficiency trade-off when the state is the sole provider of hospital services: Evidence from New Zealand

The purpose of this study is to explore the trade-off between technical efficiency and the quality of hospital services when the state is the sole provider. Data from 20 New Zealand District Health Boards from 2011 to 2017 is used to estimate technical efficiency using the data envelopment analysis technique, which employs an additive inverse formulation for undesirable outcomes. The estimated average quality-adjusted technical efficiency score is 0.69. In comparison, when the quality variable was removed, the efficiency declined to 0.66. More importantly, the ranking of district health boards stays consistent across both models, indicating that there is very little trade-off between quality and efficiency. A sensitivity analysis also confirms the lack of a trade-off between quality and efficiency.     

Entrepreneurial human capital,equity concentration and firm performance: Evidence from companies listed on China's Growth Enterprise Market

In this work, a sample of firms listed on China's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) is employed to investigate the impact of human capital and equity concentration on firm performance. It shows that entrepreneurs' education level, industry experience and technical professional background have a positive impact on firm performance. Moreover, the higher the equity concentration, the better a firm's performance. Entrepreneurs with rich industry experience and a technical professional background tend to collect and condense equity, thereby increasing equity concentration. These findings reveal the relationship between entrepreneurial human capital and ownership concentration and enrich research on firm performance.